The Town of Southern Shores is proposing to define a “lot width line” by which to calculate minimum lot widths in the residential and governmental and institutional (GI) districts and has incorporated this definition into its latest version of Zoning Text Amendment 23-03, which will come before the Planning Board at its regular monthly meeting Monday.
The Board will meet at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center. You may live-stream its meeting via the Town’s You Tube website.
You may access the Board’s agenda here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/planning_board/meeting/3103/4-15-24_pb_meeting_agenda.pdf.
For background on the handful of versions of ZTA 23-03–which has been renumbered ZTA 23-05–that the Planning Board has considered in the past year, see The Beacon, 4/3/24.
In addition to simplifying the measurement of lot width, the new ZTA 23-05 proposes to amend the Subdivision Ordinance definition section (Town Code sec. 30-2) by importing the meaning of “yard” used in the Zoning Ordinance (Code sec. 36-57), and requiring all preliminary plats for subdivisions to show the proposed lot width line and proposed yards.
Before untangling ZTA 23-05, we further note that the Town has submitted a new zoning text amendment for the Planning Board to consider Monday: ZTA 24-05, which amends parking space requirements for uses other than single-family residential homes and establishes commercial design standards, among other proposed zoning changes.
The two ZTAs may be accessed here:
We do hope members of the Planning Board have received more notice than the public did that these two ZTAs were coming down the pike: The agenda and supporting materials were posted on the Town website this morning. Otherwise, it’s fair to say that they are being inundated.
FIRST UP: ZTA 23-05 AND LOT WIDTH
ZTA 23-05 defines a “lot width line” as a “line established 25 feet from the front lot line, or the point where the lot is 100 feet wide, whichever distance is closer to the front lot line.”
We read this definition to mean that the lot width line is either 25 feet from the front lot line or closer. Clearly, this is not what was intended.
ZTA 23-05 also defines “lot width” as “the width of a lot at the required lot width line.”
The Town previously measured lot width at a point 25 feet from the front lot line, but used different language to define this measurement.
Each of the Town Code sections about minimum lot width in the residential and GI districts now incorporates this concept. For example, proposed section 36-202(d)(2), which applies to the RS-1 single-family residential district, now reads:
“Minimum lot width for lots created after June 6, 2023: 100 feet (measured at the lot width line).”
We do not understand, however, why or how the lot width line, as defined, applies to the RS-8 multifamily residential district and the RS-10 district, both of which have minimum lot widths of 75 feet, or to the GI district, which has a minimum lot width of 50 feet.
As we reported 4/3/24, the new lot-width measurement only applies to lots newly created through recombination or subdivision. The date, June 6, 2023, references when the Town Council enacted the lot-width measurement that is currently in the Town Code.
ZTA 23-05 also deletes the term “building setback line,” and its definition, in section 36-57 and section 30-2. The term was formerly used in determining minimum lot width and proved to be confusing.
“Yard” actually refers to what we think of more often as a setback. It is a required area of open space that is “unoccupied and unobstructed by any structure or portion of a structure, from 30 inches above the ground level of the graded lot upward.”
There are structural exceptions to this requirement of openness, and they include fences, walls, poles, posts, steps, etc., as qualified in other sections of the Town Code. For example, walls and fences that are higher than 30 inches are allowed in residential-district setbacks, provided they do not exceed six feet. This is Code section 36-97.
We find a complication with the yard setback provisions and the new definition of lot width. See what you think:
“Yard, rear” is defined currently in sec. 36-57 (and extended to sec. 30-2 by ZTA 23-05) as “a yard extending across the rear of the lot between side lot lines.”
That is clear enough, but there’s more, because the “Depth of a required rear yard shall be measured in such a manner that the yard established is a strip of the minimum width required by district regulations with its inner edge parallel with the rear lot line.”
Does this mean that the rear setback—which in the single-family residential district is 25 feet in length—must always be 100 feet in width? In other words, the rear yard always must measure 25 by 100?
The same language appears in “Yard, side,” which is defined as a “yard extending from the rear line of the required front yard to the rear yard.” The width of a required side yard, the ordinance says, “shall be measured in such a manner that the yard established is a strip of the minimum width required by district regulations with its inner edge parallel with the side lot line.”
Does this language conflict with the new method of defining lot width? It suggests to us that the lot width must be 100 feet, in the RS-1 district, throughout the lot. Are we missing something?
At the very least, there is confusion.
NEXT: NEW COMMERCIAL DESIGN STANDARDS
We will leave ZTA 24-03’s proposed changes to off-street parking requirements,” (Code sec. 36-163), for a report after the Planning Board has tackled it. According to the preamble of the ZTA, the amendments bring the Town Code in conformance with the N.C. General Statutes.
The proposed commercial design standards in the zoning measure grew out of discussions by the Planning Board that date back to November 2022. The Board initially considered commercial design standards already adopted by Duck, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head.
The nine standards set forth in ZTA 24-03 for “new construction and substantial improvements” in the general commercial district are, and we quote:
- Paint colors shall be of low reflectance, subtle, neutral and earth tone colors;
- Mechanical equipment shall be screened and shall not be visible from any right-of-way;
- Fences shall be constructed of wood, or match the materials used for the building;
- No commercial building front shall remain unbroken (unpierced) by a window, architectural element, entrance or functional general access doorway for more than 50 feet;
- Windows shall comprise no less than 10% and not more than 40% of each building’s vertical wall area;
- No awning on any building which encroaches on a sidewalk or pedestrian walkway shall extend out from the building more than 2/3 the width of the sidewalk nor shall it at any point be less than 8 feet above the sidewalk;
- Wall articulations (or breaks in the façade or roofline) shall be designed not less than every 50 feet along the building façade;
- Architectural embellishments that add visual interest to a façade or roof such as dormers, chimneys, cupolas, watch and clock towers, shutters and other similar elements are encouraged;
- Roofs shall be constructed with one or more of the following roofs: hip, gable or mansard.
These standards constitute section (b) of a new ordinance, titled “Commercial design standards,” and numbered section 36-179 in the Town Code. Proposed section (a) applies to “sketch plan review” of plans showing the proposed development of “new construction or substantial improvements,” other than one- and two-family dwelling units, in the general commercial district.
ZTA 24-03 also adds the term, “substantial improvement,” and its definition, to Town Code sec. 36-57. It means “any combination of repairs, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, taking place during any one-year period for which the cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.” (See the ZTA itself for further stipulations.)
We regret that scheduling conflicts prevent us from attending or live-streaming the Planning Board’s meeting Monday and the Town Council’s FY 2024-25 budget workshop meeting Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Pitts Center. We do not know when, or if, we will be able to cover either of these meetings, but we definitely plan to report on any developments that come out of them.
Town Manager Cliff Ogburn previously announced that he will present his recommended FY 2024-25 budget to the Town Council at its May 7 meeting.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 4/12/24
The Southern Shores Beacon 