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Board reviews special-exception request to adapt former New Baltimore Fire Hall for contractor office and technical school
Summary
The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors heard a staff presentation on a special-exception application to adapt the former New Baltimore Fire Hall for a contractor’s office and an indoor technical school; the planning commission recommended approval 4–1 with conditions focused on hours, parking and bans on outdoor storage and activities.
The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors received a staff presentation on a special-exception application to reuse the former New Baltimore Fire Hall as a contractor’s office and an indoor technical school, with an adjacent house used as a small business office. The planning commission recommended approval, 4–1, subject to conditions limiting hours, banning outdoor storage and prohibiting outdoor activities.
Planning staff described the site at 5303 and 5317 Lee Highway and summarized the proposal: a contractor’s office on the ground floor with up to six employees and indoor storage only, and an indoor technical school in the basement level with two class sessions per day, up to three instructors per session and a future target enrollment of up to 25 students per session. The applicant proposed 39 parking spaces across the parcels and said it will use three 15-passenger vans for student transport when needed to reduce parking demand. The applicant also proposed removing two existing gravel access points off Lee Highway and using the existing concrete entrance on Grays Mill Road as the sole access; staff and VDOT recommended closure of the unsafe Lee Highway entrance.
Planning staff recommended a package of conditions intended to limit impacts: hours restricted to the applicant’s requested schedule (contractor office 8:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday–Saturday; school 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily), a 30-minute gap between class sessions to ease parking turnover, mandatory use of shared vans when classes exceed 15 students, prohibition on outdoor activities and outdoor storage, required landscape buffers and a security gate design that does not block public right-of-way during large-vehicle maneuvers.
Board members who spoke said that removing outdoor activities and storage and limiting hours addressed many concerns; others asked staff and VDOT to ensure the single Grays Mill Road entrance met safety standards. The item remained in discussion at the work session; no vote on the special exception was recorded during the meeting.
