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Hold the phone ...
E-911 will wait, again
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | Oops, we're a little short of room Bath County officials discovered two weeks ago when Lionberger Construction applied for a building permit to renovate and expand the brick building behind the sheriff's office for a new E-911 center. The distance from the little building used for the magistrate's office (right) and historical society property (building at left) and another property owner is not sufficient to meet setback requirements for an auxiliary building. The County is applying to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance to allow a 10-foot side setback instead of the required 20-foot. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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WARM SPRINGS - If Bath is to get its new emergency dispatch building, the board of supervisors will need to convince its own board of zoning appeals to grant a variance to allow renovation and expansion of a building behind the sheriff's office.
Architect William Huber of Spectrum Design in Roanoke designed the new facility based on a 10-foot setback, said county administrator Bonnie Johnson.
When contractor Lionberger Construction of Roanoke applied for the building permit for the $252,500 project, county planner and zoning official Sherry Ryder determined the zoning ordinance required a 20-foot setback.
County officials, through county attorney Mike Collins, asked Ryder if the building could be regarded as a "main building" for zoning purposes.
Ryder responded to the county in a two-page letter listing her reasons for calling the structure an "accessory building." Ryder determined the county would need a variance to obtain zoning and building permits.
Ryder said she thought Huber acted in good faith based on the information he was provided. The plans for the new building call for expanding the structure 10 feet on the east and north sides. The entrance road to the courthouse parking lot blocks expansion on the west. The sheriff's building restricts expansion to the south.
The property is zoned B-1, general business, Ryder explained. She thinks Huber and others involved in the design were looking at the wrong section of the land use regulations. "The engineering firm thought they had 10 feet and they met that," Ryder said.
Johnson said the property line between the county, the historical society, and William Knight (owner of the adjacent vacant lot) is angular and comes to a point near the proposed construction. Under the current plans, the building would vary from 10 to 16.5 feet from the combined property line, said Johnson.
The county will need a variance allowing a set back of between 3.5 and 10 feet less than required by regulations, Johnson said. The state has mandated the E-911 system, Johnson noted, and there is inadequate space in the sheriff 's building for the equipment. In addition, the E-911 center needs to be close to the sheriff's office, she said.
With few options available on the limited land around the courthouse, favorable action by the BZA may determine whether the county proceeds with the current building plans and construction contract or must return to the drawing board.
Johnson said supervisors would discuss the available options if the variance is not granted but has not prepared any contingency plans. The county, Johnson said, is trying be "part of the preservation of the little village of Warm Springs" by renovating an existing structure consistent with the nature of the courthouse complex.
In a five-page addition to the variance application, the county details the efforts pursued to find a location for the center. Changes to the sheriff's building/old jail were considered. A private citizen removed a 100-year-old storage building located only six feet from the property line and reconstructed the building at his own location to create space for the proposed addition.
The county asserts every effort was made to provide the required facility and now only the variance can solve the hardship posed by the unique shape of the lot, existing structures, and the historical character of the courthouse complex and the Warm Springs neighborhood.
In the application, the county also says the variance will not impact other property owners in the area by changing the character of the neighborhood or impacting property values.
The BZA will have two applications for variances on the table when it meets Oct. 15. An application by Burley and Darlene Hise for a variance on property along Route 615 below Hot Springs was tabled last week after the public hearing. During discussion of the Hise request, BZA members noted their historical reluctance to grant variances.
To obtain a variance, the county must show "undue hardship," Johnson and Ryder noted. Johnson said the county intends to claim "the narrowness and shallowness of the land and the angular property line" create such a hardship.
County attorney Mike Collins told the BZA during the Hise hearing last week the land use regulations stipulated the unique nature of the land create the hardship.
Whether the shape of the lot will be sufficient cause to create a hardship will be up to the BZA.
The board of zoning appeals will hold a public hearing on the county's request Monday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in room 115 of the courthouse.
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