Grayson County Planning Commission draft zoning revision 3.24.2014
By Amy Boucher
Use-value taxation allows land to
be taxed on the value of its use, which generally leads to higher taxes on
developed land and lower taxes on farmland. Grayson has a single tax rate for
all taxable properties.
The Agriculture District would
have delineated “those areas of the county with contiguous acreage, prime soils
and existing infrastructure conducive to agricultural operations.”
Zoning Administrator Elaine
Holeton said other localities’ zoning ordinances include Agriculture Districts
because they don’t allow as much agricultural activity in their other zoning districts
as Grayson does, or because they have use-value taxation.
Most of Grayson is zoned Rural
Farm, which allows a broad spectrum of farming activity, and the county does
not have use-value taxation.
“I get the sense the planning
commission is divided on this issue,” Holeton said.
“Does anybody see a reason to
include it?” asked Chairman Lindsey Carico. “Our Rural Farm is lenient enough
that it covers everything.”
“When a locality really needs it
is when they have use-value taxation…without the one I don’t know if we necessarily
need the other,” said Commission Member John Brewer, who also is chairman of
the Grayson Board of Supervisors, which mandated the zoning ordinance revision
in January.
The commission made a number of
other choices, including:
* eliminating the $1,000 zoning
permit fee for cell towers, to encourage location of towers in the western part
of Grayson.
* adding stockyards and
slaughterhouses as a special use in the Rural Farm and Commercial districts..
Holeton told the commission that the ordinance is considered “inclusive,” which
means “only those uses listed in the ordinance are allowed.” If someone wants
to do something other than what is specifically allowed in any zone district,
he must apply for a “zone text amendment” – essentially a change in the zoning
ordinance. Holeton said such a change would be similar to seeking a special use
permit, with two public hearings and final approval by the supervisors.
Among the permitted uses Holeton
has added to this revision of the ordinance are retreat center (day-use),
museums, libraries, print shops and flea markets. The commission agreed that
bars and nightclubs could be added as a special use for Rural Farm and
Commercial districts and that restaurants should be added as a special use in
Rural Residential. They decided funeral homes should be added as a special use
in Rural Farm.
* postponing a decision on
whether to allow hazardous materials and operations such as asphalt plants,
chemical manufacturing, hazardous waste disposal, mining and refining and pulp
mills as a special use in Industrial and Commercial districts, or whether to
omit them from the ordinance and deal with any requests as zoning text
amendments.
* declining to act on Member Brian
Walls’s suggestion that the Commercial and Industrial classifications be
combined to a single zone.
*postponing a decision on how to
deal with an old mobile home that is replaced by a new one. Holeton’s draft
required the homeowner to remove the old mobile home, but Walls said many
people like to keep the old mobile homes as storage buildings.
Holeton suggested requiring that
the old mobile home at least be properly set up on a stable foundation.
“I’ve seen ‘em just cocked up on
a bank,” said Carico. “They ought to set them for safety reasons.”
Commission Member Don Dudley said
he did not want to move too quickly and asked for more time to consider the
issue.
The commission will meet at 6
p.m. April 8 in the board room of the Grayson Courthouse to continue its zoning
ordinance revision work. Among the items to be considered are junk cars and
Shoreline Recreation District regulations.
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