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ANALYSIS A representative of the church, Mr. Leonard A. Wilson, states that discussion with county staff concerning site plan approval began in April of 1985 and has continued up to the present time (see attached letter). Mr. Wilson contends that a staff member had told him in September of 1985 that the proposed addition would need to be set back from side property lines a distance of no less than 20 feet. Since there was no formal site plan submittal at that time, and hence no formal written comments, the staff cannot ,be sure of the events which occurred. It appears, however, that zoning code revisions enacted in 1985 changed the setback requirements for a church on this property from 20 to 30 feet. Consequently, when Mr. Wilson again visited with a Planning Department staff member in June of this year he was informed that the special exception criteria for places of worship required a minimum 30 foot setback for the proposed addition. Mr. Wilson feels that the church should not be required to meet the 30 foot sideyard setback requirement due to what he asserts was discussed a year earlier (April, 1985). It should be noted, however, that discussions with staff do not vest informal comments. During this time particularly, the County was in the process of changing many of its regulations. ALTERNATIVES Several alternatives are available for the church to consider: 1. Apply for a variance to the sideyard setback requirement; 2. Apply to amend the zoning ordinance to eliminate churches as a special exception use in multifamily zoning districts; 3. Apply to amend the zoning ordinance to eliminate or revise the 30' minimum setback from all property lines; and 4. Acquire additional property. The staff finds the last alternative concerning the acquisition of additional property to be the most reasonable altetnative and, in fact, records from the property appraisers office indicates that the church purchased a 75 foot deep by 105 foot wide parcel immediately east of the existing church site recently. Such a purchase enables the church to plan for expansion and a proposed addition to the existing church would be feasible. The lot width requires that any proposed addition could not be wider than 45 feet, allowing for the 30 foot setback along each side yard lot line. Staff feels that a variance is not appropriate since no unique situation is associated with the land or existing building. Zoning ordinance amendments could be considered by the Board; however, staff feels that the "extra" setback afforded by the existing regulations is reasonable since institutional type uses such as churches may periodically have a nuisance effect upon abutting residential properties. RECO14MENDATION The staff recommends that the Board suggest that the church file a site plan in the usual manner and that the recently acquired property be included in the development proposal. Pastor Leonard Wilson came before the Board and referred to the following letter: 4 7 BOOK 65 inn 414 AUG 2 0 1906