The Board of Supervisors split June 30 over the issue of permitting fireworks and camping events at Meadow Event Park before kicking the decision down the road to their Aug. 3 meeting.
A handful of residents turned out at the public hearing to voice both support for and disapproval of the proposal, which cleared the Planning Commission May 21 with a unanimous recommendation for approval.
The proposal would amend the conditions of the special exception granted to Commonwealth Fairs and Events, the owners and operators of the State Fair, to allow fireworks to occur four times a year, for up to 30 minutes at a time, instead of restricting them to the duration of the Fair. The displays would then be governed by county code instead of terms laid out by the proffers.
Additionally, camping-centric events involving either tent or RV camping would be allowed to occur on the property within certain parameters.
“This is not a campground or travel trailer park that is open to the public,” county Director of Planning Mike Finchum cautioned the board. “It would be limited to camping or recreational events.”
The camping provision largely stems from Commonwealth’s desire to expand into the RV rally business in order to “shore up” the operation’s bottom line as the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, which owns Meadow Event, completes the last three years of its buyout of the enterprise from Universal Fairs, explained State Fair Vice President of Operations Marlene Pierson-Jolliffe.
“It’s a huge financial strain on us,” she said.
Describing RV rallies as a “clean business,” Pierson-Jolliffe told the supervisors that Meadow Event’s flat land, road access, historic story and proximity to the greater mid-Atlantic region position it as “a perfect RV rally destination.”
The property has the capacity to support 334 RV sites using the hookups in place for the State Fair and currently has no plans for expansion due to its financial situation.
Commonwealth would be required to submit layout, safety and operations plans to the Planning Department and various agencies before being permitted to hold a camping event at Meadow Event.
The current amendments to the conditions being sought do not specify the number of such events that would be permitted to occur in a single year, but at questioning from the supervisors, Pierson-Jolliffe estimated that 10 RV rallies of varying sizes might be held annually.
However, she said, with 77 other events already on the books for Meadow Event in 2016, Commonwealth would face a challenge in finding suitable windows of time for rallies next year.
Tent camping would be allowed to occur at 1250 sites on the property, although not at the same time as RV events, and would target educational youth programs and groups, such as Boy and Girl Scouts.
Kathryn Burruss, a resident of the Mattaponi district, urged the supervisors to seriously consider the request, noting that Meadow Event could potentially “provide a place where youth can develop themselves into appropriate adults.”
Caroline County Farm Bureau President Lynwood Broaddus also spoke in favor of the proposal, stating that “anything we can do to promote business in Caroline County is a good thing.”
Not all residents were so enthusiastic, however.
Karen Lambert, a near neighbor of Meadow Event in the Reedy Church district, objected to the potential impacts the changes would have on her quality of life.
“When the Fair came into our area, we were made promises [by] the proffers … and one by one, in six years, this is the last vestiges that are left,” she said. “I want to enjoy my property too.”
Among the board members, Reedy Church Supervisor Reggie Underwood was the most vehemently opposed to the proposal, telling the other supervisors that they had turned a “quality of life” question into “a dollars and cents question.”
“These are the last two proffers that some of the members of this community are asking you not to bother with,” said Underwood. “You’ve taken away all of the others.”
“These are the promises you made to these folks,” he continued. “Do we sit here and become liars and go back on what we said?”
Madison Supervisor Wayne Acors objected, saying, “I personally don’t believe I have lied to anyone.”
“If I had taken the comments that were made at the public hearings when this issue came before this board [in 2005], you would have thought the State Fair coming to Caroline County would have eliminated everybody in the Reedy Church district,” he said. “I’ve lived in this county all my life … and I’ve heard nothing but positive things about Meadow Event Park.”
“I do believe that it’s in the best interest of Caroline County,” he said.
A motion from Underwood to deny the application, seconded by Mattaponi Supervisor Floyd Thomas “out of respect,” failed 4–2, with only Underwood and Chairman Calvin Taylor supporting a denial.
Both Thomas and Acors supported continuing talks with neighbors to arrive at a compromise, with Thomas advocating for setting limits on the number of RV events that could be held in a year.
Discussion ended on a sour note, however, as an argument between Underwood and Western Caroline Supervisor Jeff Black, who voiced his approval for Meadow Event’s proposal, broke out, spurring Taylor into a rare use of the gavel to bring the board back to order.
The issue will be back on the agenda at the supervisors’ next meeting, which has been rescheduled to Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.