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Summary Staff Report:
Section 2-410 of the Zoning Ordinance requires corner lots
to have their curb-cut on the lower standard street, with
exceptions allowed if seven standards can be met. The final
standard is a determination of safety by VDOT and the Board
of Supervisors. The proposed amendment eliminates the other
conditions, leaving safety as the determinative factor in
allowing corner lots access to higher standard roads.
The purpose of Section 2-410 is to minimize points of access
onto larger roads, presumably for safety. The existing
standards set forth in Section 2-410 are intended to
identify cases where it is safe to have access onto larger
roads. Occasionally, a proposed development is presented to
the County that does not meet all of the standards of
Section 2-410 but it is determined that it would be safer to
allow access onto the higher standard road. Such an example
is a pending proposal to locate a Popeye’s at the
intersection of Routes 17 and 28. A traffic engineer for
the County studying this development is of the opinion that
the safest traffic pattern is to have access onto Route 17
rather than Route 28, while the current ordinance would
require the access to take place on Route 28. Thus, a
well-intentioned Ordinance works against safety in this
instance.
The County recently amended Section 2-410 to accommodate the
entrance and exit of emergency vehicles garaged on corner
lots. Again, it was determined that safety should be the
controlling factor in determining curb cuts and access for
emergency vehicles.
The purpose of this text amendment is to eliminate six of
the standards for allowing access to higher standard roads
and simply use safety as the basis for granting a waiver, as
determined by the County. The waiver could be granted by the
Director in conjunction with site plans, by the Planning
Commission for preliminary plats and other divisions, and by
the Board of Supervisors for Special Exceptions and
Rezonings. This approach allows more flexibility in
evaluating site conditions on a case-by-case basis, and
without Board approval in every instance.
This proposed amendment was initiated by the Planning
Commission on January 25, 2007. The Planning Commission,
after public hearing, unanimously recommended approval on
February 15, 2007.
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