Neighbors continue to voice concerns about a newly proposed event venue on Oak Park Road in Madison.
Last week, the Madison County Planning Commission held its second workshop regarding a special use permit application for Madison Hills, an event venue that would be located on 186.476 acres of A-1, agricultural, zoned land located off Oak Park Road. Economic development committee member Molly Wilshere purchased the property, which consists of three parcels, last fall and seeks to host up to four seasonal events there including a winter light show, spring market and fantasy faire and a summer event. The winter event would occur from 5-10 p.m. Friday through Sunday for seven weekends, the spring Saturday and Sunday for seven weekends and the summer event Saturday and Sunday for three weekends. No events are proposed Monday through Thursday and the events would include a farmers market which is already allowed as a byright use. Since the first workshop meeting, Wilshere has also requested the ability to host weddings on the property and to allow local businesses, organizations and educational groups to utilize it.
Wilshere, a fabricator, former teacher and self-declared “Christmas Elf,” envisions the property as one that can offer education about the local area and a place for artisans to sell their handmade wares. She said the winter event, Frost Fest, would be a walk-through Christmas lightshow with food vendors and wineries, as well as a juried artisan market, kids crafts and games and educational booths. The spring event would be an open market vendor village with handmade items and a farmer’s market featuring a fantastical element. She aims to create a structure that she said is “basically a large front porch” with space under roof for the vendors.
In lieu of selling tickets, which are not taxable, Wilshere said she would offer memberships with a tangible item so the county could receive tax revenue from the membership sales. Septic would be handled by portapotties in the first years, with the goal of creating flushable toilets for staff and vendors in the future. At the suggestion of local EMS officials, Wilshere would include a helipad on the property for emergency access. She said all structures, including an estimated 835 parking spaces, would be located at least two football fields from any neighboring residence. She also plans to install additional driveways for ingress and egress and utilize timed ticketing to mitigate traffic impacts and would privately hire law enforcement and emergency responders so as not to drain local resources. The project is broken into two phases with the initial phase consisting of six acres of festival grounds, the parking area and helipad. The second phase expands the festival grounds to 18 acres. The first phase is proposed to be completed in three years with the second depicting maximum development as the business grows over a 10-year period.
To address traffic, Wilshere would utilize a timed entry system, limiting the amount of vehicles entering and exiting the property at one time.
Planning and zoning administrator Allen Nichols said he met with VDOT and while the agency really gets involved once a project has been approved, a representative said they would like a traffic impact analysis to be submitted in the future site plan phase. Estimates have Oak Park Road at a capacity of approximately 2,000 trips per day. The current utilization is approximately 1,110 trips per day or 50% of its capacity.
A revenue impact analysis submitted by commissioner of revenue Brian Daniel said the business would be subject to real estate tax, sales tax on revenue, food and beverage tax, lodging tax and business tangible property tax. Economic development and tourism director Tracey Gardner said the venue would bring in business at a slow time of the year for tourism in the county. She said special events such as those that would be held at the venue benefit other local businesses and are seasonal and temporary.
However, not everyone is in support of the proposed project. More than 100 residents have signed petitions opposing the project. An online petition opposing the project collected additional signatures, but many of those were from outside the county. A petition in support of the project, also online, had 472 signatures as of this week, but was not submitted into the record at last week’s meeting.
The concerns voiced in opposition of the project last week were the same as those voiced two weeks prior–traffic, noise, pollution. Planning commissioner Jim Smith characterized many of the issues as representative of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) and BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything). He noted that byright Wilshere could choose to farm the land, hosting a variety of livestock while making cheese and blacksmithing. The property could also be divided into 75 2.5 acre parcels for residential use, prompting 271,000 more trips on the road per year as well as increased need for schools and other county services.
Colt Puryear, who shares an easement with the property, said the use would change the character of the area. He called the project a “theme park” and said it was ill-conceived, stating he wasn’t convinced Wilshere knows how to do what she’s proposing. He said the application lacked substance and represented a purely commercial activity in an agricultural and residential area. He said Wilshere’s proposal has ballooned from a frost fest to four events per year. He estimated the venue would create 1,680 car trips plus those from vendors.
“No one wants to pay higher taxes, but no one should sell their soul for this chaos,” Puryear said.
Margot McLane said the project is in direct violation with the Madison County Zoning Ordinance and would negatively impact surrounding properties. She said it belongs on commercial zoned land adjacent to U.S. 29.
Lynn Dawson said comparisons to Graves Mountain Farm and Lodges are not appropriate, noting the Graves property is much larger and has less homes near it.
Heather Bartle said while she loves the idea, the location isn’t a good one. She suggested teaming up with parks and recreation to host the proposed events.
Holly Brooks voiced concerns about water and electricity impacts. Brittany Dues questioned if the transfer station could handle the increase in trash.
Mike Ross said Wilshere’s noise study, which estimates noise quickly dissipating due to the festival grounds being located in a depressed bowl area, is inaccurate.
Allan Berry, who resides on Oak Park, said he’s on the fence about the project, nothing there’s nothing for twenty-somethings to do in the county, but noting the roads in the area are already an issue in terms of safety.
Planning commissioner Steve Carpenter said Wilshere has dealt with everything she has control over, but she has no control over the roads. He asked for a more realistic traffic count of the number of cars that would be traveling at any given time period.
Commissioner Mike Snider agreed, saying while he thinks the idea for the project is a good one, perhaps the number of memberships would need to be limited further.
Commissioner Nathan Cowan said if approved, the project would encounter various levels of government oversight from the health department, VDOT, building inspectors, DEQ and others. He said the project meets some of the things identified in the county’s new comprehensive plan and is one in which people come in, spend their money and leave. He said he’s taken his family to similar events in other counties. Cowan said if he were looking at the county as a whole and saying where the project should be located, it would be basically where it’s being proposed, about a mile off U.S. 29. However, he said he has concerns about the shared driveway and easement with Puryear, noting that negatively impacting someone’s access to their home wouldn’t be ok. He also said he’s not a fan of the 14-feet tall fence proposed for the property and would rather the project be located on one parcel instead of three.
Carpenter agreed that the project is in line with the comprehensive plan and would likely save a large agricultural property in the middle of many residential parcels, but that traffic is a top concern.
The project will be the subject of a joint public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. at 414 N. Main Street, Madison. A proposed list of 17 draft conditions has been created for the special use permit should it be approved. They can be viewed at https://www.madisonco.virginia.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07232025-328.
