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Summary Staff Report:
Recently, the Buckland Farmers’ Market, now located just
over the Fauquier County line in Prince William County, has
expressed an interest in moving to Fauquier County. They
have found a property on Route 29 just north of New
Baltimore owned by the Smith family. The Smiths own and
farm multiple properties in the area, with the parcel of
interest being a 25-acre lot on the northwest side of Route
29, just north of the Riley Road intersection with Route
29. The property is zoned RA/Rural Agriculture.
This existing business would be allowed on the subject
property as a Community Farmers’ Market with special permit
approval, except it cannot meet several of the standards for
the use. The existing standards for a Community Farmers’
Market are listed below, with the proposed changes
highlighted and discussed. Staff would note that the
Planning Commission recommended a number of changes to the
initial recommendations in order to provide further
flexibility to a Farmers’ Market, and to assure that any new
building is built with an agricultural character. The
Planning Commission recommended changes are incorporated
into the text presented, and noted in the discussion below.
5-1813 Additional Standards for a Community
Farmers’ Market
1. The minimum lot size
requirement shall be one hundred (100) acres;
multiple contiguous legal lots under
common ownership may be utilized to satisfy the lot size
requirement. The requirements of this section
shall not preclude the property owner from conducting
compatible, Permitted Uses on the same parcel. <While
the subject parcel is only 25 acres, a contiguous parcel of
80 acres is under the same ownership, for a combined total
of 105 acres. Both parcels would need to be part of any
special application permit for the Community Farmers’ Market
in order to meet the 100 acre requirement.>
2. The road frontage
requirement shall be a minimum of 300 feet on a road
designated as a major collector (or higher) in the
Comprehensive Plan unless the Board of Zoning Appeals finds
that the type and amount of traffic generated by the
facility is such that it will not cause an undue impact on
the neighbors or adversely affect safety of road usage.
3. All open off-street
parking and loading areas shall be no closer than 25 feet
from any lot line.
4. In addition to the
allowed farm sign, one temporary, portable sign may be
erected of up to 12 square feet in size and six (6) feet in
height to advertise hours of operation and products
available.
5. The permitted activity
is the use of any tract of land in a rural agriculture
zoning district for the retail sales and preparation of
agricultural products, horticultural products, aquacultural
products, and hand made crafts. Any other retail sales
conducted on the property shall be accessory and incidental
to the permitted activity. Permitted accessory products
shall be accessory and incidental to the permitted
activity. Permitted accessory products include pottery,
baskets, garden accessories, baked goods, floral supplies
and other similar type items directly related to the
culture, care, use of, or processing of the principal use.
Products using electrical or combustion power such as
lights, lawn trimmers, and tractors shall not be allowed.
Outdoor recreational activities such as corn mazes,
hayrides, pumpkin patches or other similar activities which
are dependent on the products being produced on site may be
held in conjunction with a community farmers’ market if
approved as part of a special permit application.
6. Highway entrance shall
be approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
7. Sanitary facilities
shall be approved by the Fauquier County Health Department.
8. No structure used for or
in conjunction with the use shall be located within 500
feet of any adjoining
lot zoned property located in a
Residential or Rural Zoning District
or within
50
100 feet of any lot zoned Rural except where that lot
is part of the special permit application; and further
provided that no structure shall be located within 500 feet
of any existing residence. <The subject
parcel in this case is only 250-260 feet wide, making it
impossible to meet the existing 500-foot setback
requirements from adjoining lots. However, none of the
adjoining lots are zoned residential, and the proposed
structure would not be within 500 feet of any residence
located on a lot with rural zoning. The proposed revision
maintains the 500-foot setback for adjacent residential
lots, but provides additional flexibility when adjacent to
rural lots, while still providing protection to any existing
home located on a rural lot. The Planning Commission
reduced the setback from the newly proposed 100’ to 50’,
while maintaining the 500’ setback from an existing
residential unit. Staff believes this approach provides the
same protection to existing residents as the original
language, while providing flexibility for the BZA to
determine setbacks where residents are not affected. Staff
would note that the “default” setback in the RA Zoning
District is 25 feet, and that other commercial uses allowed
in the RA Zoning District have the following special setback
requirements for structures:
Barns 100 feet
Golf Practice
Facility 100 feet
Class A/B/C
Events 100 feet
Kennels 75 feet
Farm Supply
Establishment none
Veterinary
Clinic none
Farm Equipment
Sales/Service 50 feet (paved areas).>
9. No more than one new
structure shall be allowed to be constructed, not to exceed
2,500 6,500
square feet in size and shall meet all location requirements
for the RA zoning district, and
shall be designed with an agricultural character.
However, structures previously existing on the parcel may be
converted to a farmers’ market use, regardless of size or
number, if the Board determines the location, accessibility,
and visibility of these structures is appropriate to this
use. <The owners of the Buckland Market need 6,500
square feet for the proposed market, and no existing
buildings are located in proximity to the street that could
be utilized. Most other uses allowed in the RA zoning
district do not have a size limitation on the buildings.
And, in fact, just down the road on Route 29 are two uses
located in the RA district with larger buildings (Meadows
Farms with about 6,500 square feet and the Golf Practice
Facility, at about 5,000 square feet). Much larger
structures have been built elsewhere on RA land for uses in
the RA district (i.e., Tri-County Feeds and the Culpeper
Farmers Cooperative). The Planning Commission agreed that
the larger building was appropriate, but added language to
assure that the building was designed with an agricultural
character.>
10. All
At least
75%
80% of the agriculture products,
horticultural products, and hand made crafts shall be grown
or produced within the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The remainder shall be grown or
produced in the United States of America.
<The Buckland Market operators have indicated that they
occasionally would want to offer products from outside the
Commonwealth of Virginia in order to provide a full array of
produce throughout the year. They have indicated they could
work with a requirement that 80 percent of the products must
be from Virginia. This proportion is consistent with the
requirement for “Farmers’ Market” where only 80% of the
goods are required to be produced in Fauquier County,
allowing 20% to come from anywhere else. It may be
reasonable for the broader “Community Farmers’
Market” category to allow equivalent flexibility. The
Planning Commission recommended further flexibility by
reducing the required percentage to 75%, but also added a
limitation that the remainder of the products be
domestically produced, which is consistent with the Buckland
Market business model.>
The Board of Supervisors initiated this Text Amendment on
November 8, 2007. The Planning Commission held a public
hearing on the proposal on November 29, 2007 and recommended
unanimous approval of the Text Amendment, with the changes
noted above.
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