Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Text Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves zoning carve-out and parking setback exception to allow redevelopment of Somerset Center site
Summary
The board approved a narrowly drawn zoning-text amendment and a special exception to reduce building and parking setbacks at the former Somerset Center site, clearing the way for a compact, historically sited store footprint while adding conditions for screening and a dumpster enclosure; votes were unanimous, 5-0.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved two items to allow redevelopment at the former Somerset Center site on Routes 20 and 231: ZTA2025-455, a narrowly tailored zoning-text amendment reducing the 300-foot setback that otherwise prevents rebuilding on the historic footprint, and SPE2025-456, a special exception to reduce parking setbacks to accommodate circulation and handicap access on the 1-acre parcel. Both measures passed 5-0.
Josh Frederick, planning and zoning manager, described the zoning-text amendment as a narrow "carve-out" that applies only to the Somerset Center property; the site lost its nonconforming status when the old store was demolished, and the amendment restores an entitlement that fits the parcel’s existing historic footprint. The planning commission considered the text amendment and recommended approval.
Engineer Lee Baines and applicant Monte Gengrey described site constraints created by the roundabout and existing property lines, which require reduced parking setbacks (to two feet and nine feet in the concept plan) and careful circulation to provide a compliant handicap-access route. Staff proposed two conditions the board could add to limit impacts to neighbors: screening around the dumpster pad and a short masonry retaining wall topped by a fence to provide visual separation where planting is not feasible. The board adopted the recommended conditions and approved the special exception by roll call.
Supporters and neighbors who spoke at the hearing did not register opposition in numbers; one nearby property owner said he welcomed a restored store on the site. The approvals require subsequent permitting and implementation of the screening and circulation measures described in the concept plan.
