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Commissioners affirm variance for covered horse arena in Hunting Valley with no-commercial, no-road-parking conditions
Summary
Cherokee County commissioners on Jan. 7 affirmed a Zoning Board of Appeals approval allowing a 10,000-square-foot covered riding arena at 103 Hunting Valley Trail, adding conditions that prohibit commercial use and parking on the road and require evergreen screening and limits on lighting and speakers.
Cherokee County commissioners on Jan. 7 affirmed a Zoning Board of Appeals approval allowing a property owner to install a 10,000-square-foot roofed riding arena at 103 Hunting Valley Trail, but added two conditions restricting parking on the road and banning any commercial use of the facility.
The variance reduces the required 75-foot front setback to as little as 21 feet at one corner and about 27 feet at another, to permit a covered roof structure above an existing open-air arena. Zoning Administrator Thomas Traylor told the board the applicant has proposed an approximately 25-foot-tall structure and would plant an 8-foot evergreen screen along the road; the ZBA approval also included conditions of no lighting and no outdoor speakers.
Neighbors who appealed the ZBA decision said they fear the structure would be used commercially, that it is too large and too close to the road, and that staging and parking for horses blocks the one-lane cul-de-sac. “75 feet setback is 75 feet setback,” appellant Theresa Lucella told commissioners. Her son Giovanni Lucella said he was concerned about trucks and trailers blocking the road and restricting emergency access.
The applicant was not present; Shannon Sewell, who identified herself as the applicant’s mother, said the neighborhood includes eight houses on a cul-de-sac and that “the majority of the people are fine with it.” She told the board that the property owner had widened a gate and that the owner keeps her own horses on site.
Commissioner West, whose district includes the property, said his main concern was preventing commercial use and proposed adding two conditions to the ZBA approval: no parking on the road or roadside at any time, and no commercial use of the arena. Commissioner Weatherby moved to affirm the ZBA decision with those two additional conditions; Commissioner Carter seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
What the board approved will allow the covered arena to be built, subject to the ZBA’s original screening and no-lighting/no-speaker conditions plus the new no-parking and no-commercial-use restrictions. The ZBA approval and appeal hearing record remain part of the official land-use files for 103 Hunting Valley Trail.
The board handled the appeal during its regular Jan. 7 meeting after re-opening a public hearing that had been continued for re-notification; the matter was decided at the meeting and no further public hearing was announced.
