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Background
In April 2006 the Board of Supervisors approved a text
amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to add “Transitional
Housing” as a use. The text amendment was
generated because of an existing use established at the True
Deliverance Church of God, located at 10499 Jericho Road in
Bealeton. The Church owns two contiguous 10± acres which
are zoned R-1. On one of the parcels, the church has a
sanctuary and associated buildings. On the other 10± acre
parcel, the Church had constructed a “single family
dwelling” with 15 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, which they have
been utilizing to provide transitional housing to homeless
families; the facility is known as “Victory Transitional
Housing.” Staff’s review of the case found that the
Transitional Housing use had never been authorized by the
County. The text amendment approved in 2006 was the first
in a number of approvals required to bring the use into
compliance with the County’s regulations.
The initial staff report
noted that because of the number of families concentrated in
a single building in this type of use, standards are
critical to assure that impacts are carefully controlled,
and the adopted text amendment did include the following
specific standards:
1. This use shall only be
permitted: a) when located on the same site as a place of
worship and as an accessory use to the main sanctuary; or b)
when operated by a non-profit organization that provides
transitional housing services.
2. Minimum site area shall
be 20 acres.
3. No more than 15 rooms
and no more than 20 people shall be housed at the facility
at any one time.
4. Residents of the
facility shall be primarily families, shall be limited to no
more than an eighteen month stay, and shall be required to
participate in a structured program or classes designed to
facilitate independent living.
5. Facilities shall be
located within service districts or must have approval for
adequate septic and well requirements by the Health
Department.
6. At least one parking
space shall be provided per family, and such parking shall
be screened from view from adjoining properties. Where
possible, the parking spaces for the sanctuary shall be
utilized to meet this requirement in order to avoid
additional paving at the site.
7. Usable outdoor play
space shall be provided for residents and screened from
adjoining properties. The amount and location of the
necessary open space shall be determined in conjunction with
the permit approval.
8. The building containing
transitional housing shall be set back a minimum of 100 feet
from the side and rear property lines.
The text amendment seeks to
change standard #3, which limits the use to 15 rooms with no
more than 20 people. At the time the text amendment was
processed, the church had indicated they were housing six
families at the facility for a total of 16 people. The
church is now ready to come forward with a special exception
application and indicated they intend to house up to 40
people in 20 rooms. This increase in residents cannot be
applied for or authorized without a text amendment.
Discussion
The proposed text amendment would double the maximum number
of residents allowed in a Transitional Housing Use, with an
increase from 20 people to 40 people. The basis for the 20
person cut-off in the original text amendment was in part
because of the existing conditions at the Victory
Transitional Housing facility. The Victory Transitional
Housing facility had 15 bedrooms, then occupied by 6
families with a total of 16 people. The adopted standard
was intended to give some flexibility in the number of
people in order to accommodate varying family sizes. In
addition, it was noted that 20 people is the cut-off in the
Zoning Ordinance for minor vs. major medical care
facilities, and the cut-off between minor and major
residential care facilities is 25 people. As a comparison,
if a 20-acre R-1 property were to be developed in single
family homes, a maximum of 18 units could be developed.
Staff would note that the proposed text amendment would only
change the maximum number of rooms and people that an
applicant could request approval of through a special
exception process. During that process, the specific
characteristics of the individual proposal could be
evaluated and the use could be limited by conditions to a
smaller facility or lesser number of occupants in order to
minimize impacts and ensure compatibility with surrounding
land uses.
Planning Commission
The Planning Commission initiated this proposed text
amendment on August 30, 2007, with several amendments to
other provisions. First, the Commission added language to
standard #1 to clarify that a place of worship must be a
building and that only bona-fide non-profit organizations
are eligible for the use. Second, the Commission proposed
additional language to standard #2 to clarify that when more
than one legal lot is utilized to meet the 20 acre site
requirement, the lots must be adjacent and under the same
ownership. Finally, after some discussion about the
appropriate level of parking for this use, it was decided
that the adequacy of parking is best determined on a
case-by-case basis in conjunction with the special exception
process, and language was added to standard #6 to this
effect. After holding a public hearing on the item on
September 27, 2007, the Planning Commission unanimously
recommended approval.
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