The
Albemarle County Planning Commission held a work session on
Other officials present were
Call to Order
and Establish Quorum:
Mr. Rieley called the regular meeting to order at
CPA
2003-07 Crozet Master Plan - The
Planning Commission will review the Master Plan
prepared by the County's technical consultants, for
adoption into the Comprehensive Plan, Land
Use Plan as an amendment to the Community of Crozet
Profile. (
Ms. Thomas
stated that last week the Commission worked on Section 2 of the Master Plan and
made it all the way to Section 3, Process and Form of Development. This section would be the last narrative
section of the original Master Plan document that would be absorbed and adopted
into our Comprehensive Plan with, of course, revisions and changes to it. The
second part of this is the Guidelines, the various matrixes and supplemental
design information. The Commission would start with Section 3, Process and Form
of Development. She pointed out that
they might not get through all of this section tonight.
Mr. Rieley
suggested that they find a substitute word to use for places. He pointed out
that the document was using the word places differently than Webster’s would
define it.
Ms. Catlin
asked what was staff’s intent of the use of the word places.
Ms. Thomas
stated that the intent was really for distinctive places or places with
identity as opposed to subdivisions that could be picked up and placed
anywhere.
Mr. Rieley
suggested getting rid of the word places, but if they left places in the
document that it should be defined. He
suggested modifying it by using distinctive places.
Ms. Thomas
stated that she would change the wording on # 2 and # 6 and then would do a
word search on place throughout the document.
Mr. Thomas
suggested using distinctive place types on the following page.
Ms. Catlin
stated that they would keep an eye on the lettering sequence as they go through
the document. Next they would go back to
Section B, which would be Services instead of People.
Ms. Thomas
stated that the original heading C. was moved to another place. Section C would
be titled Programs. Section D would be titled Utilities. Section E. has a
correction on page 9 and then Section F is Places. She stated that staff would work on the
letter sequence so that Section B would be entitled Services.
Mr.
Loewenstein pointed out that there was a problem with the fonts throughout the
document.
Ms. Thomas
stated that staff would correct the fonts throughout the document.
Ms. Catlin
stated that basically all of the letter headers have the same weight that and
that staff needs to make some adjustments.
Ms. Thomas asked to make a quick comment. She noted that Mr. Benish and her debated whether it would be redundant or valuable to have the base case existing condition section in here. It was not essential in making the recommendation and in some cases it has been touched on elsewhere in the document. On the other hand when they looked at other neighborhood profiles they do paint a picture of what is going on in the neighborhood. There was some value of having it all wrapped into the Crozet section as opposed to going to the Community Facilities Plan to find out what was going on with say fire or fire rescue in Crozet. She suggested that it all be under the geographic heading. Then the Community’s Facilities Plan lays out more of the standards and the countywide vision. She noted that is why it is in there, but you might have a different feeling about it.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that he preferred to leave that in the document, and the
other Commissioners agreed.
Ms. Catlin
stated that the next was Section C, Programs.
Ms. Thomas
stated that the whole programming aspect of Crozet seemed very important to the
community. It was strictly land use like
they usually deal with it. But because
there is so much tourism potential there for local businesses, the programming
takes on an added meaning because it brings activity to that downtown cultural
core.
Mr. Rieley
stated as he was looking at the lost of community events, it seemed that the
paragraph should be put in a reduced form or possibly add another bullet
because the specific events come and go through the years.
Ms. Thomas
stated that they could restructure the paragraph or imply that there are a
variety of other things that are not specified.
Ms. Catlin
reiterated that the Planning Commission wanted that paragraph redrafted to
include something that implies something that is more open ended. She asked if there were any suggestions for
Social Services. Since there were no
suggestions she stated that they would move to Section D Utilities on page 7.
Mr. Thomas
asked that in the paragraph proceeding D. Utilities that the verbiage in the
last sentence be changed to read, Crozet like much of the surrounding County'’
area is home to a growing population of seniors.”
Mr.
Loewenstein suggested that in the second paragraph in the recycling
recommendations that they put County in front of budget restraints to read
County budget restraints.
Mr. Thomas
suggested that in the fifth line that they take out “Coiners” and replace with
“a local vendor is being used” to be more generic.
Mr. Rieley
suggested that in the recycling section in the second paragraph from the bottom
regarding ConAgra being a possible location for a recycling remanufacture or
processor that they add a sentence stating that it was a good idea and a
promising one to pursue.
Ms. Catlin
stated that under Water and Sewer, the Commission suggested that staff include
a percentage with the gallons per day so that it was paired with the 80 percent
to reflect where they were currently at without including a date. She stated
that there were no suggested changes to the section on Stormwater. She pointed out that Section E was where the
information discussed earlier was relocated.
After
discussion, Ms. Thomas stated that a brief text paragraph would be added
stating the existing conditions of the greenway systems.
Ms. Echols
arrived at the meeting.
Under Water
and Sewer the estimated costs need to be qualified in the text. Mr. Rieley suggested the wording that these
numbers are current estimates and the figures subject to change and that the
current estimates are slightly more than a million dollars in 2003.
After further discussion, Ms.
Catlin stated that they need to qualify the figures in the text and add a
statement at the beginning of the document that sets out that all dollar
amounts and figures set out in the document are estimates.
The Commission discussed the road
section on connections and asked that in the second paragraph that they add a
qualifier about exceeding the road’s capacity. They asked that the word
calculated be added in front of capacity in the second paragraph under
recommendations.
The Commission discussed the
greenway trails. They suggested that
under greenway trails in the first paragraph that the word “dedicated” is
replaced with “designated” and that they finalize the figure of 30% by
expressing it as roughly one-third. In
addition, in the second paragraph regarding the history after Route 240
rephrase the paragraph in the past tense.
In the heading for the Priority
List, the Commission asked that the word “primary” be deleted from rural road
recommendations to “major.”
After discussion, the Commission
asked that in the section where the road names were first mentioned (Western
and Eastern Avenues) that they put in a caveat that they expect the road names
to change from Western and
There was some
discussion about the fact that Crozet is not part of the area included in the
MPO’s study, but that something was done for Crozet as part of the CHART study.
The Commission asked that something be done to the paragraph regarding this to
make it clearer about the relationship of the Crozet’s data, even though Crozet
was not part of the CHART study area.
Mr. Benish
left the meeting at
Mr. Cilimberg
arrived at the meeting.
The Commission
discussed the charts and tables. The
Commission suggested that the following changes be made to this section:
·
Change the ratios and percentages to only ratios in the
tables and charts so that it would be clearer for people to see it. A suggestion was made that the ratios be
corrected to be 1:1 ratios. On table 1
needs to be changed to decimals and percentages need to be changed to
ratios. Table 2 the percentages need to
be changed to ratios.
·
Correct the labels on the charts and tables.
·
Either put in specifically as ratios or redefine it in the
section.
·
The description needs to match the information in the tables
and charts.
Ms. Catlin
stated that the Commission discussed using different graphics for future
roads. The Commission acknowledged that
it would be a nice distinction, but it was not worth spending a lot of money.
Under the
topic of transit service, the Commission asked that in the fourth paragraph
that BRC be replaced with “bus rapid transit.”
Mr. Rieley
asked that a statement be added before the road and transit section that states
that these projections are based upon the assumption that a substantial amount
of commercial will take place and mitigate the need for everybody to drive to
and from. If that is not the case, it will have an impact on the projections.
Ms. Catlin
reiterated that the Commission wanted a statement about the dependency of the
projection of plan elements on the economic recommendations being followed.
Mr. Rieley
suggested that before the charts that the caveat is placed that about the
projections in general that these numbers are not very good if they don’t get
the economic development.
Ms. Thomas
stated that she had to leave the meeting, but suggested that the Commission
keep working on this. She suggested that
they put in the dark skies at the end of this. She pointed out that the
consultants did not pick up that issue.
She pointed out that was identified as an aesthetic and a natural
resource by several different groups throughout the planning process. She stated that this issue was probably just
overlooked and felt that it was necessary particularly for issues such as where
they would want to have a lighted ballfield. The other issue regards some of
the discussion about the transect types found under Section G, Map Development
and Guidelines. She stated that this discussion would probably go better after
they discuss the maps and start to pull apart the matrixes. She suggested that they have one more session
with Ms. Catllin, depending on how far they got tonight.
Ms. Catlin
stated that they had ten more minutes to try to finish this section, and then
next time they would take up Section G and the maps. The next section was Bicycle Routes and
Sidewalks. She stated that they had
already suggesting making the following changes:
·
Substitute BRT for express bus service.
·
Comment in the first paragraph concerning roads about the
economic development.
Mr. Rieley
stated that there should be a discussion about the necessity and desirability
for a good on-street system for bicycles.
He stated that they have had previous discussion about where they should
paint the bicycle lanes on the road. He pointed out that he did not think that
they have to necessarily paint the lanes on the road in order to provide this
ability. He felt that there was a
paragraph that was missing regarding this issue.
Ms. Echols
stated that staff would do some research on this issue and capture that
information in a paragraph and bring it back to the Commission to review.
Ms. Catlin
stated that the next section was historic districts and asked if there were any
comments
Mr.
Loewenstein asked that they were talking about encouraging historic
designations, but they were not necessarily limiting that encouragement to the
creation of a district involving a larger area than that. He pointed out that
the terminology was confusing because a district could be a single building and
its acreage and it could be a whole group of buildings, etc. He asked that they ponder that issue. He pointed out that there were a few
typos. In the third line where it says
that Yancey Mills was applying for this status, he pointed out that this was
not really a County designation at all because they have to apply to the DVAD
for the historic designation.
Mr. Catlin
summarized Mr. Loewenstein’s suggestion that he wanted some type of
clarification that there could also be individual sites that might be eligible
for consideration beyond what is really thought of as a district. Also, he asked that they clarify that the
application for historic landmark status begins with the state first and then
moves forward from there. In the
sentence about the registration he asked that they mention that the
documentation piece of that is what has actually gotten underway.
Mr. Rieley
asked that they add a sentence to the first one that says this is not mutually
exclusive with the designation of individual eligible sites.
Ms. Catlin
stated that the next section was schools.
She asked if there was anything to add between this section and the
maps.
Mr.
Loewenstein asked that regarding libraries that it be made clear that the
facility is already needed in Crozet.
Ms. Catlin
stated that a sentence should be added to state that Crozet currently has one
branch library of 1,864 square feet, which was already inadequate according to
established standards.
Mr. Rieley
asked that under parks and recreation that they add another level between #3
and #4 that stresses that development and linkage of squares means types of
spaces that are associated with developments to the larger park and open space
system. He pointed out that they would
end up with 5 instead of 4.
Ms. Catlin
summarized the changes proposed by the Commission during the work session.
·
On page 1, places would be replaced with distinctive places
or something that staff might come up with that captures the use better and use
it throughout the whole document.
·
Straighten out the alphabetizing of the sections and the
font sizes.
·
In Section C under the existing conditions, the bulleted
listing needs to be recrafted into a paragraph or something to imply a more
open-ended less defined list.
·
Under the existing conditions in social services, the
sentence needs to be changed to say that Crozet, like much of
·
In utilities in the second paragraph of recommendations add
language that recycling despite County budget constraints.
·
Also under existing conditions in the second paragraph take
the reference out to Coiners and put in something like a private local hauler.
·
Under water and sewer, there was some discussion that a
broad reaching statement should appear at the front of the document that says
something about qualifying the use of dollar figures, numerical designations to
say that they refer to current estimates that may change over times with
different situations.
·
The capacity figure needs to be expressed in a percentage
that would be more closely related to the 80 percent capacity of the item. This needs to be added further up in the
recommendation part.
·
Regarding connections, in the first paragraph take out 50
percent and say something like roughly one-third to give some flexibility. In addition use the work designated instead
of dedicated on the rural areas.
·
Add a brief text paragraph on the existing conditions of the
greenway trails.
·
Under roads, add a statement about the dependency of the
projects and other plan elements on the follow through of the economic
recommendations. Also, a qualifier needs
to be put in about the variable nature of the projection and how these numbers
may not be exactly precise, specifically the traffic projections.
·
In the second paragraph under recommendations on the first
line insert calculated between roadway and capacity.
·
Rephrase the section on the southeastern quadrant and put it
in the past tense to reflect that the Board has taken action on that.
·
Change the listing from primary road recommendations to
major road recommendations.
·
Back track in the document to where Eastern and Western
Avenues are first mentioned and put in something that says something about them
being in the western corridor and called
·
Under methodology, clarify the section about the chart
network that the information came from data compiled from CHART even though
Crozet was not a part of that study.
·
Under the forecast results they have already mentioned the
qualifier and don’t have to do that again, but they did want to some work on
the graphic itself to fix the ratio and percentage confusion issue.
·
On figure one and two find a way to distinguish between the
current and future roads.
·
Under transit service, insert bus rapid transit instead of
express bus service.
·
Under bicycle and sidewalks, include some discussion about
the necessity and desirability for good on street on street bike paths.
·
Under places put in distinctive places and explain the
historic landmark status applying for state status.
In summary, the
Albemarle County Planning Commission held the third facilitated work session on
the Crozet Master Plan.
The meeting adjourned at
The meeting convened at
The Albemarle County Planning
Commission held a meeting and a public hearing on
Other officials present were
Call to Order
and Establish Quorum:
Mr. Rieley called the regular meeting to order at
Other Matters
Not Listed on the Agenda from the Public:
Mr. Rieley invited comment from the public on other matters not listed on the agenda.
Marcia Joseph stated that the
Commission might have heard about this at their last meeting, but she wanted to
bring the matter to their attention again.
There is a great deal of construction activity on Route 795 in the
County from the intersection of Route 708 and the
Mr. Cilimberg asked for a copy of the map so that staff could check into it and get back to them.
Mr. Rieley asked that both engineering and zoning take a look at this construction activity.
Mr. Rieley asked if there was anyone else who would like to address an item that is not on tonight’s agenda. There being none, he stated that the meeting would move on to the consent agenda.
Consent
Agenda:
SDP
02-083
Mr.
Rieley stated that they would move on to the consent agenda, which has one item
on it for Blue Ridge Shopping Center Major Site Plan Amendment. He stated that
there has been a request to pull this item from the consent agenda and be
discussed as a regular item. He stated
that if there were no objections that he would like to honor that request. He
asked Mr. Waller if he would summarize the staff report.
Mr. Waller
summarized the staff report. He stated
that this request was for the approval of an amendment to an existing approved
final site plan, which was SDP-1996-133 that was originally entitled the Blue
Ridge Highway Commercial Area. The Planning Commission at its
Mr. Rieley
stated that his question, which was for clarification, evolves around the
nearly 5,000 square feet of additional buildings proposed on this plan. He
noted that his recollection was that the previous deferral by the Commission
was to allow the applicant time to redesign the entrance so that it could be
aligned with Radford Lane and not to allow the applicant to expand the project
another 5,000 square feet. He asked
where the additional square footage came from and what was the justification
for it.
Mr. Waller
stated that staff reviewed the major amendment with the expansion as a request
that they could have made even if the site would have already been
developed. He pointed out that they
could move forward with a major amendment.
As far as why the additional area is requested, staff never really asked
that question of the applicant. The
applicant did indicate that it was necessary, but because as long as they were
within the confines of the existing property lines it was not really something
that staff reviewed the request for.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that the expansion was allowable as long as the zoning allows for
it. He stated that it might not have
been part of the Commission’s deferral or extension, but any amendment to be
submitted was going to be judged against the zoning of the property and the
Zoning Ordinance, and it was certainly allowable. He stated that the Commission
would have to ask the applicant why they did it.
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were other questions for staff.
There being none, he opened the public hearing and asked if the
applicant would like to address the Commission.
Don Wagner, of
Great Eastern Management, stated that the reason that this plan was submitted
was because the County came to them and asked that they submit another plan to
relocate the entrance. He pointed out that they had received two bids from
general contractors and were about to award a contract to build this project
when the request came in. In order to
align the entrance with
Mr. Rieley
asked for clarification if he was talking about
Mr. Wagner stated that
Mr. Rieley was correct in that he was talking about
Mr. Rieley asked if there were any questions for Mr. Wagner. There being none, he opened up the public hearing and asked that Ellen Woff come forward to address the Commission. He stated that the Commission would reserve time for Mr. Wagner’s rebuttal at the end of the meeting.
Ellen Woff stated that
she lived on Route 250 west and was an adjacent property owner to this proposal.
She pointed out that the applicants have been working on this project since
1987. She noted that the notification
from the County was received on Saturday.
Also, a letter had also been received from Great Eastern Management with
Mr. Wagner’s signature on it. She
pointed out that she had not had a chance to walk off this property. She stated that this afternoon she came down
to the
Mr. Rieley
asked if anyone else would like to address this application.
Mr. Comerford
stated that he was actually the new owner of the property and had just found
out about this meeting about three hours ago when his wife opened the letter
that was postmarked last Friday. He
noted that he called Mr. Waller and got this packet, but he had not had time to
look over the information. He stated that he did not know how this would
actually impact his property, but he would like to have a little more time to
learn more about this retention pond that they were talking about that borders
his property. He stated that he really
did not know what all of this means. He
pointed out that he was kind of caught in the dark about this. He asked if this was typically the way that
this process runs in that they get a letter the day before the meeting.
Mr. Rieley
pointed out that Mr. Comerford’s question was a rhetorical question for now,
but it could be answered after the public hearing was closed.
Mr. Comerford
stated that he would just like to have a little bit more time to get some more
knowledge on the request.
Bob Cross
stated that he was a resident of
Mr. Rieley
asked if anyone else would like to address this application. There being none, he asked Mr. Wagner if he
would like some time for rebuttal.
Mr. Wagner
asked that the Commission not delay this because as Ms. Woff said that they
have been working on this since 1987. He pointed out that he thought it was
1988, but that he would take her word that it was 1987. He stated that they would not be here tonight
if they had not been asked by the County to make this change. He pointed out
that they have acted in good faith and have spent a lot of money making this
change. He noted that they have lost a
couple of years in making this change.
Ms. Woff stated that she had not had a chance to look at it. He pointed out that this plan has been on
file at the County essentially as it was for a couple of years. He noted that
she was notified when the plan was originally submitted and did not see fit at
that point to call it before the Planning Commission. Regarding the new owner,
he pointed out that Mr. Waller told him a while back that the new owners had
talked to him shortly after or when they were considering buying the land from
Mr. Scarcia, but to his knowledge he never came down to see the plans. This is not something new that just came in
today. He stated that he was sorry that
the County did not get the letter off sooner. He pointed out that he called the
County two weeks ago and asked them for the list of the neighboring property
owners when he found out that they were going to send letters to the adjacent
property owners. He stated that he asked
them to provide him with the list so that he could write a letter and send it
to those owners and explain what was going on. He pointed out that he received an
email last Thursday that the list had just been developed and that the County
had just sent out their letters, and they emailed him the list. He stated that he got his letters out Friday
to those owners. He apologized that the adjacent owners were not notified
sooner, but it certainly was not anything that they had done. He stated that
there was no reason why they should be further delayed. Someone mentioned the items from
Engineering. He pointed out that there
had been some confusion with Engineering as to whether the plan could be
reviewed as a preliminary plan or a final plan.
He noted that usually they had preliminary plans coming through. He pointed out that they had submitted this
as a final plan, but Engineering had reviewed it as a preliminary plan. From time to time they would come back and
say this is fine, but they needed to realize that there were some i’s and t’s
to cross as a final plan. He noted that
they finally got that straight with Engineering that it was a final plan and
they came back with some things to be done.
The things on the Engineering list are routine and include a safety
ledge, a manhole and things like that, but nothing to do with the layout of the
site. The only items to be done were
some minor engineering technicalities.
He stated that if the Commission had any further questions, that he
would be happy to answer them. Other
than that, he asked that the Commission approve this request and let them get
on with the shopping center.
Mr. Rieley
closed the public hearing to bring the matter back to Commission for discussion
and possible action.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that he would like to address the issue of the notification being
late. For the purposes of tonight’s
meeting, he pointed out that his understanding was that staff was not going to
actually bring this to the Commission until after the first of the year, but
the applicant asked that they hear the request this year. Staff was going to
wait until they had received approvals from Engineering on some of the
outstanding issues before they actually brought the request to the Commission.
At the applicant’s request, staff went ahead and scheduled this item for this
meeting. There was a letter sent out to
the adjacent property owners back in 2002 when the plan was first
submitted. There was one request that
the Commission review it, which was by the owner who sold his property and then
moved away. Therefore, staff tried to
handle this in such a way that was not normal or typical in terms of making
sure that the adjacent property owners were notified of this hearing, even
though a letter was sent previously. He pointed out that the notification was a
courtesy in that regard, but really was something that staff felt that they
ought to do. In order for staff to pull that together in a timeframe that was
requested, it shortened the time period to get the letter out.
Mr. Rieley
asked what was the normal advance time for letters of notification to be sent
out to adjacent property owners.
Mr. Waller
stated that for site plans or by right uses the original letter of notification
goes out two weeks after the application is submitted. It would actually be
four weeks before the Planning Commission meeting. The time in between that is
when staff would have the site review committee meeting. That notification letter went out in 2002
when this application was originally submitted, which was after the site review
committee meeting. This was because of
some issues regarding whether or not the detention pond as proposed would be
allowed to be built and designed because there was a determination that it was
not allowed in the Rural Areas at that time.
Since then, in a situation that was related to it on another site plan,
the ordinance has changed and these types of uses are now allowed in the Rural
Areas. But at that time when the determination was made detention ponds were
not allowed in the Rural Areas. At that time the applicant actually requested
deferral. This item has been dormant for eight or so months while all of those
issues were being worked out.
Mr. Thomas
asked Mr. Waller what issues were pending with Engineering at present.
Mr. Waller
stated that the pending issues mainly fall around the approval of the erosion
and sediment control plan and the stormwater management plan. Basically, that
includes the approval of the basin that was shown here and a lot of the pipes
that are going to be used to get the water to that basin. The Engineering
comments are reflected in the conditions, which are on page 24. He noted that the Planning staff added
additional conditions regarding the screening of that detention pond from
adjacent properties and roadways. Currently, the plan does not show any
screening in the vicinity of the pond.
The existing tree line and the tree line to be retained is also not
shown, which was something that they would need to show on this plan before
final approval. He noted that would be shown on the landscaping plan.
Mr. Thomas
asked if there were any other things that they need to do.
Mr. Waller
stated that aside from the screening of the pond and the Engineering comments
for the erosion and sediment control plans that there is also a condition of
approval for Service Authority approval of the construction plans for the
sanitary sewer and water lines.
Mr. Thomas
asked if all of the conditions have to be approved before the applicant
receives final approval.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that before the final signatures are provided on the plan that it was
subject to the Commission’s approval.
Mr. Rieley
asked what are the implications for deferring this request to the middle of
January. He asked if they have enough time to do that.
Mr. Waller
stated that it was possible, but it would really depend on if the next revision
of the plan satisfactorily addresses all of these conditions. If the applicant
came back with another plan and all of these conditions are not satisfied, then
they would go through another situation where they would have to make the
changes and resubmit them.
Mr. Rieley
stated that his question was relative to the timing and whether they can defer
it on their own.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that ideally when they bring a final plan to the Commission for their
approval, that staff tries to have all of the conditions essentially met. There
might be one or two conditions that are outstanding that get shown as a
condition. He pointed out that in this
case there are twelve outstanding conditions.
He stated that the idea was to give the applicant some additional time
to have those things addressed when they came to the Commission. He stated that
it would give the applicant and staff the time to finish that.
Mr. Rieley
asked if time was a limitation for the Commission on taking that action
unilaterally.
Mr. Waller
stated that there was an approval letter in the packet for when the extension
was granted. He stated that in that
letter it states that the expiration date for the plan is
Mr. Rieley
stated that the answer was that the Planning Commission could defer this
request to allow those issues to addressed.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that the site plan regulations provide that when site plans are amended,
they are to be processed according to the rules that apply to a site plan in
the first instance. Therefore, the 60-
or 90- day rule applies here as well. He pointed out that he did not know where
the County is in that time line, given the lengthy extensions that have been
given.
Mr. Waller
stated that the applicant requested a deferral while the issues with the other
site plan were being addressed, and that the 60-day time period has passed.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that the Commission is in the legal limbo of the applicant having the
opportunity to go to Court ten days after giving them notice, compelling the
Planning Commission to take action on this site plan.
Mr. Rieley
stated that the Commission was in the position that they cannot take unilateral
action.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that the Commission could deal with that scenario by possibly pulling
itself out, unless the applicant agrees to a deferral until the Planning
Commission’s next meeting.
Mr. Edgerton
stated that he was totally confused. He asked how they were granted a 21-month
extension to a specific date of
Mr. Kamptner
stated that date was not the date to amend their site plan, but that date
really is the date by which they need to vest their approved site plan.
Mr. Edgerton
asked when the 60-day period started.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that date deals only with processing this particular amendment,
applicable to site plans that are submitted.
He stated that the
Mr.
Loewenstein noted that it was a different timetable. He stated that Mr. Wagner did speak very
briefly to the purpose of the additional square footage, but he thought that
was something that should be discussed a little further by this group as
well. There has not been much other than
acknowledgement of its existence there.
Mr. Rieley
agreed because it was an important issue as it was when they took this issue up
initially. He stated that he had felt
from the beginning that the realignment of the entrance with
Mr. Thomas
stated that it was an amendment to the site plan and legally he can make an
amendment to the site plan.
Mr. Rieley
stated that he could apply for one.
Mr. Thomas agreed
that he could apply for an amendment because the property does have the correct
zoning. He stated that he could not
remember them having any stipulations of holding it to 4,500 square feet from
the original amendment. He stated that
he was not sure that as a Planning Commission that they could legally do that.
He noted that he did not think that the square footage was the real problem at
this point. He stated that he wished
that the neighbors had gotten notice earlier so that they could have looked at
it. He questioned if there was a way that they could appease that and make the
neighbors have an appropriate notification.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that he objected to the process, which put the additional
square footage into the site. He stated
that he was not denying that under the regulations that apply that it may be
possible to add that as part of the neighbor’s site amendment request, but none
of that has really been addressed at all in the staff report. The applicant did
not address this significantly. He felt that adds another element to this that
really needs a little bit more study and discussion.
Mr. Rieley
stated that it was one thing to say that if this was a fresh application that
the zoning would allow the square footage that is being requested. But it was
another thing to say that because of that that they are obliged to accept it as
a legitimate modification of the previous application. He suggested that they review the minutes of
the meeting, but he thought that there was a substantial amount of discussion
about whether increasing the square footage was a justifiable component of
changing the entrance. He stated that he
was not in favor of it then and he was still not in favor of it.
Mr. Craddock
stated that the alignment of
Mr. Edgerton
stated that he was not privileged to be here when that original decision was
made, but he was having a philosophical problem with the Commission being held
to a deadline to act on something that is very different from what was
approved. He stated that he considered an increase in square footage a
significant change in the plan. Therefore, he would like to solve both problems
by getting the applicant to agree to postpone the item for two to three weeks
to let the neighbors take a good hard look at it. He noted that staff could
also go back and discuss the additional impacts of the additional square footage
being requested, which was not mentioned in the staff report. Therefore, he could not be supportive of the
request. He stated that he would take issue with the way that this was being
handled.
Mr. Rieley
asked if the other Commissioners thought that it would be a good idea for this
request to be deferred in order that the neighbors and staff can take some
additional time to work on the plan.
Mr. Thomas
stated that he had one question before they could take that step. He asked what staff could have provided to
them regarding the impacts. He asked if
the applicant could have supplied that information regarding what the impact of
what the additional 5,000 square feet would do to the area
Mr. Waller
stated that would have been addressed with the request to allow the additional
disturbance within the buffer. He stated that in the Water Resource Ordinance
that was cited in the staff report, which allows for that disturbance, was
actually just subject solely to the Water Resources Manager. What they are looking at is whether or not
the final results of the mitigation plan is going to be a better alternative to
what was actually there in the first place, and if some mitigation of the
disturbance has already taken place in the buffer before the approval. But, it does not really look at the fact that
there are more disturbances within the buffer.
He stated that to staff it was a trade off because basically there was a
saying that anything can be engineered. With that review that was the main
impact. The disturbance within the 20-foot buffer was the main impact from the
increase in size because it pushes the buildings and parking lot back
farther. With that he felt that there
was some higher level of review that could take place as far as if they could determine
if that pond is being impacted as a source of aesthetic resources based on the
impact of the enlargement of the development on the site.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that his understanding was that the additional square
footage would be used for separate purposes from those that were already
planned. He stated that he would have to assume that there would be additional
traffic impacts. There might be a variety of impacts because these are
additional shops or offices that were not part of the original application and
it impacts beyond simply the detention basin or the water resources.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that all of that did get evaluated. He asked that the Commission please
understand that they were dealing with the site plan so that the traffic generated
in association with the entrance and expansions that are occurring on the site
in association with buffers or water are subject to site plan review. Now what you could get as an explanation of
that review was the fact that it was before the Commission in the manner that
it was with a recommendation for approval from the reviewers. That acknowledges that they have addressed
those things. But for the Commission to understand how they were addressed,
they would need to have the reviewers tell them that. That is just about all staff would be left
with bringing to the Commission on the deferred date. It would be more information on how those
particular changes have been addressed in the site plan and mitigation
plan. He pointed out that it was not a
rezoning or a special use permit and was not something that could be judged up
or down based on the fact that there was more square footage and traffic
generated. He noted that it was judged
based on the utility of the site and its design to carry those changes and that
would be what the Commission would receive an explanation about.
Mr. Rieley
asked how the other Commissioners felt about this issue.
Mr. Thomas
stated that he would like to see this again so that the neighbors would feel
more comfortable with what is going in there.
Mr. Edgerton
stated that he understood that the reason that the application was being pushed
through was at the request of the applicant. He noted that he heard that
typically staff already has had Engineering review all of the information and
come up with all of the requirements before bringing something to the
Commission on the consent agenda. He
asked if he heard staff correctly on this.
Mr. Waller
stated that typically staff would bring this to the Commission with some recommendations
for approval in the packet including ones from the Architectural Review
Board. He pointed out that the
Engineering Department was saying that these are the things if the plan was
purely administratively reviewed by staff that are still out there that have to
be taken care of before they can even look at signing this off.
Mr. Edgerton
stated that if there were no concerns from the neighborhood that he would be
comfortable going ahead and trying to expedite this. But the concerns expressed by the neighbors
that they have not had a chance to review the changes to the plan was due to
the fact that they have not had a chance because of the hurried up process. He
stated that personally he would like to give them an opportunity to have a few
weeks to review it. If typically the
County gets a notice to a neighbor four weeks before a hearing and they were
comparing that with four hours before a hearing for one of the neighbors that
he felt that they should go the extra mile to give them an opportunity to study
the plan. He stated that he would be more comfortable seeing this come back
with all of the review as part of the staff packet.
Mr.
Loewenstein agreed.
Mr. Craddock
concurred with Mr. Edgerton. He asked if this would come back as a consent agenda
item or a deferred public hearing.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that it would not be coming back as a public hearing.
Mr. Rieley
stated that the request could come back as a regular item and could be opened
for public comment. He pointed out that
he wanted to get the sentiment of the Commission. He pointed out to Mr. Wagner
that he had heard a unanimous view among the Commission that they would like to
see the neighbors have enough time to scrutinize this more thoroughly and
wondered if he would like to ask for a deferral to their January meeting.
Mr. Wagner
stated that he would like to explain his position before he told them what his
position was. Ms. Woff has been down at
the County opposing this since 1987 and he did not expect her to change her
mind. He noted that he had a nice
conversation this afternoon with Mr. Comerford about the letter and he was a
little surprised to hear what they said tonight, particularly that this was
very new to them because that was not his understanding from Mr. Waller. He pointed out that he did not speak to that,
but he did tell him that they had heard about it quite some time ago. As to
them pushing this through, he stated that they have on file a letter from the
County that says that this plan can be administratively approved. They found out about a month ago that because
of this letter that Mr. Scaria had written, which they thought had died when he
moved away, that they would have to come back to the Commission. But someone at the County has decided
contrary to what they had told us about a year ago that the plan could be
administratively approved, but that it had to come before the Planning
Commission. He stated that if they are going to start building at the site that
they need an approval so that they can start dealing with contractors and
tenants again. When it came up that this was going to have to come back before
the Planning Commission, they thought that it was not going to be held at the
middle of January. He pointed out that
if they are to start building in May that it was not very far in the
construction business from January to May.
For that reason they feel like they were asked to give up two years and
spend tens of thousands of dollars to do this in order to align the road. He pointed out that they have aligned the
roads and definitely provided some value to the public by the regional storm
water pond. He stated that he was not in
the position to request a deferral. He
asked that the Commission act on the request.
He asked if they deny the request that he would like for them to state
plainly their reasons for denial so that they would understand them.
Mr. Rieley
stated that the public hearing was closed to bring the matter back before the
Commission for discussion and possible action.
He stated that the applicant has declined to take a deferral. He stated that it seemed that they have three
possible courses of action. One is to
approve the application, as it was before them with these conditions and/or
additional ones if they see fit.
Secondly, they could deny the application. He stated that he had an
inclination to deny the request on the basis of the expansion of the use over
the original application. The third option was to take a cue from the advice of
Mr. Kamptner that the Commission could defer this with the cognizance that the
applicant’s next step potentially would be to either take these steps or to go
through the courts to have the matter expedited. He stated that would probably take longer
than the month that they were asking them to spend. He pointed out that there
might be some other options.
Mr. Kamptner
stated that, based upon what Mr. Cilimberg had said about what a typical final
site plan looks like when it comes to the Commission in that all of the
technical requirements have already been satisfied, they would not be ready to
vote it up or down. He stated that the
Commission might also want to consider stating as a basis for deferral that the
twelve items that have been listed in the staff report be completed as part of
the final site plan. Then they would
have a final site plan that was in the condition that they typically see. He noted that condition would also provide
that all of the technical requirements have already been incorporated into that
plan rather than left dangling as conditions.
Combined with that, the Commission also could address the other issue to
allow staff the opportunity to come back and more fully explain the impacts of
the revised site plan compared to what the Commission saw a couple of years
ago.
Mr. Rieley
stated that was a good suggestion because he felt that was a refinement of
number 3 rather than a number 4. He
asked what the pleasure was of the Commission.
Mr. Thomas
stated that the Commission had recommended site plans before with conditions, but
this one was a whole lot different because the applicant has added more square
footage to the project than what they had originally seen or what had been
passed originally. He regretted that the applicant would not agree to a
deferral in cooperation with the neighbors so that the neighbors could learn a
little bit more about the project. He stated staff had scheduled the review for
January, but then the applicant speeded it up and staff was not able to get all
of the facts together to finish all of the statistics that they needed. He stated that he would still like to see the
applicant defer the request so that they could look at more of the facts and
get the figures that they need.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that if it were not for the increase in the square footage,
the brief notification and the neighbor’s concerns that he would have to say
that they were on the right track here.
But those things remain concerns for the Commission.
Mr. Edgerton
agreed with Mr. Loewenstein. He stated
that he was prepared to go with the third option as suggested by Mr. Kamptner
if he could figure out how to word the motion.
He asked Mr. Kamptner to restate his motion.
Mr. Kamptner stated that the deferral
would be on the basis of allowing the site plan to be revised to incorporate
the twelve conditions, so that the Commission would have a final site plan
without these conditions. The conditions would have already been addressed. The
deferral would also give staff additional time to prepare an explanation of the
impacts of the redesigned project. He
stated that the next Planning Commission meeting would be held on January 13th.
Mr. Rieley asked if staff feels that
would be adequate time with the upcoming holidays.
Mr. Waller stated that would be
dependent upon Mr. Wagner’s ability to get the revised information with all of
these conditions incorporated into the site plan, and then give Engineering
adequate time to look at the site plan and recommend it for approval.
Mr. Edgerton moved to defer SDP-02-083,
Blue Ridge Shopping Center Major Site Plan Amendment, as previously stated by
Mr. Kamptner, to January 13th.
Mr. Craddock seconded the motion.
The motion carried by a vote of
(5:0). (Finley – Absent)
Deferred
Items:
SP-2003-70 Gregory R. Gallihugh-Nextel
Partners (Sign #59) - Request for special use permit to allow the construction
of a personal wireless facility with a monopole, approximately 85 feet in total
height and 10 feet above the height of the tallest tree within 25 feet. The proposed facility includes flush-mounted
panel antennas and ground equipment.
This application is being made in accordance with Section 10.2.2.6 of
the Zoning Ordinance which allows for microwave and radio-wave transmission and
relay towers in the Rural Areas. The
property, described as Tax Map 74, Parcel 2C, contains 2.78 acres, and is zoned
RA Rural Areas. The proposal is located
on
Mr. Waller
summarized the staff report. This
request is for the installation of a personal wireless service facility with a
metal monopole that would be approximately 85 feet in total height and have a
top elevation that would be approximately 720 feet above sea level. The
monopole would be equipped with one array consisting of three 8-foot long by
1-foot wide and 7-inch deep flush mounted panel antennas. The 8 feet is actually a correction. For some reasons the last page of the
applicant’s construction plans did not make it into the transmittal that was
copied and delivered to the Planning Commission or to the one provided for the
public. This page actually shows the
correct antenna sizes and it also shows an elevation of the proposed shelter
that would be installed with the facility. He pointed out that during the
review of the request that staff observed a balloon test with a balloon that
was floated at the proposed height of this monopole. The balloon was visible above the trees from
a portion of the road right-of-way of State Route 637 and also from a portion
of an adjacent property located to the west of the site. Staff notes that due
to the difference in the proposed height of the monopole and based on the
observance of the balloon test that the monopole would be skylighted from
several of the near by properties around the site. He pointed out a few corrections that should
be made in the staff report. On page 4 in the second paragraph, it starts with
staff has determined that a rather large portion of the proposed monopole would
extend above the tree tops of the surrounding forest when viewed from at least
one adjacent property and the road upon which the subject parcel has
frontage. The next sentence should read
that this would result in the introduction of a facility that would not blend
well within its natural surroundings. On page 5 in the fifth paragraph, it
starts with Section 1.5 from the Zoning Ordinance and then in the next to the
last paragraph that starts with however due to the combination of the size of
this parcel and the wooded area surrounding the site. He pointed out that the
word site was left out in that sentence and it should say the area surrounding
the site. He pointed out that the plans were revised at the time that the
applicant requested the deferral. He
stated that in the analysis for the waiver from the adjacent parcel that the
waiver request information stated that based on the requirements of Section
4.1.3.1.b, the structure should be set back 80 feet from the western property
line. However, instead of pursuing a fall zone easement the applicant is
requesting approval of a waiver in accordance with Section 4.10.3.1.c. He reiterated that the applicant is still
requesting that waiver. The next paragraph in that section states that the fall
zone for the proposed monopole would extend 31 feet into the adjacent property
because the location of the pole was shown in a different location on the
current plans, which would actually only extend 20 feet into the fall zone.
Because of that the monopole would no longer extend in to the 25-foot side yard
setback. It would be outside of that
25-foot side yard setback on that adjacent parcel. Additionally, the staff report states that
the distance to the nearest off site dwelling was 320 feet, but it was actually
375 feet. Some of that distance is also made up because of the difference in
the pole location. Staff also notes that the current pole location is being
reviewed on the plans. It is the same
location that the balloon test photos were taken, but the plans just came in
after the original balloon test.
Mr.
Loewenstein asked if he would clarify that the balloon test that they have
copies of in their packets are of the current location.
Mr. Waller
clarified that their copies of the balloon test were of the current location.
He pointed out that staff has reviewed this request. Based on the analysis of visual impacts that
are provided in the staff report, staff recommends denial of the plan. But, staff is also recommending if the Planning
Commission or the Board sees it appropriate to approve this request that the
conditions of approval that are provided at the end of the staff report be
applied to this. Most of those recommended conditions are for the standard
conditions of approval that are applied to the Tier II Wireless Facilities with
some additions that are specific to this location.
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were any questions for Mr. Waller.
Mr. Thomas
asked if the panels were 6 feet long.
Mr. Waller
stated that the panels would be 8 feet long, but the additional 2 feet on the
panels would not increase the height of the tower.
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were any other questions for staff. Since there were none, he opened the public
hearing and asked if the applicant would like to address the Commission.
Mr. Thomas
asked Ms. Long to finish the discussion regarding the setback issues. He asked if the staff report was a follow
through from the previous report that the applicant has not provided any
information for the availability or lack thereof an alternative site.
Ms. Long
stated that she had not stated clearly and concisely that perhaps there is not
another available site in this area. At the time that this application was
submitted, this was the only available property that Nextel Partners was able
to identify that met the objectives. She pointed out that they obviously needed
a landowner that was willing to lease property to them. They need a property that is located in close
proximity to the coverage objective, which in this case was the
interstate. Ideally they look for
properties that have an existing access road that would not require grading,
clearing and tree removal. The property
needs to be somewhere near some trees and meet a basket of criteria. She stated
that this was the only property at the time that Nextel Partners was aware of.
Mr. Thomas
asked that she talk about the setback issues a little bit.
Ms. Long
stated that she would like to clarify again that the pole was to be located 65
feet from the western property line. That creates a fall zone area of 20 feet
so that in the incredibly unlikely event that the pole was to collapse, and
there have been no reports of such things, that the top of the pole would
extend 20 feet. If the tower fell in that direction it would extend 20 feet
over the boundary lines. Therefore, they
have a 20-foot fall zone area. The County policies require that the towers be
set back from the property line at a distance equal to the height of the
structure. If that cannot be met, one of
two things is available. Either the Commission could waive the setback
requirement upon a finding that the public health, safety and welfare would be
equally or better served or the applicant could obtain an easement from the
adjacent property owner, which would restrict development of any buildings or
structures within that “fall zone area.”
She stated that they attempted to contact the adjacent landowner to
discuss this issue with him, but they have not been successful in that regard.
In addition, they went ahead in the beginning with their application and
requested that the Commission waive it. She pointed out that it was something
that they do every time and was part of the process. She stated that they
submitted the application at the beginning and have continued to work with the
neighbor by trying to contact him. The
fall zone area is within the setback for the rural areas in that all structures
within the rural area have to be located no more than 25 feet to the side
property line. This is called the side
yard setback area. In essence, if they
were to obtain an easement and were able to get one from this landowner, the easement
would require he and his family to not locate any buildings or structures
within that “fall zone area.” However,
the Zoning Ordinance already restricts any buildings or structures within that
area because it is the side yard. Absent
from obtaining a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals, the property owners
could not locate a structure there anyway.
Given the fact that the fall zone area is now smaller and within the
boundaries of that side yard, she felt that the Commission could reasonably
make a finding that the public health, safety or welfare would at least be
equally served by waiving the setback requirement. There is no greater protections that are
granted by a fall zone easement because you are restricting development that is
already restricted by the Zoning Ordinance.
Mr. Thomas
asked if they were able to contact the neighbor.
Ms. Long
stated that they contacted him by phone several times and Ms. Eubanks, of
Nextel Partners, contacted him as well.
She stated that she would appreciate to be able to respond to any
comments.
Mr. Rieley
stated that there were four persons signed up to speak on this issue. He pointed out that the first person to speak
was Charlotte Hogue.
Charlotte
Hogue voiced concerns about having a second cell tower being placed on such a
small lot so close to the property line.
She asked if there was any limit as to how many towers can be located on
a small piece of property. She stated
that this certainly devalues the nearby properties. Also, she noted that she was very upset about
the actions of the surveyors since they were all over her property, climbing on
the woven wire fences, walking all around and standing behind the house scaring
the lady there who has a very serious heart condition. She stated that they also cut her tree. She pointed out that the surveyors did not
ask permission nor tell her that they cut the tree. Also, they did not knock on the door when
they came near the house and they had no idea who they were as their vehicle
was not where it could be easily identified.
She stated that why they were even on her property eludes her because
this property does not adjoin the proposed tower site. She stated that she was certainly opposed to
seeing another tower from her windows.
Mr. Rieley asked
Leslie H. Jones to come forward to address the Commission.
Ms. Jones, the
daughter of Leslie Jones, stated that her father had to leave. She pointed out that he was present to speak
about Route 795, the trespassing on his property and what was happening on the
road. Since he was not here, they would
bring these matters up at another time.
Robert Hogue
stated that he owned property on both sides of the proposed tower site. The
proposed tower site will be located closer to his home than the previous one. He stated that pictures of cell tower sites
do not always tell the truth and can shift angles to have a tree in
between. He stated that it was hard for
him to move the windows in his home. He
pointed out that most of the trees around this site are hardwoods with very few
pines. The present tower is very visible
from inside his home. The proposed site is very close to the edge of the
woods. Most of the trees on the east side
of this proposed site belong to him and he did have the right to cut them down.
He pointed out that if he chose to cut those trees down that it would open up
the view from
Tammy
Gallihugh stated that she was the property owner of the land that Nextel
Partners wanted to put the tower on. She
stated that they have worked very hard with Nextel to try to comply with all of
the conditions that were requested by the staff. She pointed out that there is an existing
tower on the property. She stated that
they have had a lot of people looking for the tower who could not find it that
have stopped at her house to ask about it. She pointed out that she has had to
show them where the tower was located.
She requested that the Commission approve the tower because she was
disabled and it would help take care of her family. She thanked the Commission for their
favorable consideration.
Mr. Rieley
asked if anyone else would like to address this special use permit
application. There being none, he closed
the public hearing to bring the matter before the Commission for discussion and
possible action. He asked Ms. Long if she wanted some time for rebuttal. He stated that he would open the public
hearing for Ms. Long’s rebuttal.
Ms. Long asked
to respond to Ms. Hogue’s comments. She
stated that she spoke with Ms. Hogue when she tried to reach her son and she
did make her aware of their concerns regarding the surveyors. She pointed out that she spoke with the
surveyors that carried out the site work for Nextel Partners, but was not sure
what happened. The surveyors assured them that they had no reason to be on
anybody else’s property other than the Gallihugh’s property to carry out their
work. She expressed her appreciation to
Ms. Hogue for making her aware of that so that Nextel Partners and the
surveyors could be aware of that. She pointed out that she was not aware of any
reason why they would have had to cut any trees. They certainly would not have done that
without anyone’s permission. Nextel
Partners assured her that was well beyond the scope of any procedures that are
ever carried out. Ms. Gallihugh has
indicated that they have a problem with trespassers in the back of their
property of hunters and so forth. She
noted that she did not have any idea if there was a connection. She pointed out that they were aware of that
and have attempted to address that concern with their surveyors.
Mr. Edgerton
pointed out that in Ms. Long’s earlier discussion that she indicated that no
trees would have to be cut. He pointed
out that there was a drawing in the packet showing a clearing with a grading
plan. He stated that he wanted to be
very specific about that because if they have located it in such a way that
there was no required clearing that he wanted to know.
Ms. Long
stated that they do not anticipate the need to remove any trees at this time
and they were not asking for any permission to remove any trees. She stated
that they were not planning on removing any trees of any size. Originally in one of their prior versions of
the plan, there was one tree, number 18, that was about 33 feet tall that they
were planning to remove in order locate the ice bridge. She noted that when she became aware that the
conditions of the Alltel facility that was on the same parcel absolutely
restricted any tree removal within 200 feet, that they revised the plans to
route the ice bridge around that tree.
Originally they thought that the Planning Director would have the
discretion to permit very limited tree removal for small trees that did not
impact the screening. Regardless, once they learned that was not permissible
they relocated the ground equipment slightly and shifted the shelter location
to make some room to be able to work around that tree. Then they submitted a revised set of plans to
the arborist that they have engaged to have him review the plans and reassure
them that by revising the ground equipment location they would not do anything
to impact that tree or any other tree.
She noted that the arborist’s comments were supportive in that
regard.
Mr. Craddock
stated that Mr. Hogue talked about the noise from the cell tower. He asked what type of noise that he was referring
to.
Ms. Long
stated that she had never heard any of the cell towers that she has been around
making noise. She pointed out that Ms.
Gallihugh said that since the recent ice storm it has been emitting some
humming noises. She stated that this evening was the first time that she had
learned of this. Therefore, she
indicated to Ms. Gallihugh that she needed to contact Alltel and let them know
that they have a maintenance issue. She stated that the existing tower should
not be emitting any noises. She noted
that towers should essentially be silent. She stated that the towers might not
be 100 percent silent, but that certainly it should not be emitting a noise
that is at a level that Mr. Hogue could hear it from his home.
Mr. Craddock
asked if they have any air conditioners located in their shelters.
Ms. Long
stated that she thought that they actually do have a very small air
conditioner, but she would ask that Ms. Roland Eubanks come up because she did
not know much about that. She stated that it was her understanding that there
has to be some sort of a cooling system to cool the radio equipment that is in
the cabinet.
Ms. Eubanks
stated that the air conditioning unit sets inside the equipment cabinet.
Ms. Long
pointed out that in this case the unit would be enclosed within a small
shelter. Therefore, the unit would
actually be inside a small building.
Ms. Eubanks
stated that there should not be any noise emitted.
Mr. Craddock
pointed out that it was probably a maintenance issue.
Ms. Long stated
that she would help address that issue with Alltel as well.
Mr. Rieley
closed the public hearing to bring the matter back to the Commission for
discussion and possible action.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that the tower was pretty visible, which essentially was the
crux of it. He pointed out that the Commission has seen a lot of these and that
there are cases where it may be very difficult to decide because there was just
a tiny bit of visibility. He stated that
he felt that this case goes beyond that.
He noted that he was concerned about the visibility issue and the fall
zone issue. He felt that the staff made
the right decision in recommending denial.
Mr. Edgerton
concurred with Mr. Loewenstein.
Mr. Thomas
stated that the visibility issue was not as big of an issue as the fall zone
issue.
Mr. Rieley
stated that he did not recall a case in which they have granted a waiver when
the adjacent property owner objected.
Mr. Craddock
stated that the neighbor could put a shed in that location.
Mr. Rieley stated
that he would like to point out one positive aspect about this application. He
stated that the arborist’s report was really excellent and was a model of what
the Commission should be looking for in terms of the importance of the health
of the trees in the surrounding area. He asked if there was a motion.
Mr. Loewenstein moved for the denial of
SP-2003-70, Gregory R. Gallihugh/Nextel Partners.
Mr. Edgerton
seconded the motion.
The motion for
denial carried with a vote of (5:0).
(Finley – Absent)
Mr. Loewenstein moved to recommend
denial of the waiver request for SP-2003-70, Gregory R. Gallihugh/Nextel
Partners.
Mr. Edgerton
seconded the motion.
The motion
carried with a vote of (5:0). (Finley –
Absent)
Mr. Rieley
stated that the waiver request had been denied. He stated that SP-2003-70 would
go to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation for denial and would be
heard on January 14th.
Mr. Cilimberg
stated that the staff report contained a number of recommended conditions. He stated that should the Board of
Supervisors approve the request, he suggested that the Planning Commission
recommend that those conditions be included.
It was the consensus of the Planning
Commission that in the event that the Board of Supervisors approves the request
that the conditions recommended in the staff report be included.
1.
With the exception of any
minor changes that would be required in order to comply with the conditions
listed herein, the facility including the monopole, the ground equipment
building, and any antennas shall be sized, located and built as shown on the
construction plans entitled, “Nextel Partners - Gallihugh Site”, last revised
2.
The calculation of pole
height shall include any base, foundation or grading that raises the pole above
the pre-existing, natural ground elevation.
3.
The top of the pole, as
measured Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) shall never exceed seven (7) feet above
the top of the tallest tree within 25-feet tree, identified as T-20 on Sheet
C-4 of the construction plans. In no
case shall the pole exceed 85 feet above the existing ground elevation at the
time of installation without prior approval of an amendment to this special use
permit or personal wireless facility permit.
4.
The metal monopole shall be
painted a brown wood color that is consistent with the trees surrounding the
site.
5.
The ground equipment
cabinets, antennas, concrete pad and all equipment attached to the pole shall
be the same color as the pole and shall be no larger than the specifications
set forth in the application plans.
6.
Only flush-mounted antennas
shall be permitted. No antennas that
project out from the pole beyond the minimum required by the support structure
shall be permitted. However, in no case
shall the distance between the face of the pole and the faces of the antennas
be more than 12 inches.
7.
No satellite or microwave
dishes shall be permitted on the monopole.
8.
No antennas or equipment,
with the exception of a grounding rod, not to exceed one-inch in diameter and
twelve (12) inches in height, shall be located above the top of the pole.
9.
No guy wires shall be
permitted.
10.
No lighting shall be
permitted on the site or on the pole, except as herein provided. Outdoor lighting shall be limited to periods
of maintenance only. Each outdoor
luminaire shall be fully shielded such that all light emitted is projected
below a horizontal plane running though the lowest part of the shield or
shielding part of the luminaire. For the
purposes of this condition, a luminaire is a complete lighting unit consisting
of a lamp or lamps together with the parts designed to distribute the light, to
position and protect the lamps, and to connect the lamps to the power supply.
11.
The permittee shall comply
with section 5.1.12 of the Zoning Ordinance.
Fencing of the lease area shall not be permitted.
Prior to
the issuance of a building permit, the following requirements shall be met:
12.
Size specifications and other details, including
elevation drawings of the antennas and ground equipment shall be included in
the construction plan package.
13.
Certification by a registered surveyor stating
the height of the reference tree that has been used to justify the height of
the monopole shall be provided to the Zoning Administrator.
14.
Prior to beginning
construction or installation of the pole, the equipment cabinets or vehicular
or utility access, an amended tree conservation plan, developed by a certified
arborist shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator for approval. The plan shall specify tree protection
methods and procedures, and identify any existing trees to be removed on the
site - both inside and outside the access easement and lease area. All construction or installation associated
with the pole and equipment pad, including necessary access for construction or
installation, shall be in accordance with this tree conservation plan. Except for the tree removal expressly
authorized by the Director of Planning and Community Development, the permittee
shall not remove existing trees within two hundred (200) feet of the
facility. A special use permit amendment
shall be required for any future tree removal within the two hundred-foot
buffer, after the installation of the subject facility.
15.
With the building permit
application, the applicant shall submit the final revised set of site plans for
construction of the facility. During the
application review, Planning staff shall review the revised plans to ensure
that all appropriate conditions of the special use permit have been addressed.
After the
completion of the pole installation and prior to the issuance of a Certificate
of Occupancy or to any facility operation, the following shall be met:
16.
Certification by a registered surveyor stating
the height of the pole, measured both in feet above ground level and in
elevation above sea-level (ASL) using the benchmarks or reference datum
identified in the application shall be provided to the Zoning Administrator.
17.
Certification confirming that the grounding
rod’s: a) height does not exceed two feet above the tower; and, b) width does
not exceed a diameter of one-inch, shall be provided to the Zoning
Administrator.
18.
No slopes associated with construction of the
facility shall be created that are steeper than 2:1 unless retaining walls,
revetments, or other stabilization measures acceptable to the
After the
issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy, the following requirements shall be
met:
19.
The applicant, or any subsequent owners of the
facility, shall submit a report to the Zoning Administrator by July 1 of each
year. The report shall identify each
personal wireless service provider that uses the facility, including a drawing
indicating which equipment, on both the monopole and the ground, are associated
with each provider.
20.
All equipment and antennae from any individual
personal wireless service provider shall be disassembled and removed from the
site within ninety (90) days of the date its use is discontinued. The entire facility shall be disassembled and
removed from the site within ninety (90) days of the date its use for personal
wireless service purposes is discontinued. If the Zoning Administrator
determines at any time that surety is required to guarantee that the facility
will be removed as required, the permittee shall furnish to the Zoning
Administrator a certified check, a bond with surety satisfactory to the County,
or a letter of credit satisfactory to the County, in an amount sufficient for,
and conditioned upon, the removal of the facility. The type of surety guarantee shall be to the
satisfaction of the Zoning Administrator and the
The Planning Commission took a ten-minute
break at
The meeting reconvened at
Public
Hearing Items:
SP-2003-075 Alan & Theresa
Zick/Ashleigh Preservation Tract B: Request for special use permit to
allow construction of a bridge in a floodplain in accordance with Section
30.3.05.2.1 of the Zoning Ordinance which allows for Water related uses such as
boat docks, canoe liveries, bridges, ferries, culverts and river crossings of
transmission lines of all types. The
property, described as Tax Map 34, Parcel 22V, contains 100 acres, and is zoned
RA Rural Areas. The proposal is located on
Mr. Clark summarized the staff report. This is a request for a permit for a bridge in Turkey Run. The bridge was built prior to the current owner’s purchase of the property and no one really knows whether or not it was built prior to the adoption of the current flood plain regulations. The applicant wants to make sure that their bridge is in conformity with the regulations. They don’t plan any further construction beyond what is already there. Currently it is a 100-acre parcel in the Ashleigh Rural Preservation Development. It is one of two preservation tracts and it is under easement held by the County. Staff’s main concerns with this would be erosion impacts on the neighboring properties, impacts on the stream and health and safety. It is possible that there will be erosion impacts from the construction of this bridge even though it has been in place for some time. One of the conditions recommended at the end of the staff report is for a mitigation plan to be established by the Engineering Department, which most likely would consist of some plantings to help stabilize the banks and limit that problem. The other largest issue with this was the structural adequacy of the bridge. The Engineering Department put in another of their standard conditions, which is just to make sure that they get the calculations showing that the bridge is adequate. It is possible if there is a problem with that that some minor reinforcement of the bridge would be done, but nobody expects any significant construction. We also reviewed this with Mr. Kamptner to ensure that the approval of this permit would not violate the terms of the easement. The easement does talk about preventing alterations to the overall topography of the property, but this is not considered anything of that scale. It is a fairly small bridge and flat area and there is very little elevation change involved with it at all. Therefore, staff is recommending approval with the five conditions that you can see at the end of the staff report.
Mr. Rieley asked if there were any questions for Mr. Clark. There being none, he opened the public hearing and asked if the applicant would like to address the Commission.
Eric Morrisette stated that he was present to represent the applicants, Alan and Theresa Zick. He pointed out that Mr. Zick was here with him tonight. He stated that Mr. Zick and his wife purchased this property and in the selection process for the desired home they took a look at the bridge and realized that they should look into the legality of the bridge. He pointed out that they were mostly here tonight simply to try to comply with the ordinance requirements. As they inquired about the bridge, they found that that bridge has been there for many years. The research indicated that there had been a ford there as far back as the 1800’s. A deed of 1910 certainly showed that. There was a ford crossing the stream. The property changed hands many times between various lumber companies. He stated that he could not locate any one in the large companies that have any history for these parcels. As far back as he could date is a party that was involved at the transaction in the mid-80’s that verified that there was a bridge on the property at that time. Certainty, they needed it to date back to 1980 when this section was applied to the Zoning Ordinance. He pointed out that he had written statements from parties that date back to the mid-1980 that the bridge was there. He stated that he also has another written statement in the year of 2000 when the bridge had some repairs done. At both times the bridge was at a point of disarray. It is a very sturdy bridge if you have been out to see it. It has concrete abutments and steel beams underneath. At the time of initial construction, it had a wooden deck going across it and around the year 2000 or late ‘90’s when the most recent logging had occurred, the bridge just became so unstable or the decking of the bride became so unsteady that they had to replace it. The owner at that time went in and put a concrete reinforced decking on top of that bridge. They certainly believe that the bridge has been there forever. There have been no changes done to the abutments and he had a written statement to that effect. He stated that they were just here tonight to make it a legal issue with the County so that they could get their building permit to move forward.
Mr. Rieley asked if there were any questions for Mr. Morrisette. He asked if anyone else would like to address this application. There being none, he closed the public hearing to bring the matter back to the Commission for discussion and possible action.
Mr. Loewenstein stated that this seems to be a pretty straightforward proposal. He noted that the Commission finds themselves in a somewhat peculiar position of approval expo-factor or whatever the right term would be. But given that there does not appear to be any significant disturbance involved, he would be in favor of this. He stated that he would be willing to move to that effect once they hear from the other Commissioners.
Mr. Craddock stated that he agreed.
Mr. Loewenstein moved for approval of
SP-2003-75, Alan & Theresa Zick/Ashleigh Preservation Tract B, subject to
five conditions recommended in the staff report.
1.
Engineering Department approval of computations and plans
documenting changes to the floodplain.
Plans must show floodplain limits and levels before and after
construction. Sections 18-30.3.02.2 and
18-30.3.03.2 allow no increase in flood levels.
However, in areas of approximated floodplain, FEMA map accuracy is
within 1 vertical foot.
2.
Engineering Department receipt of copies of federal and
state permits for disturbance of the stream channel and any associated
wetlands.
3.
Engineering Department approval of mitigation plan for
repair and enhancement of the stream buffer. The mitigation plan shall include
an implementation schedule.
4.
Engineering Department approval of plans and computations
verifying structural adequacy of the bridge and abutments.
5.
Conditions 1 through 4 must be met within four months of the
approval date of this permit.
Mr. Thomas
seconded the motion.
The motion
carried by a vote of (5:0). (Finley –
Absent)
Mr. Rieley
stated that SP-2003-75 would go to the Board of Supervisors with a
recommendation for approval and would be heard on January 7th.
SP-2003-074
Ms. Gillispie summarized the
staff report. The applicant is requesting a special use permit to allow a
private school to be located within the existing
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were questions for staff.
Mr. Thomas
stated that it was a very good use for shared parking. He stated that in the condition it said
except school related events. He asked
what events that they would be and if they would occur during the specified
hours.
Ms. Gillispie
stated that this was a standard condition that the Zoning Department likes
staff to put on private schools. This
condition would allow a graduation ceremony or some other activity for parents.
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were other questions for staff.
There being none, he opened the public hearing and asked if the
applicant would like to address the Commission.
Steve Melton
stated that he would represent Ms. Gest tonight. He stated that he concurred with staff’s
comments and would be happy to answer any questions.
Mr. Rieley
asked if anybody else would like to address this issue. There being none, he
closed the public hearing to bring the matter back to the Commission for
discussion and possible action.
Mr. Thomas moved for approval of
SP-2003-74,
1.
Maximum enrollment shall be 10 students;
2.
Normal hours of operation for the school shall
be from
Mr. Edgerton
seconded the motion.
The motion
carried by a vote of (5:0). (Finley –
Absent)
Mr. Rieley
stated that SP-2003-74 would go to the Board of Supervisors with a
recommendation for approval and would be heard on January 7th.
CPA-03-06 Rural Areas Section of the
Comprehensive Plan - </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This will be
the first opportunity for public input on the draft plan - further
opportunities will be provided as the draft plan moves towards final
recommendation by the Planning Commission. The draft section is posted on
the county website at www.albemarle.org
and is also available for review in the Planning Department located in the
Mr. Rieley
stated that this was the first opportunity for public input on the draft
plan. He stated that there would be
other opportunities. He asked Ms.
McDowell to provide a brief introduction before they took public comment.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that the primary purpose of tonight’s session on the Rural
Plan was to gain for the first time some public input from the general public.
Mr. Cilimburg
pointed out that the Planning Commission had indicated previously that after
the first of year that they would take what they hear tonight and begin talking
about that. Then the Commission would
begin work sessions more specifically geared to the sections as they currently
exist and the changes that they might want to make based on the comments received
tonight.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that tonight the thrust would be on accepting public
comment, and Mr. Cilimberg stated that was correct.
Ms. McDowell
stated that they were here tonight for the first input session. She pointed out that this was more of a
public input session rather than a continuation of the Planning Commission work
sessions so that the public has an opportunity now to speak directly to the
Commission about what they like or don’t like and what they would like to see
and what they would not like to see in the Comprehensive Plan. She stated that she hoped that everybody has
had an opportunity to take a look at the Comprehensive Plan. Staff has posted a
copy of the Comp Plan on the web page under albemarle.org. There is a paper copy in the Planning
Department. If anyone has not had a
chance to do that, she could make that opportunity for him or her to review the
document. This document is a draft of
the Rural Areas chapter that is an element of the Comprehensive Plan, which has
several sections within this element.
These sections contain what is a vision for Rural Albemarle and then the
guiding principles. The Planning
Commission worked with staff over several months to finalize this section. They looked at land use patterns, residential
and commercial development, and several land uses. Last week the Commission added another
section entitled Conservation Use. It
provides the framework and the policies from which eventually ordinances will
be developed. Therefore, this is a very important document and she was pleased
to see people here who are interested enough in this to be here. She stated
that she would not take the time to go over what they have been working on for
over a year since she was very interested in hearing what the public has to
say.
Mr. Rieley
stated that with that they would open for public comment. He pointed out that
they would first go through the sign up list and then if anybody else would
like to weigh in they could do that. He
stated that the first speaker was Marcia Joseph.
Marcia Joseph, representative
for the Southwest Mountain Coalition, stated that first she looked at the
conservation uses, which was the latest addition. On the second page in the second paragraph
they were talking about long term conservation uses. She suggested that some of
the words be removed, where it says, “and can provide a greater level of
protection for natural resources.” Under
objections, it talks about supporting rural landowners whose main objective was
the conservation of rural land. Then it
says not necessarily an agricultural or commercial forestal use, which she felt
should be stricken. This is mainly because they were talking about strategies
and using the acquisition of conservation easement program. She pointed out that she would hate for
someone to come in and say that they were going to make it so that any of these
conservation easements that came in, which they were paying tax dollars for,
that they were going to limit the agriculture forestal use or something like
that. The flavor of this is almost negative
on agriculture and forestry, and she would like to see that as a little more of
a favorable response to agricultural and forestry. Other issues in this have to
do with timing of development rights that are located around page 19, which she
felt was a good idea. There are other
localities that do something like that.
Both
Mr. Rieley
stated that the next speaker was Ben Brewster.
Kat Thrash
stated that Ben Brewster and his wife had to leave and she would speak for him.
She stated that she lived out in the southern part of the County. On behalf of the Brewsters and much of her
neighborhood, which was part of the Carter’s Mountain area, she would like to thank
the Planning Commission for their work in preparing the draft on the
Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Brewster
especially wants to express his support for the timing of developmental rights
and the usage. While some might argue that disallowing a person’s ability to
use all of their development rights at once by saying that it would infringe on
their rights, they believe that it would focus their intention on the
responsibilities of a land owner rather than just the rights of the
landowner. Something that is not spoken
of very much is that if one is going to benefit from property rights they
should also accept the responsibility that goes along with them in mainly not
damaging a neighbor’s property or the property values. At one time and still in certain places
property might be looked on strictly as an investment to be sold off at the
owner’s discretion regardless of how it affects their neighbors or the
County. People today in a populated area
such as
Tom Loach, of
Charlotte
Hogue stated that she was opposed to changing the division right either by
number, by size or time factor. She
questioned how the County feels that they can take without just
compensation. She asked if they really
feel that this will slow growth or do they want
Elizabeth
Muse, a resident of
DeForest
Mellon stated that he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Citizens
for
1.
Using existing and novel approaches, we urge the Planning
Commission to aggressively pursue the reduction of “build out” of the Rural
Area, which currently encompasses approximately 65,000 by-right development
parcels. No matter how these parcels are
clustered, their execution would dramatically alter the present character of
the County’s rural areas and would have a significant, negative impact upon the
area’s biological diversity. While
downzoning is one possible solution, we urge adoption of other proactive
mechanisms such as floating a bond issue to purchase development rights, more
aggressive programs to educate landowners about the benefits of conservation
easements, perhaps enlisting the help of organizations currently engaged in
acquiring such easements.
2.
We support the elevation and the status of “Conservation
Lands” in the Land Use designation to be coequal with agricultural and forestry
uses. The basis for adopting this important change in status is the recognition
of economic as well as ecological importance of essential services provided by
natural habitats, including ground water retention and purification, oxygen
recharge to the atmosphere, as a repository of genetic diversity in essential
organisms, such as insect pollinators, and to provide wildlife habitat, all
contributing to Albemarle citizen’s quality of life.
3.
Finally, we urge the Planning Commission to adjust or modify
the general zoning provisions in particular the ecological sensitive areas of
the County, such as the western portions which constitute the major aquifer
recharge area, the headwaters of major rivers in the County, and the corridors
along the James and
Betsy Carter
stated that she was in favor of making the parcels in the Rural Areas 50 acres
since it would help us a great deal. She stated that they not only treasure the
aesthetics of open space, but it brings tourists to our area to eat in our
restaurants, sleep in our motels, purchase in our gift shops and see our many
historic attractions. She pointed out
that it was an economic matter also. She stated that some of the Commission
might have heard the comments that others have made that we need to protect
what we want to market and that is the case and the reason to protect our Rural
Areas so that they could market it to our tourists. She stated that would
definitely contribute to our economy.
She asked the Commission to help preserve the beauty of
Fred Scott stated that he served on the
Rural Area Study Commission. First, he asked to thank Ms. McDowell because she
got most of the information right. He stated that he supported the vast
majority of the information that was before the Commission. He stated that there were several areas that
could be improved. He noted that it was
distressing to see the 21-acre parcel because he did not know a single soul
that believes that the 21-acre zoning was the right thing to do. It is generally believed that when you make
parcels 21 acres and you build houses on them, then you have to use up land at
the 21-acre rate. He noted that if they
changed that to 50 acres that it was going to accelerate that problem. It is not the size of the acreage that
matters, but the use of the acreage that matters. He stated that the people
with huge farms are not the ones that matter, but the people that matter are
the ones that are trying to build a house for their families. He stated that he
was not saying that they need more lots, because he did not think that they
need any more build out density in this County.
He pointed out that he was not saying that at all. The total build out now should be built on as
small a lot as the land can take and use all sorts of smart modern
systems. As a former speaker said, they
should use the water from a large preservation tract that surrounds the
clusters. That brings out another thing
that if they are really brave they will do, which is abandon the existing
zoning that they have today and move straight towards a by right Rural
Preservation Tract Zoning. He stated
that he was convinced that given flexibility that is the right way to go. It will take courage, but he felt that it
makes a lot of sense. He thanked the
Commission for their time.
Marcia
Parsonage stated that she was speaking for the League of Women Voters. The League highly commends the Planning staff
and Commission for your thorough and thoughtful revision of the Rural Areas
(RA) chapter of the Comprehensive Plan and for your inclusion of public input
throughout the process. The wealth of
important data on the state of the RA and the clear statement of vision and
guiding principles provides County officials with essential direction for
developing wise policy and making hard land use decisions. We applaud the emphasis on consistency
between the RA chapter and other sections of the Comprehensive Plan and on
promotion of an “orientation to resource protection that pervades the County’s
entire planning process. The League
strongly agrees with the revised chapter and with a majority of citizens
surveyed that:
·
Rural Area growth must be limited and well managed to
maintain the rural character.
·
Residential/commercial development should be focused in
designated Development Areas.
·
Agriculture, forestry and conservation are the desired
primary land uses in the Rural Areas.
·
Water quality protection in reservoirs, streams and wells is
of prime importance.
Documented
residential growth in the RA makes it clear that continuing current by-right
subdivision could alter forever the forests, farms, open spaces and natural
habitats that define rural lands. To counter this trend, we support the
direction of residential and commercial growth to the Development Areas and
maintenance of the current policy of not extending public water and sewer to
the RA. We believe it will be critical
to develop the new tools and policies recommended by the Planning staff such as
decreased development lot size, increased large lot size, and time-release
development. Rural Preservation
Development should be further analyzed and standards put in place that would
truly minimize land developed and insure the preservation of large contiguous
parcels. Performance standards and
restrictions for all RA subdivisions must be consistently applied and must
achieve the goals of preserving, protecting and conserving land for appropriate
desired rural uses. Fiscal and tax “tools” already in place should also be
strengthened, for example, through increased funding for conservation easements
and by enabling more use-value taxation for open space and environmental
protection along with agricultural and forestal uses. She presented a copy of her presentation to
the Commission for the record. (See the
attached copy of the presentation for the League of Women Voters.)
Lee Fordburg,
resident of
Edward Sherrar
stated that he lived on Route 53 on Buck Island Farm. He stated that he found that he liked a lot
of the work that the Commission has done. He noted that he shared with most of
the people in this room the desire to keep the County as it is with slow growth
and to channel the growth into the growth areas. One of the things that he has
heard from the Planning staff is that agriculture is irrelevant to the future
of Albemarle County. He asked to address
that question and to aim it at the 50-acre lot as opposed to the 21-acre lot
size. He stated that the 50-acre lot
size would simply gobble the County up more rapidly. He noted that you would have to build a
bigger house, a fancier house, but the County would still be covered with
houses with no farms. If they don’t
protect the agriculture, then what they were going to have is land waiting to
be developed. The farmers cannot make it
on 50 acres. He pointed out that you could not rent enough 50-acre parcels to
make a farm and you would be subject to the whelms of bartering landowners with
little or no agricultural experience. He
noted that you need a couple hundred acres to farm viably, but you really need
more than that. He stated that he owned
a couple hundred acres, rents a couple hundred more and then owns a couple
hundred more acres in another County. He
noted that he was still a small farmer. It
is very hard to make it and you cannot do it with 50-acre lots. If they start
selling lots of 50-acres, then the farms would be gobbled up in no time. The average farmer is 61 or 62 years old and
he was going to have to do something with his land. He asked the Commission to try to find more
imaginative ways to slow growth in those areas through TDR’s, PDR’s, Service
Districts and perhaps the public facilities’ legislation that they have heard a
little bit about this year at the State level.
He felt that they might be able to slow and channel growth by using
those concepts. But, if they go to the
50-acre lot size, he felt that they would simply gobble up the County with
three million-dollar houses. He pointed out that the County would then begin to
look like Fairfax and not like Albemarle because there would not be any farms.
Tom Olivia,
resident of the Schuyler area in the Scottsville District, stated that the
County and staff should be commended for this draft that was being discussed
tonight. He pointed out that it was the
fruit of a long public process and that he felt for the first time squarely
addresses the issues surrounding the co-existence of different valued resources
in a finite rural landscape. He noted
that he sent written comments to the Commission last Friday regarding the draft
that was developed at that time. He
stated that he had only had a brief opportunity to look at the very latest
draft, and so his comments tonight were somewhat restricted. The most recent
addition to the current draft appears to be the inclusion of a section
recognizing conservation as a land use.
This recognition is essential to the long term well being of our
community. Modern science now tells us that all of the needed natural resource
protections cannot be accomplished on multiple use landscapes in some areas in
which a natural resource existence is a primary goal omitted. Many rural
landowners seem willing to dedicate part of all of their properties to this use
and he felt that common land use policy should recognize it. The draft includes on page 17 an important
proposal that a participatory process be established to develop further a
vision for the simultaneous protection of Rural Areas, Agricultural/Forestal
landscape resources, biological and water resources, and historical resources.
As an environmentalist, he stated that other environmentalists in this area
would be willing to participate in this process. As a part-time farmer for the past 15 years,
he would hope that members of the agricultural sector would be willing to
participate in such a constructive process.
He stated that protecting these treasured rural resources is likely to
cost somebody a lot of money. Therefore,
he asked that the Commission consider adding fair distribution of resource protection
costs to the tasks to be addressed by this vision development group that is
proposed on page 17. He asked that they
consider raising revenue to help defray the costs of the bond issues discussed
by Mr. Mellon for Citizens of Albemarle that would be related to this.
A. E.
Shackleford, resident of Stoney Point, stated that he operated a 365-acre farm
that was bought by his great grandfather in 1817. He stated that he could
attest that maintaining the kind of rural atmosphere that they all agree that
they want takes a great deal of sweat equity because it does not just
happen. He stated that it was not going
to happen by people who are not supportive.
He stated that although he agreed with a lot that this plan offers, he
certainly echoed the praise of the planning staff that has already been
expressed. They have listened and have adapted well and done a marvelous job.
He stated that he wanted to raise an objection to two parts of it. The first objection is the equality of what
the plan calls the defining principles in the rural area, which was originally
designed primarily for agriculture. He noted that it was his intention that it
was going to take agriculture to support anyone that owns property in that area
and that they better do all that was possible to protect and support it. The second and biggest issue that he had was
with the minimum lot size. If you
increase the lot size, then you have therefore decreased our number of division
parcels. He pointed out that he did not even know how many parcels that he had
because he did not plan to sell his place if he did not have to. He stated that value is bound to be affected
in spite of what some people will say, but appraisers don’t all agree. If taking away division rights did not
reduce the value of his property then the Ace Program would not be costing a
million dollars a years to compensate for the loss of those rights. He noted
that he saw this increased lot size as a form of down zoning. If that is what the County wants, then by all
means compensate the property owners. If
not, then the County should allow clustering. He stated that there would not be
any more people in the County by clustering than by leaving it at 21- or
51-acre parcels. What you will do is
have much larger open space. He noted that you would be able to have these
contiguous spaces that the wildlife people, the bio-diversity people, and the
foresters all say that is needed. He
noted that you would have the water resources, etc. on protected land because
there would be no more division rights.
He asked that the County not take away their rights, but just let them
have them in a smaller place. The County
roads are still going to have the same number of cars because of these people
are going to have to go to town whether they live on 51 acres or not.
Sherry
Buttrick stated that she was delighted to see the long awaited review of the
Comprehensive Plan’s Chapter 4 Rural Areas. She stated that she just wanted to
touch on a couple of the high points of things in the plan that she thought was
a good idea. She favored very much the
promotion of Agricultural/Forest Districts and was delighted to see that. Also, the time release zoning that was done in
some of the other rural Counties she thought has worked there and is a very good
suggestion. She stated that she was pleased to see the council still referred
to. She stated that the holding period
for the family divisions is an important loophole to close because there has
been fairly wide spread abuse of that. Family divisions are an important
concept, but abuse has been widespread and it is the shortness of the holding
period that has caused the problem. She noted that she seldom agreed with Fred
Scott, but she felt that they both agree on the fact that the 21-acre lot size
is the worse policy that there has been.
But, they would probably disagree on the solution. She pointed out that
a larger lot size was probably the solution, but that she did not know the
exact number. The most important thing
to be done in the review of this Comp Plan is to break the cookie cutter of the
21-acre mold and do something else about that.
She stated that many people in the Rural Areas have always felt that the
land use tax is vital to the preservation of the Rural Areas. Agricultural and forestal uses pay more in
tax than they cost in the services. The illusion that money is lost is nothing
but an illusion because that is the landowner’s money. The definition of land conservation and
perhaps that concept as developed here she found was confusing and
ambiguous. She stated that it might be a
good concept, but that it needs some development. The concept of the central water and septic
was perhaps a dangerous thing in the Rural Areas. She thanked the Commission
and staff for all of these recommendations and for looking closely into these
things because the Rural Areas are under serious threat. The Comprehensive Plan has had wonderful
language in it since 1989, but the Rural Areas are disappearing. She asked that they try to see if they can
stop that from continuing.
Mr. Rieley
stated that he wanted to make one parenthetical remark that relates to what Ms.
Buttrick said about our disappearing Rural Areas. He pointed out that he did a quick
calculation and if Mr. Loach’s quoting of the number of acres in the last 40
years is correct that equates to 2 ½ times the land area of the City of
Charlottesville that has been developed within rural Albemarle. He stated that it was kind of an interesting
notion. He asked if there was anyone else who would like to speak on the Rural
Areas section. He pointed out that they
would give everybody a chance to speak.
·
Prohibit pocket well and septic plants in the Rural
Area. These systems are expensive and
feasible only for large-scale developments.
They are not a means to provide affordable housing. These private systems have a well-documented
history of failure and often require costly public intervention. The County must maintain its policy of
providing limited public services in the Rural Area.
·
Require that 85% of a cluster development be in a
Preservation Tract. A model exists in
Fauquier County’s ordinance. While many
view it as a panacea, the PEC is not in favor of rural clustering. Whether
development is clustered or scattered the result is the same number of wells,
the same number of septic systems, the same number of car trips, the same
number of school bus trips, the same call for quicker response times from
police, fire and rescue. Clustering is a
Potemkin Village allowing the continued suburbanization of the Rural Area in a
way that everyone can convince themselves they are protecting it.
·
Adopt more stringent review requirements for small lot,
suburban-scale developments not related to a bona fide agricultural or forestal
use. These criteria – such as review of a grading plan and requiring
improvements to public roads – must be sufficient to fulfill the objectives of
the Plan.
The painful
truth is if all of the dots stay on the map – we have not protected the Rural
Area. (See the attached copy of Mr.
Werner’s presentation.)
Timothy
Hulbert, resident of 2246 Brandywine Drive in Charlottesville, stated that he
worked for the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. It is an alliance of 1,200 member enterprises
dedicated to representing private enterprise, promoting business and enhancing
the quality of life of our Greater Charlottesville communities. Founded in 1913, today our Chamber
enterprises together employ more than 45,000 men and women, earning more than
$1.3 billion a year. He thanked the
Commission for the opportunity to offer some comments on the proposed rural
area chapter amendment to the County’s Comprehensive Plan. On behalf of a number of our member
enterprises, he would like to relay to you, in no particular order of interest,
some of their concerns about the proposal you are considering. Some of the questions that have arisen
include:
·
What is the estimated increase in housing costs that you
anticipate the proposed “down-zoning” of rural area division rights to 50-acre
minimum lots will have in the regional housing market? Does your analysis of this estimated cost
increase calculate the affect that upward pressure on rural area housing costs
will have on other housing market sectors?
How does this policy facilitate the County’s stated affordable housing
goals?
·
Do you anticipate that the proposed “down-zoning” of rural
area division rights will result in more or less homes being constructed in the
County’s rural areas?
·
Rather than “down-zoning” division rights to 50-acre minimum
lots by governmental regulation, might not greater incentives towards
clustering and smaller lot sizes “open up” more land for agricultural and
agribusiness pursuits?
·
Current Albemarle County policies define “agriculture and
forestal activities” as having “the highest priority” in all County rural area
decisions. The proposal, in defining
other goals – scenic, historic & natural conservation, water supply,
service delivery, etc. – seems to set up an unavoidable conflict with other
competing goals of equal value. Are agriculture and forestry enterprises still
the County’s highest priority in the rural area? And if not, what will be the mechanisms and
schedules for resolving conflicts between two competing goals?
These are some
questions for you to ponder as you go forward.
He thanked the Commission for this opportunity and that they would
continue to work with them as best possible.
He pointed out that as they go forward that there would be many more
questions that need to be addressed before this is right.
Phyllis White,
resident of the Slate Hill area of Albemarle County, stated that she hoped to
become a part of the Federal Historic District that hopefully will happen in
that area. She stated that she was a
member of the Board of the Rivanna Conservation Society, a Certified Stream
Monitor and a member of the local chapter of the Virginia Channel and
Navigation Society. There will be a full
report coming out next month that she would make sure that the Commission gets
a copy of from John Murphy, the Director of Stream Watch, which the County
hopes to fund. She stated that she
received some results earlier this year, which showed that during the first
five months of 2003, there had been significant deterioration of the Rivanna
River in its main stem and tributaries from 2002. Fully one-half of the streams that were
monitored by Stream Watch, County personnel and other groups received an
unacceptable rating path. This report
coming out will certainly cover the whole period through 2002 to 2003.There is
a lot of antidotal evidence that there has been deterioation in the Rivanna and
its tributaries. Hundreds of citizens
enjoy swimming, snorkeling, fishing, canoeing as she did. Many people that they
have talked to say that there has been a real deterioration in the quality of
the water and the fishing. In fact many
fishermen have just simply stopped fishing in the Rivanna, especially
downstream from Charlottesville. She stated that they had a lot of concern
about the quality of the water, the fact that the recreational activities that
go on may be threatened and certainly the people’s health that use the river
directly. She stated that they were
hoping to raise the profile of the river because so many people seem to be
completely ignorant about the fact that they drive over it constantly and it
was not something that they are aware of.
There is significant concern about the North Pointe Development and the
fact that there are some really huge grading and siltation issues there. It is absolutely critical that there will be
greater protections, buffer zones, etc. that your report talks about that
should really be paid attention to in order that these areas are
protected. She stated that they
appreciate the whole Eco system approach in the report. Again, she stated that
it was critical that stretches of forest and land be preserved. She pointed out that there needs to be a lot
more public education to these critical aspects of bio-diversity and the
habitat and the health of the Rural Area in fact. People just simply don’t know that when they
clear cut all the land along their farms or have these deep fence appearances
that it was detrimental to the sort of brush lines and the roadways for the
habitat. She stated that there was so
much to educate the public about.
Finally, she stated that she hoped that the Commissioners had seen the
article in the “Hook” last week that talks about the fact that they have enough
commercial space now that was empty that equals what is proposed to be
developed. In fact it does not even include Albemarle Square, which is
currently about one-half empty.
Kathy Rash
stated that she was back to speak for herself.
She stated that she was from the Carter’s Mountain Road area of the
County. One of the things that she wanted
to address in the report that they put together was on page 18 and 19, which
was in regards to wells. In the area that they live in water is very critical
to everyone. In the southern end of the
County they have a tendency to have wells go dry. This year has been very plentiful, but last
year it was very, very tough on them.
She stated that it was a good idea to require the well testing that you
have proposed for any and all subdivisions that may be going into the Rural
Areas. She stated that currently the
County requires testing for both a primary and a reserve septic site before any
subdivision goes in. She asked why they
don’t require that for wells also.
Neil
Williamson, Executive Director of the Free Enterprise Forum, stated that the
public input has been very significant on this.
He stated that he sat in on the Focus Group for the Rural Areas. He
stated that he had some questions and concerns, which came a little bit from
that non-committee. He stated that if
you look at the membership, then you realize why it was a non-committee. The non-committee presented a number of
ideas. The Commission has worked through
this document once with regards to concepts. He urged the Commission to be very
careful in their review. A number of concepts were put in to bring out some
thinking about whether they want to go this way. These are not decisions for a non-committee
focus, but were brought forward to the Commission. He asked that they carefully consider these
decisions. In addition, he asked the
Commission to raise the goal of the Rural Areas plan. He asked if the over
arching goal was the preservation status quo, preservation of open spaces or
the elimination of development in the Rural Area. Once this question is answered, the balance
of the questions that have come up this evening can be measured against this
metric. One area that concerns him a
little bit was as many speakers have said that they have not had an opportunity
to fully review this chapter. He stated
that he had looked at the previous Rural Area Chapter that was 7 pages
long. He pointed out that the chapter
was now up to 52 pages without the attachments.
He questioned whether that couldn’t be presented in a manner that was
easier for people to access. He stated
that he did not want to throw away any of the work that was completed, but by
using pencils he believed that they could hit the strategies and objectives
better and more people would understand it, and which be a more user friendly
document. He raised the questions that
have come up again and again of why agricultural and forestal are not the top
priority in the Rural Areas. The top priority is now a total of 8 equal and
important principles. He asked if the County was no longer willing to choose
what is the most important in the Rural Areas.
Do the 8 principles set up an untenable equality that one must be at one
time or the other in direct conflict with the other and how will your
subsequent boards deal with those issues?
Finally, he asked that the Commission consider some of the commercial
aspects of the Rural Area. Recently he understands that the Outdoor Foundation
is allowing limited use of tree top cell towers in easements. That may help someone in making the financial
liability of a farm work. He asked that
they be as specific as possible in the entices of ideas to make agriculture
financially viable so that they can preserve the Rural Areas and preserve our
heritage.
Scott Smith stated that he lived in the Carter’s Mountain area. He stated that most of what they were talking about was an economic issue. They have talked a lot about the economic rights of landowners. Those include the rights of landowners being displaced by property tax increases associated with commercial development. It is important not to lose sight of that. He stated that it was also important that if development is unpreventable due to property rights and divisions rights that the commercial developers not come in and take advantage of that fact and that they have to pay the real costs of their development. He suggested that if it was possible under existing law that there should be some sort of division tax that kicks in automatically if someone buys property with the purpose of developing it into a subdivision like configuration. Perhaps that division tax could also be used as a way of funding tax benefits to working farms and working forestal operations that they are suppose to be encouraging. He stated that if central water and sewer systems are to be pursued in developments in the Rural Areas, particularly if they will be supervised by municipal authority, that those costs must be absorbed in some way by the developer. All of these costs are not taken into consideration by the existing plan. He asked that the Commission do everything possible to make sure that the people who benefit by the reconfiguration of Rural Area subdivisions pay for it at every turn. As much projected cost as possible should be absorbed by the people who are going to benefit and profit by that change.
Mr. Rieley
asked if there were other speakers.
There being none, he closed the public hearing. He stated that there would be many more of
these. He thanked everyone very much for their thoughtful comments and patience
in waiting. He stated that their
comments were an important part of this process and would certainly be taken
into account as they move along. He
stated that there would be other opportunities for the public to weigh in.
In summary, the Planning Commission held the first public hearing on CPA-03-06, Rural Areas Section of the Comprehensive Plan, to receive public comment on the proposed draft plan. The Commission received comments and suggestions from the general public regarding the draft plan. After the first of the year the Commission will take what they heard at this session and begin talking about that in work sessions more specifically geared to the sections as they exist now. The Commission would then make changes to the draft plan based on the comments received from the public. A subsequent public hearing will be held after these changes are made.
Old Business:
Mr. Rieley asked if there was any old business. There being none, the meeting proceeded.
New Business:
Mr.
Rieley asked if there was any new business.
Mr.
Loewenstein stated that he would like to give his official farewell address. He
stated that he could not resist making a couple of comments. He asked that the Commission think about the
following comments:
·
Work is needed on local guidelines for
national/regional chain building types (in commercial settings). There should be a continuing dialogue
developed between the ARB, the PC, and the Board of Supervisors regarding this
issue. He suggested that a study be done to develop these local guidelines.
·
Expand efforts to encourage and to support
historic preservation in Albemarle.
·
Schedule periodic (at LEAST yearly) special
meetings or private retreats for PC Members, to discuss (among other topics)
goals, procedure, and general approaches to future work with specific types of
cases. These retreats should include key staff persons also.
·
Always keep open minds. You will be more effective in your work if
you remain flexible regarding new ideas and concepts. There’s an old adage that
states: The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them from
which to choose.” Standards should not
become too rigidly defined or too inflexibly applied. In my view, occasionally the best approach
may be one NOT specified in rulebooks!
·
I have enjoyed greatly my four terms of office
on the Planning Commission, including 3 chairmanships. My work has been made much easier by my
colleagues on the PC, by the County staff, and by large numbers of citizens who
take the time to participate in some way in their local government’s planning
processes. All of you have been superb,
and I will always be grateful for your support and your varied expertise. I
feel very fortunate to have learned a great deal from so many fine people
during all these years, and I know I leave the PC and the County in highly
competent hands.
Mr.
Rieley stated that the Commission owes a great debt of gratitude to Mr.
Loewenstein and Mr. Finley and it would not be the same without them. He thanked them both for their contributions
to the Commission.
Mr.
Cilimberg thanked Mr. Finley, Ms. Hopper and Mr. Loewenstein for their
tremendous contributions to the Planning Commission. He stated that staff appreciated all of their
hard work and that they would all be missed.
Mr. Cilimberg stated that
the Planning Commission has no items scheduled for December 23, 2003,
December 30, 2003 and January 6, 2004.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, January 13, 2004.
Adjournment:
With no
further items, the meeting adjourned at