Daphne and Chuck Sloan: Historic Nuts

This from a couple that refuses to pay what they ought to be paying for their 15,872 square feet of property

Sloans Property- MAP #: 0383 02 0072

They only paid $27,000 for their 15,872 sq ft of land which is only $1.70/sq.ft.

Now a neighboring lot which is even smaller (12,094 sq.ft) has to pay $300,000 in real estate taxes, at a rate of almost $25/sq.ft. that is 17 times more than what the Sloans are paying for their property in the middle of Vienna. Why does the ToV let them get away with this?

Are they claiming that the lot is historic and they should get a tax break? Chuck Sloan is a lawyer, and perhaps he is better at tax breaks, but still, the lot is not listed in the Fairfax County Tax Records as being tax exempt, so why do the Sloans get such a big break?

In any event, the Sloans appear to be used to get whatever they want, even if this means they have to resort to telling stories about their neighbors property, and using such words to keep them from getting what they want. Why? Do they feel they are the only ones to be able to get what they want and nobody else? That appears to be the case here. It's no wonder they will show up and claim without any proof that the owners should not get what they want, simply because Daphne and Chuck can spread gossip about this house that has no basis in reality. Makes you think that property rights are not important, what's next, Daphne? Historic trees? Historic rocks? That's all that is left from the Moorefield House that you all simply refused to accept any responsibility towards preserving, even though that is exactly what your historic charter dictates that you do, but you then decided to do away with the only truly historic home in Vienna. Why? Who decides when you need to be consistent to your charter and when you can simply ignore it and abuse property owners rights and liberties.

I think that your participation in the Historic Vienna, Inc. as well as everyone else is very telling and hypocritical, seeing as a how you refused to do anything about the Moorefield Home.

Why did you simply ignore your charter: Preserving and promoting Vienna’s heritage through the identification, preservation, and interpretation of historically significant places when you refused to preserve the most important structure in Veinna?

Why?

Laine Hyde
Rose Mulville
Kathy Georgen
Anne Stuntz
Sarah Jane Brady
Michael Cheselka
Daniel Dellinger
Frank Lancaster
Shirley McCoy
Maud Robinson
David Shelby
Sandra Stadelman
Daphne Sloan
Paul Snodgrass
Katherine Tugendhat

Can any of you please explain why you refused to preserve this important structure, but you argue you have the right to hurt ordinary citizens rights, when you refuse to follow and be consistent with your own charter?

That's not being honest, and one has to question your integrity and motives as to why you have fought so hard against a citizen of Vienna who has done more for this town and volunteered more for this town than any of you have combined. Is this simply your paybacks for being jealous about the fact that someone has worked hard to live and work in this town, and you haven't, so you don't want people to be rewarded for their hard work?

Seems that is about what people are whispering about you all; you seem to be delighted in the fact that you can attempt to throw your weight around under the guise of Historic Preservation, when you really deep down know and understand that you know you are doing this in a way to hurt these citizens, and you revel in this feeling.

That's wrong, and you should not be able to sit on this board, and should resign.

Mr. Sloan,

Thank you so much for trying to save my house.

Maybe next time you can try the Huckleberry Hound or Foghorn Leghorn defense.

For such an ordnance to to legal, there should be no gray areas, i.e. there should be no reason to result in personal likes or dislikes, as we all know, what one person may like, another neighbor may not. The mere fact that even one person or neighbor can abuse your property rights as has been the case with the present council people and boards, means that the ordnance is unclear, and should be struck down.

If the ordnance had stated from the start, that absolutely no changes could be made, and anyone moving into the area accepted this, then it would be legal. But this is not the case. Also, if there were guidelines that were specifically defined, as would be found by viewing, for instance, the Historic District guidelines of Old Town Alexandria, and everyone agreed to them before moving into the district, such an ordnance maybe acceptable.

But this is not even close to what we have in Vienna. We have a vague set of ideas, that can be interpreted to mean whatever anyone wants them to mean, and for this reason, alone, the ordnance is unconstitutional, and should be struck down, because decisions have been made one way to some people and other ways to other people. This is wrong, and they know it, and the only way for a judge to decide is to strike down the ordnance.

It's not rocket science.

The law should be blind to personal biases and should be fair to anyone coming before the council, but as we have witnessed, these people make up their mind before hand, and then try to come up with their own arguments to support their personal views and biases.

This is not the way a town should be run, and this is precisely why we have witnessed such abuses; people have been able to make up what they believe the ordnance states, but as we see, different people have come up with different decisions, and that has resulted in people getting harmed legally, and financially. You be the Judge, that is just wrong, and people like Sienicki, Anderson, Cole, Lovelace, Seeman are too hate-ridden to be even close to impartial. This is a good reason to strike down this ordnance.

The fact that their personal views and biases can direct their decision and they are able to hide their true motives, means that the ordnance is unconstitutional.

They only paid $27,000 for their 15,872 sq ft of land which is only $1.70/sq.ft.

WOW! Can someone explain this?? How do I get this deal???

Does anybody know the story behind this land assessment?

Since my house has a smaller plot and it’s assessed at $300K, I agree that's an obscenely low valuation. And the tax history is particularly odd:

Year / Assessed Total
2008 / $27,000
2007 / $27,000
2006 / $27,000
2005 / $27,000
2004 / $124,000
2003 / $113,000
2002 / $21,000
2001 / $18,600
2000 / $16,900

Did anyone else in Vienna manage to keep the same land value over the past four years?

It's some sort of special "land conservation" thing they did. They agree not to develop it and do not have to pay taxes (or barely). Does not seem fair in any way, shape or form.

Get ready for the BULLDOZER Daphne Sloan!!!

IS THE "land conservation" listing irrevocable or is it just a tax dodge until they are ready to sell? Hmmmmmm!

Ive heard of the publishing about the ghost in one of the "historic" houses.

This lady I know read that publication when she was in college.