V25-001 Staff Decision - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

A public hearing is held on appeals subject to the appellant paying a $250.00 fee. Appeals must be in writing (form available from the Planning Division) and received in the Marion County Planning Division, 5155 Silverton Rd. NE, Salem, by 5:00 p.m. on March 16th, 2025. If you have questions about this decision contact the Planning Division at (503) 588-5038 or at the office. This decision is effective March 17th, 2025, unless appealed. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Findings and conclusions on which the decision was based are noted below. l. The subject properties are designated Special Agriculture and are subsequently zoned SA (Special Agriculture). Areas with this zoning are characterized by a mixture of small, specialized farms and large commercial farm operations. The primary intent of the zone is to allow for flexibility in management of resource zones . 2. The property is located at 6140 State St, on the southwest side of the intersection between State St SE and 62 nd Ave SE. The property contains a dwelling, several residential accessory structures and structures related to both a nursery and landscaping business, and a fiber optic repeater site in the northwest corner of the property. There are two previous land use cases on the subject property; AR91-007, which approved the fiber optic repeater facility, and CU15-024, which approved the landscape contracting business in conjunction with a nursery. The parcel has not changed its configuration since CU15 -024 was approved and is therefore legal for land use purposes. 3. Surrounding properties in the area are mostly designated as resource zones. To the north and east, most of the surrounding parcels are zoned EFU (exclusive farm use) and are currently engaged in commercial agriculture. To the south and west are more parcels zoned SA with a mix of farm fields and small acreage homesites not engaged in commercial agriculture. Of note, there are some I (industrial) zoned lots along the north side of State St SE, the closest of which is 600 feet from the subject property. 4. The applicant is requesting a variance which would reduce the standard property line setback of 20 feet to 14 feet from the east property line, which abuts 62 nd Ave, to allow construction of a living room onto the existing dwelling. 5. Various agencies were contacted about the proposal and given an opportunity to comment. Marion County Building commented : “No Building Inspection concerns. Permit(s) are required to be obtained prior to any development of structures and/or utilities installation on private property.” All other contacted agencies either failed to comment or stated no objection to proposal . 6. In order to obtain a variance the proposal must meet the criteria in found in Section 17.122.020 of the Marion County Rural Zone Code (MCC). These criteria are: (a) There are unnecessary, unreasonable hardships or practi cal difficulties which can be relieved only by modifying the literal requirements of the ordinance; and The proposal to adjust the property line setbacks is to allow an addition to be built off the east side of the existing dwelling. The applicant’s claim is that other options for placing an addition would be significantly more expensive or are already developed with more permanent features (in-ground pool). (b) There are unusual circumstances or conditions applying to the land, buildings, or use referred to in the application, which circumstances or conditions do not apply generally to land, buildings, or uses in the same zone; however, nonconforming land uses or structures in the vicinity or violations of land use regulations or standards on the subject property shall not in themselves consti tute such circumstances or conditions; and The applicant is proposing to put an addition onto an existing dwelling that was constructed prior to the adoption of planning and zoning ordinances by Marion County. The standards being adjusted were implemented after the dwelling was first constructed, so it was not sited in such a way that accounted for these new codes. The foresight of constructing the dwelling in such a way to allow for new additions to be easily accommodated with modern