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Home My WebLink AboutSP201000049 Review Comments Special Use Permit 2012-04-18pF AL �IRGII31P+ COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, North Wing Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 -4596 Phone (434) 296 -5832 Fax (434) 972 -4176 April 18, 2012 Mr. Roger C. Nelson, Manager Howardsville Campground and Canoe Livery 292 Logan Rd. Scottsville VA 24590 RE: SP201000049 Howardsville Camping SP201000050 Howardsville Canoe Livery Dear Mr. Nelson, Thank you for the recent resubmission for these special use permits. Please find review comments included in this letter. Please see the attached resubmittal schedule for a list of dates on which you can submit your revisions and responses to review comments (below and attached), as well as for possible Planning Commission dates (please note that the listed dates are the earliest possible, but actual dates need to be selected to suit the revision schedule for each project.) COMMENTS Planning (Scott Clark) Please show on the plan where the water - supply fixtures for the campground will be located. What will be involved in the contruction of the campsites? Will they be graded or surfaced? Will picnic tables, fire rings, or other campsite equipment be located on the sites? Please explain why the portable toilets are located by the railroad, on the opposite side of the site from the campsites. Is this due to a Health Department regulation? It appears that many campers would have to walk 400 or more feet to get to the portable toilets. This seems especially difficult for anyone who needs to use the handicapped - accessible toilet. Please explain (and show on the plan) the measures that will be taken to prevent public vehicle access to the campsites. Also, I will need to discuss the access and road surfaces with the Police and Fire /Rescue departments so that we can verify that there will be emergency access. I will let you know what they recommend. For the open area that shows "fast- growing shade trees " —is this planned as a recreational area with some shade trees, or a reforestation area? We are likely to recommend a condition of approval regarding tree planting (species, planting density, etc.), but we will need to know how the areas are to be used. Also —are these trees intended to be the replacements for those cut during construction of the campsites? Any wooded areas that are to remain undisturbed should be labeled and completely outlined on the plan. Please explain how the trees cut in the campsite area would be accounted for and where the replacement trees would be planted. If you have an estimate of the number of trees that might need to be cut, it would be more straightforward to just designate a re- planting area (on the plan) with that many trees to be planted. That way the number is established in advance and no one has to keep an ongoing accounting of trees cut. Will canoe livery customers need to use the portable toilets as changing areas? Please note that we will need to see the Health Department approval of the water supply (along with the existing septic approval) before taking this proposal to a public hearing with the Planning Commission. Please let me know what you can about when the approval is expected. Note that a site development plan will be required if /when the Board of Supervisors approves the special use permits (see Current Development comments below). Zoning (Amelia McCulley) I have reviewed this resubmittal with letter dated March 19, 2012. The applicant's revisions in conjunction with the Health Department waiver requirement for use of portajohns, eliminate my previously stated concerns / issues. Consideration of conditions for approval: 1. Portajohns must be cleaned and removed prior to any major flood event that will inundate the area in which they are located. 2. The proposed quiet time of 9 pm to 7:30 a.m. should be a condition of approval. (See wording for KOA Campground.) 3. The fact that they will prohibit alcohol consumption on campground property could also be a condition of approval. Please keep in mind they are not proposing the same limitation for the canoe livery. 4. If a limit to tree removal is important (or even required by the WPO), we should consider a condition of approval along these lines. It should include wording that would allow tree removal if necessary to meet Zoning Ordinance or state agency approvals. 5. They will need to combine the parcels by plat or deed before they establish this use. Otherwise, they will create standalone parking and / or accessory uses on separate parcels. Engineering (Glenn Brooks) Upon the last review I understood this was to be a primitive camping site. This new plan seems a bit more, but that is a matter of interpretation for planning. It is recommended that permanent structures or septic facilities not be allowed in the Water Protection Ordinance buffer or floodplain. Current Development (Bill Fritz) The applicant has applied for several parking design waivers. Please note that BOS must act on these and not the PC. The request for a waiver of curb and gutter cannot be fully evaluated until the County Engineer comments have been received. The applicant is requesting relief from the entrance requirements. Prior to providing comment on this waiver I will need to review the comments from VDOT and the County Engineer. The design proposed by the applicant appears to have no single entrance location but instead proposes to have a wide open entrance to the parking areas. Even with this road being a dead end this type of entrance design is generally not encouraged. No site plan waiver has been submitted. The plan submitted in support of the special use permit does not contain the information required for a site plan. Virginia Department of Transportation (Joel DeNunzio) No comments Resubmittal or Public Hearing Within 30 days of the date of this letter, please do one of the following: (1) Resubmit in response to these comments on a resubmittal date as published in the project review schedule (the full resubmittal schedule may be found at www.albemarle.org in the "forms" section at the Community Development page). Please use the enclosed resubmittal form; OR (2) Request a public hearing be set with the Planning Commission based on the information provided with your previous submittal (a date will be set in accordance with the Planning Commission's published schedule as mutually agreed to by you and the County), OR (3) Request indefinite deferral and state your justification for requesting the deferral. (Indefinite deferral means that you intend to resubmit /request a public hearing be set with the Planning Commission after the 30 day period.) If we have not received a response from you within 30 days, we will contact you again. At that time, you will be given 10 days to do one of the following: a) request withdrawal of your application, b) request deferral of your application to a specific Planning Commission date as mutually agreed to with staff, or c) request indefinite deferral and state your justification for requesting the deferral. If none of these actions is taken, staff will schedule your application for a public hearing based on the information provided with your original submittal. Please be advised that, once a public hearing has been advertised, only one deferral prior to the Planning Commission's public hearing will be allowed during the life of the application. The only exception to this rule will be extraordinary circumstances, such as a major change in the project proposal by the applicant or more issues identified by staff that have not previously been brought to the applicant's attention. As always, an applicant may request deferral at the Planning Commission meeting. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to meet or need additional information. Sincerely, Scott Clark Senior Planner, Planning Division