Albemarle County planning commissioners voted Tuesday in favor of allowing a summer camp to take up residence at the Ivy-based Blue Ridge Swim Club — one of the country’s oldest continually operating commercial swimming pools supplied by natural waters.
The camp is seen as a way to revitalize the swim club and preserve the local treasure after years of declining revenue and mounting maintenance.
“It may come to this … this pool may not survive,” Todd Barnett, the potential new property owner who operates the summer camp, told planning commissioners.
Citing traffic, noise and fears of trespassers, several homeowners near the property off Owensville Road spoke out against the potential deal Tuesday.
“I want to reiterate my opposition to these permits,” Ivy resident Chris Georges told planning commissioners.
Georges argued that while some believe the camp might signal a renewed birth for the pool, having the property subdivided and redeveloped into single-family homes may be more in line with the character of the area.
“To many of us, [this camp] would be an undesirable development,” Georges said.
Patrick Kearns attended the hearing. He said, if the camp is approved, between 60 and 100 campers may set up tents once a week on Thursdays during much of the summer near his property.
“The idea of 100 people camping out in my backyard is undesirable,” Kearns said.
In favor of the camp, Cheryl Cunningham said she lives near the deep end of the pool.
“I can’t imagine a better noise than listening to a bunch of kids playing,” she told planning commissioners.
Murray Whitehill has lived near the shallow end of the historic pool and started swimming there in 1976.
“The residents around us have intruded on what is commercial property, not the other way around,” he said.
Planning commissioners debated the issue for nearly two hours. Much of their discussion centered on setting limits on the number of people and memberships at the pool as a way to reach a possible compromise.
“The neighbors are split … how do we reach a balance?” asked Planning Commission Chairman Duane Zobrist.
Planning commissioners approved two special-use permits 7-1 and 8-0. Restrictions include limiting to 200 the number of people allowed on the site at any one time and limiting to 250 the number of memberships allowed to be a part of the swim club. The permit pertaining to the camp, rather than the pool, would be reviewed in 10 years.
The vote was the first hurdle cleared for Barnett, who is also co-founder of the privately funded Field School in Crozet. The camp would co-exist with the current swim club, he has said, which has survived on the site for decades.
The issue will still need to be approved by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, which will take up the matter at a time still yet to be determined.
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