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COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE
Department of Community Development
401 McIntire Road, North Wing
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-4596
Phone (434) 296-5832
March 21, 2011
Lori H. Schweller, Esq.
LeClairRyan
123 East Main Street, 8t" Floor
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Fax (434) 972-4126
Re: Application for Letter of Zoning Compliance: Tax Map 32, Parcel 41 D2 (LZC
2010-008 United States Post Office)
Dear Ms. Schweller,
You have requested confirmation of the zoning status and compliance with applicable
Albemarle County Zoning Ordinance provisions of a parcel of real property currently
shown on the County of Albemarle Tax Map 32 as parcel 41 D2 (the "Property").
According to County tax records, the Property contains a one-story warehouse building
with approximately 73,000 finished square feet. The Property contains a surface
parking lot containing approximately 104,792 square feet. These shall be referred to
herein as the "Existing Improvements." You request zoning compliance information
pertaining to both the Property and Existing Improvements, as well as zoning
information relevant to future construction of an additional two-story building containing
approximately 40,000 square feet on the Property (the "Future Improvements"), for the
manufacture of medical instruments and associated offices and parking (the "Project").
According to the plat dated March 4, 2011 by Kirk Hughes & Associates, this property
consists of 9.365 acres. This shall hereinafter be referred to as "the Plat." All
referenced sections are provisions of the Albemarle County Code, Chapter 18 -Zoning.
Permitted Use
The Property is zoned Light Industrial, LI, as defined and described by Zoning
Ordinance Section 27. Per Section 27.2.1, by -right permitted uses include the
manufacture, processing, fabrication, assembly, distribution of products, such as, but
not limited to, surgical, medical and dental instruments and supplies; business and
professional office buildings; warehouse facilities and wholesale businesses not
involving storage of hazardous materials; temporary construction uses; and related
accessory parking. A use with these components is permitted by -right in the LI zoning
district. This property is also subject to the EC, Entrance Corridor and the AIA, Airport
Impact Area Overlay Districts.
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March 21, 2011
Airport Impact Area Overlay District - AIA
The Property lies within the AIA District. No portion of the building or other structure
belonging to the Property penetrates the "airport protection area," as shown on the
relevant zoning map. As the Property is not within the "safety area," all uses permitted
in the LI zoning district are permitted. As the Property is not within the "noise impact
area," buildings constructed on the Property are not required to meet the noise
performance standards of Sec. 30.2.5.
Entrance Corridor Overlay District — EC
The Property shares a boundary with an EC street (Virginia Route 649 (Airport Road)
from U.S. Route 29 North (Seminole Trail) to Virginia Route 606 (Dickerson Road)) as
of the applicable reference date, so the overlay district extends to the full depth of the
parcel per Sec. 30.6.2.c. Uses permitted by right in the underlying zoning district are
permitted by right in the EC overlay district, except as set forth in Sec. 30.6. Per Sec.
30.6.4, a certificate of appropriateness issued by the architectural review board is
required for any new structure or site improvement for which a building permit is
required unless exempt under Sec. 30.6.5. An addition to the existing building may be
exempt from the requirement of a certificate of appropriateness if it qualifies under Sec.
30.6.5.g ("Additions or modifications to structures or site improvements where there is
no substantial change in design or materials"). A new structure on the Property may
qualify for a county -wide certificate of appropriateness if, for example, the structure is
more than 750 feet from Airport Road and is not more than five (5) stories tall (Sec.
30.6.4.b.3.a.1); or, the structure is located behind another structure and is no more than
two times the height of the front structure (Sec. 30.6.4.b.3.a.2).
Standard Ratios in Industrial Districts
Per Section 26.4.1, maximum floor area ratios shall not exceed 0.70 times the land
area of the lot. The Existing Improvements do not exceed FAR limitations and would
not exceed the FAR were the owner to construct the Future Improvements.
Maximum land coverage by buildings on a lot within the Industrial Districts may not
exceed 0.50 times the land area of the lot. The Existing Improvements do not exceed
such maximum ratio, nor would such ratio be exceeded by construction of the Future
Improvements.
Off -Street Parking and Loading
Section 4.12.6 provides that for industrial uses not otherwise identified, the minimum
number of spaces required is one space per employee on the largest shift plus one
space per five hundred square feet open to the public for customer parking, but in all
cases a minimum of 2 customer parking spaces.
Section 4.12.13 provides that, in addition to regular parking spaces, one loading space
for the first 10,000 square feet of industrial floor area plus an additional loading space
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LZC 2010-008 United States Post Office
March 21, 2011
for each additional 20,000 square feet of industrial floor area are required and are
applicable to the Future Improvements. In addition, one dumpster pad is required for
an industrial building of 4,000 square feet or greater. A dumpster pad with three -sided
metal shed is located at the rear of the building. The Plat depicts 18 loading bays and a
covered loading dock sized for two trucks, thus satisfying the loading requirements.
According to the Plat, existing improvements include 134 regular parking spaces, 4
handicapped parking spaces, 8 tractor trailer parking spaces and 1 motorcycle parking
area. This is counted as a total of 138 parking spaces. This number of spaces is
sufficient for a maximum of 136 employees on the largest shift with two customer
parking spaces. If the Project includes more than 1,000 square feet of building space
open to the public, an additional parking space is needed for each additional 500
square feet. The applicable parking setback requirements set forth in Section 4.12 are
met by the Existing Improvements. Because this site plan was not approved or
inspected by the County, I cannot provide comment on parking area design.
Height Requirements
Per Section 26.6, structures may be erected in the Industrial Districts to a height up to
sixty-five (65) feet; provided that any structure exceeding thirty-five (35) feet shall be
setback from any single-family residential or agricultural district, in addition to minimum
yard requirements, a distance of at least two feet for each one foot in height over thirty-
five feet. You have stated that the Existing Improvements are under 35 feet in height
and they will therefore meet these height requirements.
Yards
The Property is adjacent to public streets and to residential and rural areas districts.
The Property and Existing Improvements meet the yard requirements set out in Section
26.10:
a. Adjacent to public streets. No portion of any structure, excluding signs,
shall be erected closer than fifty (50) feet to any public street right-of-way. No
off-street parking or loading space shall be located closer than ten (10) feet to
any public street right-of-way.
The Property is adjacent to State Route 649 (Airport Road), which provides the
northeast boundary of the parcel. The Property complies with the 50 -foot
building setback and 10 -parking setback along that public street right-of-way.
b. Adjacent to residential or rural areas districts. No portion of the structure,
excluding signs, shall be located closer than fifty (50) feet to any residential or
rural areas district, and no off-street parking space shall be closer than thirty
(30) feet to any residential or rural areas district.
The Property is bounded on the southeast by property zoned RA. The structure
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LZC 2010-008 United States Post Office
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complies with the 50 -foot building setback, and the parking area complies with
the 30 -foot setback. The Property is bounded on the north by Grand Forks
Boulevard, a private road with a variable width that is part of the parcel to the
southwest, zoned Planned Development — Mixed Commercial, PD -MC. The
property to the northwest of the private road is zoned RA. No portion of the
building is closer than 50 feet, and no parking space is closer than 30 feet, to
said parcel.
As is our practice with official determinations, I am including the standard appeal
language. If you are aggrieved by this determination, you have a right to appeal it
within thirty (30) days of this notice, in accordance with Virginia Code § 15.2-2311. If
you do not file a timely appeal, this determination shall be final and unappealable.
An appeal may be taken only by filing an appeal application with the Zoning
Administrator and the Board of Zoning Appeals, in accordance with § 34.3 of the Zoning
Ordinance, along with a fee of $240 plus the actual cost of advertising the appeal for
public hearing.
Applications for Appeal of the Zoning Administrator's Determination are available at the
Department of Community Development located at 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville,
Virginia 22902 or online at www.albemarle.org/cdapps. This form applies to the appeal
of a decision of the zoning administrator or any other administrative officer pertaining to
the Zoning Ordinance.
Regulations pertaining to the filing of an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals are
located in Chapter 18, Section 34.3 of the Zoning Ordinance. They may be reviewed
online at www,albemarle.org/countycodebza.
(Please note that our online documents are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and must be
viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader or an equivalent. A link to download the free
plug-in is available at the bottom of www.albemarle.org/cdapps.)
Sincerely,
Amelia G. McCulley, A.I.C.P.
Zoning Administrator