Fayette plans hearing on zoning ordinance
The Fayette County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Thursday in anticipation of adopting the text of the long-awaited countywide zoning, subdivision and land development ordinance by the end of the year. During Tuesday’s agenda meeting, Commissioner Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink verified with Tammy Stenson, director of the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, that the text of the ordinance will be proposed during the hearing, which will begin at 2 p.m. at the county’s public service building.
The new ordinance has been in the planning stages for more than three years. Stenson said “no zoning maps will be involved” during the hearing. Dave Bukovan, zoning chief for the county, said the text is the heart of the ordinance.
The ordinance includes the creation of a new zoning district, a village district, which will apply to coal patch towns such as Smock that originally had a variety of mixed uses such as commercial, residential and very light industrial. Stenson earlier said that the idea of the new classification is to promote redevelopment in existing villages, to reuse vacant buildings and prevent sprawl and to use areas that already have infrastructure available. Bukovan said the village concept will allow for a lot of mixed uses, and a “protection mechanism” in the ordinance requires more buffer yards and screening for developments.
The ordinance includes more extensive uses and specific definitions. Home occupations have been separated into Type 1, with very little to no impact to the surrounding area and no employees, and Type 2, with a minimal impact to the surrounding area, Stenson said.
Under the current ordinance, the home occupations were a “catch-all” without extensive definitions. With the new ordinance, Type 1 home occupation businesses are permitted uses in all the residential zones.
In the ordinance, each zoning classification includes a minimum lot size. For rural residential property, the minimum lot size is 3 acres. The minimum lot size drops to 1 acre for low-density residential, one-quarter acre for moderate-density residential and one-eighth acre for high-density residential and the village designation.
A number of properties in the county fall under two zoning categories, something that will be alleviated in the new ordinance.
The new ordinance has been streamlined to make it easier for developers to gain approval, Stenston earlier said. She also said that one of the goals of the new ordinance is to eliminate non-conforming uses.
The new ordinance will also include mechanisms for zoning officers to enforce the ordinance, something not in the current ordinance.
With the new ordinance, Bukovan previously said, the number of cases heard by the county zoning hearing board should drop. In 2003, the zoning board heard about 100 cases for proposals such as a craft shop in a home, strip mining or windmills.
Stenson said new additions to the ordinance include a marina definition and military related facilities designation. Bukovan said the standards for junkyards are more stringent and rules for strip mining are laid out in detail.
For businesses, the square footage is spelled out and determines if the business is a permitted use or falls under special exception.
Once the ordinance is enacted, the county’s zoning hearing board should face fewer special exception hearings because numerous home-based businesses with low impact will be permitted without a special exception. Stenson said one such example would be an Internet business that does not have any traffic.
The new ordinance will include the zones of agricultural; RR-rural residential; R-1, low density residential; R-2, moderate density residential; R-3, high density residential; V-1, village; Conservation; B-1, business commercial; M-1, light industrial; M-2 heavy industrial and AH, airport hazard overlay.
Zimmerlink said after Thursday’s hearing, the text will be available for review in the planning office; and public comment will be taken until Dec. 29, when the commissioners plan to adopt the wording of the ordinance.
Zimmerlink explained that the commissioners decided several months ago to adopt the ordinance in two stages, by adopting the text first and then the zoning maps. After the narrative is adopted, Zimmerlink said the consultant and zoning office personnel will meet with each of the 32 municipalities that are affected to go over the proposed maps. She said the maps will likely be adopted sometime next year.
Ten of the county’s municipalities handle their own planning and zoning. The ordinance includes zoning changes for some of the 80,000 parcels of land that the law will cover. During the course of the planning process for the new ordinance, which will replace one in effect since 1968, numerous people have objected to zoning changes.
A series of public hearings were held throughout the county during the planning process in early 2004, but they were very sparsely attended.