Blue Rock Inn owner Gary Harvey disputes zoning violation, discloses plan for new winery at inn
James P. Gannon
Blue Rock Inn owner Gary Harvey, who last week was found guilty in court of violating local zoning law by running an unapproved guest house at his home near the restaurant and inn, denied he had done anything unlawful and said he has future weddings booked at Blue Rock that will result in guests staying at his private home.
In an interview with The Rappahannock Voice, Harvey contended that his problems have been caused by neighbors on Clark Lane who have been closely watching the comings-and-goings of guests at his large mountainside home and complaining to the county about his operating a guest house without the required county permit to do so. “My neighbors have always caused me problems,” Harvey said.
Harvey pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor zoning violation in Rappahannock County District Court on Aug. 24, but Judge Charles Foley found him guilty as charged and fined him $1,000. The judge suspended all but $100 of the fine and put Harvey on probation for 12 months, but the rest of the fine and possibly other penalties could be imposed by the court if he is found guilty of future violations.
“When we do a wedding at Blue Rock, we usually give a room away up here (in his home) for the bride,” Harvey said. “No money changes hands,” he said, so he considers the free lodging just a “perk” or bonus thrown in to make the Blue Rock Inn an appealing venue for weddings. “How can I be guilty when I didn’t get any money for it?” he asked.
“I haven’t broken any law,” Harvey contended, but when it was pointed out that the court ruled that he had, he responded by saying the court upheld “an interpretation of the law” that he believes is erroneous as applied to his activities.
Harvey conceded that sometimes whole wedding parties have stayed at his home when there was insufficient room at the Blue Rock Inn, which has five guest rooms. But in most of those cases, he said, the wedding involved his personal friends, or relatives or people who had been customers of his in the past.
“Where do you draw the line? There is a fine line between friends and relatives” staying as guests and running a for-profit guest house or bed-and-breakfast, he argued.
The Blue Rock has booked future weddings, he said, that may involve some guests at his home. “I’ve got wedding guests coming this weekend,” Harvey said. “The bride is a close friend of my son. They are all staying up here–friends of the family.”
Harvey said he plans to contact Rappahannock County Commonwealth’s Attorney Peter Luke, who brought the case against Harvey to court, to inform him of plans to put up “friends of the family” this weekend.
He complained that neighbors on his road have kept records of people coming and going to his house and have “hidden in the bushes” to take photographs of cars and their license plates to use as evidence that he is running an illegal guest house. “This is stupid,” he said. “What about my rights? Where are my rights violated?”
Harvey said he apologized to Judge Foley for taking up his time in court and felt that the judge “just did what he had to do” in handling the case. “I do respect the judge, and I don’t want to do anything to show him any disrespect,” he said.
In the interview, Harvey also disclosed plans to build a new winery on his Blue Rock Inn property, which lies along Route 211 between Washington and Sperryville, VA.
“Having a winery there is the last piece of the puzzle to make the Blue Rock a destination for tourists,” Harvey said. “I want people to come out here and stay out here. The winery (building) also would give us another room to use for weddings.” The winery business in Virginia is booming, he noted, and holds great potential for making the Blue Rock Inn a major tourist attraction and wedding venue, he believes.
Harvey said his aim would be to create a winery with capacity to produce about 3,500 cases of wine annually, which would make it a medium-sized winery for Virginia–larger than some of the existing Rappahannock County wineries, but not on the scale of Virginia’s largest wineries.
He would not put a date on when he would start work on the winery, but said he wants to start “as soon as I can.” He is working on plans and “paperwork” related to the project, and has spoken to potential investors. The winery would cost “millions” to build and equip, he said, but added, “I’ve got a lot of people standing in line to hand me money” as investors in the project.
The Blue Rock already has a vineyard on the slopes below the restaurant. “I will have eight acres of grapes,” he said, and would buy grapes from other vineyards to supply the fruit needed for the Blue Rock winery. Harvey noted that he does not need county approval to establish a winery, a fact confirmed by County Adminstrator John McCarthy, who said wineries may be established “by right” in agricultural zones, which is the zoning for the Blue Rock property.
“I don’t know the first thing about wine,” Harvey conceded, noting that he never drinks alcohol. But he believes the winery would be critical to the commercial success of his enterprise. The Blue Rock owner is an entrepreneur with many interests, including a florist business in Arlington County; he also has worked as a licensed real estate broker and owns the Shadow Rock guest house and gallery on Main Street in Sperryville. He is rarely short of ideas for new enterprises, nor the eagerness to talk about them.
-- James P. Gannon
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