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The project is moving forward. By unanimous decision, the Buckingham supervisors agreed to hold a public hearing next month about the Shelton Store proposal. 

“I really support it,” said Buckingham Supervisors Chairman Joe Chambers. “I see no problem with it.” 

The proposal involves the Gooden family’s plan to revive the old country store on their farm. The Gooden Family Trust owns the property at 1779 Shelton Store Road in Buckingham, where the family’s old country store is located. Built and originally opened in 1913, the Shelton Store was in operation until 1985. It was current manager Jacqueline Gooden-Seay’s grandfather who built and opened the store.

Now what the family wants is to rebuild and reopen it as part country/retail store and part events center. Events on the property would include community meetings, special programs to teach about both agriculture and the area’s history, as well as tours and other activities for up to 250 people. Gooden-Seay also requested a permit to allow glamping (think ‘glamourous, resort-style camping), dry campsites and nature trails on the property. The planning commission voted to recommend approval of the conditional use permit during their December meeting. 

“I was at that planning commission meeting and they had some questions,” Chambers told the rest of the board. “(Jacqueline) answered all those questions.” 

Questions and answers about Shelton Store

The main issue at the December hearing appeared to just be a lack of information. Several of those who had questions about the project may own property nearby, but they live in Northern Virginia, North Carolina or other areas. As a result, they came in asking questions more about the planning process, how things work in Buckingham and what they would need to do, in order to continue doing what they’ve been doing.Culpeper resident Kenneth Weakley, for example, wanted to know what the impact of something like this would have on the land he owned next door for hunting. 

As the store is not right up against the property line and there’s no reason to think people would walk over to the Weakley property, being that it’s on the other side from where the trails and camping would be, the commission didn’t indicate that he needed to put up any signs or make changes.  

Gooden-Seay said during the December hearing that the goal isn’t to flood the area with events. Five will be the max each year, and it’s not guaranteed they would even do up to five. She added that the family property includes 40 acres of open pasture where they can set up parking.

As some of this area would be a bit far to walk to the store, the family also plans to set up some transportation, to take people from the parking lot to the main events. Commission members also asked about the glamping, as far as how many sites would be set up at any given time. The answer to that is no more than 15 to 20. Also, yes, there will be two electric vehicle charging stations set up at the country store. 

As for the concerns over traffic, the Virginia Department of Transportation said the current entrance to the property doesn’t meet requirements. Even if county supervisors approve the special use permit, the family will have to submit plans to VDOT about how they plan to adjust the entrance and that would have to be completed before any activities could start or any store open. 

What happens next? 

The public hearing and a possible vote on the project will be held on Monday, Feb. 10, during the board’s 6 p.m. meeting.