‘Shireton’ plagued by traffic concerns. Supervisors make decision

One of the consistent issues for the proposed “Shireton” events center in Buckingham County has been traffic. Neighbors of the site originally raised the question during planning commission meetings. Planning commission members also brought it up. And now that’s a question Buckingham supervisors want answered.

While supervisors did agree to set a public hearing on the project, they were also clear about existing concerns. The issue involves a piece of property in the Slate River District, owned by Matthew and Jessica Nicholas. It’s located at 1025 Melita Road, stretching on 23.92 acres. Just after the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt and Jessica purchased the land and built a small, one bedroom, one bath ‘earthbound’ home.

That is, one literally covered from top to bottom with dirt and grass. From the road, it almost looks like a small hill, except for one window.
That’s where the Shireton name comes from, as it resembles a Hobbit home in the Shire, from the Lord of the Rings books and movies. In addition to serving as a house for them and their two children, the couple want to use it in a variety of ways. That includes everything from an AirBnB to a campsite and events center, where weddings, reunions, parties, music events, and photo shoots could take place. They also want to consider wine tastings, dinner parties and similar projects to be held there.

But again, all that causes traffic. And that’s where the concerns come in.

“I have hunted that area most of my life,” Supervisor Cameron Gilliam said. “How are you going to park 200 people? I don’t see how in the world that you’re gonna be able to park anywhere near that number. You have a beautiful place and we want to be open to new ideas, but I would think there would have to be a lot of work done on that property before any of those things you were talking about could come to fruition.”

Shireton traffic and parking

After some discussion last month, the Nicholas family and planning commission agreed on a maximum of 150 people for events on site, with only four allowed each year. They also agreed that anytime there’s 75 or more people scheduled to be on site, the county sheriff and emergency services have to be notified.

But even for the reduced version, supervisors and neighbors don’t see where all those people are going to park. Neighbors also envision problems because of how small Melita Bridge is, expecting traffic to back up during the entrance to any event.

“This venue is not a solar farm, it does not sit idly by unaffecting those surrounding,” said Hunter Maxey. He was there to speak on behalf of his 97-year-old grandmother, who lives next door to the property. “There is no realistic plan for parking. The large gravel parking lot is less than a quarter acre and will most certainly not accommodate nearly what they want.”

Yes, there is only a small gravel lot right now for parking, said Matthew Nicholas. However, he wants to take some of the land on his property and rework it, creating more parking space as a result. Gilliam said that sounds like a good idea, but argued the couple should have done that before coming to the county.

“I think it may be good for the future, but I think the wagon came before the horse (here),” Gilliam said. “It just concerns me with the amount of parking and the road.”

Jessica Nicholas pointed out they had previously reached out to Charles Edwards, who works as a VDOT engineer. To cover all bases, they even asked him to examine what would happen with 500 people, rather than just 150.

“He said the traffic generated by the proposal does not exceed normal limits,” Jessica said.

Her husband Matthew added that they went ahead with the proposal as a “just in case”.

“We went ahead and made the application just in case we have someone who reaches out, loves the look and wants to say have a wedding,” Matthew said. “I think we are definitely willing to make some extra space to put parking. I think there’s some land there we could use for parking other than just the gravel parking area.”

What happens next?

Even with concerns, supervisors agreed to send the Shireton project to a public hearing next month. That’ll take place on Monday, Aug. 12, with the meeting itself beginning at 6 p.m.

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