J.O. and Suzie and Batten applied for a special exception use permit for their rustic wedding venue, “Hitching Post Barn” back in March 2015. As a part of their application, they also asked for approval to conduct outdoor church services on Sunday. The Planning and Zoning Board reviewed their application and recommended approval of the permit given modification of the number of days and hours they are open. Attorney Joe Mason presented arguments for the Batten’s original request hours/days of operation at the County Commission meeting on November 10th. Several neighbors attended the meeting who urged the commission not to grant the special exception due to high levels of noise previously experienced from other events on the property. Finding themselves at a stalemate, the commission decided to continue the discussions on the return of Commissioner Adkins to the dais.
The Hitching Post Barn is located at 27151 Soult Road in Brooksville. In their application the Battens state, “The Hitching Post Barn is a family operated business on a 48 year old working farm. The Batten family has been in Hernando County for 5 generations. We sit on 40 acres but use only 5, as the rest is for our horses and cows. We will only host one wedding a week, on Saturday night. Our wedding season is from Oct until April. The music must end by 11:30pm and the majority of the events are over by 10pm. We meet with the DJ’s prior to an event and agree to keep the volume at a reasonable level.”
The Battens requested they be allowed to hold these special events 28 days a year with an end time of 11:30 pm. They requested church services be held from 11:00 to 12:30pm. Planning and Zoning recommended approving the application if the Battens would agree to limiting the events to 24 per year, with hours of operation 9:00am to 9:00pm, with vendors off the premises by 10:00pm. Additionally, they would only be allowed to host weddings. Other special events would need an amendment to the special exception use permit.
Attorney Joe Mason explained that the hours for the church were as a result of his client’s discussions with staff. They are requesting that the board gives approval for the normal functions that churches do have such as having a Sunday school and perhaps bible study classes and potlucks which would require a wider hours of operation.
Mr. Mason also explained that 9:00 pm is too early for an event to end since weddings typically take place in the evening.
Both Commissioner Holcomb and Commissioner Dukes were in support of the wedding venue and did not see a problem with the original hours/days requested. Mr. Holcomb stated, “I don’t think there should be one size fits all restrictions for wedding barns. I think these are great things we have in our county.”
Several neighbors in the area cited extreme noise levels late at night. It was pointed out in the meeting that most likely the cause of the noise reported by neighbors was the motorcycle rodeo events which is separate from the wedding venue. One neighbor pointed to the Batten Barn website which indicated intentions of hosting a wide variety of gatherings including corporate functions and sweet 16’s. According to the agenda item description, the application was for “Special Exception Use Permit for a Place of Public Assembly, namely a venue for Special Events,” not specifying weddings. However, in the application description filled out by the Battens, they only mention weddings.
Commissioner Dukes stated that there are guidelines that they must follow in order to approve or deny such an application. The commission has to be careful because lawsuits can result if an application is denied without merit. He said that since he has served on the commission, about $7 million dollars have been lost in lawsuits due to this issue. Mr. Dukes stated, “I would request that the owner be cognizant of the surroundings and if he’s not, we’ll hear about it.”
Commissioner Nicholson stated that he thinks the hours of operation are way too long. He stated that he couldn’t vote for later than 10pm. Commissioner Rowden was also for an earlier end time.
The commission decided to postpone to wait for a full commission since they found themselves at a stalemate on hours of operation with Commissioner Adkins absent.