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Church of God at Midland seeks special exceptions for worship, large annual events; staff details wastewater and access conditions
Summary
An applicant asked the planning commission for special exceptions to permit a 35,000‑sq‑ft church, regular services and a Class B multi‑day annual event; staff reported wastewater modeling, parking and traffic mitigation conditions and said the site falls short of the 100‑acre threshold for class‑B events so a findings process is required.
Staff presented a package for the Church of God at Midland on roughly 61 acres near the intersection of Catlett Road and Mets Road seeking a Category 6 special exception for a major place of worship and Category 9 special exceptions and a Class B special permit for extended events. The proposed main building is roughly 35,000 square feet with a 325‑seat auditorium, auxiliary facilities and an event pavilion; the applicant described scheduled services and occasional weddings, funerals and banquets.
Why it matters: the application requests class‑B event allowances on a property smaller than the zoning ordinance’s 100‑acre minimum for that event class; staff said the Board of Supervisors would need to find less restrictive standards would not harm public health, safety or welfare if approval were recommended.
Technical details: staff summarized a wastewater characterization that showed a weekly peak flow of about 3,650 gallons (average daily 521.4 gpd based on seats rather than people) and proposed a Sandrip system dosed at 600 gpd with a 4,000‑gallon holding tank; staff said the system should accommodate occasional weddings and banquets but certain conditions would be required, including required permits from the health department, traffic control, emergency plans, and approval of left/right turn lane improvements by VDOT before the use begins.
Commissioners asked for clarification about allowed hours, whether funerals were restricted (staff said funerals were not restricted), and whether the waste calculations matched the proposed schedule of events; staff said the applicant included additional capacity in its modeling and that the 600 gpd dosed system plus the 4,000‑gallon tank was a condition.
Next steps: the commission will hear public comment as part of the public hearing and may include recommended conditions addressing septic capacity, traffic and buffering if it forwards a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.
