BZA amends setback variance to protect sensitive stream
A handful of Rick Thomas’s neighbors on Old Browntown Lane appeared before the Rappahannock County Board of Zoning Appeals last Wednesday night to voice their opposition to his application for a setback variance on his 1.4-acre streamfront property. Thomas requested the variance in order to build a “modest one-story dwelling” 26 feet closer to the stream than the current conservation district zoning allows.
“The only thing that I’m asking for in this application is that you move … the rear setback from 100 feet to 74 feet,” Thomas said. “No changes on the other three sides. This would allow space for a clean rectangle of a building envelope.”
Chief among the neighbors’ concerns was the health of Waterfall Branch, a sensitive tributary of Hittles Mill Stream and the Rappahannock River which provides habitat to imperiled native aquatic species.
“I’m not going to suggest they’re wrong to be concerned about that, I would be as well if I was an owner of that property,” said Thomas’s attorney, Michael Brown. “But unfortunately for their argument, that’s not one of the criteria that this board is directed to apply when considering a variance.”
In an effort to find an agreeable accommodation, the members of the BZA decided that instead of granting the setback variance on the stream side, they would grant one on the road side.
“So we’d be granting a variance on the front setback which would be about 25 feet, but which would require that the building be moved forward so that it is in no place no less than 100 feet from the stream,” said BZA Chairman Alex Sharp.
The motion passed 4-1, with Vice Chair Ron Makela casting the lone dissenting vote. Makela dissented because he believed there was evidence in the parcel’s zoning and sale history which indicated a setback variance would not be required for Thomas to build the dwelling in question where he pleased.
Two applications for tourist homes were approved at the regular meeting, one submitted by SBHD Siblings, LLC of Sperryville Pike and the other by Susanna and Bjorn Jemsby of Castleton.
Makela asked that two items be added to the agenda near the end of the meeting: one discussion about the BZA budget for the upcoming fiscal year and another about the state of the county’s zoning maps.
“The Thomas issue was actually the first time I’d ever seen the zoning map and I think four of us probably are in the same situation,” Makela said. “And when I saw it I went, ‘really?’ It’s magic marker lines, I mean it’s — I was somewhat amazed.
“My recommendation is we write a letter to the Board of Supervisors stating that, you know, we find [the maps] completely outdated … the county needs to have GIS-based zoning maps,” he continued. “I just can’t imagine going before a judge on a zoning case if it got that far and showing them something that’s got magic marker lines on it.”
Wakefield District Representative Steph Ridder added that she worried the county might get sued over some of the marker lines, which in her estimation were close to an acre thick. “People’s property rights depend on this being accurate,” she said.
Following that conversation, the BZA moved into a discussion of their budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year beginning in July. Their recommended budget included $1,500 for training, $200 for office supplies, $3,600 for advertising, $5,000 for legal services and $5,000 for salaries and wages.