Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-00-06-003 — Spectrum Community Services

Request: Variance in R-1A zone to allow community residential home (maximum of six (6) developmentally-disabled adults) 914 ft. from another community residential home located at 2811 Arrow Lane (to the north) in lieu of 1,000 ft.

Decision: Denied

Hearing: The applicant stated they had a contract to purchase the property and it was about to expire. They submitted an application to the State, which in turn forwarded a letter to Zoning to verify compliance with the distance separation requirement. Zoning processed a written response advising that the proposed location did not meet separation requirements. However, the applicant chose not to wait on receipt of the Zoning letter due to the pending contract, and consequently purchased the property. Staff did not support this request. It was felt that this was a self-imposed hardship in that the applicant had a responsibility to verify the property's zoning prior to commitment to purchase. The purpose of the separation requirement is to avoid an undue concentration of community residential homes in single family neighborhoods. To that end, Staff indicated that an approval of this request would add a second such home in the neighborhood, and would set a precedent to future variance requests. Several neighboring residents appeared in opposition to the request. A large petition containing numerous signatures and a letter from the homeowners association, all in opposition, were submitted. An opposing neighbor indicated that homes operated by companies such as the existing operation and the proposed are not well-maintained and, therefore, lessen property values in the neighborhood. Approval of a second community residential home as such would be detrimental to the neighborhood property values and would set a precedent for future requests. The BZA agreed with the findings and testimony of the Staff and residents and denied the request in that it did not meet the legal criteria for the granting of a variance.