Planning commission backs rezoning and conditional permit for At Ease Retreat lodge resort

The Rockbridge County Planning Commission on Jan. 14 recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a zoning map amendment and a special-exception permit for At Ease Retreat (owner Linda Schatz) to expand lodging at the historic Osceola Mill site in Vesuvius.

Chair Tom called the public hearing on the rezoning application and staff explained the site is a 6.12-acre parcel on the west side of Tyre River Turnpike (tax map 41-a-5a) currently split between R‑1 general residential (about 4.42 acres) and A‑2 agricultural/general use (about 1.7 acres). The commission voted to recommend rezoning the R‑1 portion to A‑2 so the lodge‑resort use can proceed.

Linda Schatz, the property owner, presented aerials and a site plan and said the Millhouse and an existing detached cabin currently provide five guest units. She said the proposal would allow phased construction of additional cabins as funding permits and emphasized preserving the historic mill and the site’s rural character. “We will be building as we can afford to,” Schatz said. She also described meetings with the fire chief and VDOT to determine ingress/egress and emergency‑access requirements.

Staff and commissioners discussed floodplain restrictions on the parcel. Staff said roughly three acres fall in the regulatory floodway (AE hatched) where no habitable structures are permitted; other portions are AE unhatched (100‑year floodplain), Zone X and the 500‑year floodplain. Staff said a licensed surveyor must determine the base flood elevation (BFE) and that structures would need to be elevated above that BFE; the commission referenced a commonly applied requirement of about one to one-and-a-half feet above the BFE.

For the special exception (to operate a lodge resort in A‑2), the commission approved a motion — moved by Adam Sandridge and seconded by David Whitmore — forwarding the permit to the Board of Supervisors with five conditions: substantial compliance with the applicant’s narrative (dated Dec. 12, 2025); rental units limited to short‑term rentals; compliance with the county’s general lighting and design requirements; approval contingent on county building, erosion/stormwater and Virginia Department of Transportation permits; and a requirement that patrons be notified and acknowledge the cabins are within the 100‑year special flood hazard area and be directed to the Alert Rockbridge notification system.

The motions on both the rezoning and the special exception carried by voice vote with no recorded nays.

Next steps: the planning commission forwarded its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, which will take the final land‑use actions and any condition enforcement or permitting checks before development and construction begin.