HomeMy WebLinkAboutZTA201000004 Legacy Document 2012-08-14 (4)ATTACHMENT D
Changes to the Zoning Ordinance under the Current Proposal
Background
At the January 31" worksession with the Planning Commission, Staff presented a vision to comprehensively update
our two industrial districts, Light Industry (LI) and Heavy Industry (HI). One of the more significant suggestions was to
eliminate the current list of specific permitted uses and instead establish broad categories of uses that provide
greater flexibility to modern industrial users and better meet the intent of industrial zoning. While there was
consensus to move forward in this direction, both Staff and the Commission also recognized the new proposal would
need to protect agricultural uses, residences and other industrial users from unmitigated impacts. Several
Commissioners suggested a way to further study the potential for incompatible uses was to examine how permitted
uses under the new categories would impact the surrounding areas of existing industrially -zoned property. This type
of analysis could anticipate challenges for specific areas in the County and identify uses that need additional
consideration under the new ordinance.
Structure of the Zoning Ordinance
To complete this research, Staff first noted all of the sections in Zoning Ordinance that regulate impacts of industrial
uses. On the broadest level, Section 4 provides regulations that apply to all uses within the County. This section
contains provisions for critical slopes, parking, signs, lighting, noise, etc. It also contains the updated performance
standards, which were adopted by the Board of Supervisors in August of last year as Phase II of our industrial district
update. The performance standards deal with impacts from the day -to -day operation of an industrial use (noise,
vibration, etc.).
Section 26 provides for general industrial district regulations for both the LI and HI district. This section holds
standards for buffers, building height, and setbacks for structures and parking. These requirements apply to all
development in our industrial districts. Section 27 and 28 further specify regulations within the LI district and HI
district, respectively. This is where the current list of uses permitted by -right and permitted by- special use permit are
located.
Finally, Section 5 of the Zoning Ordinance specifies "supplemental regulations" to further mitigate the impact of
certain uses. For example, one supplemental regulation that applies to sawmills reads that "No saw, planer, chipper,
conveyor, chute or other like machinery shall be located closer than 600 feet to any dwelling on other property in the
area" [Section 5.1.15(b)]. These regulations can be modified or waived, so they are more flexible than the regulations
from the sections discussed above. Figure 1 below helps to visualize how these sections work together and build on
one another to control the impacts associated with industrial uses.
Figure 1: Hierarchy of Industrial Use Regulation within the Zoning Ordinance
Staff then moved forward to integrate information collected from other localities into our framework of regulations, as
described above. There are several aspects of our existing regulations that can be updated and enhanced, specifically
within our general industrial district regulations and supplemental regulations.
General District Regulations
Within the general district regulations, Staff found that provisions for outdoor storage and outdoor activity should be
added. These additions will help mitigate the impacts from the aspects of a use that takes place outdoors, which is a
common characteristic of complaints made by the public to Code Enforcement. Conversely, the provision for floor area
ratios (FAR) and maximum building coverage on individual lots can be eliminated. Figure 2 shows some of the localities
in the Virginia that already use other methods to control the area and bulk of industrial development instead of FAR and
lot coverage.
Figure 2: Comparison of Selected General District Regulations with Other Virginia Localities
Figure 2 also shows that our front, side and rear setbacks are greater than most other areas in the Commonwealth. This
comparison is being provided for informational purposes only as a future text amendment will comprehensively address
setbacks and buffers. However, it may be useful to keep in mind during the review of supplemental regulations, where
increased setbacks are commonly used to mitigate potentially more impactful industrial uses.
Supplemental Regulations
For supplemental regulations, Staff determined it was necessary to focus only on those uses that could be established
by -right under our new proposal. Supplemental regulations are not necessary for uses that are only permitted by
Special Use Permit because the impacts will be addressed with conditions during the review process. In reviewing the
Use Matrix (Attachment E), Staff determined that the following uses need supplemental regulations:
Food Processing Plants
Body Shops (updated)
Machine Shops and
Blacksmithing
Towing /Motor Vehicle
Storage (updated)
Truck Terminal
Slaughterhouse
Attachment D — Page 2
Rendering Plant
Organic Fertilizer
Manufacture or Processing
Biodiesel Manufacturing
Maximum Floor Area Ratio
Lot Coverage
Minimum Yards
Buffer Yards /Area
Front
Side
Rear
Norfolk
(None)
(None)
10 ft.
0 ft.
0 ft.
10 ft.
Newport News
0.7
50%
30 ft.
10 -30 ft.
20 ft.
20 -40 ft.
Harrisonburg
(None)
(None)
30 ft.
10 ft.
10 ft.
(None)
Henrico
(None)
(None)
25 ft.
0 -25 ft.
30 -50 ft.
(None)
Some districts specify max
building sq. ft. (for example,
Chesterfield
(None)
8,000 sq. ft. for individual
25 -60 ft.
0 -20 ft.
0 -30 ft.
(None)
buildings and 20,000 sq. ft. for
public uses.)
Spotslyvania
1 -1.5
(None)
40 ft.
0 -10 ft.
0 -20 ft.
(None)
Stafford
0.5 -1.0; Open space ratio 0.2-
(None)
40 ft.
15 -40 ft.
15 -40 ft.
(None)
0.25
Virginia Beach
2.5
(None)
30 ft.
0 -30 ft.
0 -25 ft.
(None)
20 ft.; 1:2 ft. in
20 ft.; 1:2 ft. in
addt'I setback
addt'I setback
James City
(None)
(None)
25 -100 ft.
for greater
for greater
(None)
than 35 ft. in
than 35 ft. in
height
height
Albemarle (current)
0.7
50%
50 ft.
50 -100 ft.
50 -100 ft.
30 ft.
Albemarle (proposed)
(None)
(None)
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
Figure 2 also shows that our front, side and rear setbacks are greater than most other areas in the Commonwealth. This
comparison is being provided for informational purposes only as a future text amendment will comprehensively address
setbacks and buffers. However, it may be useful to keep in mind during the review of supplemental regulations, where
increased setbacks are commonly used to mitigate potentially more impactful industrial uses.
Supplemental Regulations
For supplemental regulations, Staff determined it was necessary to focus only on those uses that could be established
by -right under our new proposal. Supplemental regulations are not necessary for uses that are only permitted by
Special Use Permit because the impacts will be addressed with conditions during the review process. In reviewing the
Use Matrix (Attachment E), Staff determined that the following uses need supplemental regulations:
Food Processing Plants
Body Shops (updated)
Machine Shops and
Blacksmithing
Towing /Motor Vehicle
Storage (updated)
Truck Terminal
Slaughterhouse
Attachment D — Page 2
Rendering Plant
Organic Fertilizer
Manufacture or Processing
Biodiesel Manufacturing
In some cases, Staff found comprehensive examples of controls used by other localities for these uses. For others,
however, Staff completed additional research to determine the extent of potential impacts on adjacent uses. The
specific text of the supplemental regulations for these uses will be available for review at the next public hearing, but we
are providing the drafted supplemental regulations for a slaughterhouse below as an example of the types of additional
controls that may be appropriate for the uses listed above. These regulations were drafted to ensure that a new
slaughterhouse will be of the size and scale that is appropriate for the County. Our goal is to balance a variety of factors
based on our field visit and review of environmental impact studies. Keep in mind that these restrictions can be
modified or waived because they are supplemental regulations.
Slaughterhouse
1. Maximum building size: 4,000 sq. ft.
2. Minimum acreage: 3 acres.
3. Minimum building and parking setbacks from residential or agricultural lots: 200 feet in the LI district, 150 feet in
the HI district.
4. Minimum building setback from a school: 1000 feet.
5. Outdoor holding pens for animals are prohibited.
6. The CER (Certified Engineer's Report) must include a detailed waste management plan that demonstrates waste
shall only be disposed of in strict compliance with state and federal regulations.
Review of Existing Industrially -Zoned Areas
Finally, as suggested at the prior worksession, Staff reviewed the zoning maps of various industrial areas throughout the
County, such as:
Avon Street Ext. Corridor
Barnes Lumber Property
Comdial Building
Fanuc - Briarwood Area
Mill Creek Industrial Area
Moore's Creek Industrial Area
Old Ivy Industrial Area
Route 29 Corridor
In reviewing these areas, Staff found mitigating circumstances in all the cases where incompatible uses could be
established. These impacts are addressed either through proffers or through compliance with our performance
standards and existing and proposed supplemental regulations. For example, the existing proffers associated with the
Barnes Lumber site would require a rezoning to permit any use other than a lumberyard /sawmill. Staff additionally
notes there are several areas designated for Industrial Service under the Comprehensive Plan that may be subject to a
County- initiated rezoning to LI following this phase of text amendments to our industrial districts. In those cases, the
underlying zoning regulations (general industrial standards, performance standards and existing and proposed
supplementary regulations) will address impacts on adjacent residential or RA properties.
In sum, the concerns raised at the January 31ST worksession have been critical to advancing this zoning text amendment.
Staff found opportunities to strengthen this proposal through researching other localities that have recently updated
their industrial districts and by researching specific uses that can impact surrounding users. The revised and updated
collection of regulations found in Section 4, 5, 26, 27 and 28 work to achieve our goal of both expanding options and
flexibility for industrial users, while also controlling for undue impacts on surrounding areas.
Attachment D — Page 3