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By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Dr. John McCue says he just wants to hire a few more employees to help him operate his growing medical practice.
The doctor’s request sounds simple, but it has become more complicated since November when it entered the county’s permitting process.
And after the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday, it looks like McCue will have to wait another month before the issue is resolved.
The doctor’s Mountainside Medicine has grown from serving 500 patients in 2001 to nearly 5,000 today. As his patient list has grown, he has hired more than the three employees his special-use permit allows.
County Administrator John McCarthy brought the violation to McCue’s attention in November, and the doctor is trying to remedy the situation by requesting that his 2.15acre lot be rezoned from agricultural to commercial.
Neighboring property owners Mike and Judy Brown as represented by attorney David Konick, have opposed the rezoning request because McCue’s property does not meet setback and driveway standards for a commercial zone and the doctor’s application does not include any conditions that would prevent a more intensive future use on the site.
Konick said other problems with the property are that the adjacent lots are still zoned agricultural, so a commercial rezoning for one property would classify as illegal “spot zoning,” and McCue’s driveway crosses one of those adjacent agricultural properties.
McCue’s attorney Bill Fletcher told the board that two of the adjacent property owners, Paul Baldwin and Lucky McCoy, have agreed to rezone their properties from agricultural to commercial to settle the spot zoning and driveway concerns.
“The real issue here is, I believe, what is in the best interest of the public safety, health and welfare of Rappahannock County,” Fletcher said. “We’re quite fortunate in this county to have a doctor of Dr. McCue’s caliber.”
McCue said he has been working with a “skeleton crew” of three employees since November. He said he needs to have five or six workers to meet the needs of all his patients.
“It’s making it impossible for me to function,” he said. “I didn’t expect my practice to grow like this. It’s grown enormously ... and we need the personnel to keep in step with it.”
Some 15 people stood up in support of McCue, vouching for his character, telling stories about lives he has saved, house calls he has made and stressing the importance of having a doctor nearby in the county.
“My husband is here today because of Dr. McCue,” said Denise Chandler, whose husband, Donald, had a heart ailment that was detected by McCue. “Ib have somebody like this within a couple of miles of us is just the most important thing for all of us.”
Konick said the board has to consider the application according to the county’s zoning regulations, and
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