Route 3 commercial project approved

By Catherine Amos

Published: September 3, 2008

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors met before a packed house Tuesday night as about 60 residents gathered to support a commercial project on Route 3 near the Culpeper-Orange county line.

Local lawyer Butch Davies represented Culpeper Panhandle, LLC before the board for its request to rezone more than 18 acres along Route 3 from agricultural to “village center” commercial. The county Planning Commission denied the request Aug. 13, but the board overrode that vote and unanimously approved the rezoning request. County staff also supported the project.

“There’s a feeling from the community of a serious need of services in that end of the county,” Davies said Wednesday. “What they didn’t like was going all the way to Lake of the Woods.”

Davies stood before the board and asked all those in attendance who supported the development to stand. The overwhelming majority of the crowd — about 60 residents from Richardsville, Lignum, Brandy Station and the surrounding area — rose as one to endorse the project.

Charlie Carter of the Carter Planning Group is designing the 18.5-acre parcel on the western side of Route 3. Plans for the project show 40,000 square feet of retail and office space to be developed in two phases. Carter said they had not yet established a timeline for the project and were currently working on attracting potential users.

Doug Myers, of Culpeper Panhandle, is heading the project. Davies described him and his partners as “all local,” with plenty of local support.

“We need something on our end of the county so we don’t have to go all the way to Orange County to spend our money,” county resident Wally Jenkins told the board during the public comment period Tuesday. Jenkins was one of many who spoke in support of the project.

Davies compared the project to the shopping center on Sperryville Pike that includes Foster’s Grille, GrayGhost Tactical, a bakery and convenience store, among other retailers.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing they want to put down there,” Davies said. “There’s an expectation of a gas station, a grocery, a hardware store, a sporting goods store catering to hunters. That kind of thing.”

John Egertson, director of the county’s planning department, said the planning commission voted 5-4 in August against the request because the future land use plan for the county shows the area as only agricultural.

“The majority (of the commission) I think generally felt that it was just not the right location,” he said. “They didn’t feel that it complied with the county comprehensive plan.

We (county staff) viewed the future land use plan as a general guideline but it was not the only thing to consider when we found compliance with the plan.”

Board Chairman Bill Chase, who represents the Stevensburg District, vehemently supported the Panhandle project. Supervisor Tom Underwood, Salem, and Vice Chairman Steve Nixon, West Fairfax, also voiced their praises for bringing retail to the eastern end of the county.

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .