UPCOMING: - Thursday, January 22nd - BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 6:30pm Courthouse - Wednesday, January 28th - PLANNING COMMISSION 7:30pm Courthouse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARK YOUR CALENDAR: "Global a Go-Go" - Rural Nelson Community Dance Party at The Hamner Theater - Saturday, January 31st. Doors open at 8:00 pm. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION Wednesday, January 21, 2009 PRESENT: Ms. Philippa Proulx, Ms. Emily Hunt, Mr. Mike Harman, Ms. Linda Russell, Mr. Mike Tapager and Mr. Tommy Bruguiere (Board Liaison) PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE/RETAIL STORE, NEIGHBORHOOD - Commissioners discussed whether an inventory of county buildings currently, or at some point in the past, used as country stores would be needed. Ms. Proulx questioned whether the intent of the amendments is to deal with stores that are in operation or have been with only a short gap in operation. She asked whether the amendments will deal with stores that have been converted to homes or any building that was once a store. Mr. Tapager said that it was his feeling that the proposed amendments are a way to preserve old buildings so that would include stores converted to other uses. He questioned what the Supervisors' intent was when they referred the issue to the Commission. Ms. Proulx said that she though the intent was to ease restrictions on old stores. Mr. Boger agreed, noting that the buildings could then be converted back to commercial use. Ms. Proulx noted that Albemarle County did an inventory prior to adoption of their ordinance and said that we do not know what we are dealing with. Mr. Boger said that it would be up to the person wanting to do this to prove the previous use. Ms. Russell asked whether this is an issue in the county. Mr. Bruguiere said that this is a way to allow an owner to bring in a lot of different uses as long as 51% of the use is a country store. Ms. Proulx asked whether there is a simple way of allowing "grandfathered" stores to reopen after the time has elapsed. Ms. Russell noted that the draft amendment does not allow a country store to reopen as an antique shop for example. Mr. Boger agreed, but said that an antique shop could be an accessory use to a country store. Ms. Russell said that there should be a way to say that non-conforming neighborhood stores will be exempt from setbacks and subject to Special Use Permits with conditions. Ms. Proulx suggested they should be exempt from setbacks and site plans. She said that if they sold gas at some point, she would not have an issue with gas sales as long as they did not install canopies. Mr. Bruguiere said that the purpose of the amendment is to make the process easier without a Special Use Permit. Ms. Proulx suggested that the amendment should say that the use cannot become more non-conforming. Ms. Proulx noted that if a business is going to be viable, it cannot necessarily devote half the floor space to food. Mr. Tapager agreed, noting that the point is to preserve county store buildings and allow for a viable business. Ms. Proulx said that she also wants the ordinance to be clear that expansion of the building would require that the owner meet setback and parking requirements. She suggested requiring a Conditional Use Permit if the building is expanded to include retail and service uses, noting that many of these old stores are now in residential areas where neighbors might object to many of the higher traffic uses. Ms. Proulx said that the county really does not know how many of these stores there are, where they are and in what zoning districts they are located. She said that she does not know how to gather the information, but that the county needs to know. Commissioners agreed to make the following changes to the draft: 2-73 Neighborhood Retail Store, Class B: A single store, the total floor area of which is four thousand (4,000) square or less and which offers for sale most of the following articles: bread, milk, cheese, meat, produce, canned and bottled foods and drinks, tobacco products, candy, papers and magazines, and general hardware articles. Gasoline may also be offered for sale but only as a secondary activity. 2-73a Neighborhood Retail Store, Class A: A building whose primary use is to offer for sale a wide variety of retail merchandise and whose primary use at any time on or prior to January 11, 1977 was a neighborhood retail store. A neighborhood retail store may include those accessory uses expressly authorized in Article 12, General Provision, Section 12-13*. Article 4, Agricultural District A-1 4-1 Uses-Permitted by right 4-1-26 Neighborhood Retail Store, Class A without gasoline sales 4-1a Uses-Permitted by a Conditional Use Permit only. 4-1-25a Sale of gasoline and other fuels as an accessory use to a Class A neighborhood retail store. 4-1-25b Uses as defined under Section 2-72**. *NOTE: Section 12-13 reads: 12-13-1 "Primary Use. At least fifty-one percent (51%) of the gross floor area of a neighborhood retail store building shall be used as a neighborhood retail store as provided in Section 12-13-2. 12-13-2 Accessory uses. The following uses are permitted as accessory uses: a. Accessory food sales. Accessory food sales, which may include, but are not limited to, luncheonettes, snack bars, refreshment stands, and other restaurant uses. Interior seating for the above accessory uses shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total gross floor area of the neighborhood retail store. b. Single family dwelling and offices. Up to forty-nine percent (49%) of the gross floor area of a neighborhood retail store may be used for one single family dwelling and/or one or more offices. **NOTE: Under Article 2 Definitions, Section 2-72 reads: "Retail stores and services: Buildings for display and sale of merchandise at retail or for the rendering of business and personal services (but specifically exclusive of coal, wood and lumber yards) such as the following which will serve as illustration: bank, drugstore, Laundromat, newsstand, food store, candy shop, milk dispensary, drygoods and notions store, antique store and gift shop, hardware store, household appliance store, furniture store, florist, optician, music and radio store, tailor shop, barbershop and beauty parlor." Commissioners directed staff to prepare the draft with the changes noted above for further review at the next meeting. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE/ARTICLE 20. COMMUNICATION TOWER ORDINANCE - Commissioners agreed to review, for the next meeting, Mr. Boger's proposed amendments to Article 20. In addition, Commissioners will review the County Attorney's comments and comments from several cell providers. Meeting adjourned. Copyright 2000-2009 by Rural Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Reports may be reprinted or excerpted with attribution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OF INTEREST: - Saturday, January 31st - 9am-3pm - Free electronics recycling in front of the Crutchfield building in the Rio Hills Shopping Center in Charlottesville. - Central Blue Ridge Virginia Master Naturalist Spring Training Program 2009 - The next training session will be held on Saturdays on eight weekends from March through May, including a full weekend at Nature Camp. There is a $125 fee to cover course materials and chapter organization costs. Applications available at the Virginia Master Naturalist website or from the Nelson County Cooperative Extension office in Lovingston. Application deadline February 16, 2009. For more information, contact Michael Lachance at 434.263.4035 or email cbrvmn@gmail.com. Website: http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/centralblueridge.html - Friday, February 27th - 7:00pm - Living with the Planet - "What Might the Future Hold?" - Jeff Halverson, former NASA meteorologist, will talk about what we can learn from the 2008 hurricane season as he discusses tropical tempests, ocean temperature and global warming. This is the second of three lectures presented in the Wintergreen Nature Foundation 2009 Winter Lecture Series. All lectures take place at the Rockfish Valley Community Center off $t. 151. Cost: $15 - register by calling 434.325.8169 or online at http://www.twnf.org/programs/wls.asp. Visit the website for complete information on each lecture and the speakers for each. Call 434.325.8169 between 12pm-5pm the day of each lecture for questions concerning inclement weather. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 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