County Planning Commission, up to full strength, endorses second new storage facility

The Warren County Planning Commission, finally up to full strength with the addition of its newest commission member, Kaylee Richardson of the South River District, met Wednesday night for its regular monthly meeting.

The County Planning Commission is fully manned again, ready to tackle a busy year in Warren County. Royal Examiner Photos by Stephen Sill

Although the agenda was extensive with three conditional use permits, 10 requests for authorization to advertise, and one site plan for approval, the meeting proceeded without any controversy.  No citizens made any presentations to the committee during non-agenda Public Comments, so Chairman Robert Myers launched into the public hearings portion of the meeting.

Three conditional use permits were requested for 9700 Court, LLC, regarding a commercially zoned site on the west side of Winchester Road, north of the Crooked Run Shopping Center, to build an enclosed storage facility, and an adjoining storage yard for cars, boats, and RVs.  The property is in the North River Magisterial District.  The commissioners had been given an extensive briefing at a previous meeting, so Planning Director Joe Petty provided a quick overview of the project, which will incorporate a 3-story climate-controlled building totaling 63,000 square feet, and to the rear of the property, an outside storage yard.  A second building of two stories, with the same ground footprint may be added later if business justifies it.

The third CUP request was necessitated by the Warren County Code requiring additional permitting if the size of the facility is projected to be over 50,000 s.f.  There were no public comments on the project for any of the three permit requests.  Commissioner Kersjes asked if the facility would be capable of storing antique or classic cars in the storage units.  The permit documents indicate that project representative did not address that question directly but did indicate that some ground floor units were designed for drive-up access with contractors in mind, so the issue could be addressed with the architects.  The planning director did say that the requirements of the permit for the outside storage area would include a provision that all vehicles be tagged and inspected to be stored there.  With no further discussion, the commission voted unanimously in all three cases to recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permits to the County Board of Supervisors.

The commission agreed to advertise public hearings for 10 Conditional Use Permits for its July meeting, which means that meeting will likely be a long one.  There were three applications for Conditional Use Permits for short-term tourist rentals.  John Suh is seeking a permit for his agriculturally zoned property at 515 Corron Drive in the Fork District, Neal Sutliff is seeking the same for his residentially zoned property at 1720 Khyber Pass Rd on the Happy Creek District, and Melissa Halko is requesting a permit for her property at 261 Sunset Village Rd in the Junewood development.  The commission approved all three for authorization to advertise public hearings.

Along with the rise in short term tourist rentals, review activities in the planning department of private use camping permits has led to a spike in applications for that use on lots used for recreational purposes.  Chad and Charleen Backstrom, Shawn and Christine Tsanganelias, and James Humphries have all applied for private-use camping CUPs for their properties on Burma Road in the North River District.  In addition, Randall Lewis and Monica Stover have requested a private-use camping permit for their property on Farms Riverview Road in the Shenandoah District.  All these properties are zoned R-1, and the Commission unanimously agreed to advertise for public hearings on the requests.

Mountaintop The Church at Skyline has applied for a CUP for a private school on their property at 7655 Stonewall Jackson Highway in the South River District.  The school would operate from August to May, Monday through Friday, and would accommodate 30 or fewer students.  It would not expand or change the existing use of the church.  The church was constructed in 1992, and that use was permitted by right prior to the adoption of the current ordinance.  The commission unanimously voted to approve the authorization to advertise the public hearing.

Ken Colton has requested a conditional use permit for the storage of cars, boats, and recreational vehicles on his industrial zoned property on Winners Court in the North River District.  The commission voted unanimously to approve advertising for that public hearing.

In an action of interest to residents of the Waterlick area, Kimberly Countryman has requested a CUP for a Country General Store at 4536 Strasburg Road in the North River District.  According to the applicant, it will serve as a country style neighborhood grocery, food carryout, with country gift items, homemade food and vintage items.  The hope is to reopen the store as it was operated prior to 2008.  The commission unanimously approved the authorization to advertise a public hearing on the proposal.

Five Nine Design group has submitted a plan for the commission review of a public utility storage structure at 5985 John Marshall Highway, and will be used to support an underground fiber optic network.  The structure will not include antennas, towers, or dishes on the site and will be surrounded by a fence and accessed only by service personnel.  It will sit between Interstate 66 and John Marshall Highway.  The commission voted unanimously to affirm that the structure was substantially in accord with the County’s Comprehensive Plan.

Planning Director Joe Petty reminded the commissioners that work on the County Comp Plan is scheduled to begin in earnest in July, and while it will be a major task, some work has already been completed.

‘What did I let myself in for?’ Newly appointed Planning Commissioner Kaylee Richardson concentrates on absorbing a lot of new information at her first regular meeting.

The members of the commission welcomed their newest colleague, Kaylee Richardson, who replaces Crystal Beall in the South River District.  Commissioner Richardson lives on a 32-acre farm in Bentonville, and grew up in Warren County.  She says she is looking forward to what she recognizes as a “lot of work” in helping the County exercise good stewardship over the resources we sometimes take for granted.

The Commission adjourned at 8:15 p.m.