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Home My WebLink AboutSE202000007 Correspondence 2020-06-29 (2)30 Scale, LLC 871 Justin Drive, Palmyra, VA 22963 Ph. 434.242.2866 mike@30scale.com 2t-,, SCALE ENGINEERING June 24, 2020 Mr. Bart Svoboda Zoning Administrator/Director of Zoning Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 RE: Afton Stables - 7451 Dick Woods Road - TM 70-37C1 Special Exception Request to Disturb Critical Slopes Albemarle County, Virginia Dear Bart, Please consider this our letter of justification for a Special Exception request to disturb critical slopes on the referenced 54-acre property located in the Rural Area. This request is being made in accordance with Z.O.18-4.2.5 and following a pre -application meeting on May 4, 2020 with Frank Pohl, David Benish, Scott Clark, Lisa Green, Leah Brumfield, the property owners Peter and Angela Doolan and me where we discussed the particulars of the request. The property was purchased by Peter and Angela on September 20, 2017. At that time, the property had already been developed with a barn and adjacent outbuilding, gravel travelways, and a riding paddock. Following the purchase in 2017, the owners improved the property with the construction of two outbuildings, additional gravel travelways and concrete pads, a no -odor composting facility, and a riding circle. Their intention is to operate the facility under the by -right use of commercial stable. The resulting impervious area on the property increased by 2%, from approximately 2.49 acres pre-existing to 3.77 acres currently. At the time of the installation of an expanded grave travelway around the east side of the existing barn and gravel access to the no -odor compost facility, the slope on the east side of the property was disturbed. At the time of the disturbance, the owner was not aware of the Critical Slopes overlay area per Albemarle County GIS mapping. Following disturbance, the area was reseeded and is currently permanently vegetated with grass. Please refer to Figure 1 on the following page for a map of the improvements, critical slopes, and encroachment area. To address the disturbance, four major factors contribute to our justification for the Special Exception request. These are: 1. The disturbance of critical slopes has been completed and permanently re -stabilized. 2. The owner has performed significant clean-up of the critical slopes area and surrounding sloped areas when they purchased the property. The previous owners had dumped waste materials over the slope, which resulted in degradation of that area. 3. The owner is operating a no -odor composting facility on the premises. The disturbance of critical slopes was partly due to the need for adequate elevation drop to access the composting facility. A copy of the schematics for the facility is included with this request. 4. The owner is complying with the requirements of the Virginia Stormwater Management Program, and has submitted a VSMP plan addressing water quantity, water quality and stream buffer mitigation SCALE ENGINEERING requirements. As a result of the VSMP plan, the owner is proposing to stabilize three badly eroded pre- existing drainage channels on the east side of the project with stone lining. Also, to mitigate erosion potential, the owner will provide level spreaders at three locations to promote sheet flow instead of concentrated, erosive runoff. Finally, the owner will be purchasing approximately 2.2 Ibs/yr of nutrient credits to offset the phosphorus loading from their construction of approximately 1.27-acres of impervious surface. iN f , � n v { 1 e NO -ODOR ,e COMPOSTAREA WATER PROTECTION } ORDINANCE BUFF'=R Figure 1 — Improvements Map LEGEND E___1 EXISTING IMPERVIOUS PRE 2017 C� EXISTING IMPERVIOUS 2020 C� CRITICAL SLOPES PER OIS CRITICAL SLOPE ENCROACHMENT Consistent with 4.2.5(a)1, the owner is addressing the rapid and/or large-scale movement of soil and rock, excessive stormwater run-off, siltation of natural and man-made bodies of water, and the loss of aesthetic resources, that might otherwise result from the disturbance of critical slopes. 2 1 P a g e Q SCALE ENGINEERING First, the implementation of the VSMP plan will address the rapid movement of soil and rock, excessive stormwater run-off and siltation of the stream. The contractor has installed wire -backed silt fence and a double row of silt fence below the limits of construction as shown on the VSMP plan. To address the aesthetic impact from the disturbance of the critical slopes, the owner will be providing supplementary mitigation planting within the stream buffer. The work in the stream buffer is required to address pre-existing erosion and degradation from previous dumping of waste in three ditches that had not previously been disturbed by grading. This minor disturbance is limited to the landward 50 feet of the buffer and includes the installation of a level -spreader and the cleanup, re -grading and stone lining of the pre-existing ditches. To further support the request, and in accordance with 4.2.5(a)3, which states the waiver may be granted if the "waiver would not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare, to the orderly development of the area, or to adjacent properties; would not be contrary to sound engineering practices; and at least one of the following: a) Strict application of the requirements of section 4.2 would not forward the purposes of this chapter or otherwise serve the public health, safety or welfare; b) Alternatives proposed by the developer or subdivider would satisfy the intent and purposes of section 4.2 to at least an equivalent degree; c) Due to the property's unusual size, topography, shape, location or other unusual conditions, excluding the proprietary interest of the developer or subdivider, prohibiting the disturbance of critical slopes would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the property or would result in significant degradation of the property or adjacent properties; or d) Granting the modification or waiver would serve a public purpose of greater import than would be served by strict application of the regulations sought to be modified or waived." Approving the waiver request would not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare. The slopes have already been disturbed and re -stabilized. The owner has performed significant work in cleaning up the slope area that was left in a degraded condition when they purchased the property The owner will comply with the requirements of the VSMP and Mitigation Plan to address erosion, water quality and replanting efforts. The owner has been committed to clean up the previously degraded sloped area on the east side of the site. As a result of the VSMP plan, significant improvements will be made to minimize the potential for erosion and transport of sediment downstream. The owner has installed a composting facility that provides a no -odor output from manure. Vehicular access to the facility needs to take advantage of elevation drop and therefore has been logically located as shown on the plans (See Figure 1). 3 1 P a g e RI SCALE ENGINEERING We thank you for taking the time to review this request. Please feel free to call me any time if you have any questions or would like additional information. Sincerely, FM enclosures Cc: Mr. Peter Doolan Mrs. Angela Doolan 4 1 P a g e