What are appropriate locations, scales, densities, and impacts of future land uses or development in the Planning Area? What would new development look like, and how would it perform in terms of maintaining the rural environment?
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sugarloafareaplan
Mar 2
Sugarloaf Area Plan Creation--Challenges & Opportunities #4
Sugarloaf Area Plan Creation--Challenges & Opportunities #4
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cspoteat
Steve Poteat
The current distribution of zoned land in the Sugarloaf Planning Area, as noted in the table in the briefing book (page 12), is heavily but appropriately skewed toward land preservation and maintaining the rural area environment. Resource Conservation and Agricultural zoned land, the two lowest density zones in the County’s zoning ordinance, comprise 16,347 acres of the 17,630 acres in the Sugarloaf Planning Area or about 93% of the land area. R-1 Residential zoning (one acre lots) makes up 631 acres or 3% of the Sugarloaf Planning Area.
The briefing book also notes that there are 830 homes in the Sugarloaf Planning Area. It also states that about 710 recorded lots have been created but only 610 homes have been built on those recorded lots leaving about 100 vacant recorded lots. Therefore, apparently about 220 homes have been built on parcels that are not recorded lots (830-610=220).
It would seem that the remaining 100 recorded lots spread over the entire Sugarloaf Planning Area of 17,630 acres will not significantly change the overall character of this rural environment if they are developed. Most of the R-1 Residential land in the Sugarloaf Planning Area has been developed over time, and this development is reasonably compatible with maintenance of the surrounding rural environment.
It has been suggested in the Livable Frederick Master Plan that an overlay zone could be considered to protect various features of the Sugarloaf Planning Area. As recent experience has shown us concerning the proposed firing range, a strict overlay zone to address noise would be a wise idea. Another suggested application of an overlay zone is the protection of existing and future viewsheds. Such an overlay could be highly subjective and would need to be carefully applied as future development takes place. Such an overlay should apply only to land truly in a significant viewshed. To a great degree, tree plantings and other plant screenings should be able to address most viewshed issues. One other suggested overlay application would be removal of certain currently allowed uses from zones in the Sugarloaf Planning Area. Such uses would not be considered sufficiently consistent with the underlying principles of the “environmental conservation…natural resource enhancement…and rural land preservation.” (See question #2) Any such existing uses to be considered for deletion would need to be very carefully examined so as to not unfairly penalize land owners, especially in terms of economic sustainability of the region.
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pethelp1
Since Tuscarora gun club, Dulles fly path, Sunday hunting and Loch Moy Horse event park are in existence an overlay area to curb noise making business would likely grandfather in these existing uses. That would make it hard to deflect new but similar uses with a zoning restriction. Most of the developed land is private and deed restricted for density and commercial uses as individual properties. Does an overlay impact those individual deed restrictions?
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