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BZA denies Chapmans’
request for special use
By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
The vote, when it came, was an anticlimax.
The outcome was obvious after the Board of Zoning Appeals split on the first finding necessary for issuance of the special use permit sought by Renate and Ted Chapman for a religious retreat house in the F.T. Valley.
“Is this in conflict with the predominant character of the neighborhood? That’s the kernel of this whole problem here,” noted Gregory Monahan. “The Chapmans are fine, upstanding people. But the use is just one shade of gray too intensive,” he said, concluding that the retreat house would be in conflict with the “peaceful agricultural, residential (character), the scenic beauty” of Buckner’s Corner.
Jimmy Swindler decided the same, leaving the Chapmans with Chairman Lee Bird and Peter Kramer siding in their favor.
The BZA members divided similarly on the issue of whether the proposed use of the conservation zoned land was in accord with the county’s zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan.
“The application must be denied. We cannot get a quorum on all four findings,” announced Chairman Bird, as the BZA closed ranks to unanimously deny the Chapmans’ application.
The action at Tuesday’s special meeting ended almost 12 hours of consideration given by the BZA to the retreat house proposal.
The second hearing devoted to the Chapmans’ request for a special use permit opened last Wednesday morning, May 28, following a site visit by the BZA members.
In between statements of opposition from neighboring landowners, Ted Chapman presented a report from a consulting geolContinued
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