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According to the Zoning Ordinance, the “Commercial Village”
district is designed to allow commercial activities
appropriate to the needs of the villages, recognizing the
service functions of such communities. Generally, the uses
permitted in the Commercial Village district are smaller in
scale and intensity and/or agriculturally related. “Auto
Service Stations” and “Convenience Stores” are two uses
permitted in the Commercial Village district which tend to
be auto-related.
A “Convenience Store” is defined in the Zoning Ordinance as
a store offering for sale groceries and other articles
normally found in grocery stores, with a limit of 3000
square feet of area. An “Auto Service Station” is defined
as a business where the primary use is the sale of gas, oil
and related vehicular items. Up to three service bays and
sales of convenience items are allowed under the “Auto
Service Station” use.
Because these two auto-related uses typically have
relatively large amounts of parking and pavement associated
with them, and constant turn-over in vehicular traffic, they
create potentially significant traffic impacts and may be
incompatible with surrounding uses, affecting property
values.
The proposed text amendment adds a requirement that a
special use permit be approved by the Board of Zoning
Appeals for “Convenience Stores” and “Auto Service Stations”
in the Commercial Village zoning district. The zoning
ordinance utilizes the special permit process for uses which
may have an undue impact upon or be incompatible with other
uses of land within a given district. The special permit
process allows the Board of Zoning Appeals to ensure that
such uses are only located at appropriate locations within
districts, and with controls and limitations that mitigate
potential impacts.
The Planning Commission considered the proposed text
amendment at their February 19, 2004 meeting and unanimously
recommended that the amendment be forwarded to the Board of
Supervisors for approval. The Planning Commission
considered whether to add additional standards for the two
uses, but concluded that the existing general special permit
standards are sufficient to allow the BZA to assess and
consider traffic impacts and building location, design,
screening and other buffering requirements.
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