Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/03/2009

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July 10, 20091 Volume 31 No. 13 Zoning Bu\letin Case Note: Courts analyze First Amendment challenges differently dependent on the type of regulation. Here, the court analyzed the AZO as a "content-neutral" "time, place, and manner regulation." The court found the AZO was "content-neutral'" because it was "aimed at the secondary effects of adult establishments, not the con- tent of regulated speech." It found the AZO was a "time, place, and manner regulation" because the AZO did not ban adult est:ablish- mentsaltogether, but rather required such establishments be located certain distances from uses. Content-neutral time, place, and man- ner restrictions such as the AZO were valid as long as they were: (1) designed to serve a substantial governmental interest; and (2) narrowly tailored to achieve that interest in that they did not "un- reasonably limit alternative avenues of communication." Case Note: The court said that, in enactirig adult zoning ordinances, cities were entitled to "rely heavily: on the experience of, and studies produced by, other cities and states, as well as on court opinions froni other jurisdictions." Cities did not have to "conduct new studies or produce evidence independent of that alfeady generated by other cit- ies, so long as whatever evidence the city relies upon is reasonably be- lieved to be relevant to the problems that the city addresses." Vested Rights-County adopts ordinance, , requiring a conditional use permit for schools that were previously permitted "by right" Landowner claims zoning verification letter gives him vested right to school use "by right" Citation: Board of Sup'rs of Stafford County v. Crucible, Inc., 2009 WL 1566910 (Va. 2009) /~--""'" { \ , -1 /~ () VIRGINIA (06/04/09)-Crucible, Inc. operated a security training facil- ity in the county. In early 2004, Crucible sought to acquire land in order to expand its training facility. The property that it was considering purchas- ing (the "Property") was zoned A-1 (Agricultural). Under the zoning ordi- nance, schools could be constructed in A-1 zones on a "by right" basis (i.e., without additional discretionary approval by the county). By letter dated March 3, 2004, Crucible asked the county for a zoning \ ) verification for the Property. It asked whether the facilities that it proposed - ' , to erect on the Property met the zoning ordinance's definition of "school." 10 @ 2009 Thomson Reuters 52