Rob French may have become the Last Man Standing in the vendor wars along Powhatan County’s Route 60 corridor. The Cumberland County farmer and entrepreneur has also become something of a cult hero in the process.

The conflict between the county and the vegetable stand that French set up next to the Bank of Powhatan began last year, and French’s operation wasn’t the only one caught up in the fray.

“We reacted to several complaints,” said Powhatan Planning Director Brandon Stidham. Those complaints came from residents concerned about the traffic situations caused by some roadside stands’ proximity to Route 60. The county’s investigation found that, in most cases, the sites did not comply with county ordinances in effect at the time. Most did not have adequate parking or provide acceptable entry and egress.

French was advised that he was in violation of several ordinances, including those that stipulate a stand such as his must have a commercial entrance and handicapped parking if it was not going to be packed up and removed every night.

There were other problems as well, said French, including the fact that he was not attached to any other business.

According to Stidham, county leaders recently realized that the unprecedented influx of roadside vendors required a fresh look at applicable ordinances.

French’s dilemma exemplifies the difficulty of managing growth while being sensitive to the community’s desire to remain rural. The 100-year-old Sunnyside Farm, located on Route 13 just four miles into Cumberland County, operates three other produce stands in the area.

“It was never our intention to shut them down,” Stidham said, “but [instead] to move them to shopping centers and other areas that have acceptable ingress, egress and parking.”

The county’s decision was to pursue new ordinances for what was, at the time, “eight or nine vendors including snow cones, vegetables, hot dogs, roses, seafood and barbecue,” Stidham said.

“We had to address the safety issues…but if they packed up and left every night they wouldn’t have to meet site plan requirements.”

As in all things governmental, there was a process in place. A study group, which is open to the public, was formed to examine the problem.

Last year’s complaints were scheduled to be addressed in the spring of this year by the study group and a public hearing was advertised for June 3. 

By the date of the hearing, Rob French found himself in a rather lonely situation. Looking up and down Route 60, his vegetable stand was the only vendor.

No hot dogs, snow cones, seafood or barbecue, in violation of county codes or not, could be purchased from a vendor in the county. They had all disappeared.

French’s misunderstanding of the county’s obligation to notify him of the public hearing led to his emergence as a cause célèbre.

“I was never notified about the date of the hearing and didn’t find out about it until a day and a half before it was held,” he recalled. “I wasn’t able to prepare for it.”

Realizing that he would be under the gun at the hearing, French launched a phone campaign.

“We managed to generate more phone calls (to the county) than any other incident in the county,” French said.

Stidham agreed that there had been considerable phone traffic on French’s behalf in the 24 hours preceding the public hearing, but said that French’s complaint of not being personally notified of the public hearing was invalid.

“The county is absolutely not obligated to notify individuals of public hearings. The public notice posted in the newspaper fulfills our obligations.”

Powhatan Life, a website hosted by Powhatan’s Cathy Dickson, was inundated by residents calling for the county to leave French alone.

The June 3 hearing, during which French presented a petition signed by his customers neither generated any modifications of current ordinances nor created any new ones. The Planning Commission decided that an additional study group was needed. “We had planned to be back working on June 11,” Stidham said, but the new study group is now scheduled to meet on July 16.

French’s Route 60 location continues to operate, pending a resolution by the Powhatan Planning Commission.