Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/16/2010 - Special Meeting

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( Zoning Bulletin July 25, 2010 1 Volume 4 No. 14 ) The Court's Decision: Judgment of circuit court affirmed. The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a town could create a his- toric district "even if it contained no buildings or structures." In so holding, the court focused on reading together § 15.1-503.2(a) with § 15.1-430(b). Section 15.1-503.2(a) allowed historic district ordi- nances that set forth: (1) historic landmarks; and (2) any other buildings or structures having an important historic, architectural, or cultural interest; and (3) any historic areas within the county or municipality as defined by § 15-430(b). (Emphasis added by the court.) Since § 15-430(b)'s definition of "historic areas" included areas that did not contain buildings —the court found that the state's General Assembly clearly intended "to permit locali- ties to create historic districts without landmarks, buildings or structures." Accordingly, the court concluded that the Landowner's argument that the HDO was invalid because it did not identify existing landmarks, buildings, or structures failed. Case Note: The Landowners had also asserted that the HDO was in- valid because it was not enacted in accordance with the town code's requirements for creation of an historic district. The local code re- quired the planning commission prepare a detailed report prior to the creation of a historic district. Here, the commission had not done so. The town had responded that the HDO was valid, even if not enacted in accordance with the local code, because state law (VCA § 15.2-1427(C)) "cure[d] any non -constitutional defect in the enact- ment of an existing ordinance." The court agreed with the town. Authority —Zoning administrator interprets zoning ordinance, finding consolidation of lots would be permissible under applicable city ordinances Planning commission disregards zoning administrator's interpretation and rejects consolidation application Citation: James v. City of Falls Church, 2010 WL 2303391 (Va. 2010) VIRGINIA (06/10/10)—This case addressed the issue of whether a zoning administrator's interpretation of an applicable zoning ordinance was binding, pursuant to Virginia statutory law (VCA § 15.2-2311(C)), on a planning commission's decision whether to approve a consolida- tion application. The Background/Facts: The trustees of Columbia Baptist Church (the "Church") wanted to consolidate seven contiguous lots in the city into one lot. Some of the Tots were located in the city's R-1A district (low © 2010 Thomson Reuters 5 103