BOS modifies short-term rental rules

Sperryville monopole to be repainted next week

At its first regular meeting after Governor Ralph Northam’s statewide order to stay at home during the COVID-19 crisis, the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors this week amended emergency language regarding short-term rentals.

The board communicated with each other and the public through Zoom, an internet video conferencing app.

The language in the emergency ordinance adopted by the board on March 30 prohibits “the rental of a hotel room, motel room, room(s)inaB&B, tourist home, rental housing unit, condominium, RV campsite, primitive campsite, rental cabin, or similar accommodation for less than thirty (30) consecutive days.”

However, after hearing from constituents in the Rappahannock business community, Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson and Wakefield Supervisor

Debbie Donehey suggested a change to the language: to remove the restriction on advertising short-term rentals during the emergency.

“Even though the B&Bs and tourist homes can’t have visitors while we’re in an emergency,” said Donehey, “they and we all hope that tourism rebounds [afterward]. They need to be allowed to take reservations for the future. [In the event of an extended emergency], any business can call back to that customer and say, ‘Sorry, we’re going to have to delay it again.’ But [by allowing them to make reservations] they can plan for July and August and October and hope to rebound their business.”

Whitson gave a shout out to Theresa Wood, the president of Businesses of Rappahannock.

“Theresa served as a good advocate for her [short-term rental] members,” Whitson said, “and pointed out to us that as written [the ordinance somewhat limited what those businesses could do].”

The board voted unanimously to adopt the amended ordinance, which also includes provisions for owners of short-term rentals to make the dwellings

available to family members.

Under the provisions of the emergency ordinance, the board can only conduct essential business, defined as “those items without the passage of which the public interest would be irrevocably harmed.”

Because of that requirement, Monday’s meeting — at just over one hour — was refreshingly short and efficient. Certain items, such as committee reports, that didn’t seem like essential business were included in the agenda. County Administrator Garrey Curry explained during the meeting that although those items would not be addressed by the board, they were included for transparency and for an official archive of the county’s business.

The only citizen to speak at the meeting, Paige Glennie of Amissville, objected to the payment of an invoice to

Walker-Jones, a local law firm, whose attorney Mike Brown had worked on the case of Marian Bragg v the Board of Supervisors of Rappahannock County. Filed in September 2016, Bragg’s petition alleged that the BOS violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during closed meetings to select a County Attorney.

Glennie said the description of the $718.25 invoice (out of a total check run of almost $494,000) was for reviewing talking points for a March 13, 2020 meeting. “What talking points?” he asked. He went on to speculate that the March 13 meeting was a Rappahannock News interview with County Attorney Art Goff and Deputy County Attorney Peter Luke about the Bragg case.

Jackson Supervisor Ron Frazier took up the same argument later in the meeting when the board considered accounts payable for March and April. Frazier even wondered whether approving the payment of invoices was essential business. Curry reminded him that state law requires prompt payment.

The board voted three-to-two in favor of approving the accounts payable, including the Walker-Jones invoice. Frazier and Board Chair Christine Smith both abstained.

In other business, Curry reported that the repainting of the Sperryville monopole would start next week.