Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-19-05-028 — THOMAS HEWITT

Request: Variances in the R-CE zoning district as follows: 1) To allow a minimum lot width of 94 ft. in lieu of 130 ft. 2) To allow a minimum lot size of .58 acres in lieu of 1 acre.

Decision: Approved

Hearing: Staff noted that the subject property was created through a survey filed in 1885. The property was initially zoned R-1 in 1957, when Orange County adopted its first zoning code. In 1981, County staff was recommending that the property be rezoned to R-1AAAA. This would cause the property to be lawfully nonconforming due to the lot width required by that zone, however, it would be minor degree of nonconformity. However, the County opted to rezone any property in the area not zoned A-1 or A-2 to R-CE. In addition, at some point in the 1980's, the subject property was split between to adjacent properties, causing it to lose its lawfully nonconforming status. Staff noted that there were no correspondence in opposition, one in favor, and that numerous variance for the exact same request had been granted throughout the past. The applicant indicated their agreement with the staff recommendation. There being no one present to speak in favor or opposition to the request, the public hearing was closed. The BZA concluded that due to the age the property, the history of rezonings, and the volume of pest variance activity for the exact same reason, a variance was warranted to allow the applicant to build their home. A motion to recommend approval of the request was adopted unanimously.