The Harrisonburg Planning Commission met on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM in City Council Chambers. The meeting included public hearings on three rezoning requests and a zoning ordinance amendment, as well as consideration of the FY2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The commission took votes on all items, with recommendations forwarded to City Council.
They've uh they've asked if they move them that we let them take that up as the first item under new business. Umce we've got published agenda that would require a motion and approval to change the agenda. Is that moved? Second. Moved and seconded by Councilmember Dent and Leicester Finnegan. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed no. Cheer votes aye. And so we will order will take up is what's on your printed agenda is item 4C and then 4A and 4B. So that means the first item we take out was a request from Miranda ever sold to attend to amend zoning ordinance for setbacks in the UR district. Good evening. Yeah. All right, zoning ordinance amendment for reduced setbacks for through lots in the UR district. Through lots are lots where both the front and rear yards face the public street. The zoning ordinance requires that the rear yard setbacks on through lots be subject to the minimum front yard setback regulations. In the UR district, the minimum front yard setback is 25 feet, therefore the minimum rear yard setback is 25 feet. For example, this is Ashtree Lane. The areas in blue are the UR district. The lots that are outlined in red are through lots. They're addressed Franklin Street on the top and Campbell Street on the bottom. The lots outlined in yellow are addressed on Ashtree Lane. So zoning ordinance section 103114A requires that accessory buildings and residential districts be located in the rear yard to not occupy more than 30% of the required rear yard and be not less than five feet from the side and rear lot lines. Zoning ordinance section 103114D prohibits accessory buildings in residential districts from being located between the principal building and a public street, except that for through lots, the accessory building may be located within the established rear yard between the principal building and a public street and meets principal building setbacks. The principal building minimum front yard setback in the UR district is 25 feet. Thus, an accessory building on a through lot in the UR district shall be located in the established rear yard, shall be no closer than five feet from the side property lines and no closer than 25 feet from the public street right of way line along the established rear yard. If the zoning ordinance is amended as presented by the applicant, it would allow for accessory buildings on through lots in the UR district to be constructed five feet from the public street right of way along the established rear yard. This is a zoning map of the UR district. All the areas in blue are the UR. The lots outlined in purple are all through lots. So in 2023, the Board of Zoning Appeals heard the applicant's request for four variances to deviate from the rear and side yard setbacks, the requirement that accessory buildings not exceed 30% of the required rear yard. Um and the applicant proposed to construct a detached garage in the rear yard on the property addressed as 260 Franklin Street. The requested variances would have allowed the applicant to construct the garage one foot from the side and rear yard setbacks. The BCA is required to act in accordance with the standards of Virginia Code and may only grant the variance if the zoning ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property or that granting the variance would alleviate a hardship due to the physical conditions relating to the property. The code references specific criteria that must be met for an application to meet the standards of the variance. Staff evaluated the BZA application through the variance standards and determined that the application did not meet criteria. The BCA denied the request. So while the BCA denied that request, it should be noticed that they granted three other requests, similar setback requests along this street. In 1991, uh variance requests was granted for the property located at 272 Franklin. In 2011, a variance request was granted to the property at 254 Franklin. And on January 7, 2019, a variance request was granted to the property at 2018 Franklin. Staff acknowledges that there are buildings that are non-conforming to setbacks, that the property owners have received various that some property owners have received variances from the VCA approving reduced setbacks, and there are structures likely abutting or encroaching in the public street right away on East Bruce Street. Nonetheless, staff does not believe that a five-foot setback is appropriate for the lots in the UR district. Structures that abut or encroach on a public street right of way at times can impede site distance for neighboring entrances and driveways. In some cases, race residents may block the public street right of way while opening and closing garage doors or by parking vehicles in front of their garages, creating obstructions and potentially hazardous situations for other users of the street. If there is a desire to reduce the setbacks for these types of properties, staff believes a more appropriate and uniform reduced setback would be no less than 10 feet. A ten-foot setback would mimic the re existing permissible front yard setback in the R5 and the R8 districts. A ten-foot setback would also be more reasonable given that it can accommodate more flexibility for the property owner while maintaining better lines of sight distance and allow for future street improvements to occur without impacting more structures. If the zoning ordinance is amended as requested by the applicant, it would allow for accessory buildings to be constructed five feet from the rear yard property lines that front on public streets.