Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

SE-17-12-134 — Jamal A. Hassouneh

Request: Amendment to a Special Exception for an existing religious institution to remove any restriction on hours of operation.

Decision: Approved

Hearing: SYNOPSIS: Staff described the proposal, including the location of the property, the site plan, photos of the site, and the history of the prior approval. Staff provided an analysis of the six (6) criteria and the reasons for a recommendation for denial. Staff noted that no comments were received in support, and four (4) comments were received in opposition. The applicant spoke about the need for the requested removal of hours of operation restrictions, compared the request with other religious institutions in the area, and noted that the event hours of operation restriction would remain the same. Orange County Transportation Planning stated that they had no issues with the request, as additional trips would be outside of peak hours. Two neighbors spoke in favor of the request, stating that they never saw restrictions on hours before and that they have the right to pray whenever they want and that they live in the area and will be walking to the site. The BZA noted that most of the opposition to the initial request was about traffic impacts, stated that the requested removal of hours of operation restriction was similar to other religious intuitions in the County, stated justification for the six (6) criteria and unanimously recommended approval of the Special Exception by a 5-0 vote, with one absent and one seat vacant, subject to the four (4) conditions in the staff report.