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They didn’t say no. But they didn’t say yes either. In the end, Buckingham County supervisors were silent when asked to make a decision about the special use permit for the “Shireton” property. District 4 Supervisor Paul Garrett made a motion during the Monday, Aug. 12 meeting to approve the idea, but a motion needs a second to move forward. When no one seconded the motion, it died. 

The proposal had faced a series of concerns, raised first by the planning commission and then by supervisors, over the last several months. They questioned if the land was too small for what the Nicholas family wanted to do. They asked how 100 or 200 people would park in such a small area and how would traffic be handled on such a small road. During last month’s meeting, District 2 Supervisor Cameron Gilliam seemed to sum up his board’s mindset when he told Matthew and Jessica Nicholas that “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.” 

And there were a lot of ideas proposed, a number of things the couple envisioned happening for the property located at 1025 Melita Road. 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. 

A question of zoning 

But there’s a catch. This property is listed as Agricultural A1. And that zoning doesn’t allow for an AirBnb, campsites or an events center on its own. For each of those examples, the owner has to come before the planning commission and ask for a special use permit. 

After discussion with the planning commission in June, the Nicholas family agreed to set a maximum of 150 people allowed for events on site, with only four events allowed each year. This was down from the original 1,500 number tossed out. They also agreed to alert the sheriff and emergency services anytime 75 people or more were scheduled to be there. 

Shireton problems not addressed?

But, as the Shireton property’s neighbors pointed out on Monday, none of that actually addressed the issues. The property is still 23.92 acres, most of that wooded, and with limited access. It’s hard for people to see how 150 attendees could park, even if some carpooled. Neighbors also envision problems because of how small Melita Bridge is, expecting traffic to back up during the entrance to any event. 

In previous meetings, Jessica Nicholas had pointed out that the couple had reached out to Charles Edwards, who works as a Virginia Department of Transportation engineer. To cover all bases, they even asked him to examine what would happen with 500 people, rather than just 150. His response was that the traffic generated, even at the higher level, would not exceed normal limits. 

But even beyond the questions they have, residents said they just didn’t want to deal with festivals or other major events right next door. 

“I don’t know how to put this more clearly than nobody wants to listen to any large events, concerts, festivals or any other commercially available event space,” said Hunter Maxey, whose family owns a 350-acre property next door. “I can speak for all the surrounding landowners when I say no one wants any government body or fellow citizen telling them what they can and cannot do on their own property. However, this does not qualify as such. Live and let live applies both ways. Surrounding land owners should not have their rights to peace and sanctuary affected by a for profit plan of their neighbors.” 

Other neighbors simply questioned how the plans being proposed would work. Horse riding had been something else mentioned. But as nearby resident Bill Armstrong pointed out, there’s really nowhere to ride except up and down the road. 

What is Shireton? 

The concept of the property dates back a couple years. 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. At some point in the near future, the couple wants this to serve as a home for them and their two children. But they also had ideas about other ways to use the property. That just won’t happen right now.