Campbell County Planning Commission Minutes April 26, 2010

Transcription

1 10-1 Campbell County Planning Commission Minutes April 26, 2010 The regular meeting of the Campbell County Planning Commission was held on Monday, April 26, 2010, in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room, Walter J. Haberer Building, Rustburg, Virginia. The following members were present: O. Richard Metz, Chairman, Presiding Mark Roberts, Vice-Chairman William E. Calohan, III, Secretary Dennis P. Rosser Patrick Tweedy John Thilking Charles Falwell, Board of Supervisors Representative The following member was absent: Alice Smith Staff Members present: Paul E. Harvey, Community Development Director Sandra M. Shackelford, Planner Christin R. Elliott, Staff Secretary // Chairman Metz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and Commissioner Tweedy opened with invocation. // The minutes from the regular meeting held on, March 22, 2010 were submitted for consideration. A motion was made by Commissioner Calohan to approve the March 22, 2010 meeting minutes. Commissioner Thilking seconded the motion. Absent- Smith. // PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR CONSIDERATION: // Public Hearing Request # // This request is from Chris Viar, agent for Timberlake Homeowners Association, for a special use permit to use property for off-site parking on a temporary, recurring basis. The property is located on Timberlake Drive, across from the Timberlake Tavern in the Timberlake election district. The applicants would like to use this property for temporary, off-site parking as needed

2 10-2 for special events at the Timberlake Tavern. Parking will be on grass with no permanent facilities constructed. The area is residential in nature and zoning in the vicinity is Residential Single Family (R-SF) and Business General Commercial, Conditional (B-GC,C). The property does not lie within any FEMA 100 year flood plains. The area can currently be accessed from Timberlake Drive (Route 624- average daily traffic 370 vehicles). The request will impact traffic during special events, but not on a regular basis. Public water is available but there is no septic system. The Planning Commission may recommend, and the Board of Supervisors may impose any reasonable conditions upon approval of the permit. Staff recommends the following conditions: (1) the applicant adheres to the use described in the narrative dated January 12, 2010; and (2) the applicant maintains sufficient oversight of the parking to ensure traffic on the public street is not impeded. The property is located in an area designated as medium to high density residential. The request is generally consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. // Chris Viar, Timberlake Road, Suite F, Lynchburg, was present to represent the request. Mr. Viar has been using the grass area for the past couple of years as parking every couple of weeks on Friday and/or Saturday night. It just came to light that he would need a special use permit for parking in a residential area. He stated the business is not used daily. Mr. Viar also informed the Commission he has made contact with the neighbors and he wants to keep a good relation with the neighborhood. // Commissioner Tweedy questioned if security was present in the parking area. Mr. Viar advised he had two employees handling the parking at each event. // Commissioner Calohan asked if Mr. Viar planned to maintain the area in question as a grass lot. Mr. Viar stated he did since he has been using it informally over the past couple of years. // Mr. Viar has made an agreement with the neighbors that the use of the lot will not limit the neighbors from their own parking; he will limit the number of vehicles on the lot to 25 and there will be no parking during major holidays. // Commissioner Rosser questioned if there was lighting in the lot and if not, did he plan to install any. Mr. Viar advised the only lighting is street lighting on one side and two lamp post lights on the other side and he would not put any additional lighting in. He also said the neighbors would prefer no additional lighting. // The following were present to speak in favor of the proposal: // Jean Maxey, 484 Timberlake Drive Mrs. Maxey is a neighbor to the Timberlake Tavern and asked for the agreement to be put in as part of public record. She also wished to see Mr. Viar succeed. // George Schrader, Timberlake resident Mr. Schrader was President of Timberlake Homeowners Association and he stated the Homeowners Association voted unanimously to approve a contractual lease with Mr. Viar as long as the property is kept as green space and is used as discussed.

3 // There was no one present to speak against the proposal // The public hearing was closed at 7:10 p.m. // Staff stated the conditions of the neighbors should be included in the special use permit. // Commissioner Thilking motion to approve special use permit request # for a special use permit to use the property for off-site parking on a temporary, recurring basis as needed for special events based on public necessity, convenience and good zoning practice, with the following conditions: (1) the applicant adheres to the use described in the narrative dated January 12, 2010; and (2) the applicant maintains sufficient oversight of the parking to ensure traffic on the public street is not impeded, (3) Chris Viar honors the terms of the agreement made with his neighbors on April 26, 2010 which includes (a) at no time will the adjacent homeowners or their guests be prevented from parking on the lot; (b) at no time will the overflow parking for the Tavern exceed 25 vehicles; and (c) the lot will not be used for overflow parking during any major holiday. Commissioner Calohan seconded the motion. Absent- Smith. // Public Hearing Request # // This request is from Chris Viar, agent for Thomas and Faye McCraw, for a special use permit to use property for off-site parking on a temporary, recurring basis. The property is located directly across from 197 Mary Ann Drive in the Timberlake election district. The applicants would like to use this property for temporary, off-site parking as needed for special events at the Timberlake Tavern. Parking will be on grass with no permanent facilities constructed. The area is residential in nature and zoning in the vicinity is Residential Single Family (R-SF) and Business General Commercial, Conditional (B-GC,C). The property does not lie within any FEMA 100 year flood plains. The area can currently be accessed from Timberlake Drive (Route 624- average daily traffic 370 vehicles). The request will impact traffic during special events, but not on a regular basis. Public water is available but there is no septic system. The Planning Commission may recommend, and the Board of Supervisors may impose any reasonable conditions upon approval of the permit. Staff recommends the following conditions: (1) the applicant adheres to the use described in the narrative dated January 12, 2010; and (2) the applicant maintains sufficient oversight of the parking to ensure traffic on the public street is not impeded. The property is located in an area designated as medium to high density residential. The request is generally consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. // Chris Viar, Timberlake Road, Suite F, Lynchburg, was present to represent the request. He stated this is the same situation as the previous request, except this area is used for larger events. The area is located three tenths of a mile from Timberlake Tavern. Access to the parking area is by Timberlake Drive to Mary Ann Drive. The area is a large field and the owner has allowed Mr. Viar to use the area for parking in the past.

4 10-4 // Commissioner Rosser asked if there was an agreement with the property owner on the use of this area. Mr. Viar does have an agreement with Thomas & Faye McCraw. Supervisor Falwell stated this area is a huge open field and there are no neighbors except the lot owners. // Commissioner Roberts questioned how many cars would be accommodated on this lot and if the patrons had to walk to events from the parking area. Mr. Viar stated there would be no more cars than the number of patrons the Timberlake Tavern could hold and he does use a 25-person van to shuttle patrons to and from. Commissioner Thilking also asked if there was orderly parking in this parking area. Mr. Viar advised he also used two Tavern employees as well as a van driver to oversee the parking and shuttle service. // There was no one present to speak in favor of the proposal. // There was no one present to speak against the proposal. // The public hearing was closed at 7:18 p.m. // Commissioner Thilking motioned to approve special use permit request # for overflow parking at Mary Ann Drive on a temporary basis as needed based on public necessity and convenience with the following conditions: (1) the applicant adheres to the use described in the narrative dated January 12, 2010; and (2) the applicant maintains sufficient oversight of the parking to ensure traffic on the public street is not impeded. Commissioner Rosser seconded the motion. Absent- Smith. // Public Hearing Request # // This request is to rezone /- acres from Residential Multi Family (R-MF) to Business General Commercial, Conditional (B-GC,C) for use as an automobile sales center. The property is located at the northern intersection of Waterlick Road and Leesville Road in the Sunburst election district. The client would like to rezone the property to operate a used car lot. Staff is concerned that the size and shape of the lot will make customer traffic and parking difficult, particularly when factoring in the parking for the sale vehicles. We are requesting VDOT comments on the placement of the proposed entrances. The area is predominately residential in nature, but is on the fringe of a commercial area. Zoning in the vicinity is Business General Commercial (B-GC), Residential Multi Family (R-MF) and Residential Single Family (R- SF). No FEMA 100-year floodplains are located on the property. The property is accessed from Waterlick Road (Route 622 average daily traffic 11,000 vehicles) and Leesville Road (Route 682 average daily traffic 9,000 vehicles). The request will increase the daily traffic flow, but will not increase the traffic significantly enough to require a traffic study. The property will be served with public water and a private septic system. Proffers have been submitted to significantly limit the permitted uses on this parcel. The property is located in an area designated for medium to high-density residential use. This request is generally inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. However, it follows a precedent that the corner lots at the intersection of

5 10-5 Leesville Road and Waterlick Road can be zoned for commercial use. The intersection of Leesville and Waterlick roads is one of the most heavily traveled among secondary highways in the County. The safety of the public entering and exiting the proposed facility is a significant factor to consider. // Commissioner Metz asked Staff for VDOT s comments on the entrances. Staff advised the entrance off Waterlick Road can be approved but the second entrance off old Waterlick Road would not be approved according to VDOT. // William Robertson, 603 Lake Vista Drive in Forest, was present to represent the request. Mr. Robertson stated the two other corners at this intersection were zoned commercial. He has met with VDOT to discuss the entrances. The revised entrance will be 300 from the intersection per VDOT s recommendation. // Commissioner Thilking asked how many cars would be on the lot at any given time. Mr. Robertson stated there would be vehicles for sale on the lot. He wanted to keep this as a small used car lot and it was something he had wanted to do for a long time. // Commissioner Rosser noted having as many cars as can fit on a lot can be an eyesore to the neighborhood. // Mr. Robertson will have a small number of employees and will not have the cars bumper to bumper on the lot. // Supervisor Falwell felt since there is a traffic light at the intersection the traffic would be slower. // Commissioner Thilking questioned if VDOT advised Mr. Robertson how much lot he would lose during the new intersection work. Mr. Robertson was advised he would lose 6 on his side and VDOT would take 6 on the other side of the intersection and traffic would be redirected. // Commissioner Roberts asked if Mr. Robertson owned the property, which he does. Mr. Robertson advised he would be building on the lot for the business if approved and he will landscape and pave before any cars are put on the property. Commissioner Roberts concern was what would happen if the property were sold. // There was no one present to speak in favor of the request. // There was no one present to speak against the request. // The public hearing was closed at 7:32 p.m. // Commissioner Calohan felt the request is reasonable for commercial property. Commissioner Tweedy also felt the request was reasonable but asked for the property to be kept neat since it is in a busy intersection with high visibility.

6 10-6 // Commissioner Thilking asked if the number of cars at any given time could be limited. Supervisor Falwell stated he did not feel Commissioner Thilking s request had anything to do with the zoning process. // Commissioner Thilking asked if there would be any inoperable cars on the lot and Mr. Robertson stated there would not be. // Commissioner Thilking motioned to approve rezoning request # to rezone /- acres from Residential Multi Family (R-MF) to Business General Commercial, Conditional (B-GC,C) for use as an automobile sales center as a good zoning practice. Commissioner Rosser seconded the motion. Absent- Smith // SUBDIVISION MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION: // There were no subdivision matters for consideration. // MATTERS FROM THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR // The Board of Supervisors did not reach a consensus on the code changes and would like to discuss matters with the Planning Commission. Mr. Harvey advised the tentative work session would be June 21, 2010 at 3 p.m. He asked for as many members of the Planning Commission try and attend if possible. // The issue of appropriate zoning for machine shops was brought up at a previous meeting. The County has had several recent requests to rezone parcels of land from Business General Commercial to Business Heavy Commercial to accommodate small machine shops. The Planning Commission requested staff to provide guidance on reasonably accommodating small machine shops in Business General Commercial zoning districts. The suggestion offered by staff was to allow machine shops of 5,000 square feet or less in Business General Commercial districts. The Business Heavy Commercial zoning district would accommodate machine shops of any size. The 5,000 square foot threshold was chosen because new construction of that size require review from the Project Evaluation Committee, so it is already an existing criteria used by the County. // The question was raised about an issue that came up where someone was trying to install

7 10-7 a detached garage between the front of the house and the road. Currently, the Zoning Ordinance does not allow for the installation of detached garages in the front yard in any residential zoning district. The issue was in this situation, the lot was very narrow and the owner of the property did not have enough space on the side of the house to construct a garage or permit vehicular access to the rear of the property. Because the property was located on a lake, there was also some concern about forcing owners of lakefront property to put garages between their homes and the lake. The Planning Commission requested that the staff review the ordinance and provide guidance on revisions that would allow enough flexibility to address some of the special case scenarios that may arise regarding the issue of detached garages. One option was suggested and will be considered by staff was to allow detached garages in the front yard by Special Use Permit. // Staff is working on the twice a year code changes. The public hearing on these changes will be held at the June meeting. // July 1, 2010 is the 25 th anniversary of Zoning in Campbell County. Mr. Harvey stated there are several areas in the zoning ordinance that need to be looked at for consistency. This would help for enforcement purposes. The Commission felt they would like Carter Tatum to come back before them periodically with a working draft. // MATTERS FROM THE PLANNER // There were no matters from the Planner. // MATTERS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS // All Commissioners present plan to be in attendance for the May 24, meeting. // On motion of Chairman Metz, and duly adopted by unanimous vote the meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m. Mr. O. Richard Metz, Chairman Mr. William E. Calohan, III, Secretary