JAMES CITY COUNTY — A request for a Special Use Permit for an event venue in Toano that can accommodate up to 360 attendees will be presented at a future meeting of the James City County Board of Supervisors.
Stephen Romeo applied for the permit on behalf of David Nice to operate an event venue and tourist home at the September James City County Planning Commission meeting.
The applicant’s Community Impact Statement states, “the proposed event venue would include hosting weddings and corporate functions with an anticipated frequency of one event per day and no more than three events per week. The venue would utilize an existing renovated barn as well as outdoor areas which are planned to include a performance stage, flexible open space, an orchard, a farm pond with a pedestrian bridge, a repurposed grain silo, a dedicated location for food trucks, and attendee parking.”
The venue would have a maximum capacity of 360 attendees including event staff, caterers, photographers, and vendors.
An existing single-family residence is located adjacent to the proposed event venue and is intended to be used as a tourist home that could be used in conjunction with or independently from the event venue, as well as for by-right agritourism activities.
Agritourism space is “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner,” according to the USDA.
Purchasing the property — called Niceland Farms — four years ago, Nice said during the meeting “This has been one of those projects that is a labor of love. Once we got started with (renovations), the vision came into place and we really turned it into something beautiful.”
Some concern regarding traffic, noise and light pollution was addressed by a resident who lives in the area.
“We believe it is safer to access the event venue from Fire Tower Road rather than off of Old Stage Road simply because of the speed limit on Old Stage Road,” Romeo said, noting traffic concerns led the group to look at alternative access. “Fire Tower Road is already signed and it is 25-mph road and it will be a much safer means of egress-ingress to this venue.”
The Planning Commission unanimously passed the proposal, which will now be presented to the James City County Board of Supervisors at a future meeting to be determined.
Watch the full Planning Commission meeting here.