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The purpose
of this proposed text amendment is to create flexibility in
yard requirements for commercial development in the C-1
zoning district. The existing yard requirements in the C-1
district, pursuant to Sections 3-404 and 3-405 of the Zoning
Ordinance, are:
Front Yard: Local
Collector 55
Major
Collector 70
Major
Thoroughfare 85
Side and Rear Yard: Adjoining C or I
district 0; but if more than 0,
at least 12
Adjoining
Rural or R district 25
In January
2004, the Board approved a text amendment providing
flexibility in various requirements of the Zoning Ordinance
for mixed use projects in the C-1 zoning district. That
amendment was intended to facilitate commercial-residential
mixed use development in a form consistent with the
traditional character of communities such as Marshall and
Bealeton, and included flexibility in yard requirements.
While the
areas zoned C-1 are generally planned for mixed use
development in the Countys Comprehensive Plan, the uses
envisioned and allowed in the district do include
freestanding commercial uses. The recent text amendment
does not provide freestanding commercial uses with the yard
flexibility now available to mixed-use projects, making it
difficult to uniformly achieve a more traditional form of
development for the core of several service districts.
The
proposed amendment creates yard flexibility for commercial
uses. The existing C-1 yard requirements already allow a
side and rear yard setback of zero feet (except along the
district boundaries where adjacent to residential or rural
zones). Therefore, flexibility is actually needed only for
front yard setbacks, where the existing C-1 provisions call
for a 55-85 foot setback, depending on the type of road
frontage. Because many small scale commercial uses in the
C-1 zone would require only site plan approval,
administrative authority to vary the yards may be critical
to the effectiveness of the amended requirements. The
proposed text amendment would add a note to the front yard
setback requirements for the C-1 zoning district, allowing
administrative approval of a reduction in the front yard
setback in conjunction with site plan review and approval
for commercial uses.
17. A reduction in the front yard setback for
commercial buildings may be approved by the Zoning
Administrator in conjunction with site plan review and
approval, by the Board of Supervisors when approving a
special exception, or the Board of Zoning Appeals when
approving a Special Permit provided that the approving
authority finds that:
A. the setback provided is consistent with older,
established buildings in the immediate area;
B. the setback is consistent with any design
guidelines or requirements established by the Comprehensive
Plan, if any such guidelines or requirements exist;
C. sufficient area is provided to accommodate
construction requirements, including drainage; and
D. sufficient area is provided to accommodate a full
streetscape along the street, to include sidewalks and
street trees, where appropriate.
Staff would
note that this proposed text amendment, as it has been
advertised, only provides for variations in yards for
commercial buildings, whereas the text amendment approved
for mixed use development also provided for variations in
lot sizes, widths, open space and parking. While some of
these requirements are not typically as problematic in
commercial development, parking is one area that could
significantly impact commercial development and the
Commission may wish to consider additional flexibility in
parking requirements for some or all commercial uses. Staff
can provide additional analysis on this issue if the
Commission wishes to consider such additional flexibility.
The
proposed text amendment was initiated on May 26, 2005. The
Planning Commission unanimously recommended adoption on June
30, 2005.
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