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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCP201400002 Legacy Document 2014-09-10LJI2GIN1'' COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Project Name: CCP 2014 -00002 Staff: Rachel Falkenstein, Senior Planner Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission Work Session: Board of Supervisors Public Hearing: September 16, 2014 N/A Owner /s: The Rector and Visitors of the University of Applicant: Office of Facilities Development Virginia c/o Space & RE Management Tax Map Parcel: 09300 -00 -00 -00700 Acreage: 172.2 acres Location: 2300 Milton Road Zoning District: RA Rural Area Magisterial District: Scottsville Conditions or Proffers: No Proposal: Compliance with the Comprehensive Plan Comprehensive Plan Designation: review for an indoor regional firearms training facility to Rural Area; Area B serve the County of Albemarle, City of Charlottesville and University of Virginia. Use & Character of Property: Use of Surrounding Properties: Former airport site with an existing outdoor firing range Residential and Rural Area uses. Village of for UVA police department. Former airstrip and hangar Rivanna to the east and rural residential along currently used by UVA for storage and research. Milton Rd and Milton Hills Dr to the west; Remainder of property is partially wooded. Agricultural and residential to the north and south. Factors Favorable: Factors Unfavorable: 1. The proposed indoor facility will improve upon an 1. The proposed use may be visible from existing outdoor firing range and will reduce noise some portions of the adjacent Village of and environmental impacts. Rivanna. 2. The location of the proposed firing range will provide a convenient training facility for local public safety personnel. 3. The site's size, vegetation and topography will limit adverse impacts on adjacent areas including the Rivanna River and adjacent rural area and residential uses. 4. Department of Historic Resources review of the project will provide needed oversight to protect any historic resources on the site. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Commission find the location, character and extent of the proposed Regional Firearms Training Facility is in substantial accord with the County's Comprehensive Plan for the reasons identified as the favorable factors of the staff report as outlined above. STAFF PERSON: Rachel Falkenstein PLANNING COMMISSION: 9/16/2014 CCP 2014 REGIONAL FIREARMS TRAINING CENTER Review for Compliance with the Comprehensive Plan (Va. Code 15.2- 2232) Background This is a proposal to construct an indoor firearms training facility to serve the regional partners of Albemarle County, City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia (UVA). The County does not currently own or operate the elements of a public safety training center. County personnel travel outside of the County to acquire necessary training or use private facilities. With the current arrangement, County police officers are restricted to firearms training once annually, the minimum required by the state to maintain certification. To further reduce liability concerns and increase officer firearms proficiency and safety, the Albemarle County Police Department should be training three times annually. The current situation is also inadequate for police training because of restrictions that prevent realistic, scenario -based training. Per direction from the Board of Supervisors in a unanimous vote held during their February 6, 2013 meeting, staff was directed to no longer pursue building an open firing range on the former Keene landfill site. The Board further directed staff to investigate alternatives for indoor range facilities within the County. A priority of the property search was to first seek a suitable parcel of County property or the property of one of the County's potential regional partners prior to exploring a property purchase. After an extensive search, a site was located at the former Milton Airport site. The property is owned by UVA and is the current location of the UVA Police Department's outdoor firing range. The proposed plan of action would be to close down the outdoor facility and partner with UVA Police and the Charlottesville Police Department to construct a new indoor facility on this site. On August 14, 2013 the Board unanimously approved the Milton site as the most suitable location for the new firearms training facility. The Board directed staff to move forward with development of the operational, lease and funding agreements between the three jurisdictions. Purpose of the Review A Compliance with the Comprehensive Plan Review (or "2232 Review ") considers whether the general location, character and extent of a proposed public facility are in substantial accord with the adopted Comprehensive Plan. It is reviewed by the Planning Commission and the Commission's findings are forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for their information. No additional action is required of the Board. The Commission's action is only related to the appropriateness of the site for this public use, and is not an action or recommendation on whether the facility should be funded and /or constructed. Characteristics of the Site & Area The proposed site for the Firearms Training Center is the 172 acre former Milton Airfield property located at 2300 Milton Road. The site is currently owned by UVA and is used for an outdoor firing range by UVA police for annual training. There is an existing hangar on the site CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 2 and a few existing non - residential buildings that are used for research and storage by UVA's Engineering and Architecture Departments. The site is designated Rural Area in the Comprehensive Plan and is zoned Rural Areas. The site is bordered to the west by Milton Road (Route 729) and to the east by the Rivanna River and to the north and south by privately owned property. Neighboring Uses (see Attachment A for location map): Direction Use Zoning Comp Plan North Residential and RA Rural Area a /forestry South Residential and RA Rural Area a /forestry East Village of Rivanna PRD - Planned Village of Rivanna, (Glenmore) - single Residential Neighborhood Density - low family residential Development West Mostly single family RA Rural Area residential Specifics of the Proposal The attached conceptual plan (Attachment C) shows the proposed layout and design of the facility. The proposed structure is 19,861 square feet and will consist of two fully enclosed 50 yard firing range areas with 8 lanes each. The facility will also include a multipurpose training room and simulator room. The proposed project area, including parking, stormwater management facility and drainfield, consists of approximately 3.25 acres of the 172 acre site. The applicant is still working to determine the exact location of the drainfield. Both ranges will be fully enclosed by a precast concrete construction method and will include associated safety features, environmental friendly ventilation systems and sound deadening measures. A key design requirement set by the partners is to meet or exceed the County's noise ordinance at the property line. The estimated noise levels shown in the attached sound study (Attachment E) will meet or remain below the noise levels required by the zoning ordinance. The site is currently accessed from a paved drive off of Milton Road. The proposed facility will continue to use the current access to the site. Traffic generation figures for the proposed use estimate a maximum of 80 additional trips per day along Milton Road. VDOT has commented that site distances will need to be verified for the entrance and that a commercial entrance may be needed for this use. Conformity with the Comprehensive Plan This proposal has been reviewed based on Comprehensive Plan policy, including the current Comprehensive Plan, the draft Comprehensive Plan currently under review and the Milton Area "B" Study from 1994. Milton Airport Area "B" Study: Areas in the County labeled Area B are joint planning areas of the City, the County, and UVA. Area B covers properties in the City and the County that are of interest to UVA because of their proximity to the University or ownership by the UVA Foundation. As part of the cooperative CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 3 agreement between the three entities (generally referred to as the "Three Party Agreement "), studies were undertaken for several Area B properties. The Milton Airport site was the subject of an Area B study completed in 1994. The recommendations of the study are as follows: Recommendation A: Continue to maintain current uses on site. Staff Comment: The current uses on site at the time of the study included the outdoor firing range as well as use of the hangar and site for university research. The study recognized the noise generated by the firing range, but felt that continuing the use was acceptable. The proposal to construct an indoor facility and discontinue the outdoor range improves upon the existing firing range by decreasing the noise impacts. Recommendation B: Retain the existing vegetative buffer along Milton Road between the site and residential property. Staff Comment: The concept plan for the proposed range shows a significant vegetative area to be maintained along Milton Road. Note: The draft Comprehensive Plan also recommends continuing the current uses on the Milton Area B site and maintaining the vegetative buffer along Milton Road. Community Facilities Plan: Police Department Standards (current plan): Provide, or insure availability of, training facilities including firing range academic facilities classroom /training rooms. Staff Comment: The proposed regional facility will provide both firing range facilities and classroom and simulator training rooms for County public safety personnel. Objective (current plan): The location of new public facilities should be within the County's Development Areas so as to support County land use policies. Development Areas such as Communities and Villages will serve as service center locations for the Rural Areas. Only in cases where it is not possible to locate a new facility in the Development Area due to physical constraints, or the nature of the facility, and /or service(s) provided, will public facilities be allowed in the Rural Area. Staff Comment: The draft plan also contains similar language. The intent of this objective is to encourage public facilities that directly serve residents to be located in the Development Areas where residential growth is encouraged. This is a unique facility which, unlike schools, libraries, parks and fire stations, does not directly serve residents. Its location within the Rural Area will not encourage growth in the rural area or negatively affect the quality of services provided to residents in the Development Areas. This particular Rural Area location is already in a public property with an existing firing range use on -site. Additionally, locating a firing range in the Development Areas may not be appropriate due to the nature of the facility and the perceptions associated with firing ranges. Though the proposed facility will be indoors, it could be problematic to locate this facility in within the Development Area due to concerns of noise and safety. The use would also likely consume limited commercial or industrial land inventory if constructed in the Development Areas. CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 4 Strategy 1 b (draft plan): give priority to the maintenance and expansion of existing facilities to meet service needs. Staff Comment: Utilizing the site of UVA's existing outdoor firing range will provide an improved indoor firing range which will have less noise impacts to neighboring properties and the Rural Area than the existing outdoor facility. Strategy 2e (draft plan): Locate the Public Safety Training Academy in a central location to provide convenient access for all regional members (also see strategy 4c). Staff Comment: The proposed indoor firing range is convenient to County, City and University partners. Rural Area Plan: Because the proposed indoor firing range is in the County's designated Rural Area, it is necessary to weigh the impact that the proposed use could have on key components of the Rural Area. The current Rural Area Plan provides the following guidance: 1. Agriculture - Protect Albemarle County's agricultural lands as a resource base for its agricultural industries and for related benefits they contribute towards the County's rural character, scenic quality, natural environment, and fiscal health. 2. Forestry resources - Protect Albemarle County's forests as a resource base for its forestry industries and watershed protection. 3. Land Preservation — Permanently preserve and protect Albemarle County's rural land as an essential and finite resource through public ownership or through conservation easements. 4. Land Conservation — Protect Albemarle County's rural land through planned management of open spaces to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect. Staff Comment: The proposed firing range would replace an existing outdoor firing range, which will be decommissioned once the indoor facility is constructed. The indoor facility will not be impacting existing agricultural or forestry resources. There are no conservation easements or agricultural - forestal districts adjacent to the site. 5. Water supply resources - Protect the quality and supply of surface water and groundwater resources. 6. Natural resources - Preserve and manage the Rural Areas' natural resources in order to protect the environment and conserve resources for future use. Staff Comment: After the construction of the proposed range is complete, the existing outdoor range will be closed and removed. Decommissioning of the old range will include environmental remediation measures to ensure no contaminants remain on site from the old range. The proposed indoor facility will provide greater protection of environmental resources and will prevent against any lead contamination leaving the range. 7. Scenic resources - Preserve the County's rural scenic resources as being essential to the County's character, economic vitality, and quality of life. CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 5 Staff Comment: The Milton Airport site is along the Rivanna River which is a state designated Scenic River and the location of a planned greenway in the County. The proposed indoor range will be approximately 900 feet from the River and will be located outside of the floodplain. It is not anticipated that the proposed facility will be visible from the Rivanna River due to the topography and vegetation on the site. Noise impacts at the River will be minimal. The proposed plan includes an approximate 300 foot wide vegetative buffer along Milton Road, so the site is not likely to be visible from Milton Road or residences along the road. Renderings of the proposed facility show that it will be visible from the second story of some houses within the Village of Rivanna (see Attachment D), which is not part of the Rural Area. 8. Historical, archeological and cultural resources - Protect the Rural Areas' historic, archeological and cultural resources. Staff comment: The site is located in the vicinity of the historic Village of Milton. To staff's knowledge, this site has not been surveyed for historical or archeological resources. As part of the state's approval process the partners will be required to complete an Environmental Impact Review (EIR). The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) will review the EIR to determine if an archeological survey of the site is needed prior to construction of the new facility. Staff recommends the partners follow any recommendations that DHR may have for site surveying or historic preservation measures. The site is not expected to be visible from Monticello. Summary Factors Favorable: 1. The proposed indoor facility will improve upon an existing outdoor firing range and will reduce noise and environmental impacts. 2. The location of the proposed firing range will provide a convenient training facility for local public safety personnel. 3. The site's size, vegetation and topography will limit adverse impacts on adjacent areas including the Rivanna River and adjacent rural area and residential uses. 4. Department of Historic Resources review of the project will provide needed oversight to protect any historic resources on the site. Factors Unfavorable: 1. The proposed use may be visible from some portions of the adjacent Village of Rivanna. Staff finds the proposed site and scale of activity for the proposed Regional Firearms Training Facility in substantial accord with the County's Comprehensive Plan. CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 6 Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Commission find the location, character and extent of the proposed Regional Firearms Training Facility is in substantial accord with the County's Comprehensive Plan for the reasons identified as the favorable factors of the staff report as outlined above. Attachments: A. Location map B. Aerial photo of site C. Concept Plan D. Rendering showing view from Rivanna Village E. Sound study CCP 2012 -00002 Regional Firearms Training Center Planning Commission 9/16/2014 Staff Report Page 7