Virginia Beach greenlights Royal Farms next to 230-year-old church

A longstanding City Council member who owns one of the last remaining lots in what used to be the crossroads of Princess Anne County won support Tuesday for a convenience store and gas station to be built there.

Louis Jones, owner of Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, recused himself from the City Council chambers before the body voted on plans to build a Royal Farms at the corner of General Booth Boulevard and Princess Anne Road. The land sits next to historic Nimmo United Methodist Church and its cemetery.

Hollomon-Brown owns the property, which is currently an undeveloped, wooded lot at the corner of the newly developed intersection. A 7-Eleven was built recently across the street.

Building a Royal Farms required a change in zoning from office to community business and approval to use the land for a gas station and car wash. The council voted 7-2 in favor, despite objections from multiple Nimmo church members who spoke at the podium.

Council members Sabrina Wooten and John Moss voted against it. Moss didn’t agree with the zoning change, in part, because “the community at large is not in favor,” he said.

R.J. Nutter, attorney for Royal Farms, told the City Council members at the meeting that the 3.28-acre site sits in a prime location.

“It should be no surprise that the development of this property was going to happen one way or another,” Nutter said.

Nimmo United Methodist Church was founded 230 years ago, in 1791. It was described as “the church in the crossroads,” because it sat in the crux of the northern and southern parts of the former Princess Anne County. During the Civil War, Nimmo served as a hospital under the control of Union forces.

The church’s cemetery was established around 1910. Founding families of old Princess Anne County — the Browns, Bonneys and Kellams — are buried there.

Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home purchased the bulk of the property next to the church 30 years ago from a private land owner It’s about 300 feet away from the old, white church building. A few years later, the funeral home bought an adjacent swath of land from the church.

The church and Hollomon-Brown’s properties are in a Historic and Cultural Overlay District, which is designed to preserve an area’s heritage. Development within the district is restricted. The city’s Historical Review Board must provide a Certificate of Appropriateness for a building permit. The board granted Royal Farms the certificate after working with the developer on changes to the design and lighting.

Royal Farms will leave some of the trees and install an 8-foot tall fence as a barrier between the business and the church property.

The city’s planning staff recommended approval, and so did the Planning Commission last month by a slim 5-4 vote. Several commissioners said they didn’t think it was the best use for the site. Royal Farms met with church representatives, who support the project, Nutter said.

However, several members turned out for Tuesday’s meeting and expressed their displeasure. Susan Kellam, who has been a historian for the church, pleaded with council members to vote no, citing potential damage to Nimmo’s historical integrity.

“The structure should be valued and celebrated by the city of Virginia Beach,” she said. “Please don’t let it be erased by a car wash and another convenient store built absolutely in front of the church in the crossroads.”

Robert Longworth, president of the Nimmo Cemetery Association, said he’s worried about the impact Royal Farms will have on the future of the burial grounds and its remaining grave sites, which will support cemetery maintenance and operation.

“Would you buy a grave behind a gas station and bury a love one?,” he asked the council.

Donna Franken, a Nimmo church member for more than 40 years, told the City Council that she was concerned that Royal Farms would disrupt Nimmo’s “serene essence” and become a “24-hour den of noise and traffic.”

Councilwoman Barbara Henley, who represents the Princess Anne district, said she visited another Royal Farms in Virginia Beach at 11 a.m. on a Sunday.

“I found it to be very quiet,” Henley said.

In the end, Henley said, she supported the project because the alternative could be worse.

“An office building would have a much more intense footprint,” Henley said. “It’s not a choice of leaving it as it is now.”

Councilman Jones declined to comment.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com