Planning commission recommends rezoning 20.4 acres on Brandy Road for All Site Contracting, with proffers

The Culpeper County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a comprehensive plan amendment and the rezoning of 20.438 acres of a 25.5-acre parcel on Brandy Road from agricultural/rural to Light Industrial, the commission chair said following the vote.

Richard Archie Burgess IV, owner of All Site Contracting and the applicant, told the commission he intends to subdivide the parcel into three lots, keep two residential lots and convert the remaining 20.438 acres to an industrial use for offices, equipment parking and materials storage. Burgess said his family’s businesses include construction, stormwater work and a concrete company, and that the site already contains a 7-acre conservation easement that will remain protected.

The vote follows a staff presentation by Warren, a county planning staff member, who showed a future land use map and zoning context and noted the parcel lies outside the urban service boundary but adjacent to existing commercial and industrial uses, including a state police facility. Warren told commissioners that state code requires rezoning decisions to be found in conformance with the comprehensive plan, which is why the applicant also requested an amendment to the future land use map for the property.

Commissioners focused their questions on traffic and operations, site protections and long-term precedent. The applicant said the site currently supports about 100 employees across associated businesses but declined to promise specific new hires; he described the proposed on-site garage as roughly 7,200 square feet and said outdoor-stored vehicles would be operational and that most heavy-equipment movements occur before morning peak traffic. The applicant agreed to add a proffer that would bar battery electric storage systems on the rezoned parcel and to proffer that no maintenance would be conducted in outdoor vehicle storage areas.

Several commissioners urged caution about changing the comprehensive plan for a single property. One commissioner warned that allowing a comp-plan amendment and rezoning in this case could set a precedent and urged that rezonings be approved only when they provide a “compelling and substantial benefit to the health, safety and welfare of all residents of Culpeper County.” Warren and other staff noted the commission must consider the full comprehensive plan—not only the future land use map—and recommended assessing whether surrounding uses and the proposal meet plan goals.

After discussion, Commissioner S3 moved to recommend approval of Case Z47225-1 and CPA-3-26-1 with the applicant’s amended proffers prohibiting battery energy storage systems on the property, requiring that outdoor-stored vehicles be operational and restricting outdoor vehicle maintenance; Commissioner S4 seconded. The commission raised hands in favor, the chair declared the motion carried and said the recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for final action.

The commission closed its regular session and moved into a scheduled work session following the vote. The Board of Supervisors will consider the commission’s recommendation at a later meeting; a date was not specified in the record.