Amelia County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXXIII
Site Plan Review
§ 325-33.1 Statement of intent.
The purpose of a site plan review is to provide a focused review and approval of selected development to ensure compliance with County regulations, to facilitate the coordination of developments with their surrounding properties, and to promote the health, safety, and general public welfare, with particular attention to site layout and design, traffic movement of vehicles and pedestrians, utilities, drainage, landscaping, and protection of the natural environment. This article is intended to enhance the quality of development in the County by taking into account the County's Comprehensive Plan and development ordinances.
§ 325-33.2 Prerequisite to issuance of permits.
No zoning permit or building permit shall be issued to construct, erect, alter, occupy or use any property until the provisions of this article have been met and any required site plan has been approved in compliance with this article.
§ 325-33.3 When required.
§ 325-33.4 Procedures.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A.
Preapplication conference. All applicants shall have a preapplication conference with the Zoning Administrator. The purpose of this conference is to discuss the basic site layout, vehicular access, on-site parking, traffic movements, signs, landscaping, utilities, drainage, and so forth with respect to the County Comprehensive Plan and development ordinances.
B.
Application. The applicant shall submit three copies and the appropriate fee to the Zoning Administrator.
C.
Application acceptance. The Zoning Administrator shall review the application for completeness. No application shall be accepted for review until it has been determined to be complete.
D.
Application review. The Zoning Administrator shall have up to 60 days from the date of acceptance to review the site plan and to circulate the site plan to the appropriate departments, boards, and agencies for written comments. For resubmissions following disapproval, the time period shall be 45 days after the site plan has been resubmitted for approval.
E.
Results of application review. The Zoning Administrator shall notify the applicant of the results of the review, which may be:
(1)
Approval of the site plan as submitted;
(2)
Conditional approval of the site plan as submitted subject to the applicant revising the site plan to comply fully with the written comments received during the review process; providing any necessary bond; and paying all fees and charges; or
(3)
Disapproval of the site plan as submitted identifying any the deficiencies causing such disapproval by reference to specific duly adopted County ordinances, regulations or policies, and identifying modifications or corrections as will permit approval of the site plan.
F.
Resubmission of a disapproved site plan; submission of an application.
§ 325-33.5 Appeals.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
If the Zoning Administrator fails to approve or disapprove a site plan in accordance with the time periods set above, the applicant, after 10 days' written notice to the Zoning Administrator, may make appeal to the Circuit Court, as provided by §§ 15.2-2258 and 15.2-2259 of the Code of Virginia.
§ 325-33.6 Fees.
A.
The fee for site plan review shall be as established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
B.
In addition to the basic fee, prior to the final approval and release of a site plan, the applicant shall reimburse the County for all third-party fees incurred during the review process.
§ 325-33.7 Bonds.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
If the approved site plan requires physical construction in a public right-of-way, the applicant shall provide agreement assuring construction and bond securing the estimated costs of the construction to the satisfaction of the Zoning Administrator. The bond may be released in phases as work is concluded, inspected and approved as complete.
§ 325-33.8 Amendments to approved site plan.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
If it becomes necessary to amend an approved site plan, the Zoning Administrator may, if the amendment is minor, approve the amendment. If the Zoning Administrator determines that the amendment is major, then a new site plan review is required.
§ 325-33.9 Compliance with approved site plan.
A.
Inspections by County officials shall be made during the course of construction to ensure compliance with the approved site plan.
B.
The owner or developer shall provide adequate supervision at the site during construction of improvements shown on the site plan and shall make sure that one set of the approved site plan is available on the site at all times construction is being performed.
§ 325-33.10 Failure to comply.
Failure to comply with this article or any aspect of an approved site plan shall be considered and treated as a violation of this chapter.
§ 325-33.11 Site plan specifications.
A.
The scale of the site plan shall not be less than 100 feet to the inch.
B.
The completed application, including drawings, shall be submitted in paper copy form. All site plan drawing sheets shall be 24 inches by 36 inches.
C.
The Zoning Administrator may require that the completed application and drawings be submitted in digital form, such as PDF format files or other reasonable file format.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
D.
If the site plan is prepared on more than one sheet, match lines shall clearly indicate where the several sheets join.
E.
Site plans or any portion thereof involving engineering, landscape architecture, architecture or surveying shall be prepared by qualified persons. Final site plans shall be stamped and certified by a professional qualified and licensed to practice by the commonwealth within the limits of their respective license(s).
§ 325-33.12 Site plan contents.
A.
Site plans at a minimum shall contain:
(1)
The title of the project; the name of the engineer, architect, landscape architect, surveyor and/or developer; Tax Map parcel number; magisterial district.
(2)
North point, scale, date, and number of sheets.
(3)
Vicinity map with sufficient detail and identification features to locate the site.
(4)
Existing zoning and zoning district boundaries on the site and on immediately surrounding properties.
(5)
A boundary survey of the site to include Tax Map numbers of adjoining properties.
(6)
All existing property lines, existing streets, buildings, watercourses, waterways and other physical features on and adjoining the site.
(7)
Location, types, and size of all ingress and egress of the site.
(8)
Topography of the project site with contour intervals of two feet.
(9)
All existing and proposed structures, including number of floors and height of structures and proposed general use for each building.
(10)
The location and size of sanitary and storm sewers, gas lines, water mains, culverts and other underground structures, all overhead utilities and their supporting poles on or affecting the property, including existing and proposed facilities and easements for these facilities.
(11)
The location of all existing and proposed off-street parking and loading spaces, indicating types of surfacing, size, angle of stalls, width of aisles, traffic flow, signage and a specific schedule showing the number of parking spaces.
(12)
Proposed location of solid waste refuse storage and pickup facilities.
(13)
The location, height, type, and materials of all existing and proposed fences, walls, plantings, and landscaping details for all buildings and grounds.
(14)
Calculations and provisions for adequate disposition of surface water indicating location, size, type and grade of ditches, catch basins and pipes, wet and dry detention ponds, and connections to existing drainage systems.
(15)
Provisions for the adequate control of erosion and sedimentation, in accordance with County ordinances.
(16)
Proposed finished grading by contours, supplemented where necessary by spot elevations.
(17)
Floodplain limits and flood inundation zones established by current FEMA maps, soil survey and/or engineering methods.
(18)
Location, character, size, height, and orientation of proposed signs.
(19)
The location, dimension, and features of proposed recreation, open space, and required amenities.
(20)
A minimum of one datum point reference for elevation used on plans and profiles correlated to the U.S. Geological Survey datum, where possible.
(21)
Any necessary notes required by the Zoning Administrator to explain specific items on the plan.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
(22)
A blank space at least four inches by four inches on the plan face for use by the County.
B.
The Zoning Administrator may request additional technical information other than what has been previously stated, or studies such as economic studies, traffic studies, environmental studies, utility studies and so forth where deemed necessary to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the County.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
§ 325-33.13 Waiver of requirements.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Except for traffic impact analysis requirements, any requirement of this article may be waived by the Zoning Administrator where the waiver is not adverse to the purpose of the article and where an undue hardship would result from the strict enforcement of this article or where the requirement is unreasonable in the specific situation. The waiver shall be made in writing and become part of the site plan review record.