DIVISION 5. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS, MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY
Sec. 24.1-252. Access management.
(a) Access to a use
shall be considered to be part of the use and shall require an
equivalent or greater intensity zoning classification, unless over a
publicly owned and maintained right-of-way. Any entrance or
driveway from an existing or proposed non-residential use to a street
created as part of a residential subdivision, classified as a minor collector or lower order and located within a
residential zoning district shall be authorized only upon the issuance of a special
use permit by the board. Prior to considering requests for such special exceptions, the
board shall receive a recommendation from the commission and shall conduct at least one
(1) public hearing advertised in accordance with section 15.2-2204, Code of Virginia,
except that all property owners along the residential street proposed to be accessed shall
be mailed notice of the proposal and the times and places when public comment may be
offered. The commission shall also conduct a duly advertised public hearing before
transmitting a recommendation to the board. This provision shall not apply to home
occupations established and operated in accordance with this chapter, nor shall it apply
to community recreation facilities constructed to serve the residential community in which
located, nor shall it apply to pump stations and similar utility appurtenances.
(b) Driveways or entrances to streets classified as minor collector,
major collector, minor arterial, and major arterial shall be appropriately limited in
number and width and effectively spaced so as to preserve the public investment in the
traffic carrying capacity of the roadway in general accordance with the recommendations
contained in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 348, Access
Management Guidelines for Activity Centers. Multiple access driveways to a single
development shall be discouraged on collectors and prohibited on arterials. This shall
specifically include shopping center development with frontage outparcels and similar
types of developments. The following standards shall apply unless a more restrictive
standard applies by virtue of the roadway having been constructed as a restricted or
limited access roadway.
(1) On streets classified as minor collectors.
a. Each lot (either existing or
newly created) shall be entitled to one (1) entrance of requisite width per the standards
of the Virginia Department of Transportation. Lots with greater than three hundred feet
(300') [90m] of frontage on a single road shall be entitled to two (2) entrances.
b. Additional entrances or access points may be permitted by the zoning
administrator, with the concurrence of the Virginia Department of Transportation, if the
need for and safety of such is substantiated by a traffic impact analysis prepared in
accordance with section 24.1-251(b) of this chapter which shall include full analyses of
the transportation system with and without the requested entrances or access points.
(2) On streets classified as major collectors.
a. Each two (2) newly created abutting non-residential lots shall be
entitled to one (1) etrance of requisite width per the standards of the Virginia
Department of Transportation. Lots with greater than three hundred feet (300') [90m] of
frontage on a single road shall be entitled to an unshared entrance which may be in
addition to the shared entrance.
b. Additional entrances or access points may be permitted by the zoning
administrator, with the concurrence of the Virginia Department of Transportation, if the
need for and safety of such is substantiated by a traffic impact analysis prepared in
accordance with section 24.1-251(b) of this chapter which shall include full analyses of
the transportation system with and without the requested entrances or access points.
(3) On streets classified as minor arterials.
a. Each development shall be entitled to one (1) access to the street.
All internal development shall be served by an internal access system which connects to
the minor arterial at the single permitted access point. A second access point, which
shall be a part of and directly connected to the overall internal access system may be
permitted where the total frontage along the minor arterial exceeds four hundred feet
(400') [120m]. For purposes of this section, subsequent construction of buildings within a
development project or on outparcels of the development project, shall not constitute a
separate development and shall not be entitled to access separate and apart from the
parent tract.
b. Additional entrances or access points may be permitted by the board
with the concurrence of the Virginia Department of Transportation and after conducting a
public hearing in accordance with applicable procedures, the cost of such public hearing
to be borne by the developer making the request. The need for and safety of such
additional entrances shall be substantiated by a traffic impact analysis prepared in
accordance with section 24.1-251(b) of this chapter. In addition it must be demonstrated
by the use of recognized progression and queuing analyses or simulations that an
additional entrance or access point, if permitted, will not degrade the traffic flow
characteristics or the traffic carrying capacity of the street.
(4) On streets classified as major arterials.
a. Each development shall be entitled to one (1) access to the street.
All internal development shall be served by an internal access system which connects to
the major arterial at the single permitted access point. A second access point, which
shall be a part of and directly connected to the overall internal access system, may be
permitted where the total frontage along the major arterial exceeds six hundred feet
(600') [180m]. For purposes of this section, subsequent construction of buildings within a
development project or on outparcels of the development project, shall not constitute a
separate development and shall not be entitled to access separate and apart from the
parent tract.
b. Additional entrances or access points may be permitted by the board
with the concurrence of the Virginia Department of Transportation and after conducting a
public hearing in accordance with applicable procedures, the cost of such public hearing
to be borne by the developer making the request. The need for and safety of such
additional entrances shall be substantiated by a traffic impact analysis prepared in
accordance with chapter 24.1-251(b) of this chapter. In addition it must be demonstrated
by the use of recognized progression and queuing analyses or simulations that an
additional entrance or access point, if permitted, will not degrade the traffic flow
characteristics or the traffic carrying capacity of the street.
(5) The zoning administrator may grant exceptions to the standards
contained herein when the property location or configuration precludes strict application
of the standards provided, however, that reductions in the road frontage requirements
shall not be greater than fifteen percent (15%).
(6) The developer shall provide and record all easements determined to
be necessary to accommodate shared entrances and joint access arrangements. (See
Figure II-9 in Appendix A and sample
Deed of Easement in Appendix B.)