HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-09 BZA Staff Report
VARIANCE APPLICATION #01-09
BRIAN S. SMOOT
Staff Report for the Board of Zoning Appeals
Prepared: October 1, 2009
Staff Contact: Mark R. Cheran, Zoning Administrator
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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:
October 20, 2009 - Action Pending
LOCATION: Aylor Road (Route 647) at the intersection of Aylor Road and Westmoreland Drive
(Route 1054).
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Shawnee
PROPERTY ID NUMBER: 75-A-35C
PROPERTY ZONING & USE: Zoned: RP (Residential Performance)
Land Use: Vacant
ADJOINING PROPERTY ZONING & USE:
North: RP (Residential Performance) Use: Vacant
South: RP (Residential Performance) Use: Residential Single Family Dwelling
East: RP (Residential Performance) Use: Vacant
West: B1 (Neighborhood Business) Use: Abundant Life Church
VARIANCE REQUESTED: The applicant is requesting a four foot rear yard variance, resulting
in a rear yard setback of 21 feet, for the construction of a single family dwelling.
REASON FOR VARIANCE: VDOT improved Aylor Road, making this lot unusable by the
Frederick County Code.
Variance #01-09, Brian S. Smoot
October 1, 2009
Page 2
STAFF COMMENTS:
Frederick County adopted zoning in 1967. The Frederick County historical zoning map shows this
property was zoned R2 (residential general). The property setback lines at the adoption of the
Zoning Ordinance were 35 feet in the front, 10 feet for the side yards, and 35 feet to the rear.
Frederick County amended its Ordinance in 1989 to change the R2 zoning districts to the RP
(Residential Performance) Zoning District, making the current setbacks for the property 35 feet to the
front, 25 feet to the rear, and 10 feet to both sides.
According to recorded plat under Deed Book 679, Page 763, the property was originally platted for a
total of 19,995 square feet. Due to VDOT’s (Virginia Department of Transportation) road
improvements on Aylor Road (Route 647), the lot was reduced to 8,607 square feet, a difference of
11,388 square feet. With that road improvement, the lot lost a significant amount of lot length,
thereby making it difficult to build a house at today’s setback standards. Due to this hardship, the
applicant is seeking a variance of four feet in the rear.
The property adjacent to the site of the property’s proposed reduced setback is presently vacant and a
large parcel. It should be noted that the applicant has not submitted a house building plan for the lot,
but has made this variance request based on a typical building footprint. It may be appropriate to
delay any variance until such time as the house design is formalized. Without knowing what house
will be constructed on the lot, the applicant risks having to return to the BZA again in the future
because the building plans may not be accommodated by this speculative variance request being
sought today.
STAFF CONCLUSIONS FOR THE OCTOBER 20, 2009 MEETING:
The Code of Virginia 15.2-2209 (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 a variance of four feet for the rear yard in order to construct a single-family
dwelling. Should this variance be granted, the building setbacks for this property would be 35 feet
from Aylor Road (front), 10 feet on both sides and would change to 21 feet on the rear property line.