Planning commission, supervisors approve restoration of B‑1 uses for Seminole Trail property

Planning commissioners recommended and the Board of Supervisors approved restoring the full set of by‑right B‑1 business uses for a Seminole Trail property owned by Josh Heggie, after the applicant told the boards his business needs changed since a prior rezoning decision.

Heggie sought recovery of the B‑1 uses on the parcel identified in meeting materials as Tax Map 30‑2‑12. The planning staff recommended approval, saying the application “closely align[s] with our development goals as a county.” The planning commission voted 5‑1 to recommend approval; Commissioner Pete Elliott recorded the lone vote against that recommendation at the planning commission meeting.

At a joint meeting, the Board of Supervisors moved to approve the planning commission recommendation; the board’s motion was seconded and carried (vote not specified in the transcript). The file name used in meeting materials for the rezoning/restore request was RZ‑10‑30‑24‑01.

In public remarks at the planning commission hearing, Heggie described his business, Shenandoah Homestead Supply, and said the company had relied heavily on an American‑made glass milk bottle product that accounted for roughly 80% of revenue before low‑cost copies appeared online. “This product was selling to home makers and kitchens all over the U.S…. We were selling 8 to 10,000 of them per month,” Heggie said, and later described that sales of that line fell to “about 10% or less,” prompting the request to restore B‑1 uses so he could broaden merchandising and storage options.

Planning staff told the commission the application had been considered at prior workshops and that the rezoning from a conditionally approved B‑1 back to standard B‑1 would permit the uses Heggie seeks. Commissioners discussed whether placing many conditions on a B‑1 rezoning can be disadvantageous; one commissioner said the parcel is not currently buildable under state code and declined to support approval on that basis, but the majority voted to recommend approval.

The Board of Supervisors accepted the planning commission’s recommendation at the joint session.

The decision restores by‑right business options for the property; no additional conditions or implementation steps were recorded in the transcript. The planning commission noted the item had been considered in two prior workshops before the hearings recorded in the transcript.