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Scottsville landowner seeks permit to expand agritourism events on James Riverfront
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Summary
George Goodwin told the Buckingham County Planning Commission he wants a special‑use permit to expand agritourism at his Scottsville riverfront farm — hosting small dinners, partnered river tours and occasional funerals or weddings — with VDOT‑approved ingress, a traffic analysis and an attendance cap to be set at public hearing.
George Goodwin, a Scottsville resident, asked the Buckingham County Planning Commission to approve a special‑use permit (case 26SUP368) to expand agritourism operations on his James Riverfront property.
Goodwin said the proposal would build on an existing Airbnb and campground operation and would include small dinners (about 20–30 attendees), partnered river‑cruise events with the James River Bateau operator and occasional small weddings or family funerals. He told commissioners the property has “several thousand feet of riverfrontage” and that larger events would use shuttle buses or arranged parking in Scottsville rather than driving large vehicles up the hill to the primary house.
Commissioners pressed the applicant on ingress and egress safety. Commissioner Pete asked the applicant to formally limit or prohibit use of a tight hilltop driveway for event traffic and to show the location of any secondary gravel entrance the applicant planned to use; Goodwin said the alternate entrance is at the gravel piles near an AT&T substation and that VDOT has approved that location for regular use. Staff also indicated a traffic‑impact analysis (Brian Locker) would be available before next month’s public hearing.
The applicant and staff disagreed in places about attendee ceilings: Goodwin mentioned 130 attendees in discussion, while staff materials included a 150‑person maximum; commissioners asked staff and the applicant to reconcile that figure before the public hearing and said any final cap should be included as a condition. The commission also discussed sanitary provisions and tent lighting for evening events; Goodwin said tent lighting would be battery powered and that hand‑wash/portable sanitation would be provided.
After questioning and clarifications, a motion to set the case for public hearing next month carried unanimously. The planning commission asked staff to ensure the traffic analysis and any recommended conditions about ingress, maximum attendance, signage and parking are included in the public‑hearing packet.
What happens next: The commission set case 26SUP368 for public hearing; staff expects a traffic study before that hearing and asked the commission to submit suggested conditions in time for advertising.
