Mimosa Farm owner Jill Wallace asked, in an email sent to members of Waynesboro City Council on Monday, that her request for a city permit allowing her to continue hosting weddings and other public events at her home in a residentially-zoned neighborhood be tabled until January.
Somebody clearly tipped her off that she was going to lose tonight if she didn’t pull the request off the table.
The City Council, after a seven-minute discussion of the matter Monday night, voted 4-1 to approve Wallace’s request to table her permit application, which will put consideration of the application off into 2027.
From the archives
- Coverage of the Mimosa Farm permit request: click here.
Based on what City Council members had to say about the matter during that brief discussion, Wallace might well have lost 5-0 if there had been an up-or-down vote tonight.
As it stands, she gets four months to see if she can work out a solution with neighbors who have vehemently opposed her on the permitting issue.
Gotta say, based on what I know here, I highly doubt that we can see any sort of compromise.
In the here and now, I’ve got a request in to City Manager Mike Hamp for a copy of the email from Wallace that was referenced in tonight’s meeting, and a separate request, under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, for copies of all communications between Wallace and members of the City Council, the city manager, and the community development office, dating back to the most recent City Council meeting, which was held on Aug. 10.
Seems to me that the communications behind the scenes on the permit request between the property owner and city leaders needs to see the light of day.
In the meantime, we have what we learned from the brief discussion at Monday night’s City Council meeting, in which it was made abundantly clear that Wallace was going to lose, if her request was to be held to a yay-or-nay vote.
City Councilman Terry Short was the only one to go on the record as a definitive “no” on the permit request, which would allow Wallace to host up to 100 events per year at her farm home at 601 Alphin Ave., with up to 100 guests, not inclusive of staffing.
“My observation is that again, at 100, at any variations to that of 30, 50 weddings, is not acceptable to me, and I think that’s where I would be a no. But saying that, zero is also unreasonable, and so I think that finding that common ground and affording the opportunity for the community to have a conversation and for the applicant to have a conversation is fair and reasonable to all parties,” Short said, in remarks at tonight’s meeting.
Jim Wood, who represents Ward D, in which the Mimosa Farm property is located, seemed to want to needle both Wallace and the neighborhood residents who have actively opposed the permit request – a curious move, given that he is up for re-election in November, and that he won his 2022 election for the seat by 17 votes.
If I’m Wood, I need every vote I can get; and there’s more of the neighbors than there are of Jill Wallace.
From the archives
- Coverage of issues and controversies involving Jim Wood: click here.
“It’s truly a shame it’s got to this point, it truly is, the fact that neighbors can’t sit down and discuss it and hash it out without it coming to this level. Not even the fact that it came to City Council for a conditional use permit, that it’s been drugged out in the newspapers, especially social media, from, you know, all angles, all sides. It’s just, it’s really a shame it’s come to this. I really wish that it hadn’t gotten here,” Wood said, seeming to fail to recognize that the matter got to where it is right now because Wallace has been hosting events at her farm home illegally for years, and has continued to do so – and to advertise her venue for future events – even as she has been lobbying city leaders to codify her activities.
“I encouraged a meeting amongst Jill and the group that opposes, the leadership, I guess you would call it, for lack of a better way of talking, and I know they sat down, and I know they had one conversation. I think that should have happened a long time ago, and should have had multiple ones before it came to this to begin with. It’s been months now, though, it’s been months, and it could have done been done better, on both sides,” Wood said.
Seems that Wood is trying to cast himself as a sort of peacemaker here, but I wouldn’t let him get away with bothsides-ing me if I’m a neighbor trying to preserve my neighborhood.
I’ll throw that same criticism at the vice mayor, Lorie Jean Akanbi, whose comment on the vote was “that this thing has gotten really, really ugly, and I think whether we voted tonight or in January or whatever, I just don’t see how it goes back to neighbor being friendly with neighbor. It’s just a big tear right now. It’s a big tear,” Akanbi said.
The clearest sign that Wallace was going to lose if an all-or-nothing vote was done tonight was the virtual presence of the at-large member on the City Council, Jeremy Sloat – who was not able to be in attendance at the meeting in person tonight, but made sure to join by phone.
“It seems that the attempt to reach a common ground and understanding that would be beneficial to the community, I think affording more time for that is more than reasonable,” Sloat said, ahead of the vote to table.
It even sounded tonight that Kenny Lee, the mayor, who voted at a July meeting of the Planning Commission to recommend approval of the application, was a no vote.
“I’ve had the opportunity to speak with the applicant, also had an opportunity to speak with the neighbors, and I shared with them that this is has been tough for me, for a number of reasons. Because, ultimately, somebody is not going to be happy, and it was my desire that we could do this in a manner that would satisfy both groups,” Lee said tonight.
“I think that the opportunity to do that still exists if we allow the table, and maybe we can have some resolution that would be acceptable,” Lee said. “I agree with Councilman Short, I think that 100 is definitely too many, I think 50 is too many, but I think there is a number that probably would work with the neighbors, with the neighborhood, and the applicant, with the right conditions.”
Moving forward, there are four months until the first City Council meeting in January, which falls on Jan. 11, 2027.
Between now and then, does Wallace continue host scheduled events in violation of the city code?
Wood said he spoke with Wallace today, “and other than what is legally allowed by any person in this room, she has definitely agreed not to do any events other than, or, events may be the wrong word, gatherings, maybe, is a better word, other than what is legally allowed by any person in this room.”
“You can go only go at somebody’s word at what they will do, and that’s kind of where we have to sit right now. Just for clarity,” Wood said.
Message sent: tread lightly.
Update: Tuesday, 9:45 a.m. We have obtained a copy of the email from Jill Wallace to the city – timestamped: 12:12 p.m., Monday, Sept. 14 – in which she made the request that her application for a conditional use permit be tabled.
Dear Mayor Lee and Members of City Council,
I respectfully request that City Council continue consideration of the Mimosa Farm Conditional Use Permit until its January meeting. To be clear, I am not withdrawing my application.
Given the continued divide between Mimosa Farm and some neighboring residents, I believe additional time would allow for constructive conversations regarding neighborhood concerns, possible revisions to the application, and reasonable operating conditions.
I appreciate the willingness of council members to help facilitate productive dialogue among the parties involved. My goal is to use this time to narrow and clarify the application, consider appropriate safeguards, and return with a proposal that Council can evaluate on a complete and accurate record.
This requested continuance would provide the necessary time for meaningful discussion with neighboring residents, consultation with city staff, and careful consideration of revisions that could better balance the interests of Mimosa Farm and the surrounding neighborhood.
Again, I am not withdrawing the Mimosa Farm CUP application. I am respectfully asking Council to continue its consideration until January.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jill Wallace
Mimosa Farm
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Chris Graham
