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Home My Public Portal About2013_M032 Utilities Requirements in the JLMA COUNCIL MEETING July 9, 2013 MOTION 2013-032 I move to approve the referral letter for ZOAM 2013-0006, JLMA Utilities Requirements, as presented. 1 P a g e Town of �f Department.of Planning&Zoning Virginia 25 West Market Street 20176.703-771-2765■Fax:703-771-2724■www.leesburgva.gov County of Loudoun Department of Building and Development Attn: Mr. Mark Stultz, Deputy Zoning Administrator 1 Harrison Street Leesburg,Virginia 20175 July 10,2013 RE:ZOAM 2013-0006,JLMA Utilities Requirements Dear Mr.Stultz: Thank you for your referral request on the captioned zoning ordinance amendment.The Town of Leesburg opposes the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment because: • The Revised General Plan encourages development in the JLMA's to connect to municipal utilities from the respective town and as such,the Town of Leesburg has planned,engineered and invested in a public utility system to serve the JLMA. • The Town should determine utility capacity and availability—not the County Zoning Administrator. • The 300 foot requirement is not consistent with the Town Code requirements. The comments below will elaborate on these positions. These referral comments were reviewed by the Town Council on July 8 and a motion to endorse the comments was approved on July 9, 2013. 1.Revised General Plan Policy-To evaluate the proposed zoning ordinance amendment staff cites the policies contained in the in the countywide Revised General Plan,Chapter 9,Towns. The following Public Utilities Policies state: 1. The Towns will be the providers of public sewer and water in their town JLMAs unless a different provider is agreed upon by the County and the Town. (Chapter 9: Towns, Public Utilities Policies). 7.All development in the Joint Land Management Areas is planned to be served by public sewer and water, with the exception of areas within the Town of Purcellville JLMA...."((Chapter 9: Towns, Public utilities Policies). Clearly it is the County's policy that the towns are the providers for utilities for development in the JLMAs. The text in this chapter states that communal systems could be considered to serve public facilities. The current zoning ordinance language allows for use of well and septic systems when public utilities are not available.The JLMA districts in the Zoning Ordinance implement the policies in the Hometown of the 21st Century Referral to County JLMA Utilities ZOAM July 10, 2013 General Plan. Staff understands that the proposed changes are intended to give the County more options for serving public facilities with public utilities or on-site well and septic facilities if it is determined that public utilities are not available. However,that flexibility is not anticipated by the County's adopted policy or the towns. 2.Town Master Utility Plan- Based on the policy references stated above,which are long-stated policies,the Town has long-planned to service the JLMA with public utilities. This planning is embodied in the Town Master Utility Plan which addresses the engineering aspects of public utility delivery and the Town's Capital Improvement Plan which addresses the financial planning for development of a public utility system. Staff understands that the option of servicing public facilities with on-site private well and septic systems is beneficial to the County because it maximizes the County's flexibility for utility options. However,the Town opposes this ordinance amendment because it is not in the Town's best interest. The Town has made utility design and financing decisions based on the assumption that properties in the JLMA will be developed using public utilities. 3.Section 2-1005 (C)(1)in the JLMA-1;Section 201105 (C)(1)in the JLMA-2;and Section 2-1206(A) in the JLMA-3 -Page 3 of the staff report for the Planning Commission public hearing states: "Authorize the County Zoning Administrator to determine whether municipal facilities are available to serve a development site. A revision is proposed to change the authority for determining whether municipal facilities are available to serve a development site from the Town to the County Zoning Administrator. It is the intent that the Zoning Administrator will coordinate with the Towns to ensure that the Towns municipal facilities have the capacity to handle the demands generated by a particular development. However,the Zoning Administrator will also be able to consider other factors that the town may not,such as the distance of the existing utility lines to a development site. Nonetheless,the Town will still have the authority to approve any connection to the municipal facilities." While the proposed zoning ordinance language does not specifically state that the County Zoning Administrator is given"authority" to"determine" utility availability, it is understood that this is an implied authority through administration of the Zoning Ordinance. Nonetheless,the Town of Leesburg objects to authorization of the County Zoning Administrator to determine the availability of municipal utilities.The Town gives much deliberation into questions of whether a site can be serviced by municipal utilities. For individual requests for municipal utilities,the Town considers the master utility service plan which addresses factors including plant and line capacity, current and planned location of utility distribution systems,and interim versus ultimate service delivery considerations.Coordination between properties in the JLMA must also be considered. Therefore,capacity is one part of the consideration, but the Town must consider availability which involves answering how and when delivery can be most effectively and efficiently be provided. In the past,and currently,the Leesburg Department of Utilities has worked effectively with the County on service to the County government facilities by answering these questions as plans are developed. Page 2 of 3 Referral to County JLMA Utilities ZOAM July 10, 2013 Staff deduces that the intent of this amendment is to clarify that during a land development application process for a public facility,the County desires Towns to clearly provide the County with information on: 1) whether capacity exists;2)whether availability exists; and 3)conclusively whether service will indeed be provided by the Town and in what timeframe. This has traditionally been discussed between the Town of Leesburg and the County on past public facility proposals. Staff fails to see how the County Zoning Administrator can possibly have the necessary information to make an informed decision about utility service in the JLMA or how"coordination"efforts between the Town and County would be any different than it is today. Perhaps more information on how the County Zoning Administrator would approach the "coordination" with the towns would be helpful. However, it seems unnecessary to change the zoning ordinance to address what would essentially be a clarification in an administrative procedure. 4.300 foot requirement—The Leesburg Town Code section 34-19 requires connection to public utilities for"Any new building constructed on an existing lot of record, unless a private water lateral of 200 feet or greater would be required.This requirement does not apply to a building addition of 1,800 square feet or less". Staff notes that the proposed requirement is actually more restrictive than the town code and that it may be confusing to have two different requirements applying to the same area. In conclusion,the Town opposes this amendment. It appears that the proposed zoning ordinance amendment has been initiated solely as a result of difficulties between Town of Round Hill and the County regarding utility service to the Western Loudoun Sheriff Substation.Such difficulty should be addressed between the two entities and should not be addressed through a legislative change that would affect all communities with JLMA's. If you should have any questions or wish to discuss these comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. Regards, 5.7,eao' Susan Berry Hill,AICP Director of the Department of Planning and Zoning Attachments: 1. JIMA policy area and zoning map Cc: Mayor Umstattd and Leesburg Town Council Leesburg Planning Commission Page 3 of 3 .---'.---1 = : 0) E o) . .-- c ...-7.., TS 'rii c scf. i " 0 ii 0 .. Ifil3i) . 0 C3) ..E Tt 8 .0 5 a , „.:,.. t. , , • ,,,,,,, ...• ...., 0., -,,-,„-, 8 it ..,..., ' .....,,.. ,...' 0. ow t.... .,,, ''`1.41,:::%,:".; . .,',.,',,' ,;,:.‘:;,..:',!.,:,c71, a• ---- . 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COUNCIL MEETING July 9, 2013 MOTION 2013-033 I move to allow Vice Mayor Butler to participate via electronic means in the July 22-23 Council meetings and to allow Council Member Hammier to participate via electronic means in the August 12-13 Council meetings. 11 P a g e