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Staff Report:
Article 8,
Signs, of the current Zoning Ordinance provisions defines a
subdivision sign as “any sign displayed for the purpose of
advertising or identifying a housing development or division
of land of ten (10) lots or dwelling units or more.” These
signs are permitted in the conservation, agriculture,
village, residential and mobile home zoning districts and
are further regulated in Section 8-1401.4 of the Ordinance,
which sets forth the overall square footage, number of
signs, and maximum height requirements for subdivision signs
that are allowed by-right. However, as is the case with most
sign types allowed in the Ordinance, subdivision signs are
required to be located on the same property as the
subdivision itself, such as on an individual dwelling lot or
on other land area under ownership of the subdivision.
Based on
these provisions, a subdivision that is remote in its
location off one or more streets, or one that does not own
property directly adjacent to a roadway due to public
right-of-way locations, is unable to provide adequate
signage identifying its location. An example of such a
subdivision is the Lake Whippoorwill subdivision located off
Dumfries Road/Route 605 in Scott Magisterial District.
Although the subdivision is accessed from Whippoorwill Drive
at its intersection with Dumfries Road/Route 605, there is
no land area associated with the development in the
immediate vicinity of the intersection due to the public
right-of-way width of Dumfries Road/Route 605. Therefore,
while the Lake Whippoorwill subdivision is allowed a
subdivision sign by-right, it must be located further north
on Whippoorwill Drive where it most likely would not be
visible to vehicular traffic attempting to enter the
neighborhood entrance from Dumfries Road/Route 605.
In order to
accommodate the identification of those subdivisions that
may be remote in their location off one or more streets, or
those that do not own property directly adjacent to a
roadway due to public right-of-way locations, the proposed
amendment seeks to revise the requirements for subdivision
signs to allow potential off-site locations. This is most
similar to the current Ordinance provisions for directional
signs, which are allowed off-site and are limited in the
amount of allowable square footage. The amendment language
as proposed will allow a subdivision sign to only be located
off-site on adjoining right-of-way property that is
owned by Fauquier County or the Virginia Department of
Transportation (VDOT). The overall square footage, number of
signs, and maximum height requirement will remain at their
current amounts. In addition, any applicable proposal will
require VDOT review and authorization prior to any County
approval being given.
The Board of
Supervisors initiated the proposed text amendment on July
10, 2008 and the Planning Commission held a public hearing
on the text amendment on August 28, 2008. On September 25,
2008, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended
approval of the text amendment as set forth in the attached
resolution, including changes to the text to address
Virginia Department of Transportation concerns. |