HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-13 BZA Staff Report
VARIANCE APPLICATION #01-13
DOUGLAS W. MILBURN
Staff Report for the Board of Zoning Appeals
Prepared: May 1, 2013
Staff Contact: Dana M. Johnston, Zoning Inspector
______________________________________________________________________________
This report is prepared by the Frederick County Planning Staff to provide information to the Board
of Zoning Appeals to assist them in making a decision on this request. It may also be useful to
others interested in this zoning matter.
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS HEARING DATE:
May 21 , 2013 – Pending
LOCATION
: Whitfield Subdivision, Double Church Road (Route 641), Lot 6, Block B
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT
: Opequon
PROPERTY ID NUMBER
: 86A-2-B-6
PROPERTY ZONING & USE
Land Use: Residential
: Zoned: RA
ADJOINING PROPERTY ZONING & USE
:
North: RA (Rural Areas) Use: Residential
South: RA (Rural Areas) Use: Residential
East: RA (Rural Areas Use: Residential
West: RA (Rural Areas) Use: Residential
VARIANCE REQUESTED:
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 a single family dwelling.
REASON FOR VARIANCE:
The current setbacks for the RA zoning district eliminate a buildable area on this property.
Variance #01-13 – Douglas W. Milburn
May 1, 2013
Page 2
STAFF COMMENTS:
Frederick County adopted zoning in 1967. The Frederick County historical zoning map shows this
property was zoned A-2 (Agricultural General) in 1967. The property setback lines at the adoption
of the zoning ordinance were 35 feet for the front and 15 feet for the side yards. Frederick County
amended its Ordinance in 1989 and 2009 to change the A-2 zoning district to the current RA (Rural
Areas) Zoning District, making the current setbacks for the property 60 feet to the front, 50 feet to
the rear, and 50 feet to both sides.
The property has a road frontage of one hundred feet and a depth of approximately two hundred
forty-one feet and is a little over half an acre. Based on the small size of this property and the large
setbacks associated with the RA zoning district, staff believes this does produce an undue hardship.
The applicant is requesting a 31 foot right side variance, resulting in a 19 foot right side setback, and
a 30 foot left side variance, resulting in a 20 foot left side setback, for a 1,680 square foot single
family house. Staff would note that due to lot sizes within this subdivision, the majority of homes
are located closer to the side property lines. Therefore, the approval of this variance will not be a
substantial detriment or change the character of the subdivision.
STAFF CONCLUSIONS FOR THE MAY 21, 2013 MEETING:
The Code of Virginia 15.2-2309 (2), 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.
It appears that this variance meets the intent of the Code of Virginia, Section 15.2-2309 (2). This
request from the current setbacks of the RA zoning district may be justified.