Orange County — Board of Zoning Adjustment

VA-16-06-050 — WILLIAM JOHNSTON

Request: Variance in the A-1 zoning district to construct an accessory building containing 5,000 sq. ft. of floor area in lieu of 1,000 sq. ft. (Note: The applicant intends to remove 2 existing structures. The applicant submitted a petition containing 31 signatures in favor of the request.) APPROVAL IS DIFFERENT THAN REQUEST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decision: Approved

Hearing: Staff explained the history of this application. It was noted that it had been continued in August to give the applicant a chance to meet with staff to determine if it was possible to connect the proposed shed to the house, making it an addition and foregoing the need for a variance. Staff explained that due to the location of the on-site well, Option #1, was not practical; and, a major stand of trees made Option #2, unacceptable. Staff continued to express concerns over the severity of the variance. The applicants explained their desire to retain as much tree cover on the property as possible. It was tree preservation that caused them to reject the second alternative. The BZA indicated the request was too extreme of a deviation from the code. Further, the BZA did find that given that there were already two (2) accessory structures on the site, they could validate said amount of square footage, and allow the applicant to decide how they would allocate it. There was a discussion regarding how much square footage was actually currently in place. It was decided to set the square footage at 2,500.