Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP201400020 Review Comments Special Use Permit 2015-01-15COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, North Wing Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 -4596 Phone (434) 296 -5832 Fax (434) 972 -4176 December 15, 2014 Ms. Katherine Kane 4284 Ballards Mill Rd. Free Union VA 22940 RE: SP201400020 Waterperry Farm Dear Ms. Kane -- Thank you for the recent application for this special use permit. Please find review comments included in this letter. Please see the attached re- submittal 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.) Review Comments Planning (Scott Clark) Please note that, as with any special use permit, this request will be evaluated based on its appropriateness under the County's land -use goals in the Comprehensive Plan and on its impacts (safety, traffic, noise, etc.) for the surrounding area. We would recommend that the conceptual plan for this use be submitted in the manner of the sketch -plan page you have submitted, rather than as an aerial photograph, as the photograph is more difficult to reproduce. However, the sketch plan must be drawn to scale. A printout of a County GIS map could provide a useable to -scale base map for your sketch. We can help to provide that if you need it. If it would help, we could also meet to discuss the conceptual plan before you re- submit. • The conceptual plan should include an outlined area or "envelope" showing the extent of the property that would be used for all aspects of the events. All structures and event - activity areas within that envelope should be labeled. • The application mentions that the parking area would be "adequately lit by County standards." Please describe in more detail what lighting equipment you plan to use. While lighting can be helpful for guests at night, permanent light poles and/or light fixtures that impact adjacent properties would not be appropriate in the Rural Areas. • We will need to discuss your noise - management measures in more detail when we set up the sound - monitoring check mentioned in the application. More specific measures than just the direction of the speakers may need to be addressed and included in any conditions of approval. • To assist us with drafting the necessary condition of approval, please explain who would or would not be required to arrive and depart by shuttle for the events of 100 or more attendees. Would there be an exception for wedding party members or for certain types of attendees at other kinds of events? Zoning g (Mandy Burbage) Please see attached memo. Engineering (Glenn Brooks) The application mentions traffic signs and attendants, as well as shuttles for larger events to address traffic impacts and circulation. It is recommended that this be a condition of the special use permit with some minimum measures to be noted on an attachment, such as the number and placement of signs and attendants for circulation and parking. (Ballards Mill Road is a substandard public road, and the site driveways are 9 or 10 ft wide.) Fire/Rescue (Robbie Gilmer) 1. An approved fire safety and evacuation plan shall be required for every event. 404.2.1 Fire evacuation plans. Fire evacuation plans shall include the following: 1. Emergency egress or escape routes and whether evacuation of the building is to be complete or, where approved, by selected floors or areas only. 2. Procedures for employees who must remain to operate critical equipment before evacuating. 3. Procedures for assisted rescue for persons unable to use the general means of egress unassisted. 4. Procedures for accounting for employees and occupants after evacuation has been completed. 5. Identification and assignment of personnel responsible for rescue or emergency medical aid. 6. The preferred and any alternative means of notifying occupants of a fire or emergency. 7. The preferred and any alternative means of reporting fires and other emergencies to the fire department or designated emergency response organization. 8. Identification and assignment of personnel who can be contacted for further information or explanation of duties under the plan. 9. A description of the emergency voice /alarm communication system alert tone and preprogrammed voice messages, where provided. 2. A public safety plan shall include but not be limited to the following. A. Emergency vehicle ingress and egress. B. Fire protection. C. Emergency egress or escape routes. D. Emergency medical services. E. Public assembly areas. F. The directing of both attendees and vehicles, including the parking of vehicles. G. Vendor and food concession distribution. H. The need for the presence of law enforcement. I. The need for fire and emergency medical services personnel. J. Evacuation plans for assembly occupancies. K. Detailed seating plan. L. Occupant load and occupant load limit. Virginia Doartment of Health (Josh Kirtley) From reviewing the letter from the applicant, they wish to have a "permanent restroom facility to the greenhouse, with its own designated septic field to accommodate up to one hundred people ". Please note that if this exception is approved by the County, then the applicant should demonstrate that this feasible. I would recommend that the applicant contact a private soil consultant who could prepare a report for VDH review. I bring this up because I don't know if this was mentioned to Mr. Rice during his review of the property. Planning note: We would recommend that you provide the soil consultant's report with your resubmission for this special use permit review, so that this issue can be addressed as part of the review of this proposed use. Without that, our analysis of the feasibility of this use and of the relevant exception request would be incomplete. Virginia Department of Transportation (Troy Austin/Shelly Plaster) Comments will be provided as soon as they are available probably during the week of January 19th. Please note that VDOT comments may raise significant issues about the ability of roads near the site to accommodate the proposed use. 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. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss the issues raised by this application. Sincerely, Scott Clark Senior Planner, Planning Division