County Supervisors Have Far Ranging Budget, Zoning Code, and Comp Plan Update Work Session

At a two-phased work session on Tuesday, January 14, the Warren County Board of Supervisors first heard budgetary requests based on parameters of projected work loads in the coming Fiscal Year-2025/26 from four outside agency contractors of five scheduled to appear. Those were in order of appearance: 1/ the Phoenix Project, provider of rescue and residential services to people who are experiencing domestic, sexual, and stalking violence (1:15 Linked County video mark); 2/ Winchester Airport (11:49 video mark); 3/ the Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District (26:11 video mark); and 4/ The Warren County Public Health Department (welcomed by the chairman at 1:19:49 video mark).

Phoenix Project Director Avery Harper explains the range of services, often of an emergency nature, including safe residential accommodations provided to people, including family members, facing domestic, sexual, and stalking violence. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

The Humane Society of Warren County was not present as scheduled. In fact, during this 5 p.m. convened portion of the work session, neither was the Warren County Public Health Department initially when the call went out for them to be the final outside agency reporting at 5:50 p.m.

However, Health Department representatives did arrive to make their presentation about a half hour later at 6:22 p.m. (1:20:08 video mark) after Deputy County Administrator Jane Meadows had filled the gap with an early start to the report on internal matters, beginning with the County Fire & Rescue Department Strategic Plan (51:06 video mark).

The Health Department duo of Terra Blakely and LeAnn Sweeney described a wide-ranging group of medical and public health services provided by their department, including the Community Health Assessment represented in center graphic projection.

The Health Department’s detailed report completed, a brief break was called as the 7 p.m. convening time of the second phase of the work session approached. That section was dedicated to in-house departmental financial requests (beginning at 2:00:40 video mark); and staff-generated County Code Text Amendment suggestions (beginning at 2:14:25 video mark); and the Planning Department and Planning Commission updates on the County Comprehensive Plan (beginning TIME video mark).

Right around 7 p.m., first Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Maiatico completed the departmental report on EMS Equipment Acquisition (2:00:40 mark, as noted above), followed by Chief James Bonzano’s report on 2025 Emergency Medical Care and Transport Fee Schedule Changes (2:11:00 video mark), which was slated to open the second half of the work session.

As Deputy Fire & Rescue Chief Gerry Maiatico addresses EMS Equipment Acquisition, Chief James Bonzano, seated front row, await his turn to address departmental fee schedule changes. And behind the chief, Planning Commission Vice-Chair Hugh Henry waits to hear the board discussion about his commission’s recommendation of northside environmentally friendly Comp Plan Option 3.

Suggested Text Amendments

Following Fire & Rescue to the podium was County Zoning Administrator Chase Lenz on the first Text Amendment item called by the Chairman, a request “to amend Chapter 180 of the Warren County Code to amend §180-63 to modify the termination, expiration, extension, and re-application procedures for uses authorized by a Conditional Use Permit” (2:14:25 video mark). Lenz went on describe the initiative to put a 3-year- time limit on such uses once authorized by issuance of a CUP by the board to begin that use, or to initiate a restart of the use once it was stopped by the operator after being initiated.

“The main purpose of this text amendment is to separate the expiration of a Conditional Use Permit from the established termination procedures, so that Conditional Use Permis can be expired administratively without having to pursue a lengthy and costly public hearing process,” Lenz told the board.

South River Supervisor Cheryl Cullers questioned some of the impacts on non-Short-Term Rental businesses that require Conditional Use Permitting, observing “that not all CUPs are Short-Term Rentals.” Culler noted that the board didn’t want to put undue restrictions on a wide variety of other businesses authorized by CUPs.

Next Lenz presented a proposed Text Amendment request to amend Chapter 180 of the Warren County Code to amend §180-8C to add a definition for adult business, to enact §180-27D(21) to make adult businesses permissible only by conditional use permit in the Commercial zoning district, to enact §180-28D(23) to make adult businesses permissible only by conditional use permit in the Industrial zoning district, to amend §180-63C to add supplemental procedures for adult businesses, and to amend §180-63D to add supplemental standards for adult businesses (2:56:49 video mark).

“Let me start by confirming that we have not received any applications related to establishing an adult business in Warren County,” Lenz began, adding, “This is being requested by planning staff as a recommendation of the county attorney. The text amendment is pre-emptive in nature so that the County will have procedures and standards for adult businesses in place should an application to establish an adult business be received in the future.”

Lenz observed that, “The purpose of this proposed amendment is to add a definition to make adult businesses permissable only by Conditional Use Permit in the Commercial and Industrial zoning districts, and to set legal criteria for denial of a Conditional Use Permit for an adult business to avoid potential legal challenges under the 1st Amendment.”

After Lenz’s introduction to the text amedment proposal Chairman Butler said he had initially thought the text amendment involved a broader spectrum for “adults versus kids”, as in the nature of age restrictions for a variety of things including smoking, vaping, or drinking alcohol. Then Butler added, “Now I know what it is,” drawning this response from Zoning Administrator Lenz, “Generally, businesses with retail items that are sexual in nature.”

During discussion Lenz pointed out that Warren was the only county within a fairly wide regional area that didn’t have such a protective code allowing legal denial of the specific business use of distribution of sexually explicit material.

With the criteria and legal limitations without such a code in place spelled out, it appeared the board was more receptive to the proposed amendment than they had been initially.

The WC BOS ponders what it is hearing about budget needs of contracted service providers in the next Fiscal Year 2025/26. A warning shot was fired across those budget bows by Fork District Supervisor Vicky Cook, far right, who prefaced the presentations with a warning about unfriendly County revenue/expenditure projections in coming years indicating a trend toward revenue shortfalls.

Following that discussion the board got to a review of suggested changes to the update of the County Comprehensive Plan made at a series of meetings in November and December, culminating with a second round of public comments and resultant Planning Commission discussion at its January 8th public hearing on the matter (3:05:16 video mark).

Staff Planner Kelly Wahl reviewed the evolution of newly suggested changes, and was joined by Planning Director Matt Wendling in forwarding the overview of current thoughts on the update’s structure in presenting a guideline to future developmental decisions in the coming five years plus.

“At the Planning Commission public hearing held on January 8, Mr. Kersjes moved to adopt a Resolution of the 2024 Comprehensive Plan, which was seconded by Mr. Henry,” Wahl said with a gesture Henry’s way seated in the public gallery, continuing, “and passed by the Commission by a vote of five to zero.

“This will be on the Consent Agenda for authorization to advertise on January 21st,” Wahl noted of the adjusted Comp Plan update’s return to the supervisors for a final vote of approval.

County Planner Kelly Wahl introduces adjustments to the County Comp Plan review since the supervisors last had it on their action agenda, as Planning Director Matt Wendling listens. Below, Wendling is up and addressing adjusted chart graphics illustrating changes suggested over the past two-and-a-half months of review and public, staff, and commission comments as Wahl listens.

Readers will recall the Planning Commission’s recommendation in the wake of its January 8 public hearing was of Option 3. That option suggested much of the north-side Corridor zoning remain as it is, without any switches from existing Agricultural or Residential to Industrial or Commercial north of the Family Dollar distribution center on Fairgrounds Road due to physical land issues and past promises that the remainder of the Route 340/522 North Corridor would remain essentially Industrial or large Commercial free.

See the balance of the board back and forth with staff on the existing status of the Comp Plan recommendations beginning at the 3:08:07 linked County video mark, concluding at the 4:20:30 mark.

Click here to watch the Warren county Board of Supervisors Work Session of January 14, 2025.