No matter how bad the economy gets, governments at all levels will always put their own petty authority ahead of productive market activities. An example is the Batesville Store in rural Albermarle County, Virginia, which was closed — without notice or due process — by a local bureaucrat who decreed the store, which was being used primarily as a restaurant and live music venue, had too many seats. The store’s owners explained:
The Batesville Store is closed until further notice.
Earlier today two representatives from the state of Virginia showed up at the store without warning, informed us that we were not in compliance with certain state regulations, and gave us basically no choice except to close immediately.
This came as a complete shock to Liza and me. We believed that we had been operating in compliance with all state regulations since we opened in April of 2007, and we received no indication otherwise from anyone representing the state.
In fact, we have been inspected regularly by Warren Ollinger, the representative from the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services who is responsible for inspecting the store, and he has always given us favorable reports on our operation. He never suggested in any way that we would encounter what happened today. The two representatives who showed up this afternoon told us that Mr. Ollinger initiated the complaint and the subsequent review that led to the decision to close us down.
Jessica Jaglois of CBS 19 in Charlottesville added:
A store employee [said] that the reason behind the shutdown wasn’t a health issue, but a safety issue. He says the store had exceeded their seating capacity. A country store is allowed to have 15 total seats by law, but The Batesville Store has over 40. The employee was frustrated saying that the Health Department hadn’t given them a warning.
The problem, as Waldo Jaquith noted, is that Virginia officials classify the Batesville Store as a “country store,” which legally restricts their business to certain government-defined functions. Unfortunately, the store’s owners chose to serve their customers instead of the bureaucrats, and now everyone will pay the price:
As you know from yesterday’s email, the state has given us no option except to close The Batesville Store.
For the past five years, we’ve attempted to serve the community by keeping this classic, historic country store alive and thriving. Ironically, our success has proven to be our undoing.
Although we have always operated with an eye toward Virginia State Health Department guidelines (and have never been cited for a health code violation of any kind), we were in fact defined by the state as a country store and thus fell under the governance of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. We were regularly inspected by the Ag Department and were never informed of any significant problems with our operations.
However, the state representatives who suddenly appeared yesterday afternoon and shut us down without warning told us that it was decided (note the passive voice, please) that we do too much business to remain a country store. They went on to say that our only option for remaining open was to convert the store into a restaurant that would comply with all Virginia Health Department regulations.
Our kitchen is basically in compliance with Health Department regulations now. But the legalities of the store’s historic status as well as the limitations of the building itself make it impossible for us to meet the state’s other requirements for operating a restaurant.
We would have to make a host of changes in the facility to stay open legally, but because of a combination of the law and practical realities, we cannot make those changes.
So much to our regret, we are closing The Batesville Store …
No doubt Thomas Jefferson, Albemarle County’s most famous former resident, is beaming with pride at how the government he helped to establish has crushed a small business for the greater glory of the state health department.
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A country store is allowed to have 15 total seats by law, but The Batesville Store has over 40.
I don’t understand; where did the government come up with the limit of 15 seats for a country store? What reasoning is used to determine this number? Or do they just throw D&D dice, or consult a ouija board?
The reason is pretty simple, a business man wanted to provide a similar service but not have to deal with competition. Such a strategy is the reason business wanted government regulation to begin with.
I get what you’re saying. That’s not the case here, they’ve closed the entity that functions as the community’s hub in more ways than one, and there isn’t another place for it to be.
Where did they come up with the idea that one group of human beings can control and destroy, at their whim they call “the Law”, another human being’s life? What a farce this system of law has become. These bureaucrats and the parasites who make these “laws” deserve to be laughed at, and ridiculed. But what do they care: as long as they can legally steal our wealth to live and control us they don’t care what we think. They pretend they do.The laugh is really on us because we remain ignorant of the true nature of the state and gullible to the idea that without the state and its hordes of “selfless”,”rational” bureaucrats we’d run amok. It seems obvious though it is the state, the political elite and their minions who are running amok.
And we should remember that things like this happen regularly throughout the country.
Enjoy Every Sandwich – they probably use whatever the most expensive method they can think of.
Recently in my area a few business owners were in the process of opening a meat processing plant to service a larger customer out of the state. The city demanded that “landscaping” be performed to their satisfaction beyond what was already there before they would approve their business license. The larger customer simply did not want to deal with the ludicrous demands, and moved the operation to a business friendly city nearer to them. It is shocking the pathetic control that we have given to the “abusers” of economic freedom.
I am certain free goodies or … otherwise freely available purchasing power, discreetly offered, would have mollified Mr. Ollinger. Or maybe Mr. Ollinger can recommend a “Vertrauensmann” of his acquaintance to smooth things along?
My first thought was that Mr Ollinger was trolling for kickbacks, but I asked Cid directly today and he says that’s not true, which I’m very glad about because…. well I’m glad, anyway. So inspite of all the northerners who have moved to the area in recent years, at least we’re not New Jersey.
So inspite of all the northerners who have moved to the area in recent years, at least we’re not New Jersey.
Yet.
call it a chair store! This is just not right! Fight Fight Fight!
The scene there today was awesome, the line was an hour and a half long, and people were glad to wait, essentially to say hello to the Scallets and thank them. Beautiful!
Government has no place ripping, without warning, the heart of a community. The Batesville Store, on a smaller scale, gives the community character much like the Floyd Country Store. How ironic, that’s a country store and it welcomes and seats far more than 15 people and everyone gets along in a friendly manner and makes the community stronger.
Government regulations and laws MUST be arbitrary and illogical. Rules of conduct which are logical and well-defined do not serve the purposes of government. That which is obvious and sensible does not need a large, well-remunerated and coercive organization to accomplish – people will do these things naturally and spontaneously.
If there is to be a place in society for a large, well-remunerated and coercive organization to exist, then there must be rules which are impossible to deduce or obey on one’s own. Inscrutable and unobservable laws lead to widespread ignorance and unknowing disobedience of the laws, which then require a large, coercive organization to enforce.
Thus, the government must write rules specifying arbitrary and random sizes and measurements and which prescribe or proscribe all kinds actions both rare and common. They set a trap by at first lulling the public into widespread disobedience through ignorance of the laws and lax enforcement. Then, the hammer falls.
A widespread public outcry against the laws and their enforcement is not a problem for the self-appointed enforcers. The worst thing that can happen to them is that the legislators and their armies of assistants can spend the next several years drafting new laws to replace the ones which caused the protest, and the bureaucrats and cops can then spend several years acquainting themselves with the new laws, going on training junkets, etc. and then demanding more money, more office space, more vehicles, more personnel, etc. in order to cope with the changing (and nearly always expanded) regulations.
That is why it is completely futile to demand that government must “govern better” or “smarter”. It is not in their interests to do so. They make their living by ensuring that society is prone to continuous confusion, strife and failure.
Well said.
It is really too bad that a success is squashed because of one person’s griping. Where was the warning that this could happen, Mr. Ollinger? Was it not your job and duty to alert the store to the fact that they would fall under this sort of fire (especially since you lit the match)?! Evidently, there needs to be some investigation into the qualifications of someone whose very job it is to regulate businesses and does not have the knowledge that the business is not operating within the parameters of the law. Why was this never noted? Could it be that while the Batesville Store was a success, you were not a competent and responsible inspector? Perhaps, The Batesville Store can travel to England for a few days and charge the American people $25,000/plate for their food?!
The folks in and aournd Batesville, VA, and nearby communities, have now learned the disappointing news that the Batesville Store has suddenly been closed. The prospect of its reopening as a country store is very much in question this evening. Located in a charming corner of western Albemarle County, about 18 miles west of Charlottesville, it made quite an impression on Virginia Living magazine’s Tracey Love, whose description appeared at their website on May18, 2011:
Originally opened in 1880 as a general store selling basic dry goods and staple foods to locals and migrants working on the nearby orchards, it has transformed through many owners to what it is today. Most recently known as Page’s Store, owned by the Page family until 2007, it was a step up from the original but still not exactly polished. Full of character (and questionable flooring in places) and filling the necessity for essential wares in the Batesville and Nelson County communities. Today, Cid and Liza have completed the resurrection of this old store to be something really special. A place to gather with friends and family to enjoy each other’s company, some casual fare, and live music in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Farmland Information Center, which is a “partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust,” takes the initiative to re-publish a significant variety of federal, state and local regulations and updates. Among these documents can be found a copy of the Albemarle County Code which includes specific definitions for a “Country Store,” that are taken into account in support of enhancing the prospect of tourism, serving as guidelines for keeping liberty and responsibility in balance.
There are distinctions made between a store whose primary use is to offer for sale a wide variety of retail merchandise; a country store located in a historic country store building, and which may include accessory uses; country store located in a non-historic country store building, and which may include accessory uses; a building whose primary use at any time on or prior to January 1, 1965 was a country store; and a building, constructed after January 1, 1965 whose primary use at any time after that date was a country store.
In the Virginia Living piece, Tracey Love provides an interesting snapshot of how the building is used at present:
“The food options seem endless, as are the possibilities for entertainment. Live music is played on Saturday nights (along with serving a dinner buffet) and on Sunday afternoons. Sarah White and the Pearls, a local and very popular band, played a show a few weeks ago to a packed house of locals and Charlottesvillians. There is a chess board and plenty of tables for playing cards, a game of scrabble, or simply enjoying some wine. The store also has wireless internet which is big news for the area, as no internet providers have ventured into the southern tip of Albemarle County. Cid has taken it upon himself to acquire his own internet signal, and it has made quite an impact on bringing the community together. The same can be said for the store itself. It feels like stepping back 50 years without losing the comfort and taste of modernity.”
A conversation published at the Panoramio website accompanying a photo of the property, also includes information from the owner – a gentleman by the name of Norm, who, at the time of his posting in 2008, explained that to his knowledge, the building that currently stands was built in the 1880s and was used as a general store for the community. The Page family had bought it from the Joseph family, and in 1994, the Pages themselved had shocked the community by closing the store at first and then eventually deciding to lease it until the gentleman acquired not only the store, but the contract for the U.S. Post Office and the parking lot. He and his partner in real estate did renovations which sought to maintain the historic character of the place and it was then reopened as Pages Store and remained open through 2006, when they closed it for additional renovations with the upgrades necessary for it to serve “more as a gathering spot for the community and less as a grocery store.” Happily, the Scallets came along and worked very creatively to make it a great success as “The Batesville Store and Gourmet Deli.”
The notice provided by the current owners, Cid and Liza Scallet describes what has now taken place with The Batesville Store: — a very popular and well-respected business in this small, but significant, community — and hopefully it will all be sorted out without losing “the heart of Batesville.”
The website for the highly successful run of The Batesvulle Store announced, with regret, their intention to sell everything in the store between noon and 7:00 p.m. today, June 12, 2011. There are the usual bargains implicit in an “everything must go” scenario – and in this instance the offerings could range from baked goods to the very groceries that produce them, as well as the serving dishes and – yes, the tables and chairs and what-not. Owners Cid and Liza Skallet explain that they will be open on Monday and Tuesday of the coming week from noon until 7 p.m. as well, adding with a wistful note that folks will have one final opportunity to share a bit of “what was generally regarded as the finest commercial establishment in all of Batesville.”
Writing la few weeks ago, for Virginia Living magazine, Tracey Love, described a bit about how the Batesville Store is presently being used:
Originally opened in 1880 as a general store selling basic dry goods and staple foods to locals and migrants working on the nearby orchards, it has transformed through many owners to what it is today. Most recently known as Page’s Store, owned by the Page family until 2007, it was a step up from the original but still not exactly polished. Full of character (and questionable flooring in places) and filling the necessity for essential wares in the Batesville and Nelson County communities. Today, Cid and Liza have completed the resurrection of this old store to be something really special. A place to gather with friends and family to enjoy each other’s company, some casual fare, and live music in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Farmland Information Center, a “partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust,” re-publishes a variety of federal, state and local regulations and updates, in order to make them readily available to those interested in agri-tourism and in many other public-interest issues that will have consequences for rural communities .
Among these documents can be found a copy of the Albemarle County Code which includes specific definitions for a “Country Store,” that are taken into account to try to enhance the prospect of tourism, among otherpurposes, and to serve as guidelines for helping to keep liberty, responsibility and free enterprise in a sustainable balance for the long term..
There are important distinctions relating to the term “Country Store, in the Code: a store whose primary use is to offer for sale a wide variety of retail merchandise; a country store located in a historic country store building , and which may include accessory uses; a country store located in a non-historic country store building and which may include accessory uses; a building whose primary use at any time on or prior to January 1,1965 was as a country store; and a building constructed after January 1, 1965, whose primary use at any time after that date was as a country store.
In her recent piece in for Virginia Living, Tracey Love provided a good snapshot::
“The food options seem endless, as are the possibilities for entertainment. Live music is played on Saturday nights (along with serving a dinner buffet) and on Sunday afternoons. Sarah White and the Pearls, a local and very popular band, played a show a few weeks ago to a packed house of locals and Charlottesvillians. There is a chess board and plenty of tables for playing cards, a game of scrabble, or simply enjoying some wine.
The store also has wireless internet which is big news for the area, as no internet providers have ventured into the southern tip of AlbemarleCounty. Cid has taken it upon himself to acquire his own internet signal, and it has made quite an impact on bringing the community together. The same can be said for the store itself. It feels like stepping back 50 years without losing the comfort and taste of modernity.”
A conversation published at the Panoramio website accompanying a photo of the property, also includes information from the owner in January of 2008 – a gentleman by the name of Norm, who at the time of his posting, explains that to his knowledge, the building that currently stands was built some time in the 1880s and was used for its intended purpose as a general store for the surrounding rural community. in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.
“The Pages bought it from the Joseph family (some of whom have visited the store in the last few years). In 1994 the Page family closed the store. This was quite a shock to the community. After closing it the Page’s decided to lease the property. After 10 years of leasing the Page family decided to sell the property which includes the Post Office and the parking lot. This is where I come in, being a long standing friend of the Page family and in the Real Estate business, my partner and I bought the property.”
Norm explains to those interested in the history that he purchased the store, the parking lot, and the contract for the U.S. Post Office, and that they went ahead with renovations which intentionally maintained the historic character of the place.
It was then opened again as “Pages Store” and remained open through 2006, until they closed it for additional renovations with the upgrades necessary to have it serve “more as a gathering spot for the community and less as a grocery store.” Happily, the Scallets came along then, and worked very creatively to make it a great success as “The Batesville Store and Gourmet Deli — a popular and very well-respected business in western Albemarle County.
It would seem that there could be some way of meeting the objectives of the County of Albemarle while also preserving this unique cultural heritage, in our region. Preservation can involve things other than property, and it is often the intangible elements of life that really matter.
In recent yeats, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and others have been sponsoring an increasing number of agritourism programs for local communities, such as the Farmer’s Market, nearby in Nelson County, which is open every Saturday,from 8 a.m until noon – rain or shine from May through October. This weekly event features live music and demonstrations by local crafters and artisans.
It is ironic that the success and the “magic” in the Batesville Store is just the kind of agri-tourism element that the ordinances exist to preserve and yet in this case those same protections seem to have had the effect of accidentally poisoning the apple.
In a very creative community such as that which exists in this region perhaps there still may be some way to have the best of both worlds for the community of Batesville and the surrounding countryside, where the efforts of two hardworking and imaginative people have continued the best of what a great County Store has provided this rural community for centuries: southern comfort and goodwill, and that has had an significantly-positive effect, far and wide.
Had an interesting day and heard a little more from both sides.
I was at the Albemarle County Office Bldg on other business and got to talk to a friend who’s something of a big wig. His version of what happened: Some one complained to the Health Dept, a specious story about sliced turkey that was bad when they went to eat it 5 days later. Mr Jeff McDaniel from the Health Dept determined a site visit was in order, and upon arriving on the premises made the call that the store was operating as a restaurant, therefore under his jurisdiction, and gave the Scalletts 4 options, none of which would have worked from a business perspective, hence their decision to close.
Got to Batesville around 5:00, had a good talk with Cid and Liza, who are well on their way to recovering their normal positive, forceful, and cheery demeanors. They looked like they were in shock when I saw them on Sunday (understandably so). Cid said he’s been avoiding the blogs and facebook because he’s still wading through the 400+ emails of support he’d received as of Monday.
Yet to hear a public official weigh in, hopefully soon.
Another f*ing bureaucrat. I’m sure these guys were cogs in the machine but everyone has the responsibility to think. They should have looked at the statute and quickly evaluated that there was no cause for concern. These are your tax dollars at work.
You guys can cry and stomp your feet all you want…but a rule on the books was broken. When you buy into a world of regulations you do one of two things…you communicate the truth and move toward resolution or you cross your fingers and hold your breath and hope that you don’t get caught.
Our business was so old that in 50 years the state or county never applied rules that govern “on premise” for alcohol sales nor capacity for the establishment…we held our breath. We finally got busted out and the local fire marshall looked like an ass for looking the other way during his tenure…they came back on us with draconian capacity rules, the short story is they gave us capacity for fixed seating instead of moveable seating. We simply looked the other way again (known violation) until we could plead our case to cooler heads.
You can argue all you want about free market, government regulation or libertarian views…but when a rule/law is on the books you cannot plead ignorance nor cry when they bust you for something you may (or may not) have known.
Personally, I would keep the business open until the cops come (and they will not) until the classification change can occur. Unless you live in a backwards world controlled by local good-ol-boys I’m quite sure there is a solution. Quit crying and solve you issue.
As far as antibusiness that title makes it sound like a political view and for every story of anti-business I can give you several reason why many regulations are good. 100% free enterprise would also be a disaster as the walmarts of the world take over and separate the poor from the wealthy even more with less competition.
Kind of whiney, if the guy wants to run a restaurant, then follow the codes like everyone else. Instead, he cuts off his nose to spite his face. An entrepreneur will be be glad to step in and fill the vacuum this closing creates.
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