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Home My WebLink AboutVA198800090 Action Letter 1989-01-12 OF ALy�, COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Zoning 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901-4596 (804) 296-5875 January 12, 1989 D. J. Wagner, President Great Eastern Management P. 0. Box 5526 Charlottesville, VA 22905-0526 Re: Board of Zoning Appeals Action For VA-88-90 Tax Map 56, Parcels 110C, 109B, 110, and 110A Dear Mr. Wagner: This letter is to inform you that on January 10, 1989, during the regular meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals, that your appli- cation for VA-88-90 was heard. The Board granted your request to allow withdrawal of the variance requests for the size and setback of the sign, but ruled to deny your request to reduce the setback for an off-street parking area in the Scenic Areas-Highway District from the minimum requirement of fifty (50) feet to twenty (20) feet. Anyone aggrieved by a decision made by the Board can appeal the decision to the Circuit Court of Albemarle County within thirty (30) days of the decision. Pursuant to Section 35.0 of the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance, the actual cost of any notice required under the code shall be taxed to the applicant, to the extent that the same shall exceed the applicable fee set forth in this section. Please see the attached bill for the amount due of $62.76. If you have any questions, please contact our office. Sincerely, (.2hd. Charles W. Burgess, Jr. Zoning Administrator CWBJr/st cc: VA-88-90 Enc. STAFF REPORT - VA-88-90 APPLICANT: Preston O. Stallings TAX MAP/PARCELS: 56/109B, 110, 110A, and 110C PENDING ZONING: Planned Development - Shopping Center (PD-SC) PRESENT ZONING: Highway Commercial (HC) and Rural Areas (RA) LOCATION: Located on the south side of Route 250, +/- . 2 miles east of its intersection with Route 751 The applicant seeks a variance from section 30.5.7 .2 and 30.5. 6.2 .2 of the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance, which states: "30. 5. 6.2 .2 No off-street parking or loading shall be allowed closer than fifty (50) feet to the right-of-way line of an SA-highway which is all or part of off-street parking facilities required or designed to accommodate more than two (2) motor vehicles. "30.5.7.2 REGULATION OF NUMBER, HEIGHT, AREA, TYPES OF SIGNS b. Free-standing business and projecting business signs shall be limited to ten (10) feet in height above grade, eighteen (18) square feet per single sign face, and to one (1) sign per separate highway frontage. " The Scenic Areas-Highway Overlay District is established in Section 30.5.2 . 2 of the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance, which states: "30. 5.2 .2 SA-HIGHWAYS SA-highway overlay districts are hereby established along the following highway corridors in Albemarle County for a distance of one hundred fifty (150) feet on each side of the right-of-way. a. U.S. Route 250 from the western corporate limits of the City of Charlottesville to the western Albemarle County border. " The applicant proposes to develop a shopping center on the property and at present has requested that the property be rezoned to Planned Development-Shopping Center (PD-SC) . The rezoning application (ZMA-88-22) is scheduled to be heard by the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors in January, 1989. On the property at present is situated a motel and the burned out remains of a restaurant. The existing off-street parking areas which served these uses is located within five (5) feet of the Route 250 right-of-way. Staff Report - VA-88-90 Preston O. Stallings Page 2 The specific requests the applicant has are to reduce the parking setback from fifty (50) feet to twenty (20) feet, to increase the setback of a freestanding business sign from one hundred fifty (150) to thirty (30) feet, to increase the height of the sign from ten (10) feet to twenty-two (22) feet, and increase the sign area from eighteen (18) square feet to one hundred (100) square feet. In regards to the request by the applicant to reduce the setback for the off-street parking, the applicant states that the setback pertains to the parking spaces only and not to any designated access or travel way. In that a travel way may typically have a width of twenty-four (24) feet, the applicant contends that under any situation the parking area could be located at the required setback, but that the actual "paved area" could extend to within twenty-six (26) feet of the Route 250 right-of-way. It is the applicant's belief that the parking setback request is not a major divergence from the aforementioned scenario. In addition the applicant states that non-conforming off-street parking is situated five (5) feet from the Route 250 right-of-way. In regards to the free-standing sign variance requests, the applicant states that the two (2) non-conforming signs located on the property are approximately sixteen (16) feet from the Route 250 right-of-way, have an aggregate area of approximately eighty (80) square feet and that one of the signs has a height of approximately twenty-one (21) feet. The applicant intends on razing both of the non-conforming sign structures. RECOMMENDATION The application should be denied for cause: 1. The applicant has not provided evidence to show that a strict application of the Zoning Ordinance would produce a clearly demonstrable hardship approaching confiscation as distinguished from a special privilege or convenience. 2 . The applicant has not demonstrated that the perceived hardship is not generally shared by other properties in the same zoning district and general vicinity. 3 . The applicant has not provided evidence to demonstrate that the authorization of the variance will not be of substantial detriment to the adjacent properties or that the character of the district will not be affected.