Planning Commission Meeting

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Leesburg Planning Commission 1h 56m 4 speakers 8 agenda items transcribed 7 days ago official recording ↗

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What concerns did the public petitioner raise about their property variance?

Gigi Robinson 0:00

Fourth meeting. So moved.

Unknown 0:03

Seconded.

Gigi Robinson 0:04

Are there any changes, alterations, additions?

Gigi Robinson 0:18

Okay. I'd like to come back to these meetings or make a comment for a future Director David, you were going to modify the criteria used for minor modifications just to pull these out of the minutes and put them in for your next presentation on that. Okay. Okay. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Abstain. Abstain. Okay. Well done.

0:52

Okay.

Gigi Robinson 0:55

Disclosures. Candace, we'll begin with you. Any disclosures? No. None for me? No. Okay. Okay. Are there any petitioners that would like to speak on any subject whatsoever? We have one, Amy Sibley. Come on up.

Gigi Robinson 1:32

Thank you.

Amy Sibley 1:43

Good evening again. My name is Amy Sibley and I spoke with you at the last meeting on September 4th. After finishing my comments, Ms. Robinson asked if there was any way that someone here would be able to reach out and follow up with me. Everyone present nodded and made note that my email and contact information would be collected. That very night, I emailed the Planning Commission as a whole, and I still look forward to hearing back from someone. To recap, my husband and I would like to add a screened-in porch to our existing deck, but the zoning restrictions have been confusing and a little irrelevant to our particular property once you see the setup. You see, a deck addition was not allowed due to restrictions to perimeter lots such as ours.

Amy Sibley 2:27

Our fence line is the Leesburg municipal limit with Loudoun County property adjacent to us. In zoning restriction article 10455, uncovered decks, steps, landings, and patios, the last sentence in subparagraph B says, enclosed roof decks are not permitted within required yards. Because our yard is a perimeter lot, the required backyard is 30 feet. However, in the land plat, it does note that minimal backyard is 30 feet except where buffering is provided by adjacent development. Again, our property line is the Leesburg Municipal Limit. The adjacent land is Loudoun County property, and it is zoned for general government office buildings. And as you can see in the image that I provided, the government building plan is buffered by their own landscape design, as well as hundreds of yards of densely wooded land.

Amy Sibley 3:33

So we're asking that this buffering, both the landscape and natural, be considered to reduce our required backyard to the standard 20 feet like all non-perimeter lots. And as you can see, our lot is quite unique. This is why we're asking for a variance. According to the plans for our deck, we would have over 20 feet between the structure and our property line. The proposed addition to our deck is actually two feet further away from the property line than the existing deck is right now. Thank you very much for considering our request for a variance. We're not really quite sure who specifically to meet with to discuss why this restriction of 30 feet might not apply to our unique lot. We're not quite sure where to go from here.

Amy Sibley 4:22

We've been working on this for about six months, and the last step was to come talk with you guys. So if you have any direction, we would certainly appreciate it, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

4:34

Thank you.

Unknown 4:41

Now, if I may, I don't know the particulars of the case, but it sounds like it's a setback that was probably set during when the zoning was established on the property. And we have certain rules that say what you can and cannot do beyond building setbacks. And so we have to look into the particulars of the case. I will say this, if that is the issue, there's no authority on the behalf of the planning commission to vary any standard variances. There's a type of thing called a variance that goes to the board of zoning appeals. And that's usually when someone for some reason can't meet a zoning standard or wants to meet a different standard. but there's no mechanism that gives the Planning Commission authority to waive or modify building setbacks.

Unknown 5:29

So we can certainly, with staff, get the name and speak with her and see what can be done, or if not, hopefully explain the reason for the bar at the moment to this roofed deck in the back of their house.