Commission approves Pleasant Grove Farm short-term rental with 10-year term

The Goochland County Planning Commission voted 5-0 on Aug. 15 to recommend approval of a conditional-use permit for Pleasant Grove Farm LLC to operate an unhosted short-term rental at 4615 Old Fredericksburg Road.

Tom Coleman, the county’s principal planner, told the commission the application applies to a 103.92-acre property in the rural enhancement area and that the applicant removed a previous request for a place of public assembly so the case now addresses only an unhosted short-term rental. Coleman outlined staff-recommended conditions including limiting occupancy to 10 people, prohibiting parking on Old Fredericksburg Road, requiring smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, providing site access that meets fire-rescue and community-development standards, banning amplified music after 10 p.m., and prohibiting guests from discharging firearms or using fireworks. Coleman also said guests must be notified of key rules and that the standard five-year expiration was in the staff recommendation.

Mark McConnell, the property owner and applicant, said he and his wife live on the property and that the site has more than 40 on-site parking spaces; he asked the commission to extend the permit term to 10 years so the owners would not need to reapply frequently. "Five years goes by in no time at all," McConnell said, adding that the couple and neighbors have systems to address any problems and that they may later pursue a place-of-public-assembly request if the operation is successful.

A commissioner moved to amend the staff recommendation by changing the CUP expiration from five years to 10 years; the motion to recommend approval as amended carried on a roll-call vote of 5-0.

The commission’s approval applies the conditions presented by staff with the single change to the permit term. The action was recorded as a recommendation from the planning commission; the county’s next procedural steps for this CUP will follow the planning commission’s final administrative tasks and any required Board of Supervisors review per county practice.

Details recorded in the staff report noted the CUP is required by county zoning ordinance section 15.1.0.2 in accordance with section 15.2.85.G and that the site is adjacent to Haysville Estates, Haysville Farms and the Midpoint Industrial Park. The application had been deferred at the July 18 meeting and a community meeting was held earlier in April where staff reported general support among attendees for the short-term rental proposal.