CU26-017 Staff Decision - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

modifications to the property that will prevent it or neighboring properties from continuing to be used as acreage residences. Further, the home occupation will be restricted to operating exclusively inside the accessory structures, customers will only come to the property by an appointment only basis, and the business will only be operable by the occupant of the dwelling on the property. This reduces the impact on the surrounding area by dampening noise, keeping the operation out of view, prevents the business from operating as an open store-front, and ties the operation to the resident of the dwelling on site. Lastly, home occupations are a historical occurrence in residential neighborhoods and can operate in harmony with the neighborhood if they are limited in scale. Therefore, the criterion is met. b. The use will not increase traffic beyond the capacity of existing roads. As discussed under criterion N in Finding #6 above, the proposed home occupation shall be limited to appointment only visits by customers to the property. Additionally, the applicant themselves stated that customers will be limited to one visit per day to the property. As for the roads, 82nd avenue branches off Macleay Rd SE close to the subject property. Macleay Rd is designated as a minor collector in the rurual road functional classification for Marion County and is capable of sustaining any increase in traffic generated by the proposed home occupation. 82nd avenue is also paved and maintained by Marion County and will have no issue sustaining additional traffic to the site. The criterion is met. c. Adequate fire protection and other rural services are, or will be, available when the use is established. The property is served by the Marion County No. 1 Fire District, Marion County Sheriff, has an existing septic system, well, and electricity. Both Marion County Building and Marion County Septic provided comments (see Finding #5) regarding potential service upgrades or improvements that may be required before operating the home occupation. These can be obtained by the applicant and have been made conditions of approval prior to establishing the home occupation. With the required improvements from other departments made conditions of approval, the adequate rural services are either in place or will be in place by the time the home occupation is established. The criterion is met. d. The use will not have a significant adverse impact on watersheds, groundwater, fish and wildlife habitat, soil and slope stability, air and water quality. The subject property does not have any geohazard or landslide risk areas, nor is there proposed development outside of modifications to existing structures, meaning soil and slope stability are not a concern. Automotive repair businesses do present several risks to water and air quality and wildlife habitat. Fumes from machinery and automobiles are examples of air pollution, and fluids used by automobiles can significantly contaminate surface water and groundwater if spills are not quickly attended to or the fluids are improperly stored. The proposed operation site is roughly 400 feet west from the main stem of the Little Pudding River and there are other named creeks in the local area. This proximity to notable waterways in the local area means the risk for significant adverse impacts by the proposed business are elevated as it is easier for contaminated runoff or spills to enter the streams and spread over a greater distance. The applicant states that they will contain and transport oils, chemicals, and waste to property disposal sites on a regular basis and identified an area on the floor plans of one of the shops for fluid storage. They also state that spills will be contained and cleaned up. Steps such as these mitigate the damage to water quality and will allow the automotive repair business to operate in a way that does not have significant adverse impacts on water quality or habitat. To ensure the home occupation is prepared to deal with accidental spills, which pose the greatest threat to water and habitat, a procedure for containing and cleaning spills quickly before they become a significant issue should be developed. It shall be made a condition of approval that the applicant adopt a basic spill containment and cleanup plan and submit it to the Marion County planning department prior to operating the automotive repair business. For air quality, the automobile repair will occur inside of large structures. The structures will prevent the spread of particulate pollution into the surrounding area and the scale of the operation is not anticipated to generate air pollution at a level that would cause significant adverse impacts. The criterion is met.