UPCOMING: - Thursday, June 26th - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 7:30pm Courthouse - Wednesday, July 2nd - 7:00pm at the Courthouse - PUBLIC MEETING ON PROPOSED HIGH TOP TOWER (Fortunes Cove in Lovingston) - Representatives from Nelson County, Virginia State Police, Central VA Electric, WCVE and WVTF will be available to answer questions about the proposed tower. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED: - Saturday, June 28th and Sunday, June 29th to work the gate at the Nelson County Summer Festival at Oak Ridge Estate. Rural Nelson will earn a donation for our work so please volunteer to work a shift or two. Help needed Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am-2:30pm. Please let us know when you can work! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: A few of you may still be receiving duplicate reports. If so, we apologize and we are still working on the problem. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Present: Ms. Philippa Proulx, Ms. Emily Hunt, Mr. Mike Tapager and Ms. Linda Russell Absent: Mr. Mike Harman and Mr. Tommy Bruguiere (Board Liaison) EXCEPTION/MR. PHILLIP D. PAYNE, IV - The applicant has requested an exception to Section 4-4D, Individual Septic Systems to permit division of property without the required soils work and drain field locations. The parcel is 17.245 acres and adjacent to his Shipman area farm. He wishes to divide off and sell approximately 10 acres of that land. The 7.245 acres remaining is sloped with the only access being through Mr. Payne's farm. The request for an exception to the soils work requirement is for the remaining 7.245-acre parcel. At the May meeting, Commissioners asked Mr. Payne to determine whether the 7.245-acre parcel could be added to his farm with a boundary line adjustment. Mr. Payne said that he would research that option but noted that it could create a problem with the conservation easement process that has been under way for almost a year. At this meeting, Mr. Payne reported that doing a boundary line adjustment would indeed affect the easement in process as it would require the addition of new descriptions of the land. He noted that the 7.245-acre parcel is only accessible through his land and the conservation easement would probably not allow building a road to the property anyway. With no Public Comment, Commissioners voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the exception. EXCEPTION/MR. DAVE PFEIFFER - The applicant has requested an Exception to Section 7-1 of the Subdivision Ordinance to reduce the required 50-foot buffer from the bank of a stream (Section 4-3 Streams, Drainage and Erosion Control) to 37 feet to permit the construction of a dwelling with an elevated porch. The property is located on Tye River Road just across the bridge east of Tye River Depot. Mr. Boger noted that the original subdivision plat was recorded prior to the 1997 adoption of the stream buffer requirement so the buffer requirement may not apply to the property. After discussion, Commissioners voted 4-0 that, upon advice of the Planning Director, it is not within the purview of the Commission as the subdivision was created prior to the stream setback requirements. CLASS II COMMUNICATIONS TOWER/WPOA-NTELOS - The applicant submitted an application for a tower permit to construct an 80-foot wooden tower on property owned by Wintergreen Property Owners' Association on Water Works Lane off Wintergreen Drive. The application includes a request for a Special Exception to Section 20-7-2a which requires a "fall area" equal to 125% of the tower height and a waiver from the landscaping requirements as the site is in a heavily wooded area. This 80-foot tower falls under Class II as it is proposed for a mountain ridge with an elevation of 200 feet or more above the elevation of the adjacent valley floor. Ms. Valerie Long, representing nTelos, explained that the request for the Exception is due to the 100-foot setback for Wintergreen Drive. She noted that the tower will be 70 feet from the edge of the setback and fits better on the site in that location. Ms. Russell asked about the light for the equipment building, noting that it is proposed as 36 inches above the building. Ms. Long said that nTelos would look at making that a building-mounted light. With No Public Comment, Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the tower with a switch-operated light only, waiving the landscaping requirements of Section 20-7-5(k), recommending approval of the Special Exception to Section 20-7-2(a) and asking that nTelos investigate using a building-mounted light to minimize light dispersal. CLASS II COMMUNICATIONS TOWER/WOODS MILL-VERIZON WIRELESS - The applicant submitted an application for a tower permit for a 92-foot metal tower to be installed on property at 15819 Thomas Nelson Highway owned by Ms. Brenda Wood and behind Shady's. The application includes three antennas and related equipment attached to the pole, all to be painted brown with the cables to be installed internally. The application also includes a request for a Special Exception to Section 20-7-2(e) which prohibits towers within the viewshed of a Scenic Byway (Rt. 6 and this section of Rt. 29 are Scenic Byways). Mr. Maynard Sipe, representing Verizon, presented the results of the balloon tests. Mr. Boger had presented the Commissioners with a draft county co-location condition. He also presented a draft county co-location "right of first refusal" condition. Mr. Boger noted, however, that he is not sure the county can include conditions on Class I and Class II towers as there is no language in the ordinance allowing or disallowing conditions. He said that conditions can be put on Class III towers. Mr. Sipe presented his version of the county's draft as "The tower shall be available for County Government/Emergency Services use at no charge, conditioned upon the structural capacity of the tower and upon completion of a lease with Verizon Wireless." Ms. Russell asked for clarification on "conditioned upon the structural capacity of the tower", noting that that could mean that Verizon will not reserve space for the county but will lease it to the county if space is available. Mr. Sipe said that his interpretation is that the statement "shall be available" means that Verizon will make space available for the County as long as the tower has the structural capacity. With No Public Comment, Ms. Proulx said that she was not willing to add the co-location condition without knowing whether the Commission has the authority to add it. Ms. Russell said that that needs to be clarified and there should be firm language for co-location before consideration of any more towers. Ms. Proulx said that she was inclined to let the Board of Supervisors tie the co-location condition to the Special Exception if they chose while the Commission gets clarification. Commissioners voted 3-1 (Ms. Russell voting no) to approve the Class II tower and recommend approval of the Special Exception to allow the tower in the viewshed of the Scenic Byway. CLASS III COMMUNICATIONS TOWER/HENDERSON'S STORE/VERIZON WIRELESS - The applicant submitted an application for a tower permit for a 96-foot metal tower to be installed at 6492 Patrick Henry Highway, on property owned by F&F Associates, LTD (Mr. William Flippin). The application includes three antennas and related equipment attached to the pole, all to be painted brown with the cables to be installed internally. The application also includes a request for a waiver of the landscaping requirements in Section 20-7-5(k), a Special Exception to Section 20-8-3 which prohibits towers within the viewshed of a Scenic Byway (Rt. 151 and Rt. 56 are Scenic Byways) and a Special Exception to Section 20-8-3 prohibiting a Class III tower within two miles of another Class II or Class III tower. Mr. Maynard Sipe, representing Verizon, presented the results of the balloon tests. During Public Comment, MR. STUART SMITH of Rutile Lane off Roseland Road, said that his home sits up off the river over the quarry and he believes that the tower will impact his view. He said that he would have liked to see the balloon test but did not know about it until after the fact. MR. BILL FLIPPIN, property owner, said that Verizon has bent over backwards to make this site work and that there is no perfect site. He said that he does not think Verizon can get this pole out of everybody's viewshed. MR. MASSIE SAUNDERS, nearby property owner, asked how far the tower would extend above the tree line and how large a site would be cleared. He also asked that everything possible be done to shield the pole from view. MR. ROBERT BRADLEY, nearby property owner, also asked that all possible screening be done to protect the nearby landowners and asked how far the site would be from Rt. 151. Mr. Maynard Sipe, representing Verizon, said that the actual site is at least 150 feet from the road. He said that the lease area is 50x50 but that only 36'x50' will be cleared, removing only the trees necessary. He noted that all equipment will be painted dull brown and that monopoles seem to be less noticeable. Mr. Sipe said that the height of the pole ranges from 4 feet over the tallest tree to 13 feet over the canopy. Ms. Russell said that she was there for the balloon test and every effort was made to put the pole at the minimum height to achieve the goal. She said that she would still like clarification on the co-location language before making a recommendation to the Supervisors. Ms. Proulx, noting that this is a Class III tower, agreed. Mr. Boger said that the ordinance requires action within 60 days of the submission of the application. Ms. Russell said that the applicant could agree to extend the 60-day period. Mr. Sipe said that he would be happy to work with the Commission to amend the language now so there could be an action taken on this date. Commissioners voted 3-1 (Ms. Russell voting no) to recommend approval of the Class III tower with the landscaping waiver and two Special Exceptions noted above. Following the motion, Mr. Tapager said that there needs to be a better way to notify neighboring property owners in advance of the balloon tests and that the co-location language needs to be clarified. Ms. Russell said that it is imperative to amend the tower ordinance to allow more than 60 days for a review. Mr. Boger said that staff will prepare a resolution for the next meeting. FINAL SUBDIVISION PLAT/ MR. SAMUEL PRICE - The applicant has submitted a plat to divide Lot #2 of Tye Cliff Subdivision, consisting of approximately 12.595 acres into two lots. The property is located on Crabtree Falls Highway (Rt. 56 West) with frontage along the Tye River. The division is for a family subdivision with a restriction noted on the plat that Parcel X may not be further divided. Parcel X is 3.191 acres but, as Mr. Boger reported, according to the plat prepared by the surveyor, is divided by VDOT-owned Rt. 56. Mr. Boger noted that if VDOT actually owns the road, that creates four parcels: the 9.404-acre residue, a 1.910-acre Parcel X, a 1.135-acre Parcel X across Rt. 56 and a 0.146-acre parcel. Mr. Boger suggested that, per the Subdivision Ordinance prohibition against creating lots less than the minimum acreage required, the 1.135-acre and 0.146-acre parcels could be dedicated to Open Space (recreation, preservation). Mr. Boger then noted that another problem may exist with the road frontage. He said that the plat shows a 30-foot road frontage. A family subdivision requires a 30-foot right-of-way and a regular subdivision requires 125 feet of road frontage. With multiple issues, Commissioners voted 4-0 to defer further discussion until their July meeting to allow staff and the applicant to further research the road ownership issue and the applicant's options for proceeding. PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS/SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE SECTION 4-4D. and E. and ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT SECTION 12-1-3 (d) and (e). - ALL DEALING WITH WATER AND SEWER - Commissioners held a public hearing on proposed amendments to the requirement for soils work for septic systems on subdivision lots. The amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance would require soils work and a 100% reserve area on all lots except for Family Subdivisions and subdivisions of three lots or less (with a note on the plat that approval of the plat does not guarantee that the soils will support a septic system). The amendment to the Zoning Ordinance would require soils work with a reserve area equal to a minimum of 100% of the primary area. During Public Comment, Mr. Massie Saunders (a county surveyor) and Mr. Steve Thomas (AOSE) presented actual subdivision scenarios to show why soils work should be done on all lots. They presented several subdivision plats that were approved by the Commission contingent on Health Department approvals. In each case, the number of lots had to be reduced when suitable soils could not be located on the sites. Mr. Saunders then presented various scenarios where lots could be divided to accommodate soils if the soils work were done in advance rather than at the time of sale or transfer. In addition, Mr. Saunders asked that the Commission reconsider the requirement that the drainfields be shown on the plat as that creates an easement issue (drainfields are rarely installed exactly as noted on the plat) and duplicates work as the drainfields have to be identified on the Health Department plat. Mr. Thomas identified several items in the proposed amendments where clarifying the language would make the amendments easier to understand and he also expressed concern with the exception for three lots or less. Following the Public Hearing, Commissioners set Thursday, July 10th at 7:30pm at the Courthouse for a work session on the proposed amendments. Meeting continued until July 10th. Copyright 2000-2008 by Rural Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Reports may be reprinted or excerpted with attribution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OF INTEREST: - The UnJam 2035 Public Comment Period will end on Monday, June 30, 2008! Don't miss the opportunity to have your voice heard. If you haven't already done so, visit UnJAM.org before June 30th and take the update survey - http://www.unjam.org/Unjam2035_Form1.asp The survey will be closed on June 30th, 2008 to allow Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to incorporate your comments and suggestions into the UnJAM 2035 update. Visit the results section of UnJAM.org to see how others have responded - http://www.unjam.org/Unjam2035_results.asp. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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