CITY OF ROCKVILLE PLANNING DEPARTMENT

STAFF REPORT

July 20, 2000

SUBJECT: Text Amendment Application TXT2000-0184

Applicant:
Hebrew Home of Greater Washington
c/o The Ring House

Attorney for Applicant:
Steven A. Robins
8300 Greensboro Drive, Suite 1100
McLean, VA  22102

Date Filed: May 22, 2000

Public Hearing Date: September 18, 2000

REQUEST:

The applicant proposes amendments to Section 25-313(C)(1) of the Zoning Ordinance, Special Development Standards, to allow "ownership plats" to be used in residential zones when the property contains or is planned for a use other than single-family residential.

The existing Zoning Ordinance provision states that "Where more than one (1) building component exists, or is to be located, on a tract of land, the Planning Commission may approve an ownership plat, if the Commission finds that the land is located in a zone other than the R-E, R-S, R-150, R-90, R-75, R-60 and R-40 zones."

The request would modify this provision by adding "except that an ownership plat shall be permitted in the previously mentioned zones if the property contains or is planned for a use other than single-family residential."

PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:

·        Text Amendment T-97-90, approved by Mayor and Council on March 12, 1990 to allow ownership plats to be used in the TCM-1 and TCM-2 Zones.

·        Text Amendment T-105-90, approved by Mayor and Council on July 9, 1990 to allow ownership plats to be used in the RPC Zone.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: 

Approval of the text amendment with a modification to the language to have the provision apply to property that contains or is approved (rather than planned as requested by the applicant) for a use other than single-family residential.

ANALYSIS:

The ownership plat/lot special development standard is a method of creating sub-parcels within a record lot without subdividing the underlying lot.  This procedure is very useful in obtaining mortgages for individual buildings in multiple building projects where the record lot cannot be further subdivided.  Prior to 1990, an ownership plat could be approved only in the I-3, TCM-1 and TCM-2 Zones.  The procedure applies only where there is more than one building on a tract of land and specific criteria can be met.  An applicant is required to obtain approval of both a Use Permit and a Final Record Plat for the entire tract before an ownership plat can be approved.

The ownership plat does not confer any development rights on a particular piece of property, but the development standards for the tract continue to be governed by a Use Permit and traditional subdivision plat covering the tract as a whole.  The ownership plat, in and of itself, is for the limited purposes of identification and does not confer any development rights.

The applicant is the owner of the Ring House, an elderly housing building on Jefferson Street.  There is a desire to place additional elderly housing on the subject property at some future time although there are no current plans developed for the additional units.  It is anticipated that the new units will share services such as the kitchen, offices, and other amenity spaces with the existing building.  Therefore, the building must be in close proximity with the existing development.  If this text amendment is approved, no additional development rights will be conferred on the subject property.  Any changes to the site will require a new special exception and use permit approval for the entire site.

It will be necessary to obtain separate financing for the new building and lending institutions require defined parcels for mortgage purposes.  In the case of the Ring House property, it would be difficult to use normal subdivision procedures to create individual lots and maintain connectivity between the existing building and the future building, especially given the desire to maintain the buffer area adjacent to the single family homes at the rear of the site. The ownership plat procedure will satisfy financing considerations while allowing the flexibility for a second development phase to be sited in the most compatible manner with the existing building and neighborhood.

In 1990, in a staff report on a previous text amendment that allowed the extension of ownership plats to additional zones, the staff stated that "the ownership lot procedure should be extended to all zones where multiple buildings may be developed on a single lot.  This would eliminate the need for additional text amendment reviews each time a unique situation occurs."  The proposed text amendment would extend this logic one step further by allowing the provision to be extended to the single family zones in certain defined situations where development other than single family residential use is existing or approved.  Therefore, staff believes that the concept of expanding the provision is a valid one, and recommends approval of the text amendment subject to a modification in the wording to address multi-building development that is "approved" rather than "planned."

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