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A proposed restaurant and a possible events center will both go before Prince Edward supervisors looking for approval next week. 

Supervisors will hear conditional use permit requests for a restaurant in Green Bay and an events center in Rice. For the restaurant, the owner is well known. Ever since he sold the Hillside Restaurant in Burkeville, former patrons have been asking Paul Ward Jr. to start something new. Now seems a good time to listen and build one in Green Bay, he told the Prince Edward Planning Commission on Tuesday, May 20. 

Specifically, Ward is building or rather renovating at the site of what used to be a gas station. The property is located at 8306 Patrick Henry Highway, next to the Green Bay Post Office and across the road from the Dollar General. A special use permit is needed because the property is currently zoned A1, that is agricultural 1. That zoning limits what is and isn’t allowed to be put up at the property, with exceptions given by permit. 

In his application to the planning commission, Ward explained that this would be a family-style restaurant, serving home cooked meals and barbeque. The plan would be for it to be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only day it would be closed, Ward told the commission, would be on Christmas Day. 

The plans call for seated dining for an estimated 45 guests. A patio with six picnic tables would be available for those who want to eat outside. Alcohol wouldn’t be served. Instead, drinks would be tea, coffee, water and soda, with an estimated 6 to 8 employees on staff. 

Ward told the planning commission that if all goes well and county officials approve his permit request, the restaurant would be ready to open fairly soon. 

“I’m hoping to be open by the end of July, if approved,” Ward told the commission. “We’ve done most of the primary stuff and checked all the other permits. We’re in the process of getting the water tested, we’re remodeling it. We’re putting in bathrooms.” 

Events center launching in Rice? 

Meanwhile, the goal is to build a place where people can hold weddings, have a family reunion or rent out for a festival. That’s how Michael and Helen Royea presented their application to open an events center in the Rice area. The Royea family spoke before the planning commission on Tuesday, May 20, asking for a special use permit for Red Hill Ranch. 

The property in question is located at 25943 Prince Edward Highway and sits on 136 acres. And instead of just an events center, the Royea family say they want to create a rural events center, which is a specific conditional use allowed in Prince Edward County. But it’s that part which had neighboring property owners coming to the hearing and asking questions. It wasn’t that they were completely against the idea. They just wanted to better understand what exactly a rural events center would be. And what would or wouldn’t be allowed there. 

Prince Edward County Planner Robert Love went over in detail what a rural events center involved. It allows for parties, business meetings, educational seminars, weddings and wedding receptions, family reunions, other family gatherings and baby showers. It doesn’t include permission to do anything with motor sports. That means no motorcycles, no ATVs or other vehicle races. Also, no overnight events.
What’s in the process of construction is the main events building on the property. That will be a 3,200 square foot events center, with dual bathrooms, a residential style kitchen and a serving area. After going through the plans, the Virginia Health Department and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) recommended a maximum of 125 attendees and five employees for Red Hill. Planning commission members amended that somewhat. They said Red Hill could have 130 people on site, in whatever combination of attendees and employees they want. It could be 120 people and 10 employees or 128 party-goers and two employees to clean up afterward. It’s up to the business owners.

VDOT officials saw no issues with entrances to the property or with the parking plan. There is an open lot of roughly 3.4 acres being set aside for parking at Red Hill. As for sound, Michael Royea said they plan to hold events with sound mainly inside when the events center gets finished. For anything outdoors, they can turn the speakers so that it’s facing the woodline.

Restaurant, events center vote coming

Now this all goes before county supervisors for a vote. Public hearings will be held during their meeting on Tuesday, June 10.