HomeMy WebLinkAboutZTA201700004 Correspondence 2017-07-10From: Morgan Butler [mailto:mbutler@selcva.org]
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2017 2:00 PM
To: Planning Commission <PlanningCommission@albemarle.org>
Cc: Bill Fritz <BFRITZ@albemarle.org>
Subject: Proposed ZTA: Farmers' Markets as by -right use
Dear Planning Commission Members:
We wanted to offer a few thoughts on the proposed zoning text amendment you'll be
considering tomorrow night to change farmers' markets from a special use to a by -right use in
the Rural Area and Village Residential zoning districts.
We appreciate the County's efforts to support local agriculture, and holding appropriately scaled
farmers' markets in the County's Rural Areas is a good opportunity to help ensure that it
continues to thrive.
We also understand that the few special use permit applications the County has received for
farmers' markets in the Rural Areas over the past several years have been for small markets
proposing few changes to the site.
However, once they reach a certain size and scale, farmers' markets can significantly impact
the surrounding area. Take, for example, Charlottesville's City Market and its impacts to
surrounding blocks on any given Saturday morning—and that's even without any type
of permanent structure devoted to the use.
As a result, we understand the benefits that would accompany allowing smaller -scale farmers'
markets to be a by -right use, but we also think the special use permit process provides an
important review opportunity and approval checkpoint for larger and more impactful proposals
that may come forward in the future—particularly considering that the County Code places no
limit on the size of a structure that may be built for a farmers' market. (This means that if
farmers' markets become a by -right use, structures of any size may be built in the Rural Area for
farmers' markets without Planning Commission and Board review or approval.)
With that in mind, we urge you not to recommend approval of the current proposal to change
farmers' markets to a by -right use in the Rural Areas and Village Residential zoning
districts. We encourage you instead to think about potential size and scale thresholds below
which it may make sense to allow farmers' markets to be by -right, but above which a special
use permit would continue to be required. Just as a general idea, perhaps one threshold could
be the total square footage of all structures to be used, and an another threshold could be an
overall area requirement for all activities (parking, vendor stalls, etc.).
In short, promoting and facilitating local agriculture through farmers' markets is a worthwhile
effort, but like the many other rural commercial uses that have come up in recent years, this too
must be carefully balanced with the County's many other Rural Area goals and values.
Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts will keep us from attending your meeting tomorrow night, but
we appreciate your consideration of our input. Please let me know if you have any questions in
the meantime.
Sincerely,
Morgan Butler
Morgan Butler
Senior Attorney
Southern Environmental Law Center
201 West Main Street, Suite 14
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 977-4090