UPCOMING: - Wednesday, November 15th - PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION 7:30pm Courthouse - Tuesday, November 21st - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2:00/7:30pm Courthouse (NOTE: This is a change from the regular meeting date) - Wednesday, November 29th - PLANNING COMMISSION 7:30pm Courthouse (NOTE: This is a change from the regular meeting date) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION ON PROPOSED ZONING AMENDMENTS Wednesday, November 8, 2006 Present: Ms. Philippa Proulx, Ms. Emily Hunt, Ms. Linda Russell, Ms. Delores Truesdale, Mr. Mike Harman Absent: Mr. Tommy Bruguiere, Board Liaison In October, the Board of Supervisors presented the Commissioners with proposed amendments to the existing zoning ordinance for review, public hearing and a recommendation. The proposed amendments include various "housekeeping" changes, language to comply with General Assembly legislation, changes to the by-right division density in Agricultural (A-1) zoning districts and the inclusion of uses previously approved by the Supervisors under Uses Not Provided For. Ms. Proulx provided staff with a Commission letter to be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors requesting an extension from the 60 days provided for review to 100 days for review, public hearing and recommendation. Commissioners then began a page-by-page review of the proposed amendments, correcting typographical errors and making minor changes to the language for clarity. In addition, Commissioners made or reviewed the following changes: 1. Added Definition 2-22b Corporate Training Facility (previously approved use). 2. Added Definition 2-51a Inoperative Motor Vehicle (to clarify for enforcement purposes). 3. Added Definition 2-62a Motor Vehicle (to clarify for enforcement purposes). 4. Added Cluster Housing Development as a by-right use in the Conservation District (as required by General Assembly legislation) with a minimum area of 100 acres and overall density of one dwelling unit per 20 acres. A minimum of 40% of the land must be reserved for agriculture, forestry, recreation or open space. 5. Removed Cluster Housing Development from the Agricultural (A-1) District. Mr. Boger reported that the County Attorney has advised that the option of clustering is available through the proposed new division rights in this district. 6. Added 4-1-22a Vegetative Rubbish Recycling Facility as a use permitted by conditional use permit in Agricultural (A-1) Districts (previously approved use). 7. Added 4-2-1 to set division rights in Agricultural (A-1) districts on parcels of record as of the adoption of the amendment as follows: 0-5 acres - 2 lots 5-10 acres - 3 lots 10-15 acres - 4 lots 15-20 acres - 5 lots 20-25 acres - 6 lots 25-35 acres - 7 lots 35-45 acres - 8 lots 45-55 acres - 9 lots 55-65 acres - 10 lots 65-75 acres - 11 lots 75+ acres - unlimited 20-acre lots The minimum lot area would be two (2) acres (87,120 sq ft) or more per dwelling unit. Family subdivision lots would be a minimum lot area of one (1) acre (43,560 sq ft) per dwelling unit. Ms. Russell noted that having the option of cluster development under the division rights does not deal with the open space requirement. Mr. Boger said that the residue lot would be the open space with no further division allowed. Ms. Russell asked whether the divisions above would be done administratively or come to the Planning Commission for review. Mr. Boger said that his recommendation would be that 10 lots or less would be done administratively with any divisions over that coming to the Commission for review. 8. Added Cluster Housing Development as a by-right use in Residential District (as required by General Assembly legislation) with a minimum area of 30 acres and overall density of one dwelling unit per 2 acres. A minimum of 40% of the land must be reserved for agriculture, forestry, recreation or open space. 9. Added language establishing a 10-foot setback from the property line for Accessory Buildings and prohibiting them in the required front yard in Residential (R-1) Districts. 10. Requested that staff draft clearer language on "Procedure for Approval". Proposed language specifies that the Planning Director must act on the final development plan and subdivision plat within sixty (60) days after it has been OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED for approval by either approving or disapproving the plans. Ms. Proulx questioned what "officially submitted" actually means, noting that plats are often submitted with incomplete information causing delays in the review process. She asked for language to clarify that the 60-day period begins upon submission of a completed plat or plan. 11. Added 8-1-5a. Single family dwelling units, two family dwelling units and multi-family dwelling units as a use permitted by conditional use permit in Business District (B-1). 12. Added 8B-1-7a. Multi-family dwelling as a use permitted by special use permit in Service Enterprise (SE-1). 13. Added 9-1-7B Vegetative Rubbish Recycling Facility as a by-right use in Industrial District (M-2). 14. Removed language relative to the posting of property prior to public hearings (as per legal requirement). 15. Added language allowing the Board of Zoning Appeals to consider and grant a special use permit to allow an applicant to erect an accessory building prior to the construction of the primary building on the same lot or parcel. Mr. Boger noted that, due to changes in state law, the BZA can no longer grant a variance for these applications. He reported that the process established by the BZA is working well and the amendment would allow that tracking process to continue through a permit. (NOTE: Rural Nelson will post the working draft of the proposed amendments on our website - www.ruralnelson.org - within the next few days for your information and review. The draft will be updated as changes are made by the Planning Commission in their work sessions.) Commissioners set a date for another work session to continue their review on Wednesday, November 15th at 7:30pm at the Courthouse. In addition, they set Tuesday, January 16th at 7:30pm for a public hearing on the proposed amendments, with a snow date of Thursday, January 18th at 7:30pm. The public hearing is tentatively expected to be held at the High School/Middle School complex. Meeting continued until November 15, 2006. Copyright 2000-2006 by Rural Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Reports may be reprinted or excerpted with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This report, sent to over 600 Nelson County citizens, was made possible by the generous donations of Rural Nelson members and supporters. We need your help to continue this service. Please consider donating. Kim T. Cash Field Officer Rural Nelson, Inc. P. O. Box 401 Lovingston, VA 22949 434.263.5000 www.ruralnelson.org