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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVA199000084 Action Letter 1991-01-08 ov ALlj, III y� COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Zoning 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22901-4596 (804) 296-5875 January 28 , 1991 Bill Akers Capitol Signs 3424 Pump Road Richmond, VA 23233 RE: ARB-90-08 Tax Map 45, Parcel 104 (part of) Dear Mr. Akers: The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board on January 24 , 1991 unanimously denied the above noted petition. As per Section 30. 6. 8 of the Zoning Ordinance, any person aggrieved by any decision of the Architectural Review Board may demand review of the application by the Board of Supervisors. Such demand shall be made by filing a request therefor in writing with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within ten (10) calendar days of the date of such decision. A copy of Section 30. 6. 8 is attached for your convenience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call . Sincerely, Amelia M. Patterson Zoning Administrator AMP/st cc: Burger Busters /Sign Permit #S-90-121 STAFF PERSON: John Grady PUBLIC HEARING: January 8, 1991 STAFF REPORT - VA-90-84 OWNER/APPLICANT: Burger Busters (owner) , Taco Bell (applicant) TAX MAP/PARCEL: 45/104 (part of) ZONING: C-1, Commercial ACREAGE: Approximately 3/4 acres LOCATION: Property located on the east side of Rt 29 N approximately 0.2 mile north of the intersection of Rt 631. REQUEST: The applicant requests relief from Section 21.7 of the Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance, which states: "Adjacent to public streets: No portion of any structure except signs advertising sale or rental of the property shall be erected closer than thirty (30) feet to any public street right-of-way. . . " And Section 30. 6. 5.2 (b) which states" . . .Freestanding 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 applicant's request is to place a third freestanding sign .of approximately twenty (20) square feet, ten (10) feet from the right-of-way of Rt 29 north. This request will require a variance for the following: 1) to reduce the front setback from (30) to (10) feet from the right-of-way of Rt 29 north, 2) to increase the area of freestanding signs from (18) to (65) square feet and 3) to increase the number of freestanding signs from one (1) to three (3) . The applicant's justification includes: 1. The menu board should not be counted as a freestanding sign. The site signage then would conform to the requirements of the underlying commercial zone. 2 . The main entrance to the business is approximately 100 yards past the building. The building location and highway speeds of 45 miles an hour or more present identification problems. RELEVANT HISTORY: The entrance corridor overlay district was adopted in Albemarle County on October 3 , 1990. The sign regulations that currently govern this district are the same used to regulate signs in the scenic areas in the County and are in addition to those in the underlying district. All Architectural Review Board sign applications are taken by the Zoning Department and transmitted to the ARB for review and comment. Staff Report - VA-90-84 Page 2 Staff will forward comments to the Board of Zoning Appeals from the ARB meeting on this applicaiton scheduled for Monday, January 7th. This request involves modification of the entrance corridor sign regulations as well as variances from the underlying district. The ARB considers location, configuration, design, w:,:` Rc, materials and color. "` RECOMMENDATION: As the Board is aware, Zoning staff is reviewing and rewriting the County sign regulations. The applicant's requests would not meet the new regulations proposed by staff for two reasons: (1) Only one freestanding, identification sign would be allowed per parcel; and (Taco Bell proposes 3) ; and (2) The aggregate area of sign would be limited to 32 square feet; (Taco Bell proposes 65 square feet) . Staff finds no hardship in this variance request as the site is well identified with existing signage. The building colors and motif further help identify the site. 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. Should the Board choose to approve the request, staff recommends the following conditions: 1. Only one (1) freestanding pedestal sign shall be allowed. 2 . Height of sign shall not exceed 8 feet. 3 . If the variance is granted for the new sign ten (10) feet from the Rt 29 right-of-way, the existing identification sign located in front of the building shall be removed. := 4 L r!. a i,� _. 1� ... . _ TM r? i i.. , s`.. Ai - :t. COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE a ,'aZsa 1lRGIN�* MEMORANDUM Amelia Patterson, Zoning Administrator TO: Ronald S. Keeler, Chief of Planning vae.,- FROM: December 26, 1990 DATE: Variances: January 8 , 1991 Agenda RE: The following comments are offered without benefit of field review or discussion with the various applicants: VA-90-82 Townside East Limited Partnership: to reduce number of required parking spaces. In the past, both the Planning Commission and staff have expressed concern that variances of this nature provide a method to overdevelop a site. A similar request for Herndon House furniture was disapproved. VA-90-83 Percy F. Lawrence: to create two lots with inadequate road frontage. A prior variance in the name of Mariarose Seddon was disapproved. Under private road provisions, this proposal is approvable under both the zoning and subdivision ordinances, by usage of a joint entrance. • VA-90-84 Burger Busters: to reduce sign setback, allow double faced sign, increase sign area, and increase number of signs. The design of a Tacco Bell building is logo and the building itself , therefore, can be viewed as a "sign. " As in the past, staff is concerned about multiple variances ( i.e. - larger, more, closer, etc) . RSK/jcw