|
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 of 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 provide adequate signage
identifying its location. An example of such a subdivision
is the Lake Whippoorwill subdivision located off of Dumfries
Road/Route 605 in the 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 of 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. The overall square footage, number of signs,
and maximum height requirement will remain at their current
amounts but staff has included amendment language that will
require that any off-site sign be required to be setback
from any sidewalk or edge of pavement a minimum of one foot
for every foot of height.
|