HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-10 BZA Staff Report
VARIANCE APPLICATION #01-10
OLD VIRGINIA LAND, LLC
Staff Report for the Board of Zoning Appeals
Prepared: February 2, 2010
Staff Contact: Dana M. Johnston, Zoning Inspector
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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:
February 16, 2010 - Action Pending
LOCATION: South on Abelia Trail, Section 30, Lot 5 of Enon Springs, Shawneeland
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Back Creek
PROPERTY ID NUMBER: 69A-130-5
PROPERTY ZONING & USE: Zoned: RA (Rural Areas)
Land Use: Residential and Vacant
ADJOINING PROPERTY ZONING & USE:
North: RA (Rural Area) Use: Residential
South: RA (Rural Area) Use: Vacant
East: RA (Rural Area) Use: Vacant
West: RA (Rural Area) Use: Vacant
VARIANCE REQUESTED: The applicant is requesting a 40 foot right and a 40 foot left yard
variance, resulting in a right side and a left side yard setback of 10 feet, and a 75 foot rear yard
variance, resulting in a rear yard setback of 25 feet, for the construction of a single family dwelling.
REASON FOR VARIANCE: With current setbacks and the size of the property, there is no
buildable area to build a dwelling.
Variance #01-10, Old Virginia Land, LLC
February 2, 2010
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 districts to the current RA (Rural
Areas) Zoning District, making the current setbacks for the property 60 feet to the front, 100 feet to
the rear, 50 feet to the right, and 50 feet to the left.
Based on the small size of this property and the large setbacks associated with the RA zoning district,
the applicant is requesting a 40 foot right and a 40 foot left yard variance, and a 75 foot rear yard
variance. This variance, if granted, would result in a 10 foot right side yard setback and a 10 foot left
side yard setback, and a 25 foot rear yard setback. The majority of the properties located in the
Shawneeland Subdivision are zoned R5 (Residential Recreational Community) and would have a
setback of 35 feet from R.O.W., 25 feet in the rear and 10 feet on the sides. This request from the
current RA zoning district setbacks would result in setbacks similar to, but still larger than, the rest
of Enon Springs.
STAFF CONCLUSIONS FOR THE FEBRUARY 16, 2010 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.
The applicant is seeking this variance in order to construct a single-family dwelling. The following
variance request meets the criteria of The Code of Virginia 15.2-2309 (2). Should this variance be
granted, the building setbacks for this property would be 10 feet on both sides and would change to
25 feet on the rear property line.