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The primary focus of the
2008-2009 Comprehensive Plan update for the communities of
Catlett, Calverton, and Midland was to bring the community
and the plan up-to-date with the latest state regulations
for wastewater treatment facilities. At this time, Fauquier
County has used up all of its allotted treatment plant
permits for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) located in
Remington, Marshall and Vint Hill. This means the County
can no longer build a treatment facility to service Catlett,
Calverton, and Midland. The County may have other options
to service these three communities, but any sewage treatment
system would be extremely limited and will likely be so
small that the adopted land use plans of these three
communities cannot be fully realized.
In lieu of a wastewater
treatment plant to service the communities, six other
possibilities for wastewater treatment exist and these are
highlighted in the Utility Element of the Draft Plan. One
or more of these options may have to be employed if the
County wants these three communities to receive health
remediation benefits and develop further: 1)
Land-application system(s); 2) On-site health remediation of
individual drainfields; 3) Small, wastewater treatment
system up to 40,000 gallons per day (gpd) for Midland; 4)
Running a collection system to treat effluent at the
Remington WWTP; 5) Partner with Quantico Marine Corps Base
to upgrade its WWTP and negotiate the use of some of this
capacity; 6) Seek approval from the Virginia General
Assembly to build a treatment system for discharge. The
last two options would require the Fauquier County Board of
Supervisors to petition the Virginia General Assembly to
seek an exception from State wastewater treatment
regulations, including those pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay
Initiative and the Occoquan Policy.
Starting in January 2008 and
concluding in October 2008, County staff held information
sessions with local citizens to discuss changes to the land
use plan. Cedar Run District Supervisor Raymond Graham
asked the communities to consider how to down-plan the land
use designations and service district boundaries to fit
within the following public sewer capacities: 150,000
gallons per day (gpd) for Catlett; 150,000 gpd for
Calverton; and 100,000 gpd for Midland. The Citizen
Committees forwarded a Draft to the Planning Commission for
consideration in October 2008.
The following staff report is
written in chronological order of events and proposed
changes to the three land use plans.
Citizen Committee
Recommendations (January-October 2008):
The local citizens evaluated
the adopted sewer service priority maps and land use plans
and recommended the following:
·
The
Midland group chose to down-plan the residential categories
of the land use plan to align with the current zoning
designations. They chose to expand the district boundary to
the west slightly for a few parcels, to remove a parcel in
the northwest and to keep the sewer service priority area
the same.
·
Citizens from Catlett
and Calverton understood that the land use plan calls for
more development than can be fully realized. However, they
chose not to change the service district boundaries, or the
land use designations; they are hopeful that future sewage
treatment technology will provide more solutions. As such,
the sewer service priority areas remain unchanged for these
two communities.
·
All three
communities would like the County to develop a transfer of
development rights program. Such a plan would allow
developers who wish to develop property within designated
sewer service areas to pay property owners for their
development rights outside the public sewer service area in
exchange for higher densities.
All three districts desire to
keep the sewer service priority areas the same as
represented in the 2002 Comprehensive Plan. As stated in
the Plan, sewer service priority should first go to existing
homes and businesses with the greatest need (i.e., failing
drainfields) and infill development next, with a priority
placed on commercial development.
The Citizen Draft emphasized
the value of historic resources including the National
Register Historic District in both Catlett and Calverton,
and the National Register-eligible district of Midland.
Another recommendation is to establish a Germantown-Midland
historic settlement area.
Transportation elements of
the plan were also discussed at the community meetings. The
top priority for Calverton is to have a signal light
installed at Route 28 and Bastable Mill Road. In addition,
all three communities want vehicle speeds to be managed
better through the villages.
Planning Commission
Recommendations and Action (from October 2008-April 2009):
After several work sessions,
the Planning Commission recommended several refinements to
the Citizen Draft that would help meet the task of planning
land uses with adequate public utilities. To this end, the
following refinements to the citizens’ draft plan were made:
·
Remove land
zoned to the RA/Rural Agriculture District from the service
districts, with the exception of a small amount of airport
land in Midland.
·
Provide public
sewer service for land removed from the district for health
remediation.
·
Down-plan land
use designations for residential and mixed use categories to
one (1) unit per acre.
·
Move the
planned school site located on RA zoned land to an area
planned for residential neighborhood in Midland.
·
Change
Commercial-Highway designations to Mixed-Use in order to
promote village-style development.
·
Clearly label
areas planned for sewer service, no sewer service, and
health remediation.
·
Remove
transportation plans that label Route 28 as a 4-lane road,
and in some areas, a 6-lane road; plan for a two lane Route
28 with modest improvements over time.
In addition, the Planning
Commission concurred with the Citizen Plan on the following
noteworthy changes:
·
Revise the
Calverton transportation graphic Map CCM-19 to eliminate a
northern collector road and determine ways to slow traffic
speeds through the villages.
·
Plan for a
Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program to aid in the
development of core areas of the villages while preserving
and compensating rural land owners.
Prior to the Planning
Commission public hearing in April 2009, staff made a
presentation to the community on the above Planning
Commission recommendations. One participant expressed a
desire to see Route 28 four lanes while others said they
wanted it to remain two lanes. No one spoke in opposition
to the proposed land use changes.
On April 30, 2009, a Planning
Commission public hearing was held on the item. Three
people spoke in favor of the Draft, specifically the
down-planning of the villages to manageable levels and the
plan to have Route 28 remain two lanes. The Planning
Commission made a unanimous recommendation of approval to
the Board of Supervisors with an amendment to the text, as
discussed in the work session earlier that day, relating to
the goal to develop a Transfer of Development Rights
program. The Planning Commision Recommended Draft is listed
as Attachment 2 of this report.
Board of Supervisors Work
Session (August 13, 2009):
Staff presented the Planning
Commission Draft to the Board of Supervisors in a work
session on August 13, 2009 but no further action was taken.
Proposed Changes by
Supervisor Graham (February 2010):
After the Board work session
in August, and throughout January 2010, Supervisor Graham
worked with staff to prepare changes to the Draft as
presented in Attachment 1. Staff also presented the
Planning Commission Draft to the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport
Committee and received feedback as noted below. The
following highlights the subsequent changes to the Planning
Commission Draft, organized by each Village Service
District.
All Districts
All areas labeled Mixed Use
were changed to Village Mixed Use. The purpose of this was
to draw the distinction with other, larger service districts
where “mixed use” can mean higher densities than village
service districts can support. The Village Mixed Use means
that a low-intensity mix of commercial and residential is
desired, with the idea that residential uses would be
limited to one unit per acre unless a transfer of
development rights program is employed.
Catlett
An area designated Rural
Agriculture was added to the village service district, north
of Route 28, and labeled Village Mixed Use. The area added
runs from the floodplain to the first major gas transmission
line, and is approximately 35 acres.
An area planned for park use
and located outside the service district requires road
frontage on Elk Run Road, so the land use map was changed to
the park designation to Elk Run Road.
Calverton
An area slated for Sewer
Health Remediation, across from H.M. Pearson Elementary
School on Bastable Mill Road, was added to the village
service district and labeled Residential/1 unit per acre.
This area is currently zoned Rural Agriculture. In the same
area, a road was added back into the transportation map to
take traffic from Casanova Road to Bastable Mill Road.
Supervisor Graham understood from the Virginia Department of
Transportation (VDOT) that Casanova Road in this location
needs to be closed so as not to cause rail and traffic
friction at the intersection of Casanova Road and Route 28.
A school site located on
Route 28 was moved slightly out of the path of the
recently-approved Calverton National Register Historic
District. The school site is not exact, but it could be
used as a Middle School in the future to service both
Midland and Catlett, with minimal acreage. A large park is
planned near the rear of this school and would provide
adequate room for sports fields, if ever developed for such
use.
Midland
Community Development staff
performed historic deed research to identify the approximate
location of the southern-most plots of the Germantown
settlement as well as the John Marshall home sites.
Supervisor Graham asked staff to identify this general
location as a park for discussion purposes. It should be
noted that the underlying zoning is Industrial.
An area zoned Rural
Agriculture, but originally planned for park use in the
northwestern quadrant of the village service district, was
added back into the service district after being removed by
Planning Commission recommendation.
The text was strengthened to
communicate how vital it is to retain historic structures
within the Midland core area, despite its location at the
foot of the airport. Infill development would be acceptable
if it is small-scale, respects existing historic structures
and fits in with the character of the area in terms of
setbacks and building scale.
Two maps were added to the
Plan showing the Fauquier-Warrenton Airport Overlay District
and Noise Zone; the text tells the reader that there could
be development constraints in this area and that the Zoning
Ordinance should be consulted.
Summary and
Recommendation:
The difficult task of
down-planning three community plans due to a lack of public
sewer service now, and into the future, was undertaken by
staff with respect for the citizens. Many meetings were
held to explain the challenges and put forth possible
options. Ultimately the Draft presented reduces land area
and densities in all three village service districts, while
retaining options for modest growth over time. All three
districts are now in line with the maximum population
identified for a village service district in the existing
Comprehensive Plan, which is no more than 2,500 people at
build-out.
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