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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVA199000034 Action Letter 1990-07-11 COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Zoning 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901-4596 (804) 296-5875 July 11, 1990 Earlysville Family Health Center Inc. c/o Andrew McFarlan or Jeffrey Wolfrey P. 0. Box 197 Earlysville, VA 22936 RE: Board of Zoning Appeals Action VA-90-34, Tax Map 31B, Parcel Cl Dear Sir: This letter is to inform you that on July 10, 1990, during the meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board denied your request for VA-90-34 . Anyone aggrieved by a decision of the Board can appeal their decision to the Circuit Court of Albemarle County within thirty (30) days of the decision. If you have any questions, please contact our office. Sincerely, John W. Grady, Deputy Zoning Administrator JWG/dlp cc: VA-90-34 oIIIII` x eft COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Zoning 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901-4596 (804) 296-5875 March 16, 1990 Earlysville Family Health Center ATTN: Dr. MacFarlan P. 0. Box 197 Earlysville, VA 22936 RE: Application for Sign Permit S-90-19 Dear Dr. MacFarlan: Please be advised that the above referenced application can not be approved as submitted. This parcel, known as Tax Map 31B, Parcel Cl is zoned PUD. The PUD zoning district only allows one identification sign which can be two (2) square feet maximum. Be further advised that the setback for this parcel is 80 feet. In your particular case, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance on September 19, 1983 , to allow an identification sign to be 9 square feet and to be located 60 -Voifittfare feet from the property line. If you were replacing the existing sign with a new sign under these limits there would be no problem. Your only other alternative is to seek another variance from the Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals. Information on this procedure is enclosed. Sincerely, 4C6t-ciTh John W. Grady Deputy Zoning Administrator JWG/kbd Enclosures .. . Ov- pf S c LETTIE E. NEHER BOARD OF SUPERVISORS cLRK DAMES R.BUTLER OFFICE OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS LINDA E LEAKE PATRICIA H.COOKE E 401 MCINTIRE ROAD DEPUTY LEAK GERALD HE E.FISHERCLERK J.T. NL EY.JR. CHARLOTT ESVILLE.VIRGINIA 2 290 1-49 5 6 C.TIMOTHY LINDSTROM February 10 , 1982 BARBARA J. MIA DEPUTY CLERK ELLEN V.NASH li �- I! = f_, !,, . r., l/f ( - Mr. S. Daley Craig P. O. Box 6156 Charlottesville , Virginia 22906 Dear Mr. Craig: the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors On April 15 , 1981 , ZMA-81-11 for Earlysville approved your request for rezoning, Forest P.U.D. Due to a clerical error in our staff report , a condition was inadvertently left out . The conditions of of approvalappear in the official minutes of the Board approovv al, as they of Supervisors are as follows : A. General plan or subdivision approvals shall be given until 1. No eenal siteplan for the entire three (3) co pies of a revised preliminary contained herein, development, reflecting conditions of approvalfiSu ned herei have been submitted to the Departmeentd of Plann Bing.oard approval of shall be submitted within sixty (60) this petition. 2. Approval is for a maximum of 155 single-family lots subject to ous conditions contained herein. Locations and aacreages of pl . -In the £vinalari site land uses shall comply with the approved plan and subdivision process, open space shall be dedicated in proportion to the number of lots approved. The Commission may en space in a particular permit dedication of a lesser acreage of reas from that section s case due to the remoteness of openspace ahall open-space consist of platted; provided that, in no event, and provided further less than 25% of the cumulative area platted; that the cumulative total of 171 acres sfshall b e dadicatedoconcomitant with the approval of the final phase • No gradingor construction on slopes of 25% or greater except as 3 approved necessary for road construction and lake construction as by the County Engineer; Mr. S. Daley Craig February 10 , 1982 Page 2 4. No grading shall occur in any area until final subdivision or site plan approval has been obtained; 5. County Attorney approval of Homeowners' Association agreements prior to final approvals to include maintenance of private roads, lakes and dams, and common open space; 6. County Engineer approval of dam specifications; County Engineer and Zoning Department inspection of dam construction; 7. The public recreation area shall be dedicated prior to any site plan or subdivision approval. 8. Only those areas where a structure, utilities, streets, pedestrian ways, lakes, or other improvements are to be located shall be disturbed; all other land shall remain in its natural state; 9. Developer will provide sedimentation control provisions to protect Chris Green Lake until the lakes are constructed, subject to approval of the County Engineer. B. Commercial Area 1. No commercial use shall be approved until 100 residential lots have been approved and recorded; 2. Uses permitted within the commercial area may be established as follows: a. The following retail sales and services establishments: 1) Antique, gift, jewelry, notion and craft shops; 2) Clothing, apparel and shoe shops; 3) Department store; 4) Drug Store, pharmacy; 5) Florist; 6) Food and grocery stores including such specialty shops as bakery, candy, milk dispensary and wine and cheese shops; 7) Furniture and home appliances ( sales and service); 8) Hardware store; • 9) Musical instruments; 10) Newstands, magazines, pipe and tobacco shops; 11) Optical goods; 12) Photographic goods; 13) Visual and audio appliances; 14) Sporting goods; 15) Retail nurseries and greenhouses. Mr. S. Daley Craig February 10 , 1982 Page 3 b. The following services and public establishments: 1) Administrative, professional offices: 2) Barber, beauty shops; 3) Churches, cemeteries; 4) Clubs, lodges - civic, fraternal, patriotic; 5) Financial institutions; 6) Fire and rescue squad stations; 7) Funeral homes; 8) Health spas; 9) Indoor theaters; 10) Laundries, dry cleaners; 11) Laundromat (provided that an attendant shall be on duty at all hours during operation); 12) Libraries, museums; 13) Nurseries, day care centers; 14) Eating establishments; 15) Tailor, seamstress; 16) Automobile service stations; 17) Electric, gas, oil and communication facilities excluding multi-legged tower structures and including poles, lines, transformers, pipes, meters and related facilities for distribution of local service and owned and operated by a public utility. Water distribution and sewage collection lines, pumping stations and appurtenances owned and operated by the Albemarle County Service Authority. 18) Public uses and buildings such as schools, offices, parks, playgrounds and roads funded, owned or operated by local, state or federal agencies; public water and sewer transmission, main or trunk lines owned or operated by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority; 19) Temporary construction uses; 20) Temporary events of local non-profit organizations; 21) Medical center. c. By special use permit: 1) Commercial recreation establishments; 2) Electrical power substations, transmission lines and related towers; gas or oil transmission lines, pumping stations and appurtenances; unmanned telephone exchange centers, micro- wave transmission and relay towers, substations and appurtenances; 3) Hospitals; 4) Fast food restaurant; 5) Veterinary office and hospital. 3. A building setback of 80 feet from the centerline of Route 743 shall be maintained. /40" -47/W . Mr. S. Daley Craig February 10 , 1982 Page 4 C. Roads 1. County Engineer approval of private road plans. 2. Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation approval of public road plans prior to any final site plan or subdivision approvals. In such review, Virginia Department of Highways should be mindful of the County's intent to limit encroachment of the public road on Earlysville Heights to the maximum extent practical. 3. Prior to any final approval, the applicant shall propose a method of buffering adjacent lots in Earlysville Heights from the public road. If practical, such buffer shall be installed prior to any grading and/or construction. D. Utilities; Fire Protection 1. Virginia Department of Health approval of two (2) septic field locations within each lot prior to Planning Commission approval of any such lot. Any lot not having adequate septic field location shall be combined with a buildable lot and/or added to the common open space. In addition, Homeowners' Association agreement shall include provision for use of open space for residential septic drainfields, if necessary; 2. All uses shall be served by one or more central water systems approved in accordance with the regulations of the Virginia Department of. Health, the Code of Albemarle County, and all other applicable law. Water lines and appurtenances shall be sized and designed in accordance with Albemarle County Service Authority specifications for possible future acceptance; 3. If a central well system is employed, Fire Official approval of appurtenances for future possible fire hydrant installations. Fire Official approval of appurtenances for future possible hydrant system prior to issuance of any certificate of occupancy; 4. If a public water system is employed, Fire Official approval of hydrant locations and fire flow prior to issuance of any certificate of occupancy; 5. A building separation of 100 feet shall be maintained for dwellings. Very truly yours , • Barbara J. Flammia Deputy Clerk BJF/yb cc : /R. Keeler, Planning Dept. • R. Vaughn, Zoning Admin. STAFF PERSON: John Grady PUBLIC HEARING: July 10, 1990 STAFF REPORT - VA-90-34 OWNER/APPLICANT: Earlysville Family Health Center, Inc. c/o Andrew McFarlan or Jeffrey Wolfrey TAX MAP/PARCEL: 31B/C1 ZONING: PUD, Planned Unit Development ACREAGE: 0.865 acres LOCATION: Located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Route 743 and Earlysville Forest Drive, within the Commercial area. REQUEST: The applicant requests relief from Section 4. 15. 3 . 5 of the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance, which states: Residential; Planned Unit Development. Identification Signs Provided (a) not more than two (2) square feet in area, (b) not more than one (1) on any lot or premises. The applicant is requesting a variance to increase the area of an identification sign from 2 square feet to 28 square feet, a variance of 26 square feet. Applicant's justification includes the following: 1. A sign is needed to help patients and clients find the office. 2 . We pay full commercial development rates on the building and feel we should be able to have signage comparable to other professional office centers not zoned P.U.D. 3 . Regular commercial zoning would allow us significantly more square footage than our proposed sign. 4 . Despite the P.U.D zoning we have a large 6000 square feet commerical building with 3 physicians, a dentist and a family counselor. RELEVANT HISTORY: Staff recognizes that each variance is reviewed on its own merits, and is not on its face, precedent-setting. The following history is provided for information: Page 2 Staff Report - VA-90-34 On September 28, 1983 , the Board of Zoning Appeals approved VA-83-67 which allowed a 9 square foot identification sign to be placed on the property, a size variance of 7 square feet. A variance was also granted under VA-83-67 to reduce the setback requirement from 80 feet to 60 feet. The applicant in this case has received administrative approval from the Director of Planning for the sign to be located 1 foot from the right-of-way line of Route 743 . This eliminates the need for a setback variance by the Board of Zoning Appeals in this case. This determination by the Planning Director per Section 8 . 5. 6. 3 of general accord with the application plan, will be noted for the Board of Supervisors by memo. RECOMMENDATION: As the Board of Zoning Appeals, is aware, Zoning staff is reviewing and rewriting the County sign regulations. At this time, our recommendation for freestanding signage is for a low monument-type sign of 32 square feet maximum which provides a development center name, for example, Earlysville Professional Center. Individual business names would not appear on the frontage sign. Additional internal signage on the building or in directories will adequatedly identify individual businesses. The proposed sign will name each tenant within this building. There are 3 additional commercial lots (2 vacant) which may seek signage. Staff recommends a combined effort for signage (1) at this time. The proposed sign is constructed of wood. It is a green background with white lettering. The sign composition is compatible with the rural village setting. Under the administrative authority for Planned Unit Developments, the Planning Director has reviewed and approved sign location. Therefore, the setback is not at issue here, only the size. It is Zoning staff's opinion, that the proposed sign size is not appropriate on two counts: 1. At only a 1 foot setback, this size is not necessary for the sign to be readily visible to motorists; and 2 . This development is not within an urban setting. Large signs close to the road are not compatible with a rural setting. Page 3 Staff Report - VA-90-34 Therefore, staff recommends denial for cause: 1. The applicant has not provided evidence that the strict application of the ordinance would produce undue hardship. 2 . The applicant has not provided evidence that such hardship is not shared generally by other properties in the same zoning district and the same vicinity; 3 . The applicant has not provided evidence that the authorization of such variance will not be of substantial detriment to adjacent property and that the character of the district will not be changed by the granting of the variance. Amelia Patterson Page 2 June 22 , 1990 )VA-90-34 Earlysville Family Health Center: This property is situated in a PUD. While the sign regulations of a PUD may or may not be viewed as adequate, the Board of Supervisors expressed concern that in the Four Seasons PUD multiple sign variances were granted over the years. In this case, the commercial area consists of multiple lots and it may be appropriate for the BZA to consider the future implications of granting individual variances. VA-90-45 Thomas P. or Lois H. Nottingham: Several variances of this nature have been entertained in the past and appear to result from inadequate or inaccurate inspection as to setback and yard requirements. Electronic devices are available at modest cost which can accurately measure distance and require no judgement for usage. County acquisition of such equipment could avoid future exposure of the public to the uncertainty of variance as well as reduce costs to every party involved. VA-90-46 Virginia Land Trust: The applicant proposes location of a three bedroom dwelling on a site which does not meet County requirements for location of a three bedroom dwelling. Reasonable usage of the land can be achieved by location of a smaller dwelling. For areas not served by central or public utilities, it is the County's policy that development not exceed the support ability of the land. There are many properties which cannot support a three bedroom dwelling on well and septic system "in the same zoning district" and there may be other properties in "the same vicinity" (Section 34 .2) . VA-90-47 County of Albemarle School Board: I believe that for each public school developed or expanded since adoption of this ordinance in 1980, the School Board has sought variance. It would appear that if the School Board does not agree with zoning regulation, an amendment would be appropriate. This was suggested several years ago. I do not think that "government" schools can be continually granted variance, and then "government" regulation can be successfully asserted against private schools of similar character. VA-90-48 Alma Ball, Etal : I have read the justification for this request together with measures proposed by the applicant and I would recommend that the applicant's proposal be viewed as consistent with the intent of the RA zone as well as specific language of Section 10. 3 . 1. In this particular case I DO NOT BELIEVE VARIANCE IS REQUIRED. RSK/jcw