BZA approves Amissville dog training facility
By a 3-2 vote the Rappahannock County Board of Zoning Appeals last Wednesday approved a special use permit to allow a dog training facility to operate on agricultural land in Amissville next to Narmada Winery.
The narrow approval for applicant Charlotte Wagner followed a public hearing lasting about more than an hour with many speakers voicing opinions in support and against the application. Those in favor included clients who lauded Wagner’s professionalism while those against raised issues of possible runoff issues, barking dog noise, allowing a commercial use to operate in an agricultural zone and whether approval would lead to more commercial uses in those zones.
The decision also came after several neighbors of the property where Wagner’s facility is planned to be located along U.S. Route 211 had consistently spoken out in opposition to the application as it made its way through the Rappahannock County Planning Commission for approval before coming before the BZA.
BZA Chair Ron Makela, Bill Tieckelmann and Stephanie Ridder approved the permit. Those in opposition were Julie Coonce and Sharon Pierce, BZA vice chairman.
The meeting kicked off with a discussion lasting nearly an hour about the definition of a kennel and how that applies to the application. Though Wagner’s application doesn’t plan to board dogs, her application falls under the county’s kennel ordinance and has been referred to as a one in official proceedings.
BZA Chair Ron Makela wondered how the county ordinance would apply in the Wagner case since dog owners would be bringing their animals for training and not leaving them for daytime boarding or overnight stays.
County Administrator Garrey Curry, in an email sent to BZA members on Feb. 15, said the zoning ordinance defines a kennel as “any place so designed that dogs cannot escape and where any number of animals are kept for the purpose of any commercial purpose or economic venture.”
While the BZA can consider the perceived impacts to the community in making a decision on the application “If the BZA, led by your analysis, denies the request due to your interpretation of what “kennel” should mean, when there is a clear definition in the zoning ordinance of what it does mean, the decision will be ripe for appeal,” Curry warned in an email reply to Makela.
Curry underscored that point during the public hearing. The county wasn’t taking a position on the merits of this particular application, he added.
The BZA also was advised over a phone call by attorney Michael Lockaby, who the board consults occasionally on legal questions.
Jackson Supervisor Ron Frazier, who spoke at the meeting as a member of the public, asked, “did you have authorization to hire legal counsel” and said “I’ve never seen anything quite like that discussion of a kennel.”
A back and forth exchange between Frazier and Makela became tense and led to Makela telling Frazier “you are out of order.” Makela asked the supervisor to sit down and he eventually did so.
Makela later explained that the BZA uses outside counsel rather than the county attorney because there would be a conflict if the county ever appealed a BZA action.
Coonce said she ultimately opposed the application because she believes the county code does not consider training centers as part of the definition of "ken-nel" and all of the standards defined in the ordinance for kennels are predicat-ed on animals being 'kept,' which does not apply to the special use permit that was in question.
Therefore, it would be impossible to make the required findings for approval, Coonce argued. She added that, “conversion of agricultural land to commercial use is completely counter to Principle 1 in the Comprehensive Plan, specifically encouraging that we ‘make’ land use decisions and plans that approve conversion of important farmland to non-farm use only if overriding public need exists to change the land use, existing developing areas cannot accommodate a proposed new use, or extenuating circumstances can be shown to exist.”
Pierce said she was voting against for the same reasons laid out by Coonce.
Ridder said there is “a need for economic activity while keeping the land’s rural nature.” She noted that much of the county’s land mass is zoned for agriculture or is under conservation easement. She said that the Board of Supervisors has provided a mechanism by allowing the granting of special exceptions or special permits. She said she believes it would be hard to find a proposal with less of a detrimental impact than Wagner’s.
To those who argued against allowing a commercial venture in an agricultural zone, Tieckelmann asked rhetorically “is there any agricultural activity that is not commercial?”
Before Wagner’s application arrived at the BZA, it was approved by the Planning Commission 5- 0 with two abstentions.
The BZA’s approval of her application came with a list of conditions, which include no overnight boarding; no tree buffer; and no training of police, detective or personal protection dogs. Its hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday.
The special use permit expires also with the sale of the business or property; protective fencing must remain around the dog training areas; buildings and parking areas must comply with all county staff recommendations; overnight boarding or breeding is prohibited; and pet waste disposal must be in accordance with U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for composting.
Wagner must also secure approval within a year of a septic plan that includes a flush toilet and hand sink and compliance with the lot and land layout plan as submitted.
Attorney Michael Brown, representing Wagner, said that there’s been a change in the handling of dog waste. It will be transported out rather than composted.
A timeline filed with Wagner’s application states that upon approval, she planned to begin work this spring or summer on creating a parking lot for the facility, upgrade the existing driveway, install fencing for the two outdoor yards for the dogs and plant trees along the property’s perimeter.
Work will continue in the spring and summer of 2023 with the construction of the 70 by 90 ft. pole building and work on the septic system and drain field
Wagner’s K9ology dog training center is located at 14397 Lee Highway. She is in the process of purchasing 22 acres of land at that address for the facility from former Stonewall-Hawthorne Supervisor Chris Parrish for $450,000.