Albemarle planning commission recommends approval for Funk Brothers Furniture special-use permit

The Albemarle County Planning Commission on Nov. 25 recommended approval of a special-use permit to let Funk Brothers Furniture relocate a craft, gift and antique shop into a vacant Moose Lodge building on Route 250.

Senior planner Jared Tate told commissioners staff found the roughly 3-acre parcel and proposed reuse consistent with the rural-area policies in the comprehensive plan and recommended approval of SP2024-17 with five conditions while noting the existing building is nonconforming to rural setbacks.

The permit would allow reuse of the existing structure rather than new construction. Tate said the building is about 17 feet from an adjacent residential property at its nearest point and staff’s primary concern was that the structure is nonconforming; the applicant proposed to maintain an existing screening fence and add plantings to mitigate impacts.

Applicant Mike Funk said the brothers will occupy the portion of the building farthest from neighbors and that the other half will be used by a partner. “We’re craftsmen. We fix things. We store antique furniture,” Funk said, describing a small, locally focused woodworking and retail operation. He said the business previously employed four to six people and plans to open a retail space that could add jobs.

Connor O’Donnell, who said he worked in planning and had been helping the applicants, urged commissioners to consider a zoning-code change that would better accommodate artisan manufacturing in rural areas. “We found that there’s a pretty huge gap in being able to do that,” O’Donnell said, noting localities that allow similar makers in rural areas and suggesting the county carry an existing Rio 29 tool into the rural code during its rewrite.

Commissioners praised the proposal as a beneficial reuse of a long-vacant building, noting local-material sourcing and community-facing uses such as occasional markets. After discussion, a commissioner moved to recommend approval with the conditions in the staff report; the commission recorded aye votes and forwarded the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

The commission’s recommendation is advisory; the Board of Supervisors retains final authority on the special-use permit. The staff report lists five recommended conditions; those conditions and the staff analysis will accompany the item to the Board.