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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP200800070 Legacy Document 2008-06-17A -�LB�� GIRGINZP ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Project Name: SDP2008 -00070 Staff: Lisa Glass, Planner Vintage Virginia Apples Cidery and Tasting Phil Custer, Engineer Room Planning Commission Public Hearing: Board of Supervisors Hearing: June 24, 2008 Not Applicable Owners: Shelton Land Trust Applicant: Charlotte Shelton — Vintage Virginia Apples Acreage: 78.586 Rezone from: Not Applicable Special Use Permit for: Not Applicable TMP: Tax Map 87 Parcel 9 Existing Zone and By -Right Use: RA, Rural Location: West side of Monacan Trail (Rt. Areas. Agricultural, forestal, fishery uses and 29) approximately 0.75 miles south of single family residential. Taylors Gap Road (Rt.710), 8 miles south of I -64 Magisterial District: Samuel Miller Proffers /Conditions: N/A Requested # of Dwelling Lots: N/A DA — N/A RA — YES Proposal: Request for a waiver of site plan Comp. Plan Designation: The Comprehensive requirements for the establishment of a Plan designates this property as Rural Area in tasting room. The project includes two new Rural Area 3. buildings, the tasting room and a cidery, approximately 4,000 square feet total. Character of Property: The property is Use of Surrounding Properties: developed with agricultural buildings. A Rural Area in Residential Use and Wooded large portion of the property is in apples. The Hillsides remainder of the property is open fields, woods and various fruit orchards. The project site is adjacent to an existing barn and cold storage complex. Factors Favorable: Factors Unfavorable: 1) Staff finds that the plan contains None. adequate information to protect the public and adjoining properties. 2) Waiving the requirement of a site plan is supportive of agricultural activity. RECOMMENDATION: Waiver of Section 32.2.2.Site Plan Waiver- Approval recommended, without conditions. STAFF PERSON: Lisa Glass, Planner and Phil Custer, Engineer PLANNING COMMISSION: June 24, 2008 AGENDA TITLE: SDP2008 -00070 Vintage Virginia Apples Cidery and Tasting Room APPLICANT: Charlotte Shelton — Vintage Virginia Apples PROPERTY OWNER(S): Shelton Land Trust APPLICANT'S PROPOSAL: The applicant requests a waiver of zoning ordinance requirements to allow the construction of a tasting room for a cidery, which is considered a farm winery by the Zoning Ordinance, without a full site plan. The plan includes two building totaling approximately 4,0000 square feet. The Cidery, 2760 square feet, is an agricultural use associated with the orchard, and does not require a site plan, similar to a winery. (Section 18.10. 17.) The tasting room, 1152 square feet, requires a site plan. The applicant does not expect a significant increase in traffic over the number already arriving daily for the farm sales. There is adequate area for parking spaces anticipated for higher use events. LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: The property, described as Tax Map 87 Parcel 9, contains 78.586 acres, and is zoned RA, Rural Areas. The site is located on Rural Ridge Lane on the west side of Route 29 south, approximately 8 miles south of I -64, in the Samuel Miller Magisterial District. The property is currently used as an orchard with farm sales. The new buildings will be adjacent to the existing barns used for farm sales and storage. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Comprehensive Plan designates this property as Rural Area in Rural Area 3. REASON FOR PLANNING COMMISSION REVIEW: The use requires a site plan because it has expanded from farm sales to cidery which includes a "tasting room" for on- premise sale of cider and cider consumption. The applicant requests a waiver of zoning ordinance requirements to allow the submittal of a site plan that does not meet all the requirements for the drawing of a site plan. The plan submitted shows the building locations and parking area relative to existing barns on the site, but does not show the full content outlined in Section 32.5 and 32.6. APPLICANT'S JUSTIFICATION FOR THE REQUEST: The majority of the items required for a site plan pertain to commercial uses in a developed area with a high use rate. The application letter addresses the rural character of the site and the surrounding area and the small scale use of the proposed tasting room (Attachment D). The items in Section 32.5 and 6 that are being waived are also outlined in the applicant's letter. PLANNING AND ZONING HISTORY: Special Permit 2003 -42 for on -site produce sales at the Vintage Virginia Apples orchard was approved by the Planning Commission on August 5, 2003 and by the Board of Supervisors on September 10, 2003, to permit farm sales operation. At that time site improvements were made so that the entrance at Route 29 meets VDOT standards and a guardrail was added in accord with County staff comments. DISCUSSION: Section 32.2.2 states: The foregoing notwithstanding, after notice in accordance with section 32.4.2.5 the commission may waive the drawing of a site plan in a particular case upon a finding that the requirement o such plan would not forward the purposes of this chapter or otherwise serve the public interest; provided that no such waiver shall be made until the commission has considered the recommendation of the agent. The agent may recommend approval, approval with conditions, or denial of such waiver. In the case of conditional approval, the agent in his recommendation shall state the relationship of the recommended condition to the provisions of this section. No condition shall be imposed which could not be imposed through the application of the regulations of section 32.0. This use is located on a 78 acre parcel. The nearest lot line to the area of the cidery is approximately 200 feet distant, with twenty rows of orchard in between. The nearest off site dwelling is approximately 500 feet distant. The site plan requirements are intended to insure that the impacts of the development are addressed. The large size of the property and isolation from property lines and dwellings minimizes possible conflicts. The site review committee has reviewed the submitted plan and required sufficient details to address potential impacts (i.e. adequacy of parking, storm water management, etc.). As part of this review staff has administratively granted modifications to the parking lot design to allow the use of gravel and waiving the installation of bumper blocks. The design of the facility is adequate to insure the safety of those onsite and allows for retention of rural character. Requiring a full site plan content does not forward the purposes of the ordinance or otherwise serve the public. The plan submitted provides information to address public safety and to mitigate affects on neighbors. The site review committee has reviewed this request and supports a site plan waiver in this case. The entrance road and parking on the site are existing (Attachment C, photos). VDOT has inspected the entrance and it meets current standards. The ARB has reviewed this project and approved the plan at their 5/19/08 meeting. The proposal maintains the rural character and scale of existing agricultural buildings. Site disturbance is limited to grading immediately adjacent to the new buildings . The existing gravel parking area is adequate for the current farm sales operation. The addition of the tasting room will not significantly change how the site is used. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION: Staff review has resulted in favorable findings: Favorable factors: 1) The Site Review Committee has reviewed the plan and is of the opinion that it contains adequate information to protect the public and adjoining properties. 2) Waiving the requirement of a site plan is supportive of agricultural activity which is the primary use in Rural Areas as supported by the Comprehensive Plan. Unfavorable factors: None. Favorable factors outweigh unfavorable factors. Granting this modification does not endanger the public health safety and welfare, therefore staff recommends approval without conditions. 3 ATTACHMENTS: A. Vicinity Map B. Parcel Map C. Site Photos D. Applicant Request and Justification Letter, regarding 32.2.2 waiver, dated5 /6/08 E. Applicant's Site Sketch F. Applicant's Justification regarding 4.12 waiver and plan comments, dated 6/1/08 G. Photos showing existing vegetation at the site LI s Attachment A .S vim i t 1-1 F—I in Co w Ln 00 M O 'T 00 Ln M (D rl Go U- 00 N r,/OD C) U') IM N 00 to 00 M Go N Go Go Co M Go 0 0 V Go u In 0 00 00 0 Ln Go N r" PPO 00 Co Ln 0 Co OD w CL E Co O Go LU Co 00 It in OD 00 LM Attachment A 6 NOTE. CORNERS DESI6NATEO I.R. aD.B. FOUND INDICATES 318*0IA. IRONROD W/TN I "D/A. DRILL BIT WITNESS POST. / R. B O. B. FOUND FO UNO N24 °il'50 "E //. q, B O. B. 4 T. L 6. POPLAR 352.55' rN45 °1B'W, 45.40' IRON PIPE SET IN FENCE FOUND N73 °0627 °E T- Al. 0 7 - 7 ! 210.12' Jay A. Atwell, Jr. 5E „1! 17,98 ago D. D. B. 5/2 p. /86 Of ' ' TOP FOUND c �.• %•. I, R. a D. 8. �a, -,• AT L 6. POPLAR w O N28108'14 "E, 291.38' c T• M, B7 _ jB p0•. FOUND DRILL BIT ^\ro m Po. AT 4G. RED OAK ' LOUise C. Gentry / N 09 °3300 "E, 289. 03 �\ W.B. 47_ 648 FOUNQ I. R. 6 D.B. AT 12 SASSAFRAS O Tax Map 97- Parcel 9 \ a 78. 586 4 C5. q ti 16 "OIA FOUNO PIPE Helen A. Ab aWy e r NICRORY b 'o 4017.6/' UNDER FALLEN O 0 ° 554 °17',U W TREE a D.B. 186 p. 144 n ti H w w FOUND I. R. B D. B. 4 °E m r N. 87 - -?'9 \ A170 , 10'FROM \ L6. RED OAK a •' Gladys F. Bryant I c 9 D.&. 580p. 32 ' \ Corn CriO J •$ Fcome $6t- Stu o B/ap. % \T. M. B7 -9A e \Roy S.0 /ark, Jr. /RONROD 2S / °'y FOUND D. B. 360 Stucco I® 392p /at zT Orvr Ninp \. p O , \ O' I WE � IRONROD 555 °50'0�'IY I FOUND 28.44' N80 W-. 1 //W /66.16' HWY IV_ MON. . 66.2 SB/• 2 MON. _•_ S 50 °51' 0'w 7-7V7-E-73 N. N,B. L 6 WN. MORRLS FOSTER v 1d CERTIFICATE No. y ; 54- 17- 3(a)998 )171 WM. MORRIS FOSTER LAND SURVEYOR Charlotteaville,Va, 795 PLAT SHOWING SURVEY OF 78.586 ACRES DE SIG IJATED TAX MAP 87- PARCEL 9 HELEN A. M AW YER EST A TE "AMUEL MILLER MAG. D ISTRICT A L B E M A R L E COUNTY, V I R G I N I A SCALE: I "= 300' OCT. 15 1906 Attachment B 7 tl� D H D s 3 M 4 z _cz -T- -4z 6 May 2008 Lisa Glass, Principal Planner Zoning and Current Development Albemarle County Dept. of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, #227 Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 Dear Ms. Glass; Thank you for yours of May 1, 2008 informing me of additional information you require for our request for a waiver of a site plan for the cidery and tasting room we wish to construct for our apple business.. Per the additional information you are requesting, please note the following: From Section 32.5.6: a. Most of the information requested in this section is on the plan submitted. Vintage Virginia Apples, LLC Cidery and Tasting Room to be built by Shelton Land Trust on property owned by same, Tax Map 87, Parcel 9, zoned Rural Areas, in the Samuel Miller district, Albemarle County, Virginia. This property is not in a flood plain (see attached maps— Exhibit a.1). This parcel is 78.58 acres, some 30 acres open of which approximately ten acres are devoted to orchard operations. The Cidery and Tasting Room are farm use buildings adjacent to an existing barn and cold storage complex that support the orchard and farm market operation established here. This site is a considerable distance off U.S. Route 29, situated more than 350 yards from that highway and reached by a regularly maintained hard gravel surfaced road that has been in continual use for over 20 years. This site is over 200 feet from the property line of Parcel 87 -39 which we also own and over 400 feet from the parcel beyond that. On the southern side, it is over 1200 feet to the nearest adjacent property. We request that this information be considered sufficient and that we not be required to produce engineered drawings to illustrate this. b. The site will easily accommodate the proposed use and is designed to complement and be compatible with the existing structures. This property, in addition to supporting our orchard enterprise, is our home and we employed an architect to plan buildings that will fit comfortably and unobtrusively into the site. We feel she has Attachment D 10 done an excellent job on this head. The buildings will share the same roof lines and material and natural weathered board siding that the existing barn and sheds have. Their mass and scale fit the site comfortably. These are one story, modestly sized buildings. The cidery will be about 2700 square feet; the tasting room, 1152 square feet. Our production will be seasonal and most of the labor will be our own. We may employ one or two seasonal helpers as needed. As to access, ingress and egress issues and parking, we addressed these issues rather thoroughly in our 2003 Farm Market license application. The cidery will generate about the same scale of traffic and visitation that our current farm market operation creates, but will be at a different season when the farm market and fruit sales is long past. Therefore, we are confident that our existing parking and drive will accommodate both enterprises comfortably. Parking for the volume of traffic we anticipate is already available. This will be a fairly small operation and the cidery will mostly be operational in the fall and winter, but will not be open to the public. The Tasting Room will be in service during the spring and summer primarily when the farm market is not in operation. The traffic will be intermittent. We would note that these buildings will be part of an existing barn complex and while we plan to install some simple foundation plantings and comfortable walk ways into the tasting room, the site is well screened from general public notice. We request that further items in this section such as a landscape plan, paved parking, etc. be waived. c. N/A d. See plan for contour lines. The barn is at an elevation of 740 feet. We request that the submitted drawing serve for this section. e. We do not believe any of the items in 32.7.9.4 are germane to this project. The only existing trees of any significance are the large oaks in the yard of our nearby guest cottage. None of these will be disturbed or affected. These buildings will be constructed on open land adjacent to the barn, are effectively additions to that barn and do not block any views. f. The only watercourse is a small unnamed branch that flows into a tributary of the South Branch. It is over 300 yards from the barn complex. g. The septic installation that will serve these buildings will be over 250 feet from the above cited stream. h. This site is at approximately 740 feet elevation and there is no flood plain anywhere near. (See attached exhibit a 1, referenced above) i. n/a j. n/a k. These buildings will be served by an existing well and we will install a septic field that will handle the three lavatory restrooms to be built. There will be minimal water usage. The buildings are to be constructed on concrete slabs that will minimize grading needs. We request that further drawings be waived. 1. Only utility issue is the underground line that will bring power to the site. m. This issue was addressed in our 2003 Farm Market license. We improved our entrance to commercial grade at that time per VDOT specifications. This included paving an apron off the highway for 30 feet into our drive. We also installed guard rails for that road as it crossed the dam of our farm pond. This has been more than adequate for the traffic that we have generated. As noted above, the cidery's tasting room will be primarily operative in a different season and we would expect it to generate similar volumes of traffic. Paving would adversely impact the site and Attachment D I 1 unnecessarily disturb more land. Our lane and parking areas are well maintained and are all weather installations. We request that further detail be waived. n. The existing buildings are shown on the drawing submitted. We request that further detail be waived. o. Areas to be dedicated for public use are the Tasting Room and existing barn sales area. p. We request that this requirement be waived. These are farm buildings in the middle of broad fields and will be an extension of the existing complex of farm buildings, well screened by distance from surrounding properties. Elaborate landscaping would be inappropriate, but we do plan to install simple plantings that will give the public areas a finished appearance. q. We request this item be waived. As stated above, the cidery will generate no more traffic than the existing enterprise here, albeit at different times. r. We request that the submitted drawing be deemed sufficient for the purposes of this application and that these exacting specific measures be waived as being inappropriate and unnecessary for the scope and scale of this project. s. We believe that the detail we have provided is sufficient information and we request that further details be waived. The new buildings are 2752 square feet for the cidery (32' x 86') and the Tasting Room will be 24 x 48 or 1152 square feet. Both will be one story on concrete slabs. They will look like additions to the existing barn and sheds. I am attaching photographs of the existing buildings and site. The parking area is the graveled barn yard and will be extended to the tasting room. Groundwater is not an issue here, I believe. This operation will use very little water. We will have two lavatories in the tasting room and one in the cidery for our personal use. We are installing a septic system to handle this. The only other water use will be washing out the tanks and the pressing equipment occasionally. I cannot see that we will be producing groundwater of any significance. 1 feel that some of what I have done is overkill, on my part, but I hope this helps you and answers your questions. I look forward to discussing this with you further when we meet. Thank you very much for you interest and assistance. Sincerely, Charlotte Shelton Attachment D 1 A Vintage Virginia Apples Cidery Waiver of Site Plan Application In our application for a Farm Market license five years ago, we outlined the genesis and purpose of the specialty orchard enterprise our family is developing in North Garden. Rather than repeat that narrative here, I will attach it for your information and bring you up to date on our progress. We have continued to develop our orchard and collection of rare and unusual apples. Making this venture sustainable continues to be both interesting and challenging. Our enterprise needs to be economically viable if it is to survive and permit us to maintain our farm as an agricultural endeavor. It is even more obvious to us that we need to produce value added products from our fruit in order to afford to continue this project. We grow over 250 varieties of apples, most of which are virtually unavailable elsewhere. We graft many of these varieties for our nursery and this promises to be moderately successful. We sell our fruit at the farm and at local markets. Many of our varieties come from that period in our past when apples were grown primarily for cider production. We have therefore embarked on building a cidery to produce hard cider in the tradition of our forbears. Jefferson may have struggled to produce wine, but cider was a staple at Monticello as well as virtually every farm and plantation in the country. Serious cider production is enjoying a small renaissance in several parts of the country, offering a pleasant variant to more commonly available wine and beer. As the trees we have planted in the last few years, come into production, we will be able to produce a superior product without struggling to make every apple picture perfect. We believe that this endeavor is absolutely consistent and supportive of the Attachment 1) a county's comprehensive plan to fostcr agriculture in the Rural Area in which our farm lies. The buildings we will be constructing are farm use structures. The larger of the two will house the press and tank room for cider production. This will not be open for public use. A separate and smaller (1 150 square feet) Tasting Room will provide a sales area for the product and restroom facilities for visitors. The scale and appearance of both will be similar to our existing barn and sheds be one story of weathered board siding and metal roofs. Since we look on this site ourselves and it is visible from our entry, we have engaged an architect to assist us in making it unobtrusive and in keeping with what is already here. As to the need for a site plan for this project, we think that most of the issues raised in the County Code Section 32.5 have already been met in satisfying the requirements and needs for our Farm Market License. The traffic generated by the cidery will be seasonal and largely occur when we are not selling fresh fruit. Therefore, the available parking will be more than adequate. Our property already has a commercial entrance per VDOT specifications completed in 2003. The entry enjoys a long site line on Route 29 and there have been no issues generated by our business there. . Our site and existing barn is well off U.S. Route 29, situated about 350 yards from that highway and reached by a regularly maintained hard gravel surfaced road that has been in continual use for over 15 years. The barn is situated amidst fields and orchard and is at significant distances from neighboring properties. It is over 200 feet from the property line of Parcel 87 -39 which we also own and over 400 feet from the parcel beyond that. On the southern side, it is over 300 yards to the nearest adjacent property. There is ample Attachment D /Y room for parking at the barn, with space for 15 or 20 cars. The attached conceptual schematic plan designates ten contiguous places which should certainly exceed anything necessary at any one time. We respectfully request that a site development plan be waived. We are a stand alone enterprise so traffic should be scattered and spread over the hours of operation rather than concentrated. One or two employees should be sufficient for the trade we anticipate, with perhaps a supplementary helper at peak periods. We believe that our small business is interesting and important in developing a sustainable agricultural enterprise in Albemarle County that is in keeping with the history and spirit of the rural district in which we lie. Since we are situated on a major public roadway that has ample site clearance (we have had this reviewed in the past by VDOT), public safety will not be compromised. Rather, we will be able to offer our local community and visitors a unique product in the rural setting from which it springs and an appreciation for preserving our culinary and agricultural heritage. We will welcome any questions the department or various boards may have. Thank you very much for reviewing this application. Attachment D P6 0 C4 04 j7ljj JA WN, NO, 5% '00 '00 Attachment E I(, 1�uitcr�ct� VIRGINIA PLES I/ . - P-71 O' June 1, 2008 Lisa Glass, Principal Planner Zoning and Current Development Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 Dear Ms. Glass: Thank you for your letter of May 15, 2008 referencing the Site Review Committee comments that we covered at your May 19 meeting. Per your request, I am submitting a revised site sketch 1. Identifying 16 parking spaces. While this is certainly a generous if not an excessive number for our operation, I have no problem showing them on the plan. 2. Showing the existing sheds that we will remove that are now attached to the barn 3. Sketching in the gravel areas in the project 4. Labeling the service area between the buildings as such which it is. As to the comments from Phil Custer in his engineering review, I offer the following: 1. This project will be disturbing considerably less than 10,000 square feet. Therefore, I understand that this point is moot. 2. The area between the tasting room and the market and the buildings behind is strictly for production use and will not be a public area. I have indicated where we will have signage indicating the same for the public 3. Per item 3 above, we have sketched in gravel areas. 4. The site sketch submitted shows existing contours for the site. Drainage occurs from the high point of the road falling away to the open fields beyond and below. The buildings have been sited to avoid significant recontouring of the site. Finish grades will be completed to maintain the existing drainage flow to allow for drainage around the buildings into the existing drainage pattern. Except for the roof area all surfaces at the site will be graveled allowing for natural absorption of water 5. My understanding is that the waivers requested in items a through e have been approved by Mr. Custer from engineering and Ms. McCulley, the Zoning Administrator. I would note that I think Mr. Custer's estimate of 50 to 75 cars a day Attachment F 17 visiting our market and cidery is vastly in excess of what we have experienced or expect to experience. We rarely have more than two or three cars at a time and no more than ten or twelve a day in peak season. We realize that we should expect the cidery to add to this, but it will do so primarily in seasons other than our farm market operation. As to item f, [ 18- 4.12.16], we respectfully request that two of the three items in this section be waived. Specifically, we request that we not be required to delineate with wheel stops or bumper blocks the parking spaces that we have sketched onto the site sketch submitted, and that screening shrubs not be required at the four parking spaces that do not face the buildings. In the first instance, the barnyard which is our parking area is a flat space that is used for moving pallets of product about and for general farm use when customers are not there, which is most of the time. Barriers such as those generally found in a commercial parking lot would be redundant and an obstacle to the movement and flow of materials that we use. They would be more of a safety hazard here than a beneficial element. This issue was canvassed five years ago when we received our Farm Market license and the Planning Commission specifically exempted us from this requirement. Twelve of these parking spaces are exactly the same spaces that were considered at that time. As to using shrubs to screen the parking spaces in question, these spaces face into the orchard and are the same ones that are on the Farm Market plan. The orchard reaches the edge of these spaces and planting competing plants in the orchard is neither practical nor desirable. There are 20 rows of orchard trees stretching away from these spaces. Moreover, we own the adjacent property and the distance to the nearest adjacent property beyond that is some 800 -900 feet and is a fence row of dense evergreens. The house on that property is at that lot's front edge which is several hundred feet farther toward the highway than our barn. In addition to these considerations, ours is a daytime operation and the headlights that are presumed to be the issue here will not be a concern. I discussed these issues with Ms. McCulley last week and she agreed that perhaps these matters merited further consideration. Thank you very much for your consideration. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns. Sincerely, Charlotte Shelton Vintage Virginia Apples LLC P.O. Box 210, North Garden Virginia 22959 www.vintagevirginiaapples.com Attachment F 19 t wwlr, 27 O"A •r b. 0 ffnmik-," 14 N f z 1K a 91 9 0, i� i S s