CUMBERLAND – Cumberland Supervisors are giving Bodatious a second, second chance, but not without first preparing to tighten up their conditional use permit.

The board unanimously voted to schedule a public hearing to amend the conditional use permit (CUP) for Bodatious only one month – and one event – following their original approval of the permit by a three-two vote.

During the May 14 meeting, not only did staff give a much anticipated event compliance report, but residents of Boston Hill Road once again came to speak against the event.

The first of three Bodatious events scheduled for this year occurred April 12-14. Interim Planning Director Rachel Falkenstein stated that according to the event sponsors, 1,265 people attended over the course of the weekend.

The event compliance report listed an arrest and other incidents which allegedly occurred at the event, including: one arrest for drunk in public, 17 summonses for underage possession by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and a complaint of a shot fired. The report stated that although a bullet casing was found, there was no arrest.

However, overall, the report found the April event to be a substantial improvement from previous events.

During both the first and second portion of public comment, residents of Boston Hill Road spoke in opposition to the event and asked questions regarding the expense of the event to the County, the amount of insurance covering the event, noise levels and the benefit of the event to the County.

Leo Henderson, of Boston Hill Road, expressed the frustration of many of those who spoke against the permit, “It just seems like we come to these meetings and we oppose this for so many reasons… and it continues to occur.”

Although the condition of Boston Hill Road, which is unpaved on one end and used to access the event, was a primary concern in previous discussions, security and unaccompanied minors were the chief concern of board members during their discussion of the CUP this month.

“If this board has made its mind up that this event is going to continue, then it should only continue under conditions that are safe and respectable,” said Supervisor Lloyd Banks, District Two.

Banks, who reported on his own impressions of the event after attending it in April, moved that the board consider amending the CUP to not allow juveniles to remain at the event overnight without a parent or guardian.

Pointing out the number of underage drinking summons given by the ABC, as stated in the staff report, he said, “I don't know why this board would not say, 'a 14, 15, 16, 17-year-old has to have a parent or guardian for an overnight stay.'”

However, the board is required to hold a public hearing before amending the CUP, so they instead voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing on amendments to the CUP for their next regularly scheduled meeting on June 9.

Supervisor Kevin Ingle, District Three, pointed out that a second Bodatious event will occur before the board holds the public hearing and has an opportunity to amend the CUP; however, this lets people know “we are not going to be satisfied with less than what we are right now requiring and there are more changes to be made.”

The CUP under discussion marks the first time that Old Dominion 4-Wheel Drive Club has been issued a permit for Bodatious events. In the past, a simpler and less restrictive festival permit was all that was required for the motorsports event, which has been held in northern Cumberland County for over 30 years.

The CUP approved by the board in April is five pages long and lists 26 specific conditions the event must meet, which range from noise and lighting to security and alcohol consumption.

Two public hearings regarding the current CUP have been held this year, as well as a review and recommendation by the Cumberland County Planning Commission.

Compliance Report

The event compliance report, prepared by Falkenstein, included a review of each of the 26 conditions and whether the event had been in compliance with each.

Due to the alleged shot fired and bullet casing found at the event, last month's event was found to be out of compliance with condition number six, which prohibits fireworks, firearms and illegal drugs.

The report also stated that two neighboring property owners had contacted Falkenstein and told her they were pleased with the changes to the event and had no complaints.

One citizen contacted Falkenstein with complaints regarding actions of event attendees on Ampthill Road, according to the report.

The report concluded by stating that the board could revoke the permit for any violation of the conditions.

However, “overall, this event has generated more positive feedback from the community than past events and has been a substantial improvement from previous events. The Club has made considerable efforts to mitigate the negative impacts on the neighboring properties,” the report concluded.

The report recommended that the applicant be permitted to hold the June event “with the suggestion that they put better systems in place to prevent firearms on the property and to report the number of attendees to county staff in a timely fashion.”

Banks said his chief concern was for the safety of law enforcement officers, “There were shots fired. I just couldn't imagine sending deputies in there to calm a crowd of hundreds of drunk people.”

Officer safety, as well as the number of underage drinking summons, was a concern also raised by other board members.

“You can't be outmanned and outgunned and be safe in there. That's for sure. That's why I think the next conditional use permit should continue to have additions to it, such as their security personnel have a certain level of training even if it's done by our local sheriff or law enforcement,” Ingle said.

However, overall, Ingle echoed the conclusion of the staff report.

He stated that although there were a couple of infractions, “from what I understand, they were quite the improvement of some of the wilder events of the past. I still think that they [Old Dominion 4-Wheel Drive Club] are working hard towards fixing as many things as they can. I would like to see them have the opportunity for at least another event.”

“There may be a few more recommendations by the board or from the zoning department to be able to try to step up their game a little bit more. I'm proud of the fact that they showed as much interest to try to make it a better event this past event,” he concluded.

Maintaining Boston Hill Road

During her report Falkenstein also pointed out that although the CUP requires the applicant to post reduced speed limit signs along Boston Hill Road, which leads to the event, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has since informed the County that they will not permit the applicant to do so. According to the report, VDOT did provide caution signs for the event.

Falkenstein stated that the County has two options if the board wants to reduce the speed limit on Boston Hill Road: make a formal request to VDOT to have the speed limit reduced on Boston Hill Road or reduce the speed limit on all dirt and gravel roads in the county to 35 miles per hour.

It had been asked whether maintenance to Boston Hill Road the week before April's event had been done at the cost of the County or the event sponsors.

According to an email from VDOT, a portion of which County Administrator and Attorney Vivian Giles read during the meeting, “The work on Route 605, which was identified as a high needs road, was done [as] part of a residency-wide directive that we issued to the areas to focus on gravel road improvements this spring after a lack of funding in the past has prevented us from maintaining them as well as we would like.”

The email was in response to a request for information from Giles. It continued, “Similar work was performed on Rtes. 612, 608, 654, and 606, which were also identified as high-needs roads. Route 605 in particular was a high-complaint road, registering seven AMS work orders since the beginning of 2012 and has been on the Maintenance replacement schedule for awhile.”

The email went on to state that the expense of working on the road totaled approximately $28,000 and came from “additional monies distributed to the counties in the Lynchburg District from the Central Office specifically earmarked for non-hard surfaced road maintenance.”

The email, written by Assistant Residency Administrator for the Dillwyn Residency Scot Shippee, concluded, “The work on this road was not specifically the folks at Bodatious, but it was a maintenance activity given the condition of that roadway. We will be addressing other roads this spring in the same manner, if anyone has any particular needs please let us know.”