Conference center proposed at Monroe Institute site in Faber

The Nelson County Planning Commission held a public hearing Oct. 22 on the permit request for 44 acres zoned agricultural, A-1, at 365 Roberts Mountain Road in Faber. The Monroe Institute predates the current zoning ordinance and is considered a legal nonconforming use: any expansion requires compliance with regulations in place.

Dylan Bishop, director of planning and zoning, said the institute proposes to expand operations and develop a conference center to include residential quarters, offices, a cafeteria, common services area, a gift shop, meeting rooms, a studio and a storage space. It is anticipated to accommodate an increase of up to 90 attendees per week, Bishop said.

A conference center is defined in zoning as “a facility for hosting public and/or private events, including, but not limited to, weddings, receptions, social events or parties, workshops, and/or conferences, which is used as a venue for social, cultural, recreational, and/or educational activities. Conference centers may include lodging accommodations.”

The property is accessed by an existing entrance on Roberts Mountain Road. Some paving upgrades are proposed on the road, and at least 41 additional parking spaces are proposed, according to the application. The proposed land disturbance is anticipated to be about 5.4 acres.

The commission tabled action on the request after the public hearing that drew six speakers who presented concerns. Two commissioners, including the Central District member who represents the area where the proposal is located, were absent from the meeting which led to the postponement of a recommendation to the Nelson County Board of Supervisors.

Justin Shimp, of Shimp Engineering P.C. in Charlottesville, the engineer representing the applicant, said the Monroe Institute seeks to construct a 33,658-square-foot multi-use conference center and three wings with the other proposed expanded uses.

Vehicles accessing the institute will enter Roberts Mountain Road from Rocky Road. The New Land subdivision is in that area and its property owners’ association is responsible for maintenance and repair of the two roads: the institute proposes to make upgrades if the expansion is approved and the association allows it.

“Our request is for an expansion to 90 guests basically,” Shimp said. “Right now, they operate around 28 thereabouts, so it would be 90 total.”

The institute was founded in 1971 by Robert A. Monroe. In November 1976, he purchased 726 acres in Nelson as one of the county’s first alternative education centers and it paved the way for similar organizations, according to Shimp’s presentation.

The Monroe Institute predates most of the surrounding development and has significantly influenced the overall character of the neighborhood, the presentation states.

“All their current slots are filled up for about a year out right now, so people are not able to attend because there’s not capacity for people who want to be here,” Shimp said.

He explained plans for a proposed traffic increase and water provision. The institute draws water from the Rockfish River and disperses it in a way in which it may contribute to groundwater supply for wells in the neighborhood, according to Shimp. A 120,000-gallon tank for fire suppression purposes is estimated for the proposed project, which Shimp would be a community benefit.

Most guests are from out of town and are shuttled into the property, he said. The traffic is estimated to be from about 28 trips per day to around 72 trips per day, and its use of the road system is projected to go from 4% to 12%, which is why the institute proposes to make improvements, Shimp said.

Roberts Mountain Road is proposed to be widened to a minimum of 18 feet and repaved, according to the presentation. The water storage tank for fire suppression would be screened from the road.

Ron Blake, who lives in the area, said the expansion would forever change the character of the New Lands residential community with the influx of more people.

“The application, to me, seems to fail to meet Nelson County’s fine planning and zoning strategic goals,” Blake said.

He said in his view it does not meet the goals of strengthening the county’s special sense of place and high quality of life and facilitating growth for a strong economy.

“A corporate building such as this is better suited for a business park in Fairfax or Manasses,” Blake said.

He said if the expansion development fails because of over optimism the applicant can walk away from the project, but the residents cannot.

“To put it bluntly, people do not choose to pay a lot of money to buy a house next to a hotel or carpark,” Blake said.

Stephen Bickers said he has lived in the area for 27 years and he questions findings in Shimp’s traffic estimates.

“They’re really overusing our roads as it is,” Bickers said of the institute.

Heath Matysek-Snyder, another community resident, said he is concerned with overall size, scale and commercial aspect of the proposal.

“The building proposed is a large-scale commercial building that will be out of character with the other Monroe Institute buildings and with the houses of the New Land subdivision,” Matysek-Snyder said. “This large commercial structure will be built in a quiet, rural subdivision on A-1 agriculture-zoned property and will stand out in the landscape far more than the current Monroe Institute buildings do, which are tucked away.”

He said he feels the project will negatively affect the visual character of the rural bucolic community and a potential detrimental impact the large-scale expansion will have on New Land’s water supply.

“In the past few years several wells in our community have periodically run dry and the Monroe Institute’s proposal fails to adequately assess the immediate and extended impact on our community water supply,” Matysek-Snyder said. “A more extensive groundwater assessment study by an independent entity is necessary.”

He said many New Land residents were “blindsided” by the proposal and its scale of size, describing the expansion as a “community-altering” one.

Drew Perkins, another New Land resident, said he doesn’t believe the paved road measure will get done because 75% of the landowners must approve of it.

“…I don’t believe they will have the votes to do what they want to do, based on our legal agreement,” Perkins said.

He said he lives about a mile from the institute property and has found people from there “roaming” in his yard.

“I respect what they’re doing, but to bring that many more people into our community — they’re not limited to just that section,” Perkins said. “I don’t personally want that many more people in our community on a weekly basis.”

Paul deVoursney, another resident, said a lot of wells have run dry and he feels an independent entity water study is needed to address residents’ questions.

“They are talking about minimizing visual impact, but I don’t see that here,” he said.

The Monroe Institute is a fundamental part of the New Land community and he has friends who have attended there and had good experiences, he said.

“I’ve had no trouble with the people they’ve had, but we are talking about an increase in traffic,” he said.

Shakti Pearce, a neighboring resident, said he understands the institute’s need to expand but she feels some of the community’s concerns would be remedied if the plans were scaled back some.

Commissioner Philippa Proulx said it has been years since she has visited the property and feels she needs to go back to see the layout and consider the proposal’s effects.

“It is a huge increase,” Proulx said.