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Maazels win recommendation for approval; Koral withdraws application after opposition
Two applications–one to operate a conference center in Huntly and the other to operate a summer music festival in Castleton–came before the Rappahannock Planning Commission Wednesday evening. The result was as if one had proposed strip-mining coal and the other had proposed handing out solid gold coins.
The two public hearings were a study in contrasts with sharply different outcomes.
The proposal by Clyde L. “Cory” Koral to operate a conference center for weddings, parties, corporate meetings and other events on his Huntly-area farm was virtually booed off the stage by neighbors and other opponents, and opposed unanimously by a 6-0 vote of the commissioners. Appearing shocked, Koral immediately withdrew his application after the vote.
The application to operate an annual summer music festival at their Castleton-area farm by Lorin and Dietlinde Maazel was greeted with a symphony of praise and adulation from the audience and received a unanimous 6-0 vote recommending approval when the proposal comes before the Board of Supervisors on Monday, Aug. 4.
The two applications filled the county courthouse with a standing-room-only audience that took on the personalities of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde in commenting on the proposals on the agenda.
While several persons spoke highly of Koral as a good neighbor, not a single person spoke in favor of his application among the 18 persons who addressed the commission. The opponents, including numerous nearby neighbors, objected that the conference center would bring too much traffic, noise, and disturbance to the quiet rural area and overwhelm the narrow gravel road serving the Koral farm.
In contrast, not a single person spoke in opposition to the Maazels' plan for a summer music festival. Seventeen citizens rose to praise the Maazels, their past music programs in a concert hall at their farm, their community works, the idea of the festival itself and the boost it should bring to tourism in Rappahannock County. All that was lacking were violins in the background as the praise flowed and the commissioners joined in their complimentary endorsements of the plan.
The commission took up the conference center proposal first, against a background of considerable public controversy over the concept of such events venues in rural areas, especially the application first proposed and then withdrawn by James W. “Bill” Fletcher. Several comments indicated a growing skepticism in the county about putting events centers that draw large crowds for weddings and parties in quiet, rural districts.
Koral applied for a special exception permit to operate a conference center on his 328-acre farm off Jericho Road in Huntly. He proposed holding up to 12 events–weddings, receptions, business meetings and the like–per year, with up to 200 guests allowed at three events and another nine events for up to 100 guests.
One by one, a parade of speakers objected to the plan. Robert Clements, who lives across the road from Koral’s farm, said, “Our neighborhood is agrarian, rural and quiet.” He cited “many important negative concerns” about the conference center idea, including heavy traffic on a narrow, gravel road, but said his “first concern is amplified music” at night events.
Lonnie Perry, who said he lived 1.5 miles away on North Poes Road, said, “The local roads are unimproved gravel, literally one lane.” An event for 200 persons could bring traffic loads of 140 cars per hour, he stated, and “create a horrendously dangerous situation on these roads.”
Perry and some other neighbors also objected to a statement included in Koral’s application which said: “During an open house on April 27, 2008, the neighbors were notified of my intentions and and agreement was made that events would be carried out on a trial basis to guage the impact of noise, traffic and any other concerns they might have.” Perry said, “There was no such agreement while I was there,” a claim echoed by Russ Scovill, a next-door neighbor, and others.
Scovill said the road is dangerous, with crests and curves and a one-lane bridge and limited sight distance. “This is not an appropriate activity for this part of the county,” he said.
Tom Kauffmann, who lives a half-mile north of the Koral farm, said the proposal “would bastardize the beauty and natural surroundings of the area.”
Jim Yates, another neighbor, provided a moment of comic relief when he raised concerns about possible use of a pond that he and Koral share. He worried about the “liability of having large groups maybe wandering around” the pond area, and added he’s seen “skinny dipping” there. “My cabin overlooks that pond,” he said–at which point the audience broke into laughter, amid numerous wisecracks.
Bob Dennis, who also lives on North Poes Road nearby, said he was neither for nor against the application. But he added, “Rappahannock County seems to be seeing a whole mess of applications for conference centers and I don’t know where this is leading us. I wonder how many of these will be viable?” He suggested the county may need a policy governing where and how such events centers may operate.
Rick Kohler of Amissville echoed that concern, saying that allowing conference centers in rural areas “could lead to commercialization in areas designated for agriculture.” He suggested the Planning Commission form a committee to set a policy on conference centers.
After the barrage of objections, the commission had no trouble deciding its course. “This is easy to dispose of,” said commissioner Robert Weinberg. “The testimony here is overwhelming that it will have a negative effect” on neighbors.
Following the planners’ 6-0 negative vote, a shaken Koral said he would withdraw the application rather than have it go to the Board of Supervisors. “If I had known there was this opposition I would not have wasted my time and yours,” he said.
The mood in the room changed entirely when the commission took up the Maazel’s application to hold summer music festivals on a 185-acre farm on Route 618 (Hope Hill Road) in Castleton, near the couple’s home farm. Music festivals of up to 25 days featuring the performance of classical music and opera would be planned each summer, beginning with the first Castleton Festival July 3 to 19, 2009.
Visitors would attend multiple theatrical and musical performances in an existing barn, to be converted to the purpose, with a limit of 200 attendees; no new structures would be built, and parking would use unpaved, grass fields.
Attorney Douglas Baumgardner, representing the Maazels, emphasized that the plan would preserve the “status quo” and agricultural look of the area. “What we are proposing is a temporary use,” for three weeks or so each summer, during a relatively slow season for tourism traffic. Performances will be held indoors, with little or no amplified music; no overnight accommodations are planned, and guests would be encouraged to use local bed-and-breakfast lodging and local restaurants, Baumgardner added.
Lorin Maazel, who is music director and conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, took up the baton himself in presenting a lengthy monologue on the evolution of musical performances on his farm and the plans for the summer festivals. While he and his wife came to Rappahannock 20 years ago “with the idea of escaping” from the demands of the musical and theatrical world, he said, now that he is older and nearing retirement he has thought more about mentoring young musicians and “helping a new generation” in their musical interests.
All of the public comment on the plan was positive, even enthusiastic. “How fortunate we are to have the Maazels in our county and willing to reach out like this,” said Cole Johnson of the Headwaters Foundation. “We know they will involve the youth of the community.”
“This is an absolute win-win for the county” in tourism, entertainment, and community involvement, said Fran Krebser of Huntly. Philip Strange, who lives near the Maazels, praised their “history of performances” of fine music at their farm in a private concert hall. “This project promotes a very healthy type of tourism in the county,” Strange said.
“The Maazels build community in quiet ways,” commented Paul Reisler of Washington, a well-known local musician. “I have heard some of the greatest music of my life there” at the couple’s farm, he said.
There were numerous other endorsements of the proposal, and no dissents. Jim Yates drew laughter again in commenting, “As long as there is no skinny-dipping, I support this.”
As commissioners took up the discussion, County Administrator gave the plan his strong endorsement, saying it meets all legal standards and is very well thought-out and presented. “The application itself and the presentation are absolutely top notch,” McCarthy said. “I am so glad we’ve got a good one to show to the next bad one that comes in the door.”
Commissioners asked few questions about the proposal and quickly voted 6-0 to recommend its approval by the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 4.
James P. Gannon is editor of rappvoice.com
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