HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Warren County 8-18-1992. Amendments Noted

Chapter 180: ZONING

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Warren County 8-18-1992. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES
Airport Commission— See Ch. 6.
Planning Commission— See Ch. 36.
Building construction— See Ch. 76.
Fire protection and prevention— See Ch. 93.
Noise— See Ch. 123.
Peddling and soliciting— See Ch. 133.
Roads— See Ch. 142.
Soil erosion and sediment control— See Ch. 150.
Subdivision of land— See Ch. 155.

ARTICLE I Constitution

§ 180-1. Title.

The regulations embraced in this and the following seven Articles shall be designated the "Zoning Ordinance of Warren County, Virginia," and may be so cited.

§ 180-2. Purpose and intent.

The Zoning Ordinance of Warren County, Virginia, is intended to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public and to implement the adopted Comprehensive Plan for the orderly and controlled development of the County. To accomplish these ends, the Zoning Ordinance is designed to:

A. / Facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive and harmonious community; provide for adequate light, air and convenience of access; provide safety from fire, flood and other dangers; and reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets.
B. / Provide for County growth that is consistent with the efficient and economic use of public funds.
C. / Recognize the needs of agriculture, housing, industry and business in the County's future growth.
D. / Promote the creation and expansion of land uses that will be developed with adequate police and fire protection and adequate highway, utility, health, education and recreational facilities.
E. / Provide residential areas with healthy surroundings for family life.
F. / Protect against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas.
G. / Encourage economic development activities that broaden the tax base and provide desirable employment.
H. / Encourage the preservation of streams, valleys, steep slopes, lands of natural beauty, dense forestation, scenic vistas and similar areas, and to ensure that development in such areas is well controlled.
I. / Protect against the following: overcrowding of land; undue intensity of noise; air and water pollution; undue density of population in relation to community facilities existing or available; obstruction of light and air; danger and congestion in travel and transportation; and loss of life, health or property from fire, flood, panic or other dangers.
J. / Protect approach slopes and other safety areas of licensed airports.
K. / Accomplish all other objectives and exercise all other powers as set forth in Article 8, Zoning, of Chapter 11 of Title 15.1 of the Code of Virginia, as amended.

§ 180-3. Severability.

Should any section or provision of this chapter be found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such finding shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole or any part thereof other than the part or parts so found to be unconstitutional or invalid.

§ 180-4. Conflicting ordinances.

Whenever any provision of this chapter imposes a greater requirement or a higher standard than is required in any state or federal statute or other County ordinance or regulation, the provision of this chapter shall govern. Whenever any provision of any state or federal statute or other County ordinance or regulation imposes a greater requirement or a higher standard than is required by this chapter, the provision of such state or federal statute or other County ordinance or regulation shall govern.

§ 180-5. Effective date; enactment; copy on file.

A. / The Zoning Ordinance of Warren County, Virginia, as herein presented, was adopted on August 18, 1992, and became effective at 12:01 a.m. on August 19, 1992, at which time the Zoning Ordinance of the County of Warren, Virginia, adopted June 26, 1973, as recodified and as amended, was repealed.
B. / Unless otherwise qualified herein, the term "effective date" when used in this chapter shall be deemed to be August 19, 1992, or the effective date of an applicable amendment thereto. A certified copy of the Zoning Ordinance of Warren County, Virginia, as may be amended from time to time, shall be filed in the office of the Zoning Administrator of Warren County and in the office of the County Administrator.

ARTICLE II Application

§ 180-6. Application of regulations.

The regulations of this chapter shall be minimum or maximum limitations, as appropriate, and shall apply uniformly within each district to each class of land or kind of structure except as hereinafter provided.

A. / Use, occupancy and construction. No building or structure or part thereof shall be constructed, used or occupied, and no land shall be used or occupied except in conformity with all of the regulations specified for the district in which it is located.
B. / Height, bulk, dimensions, density, lot coverage, yards, open spaces and number of families. No building or other structure shall hereafter be altered with relation to height, bulk, dimensions, density, lot coverage, yards, open spaces and number of families in any manner contrary to the provisions of this chapter.
C. / Reduction of lots, areas, yards, required off-street parking or loading space(s) below minimum prohibited. No lot, area, yard, required off-street parking or loading space(s) existing at the time of passage of this chapter shall be reduced in area or dimensions below the minimums required by this chapter, except where spaces are no longer required by these regulations or alternative spaces meeting the requirements of these regulations are provided.
D. / Required yard, open space, area, parking or loading space for one structure or use, not to be used to meet requirements for another. No part of a yard or other open space, area or off-street parking or loading space required about or in connection with any building for the purpose of complying with this chapter shall be included as part of a yard, open space, area or off-street parking or loading space similarly required for any other building.

§ 180-7. Zoning Map; boundaries.

A. / The unincorporated areas of Warren County are hereby divided into districts, as indicated on a set of sheets entitled "Zoning Map of Warren County, Virginia" which, together with all explanatory matter thereon, is hereby adopted by reference and declared to be part of this chapter.
B. / The Zoning Map shall be identified by the signature or the attested signature of the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, together with the date of adoption of this chapter.
C. / Regardless of the existence of purported copies of the Official Zoning Map, which may from time to time be made or published, the Official Zoning Map, which shall be located in the office of the Zoning Administrator, shall be the final authority as to the current zoning status of land and water areas, buildings and other structures in the County.
(1) / Amendment of Zoning Map. Whenever any amendment is made to the Zoning Map by action of the Board of Supervisors, such change shall be incorporated onto such Zoning Map at such time and in such manner as the Board of Supervisors may prescribe. Said changes shall be validated with reference to correct notation by the Zoning Administrator, who shall affix his/her signature thereto, thereby certifying that approved amendments to the Zoning Map have been correctly incorporated. The date of official action and nature of the change shall be entered on the map. Any such change shall become effective at 12:01 a.m., on the day following its legal adoption or on its effective date, if officially established as other than on the day following its legal adoption, whether or not it has been shown on said Zoning Map.
(2) / Unauthorized changes. It shall be unlawful for any person to make changes on the Zoning Map except in conformity with the procedures and requirements of this chapter. Violations of this provision shall be punishable as provided in §180-68, Violations and penalties.
(3) / Interpretation of district boundaries. In construing the Official Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply, except that where there is a conflict in the apparent zoning status of a lot or parcel of land between the Zoning Map and the other official zoning records of the County, the zoning status of that lot or parcel as it appears on the other official zoning records of the County shall govern.
(a) / Center lines as boundaries. Where district boundaries appear to follow mapped center lines of streets, alleys, easements, railroads, waterways and the like, they shall be construed as following such center lines as exist on the ground.
(b) / Property or other edge lines as boundaries. Where district boundaries appear to follow street, lot, property or other edge lines, they shall be construed as following such lines.
(c) / Boundaries other than as above. District boundaries which appear parallel or perpendicular to, as extensions of or connecting to center lines, edge lines or other features shown on the map shall be so construed.
(d) / Boundaries extending into water. Where the full course of boundaries extending into bodies of water is not shown, such boundaries shall be construed as continuing in a straight line to intersect with other zoning boundaries or to jurisdictional limits if no such intersection with a zoning boundary occurs first.
(e) / Boundaries in case of closure, vacation or movement. In case of closure of a street or alley or vacation of an easement, the boundaries of lands abutting such street, alley or easement shall be construed as being at the center line of such street, alley or easement unless the boundary line of such abutting land prior to closure or vacation was other than at the center line of such street, alley or easement, in which case the boundary of such land shall conform to its location prior to the closure or vacation. In the case of movement of any waterway, the boundary of any lot or parcel of land shall be construed as remaining at its original location before movement of the waterway.
(f) / Dimensions. Where dimensions are not otherwise indicated on the Zoning Map, the scale of the map shall govern.
(g) / Unclassified areas. Where areas appear to be unclassified on the Zoning Map and classification cannot be established by rules set forth herein, such areas shall be considered to be classified agricultural until amending action is taken.
(h) / Interpretation in cases of uncertainty. Where application of the rules set forth above fails to establish the accurate location of a boundary or boundaries, the Zoning Administrator shall determine the location, provided that no such interpretation shall divide a lot which was previously undivided by a district boundary.
(i) / Boundary changes with changes in jurisdictional (County) area.
[1] / Additions to jurisdictional area. Where territory is added to the zoning jurisdictional area, such added territory shall be deemed to be zoned agricultural until such time as such added territory is officially zoned to a different district or classification.
[2] / Reductions in jurisdictional area. Where territory is removed from the zoning jurisdictional area, the zoning boundaries common to the jurisdictional boundary shall be deemed to move with the jurisdictional boundary.

§ 180-8. Definitions.

A. / General usage.
(1) / For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and terms shall have the following interpretations.
(2) / The neuter, masculine and feminine gender shall be deemed each to embrace the other; the singular, the plural; the present tense, the future tense; and vice versa where the context so indicates.
(3) / The following words or phrases may be used interchangeably: building/structure; lot/plot/parcel; used/erected/reconstructed; altered/placed/moved; land use/use of land; building use/use of a building; person/firm/association/organization/partnership/trust/company/or corporation as well as an individual.
(4) / Unless otherwise specified, all distances shall be measured horizontally and at right angles to the line in relation to which the distance is specified.
(5) / The word "shall" is mandatory.
(6) / The word "state" means the Commonwealth of Virginia.
(7) / The word "County" means the County of Warren, Commonwealth of Virginia, and the term "County boundary" means any exterior boundary of the County or any boundary of unincorporated territory within the County.
(8) / The term "construction standard(s)" means those design and construction standards as approved by the Board of Supervisors.
(9) / The term "Code of Virginia" shall include "as amended."
(10) / The word "adjacent" includes "nearby" and may or may not include "contiguous."
B. / Interpretation by Zoning Administrator. In case of any dispute over the meaning of a word, phrase or sentence, whether defined herein or not, the Zoning Administrator is hereby authorized to make a definitive determination thereof, being guided in such determination by the purpose and intent of this chapter as set forth in Article I; provided, however, that an appeal may be taken from any such determination as provided in Article VI.
C. / Definitions of words and terms. As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ADMINISTRATOR — See "Zoning Administrator."
ADULT DAY-CARE FACILITY — A facility offering care for only a limited number of hours each day, including meals, for aged, disabled or mentally impaired persons over the age of 18 years and which is licensed as such by the Commonwealth of Virginia.