Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Powhatan board amends rural event-venue standards to allow case-by-case CUP adjustments
Summary
Supervisors approved an amendment to the Countywide Zoning Ordinance (O2025-529) keeping a 10‑acre minimum for rural event venues but allowing standards such as setback distances and amplified-music rules to be modified through conditional use permits; the vote was 5–0.
The Board of Supervisors on Sept. 5 approved an amendment to the county27s zoning ordinance that preserves the 10‑acre minimum for rural event venues but allows limited standards (for example, distance-to-residence setbacks or restrictions on outdoor amplified music) to be adjusted during a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) process.
Planning Director Ligon Webb said the change responds to two different citizen requests: one seeking limited outdoor amplified-music allowances and another seeking somewhat reduced setback distances for small-scale venues. Webb said the amendment adds a new provision to allow items 2–5 of the rural-event-venue standards to be modified as part of the CUP review while retaining the 10‑acre threshold.
Board members asked how the amendment interacts with the countywide noise ordinance (11 p.m. curfew) and whether neighbors would be notified. Webb said the existing noise ordinance would still apply statewide and that any modification would be accompanied by specific CUP conditions and clear public notice so neighbors could comment. Chuck Keck, who owns a large east‑end property, spoke in favor and said prior family operations had hosted weddings and receptions on the site.
The board took a roll‑call vote and approved Ordinance O2025‑529, 5–0. Planning staff will implement the amendment and apply it to future CUP requests for rural event venues.
