Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZBA-932 Staff SummaryAPPEAL OF ZONING DETERMINATION ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT January 22, 2019 CASE: ZBA-934, 1/19 APPELLANT: Paul and Sandra Seiferth LOCATION: 815 Seven Oaks Drive PID: R04500-001-009-000 ZONING: R-20, Residential District SUMMARY OF APPEAL: Paul and Sandra Seiferth, are appealing a written determination issued on November 7, 2018 by Planning & Land Use staff regarding the applicability of Conservation Overlay District (COD) regulations to a parcel located at 815 Seven Oaks Drive. STAFF SUMMARY: Section 55.1 of the New Hanover County Zoning Ordinance contains regulations pertaining to the COD, where the stated purpose is to protect importation environmental and cultural resources within the County. These regulations contain controls on certain environmental features that may be present on a parcel. These provisions address activities such as conservation of space, alteration and clearing of natural conservation space, access, storwater and runoff retention, setbacks, buffering, erosion control, and habitat management. The COD requirements contain provisions that determine what properties these additional regulations apply to, and there are certain exemptions for lots of record that existed prior to December 1, 1984, the date which the COD regulations were adopted in the Zoning Ordinance. The applicable ordinance language is as follows: 55.1 -2: Applicability - The development and improvement of property, including the division of land, shall be subject to these performance controls if the parcel of record is located wholly or partially within a COD and if conservation resources, as specified in Section 55.1-3, are associated with the parcel on record as of December 1, 1984, the effective date of this ordinance. However, the following uses on lots of record as of December 1, 1984 shall be exempted from these controls: (8/4/08) (1) The development of one single family home detached structure, one residential duplex, or the location of two or fewer mobile homes on a parcel or lot of record as of December 1, 1984. (8/4/08) (2) Commercial, industrial, office or institutional development on lots of record as of December 1, 1984 and involving a land disturbance of less than 1 (one) acre in area. (8/4/08) (3) The development or division of a parcel of record as of December 1, 1984 that meets both of the following conditions: (8/4/08) (A) No part of the development or division shall be located within a distance equal to or less than the setback distance (specified in Section 55.1-5) of any conservation resource or space existing on the parcel or on a contiguous parcel of record. (8/4/08) (B) No part of the development or division shall be located on any portion of the parcel that is part of the upper drainage basin for any conservation resource or space on the parcel or within the specified setback on a contiguous parcel of record. (8/4/08) Per Section 55.1-2 (1), a detached single-family home is exempted from these performance controls if it is located on a lot of record as of December 1, 1984. Lot of Record is defined in the Zoning Ordinance as: Lot of Record - A lot which is part of a subdivision recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds, New Hanover County, or a lot or parcel described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been so recorded. (23-20) Per the letter of determination on the subject property, staff concluded that “the subject parcel became a lot of record through the recordation of the deed conveying the subject parcel from Xenith Bank to the Seiferths (Book 6112 Pages 845-849) on December 28, 2017. This is after the December 1, 1984 applicability date referenced in the COD regulations in Section 55.1 of the Zoning Ordinance. Therefore, the subject parcel is subject to the Conservation Overlay District regulations.” The appellants contend that the tract is a remnant of the initial 1927 C.N. Dunn division, and as such existed as a Lot of Record prior to December 1, 1984, meeting the exception from the COD regulations specified in Section 55.1-2 (1). In 1927, the C.N. Dunn Place map of subdivision was recorded in Map Book 2, Page 28 of the NHC Register of Deeds. This map divided a large area of property along Pages Creek into 12 tracts, and the subject property is a portion of the original Tract 7 of this division. Over the years, Tract 7 has been further subdivided into other lots, and it currently is comprised of 14 individual lots, including the subject property. The appellants have prepared a series of exhibits that detail the historic subdivisions and conveyances on Tract 7. The current deed for the subject property was conveyed to the Seiferths from Xenith Bank on December 29, 2017. It is staff’s position that the recording of this deed met the definition of Lot of Record for the first time?? In summary, the appellant contends that the parcel, as a remnant of the original 1927 division, was a Lot of Record prior to December 1, 1984 and thus the development of a detached single family home is not subject to the COD regulations. The appellant is appealing staff’s decision that the parcel did not become a Lot of Record until its’ conveyance to the Seiferths through the recording of the metes and bounds description in the deed recorded on December 29, 2017. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT POWER AND DUTY: The Zoning Board of Adjustment has the authority to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the appellant that there is error in any decision made by the zoning administrator or other administrative officials in the carrying out or enforcement of any provision of the Zoning Ordinance. A majority of the members of the Board shall be necessary to reverse, wholly, or partly, any such decision. Vacant seats and disqualified members are not considered in calculating majority. An appeal from the decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall be subject to review by the Superior court by proceedings in the nature of certiorari. Any petition for review by the Superior Court shall be filed with the Clerk of Superior Court within 30 days after the decision of the Board is filed in the Office of the Clerk to the Board, or after a written copy thereof is delivered to every aggrieved party who has filed a written request for such copy with the Clerk or Chairman of the Board at the time of the hearing of the case, whichever is later. ACTION NEEDED (Choose one): 1. Motion to uphold all or some of the zoning determinations issued by staff. 2. Motion to table the item in order to receive additional information or documentation (Specify). 3. Motion to overturn any or all of the zoning determinations issued by staff.