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Board approves temporary campground permit for Hodges while bed-and-breakfast is built
Summary
The Board granted a special-exception permit allowing four temporary glamping tents on Wesley Hodges’s property while a bed-and-breakfast is constructed, with conditions that the tents be removed when a certificate of occupancy is issued or by Oct. 31, 2025.
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors conditionally approved a special-exception permit Oct. 11 allowing a temporary campground of up to four tents on property owned by Wesley A. Hodges in the Fincastle magisterial district while construction of a planned bed-and-breakfast proceeds.
Why it matters: The tents are intended as interim lodging for customers of Mr. Hodges’s fly-fishing and outdoor-guiding business while the permanent bed-and-breakfast is under construction; staff and the applicant agreed to conditions designed to limit duration and impact.
Staff explained the use is intended to be temporary and noted that the property was previously the subject of a zoning violation when tents and platforms were placed in floodplain near the river; those structures have been removed. The special-exception permit limits the temporary campground to four tents and associated platforms and requires removal of the tents upon issuance of a final certificate of occupancy for the planned bed-and-breakfast or by Oct. 31, 2025, whichever comes first. The permit also requires substantial conformance to the conceptual site plan and compliance with the county noise ordinance and other relevant provisions.
Wesley Hodges, who owns and operates a fly-fishing business on the property, told the board the tents are not backpacking tents but four-walled canvas “glamping” tents intended to provide safe overnight lodging without cooking devices: “They are 4 walled canvas tents known as glamping tents. In those tents, you know, it's they're safe. There's no fire, I guess you'd say, incineration devices, no stoves, nothing like that. Just beds, mattresses, and a place for people to put their head while they fish and or hunt with us.”
Staff and the applicant emphasized the temporary nature of the use; the tents must be removed when the bed-and-breakfast receives a final certificate of occupancy or by the stated deadline. The board voted to approve the permit as recommended by the planning commission.
What’s next: Mr. Hodges may operate the four temporary campsites under the conditions; the county will enforce the removal timeline and compliance with site-plan and noise rules. If the bed-and-breakfast construction is delayed beyond the deadline, the tents must be removed by Oct. 31, 2025, per the condition.
Sources: Presentation and testimony at the Oct. 11 Botetourt County Board of Supervisors public hearing; planning staff presentation (Jonathan McCoy); testimony by Wesley A. Hodges.
