The regulations set forth in this article or set forth elsewhere in this chapter when referred to in this article are the "R-6" Low Density Mixed Residential Planned Community District Regulations.

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1)

This district is intended to provide opportunities for the development of planned residential communities offering a mix of large and small-lot single-family detached dwellings and open spaces, together with certain governmental, educational, religious, recreational and support uses. Innovative residential building types and creative subdivision design solutions are encouraged to promote neighborhood cohesiveness, walkability, connected transportation systems, community green spaces and protection of environmental resources. Communities shall be developed and redeveloped in accordance with a master development plan adopted at the time of rezoning or a subsequent approved amendment thereof. In order to carry out the intent of this article, planned communities developed under these district regulations and the approved master development plan shall achieve the following design objectives:

(1)

A mix of single-family detached residential lot sizes and configurations is provided so as to offer a variety of housing opportunities, yet create a cohesive neighborhood that enhances social interaction.

(2)

Housing is clustered to preserve valuable environmental resources and provide usable recreational open space.

(3)

The open space system is as carefully designed as the housing area so as to offer usable parks, connected green spaces, and village greens and civic spaces visible from roadways and spatially defined by abutting building facades and/or landscape elements.

(4)

Vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle transportation is facilitated through a connected system of roads, sidewalks and/or trails so as to provide many choices with regard to mode and route.

(5)

Traffic calming techniques may be used to reduce vehicle speed and increase pedestrian and bicycle safety.

(6)

Principal buildings address the street, presenting front facades on the publicly visible side of the building.

(7)

The visual impact of vehicular off-street parking and garages on public streetscape views is minimized through innovative site planning and building design, including parking areas located to the rear of buildings, using architectural design elements such as massing, form, materials and fenestration to make garages visually compatible with inhabited buildings, and parking areas screened with landscape elements.

(8)

Neighborhood support uses, such as neighborhood commercial areas, daycare facilities, community centers, churches and schools, are designed so as to be visually compatible with the residential character of the neighborhood and accessible by all transportation modes.

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1; Ord. of 3-13-12(15))

(a)

Single-family detached dwellings.

(b)

Home occupations.

(c)

Community buildings.

(d)

Public and private schools.

(e)

Child day care centers.

(f)

Adult day care centers.

(g)

Retail stores, convenience shops, personal service establishments, restaurants (excluding drive-through facilities, unless permitted by special use permit), food and drug stores.

(h)

Governmental, business and professional offices and financial institutions.

(i)

Churches.

(j)

Parks.

(k)

Common open space.

(l)

Public uses.

(m)

Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental to any of the above-listed uses.

(n)

Dwelling units may be occupied by a single family or not more than two (2) persons, except that such occupancy may be superseded by building regulations.

(o)

Parking lots and parking garages.

(p)

Small cell facilities. Wireless telecommunications facilities are further regulated by Article CC.

(q)

Homestays, as further regulated by Article DD.

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1; Ord. of 2-24-09(3); Ord. of 3-13-12(16); Ord. of 4-24-12(6); Ord. of 5-22-18(8); Ord. of 9-8-20(2))

(a)

Private clubs and golf courses.

(b)

Home for the aged in which three not more than three (3) persons not of the immediate family are provided with food, shelter and care for compensation.

(c)

Major family day home.

(d)

Short-term rentals, as further regulated by article DD.

(e)

Walls and fences greater than the height otherwise permitted, under such conditions as are deemed necessary by the city council.

(f)

Drive-through facility.

(g)

Reducing required parking areas to permit fewer than the required number of vehicle parking spaces for any use, provided that an amount of open space equal to the amount of space that would have been used for the required number of vehicle parking spaces is left available for parking in the event that, at the discretion of the city council, it is needed at some time in the future. Open space used for this purpose shall be so noted in the deed and shall not be used to meet any conflicting requirements of the zoning ordinance.

(h)

Public uses which deviate from the requirements of title 10, chapter 3.

(i)

Concealed wireless telecommunications facilities, industrial microcells, distributed antenna systems, and macrocells. Telecommunications towers are not permitted, except towers primarily erected for the use of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center up to two hundred (200) feet in height. Wireless telecommunications facilities are further regulated by article CC.

(j)

Recovery residence of more than eight (8) adults and any number of minor dependents of those residents.

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1; Ord. of 4-26-11(7); Ord. of 3-13-12(17); Ord. of 5-8-12(3); Ord. of 1-8-13(8); Ord. of 9-23-14(7); Ord. of 7-28-15(15); Ord. of 8-22-17(10); Ord. of 3-26-19(1); Ord. of 2-13-24)

(a)

Minimum district size: Two (2) contiguous acres, which may include properties located directly across public or private street or alley rights-of-way from one another.

(b)

Maximum density: Six (6) dwelling units per acre.

(c)

Maximum building height: Thirty-five (35) feet (three (3) stories).

(d)

Minimum common open space or park: Fifteen (15) percent.

(e)

Lot area, lot width, lot depth and yards for all uses: requirements as set by the approved master development plan.

(f)

Unless otherwise specified within the master development plan, the provisions of article T, and the regulations in article CC for wireless telecommunications facilities, shall apply to the R-6 zoning district.

(1)

Private refuse collection facilities shall be provided at a designated point and shall meet the requirements in section 10-3-110(h).

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1; Ord. of 2-24-09(4); Ord. of 1-8-13(9); Ord. of 1-14-14(8); Ord. of 7-28-15(16); Ord. of 7-23-24)

(a)

Attached or detached private radio and television antennas, including dish antennas, shall not exceed the maximum height otherwise permitted in this district and shall not be permitted in front yards.

Exception: Private amateur radio antennas intended for public service and emergency use may exceed the height otherwise established so long as the height is justified for proper radio communications.

(b)

Unless otherwise specified within the master development plan, off-street vehicle and bicycle parking regulations for all buildings and uses permitted in this district are governed by article G.

(c)

At least two (2) types of single-family detached residential lot sizes/configurations shall be provided and no one lot size/configuration type may exceed a total of seventy (70) percent of all the residential units in the community.

(d)

Land area within the planned community shown on the master development plan as dedicated to uses permitted under subsections 10-3-56.3(g) and (h) shall not exceed five (5) percent of the total land area of the planned community. The master development plan shall show how such retail, restaurant and office uses shall be integrated into the residential community so as to not adversely affect local traffic patterns and levels and views from surrounding residential areas and public streets. Such integration shall be achieved through effective site planning, compatible architectural design, and landscaping and screening of parking lots, utilities, mechanical/electrical/telecommunications equipment and service/refuse functions. Buildings shall be residential in design and scale with floorplates not exceeding seven thousand five hundred (7,500) square feet.

(e)

Applicants for the R-6 zoning district shall submit at rezoning a master development plan, showing and describing in map and text form:

(1)

General layout of roads, housing areas, open space, parks, pedestrian and bicycle trails.

(2)

General location and number of community building, school, day care, church and public use sites proposed.

(3)

Description of housing types/lot configurations to be used with lot areas, minimum widths and depths, minimum yards defined.

(4)

Indication on the master development plan of the general location of housing types/lot configurations proposed.

(5)

Environmentally sensitive areas: slopes exceeding fifteen (15) percent, streams and 100-year floodplains.

(6)

Proposed active recreation areas and recreation facilities.

(7)

Proposed general landscape plan (landscape areas, plant materials and general specifications).

(8)

Description of how design principles of the district are to be met and proffers, if any, to implement the principles.

(f)

Ownership and maintenance of common open space and other common facilities.

(1)

General requirements:

a.

Organization: A property owners' association shall be established to provide for the ownership, care and maintenance of all common open space areas and other common facilities and improvements.

b.

Ownership: All common open space, facilities and improvements shall be dedicated to the property owners' association. No land within privately owned lots shall be considered common open space.

c.

Covenants: All property owners' associations shall be created by covenants and restrictions recorded among the land records of the City of Harrisonburg. All such covenants shall include provisions for the maintenance of common open space, facilities and improvements.

(2)

Maintenance requirements:

a.

Responsibility: The property owners' association shall be responsible for the maintenance of all common open space, facilities and improvements in a reasonable condition.

b.

Condition: All open space areas shall be landscaped as shown on the adopted master development plan and shall be kept in a clean, attractive and safe condition. All open space areas shall be kept open to and available for use by the residents of the planned community.

(g)

The approved master development plan shall govern development on the site and shall be used as a basis for subdivision and site plan approval and zoning code enforcement.

(h)

The master development plan may be amended after the initial rezoning to R-6. Such amendment is considered an amendment to this ordinance and shall be processed according the regulations under article U.

(i)

The master development plan may be amended solely for a parcel(s) upon application by that parcel's owner, through a zoning map amendment process, subject to determination by the city council that the proposed use and development plan meets all of the requirements of the original master development plan to an equivalent degree in terms of meeting the purposes of the district and protecting the public health, safety, and welfare.

(j)

For the purposes of provisions subsections 10-3-56.6(g) and (h), the ground dimension of any feature (length, width or area) shown on the master development plan, may vary up to five (5) percent of the scaled dimension provided that a written explanation of the variation, as well as a revised drawing of the master development plan reflecting and designating the refinement is submitted to the zoning administrator by the owner or applicant. Once the zoning administrator determines in writing that the variation conforms to this requirement, the variation becomes part of the approved master development plan. The zoning administrator must make a determination within twenty-one (21) calendar days of receiving the explanation from the applicant or owner.

(Ord. of 10-25-05, § 1; Ord. of 3-13-12(18); Ord. of 1-8-19(2))