BZA 05-21-13 Meeting MinutesMEETING MINUTES
OF THE
FREDERICK COUNTY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
Held in the Board Room of the Frederick County Administration Building, 107 N. Kent Street.
Winchester, Virginia, on May 21, 2013.
PRESENT: Jay Givens, Chairman, Back Creek District; Gary Oates, Stonewall District; Eric Lowman,
Red Bud District; and Robert W. Wells, Member -At -Large.
ABSENT: Kevin Scott, Vice Chairman, Shawnee District; Bruce Carpenter, Gainesboro District; and
R. K. Shirley, 111, Opequon District.
STAFF
PRESENT: Mark R. Cheran, Zoning Administrator; Dana M. Johnston, Zoning Inspector; and Bev
Dellinger, BZA Secretary.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 3:25 p.m. by Chairman Givens. Chairman Givens determined
there is a quorum present. However, the Chairman noted that for any action to be approved today, it will
take the affirmative vote of all four members.
Chairman Givens led the Pledge of Allegiance.
On a motion made by Mr. Oates and seconded by Mr. Wells, the minutes for the September 18.
2012 meeting were unanimously approved as presented.
This being the first Board of Zoning Appeals meeting in 2013, election of officers and adoption
of the Bylaws was held.
Chairman Givens opened the Floor for nominations for BZA Chairman. Mr. Oates nominated
Mr. Givens, and it was seconded by Mr. Wells. The vote was unanimous to elect Mr. Givens as
Chairman.
Chairman Givens opened the floor for nominations for Vice Chairman. Mr. Scott is currently the
Vice Chairman; however, he isn't present today. It was the consensus of the members to first consult
with Mr. Scott as to whether he is willing to continue as Vice Chairman, and then hold this particular
election at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
Chairman Givens opened the floor for nominations for Secretary. Mr. Oates nominated Ms.
Dellinger, and it was seconded by Mr. Lowman. The vote was unanimous to elect Ms. Dellinger as
Secretary.
Chairman Givens stated that the next order of business is setting the time, day and location for
the Board of Zoning Appeals meetings. Currently, the meeting time is 3:25 p.m. on the third Tuesday of
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the month and the location is the Board Room of the Frederick County Administration Building.
Mr. Oates suggested changing the meeting start time to 3:30 p.m. Mr. Wells made a motion to
change the start time to 3:30 p.m., and retain the original day and location of the meeting. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Oates and the vote was unanimous to hold BZA meetings on the third Tuesday of
the month at 3:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Frederick County Administration Building.
The final order of business is the adoption of the Bylaws. A copy of the Bylaws was sent to each
member for review. Mr. Cheran stated there have not been any changes to the Bylaws since they were
adopted in 2012. Chairman Givens asked members for any changes or comments and there were none.
Mr. Oates made a motion to adopt the Bylaws as written. Mr. Lowman seconded the motion and the
vote was unanimous to adopt the Board of Zoning Appeals Bylaws as written.
PUBLIC HEARING
Variance Request #01-13 of Douglas W. Milburn for a 30 foot left side
variance, resulting in a 20 foot left side setback, and a 31 foot right side
variance, resulting in a 19 foot right side setback, for a single family dwelling.
This property is located in Whitfield Subdivision on Double Church Road
(Route 641) Lot 6, Block B, and is identified with Property Identification
Number 86A -2-B-6 in the Opequon Magisterial District.
ACTION — VARIANCE APPROVED
Mr. Johnston presented the staff report. The applicant is requesting a 30 foot left side variance.
resulting in a 20 foot left side setback and a 31 foot right side variance, resulting in a 19 foot right side
setback, for 1,680 square foot single family dwelling. The reason for the variance is that the current
setbacks for the Rural Areas (RA) zoning district eliminate the building area on this property. The
property has a road frontage of 100 feet and a depth of approximately 241 feet —just over one half acre
in size. Based on the small size of the property and the large setbacks associated with the RA district,
staff believes this does produce an undue hardship. Staff would also note that due to the lot sizes within
this subdivision, the majority of the homes are located to the side property lines. Therefore, the approval
of this variance will not be a substantial detriment or change of character to this subdivision.
To conclude, Mr. Johnston stated that the Code of Virginia 15? -2309 (2), and Section 165
1001.2 (C) of the zoning ordinance states that no variance shall be granted unless the application can
meet the following requirements:
1. The strict application of the Ordinance will produce an undue hardship.
2. The hardship is not generally shared by the properties in the same zoning district and vicinity.
3. That the authorization of such variance will not be a substantial detriment to the adjacent
property and the character of the district will not be changed by the variance.
Mr. Oates told Mr. Johnston that he generally likes to see a sketch showing the house with the
dimensions and what the applicant is looking for in the way of setback reduction. Mr. Oates asked Mr.
Johnston what the dimensions of the proposed house are. Mr. Johnston replied that the applicant may
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have that information.
Mr. Douglas Milburn, the applicant, stated that the house size is 34X61 feet. Mr. Oates noted
that is a little bigger than 1,680 feet. Mr. Lowman asked if that is a garage and Mr. Milburn responded
yes. Chairman Givens stated that the footprint, including the garage, is 1,680 feet and Mr. Milburn
confirmed that.
Chairman Givens opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. There was no one who
wished to either speak for or against this variance. Chairman Givens closed the public hearing portion.
Discussion
Mr. Oates stated that he doesn't see any problems with this variance because it is a narrow lot,
but he would appreciate in the future getting the house and dimensions on the plat.
Mr. Wells made a motion that Variance #01-13 be approved as presented and approved of staff
comments. Mr. Oates seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous to approve Variance #01-13.
Variance Request #02-13 of Kelly B. Ritter, submitted by Marsh & Legge
Land Surveyors, P.L.C., for a 75 foot right side variance, resulting in a 25 foot
right side setback, and a 50 foot rear yard variance, resulting in a 50 foot rear
yard setback, for a single family dwelling. This property is located on the cast
side of Welltown Road (Route 611), approximately 0.9 miles north of the
intersection with Cedar Hill Road (Route 671), and is identified with Property
Identification Number 33 -A -1 2C in the Stonewall Magisterial District.
ACTION— VARIANCE APPROVED
Mr. Johnston presented the staff report. The applicant is requesting a 75 foot right side variance,
resulting in a 25 foot right side setback, and a 50 foot rear yard variance, resulting in a 50 foot rear yard
setback, for a 1,728 square foot single family dwelling. The reason for this variance is that with current
setbacks for the Rural Areas (RA) zoning district and the placement of the drainfield, there is virtually
no buildable area. The house dimensions are 54X32 feet. There is a 30 foot access easement off of'
Welltown Pike to access the property on the northern part of the property. Based upon the small size of
this property and the large setbacks associated with the RA zoning district, as well as the location of the
drainfield, staff believes this does produce an undue hardship.
To conclude, Mr. Johnston stated that the Code of Virginia 15.2-2309 (2), and Section 165
1001.2 (C) of the zoning ordinance states that no variance shall be granted unless the application can
meet the following requirements:
1. The strict application of the Ordinance will produce an undue hardship.
2. The hardship is not generally shared by the properties in the same zoning district and vicinity.
3. That the authorization of such variance will not be a substantial detriment to the adjacent
property and the character of the district will not be changed by the variance.
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Mr. Mike Artz of Marsh & Legge is representing the applicant. Mr. Artz gave a brief history of
the property. Mr. Ariz went to the property and re-established the location of the drainfield. The well is
a Class 213 well which means that the house can be located within 50 feet of the well. The drainfield has
not been installed but, as Mr. Artz understands from the paper work he has from the Health Department,
Ws a conventional drainfield. One of the reasons for the location of the dwelling is to take advantage of
the fact that it is a conventional drainfield. If the applicant was to move the dwelling any further toward
the front, he would probably have to install a pump in order to get affluent into the drainfield. That was
the thinking behind trying to keep the house toward the rear of the property.
Chairman Givens opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. There was no one who
wished to either speak for or against this variance. Chairman Givens closed the public hearing portion.
Discussion
Mr. Oates made a motion to approve Variance 902-13. Mr. Lowman seconded the motion and
the vote was unanimous to approve Variance #02-13 as presented.
Other
Mr. Cheran stated there are no applications pending for the June meeting.
Mr. Cheran told members that a proposed zoning ordinance change will impact what items come
before the BZA. The proposed ordinance change has to do with rural preservation lots. If the Board of
Supervisors approves the change; a land owner will be able to add acreage to a rural preservation lot, but
lie still cannot reduce the 60% percent ratio of land in a rural preservation lot. Mr. Cheran reminded
members that five cases like this have come before the BZA for resolution.
Mr. Cheran further stated that members of the BZA had asked staff to look into changes to the
ordinance concerning small lots, like the two variance requests heard today. The Board of Supervisors
is not interested in doing any changes on small lots. One reason is that a comprehensive study was just
done on the RA district and they don't want to change anything else at this time. The second reason is
that they felt that drainfield placement plays into a lot of it now with smaller lots and they don't want to
open that up again.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitte,
ames Givens_ Chairman
Bev Dellinger, Secretaryl
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