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Weeks after Buckingham supervisors struck down a proposed rental project in the area, here comes another one. During their Monday, Sept. 26 meeting, the county’s planning commission was introduced to the request from Karen Kreps, to use her property at 504 Woodland Church Road in Buckingham as a short-term rental, possibly working through Air BnB or VRBO to offer it up. 

The property on Woodland Church Road is in a village center zoning district, which doesn’t allow rental properties as a ‘by-right’ use, so Kreps needs a special use permit for that. The Austin, Texas resident says she’s been affiliated with the Yogaville community since before it was founded in Virginia and likes to come back and visit a couple times a year. 

“But in-between when I’m not there, I would like to be able to have visitors to Yogaville and other people who just want to be in a beautiful home near the James River be able to stay there for quiet recreation.” 

Kreps told the commission she wasn’t looking to rent to anyone for an extended period of time. This would be open, if approved, to a group of no more than six people, with parties and outdoor fires banned. There is also a walking trail on the property, Kreps pointed out, so that visitors can enjoy the outdoors without bothering neighbors or trespassing. She acknowledged that there are short-term rental fees in place and said she’ll be using a company to make sure she pays the correct amount to the right municipality. 

One big difference in Buckingham 

There are two key differences between this request and the one that played out over the summer in Buckingham. The first is that this one deals with short-term rentals, rather than longer tenants. The second is there’s no zoning request attached. As part of the work over the summer, Ivan Petersheim also put in a request to change Buckingham County zoning, so that a multi-family housing duplex would be allowed as a special use in any Agricultural A1 Zoning District throughout the county. In talking last month with The Herald, Petersheim said he was asked by Buckingham County planning staff to request the zoning amendment, since nobody had applied for a duplex by special use permit before in the county’s agricultural area.
It was that text amendment request that caused the planning commission members to recommend against approval and a majority of supervisors to refuse to move forward, as both groups pointed out there was nothing in the wording about limiting the number of families allowed or any regulation at all. This case, by comparison, is just a simple request for a special use permit. 

What happens next? 

Now that the request has been heard, planning commission members move it forward to a public hearing at their next meeting. That is currently set for Monday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m.