Planners advance permit for Chester Gap church to use outdoor lot for events
The Rappahannock County Planning Commission last Wednesday advanced a request for a special use permit to allow Chester Gap Baptist Church to use a 24 acre lot it owns near Headwaters Road for outdoor events.
The planning commission conducted a preliminary review of the application at its Wednesday meeting, then voted 3-2 to hold a public hearing next month.
Members Mary Katherine Ishee, of Piedmont District, Rick Kohler, of Jackson District, Gary Light, of Stonewall-Hawthorne District and Stephanie Ridder, Board of Zoning Appeals representative, all voted to hold the public hearing, while Keir Whitson, Board of Supervisors representative, Alvin Henry, of Hampton District and Brian Scheulen, of Wake eld District, opposed it.
Whitson later explained that he felt “The application was straightforward, the plans for the property seemed reasonable and all of our questions were answered. I thought it appropriate to send the application on to the [Board of Zoning Appeals] with recommen
dation for approval. I voted ‘no’ because requiring a hearing at both the Planning Commission and the BZA seemed excessive to me under the circumstances.”
Henry likewise later questioned
“why the need for two [hearings] for this simple application.”
The planning commission makes recommendations and doesn’t have the nal say on applications. A special use permit application goes rst to the planning commission and then to the Board of Zoning Appeals for nal approval. The planning commission makes a recommendation to the BZA for or against an application or takes no position and can choose to hold a public hearing.
The BZA holds public hearings on applications regardless of whether the planning commission does. Ishee has spoken in the past against fast-tracking an application to the BZA without a public hearing and has abstained on votes when a majority favors sending applications to the BZA without one.
The majority of the planning commission in the Chester Gap Baptist Church application opted to hold a public hearing to give neighbors and others a chance to weigh in.
Pastor Roger Orman, who was present at Wednesday’s meeting, said: “We’re trying to follow the rules, so that nobody comes back later to say we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Orman said the larger parcel of land the church owns on Headwaters Road can accommodate several outdoor events such as its harvest festival that its church property at 41 Waterfall Road can’t.
According to the application, events such as picnics, youth activities, Easter services, vacation Bible school will be held on the 24 acre vacant lot. A building isn’t proposed, though a tent might be needed for some events. Orman was told a permit would be required for a tent depending on its size.
The planning commission also made a recommendation of approval to the BZA for a special use permit to convert a long vacant building at 742 Main St. outside the Town of Washington
into a tourist home. The applicants are John and Diane MacPherson, former owners of the Foster Harris House bed and breakfast and Three Blacksmiths.
The structure is the former fellowship hall of First Baptist Church. The MacPhersons plan to landscape the property, renovate the building, and use it as a short-term rental property. John MacPherson told the planning commission that he and his wife plan to live in the building once they sell their home in Woodville a er their son moves out.
Ishee and Kohler abstained from voting on the measure without a public hearing by the planning commission.
The body also recommended approval to the BZA on an application to use an existing building on the grounds of Narmada Winery at 39 Narmada Ln. in Amissville as a one-bedroom tourist home.
In 2006, the winery received a special use permit to use the structure as an e ciency apartment. It is currently unoccupied. The county sta recommended that two people be the occupancy cap and that there not be food service. The permit terminates if the property is sold.
The planning commission voted 6-1 to send the Narmada application directly to the BZA with a recommendation for approval. Ishee voted against, explaining she felt that more information on the application was needed.
In other matters, a public hearing on a proposed ordinance amendment involving golf driving ranges couldn’t be held at Wednesday’s meeting because a public hearing notice wasn’t reissued a er cancellation of the February planning commission meeting, according to Whitson.
Rather than adjourn, the body decided to resume its meeting at 6 p.m. on April 6 at the Rappahannock County Courthouse for further discussion about a proposed sign ordinance amendment.
e commission also made a recommendation of approval to the BZA for a special use permit to convert a long vacant building at 742 Main St. outside the Town of Washington into a tourist home. e applicants are John and Diane MacPherson, former owners of the Foster Harris House and ree Blacksmiths.