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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-2-10Tentative BOARD OF SUPERVISORS T E N T A T I V E FEBRUARY 10, 2015 5:00 P.M. - LANE AUDITORIUM COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING 1. Call to Order. 2. 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. - Work Session: CPA-2013-01. Comprehensive Plan Update/ Amendment, to begin with public comments and possible Board direction. Elaine Echols, Principal Planner. · Chapter 13 Implementation -- Text · Planning Commission Recommendations · Redlines of Chapters 1 – 7 · Prioritization of Strategies Recess: 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. 3. 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Continuation of Work Session to include public comments and possible Board direction. 4. From the Board: Matters Not Listed on the Agenda. 5. From the County Executive: Report on Matters Not Listed on the Agenda. 6. Adjourn. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO SPEAK DURING PUBLIC COMMENTS Return to Board of Supervisors Home Page Return to County Home Page file:////coba-webapp01/BOSForms/Agenda/2015Files/0210/0.0_Agenda.htm [10/8/2020 7:55:41 AM] BOS – CPA 2013-01 February 10, 2015 Page 1 of 3 COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AGENDA TITLE: CPA-2013-01 Comprehensive Plan Update/Amendment SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Chapter 13 Implementation -- Text, Planning Commission Recommendations, Redlines of Chapters 1 – 7, and Prioritization of Strategies STAFF CONTACT(S): Cilimberg, Echols PRESENTER (S): Elaine Echols LEGAL REVIEW: No AGENDA DATE: February 10, 2015 ACTION: X INFORMATION: CONSENT AGENDA: ACTION: INFORMATION: ATTACHMENTS: Yes REVIEWED BY: BACKGROUND: The Planning Commission’s recommended Comprehensive Plan has been provided in the draft dated January 23, 2014 and previously provided to the Board of Supervisors. The Comprehensive Plan may be found online here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Community_Development/Forms/Comp_Plan_2013/ Comp_Plan_Round_3/Table_of_Contents_Final_1-23-14.pdf. Recommendations regarding focused topics and information since the Commission’s actions have also been identified for the Board’s consideration. This work session is the eighth in the series of detailed Comprehensive Plan chapter reviews based on the Board’s agreed upon review schedule which can be found here: http://www.albemarle.org/department.asp?department=cdd&relpage=17151 The Board’s direction to date has been recorded in Action Memos from Board meetings at which the topic was discussed. STRATEGIC PLAN ASPIRATIONS: Natural Resources: Thoughtfully protect and manage Albemarle County’s ecosystems and natural resources in both the rural and development areas to safeguard the quality of life of current and future generations. Rural Areas: Preserve the character of rural life with thriving farms and forests, traditional crossroads communities, and protected scenic areas, historic sites, and biodiversity. Economic Prosperity: Foster an environment that stimulates diversified job creation, capital investments, and tax revenues that support community goals. Development Areas: Attract quality employment, commercial, and high density residential uses into development areas by providing services and infrastructure that encourage redevelopment and private investment while protecting the qual ity of neighborhoods. Critical Infrastructure: Prioritize, plan, and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs. Citizen Engagement: Successfully engage citizens so that local government reflects their values and aspirations. Operational Capacity: Ensure County government’s ability to provide high quality service that achieves community priorities. AGENDA TITLE: CPA-2013-01 Comprehensive Plan Update/Amendment February 10, 2015 BOS – CPA 2013-01 February 10, 2015 Page 2 of 3 DISCUSSION: At this meeting, the Board will review the text of Chapter 13: Implementation, review recommendations from the Planning Commission which were requested by the Board in 2014 , discuss any issues with red-lines of the first 7 chapters of the Plan, and set priority strategies. Implementation The first six pages of the Implementation chapter describe how the Plan will be implemented and the remaining pages show the priority strategies for each chapter. Attachment A contains the first six page s of the chapter. No issues have been raised to date with the text in this Chapter. Because some of the strategies have changed since the Board began reviewing the chapters, the Board has decided to review and prioritize the new strategies after review of the redline versions of the chapters. Planning Commission Considerations and Recommendations In October and November 2014, the Board of Supervisors asked the Planning Commission to review three requests for land use changes in the Development Areas along with, policy changes for artists’ communities in the Rural Area, and improvements to existing neighborhoods in the Development Areas. The Board decided on the Colonial Auto request at their meeting in January. Updates to the other projects are provided below:  CPA201400003 Woolen Mills – Brian Roy and Pete Caramanis requested a land use change for the historic mill property known as Woolen Mills from its current Industrial Service to a land use category called Transitional. The recommended Southern Urban Neighborhoods Master Plan designates it as Office/R&D/Flex/Light Industrial and some of the property is in the floodplain of Moore’s Creek. Since that request was made, staff has been working with the applicants and they believe that retention of the current recommendation is appropriate if clarity can be provided on the extent to which a residential use might be appropriate for the old woolen mills buildings. The staff report for the Commission’s worksession on February 3, 2015 is provided here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/forms_center/departments/community_development/forms/PC_Repo rts/2015/February_3_2015_CPA_13_1_Staff_Report.pdf Staff will report the outcome of the Commission’s meeting at the Board’s February work session.  CPA201400004 Lofts at Moore’s Creek – The applicant has requested deferral of discussion and/action on this request until May. This project will not be considered as part of the current Comprehensive Plan update.  ZTA201400005 Resident Artist Communities – The Planning Commission met three times to discuss potential Comprehensive Plan recommendations related to resident artist communities in the Rural Area. A summary of their discussion and recommendations is provided in Attachment B.  Promoting Livability in Existing Neighborhoods – The Board directed staff to provide an additional objective and strategies in the Development Areas chapter for existing neighborhoods. Staff developed recommended language which it took to Commission on January 27, 2015. The Commission said it needed more context for the suggested changes before it could make a recommendation. Staff will provide a red -line version of the entire Development Areas chapter, including the new objective and strategies , to the Commission for their February 17, 2015 meeting and report to the Board on March 10, 2015. Redlines of Chapters 1 – 7 are provided here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Community_Development/Forms/Comp_Plan_2 013/Comp_Plan_Round_3/Board_Directed_Changes_to_the_January_23_Draft_with_Links.pdf AGENDA TITLE: CPA-2013-01 Comprehensive Plan Update/Amendment February 10, 2015 BOS – CPA 2013-01 February 10, 2015 Page 3 of 3 Attachment C provides additional information about the redlined versions and a recommendation for a change to Chapter 3: Growth Management. The recommended change responds to discussions held by the Board on the Development Areas chapter in October and November 2014. Prioritization of Strategies Strategies have been taken from Chapters 3 – 7 and provided as Attachments D – H. An asterisk identifies the strategy as a priority identified by the Planning Commission in June 2014. They are identified as “policy,” “continuation of an existing program,” “enhancement of a program,” or a “new project or program.” Priority strategies are considered to be the most important to work on at this time and should tie directly into departmental work programs which are annually approved by the Board of Supervisors. BUDGET IMPACT: Priority strategies will have impacts on future capital improvements and operations budgets. RECOMMENDATIONS: The Board is asked to affirm the changes provided in the chapters and direct staff to make any additional changes. The remaining chapters will be discussed in March. Changes to the chapters will be included in the final draft for an April public hearing. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A: Pages 1 – 6 of Implementation Chapter Attachment B: Resident Artist Communities Attachment C: Information on Red-lines to Chapters Attachment D: Strategies and Priorities for Growth Management Attachment E: Strategies and Priorities for Natural Resources Attachment F: Strategies and Priorities for Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Attachment G: Strategies and Priorities for Economic Development Attachment H: Strategies and Priorities for the Rural Area Planning Commission minutes: September 16 and December 2, 2014; and January 27, 2015 Return to agenda 13.1 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan 2014 IMPLEMENTATION ATTACHMENT A Pages 1 – 6 of Implementation Chapter 13.2 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 Implementation Achieving the Vision The Comprehensive Plan is implemented in a variety of ways; including, voluntary measures, regulatory measures, consistent application of County policies, and budgetary support. The strategies in each chapter of the Plan are recommendations which utilize different tools available to Virginia Counties. Each tool is described in more detail below. Voluntary Measures Residents and property owners have the largest role in Plan implementation through their conscious decisions related to where they live, what programs they financially support, which businesses they frequent, and what changes they make to land they own, or on which they reside. Habits such as recycling, water conservation, carpooling, and lower energy consumption ultimately have an effect on landfill costs and the environment. Supporting area businesses of all types helps keep local dollars in Albemarle’s economy. Putting rural land into conservation easements helps to preserve that land for future generations. All of these measures are important ways residents help achieve the County’s vision and goals. In addition to residents and property owners, area developers play a large part in the implementation of Albemarle County’s Comprehensive Plan. By adhering to established policies, participation in current review practices, and voluntary submission of proffers, developers can help ensure future development – both residential and commercial – reflects the goals stated in the Comprehensive Plan. In partnering with the County on several levels, various area organizations also help to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Through these partnerships, both parties complete work that helps to further individual goals. For instance, the County can partner with a local housing non-profit on a new multi- family development by providing a portion of necessary funding, or assisting with grant applications, or placement of qualified residents. By working together, a considerable amount of work is lessened by shared responsibility and participation. The County provides financial incentives to help with Rural Area preservation and conservation such as Use Value Taxation and Agricultural/Forestal Districts which are described in detail in the Rural Area Chapter of this Plan. Regulatory Measures Some Comprehensive Plan implementation methods require more than voluntary activities, they require regulatory measures be taken. Many of these regulatory measures have been in place for decades, such as State and local building codes and floodplain protection. There are other available regulatory methods not currently used that may be utilized if viewed appropriate by the community and the Board of Supervisors. Zoning Ordinance Zoning regulations are effective tools for implementing recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan. In Albemarle County, the first zoning ordinance was adopted in 1969. Zoning ensures land uses in a community are properly located in relation to each other. It also attempts to locate residential density where property can be adequately served by roads, schools, and utilities. The Zoning Ordinance places other controls on development to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of County residents. These controls, intended to insure light, air, and compatibility of uses, specify land use, building use, 13.3 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 building heights, and setbacks. They insure safety and uniformity of site development and provision of features that are essential to both urban and rural living. Use of Overlay Districts is also part of Zoning. Some of the most prominent overlay districts in Albemarle County are the Airport Overlay District, the Entrance Corridor Overlay District, and the Flood Hazard Overlay District. Other districts which have been considered in the past are a Historic Overlay District and a Critical Slopes Overlay District. Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance occur as the priorities of the County change and different needs are established. All Zoning amendments should be based on the Comprehensive Plan and are essential to implementing the Plan’s goals. Subdivision Ordinance By setting the physical parameters for future development subdivision regulations are effective implementation tools. The first Subdivision Ordinance in Albemarle County was adopted in 1949. Subdividing is the process of splitting a parcel of land into two or more parcels. This process is regulated to make sure the pattern of development recommended in the Comprehensive Plan actually occurs. During the subdivision process in the Development Areas, streets and blocks are surveyed and designed to adequately support expected uses and forms of development. Lot size is largely determined by Zoning regulations, but the shape, location, ability to be served by utilities, drainage improvements such as storm sewers, and provision of sidewalks occurs through application of Subdivision Ordinance regulations. In the Rural Area, subdivision regulations ensure lot access is available, sewage disposal is available, wells can provide sufficient water, and stormwater management measures are in place. Water Protection Ordinance and Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations Albemarle County abides by State regulations related to stormwater runoff, but has its own water protection ordinance in addition. Runoff control and stormwater management are intended to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community and its water resources. More information on water protection is provided in the Natural Resources Chapter of this Plan. Consistent Application of County Policies Consistent application of County policies is very important to the integrity of the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is like a muscle in the body - the more it is exercised, the stronger it becomes. Regular use of the Comprehensive Plan in decision-making provides the Board of Supervisors with strong legal backing. It also sends a message to residents and future developers that the vision for the Count y is not a lofty thought, but an expected reality. Key ways in which consistent application of County policy has helped the County achieve its Vision thus far are described below. Commitment to Providing Infrastructure and Public Service Delivery in the Development Areas The County's Growth Management Policies include a commitment to providing infrastructure and funding infrastructure improvements in the Development Areas. This commitment extends to service delivery. The provision of fire, rescue, and police protection, roads, utilities, school bus service, and other governmental services and functions to a large, dispersed rural population is viewed as inefficient and contrary to the overall public interest. The County’s commitment to public service delivery is stated below: Emphasis is placed on providing a level of public service delivery that will support development in, and direct development to, designated Development Areas. To accomplish this, service and facilities will be provided at a much higher level in the Development Areas than in the Rural 13.4 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 Areas. Those persons living in the Rural Areas should not anticipate levels of public service delivery equal to services provided in the Development Areas. Reliance on this Policy for consistent decision-making helps the County achieve its Vision. Albemarle County Service Authority Jurisdictional Area Development follows water and sewer lines; therefore, the single largest determinant of growth in a community is the provision of utilities. The County has a longstanding commitment to provide water and sewer service in the Development Areas while not expanding service outside of those areas. The areas covered by water and sewer service are known as “jurisdictional areas”. Delineation and application of jurisdictional area boundaries is significant in the encouragement, discouragement, and direction of growth to Development Areas. Strict adherence to the County’s utility extension policy is a very strong Comprehensive Plan implementation measure. Legislative Decisions Legislative decisions, such as when and how to rezone land, approval of a special use permit, or adoption of regulations such as the Water Protection Ordinance are extremely effective tools for implementing the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan recommends rezoning land for development only take place in the Development Areas. Consistently adhering to this policy in legislative actions sends a strong message to potential applicants that requests which are not in keeping with policy will not be approved. Funding Many programs of the County require funding – for staff, for construction, for maintenance. Revenues for County programs come from property taxes, permits, fees and licenses, and funding from the State or Federal government. The County’s annual budget provides information on expenditures for providing and maintaining services needed to run County programs. With diminishing financial support from the State and Federal governments, more revenues will be needed to retain the high level of service pr ovided to residents in the County. Capital Improvements Program The Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is the way in which the County determines, schedules, and prioritizes major public facilities and services needed to implement the Comprehensive Plan. The first CIP was adopted in 1978. The CIP ties directly back to the Comprehensive Plan as both the basis, and review criteria for capital expenditures. This program is critical to the success of the County’s Growth Management policy. A capital project typically requires a minimum expenditure of $20,000, and has a minimum useful life of ten years. County departments and affiliated agencies initiate their capital project requests, which span the five-year period of the CIP. A CIP Technical Committee reviews all requests. Recommendations are then made by this Committee to the Planning Commission, which subsequently makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for adoption as part of the County’s budget. Cash Proffers In 2007, per Virginia Code § 15.2-2303 which enables the County to accept proffers as reasonable conditions to address the impacts resulting from a rezoning, Albemarle County adopted the existing Cash Proffer Policy. A copy of the current policy may be found in Appendix of this Plan. The authority granted by the State includes the authority to accept cash contributions to address impacts to public facilities generated by new residential development. It is the policy of the County to require that the owner of property that is rezoned for residential uses to provide cash proffers equivalent to the 13.5 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 proportional value of the public facilities deemed necessary to serve the proposed development on the property. It is intended that this policy help offset expenses incurred by the County as a result of new development. By volunteering proffers and therefore assisting in the construction of needed public facilities such as schools, transportation, parks, libraries, and public safety facilities, developers contribute greatly to helping the County achieve the Comprehensive Plan goals. State and Federal Funds While both State and Federal government financial support for localities has diminished over the past years, both still provide opportunities for funding of programs. Through a wide variety of grant making programs, many governmental agencies assist the County in work related to achieving the Comprehensive Plan goals. For instance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development extends grant and loan opportunities to assist with low-income housing. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation provides grants for stream restoration and urban parks. The Department of Homeland Security provides grants for projects which enhance policing opportunities. Continued use of these funds will be important; however, they are expected to continue diminishing over time. Bonds Historically the County has been averse to taking on long-term debt to fund infrastructure improvements, even though it has an excellent bond rating. This is consistent with the County’s fiscally conservative philosophy and practices. Unfortunately, infrastructure improvements, especially in transportation, have not kept up with community needs. The County cannot continue to rely on the State to fund transportation improvements. For that reason, consideration should be given to addressing needs through longer term debt. Issuance of bonds would provide additional funding that could be added to revenue from property taxes and funding commitments from developers for new development. Maps and Mapping Tools Maps are tools that can be used to help implement the Comprehensive Plan. Two important maps and/or mapping tools are described below. The Official Map The term, “Official Map” is particular to Virginia and relates specifically to transportation and public areas intended for public improvements. It is one of the oldest planning devices in existence. In § 15.2- 2233 of the Code of Virginia, the State sets out requirements for having and using an Official Map. These requirements, stated below, necessitate significant investment in surveying future or proposed public streets, alleys, walkways, waterways, and public areas: No future or proposed street or street line, waterway, nor public area, shall be shown on an official map unless and until the centerline of the street, the course of the waterway, or the metes and bounds of the public area, have been fixed or determined in relation to known, fixed and permanent monuments by a physical survey or aerial photographic survey thereof. In addition to the centerline of each street, the map shall indicate the width of the right-of-way thereof. Local planning commissions are hereby empowered to make or cause to be made the surveys required herein. After adoption by the governing body of an official map, the local governing body may acquire in any way permitted by law property which is or may be needed for the construction of any street, alley, walkway, waterway or public area shown on the map. When an application for a building permit is made to a locality for an area shown on the official map as a future or proposed right-of- way, the locality shall have sixty days to either grant or deny the building permit. If the permit is denied for the sole purpose of acquiring the property, the locality has 120 days from the date of denial to acquire the property, either through negotiation or by filing condemnation proceedings. If 13.6 Albemarle Comprehensive Plan Draft January 23, 2014 the locality has not acted within the 120 day period, the building permit shall be issued to the applicant provided all other requirements of law have been met. To date, Albemarle County has not chosen to adopt an Official Map to cover a large area because of the upfront costs of committing specific locations for roads and the surveying of those specific places. However, the option exists for the future if the County wishes to pursue using this tool. Federal Emergency Management Floodplain Maps Other maps used to implement the Comprehensive Plan include the Federal Emergency Management Systems (FEMA) Floodplain maps. These maps show the extent of the floodplain to which the federal floodplain requirements apply. They are essential to helping property owners know when flood insurance is required. They also help the County identify where development should and should not take place. Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping The County also has digital mapping which it provides for free on-line. This mapping, the GIS Web, helps property owners, developers, and staff interprets different types of geographic data to reveal relationships, patterns, and trends. This information can be used to identify zoning districts, comprehensive plan designations, topography, critical environmental resources, locations of leaking underground storage tanks, and other features. This particular tool is not an implementation measure, but, its existence and use enables implementation of the Comprehensive Plan goals by the development community and the public. Work Program for the County The County’s Work Program is its systematic way of accomplishing the Comprehensive Plan Goals. Strategies from the Comprehensive Plan are translated into activities to be addressed by staff and others. The Work Program is developed by staff, reviewed by the Planning Commission and endorsed by the Board of Supervisors because of its strong relationship to the budget. Maintaining a strong tie between the Comprehensive Plan strategies and the Work Program ensures a logical and efficient approach to implementation. Implementation Priorities of the Plan This Plan recommends an extensive and interrelated series of strategies to implement. These implementation strategies have been prioritized to focus public efforts and limited resources where they are most needed during the 20-year implementation timeframe of this Plan. Priorities for each chapter are found the end of this Chapter. They are organized sequentially in the order in which they appear in the Plan. Additional prioritization will be needed before adding items to the County’s Work Program. Page 1 of 2 Attachment B BOS 2-10-15 ATTACHMENT B Resident Artist Communities Background In 2012, the County was approached by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), about the possibility of relocating to a property in the County’s Rural Area which has Rural Area (RA) zoning. Because a resident artist community is not permitted in the Rural Area (RA) zoning district, the applicant submitted a Zoning Text Amendment application to add “artists community” as a permitted use by special use permit in the RA zoning district. The applicant spoke to the Board of Supervisors at a Comprehensive Plan work session on September 9, 2014 and the Board sent the request to the Planning Commission for review from a policy standpoint. At their meeting on September 16, 2014, the Planning Commission concluded that further research was needed on how other communities regulate this type of use and adopted a resolution of intent to study whether such a use is consistent with the goals and policies of the Rural Area. A link to the staff report for that meeting may be found here: The action memo may be found here: The Commission asked staff for research on how other localities deal with this use. Staff’s research revealed that very few, if any, localities have specific use definitions or standards related to resident artist communities and typically group them within a broader retreat center us e category. Approaches to regulating retreat centers in rural settings vary, but often address the percentage of land to be occupied by buildings, parking and accessibility, the maximum number of occupants, and the maximum time that occupants are able to stay. Staff brought this information and its conclusions to the December 2, 2014 Commission meeting. A link to the staff report may be found here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/forms_center/departments/community_development/forms/PC_ Reports/2014/ZTA-14-5_December_2_Staff_Report.pdf The Commission concluded that  A residential artist community is not agricultural or forestal or a Rural Area use in and of itself. It should only be allowed in the Rural Area if it can provide adaptive reuse of a historic building or buildings.  Building alterations are expected, but should not compromise the historic integrity of the buildings.  Additions could be allowed, provided they are proportionate to the building and the site. For example, additions should not be bigger than or overwhelm the historic structure.  The nature of the addition and any additional construction should be such that the building(s) could revert to a by-right use should the resident artist community vacate the property in the future.  A future location may be most appropriate near a crossroads community or town or place where goods and services can be obtained without major travel. The Commission agreed that further discussion was needed on:  The amount of additional construction that should be allowed on sites with historic buildings.  Whether construction of dorms should be allowed because of limited reversibility options.  Ways in which setbacks and screening from the road and adjacent properties might make its location more acceptable within a particular context.  Expectations for additional resource conservation and/or diminished development rights.  Whether building changes should be allowed that could enable special uses, such as camps and boarding schools, should the resident artist community abandon a site. Page 2 of 2 Attachment B BOS 2-10-15 On January 27, 2015, the Commission discussed the issues identified above. A copy of the staff report may be found here: http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/forms_center/departments/community_development/forms/PC_ Reports/2015/SR_Artist_1-27-15.pdf The Commission provided a thorough and thoughtful discussion. They wanted to support the arts in Albemarle, but had major concerns over the ZTA applicant’s desire to build a residence hall for 25 – 30 artists – each having their own bedroom and bathroom. They were most worried that this type of use would not be reversible except for a private boarding school, convent or monastery, farm worker housing in excess of 10 rooms, boarding camp, or group home. They concluded that construction of a new residence hall for artists in conjunction with a resident artist community is not appropriate. The Commission said that additions, alterations, and new construction on a property with a historic structure would be appropriate if the integrity of the historic building and site could be retained and the design resulted in retention of the rural character of the site. They also said that preservation of natural resources and habitat is also essential. Recommended Language for Comprehensive Plan The Commission reviewed staff’s recommended language and asked for modifications, which have been captured below: Strategy 5c: Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for resident artist community in historic buildings (as defined in the Historic Resources section of the Plan [hyperlink]). A resident artist community is a place where artists are afforded time and space to create art within a unique geographic and cultural context. Meals, lodging, and private studio space are provided on-site to support uninterrupted creative work lasting from a few weeks to a few months. The purpose of resident artist communities is to promote art as a critical cultural and societal resource. Resident artist communities are neither commercial endeavors nor tourist destinations: in a resident artist community, artists seek privacy and solitude. Participation in a resident artist community is by invitation only. Resident artist communities may be appropriate in the Rural Area if they can meet goals for preservation of historic structures and other Rural Area goals such as, but not limited to, natural resource conservation. Resident artist communities can provide a unique use of historic buildings and sites. While they should attempt to maximize use of existing structures, additions, alterations, and construction of additional buildings may be approved provided that the architectural and historic integrity of buildings and the site is retained. New construction should be compatible in appearance with the historic buildings and the site and should not overwhelm them in terms of size, scale, and massing. Any additional development should be clustered in order to minimize disturbance to natural resources and habitat. Design review should take place to ensure that the integrity of the historic resource will remain intact and that overall arrangement of new buildings and uses on the site preserves rural character. Resident artist communities should only be available by special permit. In addition to other factors reviewed for special uses in the Rural Area, consideration should be given to locations in or near crossroads communities, near Development Areas or Scottsville, or properties of significant acreage. New construction for residence halls is not appropriate as it would prevent reversion to a by-right use in the Rural Area. Staff notes that the VCCA may or may not be able to accomplish its goals within the framework that this Comprehensive Plan language affords. Page 1 of 1 Attachment B BOS 2-10-15 ATTACHMENT C Redlines of Chapters 1 – 7 Chapter 1 contains the Background information to the Plan. All changes directed by the Board were incorporated into the redlined version. Staff notes that the Livability Project objectives and strategies, provided on page 1.13, are included in each chapter to identify joint commitments of the localities. Recommended by the Planning Commissions of the City and the County, the City has already adopted the objectives and strategies into its Comprehensive Plan. These strategies have not been discussed Chapter 2 contains the Vision and Values. Staff notes that the revised vision is now at the top of each chapter in the plan. Chapter 3 is the Growth Management chapter. When the Development Areas chapter was discussed, the Board asked for a change in how the Rural Area and Development Area re lationship is described. The current Goal is stated: By directing growth to the County’s Development Areas, the County’s Rural Area, with its agricultural, forestal, historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources will be preserved for future generations. Staff suggests that this goal be modified to state: Albemarle County’s Development Areas will be attractive, vibrant, areas for residents and businesses, supported by services, facilities, and infrastructure. Growth will be directed to the Development Areas and the County’s Rural Area with its agricultural, forestal, historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources will be preserved for future generations. Chapter 4 contains descriptions of and recommendations for Natural Resources. It has been reorganized for ease of reading and contains all changes directed by the Board. Chapter 5 provides information on Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources. It contains all changes directed by the Board. Chapter 6 contains the Board’s current recommendations for Economic Development. Changes directed by the Board during review of the Development Areas have been incorporated into this chapter. Chapter 7 provides information on the Rural Area. It contains all changes directed by the Board. On January 27, 2015, the Planning Commission recommended that an additional strategy be added to the Objective for preservation of historic resources in the Rural Area. This strategy is described in the staff report. ATTACHMENT D Growth Management Growth Management - Priorities and Strategies Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program PC Recommended Priority from June 2014 Objective 1 Use the Growth Management Policy to guide decisions Strategy 1a: Continue to approve new development proposals in the Development Areas as the designated location for new residential, commercial, industrial, and mixed-use development. Only approve new development proposals in the Rural Area that are supported by Rural Area goals, objectives, and strategies. Strategy 1b: To help promote the Development Areas as the most desirable place for growth, continue to fund capital improvements and infrastructure and provide a higher level of service to the Development Areas. Strategy 1c: Continue to recognize the shared responsibility between the County and new development to pay for infrastructure and improvements to the Development Areas to address the impacts of new development ATTACHMENT D Page 1 of 1 ATTACHMENT E Natural Resources Natural Resources Priorities and Strategies Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program PC Recommended Priority from June 2014 Objective 1 Water Resources * Strategy 1a: Continue to apply the Watershed Protection Ordinance throughout the County to help protect and preserve water resources. * Strategy 1b: Prepare, submit, and implement a Watershed Implementation Plan to control stormwater pollution, as required by the State. Strategy 1c: Develop and implement a comprehensive water resources plan that sets expectations for quantity of public water supply, surface water protection and improvement, and groundwater protection. *Strategy 1d: Educate the public on how they can help with water resource protection. *Strategy 1e: Secure funding for water resource management programs. Strategy 1f: Allow and manage recreational uses of drinking water reservoirs and adjacent public land only as incidental uses to the primary function as a public water supply and in such a manner as to prevent cumulative impacts that may impair that primary function. Objective 2 Air Quality Strategy 2a: Help protect local and regional air quality by reducing the County's carbon footprint and by promoting alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles, such as walking, bicycle use, ride-sharing, and public transit services. Objective 3 Mineral Resources * Strategy 3a: Provide educational materials to owners of properties in the Natural Resource Extraction Overlay district on geological assets and limitations in the Rural Area. ATTACHMENT E Page 1 of 3 ATTACHMENT E Natural Resources Objective 4 Biodiversity Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program *Strategy 4a: Develop an Action Plan for Biodiversity to protect significant areas of biological importance in the County. * Strategy 4b: Regularly repeat the land use/land-cover data- gathering process carried (as begun in 2009) for the purpose of monitoring landscape changes. Strategy 4c: Collaborate with federal, state, and regional partners which have geographic information on biological resources to help build a biodiversity inventory. * Strategy 4d: Assess the need for hiring a County staff member with expertise in conservation biology, and/or training existing County staff in principles of conservation biology to assist in development of the action plan and coordination with other County actions. Strategy 4e: Encourage the use of native plants in landscaping to protect and provide habitat for native biodiversity, to save water, and connect landowners to the local ecosystem. * Strategy 4f: Increase the community’s awareness of the importance of biodiversity to encourage protection of biological resources. Strategy 4g: Provide information to potential land subdividers on the importance of protecting habitat when creating lots for development. Strategy 4h: Preserve existing vegetation in areas shown as Parks and Green Systems on Development Area Master Plans. Objective 5 Mountain Resources Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program ATTACHMENT E Page 2 of 3 ATTACHMENT E Natural Resources Strategy 5a: Continue to protect mountain resources identified in the Mountain Contour List. Strategy 5b: Continue to protect critical slopes in the Rural Areas. Strategy 5c: Protect slopes of 25% or greater in the Development Areas that are continuous as part of stream systems. * Strategy 5d: Encourage voluntary measures, such as conservation easements, agricultural and forestal districts, and use value taxation to protect mountain resources. Objective 6 Land Cover near Water Resources Strategy 6a: Continue to use the Water Protection Ordinance, critical slopes regulations, and other measures to preserve designated river and stream valleys in their natural state to protect significant resources associated with river and stream valleys and to provide buffer areas. Strategy 6b: Protect wetlands from inappropriate uses, and protect or restore them where possible, for maintaining surface water quality and other benefits. Strategy 6c: Use Development Area Master Plans to identify important streams and wetlands that should be protected. Objective 7 Hazard Prevention Strategy 7a: Through continued application of the Flood Hazard Overlay District, protect floodplains from uses that impair the function of the floodplain. Strategy 7b: Continue to maintain County-owned dams. *Strategy 7c: Increase awareness of areas which are prone to debris flow in the County. Strategy 7d: Continue to participate in hazard mitigation planning as part of the Regional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. ATTACHMENT E Page 3 of 3 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Priorities and Strategies Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program PC Recommended Priority from June 2014 Objective 1 Identify and recognize historic and cultural resources * Strategy 1a: Maintain a permanent Historic Preservation Committee and re-establish the full- time Historic Preservation Planner position to assist in implementation of the Preservation Plan. Strategy 1b: Compile and maintain a current and comprehensive information base on Albemarle County’s prehistoric, historic, and cultural resources for use by all County departments and the public. * Strategy 1c: Document as fully as possible all historic resources prior to demolition and retain historic records. Complete documentation with the assistance of County staff, the Historic Preservation Committee, local preservation groups, applicants and property owners. Objective 2 Pursue protection of historic and cultural resources * Strategy 2a: Encourage landowners to pursue voluntary methods of preservation and conservation, including requesting landmark and district designations, conservation easements, and tax and other financial incentive programs, as outlined in the adopted 2000 Historic Preservation Plan and its updates. Pursue historic district designations in cooperation with the surrounding neighborhoods and in partnership with the City of Charlottesville, where applicable. * Strategy 2b: Consider adopting regulatory measures for preservation and conservation such as those outlined in the adopted 2000 Historic Preservation Plan and its updates. ATTACHMENT F Page 1 of 6 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Strategy 2c: Practice good stewardship of the historic resources under County control by using recognized practices for the preservation of historic resources. Objective 3 Provide educational programs Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 3a: Develop and engage in heritage education programs that foster community pride, good citizenship, a strong school curriculum, and stewardship of the County’s historic resources. * Strategy 3b: Use a variety of tools (brochures, video, workshops, lectures, the internet, oral histories, and a comprehensive database) to educate and provide guidance to County residents, property owners, County boards and committees, and County staff about the County’s historic resources and its preservation policies. * Strategy 3c: Partner with the City of Charlottesville to prepare and maintain coordinated information on requirements, responsibilities and support programs for historic resources that are designated, eligible to be designated, or otherwise historically significant to the community. Objective 4 Promote regional cooperation with heritage tourism * Strategy 4a: Create and strengthen partnerships among all interest groups, including but not limited to the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, County and State officials, nearby Counties, local businesses, historic sites (like Ashlawn-Highland and Monticello) and community organizations to collaborate on and forward the cause of historic preservation and to promote heritage tourism throughout the County and the region. ATTACHMENT F Page 2 of 6 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources * Strategy 4b: Prepare and maintain a single map of formally designated City and County historic resources and make it available as a layer on both City and County data systems. Objective 5 Help protect Monticello's Viewshed * Strategy 5a: Make available to the public the Monticello Vistas map that represents all properties potentially visible from the Monticello mountaintop. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 5b: Help land developers with properties potentially visible from the Monticello mountaintop connect with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) to help prevent negative visual impacts on the Monticello viewshed. Strategy 5c: When reviewing discretionary land proposals, consider impacts on Monticello’s viewshed and encourage mitigation measures that are in keeping with the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Strategy 5d: When revising zoning and subdivision regulations, consider the impacts of new regulations on Monticello’s viewshed. Objective 6 Protect scenic resources for residents and tourists. *Strategy 6a: Continue to promote voluntary measures of protection for scenic resources. * Strategy 6b: Support enabling legislation for Albemarle County to provide for a scenic protection and tourist enhancement overlay district. * Strategy 6c: Work with the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, and other regional bodies to more consistently enhance the visual quality and multi-modal experiences along scenic corridors. Focus on Entrance Corridors, shared boundaries, the creation of distinctive destinations, urban area walkability, and consistent signage. ATTACHMENT F Page 3 of 6 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources Objective 7 Maintain or improve visual quality of roadways * Strategy 7a: Pursue additional scenic road designations to promote tourism and to maintain the visual quality of the County’s scenic roads. Strategy 7b: Take an active role in the design of Virginia Department of Transportation road improvements and bridges on scenic roads. Objective 8 Maintain visual integrity of the Entrance Corridors Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program * Strategy 8a: Taking into consideration the former Scenic Highway regulations, review the EC guidelines for effectiveness in protecting the integrity of exceptionally scenic EC road corridors, such as Route 250 East, Route 250 West, and Route 22/231. Strategy 8b: Continue to use the Entrance Corridor design guidelines to help maintain the integrity of Entrance Corridors in Albemarle County. * Strategy 8c: Update EC Design Guidelines to better reflect expectations of the Neighborhood Model for the Development Areas, including but not limited to recommendations on ways to provide for relegated parking without buildings turning their backs to the Entrance Corridor, and on coordinating landscaping requirements with utility corridors. * Strategy 8d: Develop corridor-specific guidelines for all Entrance Corridors to reflect the unique character of each corridor. * Strategy 8e: Use recommendations from Development Area Master Plans for frontage treatments of ECs to guide decision-making. ATTACHMENT F Page 4 of 6 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources * Strategy 8f: Consider additional EC designations as appropriate, or as road classifications change, for roads such as the John Warner Parkway, Route 614 (Sugar Hollow Road), Route 692/712 (Plank Road), and Route 810 (Brown’s Gap Turnpike). Objective 9 Protect scenic rivers and streams *Strategy 9a: Pursue Virginia Scenic River designations for rivers meeting State criteria. * Strategy 9b: Review the effectiveness of County Scenic Streams regulations and update them for consistency with the Water Protection Ordinance. Objective 10 Preserve views for tourism and recreation Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program * Strategy 10a: Study ways to protect scenic views of and from the Blue Ridge Mountains (Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive), US Route 250, and Shenandoah National Park. Objective 11 Dark skies * Strategy 11a: Continue to pursue measures to reduce light pollution in the County caused by uplighting, excessive lighting, glare, light trespass, and inconsistent light, including but not limited to the development of guidelines to address these issues for street lights in the Development Areas. Such guidelines should focus on providing a safe and secure pedestrian environment. Strategy 11b: Protect the McCormick and Fan Mountain Observatories through Dark Sky initiatives in the interest of scientific research, public education, and future economic development opportunities. * Strategy 11c: In cooperation with the University of Virginia and other interested parties, develop a community-based educational program on the value of the Dark Sky and on technical lighting topics. Target individuals in the building materials, electrical contracting, design, construction, and associated industries, as well as individual homeowners. ATTACHMENT F Page 5 of 6 ATTACHMENT F Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources * Strategy 11d: Take a leadership role in protecting the Dark Skies by designing lighting in public building projects, including playing fields and parking lots, to serve as models of appropriate and efficient lighting; by adopting a resolution asking power companies to cease promotion of unshielded and inefficient outdoor lighting; and by exploring the feasibility of participating in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Lights Program to promote energy efficiency in building design and maintenance. ATTACHMENT F Page 6 of 6 ATTACHMENT G Economic Development Economic Development Priorities and Strategies Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program PC Recommended Priority from June 2014 Objective 1 Build on the community's assets Strategy 1a:Promote new employment activities in the Development Areas and encourage developers of commercial and industrial to incorporate the Neighborhood Model principles. Strategy 1b:Promote agriculture,forestry,and agribusiness enterprises in the Rural Area that help the support the Rural Area goals for a strong agricultural economy. Strategy 1c: Promote a balance of jobs to housing. Strategy 1d: Encourage all businesses to adopt environmentally sustainable business practices. Objective 2 Create an economic development program Strategy 2a:Hire an Economic Development Director to help expand the County’s existing economic development program Strategy 2b:Continue the work currently taking place in the Office of Community and Business Partnerships. Strategy 2c:Continue to provide support and assistance for existing business retention and expansion. Strategy 2d: Monitor the results of implementation of the County’s Strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Plan in relation to education, housing, day, care, transportation and other areas, to determine if barriers experienced by the local work force, particularly those with the greatest needs, are being addressed. Objective 3 Provide diversified opportunities for citizens and existing businesses Strategy 3a: Continue to use the 2012 Target Industry Study to guide decisions for economic development. ATTACHMENT G Page 1 of 4 ATTACHMENT G Economic Development Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 3b: Provide assistance to target industries and businesses which provide jobs in bioscience and medical devices. *Strategy 3c:Provide assistance to target industries in business and financial services,especially with information on location opportunities. *Strategy 3d:Provide assistance to target industries providing jobs in the arts, design, sports, and media. *Strategy 3e:Provide assistance to target industries and businesses which provide jobs in information technology. Strategy 3f Work directly with federal officials to encourage base location and expansion that is consistent with County policies. Strategy 3g:Continue to provide support to local businesses for which agriculture is a main component. * Strategy 3h:Establish a proactive rural support program that provides assistance to the local agricultural community,and that includes an ongoing dialogue with farm industry stakeholders. Objective 4 Ensure sufficient land and infrastructure for industrial and business growth Strategy 4a:Provide a strategic assessment of properties available for existing business expansion,start-up industries,and desirable locations for target industries.Continue to assess the quality of the areas designated for business and industry to ensure that there is land for business and industrial growth that has suitable size, topography, location, and availability of infrastructure. ATTACHMENT G Page 2 of 4 ATTACHMENT G Economic Development * Strategy 4b:Encourage development of business and industrial uses in the Development Areas on appropriately zoned land and consider proactively rezoning land to allow for light industrial uses that have been identified on Master Plans. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program * Strategy 4c: Explore opportunities to assist with redevelopment of underutilized commercial and industrially zoned properties. Objective 5 Work with Regional Partners Strategy 5a: Retain membership in the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development and maintain cooperation with the City of Charlottesville, Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC), other jurisdictions in the region, the University of Virginia, and Piedmont Virginia Community College along with State partners such as the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). Strategy 5b: Continue to work with UVA and the City to promote entrepreneurial talent and research and development through a variety of initiatives and partnerships. The County should also work with UVA and the UVA Foundation to encourage redevelopment of properties that can provide employment opportunities in the community. It is particularly important that context sensitive design play a major role in redevelopment of University facilities in the County. Objective 6 Increase local business opportunities,especially for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. Strategy 6a:Make data on County plans,zoning,sites,and policies available on request. ATTACHMENT G Page 3 of 4 ATTACHMENT G Economic Development Strategy 6b:Continue to evaluate the fiscal impacts of new business and industrial development as one indicator of positive economic development,along with other impacts,such as environmental impact, traffic impact, and standard of living impact. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 6c:Continue to improve the County’s application and approval processes to improve efficiency without sacrificing standards of quality. * Strategy 6d:Support and coordinate with existing organizations that assist new small,locally owned,local agricultural businesses, minority businesses and micro-enterprises in their start-up and early operation efforts. * Strategy 6e: Explore opportunities to create appropriate incentives that address the needs of the County’s target industries as well as emerging entrepreneurial enterprises. Objective 7 Career-ladder opportunities and higher wages * Strategy 6a:Increase support for initiatives that foster career planning,decision making and workplace readiness skills for the K- 12 population,as well as continuing education and training programs to prepare the local workforce for demands of current and future employers. * Strategy 6b: Continue the use of information gathering strategies to help identify employer needs and workforce training needs. ATTACHMENT G Page 4 of 4 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area The Rural Area Priorities and Strategies Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program PC Recommended Priority from June 2014 Objective 1 Strong agricultural and forestal economy Strategy 1a:Continue to promote use of Rural Preservation Developments (RPDs),conservation easements,and Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs)programs,if developed,to help preserve agricultural and forestal soils and to increase the acreage of productive soils for agriculture and forestry. Strategy 1b:Continue to promote farming and forestry activities in the County by retaining Rural Area zoning on Rural Area designated land. * Strategy 1c:Establish active support of agricultural land uses through the creation of a Rural Support Program position that provides agricultural assistance,including community education, marketing strategies,the exploration of agricultural support businesses, and information about alternative agricultural uses. * Strategy 1d:Continue to assist Rural Area property owners in diversifying agricultural activities,including helping to connect local farms to local consumers. Strategy 1e:Continue to provide support to wineries and cideries, and farm breweries as part of the County’s agricultural support activities. Strategy 1f: Study ways in which the County can better support the local horse industry. Strategy 1g:Continue to promote retention of forest soils in conjunction with preservation developments and provide connections with the Department of Forestry,which oversees timbering operations. ATTACHMENT H Page 1 of 6 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area * Strategy 1h:Change zoning regulations to permit appropriately- scaled collection and distribution facilities for local agricultural products in the Rural Area. Consider allowing these uses by-right. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program * Strategy 1i:Clarify the difference between home occupations and other uses that are listed in the Zoning Ordinance. * Strategy 1j:Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow storage of landscape materials and landscape services in the Rural Area. Objective 2 Natural resources and habitat preservation Strategy 2a: Encourage connectivity of conservation land wherever feasible. Objective 3 Continuous and unfragmented land for agriculture, forestry, and natural resource protection. Strategy 3a:Direct development to and continue to make the Development Areas more livable, attractive places. * Strategy 3b:Provide information to property owners in the Rural Area on alternatives to subdividing their land,including donating conservation easements and use value taxation. Strategy 3c:Continue rural conservation programs such as Agricultural/Forestal (Ag/For)Districts and use value taxation as incentives for owners to avoid subdividing for residential uses.Strategy 3d: Continue to promote conservation easements to provide a financially attractive way for landowners to protect family farms in Albemarle County and their unique open space resources, to provide an opportunity for landowners to voluntarily sell a conservation easement to a public agency to be held in trust for perpetuity, and to preserve important features of the Rural Area for all. ATTACHMENT H Page 2 of 6 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area * Strategy 3e:Strengthen the Acquisition of Conservation Easements (ACE)Program by providing a stable dedicated funding source and staff resources for administering the program. Strategy 3f:Continue to provide staff support to the Public Recreational Facility Authority (PRFA). Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program * Strategy 3g:Assess how a program for the transfer of development rights might be designed to redirect development potential from sections of the Rural Area with high-value natural and cultural resources to locations outside of the Rural Area. * Strategy 3h:Work with property owners who are proposing subdivision of rural land in both conventional and Rural Preservation Developments (RPD)to make “development right”lots as small as possible and large lots (21+acres)as large as possible to reduce impacts of forest and habitat fragmentation in the Rural Area. Strategy 3i:Consider modifying the zoning regulations to help achieve Rural Area objectives without reducing residential development rights. Objective 4 Crossroads Communities Strategy 4a:Identify the geographic limits of a crossroads community by meeting with Rural Area residents. * Strategy 4b:Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for small-scale,supportive uses,such as country stores,offices,day care, doctor/dentist offices,and public institutional uses,such as post offices,in designated crossroads communities.Consider allowing restaurants in crossroads communities in historic buildings or new structures with appropriate size limits and performance standards. ATTACHMENT H Page 3 of 6 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area * Strategy 4c:Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow community centers and religious institutions at an appropriate scale without legislative review.Standards to be considered include location, size of facility, and scale of use. Objective 5 Cultural and Historic Resources in Rural Area Strategy 5a:Promote reuse of historic structures that support agricultural and forestal uses in the Rural Area. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 5b:Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for restaurants in historic buildings (as defined in the Historic Resources section of the Plan) in crossroads communities. Strategy 5c:Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for artist residencies in historic buildings (as defined in the Historic Resources section of the Plan [hyperlink]). Objective 6 Enhance Visitors' Experience Strategy 6a:Continue to require special permission for events at farm wineries,farm breweries,and bona fide agricultural operations for over 200 persons and for other events in the Rural Area over 150 persons.These special events should promote or support agricultural production or a uniquely rural activity,such as a County fair, and be limited to once or twice per year. * Strategy 6b:Review the zoning regulations related to recreational uses to see whether updates are needed to better reflect rural recreational activities that should be available by special use permit in the Rural Area. Objective 7 Distinct Rural Area/Development Area Boundaries ATTACHMENT H Page 4 of 6 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area * Strategy 7a:Promote use of Rural Area land up to the boundary with the Development Area.Do not require transitional areas between the Rural Area and the Development Areas. * Strategy 7b:Develop rural design standards to be used in conjunction with site plans in the Rural Area,especially for parking lots, signage, entrance requirements, and landscaping. Strategy 7c:Permit uses at rural interstate interchanges which support agriculture and forestry. Policy Continuation of Program Enhancement of Program New Project/Program Strategy 7d: Study the infrastructure challenges at the Shadwell interchange to determine the potential level and concentration of operations which are appropriate. Objective 8 Education on Purpose of the Rural Area Strategy 8a: Inform existing property owners, realtors, and prospective property owners in the Rural Area that the rural Area is not intended for residential development. Instead, emphasis is placed on stewardship of the land, retaining agricultural and forestal activities, protecting natural resources, and maintaining unfragmented land to protect biodiversity. Objective 9 Area B in the Rural Area Strategy 9a:Use the Milton Airport property for research activities of the University of Virginia and for an indoor firing range for regional emergency personnel training. Strategy 9b:Continue to use the UVA Farm (former vivarium and incinerator site) on Route 20 South for UVA storage activities. Strategy 9c:Continue to use the Northridge Medical Park properties for medical purposes associated with the University of Virginia. ATTACHMENT H Page 5 of 6 ATTACHMENT H Rural Area Strategy 9c: Continue to use recommendations for Rural Area uses for properties in Area B shown as Rural Area. ATTACHMENT H Page 6 of 6 ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 1 Albemarle County Planning Commission September 16, 2014 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Lane Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Cal Morris, Chair; Richard Randolph, Thomas Loach, Karen Firehock, Tim Keller, Bruce Dotson and Mac Lafferty, Vice Chair. Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was present. Staff present was Scott Clark, Senior Planner; Jonathan Newberry, Senior Planner, Rachael Falkenstein, Senior Planner; Elaine Echols, Principal Planner; Claudette Grant, Senior Planner; David Benish, Chief of Zoning; Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. Call to Order Mr. Morris, Chair, called the regular meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. and established a quorum. Work Session: a. Artist Community in RA – Resolution of Intent J.T. Newberry presented a PowerPoint presentation to summarize a proposal for a resolution of intent for ZTA-2014-00005 Artist Communities. The applicant first approached staff in 2012 about relocating the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts to a location in Albemarle County in the rural areas. Staff struggled with whether or not the proposal could fit under any of the existing permitted uses in the rural areas. In the proposal the applicant notes the similarities to boarding camp, privat e school and bread and breakfast. Staff took some time in evaluating that. While staff was trying to look into that further the applicant attended and commented at several comprehensive plan meetings and initially found positive feedback as to the Planni ng Commission making statements that lodging would be something that could be potentially supported in the rural areas under the updates of the plan. The applicant in June made the text amendment application. Initially the Board of Supervisors was not supportive of new construction for lodging uses in the rural area. However, at their meeting last week the Board reconsidered and specifically addressed this use. The Board acknowledged there is no support in the current or proposed comp plan update right now; however, this use is unique and they would like the Planning Commission’s input. Mr. Newberry reviewed the specifics of the proposal. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 2 Definition – “Artist Communities”  A use composed of temporary lodging and working spaces for 20-30 adults selected through a competitive peer-review process for residencies on the property lasting from a few days to ninety (90) days.  These individuals shall be professional artists of various creative genres, whether literary, visual, musical, theatrical, cinematic, architectural, cross-disciplinary or otherwise. Some of the other specifics of the proposal give you a better sense of what this might look like in the rural areas. The proposal includes:  1 studio space, bedroom, bathroom for each artist  Existing structures and /or new construction  Maximum of 40,000 square feet in 1 or 2 buildings for bedrooms, bathrooms, studio, kitchen, dining, meetings  Plus area for offices, storage, maintenance, and residential space for employees or volunteers  1 artist community/ parcel  No > than 30 artists at a time  Minimum parcel size/acreage -- 20 acres  parking space/2 artists + 1 space/employee  Resident manager required  Managed by Non-profit board  Special events: performances, exhibitions, and fundraising The first question for staff with this proposal is does it conform to the comprehensive plan. Staff has already stated there is nothing that specifically supports this use. However, the Board has weighed in and feels this use is unique and would like the Planning Commission to provide additional input. Looking at the current comprehensive plan there are eight (8) guiding principles for policy considerations . W ith the exception of one staff feels that at a certain size and scale there could be support under the comp plan with the one exception being for agriculture. Would the proposed use preserve or protect agriculture in our rural areas? At this time staff does not see that is true. Another area under the current comp plan would be under a lternative uses. This is alternative uses to land fragmentation. What are some of the criteria that those uses should be judged? Alternative uses should be:  reversible (so that the land can easily return to farming, forestry, conservation, or other preferred rural uses);  scaled and sited to cause minimal impacts on their rural surroundings;  minimal in their public health and environmental impacts; and  viable with no increase in public infrastructure or services, either at time of approval or later. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 3 Looking to the proposed comp plan update there are criteria for the review of new proposed uses. There is one staff feels like the proposed use does not meet but for the others they do think on a certain size and scale it is possible. The one staff does not feel like it supports would be does the use require a rural area location to be successful. Staff Recommendation Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt a Resolution of Intent to study this further. This study would not commit the Commission to a recommendation to support adoption of this as a special use permit in the RA. Staff would like the Planning Commission’s feedback if they do agree to adopt a resolution on what are some of the issues that should be studied further. Currently staff has identified the following features that would require further study.  Definition of Artist Community  Minimum parcel size needed for establishing this use  Extent to which natural and historic resources are preserved  Potential of extinguishing of development rights  Impact of new construction on historic resources  Impact of the use on nearby and adjoining property owners, transportation networks, agricultural/forestal districts, especially as it may relate to traffic patterns and groundwater resources  Special events Staff presented possible motions for the Planning Commission to consider. Mr. Morris invited questions for staff. Mr. Dotson said he had a procedural question. He asked does the State Code require a resolution of intent for making a zoning text amendment. Mr. Kamptner replied for planning commissions the State statute allows the text amendment to be started by merely a motion. However, the practice in the county for both the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission has been to consider resolutions of intent. Mr. Dotson noted at the end of the staff report it says if the Planning Commission agrees to proceed with the zoning text amendment. It strikes him that they don’t have a choice since an application and a fee have been filed they have an obligation to review that, hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the Board. Mr. Kamptner replied that Commission can elect not to adopt the resolution to the citizen initiated zoning text amendments. If the Commission does not find that it has merit to proceed they can elect not to adopt the resolution. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 4 Mr. Dotson said that is sort of based on the face value assessment without getting into the details. He asked what would happen to the applicant’s fee. He asked would that cover the cost of getting the request this f ar or would the application be considered withdrawn and refunded. Mr. Kamptner replied in order for the request to be considered withdrawn it would have had to be withdrawn before now. Ms. Echols noted that it would be something they would be looking to the zoning division to advise on. Mr. Dotson commented it strikes him as unusual that they need a resolution of intent when there has been an application. It seemed they have an obligation to act one way or the other. Ms. Echols pointed out it has been our practice when someone asks for a zoning text amendment. There are zoning text amendments that have been requested that the Planning Commission has declined to adopt a resolution of intent to continue with. So there is some history on this and it is our standard procedure. However, it has been a while since they have had someone make a formal zoning text amendment request like this. Mr. Morris noted that it was a good point. Mr. Lafferty said depending on the location there is a potential of having 70 cars since they have 30 artists and 10 staff members. If each artist had one person visit for the event they would have 70 cars, which might be an impact on a very small road. Ms. Firehock asked to go back to staff’s chart since it is hard to evaluate at this point. When it is talking about generate with little or no new demand she did not know for fire and rescue on #6 how they can have that possible category for the number of people that are going to need some kind of ambulance service or fire service. She noted that a lot of those staff marked as possible she probably would have put yes. She did not know what the metric is for where it gets in the possible box versus the special use permit. For a lot of those she probably would lean towards ye s because of what Mr. Lafferty was just talking about with the events they may have. Ms. Echols clarified what staff looked at are some of the things the Planning Commission came up with in their recommended comprehensive plan amendment. The Board has played with this a little bit. However, these are the kinds of things the Planning Commission looked at in developing the comprehensive plan and looking at other kinds of uses that might be appropriate. So t his is not in the comprehensive plan right now. Many of those are things we look at in evaluating the issues. Ms. Firehock noted she was not questioning whether those things should be evaluated or whether they are the right things to be evaluated. She was questioning all of the X’s ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 5 in the possible category and saying that she believes that many of them would be in the yes box. Ms. Echols pointed out what this is about right now is looking at whether or not they want to explore this use any further. If the Commission finds they do want to move forward on it they might want to put parameters around it that make those X’s look a little bit different instead of if possible they might be in a different place. They have that ability. However, right now the main issue is whether there is merit in moving to the next step, which is basically to study this. Staff would be bringing back to the Commission more information in a work session. Mr. Loach asked if someone came to staff tomorrow and asked to build a 30 -room hotel in the rural area what would be their position. Mr. Newberry replied the zoning ordinance would prohibit a 30 room hotel in the rural areas. Mr. Morris suggested they say it is not a hotel and so on . But, if it was an artist community and so on and they move out does that right to have that 30 bedroom unit stay with the land. Ms. Echols replied the building and the use for which it is approved gets to stay with the land. However, to use it for a different kind of use if something is approved by a special use permit there is no automatic ability to do that. This issue of reversibility or the issue of what the future use might be would be one of those things that would be studied before they are going to develop any text amendment. Ms. Monteith asked what the list in the table was formulated from since there were some things in this list they may not consider for all applications. Mr. Newberry replied the majority of this list came from speaking with other members of the site review committee, zoning, fire and rescue, the building division, the health department, the design planner, and the rural areas planner. Staff collected feedback from all these different perspectives. Looking at the scale of what is currently proposed staff at this point in the analysis could determine that these are the elements that would require further study to determine if it is potentially appropriate in the rural areas. These are the ones that stood out right now. He thinks staff would like to look at it further. One thing that comes to mind is a conversation he had with the applicant where he said across the United States there are about 200 artist communities that exist and every single one of them is different. So this is a difficult use to try to generalize about. Therefore, he thinks a part of putting so many of the criteria in the possible category was the consideration this is a zoning text amendment application and they are looking at this more generally than just where the applicant is coming from with the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. They are trying to figure out what would be the loose parameters that could make it appropriate. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 6 Mr. Loach noted going the other way under all the work they have done on the rura l economic development where does this use fit into that category. Ms. Echols replied it has been an interesting journey having taken it with the Commission and now going through the journey with the Board of Supervisors on the comp plan recommended by the Commission. W hen the Commission last left off for the rural areas they left open the possibility that lodging uses might be appropriate in the Rural Area. The Board of Supervisors has said no they are not. When staff brought to their attention the potential mismatch between what they have said about lodging and this use as something different that the use had many characteristics of lodging they said yes, but there is something different about it. The Board had a really difficult time putting their finger on what was different about it. So the Board has challenged the Commission to look at that and see if there is something different. They have also challenged the staff to do the same thing to see if there is more than just lodging that this represents. The Board was open to whatever the Commission might come up with to take back to them. They do want to have some statements about this kind of use in the Comprehensive Plan Rural Area chapter when they finish that up. They are not sure what those statements should be yet. Mr. Keller asked staff to go back to the slide that said tourism. It seemed that tourism does not have anything to do with this when they are talking about 30 individuals. So he would, depending upon what they decide , be supportive of continuing this investigation. He would challenge that. Ms. Firehock asked if he thinks the tourism example was based on the fact that it was going to have open houses twice a month and people would be able to visit it. Was that perhaps why they decided it was potential tourism. Since it said that in the report she was just wondering if that was the justification that visitors would come and perhaps a tourist would wander through and want to visit the art colony. Mr. Keller said he thinks about the artist communities that he knows and it is really about the experience of the artists actually being able to get away from their everyday experience. Ms. Firehock noted she understands what he was saying because she had visited such places herself. However, she was just reflecting what it said in the report. Mr. Keller commented when they go to visit an artist friend there are other artists that don’t even want you to be there. Ms. Firehock noted that it was in their proposal. She questioned whether that was a good idea. Mr. Keller pointed out it was always a good sales pitch in Virginia is for lovers. Mr. Morris said his point was well taken. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 7 Mr. Keller said the other comment referred to the list in the table Ms. Monteith asked about. It was the one that said the considerations that needed to happen and had the historic and cultural resources list. It seems when looking at the application where there was up to 40,000 square feet in one or two structures they started today talking about the Castle Hill Cidery and that barn is 11,000 square feet. So they are talking about the possibility of a structure that is four times the size of that barn. That is a massive element in any landscape, but especially the rural landscape. While they know the size of structures that have been built in some of these mega houses that h ave happened, and that even the horse barns on Barracks Road he does not think are 40,000 square feet. They were the largest sort of architectural or rural structure that he can think of historically in the area. It seems that in that list there needs to be the impact of the individual or the cluster of individual structures that would be residential and ancillary to those residential homes as well. Mr. Lafferty asked if he was saying they need to study this further. Mr. Keller agreed he was in support of studying it further. Mr. Dodson pointed out right now the Commission was asking questions of staff. Ms. Firehock agreed that some of the questions can be studied as well as whether there is merit to that. So she thinks those questions are valid. Mr. Randolph said he thinks all the questions are valid. What he worries about is the nose of the camel. He thinks that one of the requirements for an artist community in the definition is that it be a bonafide established nonprofit organization. However, he also looks at staff’s wording, “a use composed of temporary.” He is using temporary in two ways. He thinks what they were trying to do is get at the use being temporary. However, he would be much more inclined to be in support of this if in fact the lodging structure itself was temporary, i.e. movable. W ithin this colony there might be a single bathing facility with one for men and one for women instead of individual bathrooms. But, within each one of these units they would be movable structures so t hey can be moved on the site or off the site. Then the site is not imprinted permanently by permanent structures that would be associated with the colony. Mr. Randolph said he understands the educational function having worked in a boarding school. He sees an artist community somewhat as an educational operation; and, therefore more inclined to support it. However, he thought Ms. Joseph’s note to the Commission was very good where she quotes the Commission would want to look into long term use of new buildings should an artist community be vested then moved to a different location. What he would worry about is the nose of the camel that they could see different artist colonies come along, then two to three years they close up shop, moves out of Albemarle County, and along comes somebody else who buys them and now has a building there and wants to establish a commercial venture such as a hotel. Indirectly this opens an opportunity for expansion in the rural area that they do not ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 8 desire. The trouble for the applicant is they are judging the applicant not just from the standpoint potentially of this single application, but the ramifications and implications down the line. That is one of our responsibilities of the Planning Commission to look down the line and be thinking 20 years out and what will happen as a result of this. He would think that it would be really important for him to be more interested in this that it would a bonafide established nonprofit organization alone that is involved in the art ist colony. Secondly, that the structures in which the 30 resident artists live are not permanent structures, and that they are in fact movable removable structures that can be taken off the site if necessary in the future. Therefore, the only thing that would be permanent would be perhaps a much smaller structure for meetings because after all this is a retreat. The smaller structure would be maybe to get together and have meals with conversation. However, when looking at 40,000 square feet that is large enough to put an airplane in as Mr. Lafferty referred to earlier in the airport. Mr. Loach questioned in our language if there is any other exception for an educational institution in the rural area. Ms. Echols replied there is currently a special use permit for private schools in the rural area. But, an artist community does not have a bonafide educational component to it and is not intended as a school. It is intended as a place for creativity and not for other people to come and learn about it. Therefore, it did not meet any of our definitions. This might be a good time to say that tonight’s conversation is not about creating a zoning text amendment, but identifying those things they would want to study further if they decide to adopt a resolution of intent to take this to the next level. So there are no decisions about how it should function tonight that they need to make unless they just want to say these are our concerns about it, which they would want to bring back information on to the Commission at the next work session. If they keep that in mind it might help to know they have time to decide what they might be able to support if they don’t feel after they have done all the research they don’t want to support it. Mr. Morris opened the hearing and invited public comment. Mr. Gregory Allgire Smith asked to address this item since he was the Executive Director of VCCA, the applicant of the zoning text amendment. He understands this is a process. He hoped the Commission had received the one page outline he prepared. It is intended to help this process by providing a definition that is the national standard definition taken from the publication by the Alliance of Artists Communities, which is the national organization of the 200 or so artist communities that exist around the United States. He has put on paper some of the key characteristic s he is suggesting for consideration that might help identify what this zoning classification might allow in and keep out if they are concerned about the nose under the tent edge. He also has included some of the things that relate to Mr. Newberry’s X’s in the columns regarding to how it fits into the county priorities for the rural areas. He wants to mention several of these just to provide some clarification in the hope that they will see enough merit in this to continue the discussion and work by the county staff. He believes that the function as it exists now is compatible with agricultural and forestry. By saying that he looks to ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 9 the 35 years of experience that the VCCA has had on 12 acres owned by Sweet Briar College surrounded by another 400 acres of the same parcel that they have leased out over that period of time to a local farmer. That farmer has mowed hay, had cattle and horses. There have been agricultural functions around the site. They have not prohibited that whatsoever. Secondly, they have protected the historic structure of a 1930’s dairy barn and kept that in an adaptive reuse that has been viewed as beneficial. Third, is the question of tourism. In that function the VCCA has participated in the cultural plan for Charlottesville and Albemarle County, which was specifically mentioned as a worthwhile function. He would like to mention that is something they think is an important aspect to the function, too. He would be happy to answer any questions and discuss this further. Mr. Morris invited questions. Mr. Loach asked for clarification. In the staff presentation there is a bullet point that says small performances, exhibits, and fundraising events related to the artist community. He questioned what the definition of small is. Mr. Smith replied on Sunday they had approximately 50 members of the VCCA board, staff and guests at the VCCA for a thank you for the sponsors of an event that was held at Morven Farm some months ago. He would view that as small. They are not looking to have hundreds or thousands of people. He was rather amazed at the kind of numbers they deal with in terms of the zoning code. To provide some provision for an opportunity to be able to show what they do to the public whether that is with 50, 100, or 200 the Planning Commission and Board will determine what goes into the code. Mr. Loach pointed out it noted there would be music performances on site. He asked if there were any on-site sales. Mr. Smith replied they don’t do any on-site sales currently. What they basically are trying to do is provide the artist an opportunity to expose their work to a broader segment of the community. He thinks they have done that respectfully to the neighbors and all the rest in the past decades Mr. Dotson said he recalled reading it, but asked him to refresh his mind where he was located before Sweet Briar since he has already been in the county. Mr. Smith pointed out they were located at two locations in Albemarle County. They were established at W avertree Hall in the Batesville/Greenwood area and existed there on private property for a couple of years. Then the property owner wanted to do something different. They relocated to the east side of Albemarle County and then a few years later made the move to the Sweet Briar’s property. They have been operating there for 35 years. Mr. Dotson asked if they were looking for a property what kind of property would they look for. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 10 Mr. Smith replied that he was looking for a property for two years on behalf of the organization. Contrary to one of the points on the screen they are not considering whatsoever any urban locations. There are artist communities that are urban. However, the model they follow goes back to the establishment of the very first artist community in the turn of the century about 100 years ago. Those have all been rural. They have sort of followed the rural model that the McDowell colony established so long ago. Mr. Keller pointed out that Morven consistently comes up as a discussion point in the press. He asked do they have anything to say about the residential uses that occur. He assumes that they don’t because it is a state facility. Ms. Monteith noted the residential uses at Morven are long term. They are cottages that are for the most part lived in by people who are working on the property. There are a few people that don’t work on the property who work at UVA or have some other affiliation. But, they are not regularly rotating properties and that type of use has existed for a long time. It is not as if there is anything new that is being built there. It is just use of the existing buildings on the site. She asked if that addressed his ques tion because she thought he was asking about residential uses. Mr. Keller replied yes, although it is incorrect antidotal information that seems to imply that there are people who come in on a temporary basis fairly regularly to Morven. Ms. Monteith replied that she did not think so. She is actually working on the project and has a little bit of knowledge about what is going on there. There are some visits, but it is not something that is happening on a usual basis. Ms. Firehock pointed out there are workshops and retreats there she has attended for various groups. So they do use it as a retreat center, but usually something that is affiliated with the University of Virginia. Ms. Monteith noted they have a transportation plan with the county, and all of that is accounted for in terms of day use of the site. Mr. Morris invited further public comment. Marcia Joseph, resident of Albemarle County, asked to remind everyone that for years and years they have been looking at the rural areas and people have contemplated corporate retreats or whatever. They have really tried to make sure those sort of things are not the norm in the rural areas. She liked Mr. Randolph creativity, but she hoped that something like that would work. It is this permanent nature of 30 rooms, 30 bathrooms, 30 studio spaces and eating spaces. One of the things she is hoping the Commission will consider is how long could this operate without public water and sewer. They have already had Monticello come and ask for public water and se wer. If this is very successful and there are people there all the time how is this going to affect the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 11 groundwater. So it is all those planning issues that they always look at such as traffic, groundwater, noise, and all sort of things that happen. When she was looking through the ordinance she found it interesting that one of the things they allow by special use permit in the rural areas is a monastery. It is the first time, and Mr. Kamptner can comment, that they actually identify the users of something. It is specifically nuns, monks or friars that can use the space. She did not know how they can identify that only artists can use the space. She questioned if they would be discriminating against other people to say it is okay for artists to have a retreat like this, but it is not okay for GE or for someone else that wanted to have a retreat. She questioned what makes this different as a land use issue. She thinks artists are great; but, how does this as a land use issue separate itself from the users. She also wanted to note they have a private school such as Miller School. To get an idea of the size that school is on over 1,000 acres. So she thinks they really should consider the scale of these operations if they are looking at 20 acres. They already have a building proposed that is an acre, which they need parking facilities for. She asked how is this really going to be a retreat on 20 acres. She is hoping the Commission will take some time so they can all as a community think about this. She really hopes the Commission will have a work session before this ever goes to a public hearing. Jeff Werner, with Piedmont Environmental Council, said PEC has been extremely concerned when something comes up about changing the rural area regulations. He wants to be very clear that they mean no disrespect or ill will towards the applicant or their mission since it sounds very interesting. His job is to ask the hard questions about what happens if. Something Wayne Cilimberg has said often is it is never a good idea to tweak the zoning ordinance just for a single use on a single parcel. He knows Ms. Echols has mentioned this is not about a zoning text amendment, but the resolution still refers to a zoning text amendment. He thinks what he is most concerned about is that this sort of discussion right now is in the abstract. They are not talking about somewhere and this use if allowed will end up somewhere. It will abut someone’s property and will be on someone’s road. He thinks before they start tweaking things that maybe they are going the right way to really burrow into this. He thinks the question has to be before a whole lot of time consuming research would this use even fit into the county. Maybe most importantly is there somewhere that it could go and that the neighbors would accept it. He refers back to when the Howardsville Canoe Livery wanted 48 tent sites and there was tremendous and vocal opposition to that. So people do become concerned about these things. He did want to offer that relative to any consideration moving forward that there has to be some correlation here between the number of units and the number of development rights. It has to be that relationship. Mr. Werner noted one thing he noticed was this could be done by right. That is to go out and purchase enough land and do a rural subdivision that allows 30 residences on it and be done with it. But, just a couple of thoughts he wrote down was r ooms, bathroom and dining, which sounds like a hotel. He understands the nonprofit nature, but UVA and PEC are a nonprofit. Being a nonprofit does not mitigate the impacts of a potential land use and Mr. Kamptner could probably better address that. But, it is the impacts whether or not it is a nonprofit causing them. What are other communities that could be ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 12 out there? It could be a scholar community or other use. Art takes on a lot of different forms. Some are noisy and some not. Some are smelly. Some involve heavy materials and metal. One last thing is could this use be later coupled with a winery or an agric operation so that it becomes a venue. There is really an interesting possibility here and he hopes the applicant does not mind our hard questions. There being no further public comment, Mr. Morris closed the public comment to bring the matter back before the Planning Commission for further discussion. Ms. Firehock said she understands this is complicated and probably warrants further study. But, then she tries to think about what they would be doing when they would be studying it. There are a couple of things that come to mind that are complicated. One is this notion of the fact that it is implied they need this rural area location because they want it to be motivated, and they want a quiet place. Nature inspires creativity. There is actual documentation and research that show that. But, she finds it dif ficult to define art. She knows that was something they listed as needing to be studied. She was not going to evaluate this on the merit of this particular applican t wanting to do this. She was just thinking about that kind of a use. Someone could in the future say yes I am going to buy this property and it is going to be my art group and maybe they will have some art classes. That is how she is going to define it. She thinks it would be very difficult to define doing art and asked how do they write these rules. The other thing she would mention is the fact the Board of Supervisors has not been amendable to lodging in the rural areas. She did not know how to differentiate this as lodging in the rural area. She has visited artist communities in other states and also visited religious retreats. She did not know how they would address design. She personally is not really interested in studying this further because it has too many difficulties given our current position on lodging in the rural areas and the difficulty of defining the use so that they know that future users would indeed be the same. Mr. Morris invited further comments. Mr. Dotson commented that one of the bullet points talked about extinguishing development rights. If he can conceive of the Sweet Briar situation there is kind of a compound of 12 acres and 700 or 800 acres around that. If that was in conservation easements and eliminated even more than 30 development rights in the rural areas that would certainly make him pause and think about it more than he would if this was just on a 12 acre freestanding site without any extinguishment of development rights. So that is just one thought if they study it further to think about. A second thought is he would think crossroad locations might be a place where they are going to have kind of a cluster of activities in the rural area where there is an expectation of somewhat more intense activity as opposed to kind of a remote rural location. That might be worth exploring as it is studied further. Not all rural locations are the same and perhaps there are some others like a crossroads community that have a different set of expectations. Those are two thoughts of things that they might look into if they study it further. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 13 Ms. Firehock pointed out she thinks one of the problems they have as a Commission is the fact that they have the rural area that have different characteristics, uses, and scales of uses. Therefore, because they have not defined it further is why she feels uncomfortable with just saying this can go in the rural area. Mr. Morris asked Mr. Smith if he would like to address any of the comments he had heard before they continue. Mr. Smith replied no. Mr. Kamptner asked staff about the discussion of the Board of Supervisors on the 9th. The report says that the Board of Supervisors intends to add support for this type of use in the Rural Area chapter in the Comp Plan. He realized the resolution of intent was added to the Commission’s agenda and asked was the Board’s expectation that this should precede the Comp Plan. Ms. Echols replied no, and suggested that might be an earlier version of the staff report. Staff did a revision of the staff report. Mr. Kamptner asked about the last sentence in the discussion section above the conclusions. Ms. Echols read the Board requested further input from the Commission as it reviews the request. The Board of Supervisors was struggling over this in terms of their discussions because on the one hand they had already said no lodging, but on the other hand they were persuaded that there might be something unique about this. There were a lot of comments that night. She was not sure they pre supposed they are going to support this, but they seemed to be leaning in a direction to want to see if it might be possible. But, they did not say we are going to do this and they also said they have got to use our Planning Commission to give them guidance on the appropriateness and whether or not there is value in moving to the next step. Mr. Loach agreed with Mr. Dodson’s comment if it is a size and scale that can be used and depending on where it is that it may be a plausible item. In addition, Mr. Werner made the point that if they did it by right and had the size and scale they could do it by right as a rural subdivision. He thinks they are going to have to look at the technical aspects. Ms. Joseph brought up water and sewer. That is a fairly substantial impact that he was seeing. They would need to look at the feasibility to run the 40,000 square foot artist community with 30 artists and staff, etc. visits. He thinks in terms of education, even though it is no teaching or classes, that the fact that an artist is doing their own self exploration that to him is in fact a form of education. He can see that as an educational activity. Mr. Keller said he was inclined for further study because they have raised a lot of interesting issues. For instance, he thinks there is a counter point to Ms. Firehock on the lodging. One could conceive of this as long term. There might be different bodies, ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 14 but in effect they are residents as opposed to people who are coming and staying in a hotel for a short period of time. The idea is a continuity of residency apart. However, he still thinks it warrants exploration because as they are talking about Albemarle County as a really special place he think that having the location for artists who would come from all over the country and world to be a resident that they should be able to have a place for them. Then that comes to us as to how do we define that in such a way it continues to be that and nothing else Mr. Morris said in listening to all of the comments by the Commissioners and the multiple questions that have come up his question was this the best use of staff’s time. Ms. Echols replied that they have been obligated to process the application and the Commission needs to decide whether it is a priority for the county. Mr. Morris said if it was an application they could act upon the application. However, for further study he did not think this was the best use of staff’s time. That is his opinion. Mr. Loach agreed with Mr. Keller in support of further study. Mr. Lafferty said he thinks staff is between a rock and a hearth place. He thinks with all the questions that have come up in trying to figure out how to do this he would be inclined to further study it. Ms. Firehock said as an academic she liked to study things. So if the Commission wants to study it she would study it. However, she is still perplexed as to how to resolve some of the major things. Mr. Randolph said he felt they should continue to examine the situation. Mr. Dotson said as he listened to the members of the Commission there are sort of two ways they can go. The f irst he would call the yes if approach. That would be sort of an encouraging approach where they still have some things to look into, but they are quite intrigued with the possibilities. They might well go forward. But, that is not what he is hearing. The other characterization would be no unless , unless they can be really creative and kind of think outside the box, which they are not able to do. So he thinks they are at no unless, but maybe. However, when they have an application his personal position is they have an obligation to process it and he is for further study of it. Mr. Morris noted that Mr. Keller was for further study. Ms. Echols pointed out she did not believe the resolution of intent as provided is in keeping with Mr. Dotson’s recommendation because the very last statement says be it further resolved the Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing on the zoning text amendment proposed by this resolution and make its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors at the earliest possible date. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION –September 16, 2014 Draft PARTIAL MINUTES - Submit to PC 12-1-2014 Artist Community in RA – Work Session ROI 15 Mr. Kamptner pointed out that was standard language. Ms. Echols said she did not know if there was anything that could be done differently with the resolution of intent that better reflects what Mr. Dotson’s desire is, which would be a resolution of intent to study it. Mr. Kamptner noted what the resolution of intent really does is direct staff to study the issue and move forward with its recommendation. Ms. Firehock pointed out the Commission’s concerns have already been noted in the minutes. Therefore, she thinks they have to precede with a caution flag. Motion: Mr. Dotson moved and Mr. Lafferty seconded to adopt a resolution of intent for further study of ZTA-2014-00005 and to schedule a work session to determine the next steps. Mr. Morris invited further discussion. Ms. Firehock noted it would be helpful when they do get to this further stage to actually have some information from other localities as to how they actually zone these. Part of the difficulty in having this discussion is they have no current model in Albemarle nor does she know of one in the surrounding counties and they are trying to decide whether it is a viable thing that they can create. Therefore, that would be a key thing as to the research. She does not want to know so much what the other communities are like, but she wants to know how they zone for them. There being no further discussion, Mr. Morris asked for a roll call vote. The motion passed by a vote of (7:0) Mr. Morris noted the Planning Commission adopted the resolution of intent for further study and to schedule a work session to determine the next steps. The Planning Commission recessed at 8:03 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 8:15 p.m. (Recorded and transcribed by Sharon C. Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission & Planning Boards) Albemarle County Planning Commission December 2, 2014 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a public hearing on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Cal Morris, Chair; Karen Firehock, Richard Randolph, Thomas Loach, Bruce Dotson, Tim Keller, and Mac Lafferty, Vice Chair. Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was present. Other officials present were Bill Fritz, Chief of Special Projects; Amanda Burbage, Senior Planner; Claudette Grant, Senior Planner; Elaine Echols, Principal Planner; Sarah Baldwin, Senior Planner; Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. Call to Order and Establish Quorum: Mr. Morris, Chair, called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and established a quorum. From the Public: Matters Not Listed for Public Hearing on the Agenda. Mr. Morris invited comment from the public on other matters not listed on the agenda. There being none, the meeting moved to the next agenda item. Committee Reports Mr. Morris invited committee reports. Mr. Keller reported the Fiscal Impact Committee met. Mr. Randolph reported the following:  CIP Oversight Committee met on Monday and included in their discussion ways to potentially fund key planning studies for such things as the Rivanna River Corridor, Crozet Master Plan and recreational projects.  The Solid Waste Task Force urges everyone to fill out the questionnaire about solid waste on the county website that will be operational within two weeks. The results will be used in determining how to move forward with solid waste.  The Historic Preservation Committee continues to move forward on preparation of on-line information to be available for people who are interested in ensuring that their historic home will be preserved. Ms. Firehock reported the National Heritage Committee and Water Resources met. Mr. Lafferty reported the MPO Policy Board will meet on December 17th. Mr. Morris reported the Free Bridge Congestion Relief Project Committee met and finalized four possible solutions to address congestion in that area. Mr. Randolph also reported he attended the first town hall meeting of both Supervisors Dittmar and Palmer last night. There being no further committee reports, the meeting moved to the next item. Consent Agenda: Approval of Minutes: November 18, 2014 ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 2 Mr. Morris asked if any Commissioner would like to pull an item from the consent agenda for further review. Motion: Mr. Randolph moved and Mr. Lafferty seconded for approval of the consent agenda. The motion carried by a vote of (7:0). Mr. Morris noted the consent agenda was approved. Review of Board of Supervisors Meeting – November 11, 2014 and November 12, 2014. Mr. Cilimberg reviewed the actions taken on November 11, 2014 and November 12, 2014. Ms. Firehock asked when the schedule for 2015 will be available. Mr. Cilimberg replied that a draft schedule has been completed that he would email to the Commission and provide at the next meeting. Work Sessions: ZTA-2014-00005 Artists Communities/Residencies Add a section on Artists Communities/Residencies to the Comprehensive Plan to allow for a Zoning Text Amendment providing Artists Communities/Residencies by special use permit. (Mandy Burbage/Elaine Echols) Purpose of Work Session: The purpose of this work session is to establish whether or no t the Planning Commission considers an artists residency as a use aligned with the County’s Comprehensive Plan goals and, if not, whether there are circumstances under which the use could be supportive of the goals for the Rural Area. Staff Presentation: Elaine Echols and Amanda Burbage presented information on the Comprehensive Plan aspects of the proposed zoning text amendment request from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts for an artist community in the Rural Area. Ms. Echols noted the Board of Supervisors had asked for a recommendation for the Comprehensive Plan update in relation to this use. Therefore, she was working at a little higher level on the Comprehensive Plan aspects of this. Staff will get more into the ZTA aspects of the proposal if the Planning Commission decides they need to be pursuing that. Ms. Burbage is here to answer questions since they worked on this together. Content and Background  Early 2012: Staff worked with the applicant who made the application for the zoning text amendment on whether or not what he was proposing was allowed by the zoning ordinance. Basically, it was an artist community or artist residency. She would explain later why they wanted to use that term as was noted in the staff report. Staff determined the use was not allowed. However, because of the nuances of the different activities that this particular use would involve the application made the ZTA application.  June 2014: ZTA application  Sept. 9, 2014: BOS Review since the use is not addressed in the current or proposed Comprehensive Plan, but is unique. Staff wanted to see how the Board wanted to deal with that in relation to the Comprehensive Plan. The BOS sent it to the Planning Commission (PC) to study.  Sept. 16, 2014: Planning Commission (PC) asked to study the proposal since they could not guarantee a recommendation for approval. The PC was not convinced this is the right use for the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 3 rural area, but they want to study it and see if there is something to it that warrants allowing for this in the rural area. Staff started looking way back at a higher level of some the issues that relate to who and what is an artist so they could get down to the details of the essence of what is being proposed. Looking at different sites and dictionary descriptions they came up with descriptors of who is an artist. Part of this is to distinguish it from anybody who wanted to go out and do anything collectively in the rural area. Who is an Artist?  A person who, by virtue of imagination and talent or skill, cre ates objects or works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts and whose work requires a studio.  Examples include but are not limited to painting, sculpting, writing, and composing.  Professional or hobby  Peer review or juried works, which is the level at which this particular use is being reviewed. Artist Community/Residency  Use that allows artists to create art in a place that offers room, board, and a workspace for individual endeavors  Professionally run organizations, often non-profits. They have a Board of Directors and a lot of standards that are placed upon them. Mr. Kamptner provided information to staff just before the meeting showing that just because something is a non-profit does not mean it is tax exempt. Therefore, staff would want to look into that a little bit more.  Usually involves financial support for the artist. Staff finds that most of these organizations have sponsors and receive gifts in order to support the artists who are creating works. The website for the Alliance of Artist Communities describes a lot of what these places are and what they do. It talks about the creativity that takes place. It may be called a community, colony, retreat or a studio collective or residency. The use can take place in urban or rural a reas since there is not one size that fits all. Staff wanted to look at this at a high level to see how this fit into the County’s vision for the Rural Area. In keeping with the Vision these are the uses or activities expected for the Rural Area:  Farms, forests and an agricultural and forestall economy  Interconnected areas of viable habitat for native wildlife  Healthy streams  Protected historic structures  Traditional crossroads communities  Lively rural industries  Tourist economy Those are pretty much the same in the existing and proposed Comprehensive Plan. In looking at all of those the main thing that jumped out was this kind of use could have an aspect of historic preservation that helped keep the vision of the Rural Area active. Staff went through the goals of economic development and looked to see whether or not this use was in keeping with these particular goals. As stated in the staff report, they don’t at every level because they really are not about tourism or sales of art. In Keeping with Goals for Economic Development:  Promote agriculture, forestry, and agribusiness enterprises in the Rural Area  Promote tourism that helps preserve scenic, historic, and natural resources.  Promote vibrancy of heritage tourism, entertainment, Agritourism, local food, and art.  Provide support for jobs in the arts, design, sports and media (Arts and entertainment are complimentary target industries that they want to support in this community.) As stated in the report staff thinks there could be some value in helping to preserve historical resources. There are a lot of historic resources in the County’s Rural Areas and the goals are to protect and reuse ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 4 them. There is also the cultural plan that was prepared last year. Albemarle County contributed mon ey towards the development of this plan and then endorsed the plan when it was presented to the Board of Supervisors. It talks about the importance of supporting artists in a community. One of the strategies in there for business development was to help create a place for artists to thrive. Staff thinks that in terms of the goals that are in the Comprehensive Plan the historic resources is the primary one. There is support in the cultural plan, which is not a plan that has been adopted by the County and not one the Commission has seen. However, it is a community based plan. In Keeping with Goals for Historic, Cultural, and Scenic Resources  Pursue additional protection of historic resources  Promote re-use of historic buildings and sites  Charlottesville-Albemarle Cultural Plan - strategy for business development: create a place for artists to thrive (artist residency) In terms of where they are with this, staff found the use might be viewed as being in Conformity with the Comprehensive Plan (current and draft plan), if it could result in the following:  Adaptive reuse of a historic building  Reflect a complementary size and scale that is appropriate to its setting  Be compatible with nearby agricultural/forestry uses  No adverse impact on roads/traffic  Generate little demand for emergency services  Operate without need for public water/sewer  Allow conversion back to its former use OR to a by-right use in the district These were the aspects, other than the adaptive reuse of a historic building, that were imp ortant to the Commission when they were talking about alternative uses in the Rural Area. These were the standards the Commission had set and that exist in the existing and proposed Comprehensive Plan, and to date the Board of Supervisors has been in support of. Staff was trying to parse this down into something that helped to retain the integrity of the plan. So staff has added for the criteria that talks about reversion that the use could be converted and that a new use could revert back to the buildings for which an original use was proposed. Staff’s concern with reversibility on this is that if someone built something that is new in the Rural Area that is not in an historic structure and it has characteristics of a use that they would not want to have as either a by-right use or even as a special use, then that could be problematic in the future. Something the Commission raised in their last discussion was how do they retain the integrity of the Rural Area and not allow new uses and buildings that could result in something they don’t want such as a resort, retreat center or lodging. Recommendations on how this use could be in conformity with the Comprehensive Plan:  Use may be appropriate for a historic structure  Building additions should allow the building to revert to its former use  Construction of new buildings should be allowed if the future use of the building could be a by - right use Next Steps:  Planning Commission Discussion and Conclusions  If Planning Commission agrees with staff – staff will develop parameters for development of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) recommendation to provide a few statements in the Comprehensive Plan that would then provide the guidance for a ZTA  Planning Commission can forward those parameters to the Board of Supervisors for recommendation for the Comprehensive Plan  Planning Commission can continue with development of ZTA Ms. Echols pointed out the applicant is present. She encouraged the Planning Commission to ask questions of the applicant. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 5 Mr. Morris invited questions for staff. Mr. Keller complimented staff on the report. He said bringing in the historic issue in the rural area was an interesting way to open discussion in a positive perspective. Ms. Firehock noted last time the Commission talked about the notion that the artist community use does not have to be in rural area. She did not totally agree with the conclusion because part of the reason they want to be in the rural area was they were inspired by nature. She wants to follow what the comprehensive plan says, but had some sympathy of having a retreat in the rural area. They could address the traffic and noise later. Mr. Loach asked if there was any economic data available since the staff report it says several jobs would be created. Ms. Echols replied that she was not sure this is really an economic development endeavor. It is not a library or school, but the cultural aspects are similar to what a school or library would provide in the sense that it is creating something that is good for society. Small numbers of people would have jobs. There would certainly be the sourcing of the food or any other supplies that the artists might use. Mr. Loach asked about the availability of historic structures. Ms. Echols replied that she did no t know that they have any information on historic structures that are for sale or available for these kinds of things. She knows the applicant has a particular historic structure in mind that is not in a crossroads community. There are a number of historic structures that have the potential to not be maintained because they don’t have viable use. Mr. Lafferty said he was glad that staff defined what an artist was because it could be a dance studio. That was not an object that they are producing. In the report it is mentioned the applicant wanted around 20 acres and he questioned how likely they are to find that in a crossroads community. Since they are probably a non-profit what is the tax implication they would be losing for the county. He realize d it depends on location, but some rough idea. Ms. Echols replied that it depends on a lot of things. Property taxes are what somebody would be paying if they were not tax exempt. However, they might have a large piece of land that then gives them some land use taxation benefits. So she does not really know the answer and kind of hard to say. Mr. Randolph said as a follow up in terms of procedure he was assuming that staff would contact Ms. Maliszewski and this will go through the Historic Preservation Committee as well so they can provide input on it. Ms. Echols replied staff was just waiting for the Planning Commission comments and part of what staff would plan to do. Ms. Monteith pointed out that they need to consider that historic resources are going to be very randomly location. Mr. Morris opened for applicant and public comment. He invited the applicant to address the Planning Commission. Mr. Greg Smith, County resident and homeowner, said he was present in the capacity of Executive Director of the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) which is currently located in Amherst County on property owned by Sweet Briar. He thinks they do not pay property taxes on that. They have been operating at that location since the late 1970’s after bein g established in Albemarle County in two locations just for 2 to 3 years at a time. He thanked staff and the Commission for their previous work. Obviously, this is a very complicated question not just in terms of this particular use in the comprehensive plan, but in the essence of what is an artist community and how does it fit in. They have already made some comments about what it is not. It is a little bit like a school, restaurant, hotel, B&B and a lot of things. Like the blind man and the elephant h e does not think that it sums it up. He is here to represent the elephant and hope that it fits into the picture in the landscape here. Mr. Smith commented on the question about the use being in the rural area as opposed to the crossroads or development areas. He pointed out the organization has in all of its history been located in the rural ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 6 area. They are on property that is zoned agriculture. It was a dairy farm and looks like a dairy farm. Until the cows and the horses recently moved so that Sweet Briar could do a deal for growing bio mass switch grass it felt like a dairy farm, except for the core area where their buildings are located. They lease 12 acres of a 422 acre historic farm. What is compelling is what our artists tell us. The opportunity to get away, which Ms. Firehock was saying, is really at the essence of it. When they did a survey in the last calendar year of their artists they said it was overwhelming the sense of isolation, remoteness, contemplation and to get away from noise. They have a sign leaving the property that says returning to the real world that was done by one of the artists many years ago. The artists want to get away to be able to concentrate very strongly on the work. Why that is important is that the artists tell us they get 5 or 6 the amount of work done when they are in residence at our place than when they are at home when they have jobs, families and the necessity to buy food, cook food and clean up afterwards. All they have to do with us over the issue of food is to eat it and have a conversation with like minded people at the same time. So that is of critical importance to way they function. Mr. Smith said he understands and agrees with the county staff that not all artist communities are in rural areas. However, our artist community follows the traditional model that goes back to MacDowell and Yaddo in the early part of the 20th century, which were very much in rural areas to provide that kind of retreat. In the last 25 years artist communities around the country have been established that are much more urban or tied in to a neighborhood community, a city community or a college or university community. They don’t follow that model so the ZTA that they have prepared, which is in our own best interests, reflects our history and desires. Mr. Smith noted secondarily related to the comprehensive plan because he understands that is the broader context they are working within. Actually one of the things that make the protection of the rural area important to us is over the issue of historic preservation. Right now they are in a kind of a half and half situation. They have adapted a 1930 barn to be the studio barn. All of the studios except for two are located there and the other is in a former garage that also dates back to that time. However, the mansion that was on the property that was historic unfortunately burned down when renovations were being done . It was replaced by a contemporary structure that is basically a very utilitarian structure for bedrooms, bathrooms, dining facilities and other communal spaces. To limit it to buildings or properties that have the potential for the adaptive use of historic properties would essentially eliminate a great number of possibilities for our relocation to Albemarle County. Although the location they are primarily entertaining right now does have an historic house, it would need to be complimented with new construction for studios. They don’t find studio type spaces in 19th or early 20th century structures. People did not build houses like that. However, barns are very good for adaptive reuse and that is reflected in our history. They are very much interested in the aspect of the VCCA relocation to the county that would fall into place along with historic structure conservation and protection. They are looking to protect the larger tract parcel rather than seeing it developed into by right residential. Therefore, that factor could have been a stronger argument in their documentation to the Planning Commission. He is mostly here to answer any questions and provide information. Mr. Morris invited questions for Mr. Smith. Mr. Dotson asked what he meant when he said he was interested in protecting and preserving farm s land. Mr. Smith replied that a good example is for the past 35 years they have only leased 12 acres. However, those 12 acres have essentially been preserved as a one tract large parcel of 422 acres with cattle and horses around it. He alluded to the fact that Sweet Briar has changed its deal with the farmer and the cows and horses are gone. Our artists are dismayed by that. Some of the artists are New Yorkers who have never seen a horse or cow up close. They are in a rural environment they find incredibly valuable to their creative juices and effort in time. They are not interested in moving to a location that is going to be chopped up. They have been talking about the opportunity to give up developmental rights because our goal is to protect the whole of the property as a buffer from the outside world for these artists. Mr. Dotson said what he is not quite clear because on the one hand they could protect rural land indirectly ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 7 by providing an income to a farmer who then is able to keep his farm, but there is no conservation easement or any other type of formal protection on it. But, it sounded like they were envisioning that there would be a formal protection mechanism for a conservation easement. Mr. Smith replied that in discussions with staff they have not talked about conservation easements specifically. However, they have talked about the question of a large tract which owners have by right opportunity to build on it. They are interested in doing that other than building for the purposes that he has explained and the kind of numbers that he has included in the ZTA. What they have talked about more has been an agreement to give up developmental rights. However, a conservation easement might be another way to do it, too. He pointed out no one has raised that before tonight. Mr. Randolph noted in the document submitted on June 12, 2014 on the ZTA he had put down a required density limitation that this use shall require a parcel of a minimum of 20 acres. He asked if he would have difficulty if they recommended a minimum of 21 acres. They hav e discussed economic development in the rural area and agric business and tried to set a standard of 21 acres. He asked if one acre would make a difference. Mr. Smith replied that one acre would not make a difference. In fact, it was just a starting poi nt in the discussion since he knew that one of the issues would be what the minimum size is for this kind of use. He thinks actually he had seen a reference to 21 acres and when he wrote it up he miswrote it. Mr. Lafferty asked if he any problem with the reversion that the county has mentioned several times that if they vacate the land it going back to the previous use or a use that does not disturb the rural nature. Mr. Smith replied obviously if the VCCA gave up its property it would be because it has gone out of business. He would think probably they would not be caring too much about the future that way. However, he understands the issue of reversibility. It has come up both in the terms of what happens to the property as a whole and also what happens to any buildings that are constructed or adapted. He thinks that is a valid question. Frankly, he thinks that the kinds of values that the staff has indicated to us in this discussion are very much parallel to the values that they have. He has tried to describe that a little bit. They are preservationists. This is all very much in sync. The question is what the particulars are beyond the bigger picture discussions they are having right now. He did not see any problem with the reversibility issue. He has often thought if they were constructing a building now unlike what was done in the late 70’s with our residences hall it would fit into the landscape better if it were designed to look like a barn. There is now wonderful timber structure architecture that really goes well with that. Mr. Lafferty noted he brought up the concept of a central place where people feed and then 20 or 30 little studios around it, which would not lend itself to future use. Mr. Smith pointed out there were different models that way. MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire has studios that are spread around throughout it acreage. In our situation because there was a barn and mansion they went to the kind of 2 structure approach. One of the things in surveying artists is the wa lk between their bedroom and the food service to their studio is an important mental transition. It is like making the commute to work. They kind of clear their head and figure out what they are going to do with the next 8 to 12 hours he is going to put in at the studio. They spend more time in the studio than in the residence. They have gone to this model of 2 buildings and yet different properties that might be potentially for us in the future might have different characteristics that drive things towa rds different solutions. Ms. Monteith said she was trying to piece together the12 acres that he has now; the fact that he was in a 1930 studio barn in a garage, and then what was submitted in June which was essentially a range of 20,000 to 40,000 square feet. She said it seems that there are some gaps there because most barns not that large. She was trying to understand the difference between that. She knows the Commission reacted to that 20,000 to 40,000 square foot number at the June meeting because 40,000 square feet is not far off from an acre under roof. She was trying to understand what he has now and the fact that it is in a barn(s) and what has been proposed for an assemblance of square footage that seems quite large. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 8 Mr. Smith explained they currently have 4 structures. The barn and resident’s hall are each close to about 15,000 square feet. The residents’ hall is on 2 stories and the barn is a 1 story structure. The other 2 buildings are the former garage now called the cottage and it has 2 li ve/work spaces for the artist. The other is a maintenance shed. Currently they have about 33,000 or 34,000 square feet in 4 buildings. In the request he put something towards the upper side not knowing about where this discussion was going to go. If a building came up that had 20,000 of barn space, then that might change it and not make possible if he just put 33,000 square feet. Some of that just as the acreage question he thinks at least with his discussion with staff is still one of the sets of particulars that are open to continued discussion and negotiation. He hopes that clarified the question. Mr. Morris invited public comment. There being none, the public hearing was closed and the matter before the Planning Commission for discussion and rec ommendation. He asked if there was any discussion. Mr. Keller agreed they should follow the steps outlined by the staff. He believed strongly that the issue of new construction is really at the core of this. He thinks staff’s recommendation to think ab out adaptive reuse and the issues of reversibility fit very well with the rural areas. He thinks that the amount of square footage is extreme. He also thinks there is an issue here in terms of this reversibility about the fiscal health of an institution such as this. He would like a little background piece on the history of artist communities like this and whether they are continuing to be ongoing or whether there are a number that fail. From his experience as a consultant in working with a number of art ist communities around the country, not one like this particular one, but this is just allowing us to have the possibility of having more. He knows they can’t really explore that just like they can’t explore who is going to purchase a property. However, it would be good for us to understand what that track record is up there. Again, that goes back to the issue of if it is going to stop being the use then how is this parcel going to be used and what kinds of changes are going to be called for after that. Mr. Dotson said he is very torn by this. He thinks it would be a very positive addition to the community. He thinks there would be indirect economic benefits even if not direct ones. It would help boaster the local arts community. He thinks it would be a very positive thing and he would like to see it in our greater community. However, on the other hand he did not see it in the rural area. He felt it was not sufficient to say that some piece of the structure would be historic. Perhaps it would be a b arn. The new construction he worried about. It brought to mind that as you drive into Fredericksburg through Spotsylvania County on Route 3 that runs east/west and you look off to the left there is a national chain hotel that took and did a very nice adaptive reuse on a barn. It gets your attention sitting right in the middle of the suburban strip malls and so forth. If they had these structures and this artist community was to leave he thinks they would be under great pressure to convert them and render them useable for other uses possibly a chain motel. His question really is if not here meaning the rural area, then where? He understands the applicant is principally interested in the rural area. However, the staff pointed out tonight that 60% of these are in rural areas or small towns. Forty percent are in urban areas. He is guessing that greater Charlottesville would fall into urban area. But, to somebody from New York it might seem like a small town. Mr. Dotson said he was puzzled by this and so he went to the same site that Ms. Echols had shown some slides from. He found a couple of things. From the Alliance of Artists Communities in advising artists about choosing the right residency for you one of the things they say is you can find. On e of the things they say are they can find isolated bucolic retreats in the middle of a city or vibrant activity in a rural area. The community within the residency is as important as the external community. So if they want it here he is not convinced that it has to be in the rural area. Going on a little further it says geography alone does not dictate how much connection there is to the community. Instead consider how many other artists will be in residence in this community and what other programs a nd organizations the community has for workshops, exhibits, performances, etc. This got his attention in how much access there is to transportation and other means for interacting with others outside the residency. Yes, this is a place of retreat, but it sounds like it is also a place of action, and in fact the benefits to the community would come from that interaction. A rural area location does not have the transportation to get people about. The ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 9 proposal the applicant made as a conversation starter h e thinks he was talking about one-half a car for each artist. That strikes him as low particularly when he read that some of these allow families to join the artists. What it makes him say is that he wants to be supportive of this use in our community, co uldn’t our economic development staff work with the applicant and seek other perhaps more appropriate locations. Unlike Mr. Keller he is not convinced that involving an historic building is sufficient to go forward. He thinks it is kind of intriguing to think about cross roads communities because that might be a small town kind of setting. But, he sees that as a longer term thing. If the applicant is looking for something shorter term if he has to get out of his existing facility perhaps, he would say look for a different location that is not in the rural area. That is where he stands on this. Ms. Firehock noted she was trying to think about places that might look kind of like an artist community. She was thinking about some of the camps that are do wn along the James River Road that are setback off the road that have dormitories. She was also thinking about other sort of retreats like religious retreats she has seen where the buildings are very ugly that she can see from the road. She asked if there was any guidance they could provide in terms of setback or screening so if an artist community would come into a rural area it would not disturb the rural character too much. She was thinking whether it was possible to specify not just the rural area, which is 95 percent of the county, but to say something like within close proximity to some of our smaller more developed areas like outside of Crozet or Scottsville. Then the artist could add to the local economy. She suggested breaking the rural area up into distinct districts and really think about the character and the unique conditions of each. She was sure there were places in Albemarle County where this use would be really inappropriate and in other places where it might not be a problem at all. She was wondering if there was additional guidance they can provide and if they were to put this in the comprehensive plan as an appropriate use some additional guidance such as close to infrastructure development. She would like to see it close to some existing infrastructure, and hoped staff could reflect on that. Mr. Randolph said there were many areas in the county, such as Earlysville, that would really lend themselves to this kind of community being contiguous to services that artists would enjoy and will be become part of their experience in being in Albemarle County. He thinks proximity to the corner community is something worth thinking about and also minimizing the 21 acres and above the size of the lot they are going to have. Mr. Loach said he would give more latitude. In some respects he sees the precedent already been set in what they did with Monticello at Mt. Alto for the scholars to live there. He thinks the latitude he would get is the reuse of the historic building, but with additional structures as needed to complete the compound. Hopefully, they would be in some sort of conformity architecturally, etc. with the historic structure. He thinks it is important for the community to have a strong art space. They have an excellent track rec ord and this is not a fly by night operation. Therefore, he was not concerned about the operation. Mr. Lafferty agreed with Mr. Loach. The Charlottesville/Albemarle region is very supportive of the arts. The community would certainly be very supportive as he would, too. Ms. Monteith added if it was going to be a reuse of an historic structure with some kind of addition that there is an appropriate proportion. In other words, there not be one quarter historic structure and three- quarters new construction. Ms. Firehock asked to follow up on what Mr. Loach was just saying. She really likes the idea of reuse of historic structures as a way to help preserve some of these buildings. There is a large estate for sale near her property that has not sold because no one wants to live in a mansion like that. But, it would be appropriate for something like this. However, she wants to be careful that they not over design the studio space for the artists in terms of saying that the additional buildings would n eed to somehow reflect the architectural of whatever this historic structure was. She was thinking more like Frank Lloyd Wright and if they want to use native materials and build something in keeping with the landscape and blend it in better so that they are less noticeable. She was more concerned with the screening and blending rather than if they make an attempt to mimic something historic that is already there. However, she really loves that adaptive reuse focus. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 10 Mr. Morris said the first time he saw this he was not happy with it at all because the comprehensive plan discourages the building of residential structures in the rural area. He thinks with the historic structures they have really hit on an excellent way of combining the two. In listenin g to Mr. Smith he has heard him comment on new buildings are in the form of barns. With the materials available now it can really tie in with what Ms. Firehock was saying. He was in favor of this at this particular time, but to be tied in with the historic structure whenever possible. Ms. Echols said she was with him until he got to the whenever possible. From listening to the Commission they are not in agreement. There are some pieces of this that she felt were very important to either get a consensus or vote on so they know how to proceed. She heard from Mr. Keller, Mr. Randolph and Ms. Firehock that there needs to be historic preservation involved and that is necessary. Mr. Morris noted she could add him and Mr. Lafferty. Ms. Echols said that there were at least five Commissioners that believe that this needs to be an aspect of historic preservation kind of like the restaurants were in historic structures. The aspect of new construction and how that relates to any future use of the property sh ould something change she thinks is where it starts to become a little unclear. They may be able to start with for most Commissioners they are okay with this use if it is in an historic structure. The next step needs to be okay. If there is new construction what are the perimeters that they would want to set around new construction. Does it need to be, as they said here, the new construction should allow either reversion back to the former use if it is like a building addition or if it is a new building it ought to be for a by-right use. Whether or not the Commission is on board with those last two bullets she thinks will give staff some better direction on what to bring next. Ms. Firehock said she was trying to think quickly of what type of use it coul d revert to. The two things that come to mind are youth camps, religious retreats or those types of places which are already allowed by special use permit in the rural area. That is a cabin that a camper or an artist might stay in or someone on a retreat would be very different from somebody who wants to stay in a motel in the rural area. Mr. Loach agreed with Ms. Firehock. Ms. Monteith said she thought they all thought it was important to have the reversibility. However, staff may be speaking to things that are not clear to her. Ms. Echols replied yes, but the reversibility may be part of a building addition. For example, if they have an historic structure and they want to put on a major addition that has a dorm aspect to it. If it is more like a dorm space that really restricts future use to it. If it is more like additional bedrooms that then allows the future use to be used potentially residentially. So it is a nuance, but it is an aspect of reversibility. Ms. Firehock noted as a follow up s he was thinking more along the lines of a dorm use that then lends itself more to uses that are allowed like camps and religious retreats versus something that would turn into studio apartments. She thinks staff could write that. Ms. Echols suggested staff could take what they have given or at least the very definitive things and then bring back possibly some options about the things where it is a little bit gray still and get the Commission to put some lines down there and then they will know where to go next on it. She thinks what she has gotten from the Commission is historic structure, reversibility or another use that is allowed in the district and the question is by right or by special use permit. That is another aspect of it. She asked if she missed anything. Mr. Morris replied the only thing he would suggest is that staff not forget reversal into agric-forest and that is a barn. Ms. Monteith added the other thing is whether or not it needs to be rural area, which was something that ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 11 there was quite a bit of discussion about. In other words, it was as Mr. Dotson pointed out that what may feel urban here may feel rural in New York City. Therefore, does it need to be specifically rural area or could it be in kind of an in between zone. Also, Ms. Firehock talked about the fact that if you looked at different areas that are considered to be rural area some might be appropriate and some may not. So she did not know how to get at that. But, she heard most of the Commissioners comment on that to a certain degree. Mr. Loach noted it seemed that to a large extent that would be up to the applicant where he chooses to place his residence. He thinks in some respects it might be even easier since they have given the applicant as much information as they think they have available now to see his reflection on what kind of concepts he comes back with that they can react to with more specificity. In other words, does it meet that threshold of reversibility and does it meet a threshold of reuse in looking at it. Ms. Echols noted that almost gets to the site specific pieces of his particular proposal. She thinks they are not quite there yet and have a couple more steps. However, the point of access location in relation to the places people might want to go trying to reduce the amount of traffic that would be on the rural roads. She thinks that is sort of what the Commission was getting at potentially. However, staff has enough to bring it to the Commission next and let them parse those lines. Then staff will have enough to help the Commission put together what they need to send to the Board of Supervisors before they go onto the next step with the zoning text amendment. She asked if that sounds good to the Commission. Mr. Dotson asked the Commissioners if the minimum property size of 21 acres, which was thrown out for discussion, is the right size. The applicant indicated a desire, though the mechanism was not clear, to use this as a vehicle to protect a larger acreage. Is that something they would like the staff to be thinking about or discuss it with the applicant as well. Mr. Loach asked if that would be in proportion with the number of artists he has in residence. That is to say he might find a historic residence that fit all of his artist needs within the concept of the mansion that he purchased versus what he wants as far as their ability to roam around to look for creativity or whatever the reason would be. They can’t answer that unless they know how many people they are talking about. That size would be proportional to the number of artists and residents in his mind. Maybe to say if it exceeds a certain number for a certain size and scale of residents, then it would have to have “N” number of acres associated with it. He did not know that. Ms. Echols noted that was getting a little bit more towards the zoning text amendment. However, she thinks the idea is that they are looking towards things that can accomplish other goals of the rural area, which is preservation of natural resources and larger tracts of land. Staff will develop parameters for development of a CPA recommendation and draft ordinance language to bring back to Planning Commission to review prior to forwarding recommendation to BOS. Mr. Morris thanked staff for the presentation. In summary, the Planning Commission held a discussion to provide guidance and recommendations on how the proposed use is in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan and how to move to the next steps to process the zoning text amendment regarding the following issues. - Historic issue in the rural areas - Generally thought it could be considered in context of cross road communities – use is similar - Location in cross road communities could provide economic benefit - Want to follow what Comprehensive Plan says, but have some sympathy of having retreat in rural areas. Address traffic and noise later. - Economic impact of residences on communities where it presides. See giving more latitude if economic impact so there is a pay back to the county as far as what they b ring in. Latitude versus establishing new residences versus using historic structure - Any economic data available? - Concern about number of structures available that could use. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION – DECEMBER 2, 2014 PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – ZTA-2014-5 Artists Communities/Residencies Submitted to PC 1-26-2015 12 - Non profit – tax implications - Request to Design Planner that this will go through Historic Committee for consideration of future impact - Consider historic resources are randomly located. - Brining in historic issue in rural area interesting way to open discussion in positive perspective - Value of allowing use - Is applicant interested in protecting and preserving farm land? Is there a formal protection easement? - Is there a minimum size/acreage for the use? Would applicant consider 21 acres? - Is there any problem with reversion back to previous use or a use that does not disturb rural nat ure? - New construction at core of this. Think about adaptive reuse and reversibility and if fits well in rural area. Amount of square footage proposed in barn is extreme (20,000 to 40,000 square feet). Also issue in terms of reversibly. The Planning Commission recessed at 7:19 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 7:26 (Recorded and transcribed by Sharon C. Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission & Planning Boards) ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 1 Albemarle County Planning Commission January 27, 2015 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a public hearing on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Cal Morris, Chair; Karen Firehock, Richard Randolph, Thomas Loach, Bruce Dotson, Tim Keller, and Mac Lafferty, Vice Chair. Julia Monteith, AICP, Senior Land Use Planner for the University of Virginia was present. Other officials present were Bill Fritz, Manager of Special Projects; Chris Perez, Senior Planner; Amanda Burbage, Senior Planner; Elaine Echols, Principal Planner; Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission and Greg Kamptner, Deputy County Attorney. Call to Order and Establish Quorum: Mr. Morris, Chair, called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and established a quorum. Work Sessions: ZTA-2014-00005 Artists Communities/Residencies Add a section on Artists Communities/Residencies to the Comprehensive Plan to allow for a Zoning Text Amendment providing Artists Communities/Residencies by special use permit. (Mandy Burbage/Elaine Echols) Elaine Echols presented a PowerPoint presentation regarding the Comprehensive Plan aspects of the proposed zoning text amendment request from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts for an artist community in the Rural Area. The Planning Commission has discussed this issue three times. Hopefully, they can find a conclusion tonight so that the Comprehensive Plan recommendations can go to the Board of Supervisors at their meeting next week or in March. Context and Background  June, 2014: Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) application  September 16, 2014 – Planning Commission studied the Concept for Comprehensive Plan recommendation  December 2, 2014 – The Planning Commission looked at whether or how the use might be appropriate. The Planning Commission said the use may be appropriate in historic structures to achieve other goals of the rural area  January 27, 2015 – Tonight staff are hoping the Planning Commission will have language to recommend to the Board of Supervisors. Depending on what the Board does a zoning text amendment (ZTA) may come out of that. Planning Commission Conclusions from December 2, 2014  Artist residency could provide adaptive reuse of historic building.  Alterations and additions are okay. However, the important part is if the historic and architectural integrity of both the site and the existing buildings can be maintained.  The Planning Commission spent a lot of time talking about the importance of proportionality of complementary size and scale.  Location: The Planning Commission suggested that this use might be most appropriate near a crossroads community or a specific development area or town. But, a place where the people who are in the artist residency might be able to seek goods and services conveniently.  They also talked about the need for it to be convertible to the former use of the property OR to a by-right use in the district. However, the Planning Commission did not really settle that. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 2  Staff’s last question is or does it need to be convertible to a by-right use. Staff provided a staff report that had a series of questions and answers that she would review quickly. The first question was how you define an artist residency. Artist Residency:  It is a place where individuals are provided time and space to create art within a unique geographic and cultural context.  It is a place where people get meals and lodging and private studio space are provided on-site to support uninterrupted creative work lasting from a few weeks to a few months. Staff thought it would be helpful to see how the current VCCA Facility in Amherst, Virginia lays out on the land because something like this could be what might occur here under a special use permit application. However, it would depend on a particular site. There are several different kinds of buildings that are being used in Amherst. The applicant for the zoning text amendment, Greg Smith, is present and can answer a lot more questions about how an artist residency works. In this particular case there are several different buildings with several different uses including the living space, studio space, office s and communal space. Current VCCA Facility in Amherst, VA Living space for 25 artists - 8,000 sf Resident artist apartment - 750 sf Private studio space - 9,000 sf Communal space (kitchen, dining, meeting, etc.) - 7,000 sf VCCA offices - 2,740 sf Maintenance & storage - 1,200 sf TOTAL 28,690 sf Staff has analyzed this request for the development of a CPA that would then provide guidance for a future ZTA, and eventually would allow for someone to request a special use permit for this kind of use. Staff Analysis  Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) development  Guidance for future Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA)  Eventually allow for special use permit (SP) One of the questions the Commission was struggling with is how much additional construction should be allowed? There is going to need to be building space for several different uses. How much additional construction should be allowed?  Residence Hall - New building for 25 – 30 residents – potentially  New building for studio space for 25 – 30 artists  Dining hall  Offices  The ZTA application indicates a need for up to 40,000 square feet in several buildings.  To answer the question how much additional construction would be needed is really a s ite specific question. They would need to know what is on a particular site; how many outbuildings there are; and how big the historic structure was in order to know what additional work would need to be done. Should reversibility/convertibility of any of the buildings be limited to by-right uses?  This could limit the size of an artist residency. The applicant for the ZTA is asking for 25 to 30 rooms. If there are no historic buildings with that many rooms a residence hall would be needed. So it might be that our historic buildings could support fewer people in artist residency, which may not suit the particular applicant. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 3  If reversion is needed for a by-right use it really c ould preclude the building of a residence hall or studio space. There are a number of different uses to be considered here. Potential RA Reversion Uses By right  Single family residential  Agriculture  Bed & breakfast  Farm winery  Farm brewery  Class A farm worker housing (up to 10 occupants & 2 sleeping structures) Special use permit  Community center  Club or lodge  Private school  Day care center  Group home  Day camp/ boarding camp  Convent or monastery  Agricultural museum  Class B farm worker housing (more than 10 occupants or more than 2 sleeping structures) The other uses shown in bold could use a similar kind of facility because of the individual bedrooms and bathrooms. The private school would be a boarding school. The other uses shown in bold under special use permit are for more than ten occupants. Should construction of a residence hall for 25 – 30 artists be allowable?  The applicant believes this is essential to his particular proposal.  If that is the case and something the Commission is in support of staff thinks they would have to say that this particular use would have to be convertible to a by-right use or a special use permit. The convertibility would have to be extended to special uses.  Would the County ever expect more than one entity? It is important to note that there really are not very many of these out there. The county probably would not get but one request for this.  The other question would be how much pressure it will put on the county to approve lodging and retreat centers. Those are things staff gets asked about regularly. Those are also things that potential applicants talk to Board members about. To date the Board of Supervisors has been very clear about what their expectations is for retreat centers and lodging. They have said it is not appropriate at a size that is larger than a Bread and Breakfast. Should construction of a studio space for 25 – 30 artists be allowable?  It may be a different issue for convertibility, depending on the configuration of studio space.  Single floor? Multiple floors? The applicant has provided some images that show how a building could be constructed that has a rural look and appearance. A building like this might be able to be created as a residential building, a studio space or may be even just a barn. How can the County ensure that new construction is appropriate?  Everything is going to be site specific.  The County has a Design Planner and Historic Preservation Committee. There are professionals with expertise who can provide guidance to applicants as well as to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors on what kind of changes might be appropriate. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 4  Those kinds of things would come through a special use permit review with recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.  Going back to the original comment everything is going to be site specific. What level of change? Is the size and scale appropriate? Is there going to be any kind of a change to the architectural or historical integrity? The county has the professionals that can provide that kind of guidance. Should additional resource conservation and/or diminished development rights b e an expectation?  The county cannot require extinguishing of development rights.  There could be a condition of a special use permit approval if offered by an applicant.  Staff looks at the things that are important to the Rural Areas such as r esource conservation and not having additional residential development. It is an expectation for special use permits in the Rural Areas. When someone makes a request for any kind of use one of the things staff looks for is input from the Agricultural/Forestal Committee. If it is adjacent or could affect any Agri/Forest Districts they want to know from the Agri/Forestal Committee what their thoughts are on it. They always look for development to: -- avoid impacts to natural resources, and -- avoid impacts to scenic and cultural resources Conservation Easements  Holder of the easement sets expectations  Effects on conservation easement generally assessed by holders  Staff would provide comments from easement holder There were some questions going through email today about conservation easements and whether or not they should say if there is a conservation easement on a property this kind of use would not be appropriate. Conservation easements are held by different entities. Different entities have different expectations for what will happen on the property. Some easement holders are stricter than others. What exactly can occur on a property with a conservation easement is decided upon when that easement is given. There may be an easement that has language that sa ys only agricultural and natural resource conservation can take place on this property. There may be another conservation easement that says they can have 13 houses on this property. Depending on the size and easement it just depends. Staff could provide comments from easement holders through a process. However, she did not believe they should be involved in that particular aspect because it is really about whatever that easement exists for. Staff Recommendation:  Add new strategy to Rural Area (RA) Chapter related to historic preservation: Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for artist residencies in historic buildings. * (As defined in Historic Resources Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan Again, this may only occur once or it may not occur at all. However, it is not going to be utilized by a lot of people. It will be out there for different groups to say well if you can let an artist residency use a facility why can’t I have a retreat center. She highlighted the important pieces of this.  Artist residencies are import for society and culture.  Participation is one of those things not like a commercial activity where someone can sign up or pay a fee and be accepted. One has to be accepted into the program.  There have to be goals that can be met for preservation of historic resources, but other types of things that would be involved with resource preservation.  The additions and alterations are really about the architectural historic integrity of the site and of the buildings.  It is important that there be compatibility and in terms of who can make those recommendations. The Design Planner and Historic Preservation Committee can give us that guidance. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 5  The key sentence here is new construction for residence halls is not appropriate as it would prevent reversion to a by-right use in the Rural Area. That is something staff has added that the Commission will probably want to discuss at length.  The comments the Commission gave about locations near cross roads communities or Development Areas.  The language for the CPA would provide the direction to the Board of Supervisors. However, it would also provide direction for the development of a ZTA should the County want to move forward with that. However, as staff has recommended it would not work for the applicant who has prepared the ZTA application. Staff is worried about the long term impacts. They have had very good, frank and sincere discussions with the applicant. However, they have agreed to disagree, but not to be disagreeable about it. Mr. Smith has met with staff a number of times and has also expressed his appreciation for the high level of scrutiny that Albemarle County put s on its projects. So Mr. Smith understands where our recommendation comes from, but he has a different perspective. The Planning Commission is here to hear those different perspectives and to make their decision and provide recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. Staff recommends that the following language be added to the Comprehensive Plan for artist residencies: Strategy 5c: Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for artist residencies in historic buildings (as defined in the Historic Resources section of the Plan). An artist residency is a facility where individuals are provided time and space to create art within a unique geographic and cultural context. Meals, lodging, and private studio space are provided on -site to support uninterrupted creative work lasting from a few weeks to a few months. The purpose of artist residencies is to promote art as a critical cultural and societal resource. Participation in an artist residency is by invitation only. Artist residencies are neither commercial endeavors nor tourist destinations. They may be appropriate in the Rural Area if they can m eet goals for preservation of historic structures and other Rural Area goals such as, but not limited to, natural resource conservation. Additions, alterations, and construction of additional buildings may be approved for artist residencies, provided that the architectural and historic integrity of buildings and the site is retained. New construction should be compatible in appearance with the historic buildings and the site and should not overwhelm them in terms of size, scale, and massing. New construction for residence halls is not appropriate as it would prevent reversion to a by-right use in the Rural Area. Artist residencies should only be available by special permit and consideration should be given to locations in or near crossroads communities or Development Areas. Mr. Morris invited questions for staff. Mr. Lafferty asked if the applicant has approached Miller School or Innisfree since he thought they would fit into either one of those. Ms. Echols replied she did not know. Mr. Lafferty said it seems like they are beating around the bush changing everything to accommodate this. Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville are certainly an active artist community. He is not against art. However, he was wondering what the county would be getting out of this since the future of what they are doing may be very cloudy. He questioned whether the county should do it. Mr. Randolph noted in the first paragraph it states an artist residency is a facility. He would be m ore comfortable since this was going in the comp plan if they added the wording “existing facility” because they are talking about a building that is not new or an existing building. A recommendation of the Planning Commission was that it be an existing building rather than a ne w building. He did not think it was harmful at all that in the comp plan they remind anyone looking at it that they are talking about an existing facility rather than a newly built facility. Secondly, he thinks the reversibility convertibility clause is an essential simply because otherwise they are caught with a massive new construction area in a rural ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 6 area. It is really important that new construction for resident halls is not appropriate as it would certainly make it much more difficult for reversibility or convertibility. His recommendation today was that they include a sentence at the end of the second paragraph which states properties under conservation easement are not considered appropriate for additions, alterations, and construction of additional buildings. He thinks it is a good way of reminding people looking at this section that if the property is under conservation easement it probably is not appropriate for the kind of facility that is going to be operable here and the demands that might occur on the facility. Mr. Randolph noted his last observation is a procedural one. Assuming they reach some degree of closure this evening on this recommended language for the comp plan he thinks the next step is this needs to go to the Historic Preservation Committee. The Historic Preservation Committee has not yet looked at this. He wrote the Chair of the committee this morning and apologized since he was out of town last week and had not opened tonight’s packet until after he came back from the Historic Preservation Committee meeting. Therefore, the committee was not able to talk about this on Monday afternoon and won’t meet for another month. However, he thinks it is important that they have a chance to also look at this and give additional input before it goes to the Board of Supervisors. Therefore, he would add that recommendation. One final caveat with no prejudice towards the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and their board is he feels it is important that they be mindful that what they are working on here is a policy that is not really applicant specific. They are going to have language in the comp plan that applies to any future organization. He strongly suspects that the Virginia Center for Creative Arts may be the first now, but it probably won’t be the last. So they want to be sure that they have language in the comp plan that will be equally applicable and fair to all in the future. Mr. Keller complimented staff because they have worked very hard on this from the beginning, and actually the applicant, too, for bringing this to us in a thoughtful way. They have gone through this process collectively. He would like to respond to Mr. Randolph and say there are also easements on historic structures as well as the land. They have a number of those in the state. He did not agree with Mr. Randolph about getting into another level of regulation. They do what is best for Albemarle County and if they want to limit it some way he could see how something like this could fit into a property that has conservation easements depending upon how they have been written. He can also see how these uses could conceivably go into a historic building that has easements on the exterior and certain historic finishes on the inside. So he did not agree with that. He also has concerns about limiting this regarding its proximity to crossroad areas. They have had this discussion before. However, he has b een to a one to two dozen of these sorts of communities in his life time. Some are very remote and there is not a need by the folks who are there to leave it. They are really there in this almost kind of monastic manner. So he was comfortable with the staff’s language and would not be concerned with that as long as they are not requiring that as an option. However, he agreed with Mr. Lafferty’s concern about when they do this there is the potential of opening that door, and yet they are the kind of area that warrants this sort of place. Staff has done a very good job in trying to put limits on that. He thinks the reversibility clause is really important and has been very well thought though by staff. Therefore, he was inclined to support it. Mr. Dotson noted he would save discussion for later . However, he had one very specific question. If there was a gorgeous old farm that had been divided up and a particular parcel had an historic barn on it but no residence would that qualify under this proposal as being an historic structure. Ms. Echols replied that was a good question because she had not thought of it in that form. She thinks it probably would because it is an historic structure on an historic site. However, the residence hall becomes then the question. Mr. Morris opened for public comment and invited anyone who would like to speak to come forward. Ms. Echols pointed out the applicant is present. Mr. Morris noted because there is no applicant he would open the discussion and invite public comment. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 7 Jeff Werner, with Piedmont Environmental Council, suggested the applicant respond to it. Regarding the easement issue, he would encourage the Commission to talk to the experts in the community, including ones at PEC, about how an easement might work. He has been trained not to comment on easements. He was torn because people have asked him about this one. On one hand if they keep Albemarle beautiful and rural it is certainly a place that they would want artists to come to. There are the benefits of that and they want this to be a place that artists come to. Honestly on the other hand he has talked to a lot of folks in the rural area and not a single rural landowner has got excited about a 30 room motel, boarding house or retreat next to their property. In all seriousness this is a difficult thing to explain to people. It really is a metaphoric issue right now because they are talking about generalities and very positive aspects of this. However, when this gets proposed next to someone’s property his phone is going to ring off the hook and people will say how did this happen. Mr. Werner said he has several process questions and would ask who else gets to do this. He asked if it would be UVA at Morven or Monticello properties, which are non profits and have lots of land. The question he would ask tonight is what the process is so he can tell folks how to be involved in this. He asked if the Commission makes a recommendation that goes to the Board, and then he could tell folks if they have an opinion to come address this at the Board of Supervisors public hearing. That is going to be hard to do, again, because it is so vague. Should he tell people to wait for the zoning text amendment? Again, they don’t quite see that in their next door neighbors’ yard. Or, he could tell them to simply wait for the special use permit request at which point they know what is going to happen. He was a little nervous that this seems positive on the surface, but when it gets proposed on someone’s adjacent property there will be a lot of rancor. He questioned if this should be going with the comp plan right now. He did not know. However, he thinks that a lot of people will be caught off guard by this and he would like to take the time to do it right if the intent is really to do it. Mr. Morris said with concurrence of fellow Commissioners he would like to offer Mr. Smith five minutes to address the Commission. He asked Mr. Smith if he would like to take advantage of that. Mr. Greg Smith, County resident and homeowner, said he was present in the capacity of Executive Director of the Virginia Center for Creat ive Arts (VCCA) which is currently located in Amherst, Virginia on property owned by Sweet Briar. He had prepared remarks but the conversation has been fairly wide ranging and he would like to be able to address the kinds of questions that they have broug ht up. Obviously, the key question he thinks where the staff report and the VCCA have a difference of opinion is specifically on the issue of the residence hall. He can’t tell them whether in a future special use permit application whether it might all be in an historic building or that all needs to be in new construction since it depends on the available square footage on the property they are looking to possibly move to and the characteristics there. He believes staff has a different position about the whole issue of reversibility or convertibility. His view is as they saw from the photograph of an historic barn with sort of a typical historic wooden structure that in this particular case that is what he is referring to. The other one was actually a new structure or new construction that was undertaken at Pleasant Hill, which is a Shaker Village in central Kentucky. This building was designed to look that way, but it is in fact an office building for people that work at Pleasant Hill. So the thrust of what he was trying to indicate or to recommend was that how a building functions and how it looks can be different things. They see that in the case of the Pleasant Hills structure. However, they agree with the vast majority of the staff report. Mr. Smith pointed out one of the things he wants to stress, which he does not think has been fully understood, is the issue of the importance of the rural location from the function of an organization like the VCCA. In all of its history it has served artists by providing them with rural space and time. Notably it is quiet and isolated from people. It is bucolic and with nature providing inspiration to the creative process. In a survey done in 2013 of our artists, which was 1,800 responses, 69% said that such a location was extremely important; and another 23% said it was very important for a total of 93% of the respondents. He can provide with a commentary by our artists why this kind of rural setting is essential. He would be happy to provide that link, but he thinks it goes into more detail than they want at this point. Mr. Smith said they would hope the Commission would consider this favorably for the advantages of having an organization like the VCCA in the community. Over the last 44 years of existence, 35 of which ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 8 have been in Amherst County, they have had over 5,000 artists from all 50 U.S. States and 42 countries in residence through the VCCA. This would bring a great asset to Albemarle County in addition to the arts portfolio of the county and an international program which sends 400 ambassadors, if you will, each year back out into the world after they have had short term stays understanding the charms and characteristics of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. They hope the county would recognize this opportunity to create the Charlottesville/Albemarle County cultural plan as recognized its specifically mentioning the VCCA. He would be happy to answer questions. Mr. Morris invited questions for Mr. Smith. Mr. Keller noted he has an uncomfortable position about the reversibility because from his experience the track record of a lot of these communities shows they are always on the financial verge of having lots of difficulties. He asked if Mr. Smith agreed with that. Mr. Smith replied certainly artist communities and probably most art organizations are less well capitalized than lots of other things in this world. So he would tend to agree somewhat in general terms with him. However, then the question is down to the specifics of t his particular organization and whether it has a big donor behind it or not. Mr. Keller pointed out this is really about future planning since they are talking about amending the comprehensive plan. The next stage is to do a zoning text amendment. Because they are so concerned about what the ramifications are of anything new that is placed in an historic compound there is the reversibility issue. He appreciates Mr. Smith’s candor since everyone needs to be aware of this. He understands that even Pleasant Hill is having financial difficulties at the moment, and yet he would consider it a great example of adaptive reuse of an historic area. They all need to be aware of the challenges to historic preservation and protection if the artist communities are not well endowed as they are thinking about the bigger picture. Mr. Smith said he would not want to characterize the VCCA as being on easy street over the last 44 years. He recognizes that is the case. On the other hand the VCCA has been able to appropriately preserve an historic barn on the property that they are on now even in light of that. So this is very full of dilemma and he appreciates the position that they are in that regard. Obviously, his purpose is to see if it is possible for the VCCA to relocate back to Albemarle County. He guessed when they were first in the county it was before such rules and regulations were created. Now it is a new day and you have to do what you have to do. Mr. Morris closed the public hearing and the matter was before the Planning Commission for a discussion and recommendation. Mr. Randolph said he would just observe as someone who has raised money for arts organizations in the past that one of the things that is valuable for an arts organization is to have a sense of the s urrounding communities’ involvement with the organization and the organization with the surrounding community. Although Mr. Keller and he would choose to differ on this one of the additional benefits of having these artists residencies in a location in or near a crossroads is to bring the community closer to the artist residency so it is not divorced and seen as separate and apart from the intermediate Albemarle communities. That is another reason why that proposed language was in there, which he thinks it be beneficial for both sides Mr. Lafferty said he appreciates that Albemarle County would get international and national exposure. However, he thinks about the times that Charlottesville was elected number 1 in the nation and what it does to make people want to explore the area. Mr. Loach questioned what makes this different from when they approved the one for Mont alto at Monticello where it was a residence of scholars versus a residence of artists. They built all new buildings there in the rural area on top of a pristine mountain. He was not seeing much difference in the terms of the focus on it. Instead of the academic study of Jefferson he was seeing this as the arts. He thought ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 9 this was a very good idea whether the buildings were reusable, which would be nice, or even if they built to meet the specifications. He thinks about the great schools where the masters came out of those schools in Europe and America. He looked at the applicant’s good track record of 40 some odd years now with financial stability that they have maintained. The other thing they have talked about is rural development and when not to build in the rural development. They don’t want to do this because maybe there will be other retreats that come down the road. He suggested that may not be such a good thing. However, on the whole he agreed with Mr. Keller that it does not have to be next to a development area or crossroads to get close to the community. He thinks the community will mi grate to it at the appropriate time. He was in support of this project. Mr. Lafferty said his second example was his thought because they have been lead to believe that these artists are going to isolate themselves. So it does not matter if they are at a crossroads or not. Mr. Dotson asked staff to put up the slide that gave the by right and special use permit uses. He thinks as they talk it is good to have that in front of us. With the reversion issue and also in terms of precedence he thinks it is good to have that. However, that is actually not what he wants to talk about at this time. He has been trying to picture a good example of this. It was nice seeing the current facility and how it was laid out. The image that keeps coming back is surrounded by a green area, open fields, trees, fences, and so forth, which then lead him to say if this were on some minimum acreage and sort of clustered as a compound, as he thinks it would, then its impacts might be deluded by the surrounding green acreage. Then he questioned how to calibrate that. The thought he had, which is not valid, is if they thought of each artist residence as a residence. So what they are looking for is how much acreage they need to have 30 dwelling units. If they can have 5 units on 2 acres, then they would need 10 acres. Then the other 25 would have to be on 21 acres, assuming they had a single large parcel, and they end up with over 500 acres needed by his calculations to support and sort of dilute without changing from our existing notions of what is acceptable in the rural area. He thinks that would be going too far if they said the minimum acreage of 500. However, the concept of some minimum acreage still kind of intrigues him that this is not something they do on 10 acres, but something they would do on a farm . He asked if that means 100 acres. He did not have an idea for how they would set a minimum acreage, nor does he know if they could do that. If they said our policy and the zoning text amendment says they need at least a 100 acre property. Mr. Kamptner noted in the comprehensive plan that would be reasonable. They have zoning districts where they require minimum acreage. Those are solely being pulled out of some of those districts. But, it could be a guide as to the acreage that these facilities should be located on. Mr. Dotson said that would also have a way of limiting the other development that was on that land. It would not be putting it under conservation easement. But, they would be using up the development potential for a use like this by having that use. It is just a way of thinking about it that he thinks is a little different than he was thinking about it before. The way the proposed language is written it seems like it creates impossibility if they are saying that the residence hall could not be new construction unless barns were considered as historic structures. They are never going to find an historic residence that they could subdivide into 30 room and bathroom combinations. It seems farfetched. So what they are almost saying is yes, but no. However, those are some thoughts. Mr. Morris said going back to Mr. Lafferty’s comment he had the opportunity with the original construction at Innisfree and watching what that turned out to be for the residents of Innisfree. It was truly exciting because of the rural area, the isolation, and the ability of those young and needful residents to have the quiet and the solitude. It did a wonderful job for that. They are not artists, but just to get to his point. That was over 40 years ago. They started construction on that in 1972 and it is still in operation. He personally likes what staff has done and commends them for it. He would definitely keep in the portion that states that no addition to the historic structure. He thinks that is critical. The way it is written that consideration should be given to locations in or near crossroad communities or development areas is fine. They are just considering it and not saying this is where it should be. He agreed with Mr. Keller that he thinks the requirements on historic structures would prevent any additions to that structure. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 10 Mr. Keller pointed out only if there is an easement to that effect. Mr. Morris agreed as has been stated that it depends upon the location. E verything is going to be different. He also agreed with Mr. Dotson that any site should have a minimum acreage, which he did not have. However, he would think it should be close to 100 acres. It should be relative based upon what is being requested. Ms. Echols asked to speak a little about the historic buildings. Actually someone can put additions and make alternations to historic buildings and not damage the integrity of those. There are guidelines that exist. It is often times the case for preserving the building that people will put an addition on it so that they have another use of it or the ability to increase the amount of usage of space to make that maintenance viable. Staff was not intending to write this in a way that would prevent an addition to an historic building, but only that the quality of that addition or the alteration should be relative. She thinks the gold standard is the Secretary of the Interior Guidelines for historic preservation or rehabilitation and renovation. Those are the kinds of things s he would be expecting that our Design Planner and the Historic Preservation Committee would be looking towards. If the Commission was looking to not allow for the additions on those buildings it probably would be good to be explicit about that because that was not what was intended in what she wrote down. Ms. Firehock commented that she could see the relationship between creating art and being out in nature. There is actually scientific literature that talks about the importance of that. Where she has difficulty is she tries to image a different person coming to us in the future and saying they would like to have a comprehensive plan amendment for a meditative retreat. They could make a very similar argument about the importance of being close to nature and meditation and communing with whatever their religion is. It is not monastery or a convent, but some kind of meditative retreat. There are many of them around this area and in this region. She did not know how to say that getting back to nature for art was permitted, but getting back to nature for your religious practice or meditative practice was not. So that is the problem. The Board of Supervisors clearly does not want to permit new lodging in the rural areas. Yet, she could think of this like an art camp for adults. However, she thinks they are opening a can of worms here. She has not decided which way to go. But, she thinks what staff has done in terms of the write up is good and does address a lot of our concerns. Again, she did not see how they can start to draw the hard line at art and then be able to say no to other thinks down the. She thinks they are setting up a slippery slope. Mr. Dotson said as a follow up on his earlier question regarding the historic resources section of the plan , it says that historic buildings are defined there. He asked does that include barns or is that residences or commercial structures also included. Ms. Echols replied yes, that it was not just houses. It is historic buildings that have been recognized . She did not have a full definition in front of her. However, the Historic Preservation Committee has a definition for a historic structure, which is about two paragraphs long. She thinks it would include barns because if there is a barn that is on the National Register it is considered an historic property. It includes a whole host of buildings that have been recognized as being historic structures through the National Register or the State Register and other ways of recognition. Mr. Dotson noted that it is conceivable that there could be a property with a barn that could be converted to house 30 residences. Ms. Echols replied yes for artist residencies. Mr. Dotson noted they would have to be a very careful reader to read artist residencies and not artist residence. He was wondering if they could tweak the vocabulary a little to make that distinction clearer, and Ms. Echols agreed. Mr. Dotson noted somehow the word compound keeps coming back. When he visualizes this he is thinking of an artist compound where all of the buildings are within walking distance of each other, but it is ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 11 probably multiple buildings. He did not know if something like that belongs in here or not. But, this is not scattered over 100 acres. It is a compound as sold within a green frame. Mr. Keller said there are two things that are underlying the concerns that they are expressing. One wants to keep the rural areas rural. That is underlying so much of what they have discussed. The other one is, as Mr. Loach brought up, Mont Alto and places like that. He did not know if Ms. Monteith wants to go into this, but there is an RFP out right now for exploring concepts for additional residences at Morven for residential support. The University has been trying to grapple with a different set of issues, but in some ways related in how to deal with that grouping of historic resources and then make them adaptive for the uses of the Academy of the University of Virginia. They need to decide whether they jump forward with this and at least go as far as the comp plan changes so that this can have further exploration. The comp plan is pointing in the direction, but it is not saying that it is going to happen. However, the zoning text amendment is really going to say that they are going to do it or whether they are going to hold the line right here. Ms. Monteith pointed out as Mr. Keller said our RFP is out on the market and they can feel free to read it. It is a very small component. It is really not what they are talking about here. Mr. Morris agreed. He said one of the things he would like to get a handle on as they move forward in providing Ms. Echols with some guidance. He asked what the general feeling would be as to being in favor of having an artist community or a community in these other areas in the rural areas. He agreed with Ms. Firehock completely that this could be problematic and where do they go. Based on Innisfree he thought it was worth the experiment to move forward in his opinion. Mr. Lafferty said he thought the write up was excellent. However, one of his concerns is putting so many conditions on it in moving forward that there is no place in Albemarle County that you could do that. His second concern is the can of worms they are opening up. Mr. Loach said he understands the concern is the impact in the rural areas. If he looks at this he did not think the impact is large. There are not going to be 35 commuters in and out of that property. He did not see the impact, but he did see the benefit to the community and county as large. The examples given tonight are two good examples that show that it can be done successfully and to the benefit of the community. Ms. Firehock pointed out she had said all she has to say in the last three work sessions. Mr. Randolph said he thinks it is important here to distinguish language that is determinative. He did not see any determinative language in here that basically constrains an applicant and makes it difficult for them to create artist residencies in the county. He thinks the language here is really suggestive. The comp plan language says a future applicant according to the comp plan should give consideration. What they are saying as a Planning Commission is that they are trying to provide some language in ther e that they have some restrictions if they think that they may be appropriate. In that situation they weigh heavily on them in terms of the balance that they always have here and where they see this as a development that would be completely appropriate. Then they would probably pull back on the consideration basis. This is not determinative language. This is m erely suggested guidance language and he is comfortable with that. He thinks there is a potential down the road that they could be opening through the development of this within the comp plan other applicants to come along. But, they remind us that this will be under a special use permit process that they approach case by case. They would have a community meeting for people to weigh in on it. He understands Mr. Dotson’s comment about minimum acreage, but felt due to land cost it may only be suitable for 5 or 10 artists. He thinks having it in the Comp Plan is a first step to see what kinds of applications and interest it attracts. They are not con strained in any way and will move prudently, carefully and with good thought and discussion and deliberation into the zoning text amendment. He did not feel that they are in any way setting ourselves up here in doing something is going to come back to haunt us in the future. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 12 Mr. Dotson said he can’t imagine this being a very positive beneficial kind of facility in the county. He can also imagine people trying to game the system if they do this. However, they do have the protections of the special use permit, which is why he thinks it is important to keep it in front of us. He has a suggestion not to specify acreage since that would not be appropriate in the comp plan. What he was wondering is they said consideration should be given to locations at crossr oads communities or development areas. He was wondering about where large properties of significant acreage located elsewhere. In other words, this kind of alerts people that if they could put this in the midst of a large green space that would certainly be noticed, just like if they were going to put it in a crossroads community or the development area. It simply says that is a consideration. He would feel more comfortable if they said something about large properties of significant acreage period. Mr. Keller noted the only thing he has not said here, which he mentioned to staff individually, is that they have a county that does not have any locally administered historic districts. He thinks that for a county that has many of the other things that we do that it is a pretty obvious omission that we don’t. So one way to put a significant restraint on this would be to enact historic district legislati on at the county level and make it a requirement if one of these entities happened that it has to be in an historic district. Then that would allow for all the controls beyond just having the Design Planner that they have talked about . However, it would mean that most likely one way to deal with it was just have that responsibility go to the ARB for administration of that resource. So he just put it out there . It is sort of a last minute wild card, but is the one piece that would really up the ante on this and really nail down the historic resource component. Then it could be a model and experiment for moving further with historic districts at a future date. This would be an opportunity to introduce it in a very small and limited manner. Mr. Morris asked in moving this to the Board of Supervisors does he favor this as it is with that as a long range goal in establishment of historic districts and so on. Mr. Keller said he thinks they have to be careful where they go with this. Since this has been a thoughtful discussion he was just throwing that last piece out. He was comfortable with the way it is. However, if one was looking for a hook for moving forward with historic districts at the local level this might be a way that would not be controvertible because it would be so minimal. Ms. Firehock said in light of what Mr. Dotson was talking about that spu rs her to want to add something along the lines that the facility would minimize disturbance of intact natural resources. She was not going to mention which development, but there is a certain development in southern Albemarle where holes have been cut in the forest to a large people to have the nice views and that causes a great amount of habitat destruction. However, they had access to other spots in that development where they could have put the houses without chopping holes in the forest and adding unnecessary roads on steep slopes. She would like to see something such as they would want to consider the natural resources and the sensitivity of the proposed development plan to the site’s natural features. She was sure staff could come up with some language to that effect. She was thinking about a complex if they had an option to put it on a part of the property that would avoid plowing through the forest and putting something in the middle of the woods. That is the concern that she would have because it is more like a development. Mr. Dotson pointed out there is some wording in the first big paragraph that says natural resource conservation. He did not know whether that wraps up what she is saying. Ms. Firehock replied that she feels like it needs to be strengthen to talk about avoid unnecessary disturbance and to limit the development footprint. There is another federal facility that is located in West Virginia or a federal national resource agency which has cafeterias, dormitories, teaching classroo ms, but it is all spread all over the place. One can walk to it and you get quite fit doing it because the buildings are really spread apart. When one thinks about the amount of site disturbance that this federal national research agency did she did not find that when she goes to that site it just gives her hives. She does not feel like she has retreated, but feels like she has witnessed a destructive area. They just throw that word natural resource conservation out a lot, but she would like to add a se ntence strengthening it. She offered to work with staff on that wording separately, but did not have any profound statement of wording at this moment. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 13 Mr. Morris said as they were going through this the majority is definitely in favor of sending this for ward. However, he asked do they send it forward in the form that it is with the additions that they have heard from Ms. Firehock and Mr. Dotson or are there others. Mr. Keller asked to add his comment. Mr. Morris noted that it would also include Mr. Kell er’s comment. He asked if staff got all of the comments. Ms. Echols replied she was not sure she got Mr. Keller’s unless it was the historic protection and preservation aspect. Mr. Keller agreed that it was the historic protection and preservation aspect. Ms. Echols noted a comment to that is she is fearful that these are two different issues. The Historic Preservation Committee she thinks is very much in support of asking the Board of Supervisors, and Mr. Randolph can probably speak better to this. However, from what she has heard they would like to see the county adopt an historic district ordinance and establish local historic districts. That has been a hotly debated topic. She was not sure that tying these two together would be beneficial to this p articular item here. She is seeing it as potentially being problematic to this particular item and not being beneficial towards the historic district aspect of it. If the Commission wants to put it in there, staff would be glad to put it in there. However, she thinks it may create some challenges. Mr. Keller pointed out that so much of our discussions have been about the need for design review of this compound and that would go from site and natural resources through historic structures. That is something that architectural review boards deal with and in some ways our entrance corridor reviews and that entity is dealing with those. So he would like to see some mechanism that allowed for design review there. If staff can think of a better way to accomplish that he did not have a problem with that. Ms. Echols said she thinks what he is saying is the Historic Preservation Committee may be looking mostly at the resources, but from a design standpoint it may be beneficial to have a design group who can look at how they make those particular changes to provide input to ensure that what is being done along with historic preservation is good rural design. Mr. Keller agreed. Ms. Echols said that staff can work something like that into this particular recomm endation. However, the thing she needs clarity on is whether the statement about new construction of residence halls should remain in this particular recommendation. Mr. Morris noted that he thinks that it should. Mr. Dotson agreed that it should stay. He commented if this is approved by the Board as part of the comp plan the ZTA that would follow would not be a priority issue for him in terms of the busy work load of the county staff unless there were a private application that they would be obligated to do. However, as a county initiative it would not be a top priority for him. Ms. Echols said she has the Commission’s recommendation. She pointed out the Commission does not typically vote on these, but just provides the direction as a whole and staff will put that together. Mr. Kamptner asked Ms. Echols to run down the additional adjustments to the language so they can be certain that the Commission has consensus on these issues. Ms. Echols said she thinks that Mr. Dotson was talking about the importance of adding to maybe the end about the considerations about locations by adding or large properties of significant acreage located ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION PARTIAL DRAFT MINUTES – JANUARY 27, 2015 ZTA-2014-00005 ARTISTS COMMUNITIES/RESIDENCIES Page 14 elsewhere away from these. Ms. Firehock was talking about minimizing the disturbance of swaths of natural resources or making sure that the siting of the facility and any additions to it are done in a sensitive way that does not break up any natural corridors and important natural resources that are clustered together. What Mr. Keller was talking about is making sure the y have a statement in there about the importance of not only review by the Historic Preservation Committee, but also design review so that in addition to the idea about the natural resource preservation that they have a good rural design of a facility in the rural areas. The other thing she did hear that she wondered about was Mr. Dotson’s comment about sort of clustering a compound. She questioned whether compound is the right word. However, she thinks that a lot of the things the Commission is talking a bout really are getting at clustering the improvements together, but doing them in a way that is sensitive to the context as well as to the historic property and the other improvements on the property. She asked if that captured it all. Mr. Morris agreed. Mr. Dotson asked if this would be reported back to the Board of Supervisors by February 10 th. Ms. Echols replied yes, staff would report to the Board two weeks from now. In summary, CPA-2013-00001 Comprehensive Plan Update/Amendment - Artist’s Community Planning Commission Recommendation Strategy 5c: Consider amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow for artist residencies in historic buildings (as defined in the Historic Resources section of the Plan [hyperlink]). An artist residency is a facility where individuals are provided time and space to create art within a unique geographic and cultural context. Meals, lodging, and private studio space are provided on -site to support uninterrupted creative work lasting from a few weeks to a few months. The purpose of artist residencies is to promote art as a critical cultural and societal resource. Participation in an artist residency is by invitation only. Artist residencies are neither commercial endeavors nor tourist destinations. They may be appropriate in the Rural Area if they can meet goals for preservation of historic structures and other Rural Area goals such as, but not limited to, natural resource conservation. Additions, alterations, and construction of additional buildings may be approved for a rtist residencies, provided that the architectural and historic integrity of buildings and the site is retained. New construction should be compatible in appearance with the historic buildings and the site and should not overwhelm them in terms of size, scale, and massing. New construction for residence halls is not appropriate as it would prevent reversion to a by-right use in the Rural Area. Artist residencies should only be available by special permit and consideration should be given to locations in or near crossroads communities or Development Areas. The Planning Commission recommended the following changes be added to staff’s recommended language as shown above to the Comprehensive Plan for artist residencies : 1. Add a consideration for large properties of significant acreage that may be located outside of a crossroads community or Development Area for artist residencies. 2. Add information on the need to cluster development in order to minimize disturbance of open space and natural resources. 3. Recommend design review to ensure that historic resources are preserved as well as appropriate rural design can be achieved. In addition, the Commission asked that the Historic Preservation Committee be asked to comment on the proposed Comprehensive Plan language prior to adoption. The Planning Commission took a break at 8:01 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 8:10 p.m. (Recorded and transcribed by Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission & Planning Boards)