12-06-2001 Continued MeetingBOON 2~ '^~ ~ ~~
CONTINUED MEETING OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS- HELD THE SIXTH DAY OF DECEMBER IN THE
YEAR TWO THOUSAND .AND ONE
PRESENT: Robert C. Claud, Sr., Vice-Chairman
Stan D. Clark
Richard K. MacManus
Phillip A. Bradshaw
ABSENT: Henry H. Bradby, Chairman
Also Attending: H. Woodrow Crook, Jr., County Attorney
W. Douglas Caskey, County Administrator
Donald T. Robertson, Assistant
County Administrator/Director of
Human Resources
Carey H. Mills, Recording Secretary
In the absence of Chairman Bradby, Vice-Chairman Claud called .the
meeting to order at 12:00 p:m. for the purpose of discussing the priorities as
they relate to the proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance..
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Jonathan W. Hartley, Director of Planning and Zoning, distributed a
Major Development Projects list for the Board's reference. He noted that if
an item is listed as "rezoned" no activity has taken place.
Supervisor MacManus inquired .that for those properties listed
"rezoned" that are located outside the Development Service District, does the
Board have the ability to downzone the property?
County Attorney Crook stated it is difficult to downzone property that
has not been developed when the property is located within a Development
Service District. He stated if the Board takes the property out of a
Development Service District, it has to consider all aspects involved and
make a decision on whether or not to downzone the property. He stated if the
property is located in an undeveloped area and.. water and sewer is not
available, then the Board could more readily downzone. the property.
Mr. Hartley requested the Board advise staff of .those areas to be
focused on in preparation for a joint work .session with the. Planning
Commission in order to discuss these ideas fiirther and refine them.
Beverly Walkup, Planner, presented an overview of staff s objectives.
Regarding community character and design, staff recommends developing a
theme for its character, i.e., what assets does the County want to play .off of
that already exist which will assist with marketing and economic
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development. efforts and then develop design standards. that compliment that
theme.. She stated as design standards are developed, .staff recommends
keeping in mind the low .impact development. strategies, i.e, limiting parking
areas to what is .required and revisit guidelines for best management
practices.
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Supervisor. Bradshaw requested staff to review .the .size of parking
spaces to see if there is any flexibility.
Supervisor Clark inquired if the County could allow a greater
impervious surface such as done in Williamsburg. with gravel surfaces. He
recommended Ms. Walkup contact Williamsburg to obtain a copy of its
ordinance.
Supervisor Claud recommended more parking spaces with fewer
islands.. .
Ms. Walkup stated .staff .would be reviewing creative ideas for BMPs.
She stated some of the medians in parking lots can serve as rain gardens, but
staff will be reviewing limiting these islands or making them more attractive.
Supervisor MacManus recommended making larger islands with trees
less large.
Ms. Walkup noted that staff focused on consulting firms with
experience in low impact development because the County is a Chesapeake
Bay community and the County wants to focus on environmental issues.
Regarding the preservation of agricultural lands, scenic corridors, staff
has discussed creating two (2) districts because of a concern with aesthetics
and the character in the Carrollton Development Service District. She stated
the Windsor and. Camptown Districts have more industrial development
planned for these areas and .staff may apply a different set of standards in
these two (2) districts.
Supervisor MacManus recommended local. community input to define
character for each of the village centers.
Ms. Walkup .stated: staff recommends .keeping the area the same,
particularly in the Carrollton Development Service District, enhancing, where.
possible, with landscaping. She stated in the Central and Southern-
Development Service Districts, staff recommends allowing flexibility with
site design and paving standards with landscaping in these areas because they
are more undeveloped areas.
Supervisor MacManus recommended that in the surrounding areas of
one. (1) to two. (2) miles leading into. the ,Town of Smithfield that it be a
mirror reflection of the Town's standards so that it is not evident: where the
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.County border begins and ends by the highway corridor requirements. He
stated should the Town of Windsor implement highway corridor
requirements, he would like to see the County honor the Town of Windsor's
highway corridor requirements.
Mr. Hartley stated the County's ordinance currently allows basins in
the front of businesses which staff would like to revisit. He stated,
particularly in the northern end of the. County, is the issue of design standards
(materials), i.e., the County has a standard stipulating no metal buildings, but
then reflective metals are referred to.
Supervisor Bradshaw stated if character development is done by district
then there might be no need for a Highway Corridor Overlay District. He
stated the Highway Overlay Corridor District is greater than the zoning
districts now.. He expressed concern with timber rights in the Highway
Corridor Overlay District and the maintenance of buffers. He stated the
ordinance stipulates buffer along the roadway, however, it does. not address
maintenance throughout the years. He stated longevity needs to be defined
with buffers and the landscaping.
County Attorney Crook stated the County could be sued for taking the
.timber without just compensation from property owners and this .issue has
been litigated many times.
Supervisor Clark noted homeowners are finding in two (2) or three (3)
years that the mature trees on their .lots die because they are damaged during
the development process and the County needs something to address this, i.e.,
if trees have to be taken down they must be replaced.
Supervisor MacManusnoted York County does have a tree ordinance
that can be reviewed by staff and used as a reference. He :stated he would
prefer that the County borrow from other communities rather. than hire
consultants to advise the County something that can be obtained from the
Web for free.
Mr. Hartley stated the American Planning Association operates a
.service consisting of materials and ordinance examples from other parts of
the country on various issues which can be used as a resource by staff.
Ms. Walkup pointed out there are regulations within. the Chesapeake
Bay Ordinance which addresses tree protection which staff needs to revisit.
Regarding strip design. of rural lots, Ms. Walkup stated the County has
taken the position it does not want private roads and allowed strip
development based upon the sliding scale along existing public roads which
encourages more curb cuts and driveway entrances to the existing roads. She
stated the Board may wish to revisit the idea of private roads to see what the
impact would be versus strip development.
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Supervisor Claud stated there has to be some alternative to private
roads and as long as the County is working on the sliding scale which limits
the number of lots per a large number of acres; this is the-only alternative that
he sees. He stated the County has to be aware that it can not take all rights.:.
away from property owners and while he does. not like all the curb cuts, he
does not have. a better alternative.
Supervisor Bradshaw stated the .State is encouraging counties to
.purchase land from landowners that wish to go into this program and zone it
agricultural. He recommended staff investigate the Development Rights Plan
being implemented in James City County whereas the County is placing
funds into a reserve fund.
Ms. Walkup stated staff would .like to revisit offering incentives to
clustering as the County has only had one (1) rezoning request proposed.
She stated staff feels this is because the County's ordinance is not making it
feasible for developers to develop under the .cluster option which would
require that the developer build a State road.
Supervisor Claud stated the average farm owner does not see himself as
a developer and the majority of farmers would not sell ahalf-acre of .land
unless there is a financial .need. He stated that if there were going to be a
large number of units developed on a large tract, he would rather see a cluster
development than a sliding scale.
Under Rural Land Uses, Ms. Walkup stated the County does .not have
any uses identified that are compatible with development in the Rural
Agricultural Conservation District. She stated there are `other uses .that
should be reviewed that are .compatible with agricultural uses such as small
machine manufacturing, antique shops, country stores and small engine
repair which would not disturb neighboring .residents or character of the rural
atmosphere.
Supervisor MacManus stated this Board has taken action that .has
supported small businesses being created in those environments as long as
they are not visible. to the highway and as long as the neighbors are not put
into. a situation that they found offensive. He stated this Board is trying to
maintain. an .agricultural atmosphere when motorists travel down. -the
County's roads.
Supervisor Claud stated the real world is that agricultural areas in this
county and other surrounding areas are in real trouble. He stated good
farmers are .going out , of business every year so he .thinks it is important to
offer these people options to ,generate sufficient income to maintain their
farms. He stated the Board needs to be flexible in what it allows property
owners to do if the Board wants to maintain the agricultural areas. f
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Ms. Walkup stated -staff .discussed establishing buffers along all
waterways regardless of whether it is in the Chesapeake Bay or Blackwater
River watershed.
Ms. Walkup .stated staff has created maps establishing the zoning
throughout the County for the Board's perusal. She noted there are
subdivisions that have been rezoned that are in Development .Service
Districts.
Supervisor Bradshaw recommended having 3D visual display of land
in the County for the .Board to review. He stated. this would provide the
Board. with valuable information to determine whether it wanted to take
action on existing zonings.
Ms. Walkup stated staff recommends deleting the NC Districts and
placing a .grandfather clause in the Zoning .Ordinance that would allow
platted developments under the NC Districts to continue to develop under the
standards in existence at the time.
County Attorney Crook stated some type of grandfathering clause in
the Zoning Ordinance would eliminate a lot of zoning appeals dealing with
setbacks.
Supervisor MacManus stated to staff that the Board's direction is
emphasis in borrowing from other communities. He requested staff contact
Chesterfield County and request a copy of its Design Review Ordinance so
`that fast: food chains and others would have to come to the Board. He
recommended making drive through walk-ups a Conditional Use Permit. He
requested staff contact the City of Williamsburg and request a copy of its
sign ordinance regarding size reduction and aesthetics. He .requested staff
contact the City of Charlottesville and request a copy of its landscape
ordinance. as it relates to the requirement of trees and other landscaping
requirements both within the subdivisions and in the commercial (street
frontages).. He requested .the. common areas within the Subdivision
Ordinance be examined to increase the size, as well as to require them in
smaller. developments. He requested staff contact the City of Suffolk and
request a copy of its ordinance regarding family transfers.
Supervisor Bradshaw requested staff to review the ordinances of
surrounding areas concerning borrow pits..Regarding roads and road designs
as it relates to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), he
requested staff bring VDOT into County discussions that the County desires
to have narrower roads in subdivisions. Supervisor Bradshaw expressed his
concern with the rights. of farmers under the Chesapeake Bay 2000
Agreement. He stated the County should have the ability to define the rights
of farmers.
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Supervisor Clark recommended that signage on .commercial properties
be illuminated by separate lighting, particularly on Route 17, Smith's Neck..
Road, which is a location utilized daily by motorists. He requested staff to
ensure that the appropriate landscaping be in place, to include green space,
buffers and architectural consistency on that entrancewayin the County. He -
requested staff ensure that when- residents purchase homes on private lanes in
the County that there be some method by which these individuals are
informed that they are located on a private road and the County is not
obligated to maintain the private road.
Mr. Hartley stated on every subdivision plat to a lat that. does not have
.public road frontage there is a statement on the plat advising that this is a
private road and that-the County will not maintain the road.
County Attorney Crook stated if the homeowner has. been living in the
city it does not occur to them that it will take a .tractor, grader and manpower
to maintain the road.
County Attorney Crook stated the concept adopted by the County to go
with development, districts .was to have water, sewer, f re and all services
available for development in certain designated areas and to be able to limit
development in the rest of the County. He stated the problem .with reducing
the Development Service Districts is that it causes less. land to be available
for development. This reduces land values- in all of-the. County except
development districts and this will have an impact on .assessment of land. for
taxes. He noted-that if some cluster developments were approved it would
increase the potential for residential development which would increase land
values for assessments.
Mr. Hartley stated he would take the Board's comments and categorize
it between major and minor items and send a summation back to the Board
for its information.
Mr. Hartley requested the Board set a date to have a joint work session
with the Planning Commission.
The Board agreed to meet with the Planning Commission on January 8,
2002 at 6:00 p.m, in the Demonstration Room.
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Supervisor Clark moved the Board adjourn its continued meeting at
1:45 p.m. The motion was adopted unanimously (4-0).
Robert C. Claud, Sr., Chairman
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