AG 1994 08 15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF ANALYSIS - PETITION 94-03 The petitioner is requesting a change in zoning to permit construction of an office/commercial use. He is asldng that the zoning be changed from Low Density Residential (LDR) to General Commercial-Special Use (GC-SU) for 6 acres on U.S. 601 South approximately one quarter of a mile north of Cai Bost Road. The change would permit the construction of a building contractor office and equipment storage area, and in the future allow a landscaping company and nursery on the property. There are two main areas to consider in the analysis of this request. The first is whether the scope and effect of the proposed uses exceeds that of uses that are currently permitted. The current LDR zoning permits residential uses along with a mix of agricultural, commercial and institutional uses. The permitted, and permitted by standards, uses include banks, convenience stores, gas stations, kennels, nursery/greenhouses, and restaurants. These uses, even with standards applied, may still have a major impact on surrounding properties. The two proposed uses would seem to be of similar scale and type to the permitted uses. A landscape and nursery company would be permitted based on standards in the current zoning, so that use alone would not constitute a major change. The contractors office is proposed to be 2,100 square feet in size which fails close to the scale (2,000 square feet) called for in the standards of some of the uses that are currently permitted. There may be a negative effect on surrounding properties from the storage and movement of contractor equipment. The petitioner has addressed this on his site plan through the retention of a natural vegetated buffer, and by locating the equipment storage area behind the office building. This is an issue, however, that may require further review by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The second major consideration with this rezoning is the integrity of the overall zoning pattern. The larger area surrounding this property is all Low Density Residential. There is an area of Limited Industrial approximately one mile to the north on U.S. 601, and a Limited Commercial area approximately one and a half miles to south near N.C. 24-27. The current land uses on U.S. 601 are mostly rural residential, but there are a number of non-residential uses nearby ranging from rural home occupations to the Concord Motor Speedway. The final Point is that the special use zoning process was put in the ordinance to permit specific uses that would be, with conditions, of similar type and scope of uses already permitted in the surrounding area. The staff recommendation on this petition was split. The proposed use of the property was not in question. Staff felt that this use could be properly located in this area. The point of contention was whether the building contractor storage yard should be permitted by standards in the zone, or possibly that any use that would be allowed as a rural home occupation be permitted by standard whether a house was located on the property or not. We recommend that this rezoning be approved and that this case be revisited during the scheduled review of the Zoning Ordinance.