Zoning ordinance revision ready for supervisors

Public hearing attracts few

By Amy Boucher

     INDEPENDENCE – After controversy over the zoning ordinance that half-filled the Grayson County High School auditorium in January, only four people spoke for ten minutes Tuesday night about the comprehensive revision ordered by the county Board of Supervisors. The county Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the revision to the supervisors, who will hold a public hearing on the zoning law at 7 p.m. May 8.

The January meeting brought out supporters and foes of zoning, many of whom spoke during a lengthy public comment period after Wilson District Supervisor Glen “Eddie” Rosenbaum proposed repealing the zoning ordinance.

Instead, the supervisors ordered the planning commission to do a major overhaul of the law, and asked that residents and landowners tell the commission specifically what was wrong with it.

Tuesday night’s turnout was typical of the public interest shown in the revision. Only a handful of people have followed the process closely and offered input.

The commission spent the majority of its time Tuesday trying to decide how to handle special use permits granted under the old ordinance.

The commission made a few last-minute changes to the draft, deciding to classify horses as livestock instead of companion animals; allowing certain signs to be placed less than 30 feet from the center of a road if they fall outside the Virginia Department of Transportation right-of-way; and adding back a fee for cell phone towers, but dropping it to $55, the price of a special use permit fee.

At the hearing, Laura George, who sued the county some years ago over a zoning refusal and won, said the revision has two “glaring problems.” She did not like a section which said that if two parts of the zoning ordinance were more or less restrictive, the more restrictive regulations would apply. She said that is “quite inconsistent with what the board [of supervisors] wanted to do.” Additionally, she said, “This needs to be made retroactive for the prior 16 years.”

George asked that the commission add “some protective language” to industrial zone uses to regulate water-intensive industries like bottling plants. “We are sitting ducks,” she said. “Water is the next oil.”

Commission Member John Brewer, who also is chairman of the board of supervisors, asked about the provision for strict interpretation.

Zoning Administrator Elaine Holeton explained that the phraseology was common to zoning ordinances and necessary for enforcement.

Also during the hearing, Don Pridgen asked the commission to reconsider classing horses and equines as companion animals rather than agricultural animals, citing the Code of Virginia. Barns built for livestock are exempt from building and zoning requirements. He noted that he could not use ungraded, locally produced lumber for a horse barn under the draft zoning ordinance because the building would have to be engineered and inspected. “Let’s make the ag exemption policy simple and user-friendly.”

The commission agreed last week to classify horses as companion animals because that is how the building code classifies them.

Planning Commission Member Don Dudley proposed reversing that position Tuesday night.

Holeton explained that this would mean that someone building a horse barn would not need a zoning permit but still would need a building permit.

“Whatever we do, it’s not going to help as far as materials being used or anything else,” said Brewer.

The commission agreed unanimously to define equine animals as agricultural in the revised ordinance.

As for the special use permits, commission members feared that some landowners might be left operating under special use conditions that could be made less restrictive under the revised ordinance.

Holeton explained that special use permits are like a contract between the landowner and the county, and that any change to them should be reviewed with notice to adjoining landowners.

Commission members were particularly concerned that someone who had to get a special use permit under the old ordinance might qualify for a permitted use under the revision, but Holeton said she did not believe any changes to the ordinance would create that situation. “I don’t see any uses listed that we’ve ever given a special use permit to.” She said any revisions to special use permits should be handled case by case. “You may get one a year.”

Commission Chair Lindsey Carico disagreed. “There’s nothing that we made allowable that was special use?” she asked. “They shouldn’t be held to their contract five years ago, now that it’s an allowed use.”

“It will be an issue the day after this is signed,” said George, from the audience.

County Administrator Jonathan Sweet advised the commission that the county attorney would need to review such cases to protect the county from civil suits by adjoining landowners and that the Board of Supervisors would have to decide how to handle them.

Hearing authorized on zoning revision

Planning commission hearing Tuesday; supervisors' hearing May 8

By Amy Boucher

INDEPENDENCE -- Grayson County's Board of Supervisors last Thursday authorized a public hearing on a major revision of the county's zoning ordinance at 7 p.m. May 8. The county Planning Commission will hold its own public hearing on the revision at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the board room of the county courthouse.

The supervisors ordered the revision after first taking steps in January to repeal zoning altogether on a 3-2 vote. Supervisor Glen "Eddie" Rosenbaum, who initiated the repeal, moved in February with the support of the entire board to direct the planning commission to revise the ordinance to make it more "user" and "business friendly."

The actions prompted an outpouring of public support both for and against the ordinance, which has been in place since 1998, and forced the supervisors to move their January and February meetings to the Grayson High School auditorium to accommodate the spectators.

The supervisors set a May deadline for the revision and the planning commission and Zoning Administrator Elaine Holeton have been working feverishly to meet it.

The revision has addressed the main complaints about the ordinance: setback requirements; businesses run from homes; and number of dwellings allowed per piece of property.   Under the revision, buildings can be 15 feet from the edge of a road (35 feet from the centerline) and 10 feet from property lines, home businesses can have up to 10 employees in a rural farm area and five in a subdivision classed as rural residential; and one piece of property can have up to three dwellings, provided the total size of the lot is 2.25 acres.

Another common complaint was that zoning increased property taxes, but as the zoning ordinance does not have any relationship to tax rates and Grayson does not have use-value taxation, the revision could not address this complaint.

The revision is comprehensive, covering items as diverse as sign size and placement, vacated mobile home placement or removal, and junk cars.

The supervisors did not comment on the issue when they authorized the public hearing, but County Administrator Jonathan Sweet encouraged members of the public to attend the Tuesday hearing with the planning commission. Public input at that hearing could still be incorporated in the new draft.

The decision to hold the public hearing was among very few decisions taken by the board, most of the meeting being devoted to informational briefings. 

In other business, the board:

*  heard from Chris Brown of the local United Way that his agency plans to focus on education, income and health, to "give people tools to survive." Brown took over the agency last summer and said he plans to bring some consistency to the operation, which raised $110,000 last year.

*  heard from Doug Harner, a certified crime prevention specialist with the Grayson County Sheriff's Department. His job is grant-funded. He distributes brochures on distracted driving to teens when they get their drivers' licenses; is providing anti-robbery training to local bank tellers and evaluating bank safety procedures; and has added "crime prevention contacts" to shift reporting for deputies. Deputies are encouraged to advise residents when they see situations that might invite crime. He said he has not been able to generate much interest in community watch programs and is going to try partnering with fire and rescue units to offer fire and security training. He also hopes to improve communication between law enforcement and businesses to provide timely information about suspects who commit crimes in adjoining counties and continue the pattern in Grayson.

*  reappointed J. David McGrady of Troutdale Town Council (four-year term) and Sweet (two-year term) to the Mount Rogers Planning District Commission. Sweet said that the agency's executive director, Michael Armbrister, is leaving in June.

*  approved a proclamation honoring the centennial of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.

*  unanimously approved a resolution declaring "In God We Trust" as a national motto and affirming the county's right to display the motto. A tax-exempt organization is encouraging such approvals by localities. The movement was started by Jackie Sullivan of Bakersfield, Calif. "I can't imagine why that would be a problem, but I would entertain a motion if the board so chooses," said Chairman John Brewer.

*  learned from Sweet that the county will have a student intern from Wytheville Community College over the summer, in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan. Sweet also reported that the new Geographic Information System will be in operation next month, and a new phone system to replace the 1970s-era county phones will be in operation by the end of the month.

*  set a budget work session April 16.

*  learned that the $2.6 million Nuckolls Curve water project grant application has been submitted.

*  learned that Fries will hold a community blood drive from 9 am. to 2 p.m. May 3.

New jobs in the air?

Zipline, mystery business discussed

By Amy Boucher

INDEPENDENCE -- Grayson County could see the addition of 12-15 jobs after action to approve a zipline business in Whitetop by the Board of Supervisors on Thursday night, but could more jobs be on the way?

That's the question after supervisors held their second closed-door session in as many meetings to discuss an "undisclosed prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry."

County Administrator Jonathan Sweet hinted that the supervisors might have an announcement after the closed session, but a half-hour later Chairman John Brewer apologized and said the board would not be taking any action.

Typically, localities become involved in business location or expansion when grants or state incentives are being offered.

As for the zipline business, supervisors voted unanimously to grant a special use permit to Lenny Cottom, who operates Hawksnest Zipline, a snow tubing and zipline business near Boone, N.C. The county Planning Commission recommended the approval on March 18.

Cottom and Planning and Community Development Director Elaine Holeton were the only speakers at a public hearing on the permit.

Cottom said the business would not increase traffic on Old Park Road, near the top of the Virginia Creeper Trail, because most patrons would arrive in bike shuttle vans and would enjoy the zipline prior to biking down the trail. He assured the board that he has "a great safety record" and that he would create 12-15 seasonal jobs, from May 1 through Oct. 31.

Brewer called the jobs number "music."

Supervisor Glen "Eddie" Rosenbaum wanted to know if the zipline could be used as a chairlift for skiers to "take advantage of this snow,"  but Cottom explained that it was a climbing harness on a pulley.

"We're all very excited about this project," Holeton told the board.

Sweet added that the zipline fits the county's Comprehensive Plan, by encouraging visitation, creating jobs, and producing "little to no impact on the environment."

The employment theme surfaced again during a report from the Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Area Consortium on a "skills gap analysis" being conducted in the region with the help of Virginia Tech's Office of Economic Development.

Marty Holliday of the board said that the study would identify the area's economic drivers, skills needed by the workforce, the region's capacity to meet the workforce need, and ways to improve that capacity.

Patrick O'Brien of Virginia Tech presented some information from the as-yet-incomplete analysis, and said that manufacturing remains the top job sector in the region, with 19 percent of all jobs. Healthcare/social assistance is second, with 11 percent.

He gave the supervisors some Grayson-specific data. Of Grayson's 15,700 residents, 45 percent are in the labor force, with an average per capita income of $24,651. The county has a 5 percent unemployment rate. People of all educational levels, from high school dropouts to those with four-year degrees or higher are employed at rates of 92 percent and higher. Those with four years and more of higher education in the labor force number 1,137 and nearly all of them are employed. The largest category in the labor force is high school graduates, who number 2,255.

Local government is the biggest employer, with 664 jobs in 2012, up 8 percent from 2002. The average local government wage is $26,025. This category includes people employed by the public schools.

In 2002, wood products manufacturing was the second largest category of employment, with 159 jobs, but this sector has lost 19 percent of its jobs over the decade and in 2012 employed 129. The average annual wage is $20,467.

"Social assistance" was the second largest employment sphere in 2012, with 133 jobs, but an average yearly wage of just $13,768.

Ambulatory health care services, which does not include nursing and residential care facilities, was another growth sector, with 100 jobs in 2012 and an average wage of $24,365, up from 55 jobs in 2002.

Restaurants employ 91 people and that number has held steady for a decade. Those employees make $12,180 annually.

O'Brien said farming produced 422 jobs in "crops" and 358 jobs in animal production. Healthcare and social assistance jobs have grown 61 percent from 2003 to 2013 and manufacturing jobs declined 32 percent during the same period, totaling 324 presently.

The intent of the analysis is to help localities like Grayson develop workforce skills to meet the needs of employers.

"The new focus in the country is workforce development," said Sweet. He pointed to the undisclosed business opportunity discussed in the closed session as an example of the need for workforce development, and urged the supervisors to think about preparing "our No. 1 asset, which is our youth."

Zoning revision tackles Shoreline Recreation restrictions, junk cars

Public hearing set on zoning ordinance revision April 15

 

By Amy Boucher

 

    INDEPENDENCE –Saying that they would revisit both issues this summer, the Grayson County Planning Commission nevertheless made some revisions Tuesday to parts of the county zoning ordinance dealing with recreational lots along the New River and with junk cars.

The planning commission is revising the zoning ordinance to make it more “user-friendly” at the direction of county supervisors, who threatened in January to repeal it altogether. A public hearing on the revised ordinance is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the county courthouse board room. The supervisors will consider whether to adopt the proposed revised ordinance May 8.

The ordinance will define an automobile graveyard as “any lot or place which is exposed to the weather upon which more than five unlicensed and/or inoperable motor vehicles of any kind are placed.”

“Vehicles” would include motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers.

The law would permit an unlimited number of inoperable vehicles to be stored inside a structure, not visible from the outside.

Agricultural vehicles would be exempt, but the landowner would have to prove that the property being used for storage was being used for agriculture and that the owner was submitting a “tangible business personal property” tax form to the county commissioner of the revenue. Agricultural operations “have a lot of farm vehicles,” said Zoning Administrator Elaine Holeton.

Temporary storage would be allowed at an automobile or farm vehicle sales and service business.

Commercial auto graveyards would be allowed in industrial districts and with a special use permit in rural farm and commercial districts.

Holeton said the intent of the regulations is to preserve the health, safety and welfare of county residents. Auto graveyards can attract rodents and are prone to hazardous fluid leaks.

Any property which had more than five inoperable vehicles before 1998, when zoning was first adopted, is exempt because existing uses were grandfathered at the time.

“Who enforces these graveyard things?” asked Commission Member Palmer Fant.

Holeton said that was a good question. She said the regulations in the present zoning ordinance are hard to enforce.

Commission Member Brian Walls asked whether each person who lived on a property could have five inoperable vehicles, but Holeton answered that only five would be allowed on any lot.

Walls wanted to know whether a person could have more on a lot of 50 acres, when they couldn’t be seen from anywhere else.

Commission Chair Lindsey Carico explained that even with a 1,000-acre lot, an owner could only have five because of the safety hazard. “It’s fair,” she said.

Fant complained that a clutter of old farm vehicles creates an “eyesore.”

“An eyesore to some people,” said Walls. “Some people might love it.”

“Five sounds fair to me,” said Commission Member Robert Noblett.

Commission Member Larry Bartlett said he would agree to include the automotive junkyard section but he didn’t believe it would work. He said he had a long history with a junkyard in his own neighborhood and it is “still there. This is a very difficult thing that we’re trying to do.”

Bartlett said he keeps both an old truck and a tractor for parts. “Am I who we’re after?”

He thought the restrictions would be “very difficult to manage” and asked that the planning commission reconsider the issue in the future.

Carico agreed that the commission needs to spend considerable time on the shoreline recreation and junk car issues. “This wording does clarify some of the issues of the previous ordinance.”

Fant asked that the commission continually bear in mind keeping Grayson beautiful. “It’s our responsibility to keep it that way or improve it.”

On the shoreline recreation district, Holeton sketched the history of how the narrow river lots came into being. The county’s first subdivision ordinance in the 1970s allowed the creation of lots as narrow as 20 feet in some cases, which were “very marketable.” From the 1970s until 2012, when the planning commission removed shoreline recreation lots from the subdivision ordinance, between 500 and 1,000 such lots were created and sold along the New River, Holeton said. “In the past that was used as a tool by the developer to get a ton of money for a little bit of land.”

Now, developers can only create Class I or Class II subdivisions or planned unit developments along the river. The minimum lot size is 30,000 square feet.

The shoreline recreation district in the zoning ordinance only applies to those previously created shoreline recreation lots. Holeton said someone with a rural farm property could seek rezoning to shoreline recreation but this would be unlikely because of the tight restrictions imposed.

The intent of the restrictions is to ensure that development on the properties conforms to floodplain regulations. Holeton pointed out that improperly or illegally built structures in the floodplain could cause a flood to widen and pose a hazard to those downstream, and could threaten water quality.

The county must try to balance the rights of the community, “aesthetic, water quality,” with the rights of the property owners.

The revised ordinance emphasizes that the floodplain ordinance governs to a large extent what shoreline recreation owners can do with their property.

Permitted uses in the shoreline recreation district include agriculture; camping, provided adequate water and sewer services are provided; and hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Only non-residential buildings with one wall are permitted, positioned so that flood waters can travel through the structure. Only one such building may be placed on any lot. One deck or freestanding porch is permitted per lot. Decks placed in conjunction with a building must be permanently tied in with and anchored with the building.

All construction that is in the FEMA-designated floodplain must meet codes for floodprone construction, including any electrical, plumbing or septic tank construction.

No yard setback is required and street setbacks are the same as in the rest of the zoning ordinance.

Holeton said the revision would not make any “earth-shattering changes” but she would like the commission to take a hard look at the shoreline recreation situation this summer. Commission members agreed by consensus to accept this revision as a start.

Holeton said she is not sure what to do about “all the illegal structures down there.” She said the county is doing a pretty good job of catching people who try to build new ones. She called the shoreline recreation district “a huge health, safety and welfare hazard because most of the property is in the FEMA-designated floodplain.”

Because the county no longer allows creation of shoreline recreation lots, Commission Member John Brewer, who also is chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, asked why Grayson needs a shoreline recreation district in its zoning ordinance.

“So we can regulate what’s already been done,” Holeton said. “You’ve got a district here that really needs zoning.

“What really needs to happen is we need these lots to get bigger.” She suggested some kind of incentive for combining lots.

Carico asked about the illegal structures, and Holeton said she is not sure how the county will address them.

“Once they go over the Fries dam, we’re not going to build them back,” Carrico said.

This spring, the county will mail information on floodplain regulations to all shoreline recreation lot owners as well as anyone who owns land in a FEMA-designated floodplain. The county also intends to erect signs in shoreline recreation districts advising people about restricted development areas.

Holeton said the 1940 flood was 20 feet above the normal water level. “It will flood down there.”

But she warned that “the Board of Supervisors’ meetings are going to be full” when the county tries to enforce floodplain regulations.

“You’re looking at a handful of rich people owning river lots,” said Carico. “Why should the whole community suffer? Just because they own property on the river shouldn’t give them the right to put everyone else in jeopardy.”

Holeton said that in addition to more work on the shoreline recreation district, the commission could look forward to doing some work on the county floodplain ordinance. The ordinance is necessary for flood insurance and federal flood relief.

In other issues, the commission:

* agreed to treat horses as “companion animals” rather than “livestock,” which is in line with how the building official interprets agricultural regulations.

* agreed that when a homeowner replaces a manufactured home with a new manufactured home, he will have 30 days to stabilize the old home on an appropriate setup or must dispose of it in six months; or reset it properly for residential use or reset it properly for use as an accessory building with approval by the building inspector for the new use.

* agreed not to allow new billboards in the county.