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Caroline County Planning Commission recommends adding thrift stores to rural zoning with lighting limits
Summary
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to forward a zoning text amendment allowing "Thrift Store" as a special-exception use in the Rural Preservation district, adding standards that ban outdoor display and tie lighting to the Highway Corridor Overlay District rules.
The Caroline County Planning Commission voted May 28 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve TXT-01-2026, a zoning text amendment that would add a definition of "Thrift Store" and allow the use in the Rural Preservation (RP) District only by special exception. The commission attached development standards including a prohibition on outdoor storage and display, limits on signs, a ban on engineered steel buildings, and a requirement that access be from a Virginia Department of Transportation–maintained paved entrance.
"Except for security purposes there shall be no outdoor lighting permitted. Lighting shall comply with Article XV, Section 15, Highway Corridor Overlay District regulations," said Commissioner Steve Rollins when moving the amendment to require the HCOD lighting standard; Dr. Carol Horton seconded the motion, which passed unanimously (Horton, Rollins, Tingler, Williams). Planner Craig Pennington told commissioners that the HCOD lighting rules require lighting to be no more than 0.5 foot-candles at the property line, a standard the commission incorporated by reference into the proposed amendment.
The draft ordinance defines a thrift store as "a retail establishment that sells gently used, secondhand goods such as clothing, furniture, and household items at highly discounted prices" and enumerates 11 development standards, among them: no outdoor auctions, no outdoor storage or display, no on-site inoperable vehicles stored outside, no shipping containers or similar structures on-site, and decorative fencing where visible from rights-of-way. If the Board of Supervisors approves the text amendment, individual applicants would still need to apply for a special exception and could be subject to additional conditions such as hours of operation and specific lighting plans.
The Planning Commission's recommendation advances TXT-01-2026 to the Board of Supervisors for public hearing and final action. The draft ordinance language and the commission’s recommended lighting modification will be part of that hearing record.
