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DRRC 07-27-17 Meeting AgendaCOUNTY of FREDERICK Department of Planning and Development 540/ 665-5651 Fax: 540/ 665-6395 MEMORANDUM To: Development Review and Regulations Committee From: M. Tyler Klein, AICP, Planner Subject: July 27, 2017 Meeting and Agenda Date: July 20, 2017 The Frederick County Development Review and Regulations Committee (DRRC) will be meeting on Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the first floor conference room (purple room) of the County Administration Building, 107 North Kent Street, Winchester, Virginia. The DRRC will discuss the following agenda item: AGENDA 1) Residential Separation Buffer. Discussion of the requirements for residential separation buffer in the RP (Residential Performance) Zoning District, and potential opportunities to amend the text to provide additional flexibility for development. 2) Other. Please contact this office if you will not be able to attend the meeting. Thank you. Access to this building is limited during the evening hours. Therefore, it will be necessary to enter the building through the rear door of the four-story wing. I would encourage committee members and interested citizens to park in the County parking lot located behind the new addition or in the joint Judicial Center parking lot and follow the sidewalk to the back door of the four-story wing. MTK/dw Attachments 2 Item #1: Residential Separation Buffer Discussion Staff is seeking to facilitate a discussion regarding residential separation buffer requirements in the RP (Residential Performance) Zoning District, and potential opportunities to amend the text to provide flexibility for development, including but not limited to reduction of the required separation distance or other substitutions for buffering and screening. Currently, residential separation buffers are required to adequately buffer different housing types from dissimilar housing types within adjacent separate developments. This item was previously discussed at the April 27 and May 25 DRRC meetings, pertaining to an Applicant request to allow a reduction, elimination or modification to the residential separation buffer requirements. This item was forwarded to the Planning Commission for discussion at their June 7, 2017 regular meeting. The Planning Commission requested that the proposed amendment go back to the committee for additional discussion. Staff would like to discuss with the DRRC the current Zoning Ordinance requirements pertaining to residential separation buffers, and discuss possible amendments. Staff will take any feedback garnered at this meeting and draft a new proposed text amendment, which will subsequently come back to the DRRC for further discussion at a future meeting (TBD). Attachment: 1. Zoning Ordinance 2. Previously Proposed Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment Frederick County, VA http://ecode360.com/print/FR1364?guid=8708170[7/11/2017 1:25:20 PM] (1) (2) (3) [1] A. (1) (2) B. Chapter 165. Zoning ARTICLE II. Supplementary Use Regulations; Parking; Buffers; and Regulations for Specific Uses Part 203. Buffers and Landscaping § 165-203.02. Buffer and screening requirements. [Amended 6-13-1990] It is the intent of the regulations of this section to encourage proper design of a site in order to protect adjacent existing uses and to protect proposed uses within the site. Certain types of uses must be buffered from other types in order to ensure a desirable living environment. Additionally, appropriate distances must be maintained between commercial, industrial and residential uses and roads. Distance buffers. Distance buffers are based on the nature of an activity and its proximity to an activity of a different nature. They are linear distances measured from property lines inward. Part of the buffer must be inactive and part may be active. The inactive portion begins at the adjoining property line, as shown in the example diagrams.[1] Inactive distance buffer. This portion of a buffer area permits no activity except the necessary utility functions provided by transmission lines, underground conduits, etc. Active distance buffer. This portion of a buffer area may not be encroached by a building or other principal structure or activity. However, accessory activities, such as parking, are permitted in this area. Active buffers shall not contain road rights-of-way. [Amended 8-12-2009] Wherever proposed developments are adjacent to or within 1,000 feet of the boundaries of existing uses, the Board of Supervisors may require increased or additional distance buffers to separate different uses to achieve the intentions of this section. [Amended 9-26-2012] Editor's Note: The diagrams detailing example buffers and screening are included at the end of this chapter. Screening. Screening is designed to work with distance buffers to lessen the impact of noise or visual interaction between adjacent activities. There are two levels of screening: landscape screening and full screening. The higher the level of screening provided, the lower the level of distance buffer required. The example diagrams show how this works.[2] Landscape screening. A landscape screen consists of a totally landscaped easement at least 10 feet in depth; plantings are encouraged to be spaced appropriately within the inactive buffer. Within the easement, there shall be a minimum landscaping density of three plants per 10 linear feet. The buffer shall consist of a combination of 1/3 deciduous trees, 1/3 evergreen trees and 1/3 shrubs. Deciduous trees shall be planted at a minimum of two-inch caliper, evergreen trees shall be a minimum of four feet in height, and shrubs shall be 18 inches in height at time of planting. [Amended 8-12-2009] Full screen. A full screen provides all the elements of a landscape screen and also includes a six-foot- Frederick County, VA http://ecode360.com/print/FR1364?guid=8708170[7/11/2017 1:25:20 PM] (3) [2] (1) (2) (3) C. high, opaque hedge, fence, wall, mound or berm. A fifty-foot strip of mature woodlands may be allowed as a full screen. [Amended 8-12-2009] Wherever proposed developments are adjacent to existing uses, the Board of Supervisors may require additional landscaping or landscaped easements to separate different uses and to achieve the intentions of this section. [Amended 9-26-2012] Editor's Note: The diagrams detailing example buffers and screening are included at the end of this chapter. Residential separation buffers. Residential separation buffers shall be established to adequately buffer different housing types from dissimilar housing types within adjacent separate developments. The requirements for residential separation buffers are as follows: [Amended 5-11-1994; 10-27-1999; 12-10-2008; 9-26-2012; 1-23-2013] When placed adjacent to one another, developments with different housing types shall provide the following residential separation buffers: Minimum Residential Separation Buffer Area Required Proposed Use/Development Adjoining Existing Use/Development 1 2 3 4 5 1. Single-family detached ——A B B 2. Single-family zero lot line or small lot ——A B B 3. Multiplex or townhouse B B —B B 4. Garden apartment or multifamily buildings C C B —A 5. Age-restricted multifamily C C C —— Buffer Area Width and Plant Requirements Type Inactive (Minimum) (feet) Active (Maximum) (feet) Total (feet)Screen Type A 15 10 25 Full screen A 30 20 50 Landscape screen A 75 25 100 No screen B 30 20 50 Full screen B 45 30 75 Landscape screen B 75 25 100 No screen C 75 25 100 Full screen C 100 50 150 Landscape screen C 150 50 200 No screen Buffers shall be placed between the lot line of the proposed housing type and the lot line of the existing adjoining use or development. When placed on individual lots, the buffer shall be located within a permanent landscape easement and shall be maintained by the homeowners' association. When age-restricted multifamily housing adjoins other housing types, the evergreen element of the residential separation buffer shall be planted at a height of six feet. Frederick County, VA http://ecode360.com/print/FR1364?guid=8708170[7/11/2017 1:25:20 PM] (4) (5) (6) (7) When existing mature woodlands are located within the entire buffer area (total distance if active and inactive buffer), preservation of that woodland will be allowed to substitute for the required plant material. Housing types contained within a mixed-use development as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan or developments that contain a mixture of housing types but approved with the same master development plan shall not require residential separation buffers between housing types contained within the same development. The Zoning Administrator may require residential separation buffers when a Master Development Plan is revised and the housing types are modified after construction has already commenced within the development. Residential separation buffers shall be required when different housing types are placed adjacent to a mixed-use or master planned development or if the development abuts different housing types within a separate development. The Board of Supervisors may waive, reduce and/or modify the residential separation buffer requirements (distance or landscaping) if the topography of the lot providing the buffer yard and the lot being protected is such that the required buffer yard would not be effective. The Board of Supervisors may waive, reduce and/or modify the residential separation buffer requirements (distance or landscaping) when utility conflicts preclude the installation of the buffer and would result in unnecessary or otherwise unreasonable hardship to the developer. Article II SUPPLEMENTARY USE REGULATIONS; PARKING; BUFFERS; AND REGULATIONS FOR SPECIFIC USES Part 203. Buffers and Landscaping § 165-203.02. Buffer and screening requirements. C. Residential separation buffers. Residential separation buffers shall be established to adequately buffer different housing types from dissimilar housing types within adjacent separate developments. The requirements for residential separation buffers are as follows: (8) When an adjacent development has already installed a residential separation buffer, the Zoning Administrator may reduce and/or modify a required residential separation buffer upon showing that the installed buffer on the adjacent property meets or exceeds all elements of a full screen buffer (landscaping and distance) and that reducing or modifying the buffer will not negatively impact the adjacent property. A waiver may be requested as part of a Master Development Plan (MDP).