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At its July 31 and
August
25, 2003
meetings, the Planning Commission held public hearings and voted to
forward the text amendment authorizing an arena as part of a
Livestock Exchange use.
A Livestock Exchange is allowed, with a special
permit, in the RA (Rural Agriculture) and I-2 (Industrial) zoning
classifications. The
Fauquier County Zoning Ordinance does not specifically define the
type of uses allowed as part of a livestock exchange.
The existing Livestock Exchange in Marshall, zoned RA,
desires to construct an arena on-site.
The arena is planned to be used for livestock business,
supporting what is known in the business as “arena sales.”
In addition, the owners would like to utilize the arena for
related events specifically involving livestock.
While the Zoning Ordinance does allow accessory uses and
structures as part of a primary use such as a Livestock Exchange,
an arena does not meet the Zoning Ordinance’s existing
requirements for accessory uses.
It simply is not something that is customarily found with
most Livestock Exchange uses.
Therefore, a text amendment is necessary to allow
consideration of the proposed arena.
The
proposed text amendment would add a third standard to Section
5-1503 specifically allowing a livestock exchange arena, where
approved by special permit. The standard requires that the arena
be utilized, at least in part, in support of actual livestock
exchange business, but also allows the arena to be utilized for
other livestock-related events, where such other events are
specifically authorized as part of the special permit.
The
new standard would require that the arena be set back 100 feet
from the property line, with a reduction to 50 feet permitted, if
the BZA finds that the lesser setback provides sufficient
protection in the specific case because of the site layout or
character and type of adjoining uses.
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