Supervisors Approve 4 Short-term Rentals, Get Update on Public Schools Developments, and Greet New Administrator

As to items on its September 16th Open Meeting agenda, the Warren County Board of Supervisors had four public hearings on Conditional Use Permit (CUP) applications for Short-term Tourist Rentals, all of which were approved by either 4-0 or 3-1 votes, Cullers dissenting on the 3-1 votes.

There was also a lengthy, initially 16-item Consent Agenda to which there were 4 late additions made. The Consent Agenda was approved as amended by a unanimous 4-0 vote. The full Consent Agenda is available on the County website under BOS “Agendas & Minutes”.

The supervisors also heard an update on Public School issues from Interim Superintendent David Martin (beginning at 6:34 linked County video mark). Martin opened by acknowledging the first “Standing Ovations” acknowledgment of the Warren County Middle School FFA (Future Farmers of America) group’s national recognition. A little online research indicated that “FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education.”

Interim Public Schools Superintendent David Martin updated the supervisors on School business, initiatives, and budget preparation for public release. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

Martin told the board that the Warren County Middle School FFA “Made history by earning the National Chapter Award for Gold rating with three stars. This is the highest honor a chapter can receive from the National FFA organization. And this is the first time in Warren County’s history that any FFA chapter has achieved this distinction.”

Martin also acknowledged a “Three Cheers Standing Ovation” award to School Resource Officer (SRO) Deputy Brown for voluntarily buying a high school student a bicycle with a functioning seat to replace the one the student had been riding to school daily without one.

The interim superintendent also prioritized capital improvement needs, including dealing with high school tennis team courts suffering from beneath the surface ground issues. Martin also noted a reduction this year in unfilled full-time positions, now down to 11 from considerably more as the previous school year kicked off, Martin said he has been told. Martin also recognized staff initiatives.

The interim superintendent also invited supervisors for a bus tour of school facilities and alerted them to free passes to all schools’ athletic events in order to form a closer bond with the public schools they oversee.

Public Hearings

As to the four public hearings on Short-term Tourist Rental Conditional Use Permit (CUP) applications, below are excerpts from the staff agenda summaries of those applications and board votes.

615. 1st Public Hearing – CUP2025-07-01 – Short-Term Tourist Rental – 116 Mossy Rock Lane – A request for a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental. The property is located at 116 Mossy Rock Lane and is identified on tax map 24B, block 120, as lot 615. The property is zoned Residential-One (R-1) and is located in the Shenandoah Magisterial District. – Staff summary, Kelly Wahl, Planner

Agenda Packet photo of 116 Mossy Rock Lane

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental for the property he purchased in September of 2022. The owner would like to make the property available for short-term lodging for visitors of the Warren County area seeking peace in nature. The property will be managed by a neighbor, Morgan Harris, who resides approximately 500 feet away.

PROPERTY HISTORY

This property has not had any previous conditional use permits issued for uses in the Residential-One zoning district. The dwelling was constructed in 1983, and there are no active zoning violations on file for this property. The owner applied for a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental for the property in October of 2023, but the application was denied in February of 2024 by the Board of Supervisors. The owner of the property intends to install noise alert devices to help control noise levels.

COMPATIBILITY WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:

The Future Land Use Map in the Comprehensive Plan identifies this area to be used for residential land uses. A short-term tourist rental is a use allowed by a conditional use permit in the Residential-One zoning district and is compatible with the current Warren County Zoning Ordinance.

Despite one public hearing comment against the application by John Jenkins, who noted he is against all Short-term Tourist Rental applications in R-1 zoning districts, on a motion by Jamieson and seconded by the remotely connected Supervisor Stanmeyer, the CUP was approved by a 3-1 vote, Cullers dissenting.

297. 2nd Public Hearing – CUP2025-07-03 – Short-Term Tourist Rental – 588 High Top Road – A request for a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental. The property is located at 588 High Top Road and is identified on tax map 23C, section 2, block 2, as lot 297. The property is zoned Residential-One (R-1) and is located in the Shenandoah Magisterial District. – Kelly Wahl, Planner

PLANNING COMMISSION STATUS:

The Planning Commission held a public hearing for this item on August 13, 2025. Mr. Henry moved to forward this application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval. The motion was seconded by Mr. Kersjes and passed by the Planning Commission by a vote of 4-0.

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

The applicants are requesting a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental for the property they recently constructed. The owners would like to make the property available for short-term lodging to offer a peaceful retreat to visitors of Warren County and contribute to Warren County’s tourism economy. The applicant will manage the property directly with assistance from a local cleaner, Tammy, with Cleaning Your Chaos, LLC.

588 High Top Road

Despite one opposition speaker, Kathleen Mancini, who pointed out the involved structure appeared to be constructed specifically for use as a Short-term Tourist Rental, again on a motion by Jamieson, seconded by Stanmeyer, the CUP application was approved by a 3-1 vote, Cullers dissenting.

630. 3rd Public Hearing – CUP2025-07-04 – Short-Term Tourist Rental – 241 Old Oak Ln. – A request for a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental. The property is located at 241 Old Oak Lane and is identified on tax map 15E, section 2, block 2, as lot 630. The property is zoned Residential-One (R-1) and is located in the Shenandoah Farms – Mountain Lake subdivision in the Shenandoah Magisterial District – Chase Lenz, Zoning Administrator

PLANNING COMMISSION STATUS:

The Planning Commission held a public hearing for this item on August 13, 2025. Mr. Kersjes moved to forward this application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval. The motion was seconded by Mr. Henry and passed by the Planning Commission by a vote of 4-0.

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental for the property he purchased in April of 2025. The owner would like to make the property available for short-term lodging for tourists and visitors of the Warren County area. The applicants will serve as the primary property managers with assistance from a local point of contact.

241 Old Oak Lane

PROPERTY HISTORY

No previous conditional use permits have been applied for or approved for the subject property. The dwelling was constructed in 1975.

On a motion by Stanmeyer, seconded by Jamieson, the application was also approved by a 3-1 vote, Cullers dissenting.

1. 4th Public Hearing – CUP2025-07-05 – Short-Term Tourist Rental – 208 River Oak Drive – A request for a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental. The property is located at 208 River Oak Drive and is identified on tax map 35B, section 2, as lot C. The property is zoned Agricultural (A) and is located in the South River Magisterial District. – Kelly Wahl , Planner

PLANNING COMMISSION STATUS:

The Planning Commission held a public hearing for this item on August 13, 2025. Mr. Henry moved to forward this application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval. The motion was seconded by Mr. Kersjes and passed by the Planning Commission by a vote of 4-0.

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

The applicant is requesting a conditional use permit for a short-term tourist rental on behalf of his mother for the property she purchased in 2016. Due to unforeseen familial needs, the owner is not able to spend much time at the property and  would like to make the property available for short-term rental to visitors wishing to decompress and reconnect with the Shenandoah Valley while not being used by her family. The property will be managed by a local property manager, Suzana Diaz Jimenez.

208 River Oak Drive

PROPERTY HISTORY

No previous conditional use permits have been issued for the subject property for land uses in the Agricultural (A) zoning district. The dwelling was constructed in 2003 and no zoning violations have been recorded for the property.

On a motion by Jamieson, seconded by Cullers, the application was approved by a unanimous 4-0 vote.

County Administrator’s Report   

Bradley Gotshall took the County Administrator’s staff seat next to County Attorney Jason Ham at his first meeting since being hired to replace the retiring Ed Daley. Daley, who is slated to stay on briefly in a support position to help his replacement get oriented, was not present.

Gotshall introduced himself and gave an overview of his first week on the job, during which he became familiarized with both board members and county staff, as well as getting out of his office for a majority of that first week to become familiarized with, not only staff, but the physical nature of his new county work environment.

Pennsylvania native Bradley Gotshall introduced himself and described his first week on the job as the new County Administrator. Below is the new look at the County Administrator/County Attorney staff table.

See Gotshall’s initial board meeting comments, along with the full discussions of the above-cited topics and other business, not to mention the public/board member library-driven hostilities described in our lead story, in the linked County video.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. in the wake of Fork District School Board candidate George Cline’s negative appraisal of Supervisor Jamieson’s presentation attempting to justify the current supervisor’s majority decision to defund Samuels Public Library. Cline’s comments begin at the 1:48:52 County video mark.

Library dispute revisited

Just in case you missed our lead story on the September 16 supervisors meeting, Cline was among those who spoke aggressively against Jamieson’s Board Report allegations against Samuels Library staff and Board of Trustees. (Citizens Respond aggressively to Supervisor Jamieson’s Latest Chapter of ‘I’m Right, you’re Wrong’ on Library issues) —

Cline questioned Jamieson on the necessity of repeating his perspective on library issues that night, calling it unnecessary repetition of a highly disputed case he has been repeating for the past year: “You’re just throwing more gas on a fire that we don’t need. And I have to believe it’s part of your arrogance. You live in your community but you don’t live in ours,” Cline said of Jamieson’s insistence he is representing an unheard-from amount of citizens agreeing with his financial unaccountability contention against Samuels Library that has repeatedly been countered is not supported by facts, by Samuels patrons, supporters, staff, and Trustees who have dominated public attendance at meetings where library issues were up for debate.

Fork District School Board candidate George Cline confronted Supervisor Jamieson over his 19-minute graphics-assisted presentation, reasserting his stated perspective that Samuel’s Library supporters and officials are the real villains in the library defunding debate.

“You live in your community, but you don’t live in ours … It’s really sad that you have your own little group, but you don’t follow our community, you’re not there,” Cline asserted of what many Samuels Library supporters believe to be a religiously driven, censorship-motivated group to defund the library over LGBTQ content. That perspective was initially raised in 2023, during the “Clean Up Samuels” initiative that included some self-identified religiously motivated individuals.

Closed Session

But back to other matters, the Tuesday, September 16th, supervisors’ meeting opened at 6:30 p.m. with a Closed/Executive session. A pending property transaction was cited in the motion into closed as the session’s lone topic: “… I further move the Board enter into a closed meeting under the provisions of Section 2.2 3711(A)(3) for the discussion or consideration of the disposition of publicly held real property, such real property being 0 Hillidge Street …”

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of September 16, 2025.