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The proposal to build a country store and events center at the Brickyard Bulls farm, with agritourism projects planned, will now go to the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors. After a lengthy discussion on the size and number of events that would be allowed, as well as hearing some opposition, the planning commission unanimously voted to move the project on. 

First off, a quick refresher on what we’re talking about. The Marshall family wants to set up a country store and events center at their Brickyard Bulls Wagyu cattle farm, located at 3323 Axtell Road in Scottsville. The land is zoned agriculture (A-1). As per the Buckingham zoning ordinance, that means a retail store and events center needs a special use permit. The idea would be more of a specialty shop, rather than say a Mast General Store or something like that, a place to sell their farm’s meat. 

As for the events, the Marshall family’s plans cover a wide range. They want to hold cooking classes at the farm, micro weddings, agriculture tours, themed evenings with wineries, distilleries and breweries. They would like to hold cattle industry seminars and tours, Wagyu Association meetings and some community events, as well as opportunities for local schools to send kids out on a field trip, to learn about the farm. 

Brickyard Bulls settle on a number 

And planning commission members didn’t have any problems with that. But they were concerned with the original number of people the Marshall family asked to be allowed to attend an event. At the beginning of Monday’s hearing, the family asked that a maximum of 750 people be allowed to attend their events. That caused concern, with commission members questioning if the road could handle that much traffic or if the property could handle that much parking. The Marshalls clarified that they were only asking for the 750 max for educational events, so as not to handicap how many students from a school could come at one time. 

The problem, planning commission member Pete Kapuscinski said, is that once the conditional use permit is set, there’s no way to separate people who are coming in on buses from those arriving in cars. So if the commission agrees to a number, it has to be something they know the area can handle. 

“If we said 750, we could end up with 750 cars,”  Kapuscinski pointed out. “That road, I do not think, is conducive to handling that kind of traffic.” 

 Kapuscinski also said he had concerns about the 750 number in general. When asked how they came up with that number, the Marshalls had said it was through conversation with the planning department. But Kapuscinski argued they haven’t done any work yet to determine if 750 is even needed, for schools or other events. 

Concern from a neighboring farm 

Members of the Patterson family spoke at Monday’s hearing in opposition to the plan, saying they had several concerns as a neighboring property. Robbie Patterson brought up the proposed 750 number as one issue. 

“The idea of all these people all of a sudden showing up in our backyard, I’m gonna be pretty honest with you, kinda scares me,” Robbie said. 

He didn’t have an issue with the proposed country store. It was just the events, the size and number of them, as well as another piece of the application. On the document, the Marshall family mentioned their project could raise property values. 

“That’s all well and good if you plan on selling your property,” Robbie said. “But all I’m hearing is my property taxes are gonna go up even higher than I’m already paying.”

Robbie’s sister India also pointed out their family was working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on both a conservation easement and conservation habitat for wildlife. She questioned how this project would impact their work in that area, while also raising safety concerns. 

“If all these people are there, are they going to come onto our property?” India asked. “We’re very worried about that.” 

As far as the safety concern, Shane Marshall pointed out the Patterson property is fenced and on the other side of his family’s cattle. So for there to be a disturbance, a person would have to walk through the herd of cattle, then climb over the fence. As such, he doubted anyone would wander onto the wrong property. 

As far as support goes, the commission also heard from Dr. Leslie Davis, a local veterinarian who has done some work for the Marshalls, along with emails from several of their current customers endorsing the project. 

“I think it would be a phenomenal attribute to the community,” Davis said. “I’ve been to their farm, I’ve eaten their beef. The farm is tidy and well kept. In terms of education, I think it’s important for people living outside of the county to know where their food comes from.” 

Reaching an agreement with Brickyard Bulls

After more discussion, the planning commission and Marshalls agreed to a max of 300 people for events, with only 10 events a year at that number. There would be no restrictions on the number of events held involving less than 150 people. Also, any event over 150 people would mean notifying the sheriff. 

“The only reason we’re asking for the 300 is for the educational events that we would want to put on that may be six to seven per year,” Shane said. “Most of what we’re gonna do is probably going to be 50 people or less.” 

The case will now go to the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors. Their next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.