OPINIONCOUNTRY MATTERS: Uncertainty in Upperville

OPINIONCOUNTRY MATTERS: Uncertainty in Upperville

By Kevin Ramundo

Since late 2016, the Upperville community and

nearby residents have faced the possibility that a quaint country restaurant and inn could be expanded by the Easton Porter Group (EPG) to include a 16,000 square-foot event center, a larger restaurant and overnight accommodations for 78 guests.

After approximately four years of effort, EPG abandoned its plans for the Blackthorne Inn just west of Upperville and decided to sell the property.

EPG’s decision was based on strong community resistance to its plans to expand the Blackthorne Inn well beyond what had existed before and what the county approved for the previous owner in 2014.

This decision followed a discussion with Mary Leigh McDaniel, the Fauquier County supervisor in whose Marshall district the proposed facility is located, when she told them that she did not see a path forward for the project given its excessive scale and community resistance. The opposition included a coalition of major conservation non-profits including Citizens for Fauquier County, Goose Creek Association, Piedmont Environmental Council and Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association.

The opposition effort included small and large landowners and was well funded so legal counsel and technical experts could be retained to evaluate the proposed project.

The Blackthorne property went under contract in late June, but the prospective owner’s actual plans for the property are not known. Since the property is in an area zoned rural/agricultural, the “by-right” permitted uses would be residential and agriculture. To protect the countryside, Fauquier County’s comprehensive plan severely restricts commercial activities in rural areas including restaurants and hotels, and strongly encourages that such activities be located in its various service districts.

Meanwhile, approximately two miles to the east, there is another property that has become the subject of community uncertainty as a potential site for an event center. This 152-acre farm, mostly in Loudoun County with a few acres in Fauquier, borders Upperville’s Trinity Episcopal Church to the north and was bought late last year by Noel Sweeney, a businessman from Fairfax County who owns a large event operation in Manassas called The Sweeney Barn.

Various community members, including the author of this column, have spoken with Mr. Sweeney who has consistently stated that he does not have plans for an Upperville event center in the foreseeable future. Instead, Mr. Sweeney has explained that he is focused on settling his family on their new farm, expanding agricultural activities there and becoming good members of the community.

Concerns about Mr. Sweeney’s interest in an event center were sparked when some thought that he had discussions with the rector of the church about having wedding receptions at his farm for those who got married at the church. Mr. Sweeney has indicated that he did not have this discussion. He has had conversations in the past with Loudoun officials who were receptive to an event center. Mr. Sweeney has said that there are no continuing discussions with the county.

The Blackthorne and Sweeney situations are very different. The latter property is under conservation easement and the locations are zoned differently. And Loudoun officials would almost certainly look more favorably upon a major event facility than their counterparts in Fauquier.

But what both situations have in common is the intense level of community opposition that either owner would face if they were to try to move forward with plans to introduce commercial operations in the most pristine areas of both counties. For now, however, the community should welcome Mr. Sweeney and his family to Upperville and wait to see what the new owner of the Blackthorne plans to do.

Kevin Ramundo is a former communications executive who is president of Citizens for Fauquier County, serves on the Land Trust of Virginia board and is active in preservation and conservation efforts.