Reports and Codes Code of Shenandoah County Comprehensive Plan Water Resources Report

Part I - Underlying Intent

§ 165-69. Purpose and Intent. Open space developments ("OSD's") are single-family residential developments which preserve a significant amount of land as"open space." The regulations established in this article govern the creation of OSD's and are intended to promote greater flexibility and consequently more creative and imaginative designs for the residential development.

Part II - Standards for OSD's

§ 165-70. Preservation Guidelines.

(A) To the extent practicable, OSD's shall be designed to protect and preserve trees, watersheds, floodplains, water features, sink holes, steep slopes, mountain ridges and other sensitive natural features.

(B) To the extent practicable, OSD's shall be designed to protect and preserve historic areas, including areas containing one or more buildings or places in which historic events occurred or having special public value because of notable architectural, archaeological or other features relating to the cultural or artistic heritage of the community.

(C) Within OSD's, no structures shall be constructed on mountain ridge lines, and all structures shall be set back an adequate distance from such ridge lines so that they are not visible on the horizon from the surrounding area. These mountain ridge lines include all land 1,600 feet in elevation and higher.

§ 165-71. Minimum area requirement. An OSD must consist of at least 30 acres in the Rural Residential-Conservation (RR-C) districts, at least 10.5 acres in the Rural Residential-Agriculture (RR-A) districts and 5 acres in the Low-Density (R-1), Medium-Density (R-2) or High-Density (R-3) residential districts.

§ 165-72. Density, area, frontage, and yard requirements.

• OSD's shall be designed at an overall density corresponding to the minimum lot size contained in the specific applicable district regulations section for single-family lots, viz:

• The minimum lot area, frontage and yard requirements for individual lots in OSD's shall be as follows:

Notes: Notwithstanding the foregoing table: (i) Lot length to width ratio shall not exceed four to one in any district, and (ii) accessory structures must be located at least five (5) feet from side and rear lot lines.

§ 165-73. Open space.

• A minimum percentage of each OSD shall be preserved in open space, as defined in § 165-4 of this chapter, as shown in the following table:

• Open space shall be used only for the following purposes:
• "Natural Areas," meaning farmlands, river and stream buffers, floodplains, wetlands, steep slopes, and other natural and environmental resources, but no structures.
• "Recreation areas," meaning park areas, pedestrian paths, bicycle trails and other recreational facilities. Structures directly supporting the recreation use may be constructed, if shown on the approved site plan.
• If there is more than one open space area, they must be linked for continuous access.
• An OSD must include adequate provisions for the perpetual maintenance of open space.

§ 165-74. Buffer Zones. For OSD's to be located adjacent to land zoned for industrial or business uses, preserved open space shall be located so to buffer the residential lots from those uses and to meet required setbacks from industrial land. For OSD's to be located adjacent to an agricultural and forestal district established pursuant to Section 15.2-4300 et. seq. of the Code of Virginia, preserved open space shall be located to buffer the agricultural and forestal district from the residential lots to the extent possible and as approved by the agent.

§ 165-75. Water supply and wastewater treatment.

(A) In the Rural Residential-Conservation (RR-C) and Rural Residential-Agriculture (RR-A) districts an OSD project must be served by a community water system and by some form of community wastewater treatment and disposal system, both approved by the Virginia Department of Health.

(B) In the Low-Density Residential (R-1), Medium-Density Residential (R-2) and High Density Residential (R-3) districts, an OSD project must be served by public water and sewer systems operated by either a municipality, county, sanitary district or water and/or sewer authority.

§ 165-76. Streets and Off-Street Parking

(A) All private streets may serve a maximum of 20% of the lots or two lots, whichever is greater, in an open space development. All streets shall comply with § 142-20, Streets, of the Subdivision Ordinance.

(B) All streets, private or public, shall be coordinated with the Virginia Department of Transportation's existing or planned streets.

(C) Any dedicated public streets in OSD's shall meet all the requirements for acceptance into the Virginia Department of Transportation Secondary Road System.

(D) Private streets.

(1) In all OSD's involving private streets, the applicant must submit assurances, such as a covenant agreement satisfactory to the County, that a homeowners' association will be legally established under which the owners of the lots within the area of the final plat will be assessed on a pro rata basis for the cost of maintaining the private streets, and that such assessments shall constitute a lien upon the individual lots shown on the final plat.

(F) No more than 25 dwelling units shall be served by a cul-de-sac.

• Off-street parking shall be provided in adequate amounts and in convenient locations. Whenever possible, parking areas should be designed to preserve natural surroundings. Two off-street parking spaces shall be provided for each dwelling unit.
• Houses shall not be constructed on existing roadways, only on new roadways included in the development, and all other structures shall be located at least 150 feet from the existing roadway(s).

§ 165-77. Utilities. All utilities serving open space developments shall be underground.

§ 165-78.Other Law.

• Conflicting Zoning Provisions . To the extent that the provisions of this Article conflict with area regulations in the applicable zoning district, the provisions of this Article shall control with respect to OSD's.
• Other Regulations . Except as provided in paragraph (A) above, nothing in this Article shall waive any other state or local development requirements. For example, OSD's must still comply with Chapter 142, dealing with Subdivsions, and Chapter 87, dealing with erosion, sedimentation, and stormwater management.

Part III - Administrative Process

§ 165-79. Consideration of Application.

• General . The approval of an OSD is an administrative process. Any subdivision request which flows from such an administrative approval, however, will be considered under the provisions of Chapter 142.
• Administrative Process . Applications for OSD shall proceed as follows:
• The Developer shall file a "Site Analysis Map" that provides information about the site and analyzes existing conditions comprehensively, both on the site and within 500 feet of the site. Such analysis must include topography and steep slopes; soils; water bodies, streams, wetlands; sinkholes and other natural features; and any cultural resources on the site. The map shall include:
• Identification of conservation area(s)
• Identification of potential development area(s)
• Location of potential house sites
• Design road alignments and trails
• Designation of individual lots
• Preliminary description of community water and wastewater systems proposed.
• After filing the Site Analysis Map, the applicant shall contact the planning staff and request an on-site review of the existing conditions and proposed lay-out of the subdivision.
• The Developer shall then file a Site Plan for the development. The Site Plan shall comply with § 165-98, but it shall also include
• Sufficient data to allow the County to determine if the proposed OSD meets the criteria set forth in Part II of this Article;
• Drainage information sufficient to ascertain compliance with Chapter 87.
• Easements through the development shall be shown on the final site plan for water, sewer, gas, electric, telephone, cable and other utilities as required by the respective departments, agencies or companies.
• The County staff will consider the site plan, and if the staff determines that the proposed development satisfies the criteria set forth in Part II of this Article, the staff will approve the open space development.
• Following approval of the OSD, the applicant shall apply for subdivision of the property in accordance with the approved site plan.

IV - Management of Open Space Developments.

§ 165-80. Property Owners Associations. Prior to the sale of any lot in an OSD, there shall be established a corporation or other entity of all individuals or corporations owning residential property within the development to oversee the maintenance of open spaces and facilities. Membership in this corporation or entity shall be mandatory for all lot owners in the development.

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