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Zoning
What can
be built on that vacant lot down the street? Can I operate a business in
my home? How close to the property line can I build my shed? How large a
sign can my business have? The answers to
questions like these can be
found in the
York County Zoning Ordinance. The
Zoning Ordinance is the
basic rulebook for land development in the County. Together with the
Zoning Map, it determines what can be built where, and how it can be
built. Zoning helps to ensure that development occurs in an efficient
and orderly manner with minimal conflicts between land uses and in
accordance with the capacity of the road network, water and sewer
systems, school system, etc.
Zoning in
York County dates back 50 years to the Board of Supervisors’ adoption of
the first Zoning Ordinance on January 24, 1957. The County’s current
Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1995 and has been amended almost 40
times since then. The
Zoning Map, also adopted in 1995, was
comprehensively reviewed and amended in 2007 following the update of the
Comprehensive Plan – the long-range plan for the physical development of
the County.
Click on
the links below for more information:
ZONING ORDINANCE SUMMARY TABLE
|
Zoning
District |
Primary
Permitted Uses |
Minimum
Lot Area* |
Minimum
Lot Width (feet) |
Minimum
Building Setbacks (feet) |
|
Front |
Side |
Rear |
|
Resource
Conservation (RC) |
Low-density
single-family detached housing, farming, military and
conservation uses, and County facilities |
5 acres |
300
|
50
|
50
|
50
|
|
Rural
Residential (RR) |
Low-density
single-family detached housing, agriculture |
1 acre |
150
|
50
|
20
|
50
|
|
R20 |
Medium-density single-family
detached housing |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100
|
40
|
15
|
30
|
|
R13 |
High-density
single-family detached housing |
13,500
sq. ft. |
90
|
30
|
12.5
|
25
|
|
R7 |
Manufactured
homes within a manufactured home subdivision |
7,500 sq.
ft. |
70
|
30
|
10
|
20
|
|
Residential
Multi-Family (RMF) |
Duplexes,
townhouses, multiplexes, and apartments |
10 units
per acre |
------ |
50
|
25
|
50
|
|
Yorktown
Village Activity (YVA) |
Residential
and nonresidential uses within Historic Yorktown |
None |
------ |
25** |
10** |
20** |
|
Neighborhood Business (NB) |
Retail uses
and services for nearby residential areas |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100
|
40
|
10
|
20
|
|
Limited
Business (LB) |
Commercial
retail uses, and business and professional services having a
predominant "9 to 5" character |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100
|
40
|
10
|
10
|
|
General
Business (GB)
|
Broad Range
of retail commercial uses, shopping centers, offices, business
and professional services |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100
|
45
|
10
|
10
|
|
Water-oriented Commercial/ Industrial (WCI) |
Marinas,
marine supply stores, seafood processing and storage |
1 acre |
150
|
45
|
20
|
50
|
|
Economic
Opportunity (EO) |
Retail,
tourist-related and limited industrial Activities |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100
|
45
|
10
|
10
|
|
Limited
Industrial (IL) |
Wholesaling
and warehousing activities, light manufacturing and assembly,
and recycling centers |
20,000
sq. ft. |
100 |
45
|
10
|
10
|
|
General
Industrial (IG) |
Warehousing,
petroleum production, broad range of industrial uses, and
utility facilities |
30,000
sq. ft. |
125
|
50
|
15
|
15
|
|
Planned
Development (PD) |
Single-family
detached, attached, and multi-family housing, and mixed-use
development |
None |
Varies |
------ |
------ |
------ |
|
* Minimum lot
requirements apply where both public water and public sewer are
available. Larger lots are required where one or both are not
available.
**
Single-family detached residential only |
15.2-2283 Purpose of zoning ordinances
Zoning
ordinances shall be for the general purpose of promoting the health,
safety or general welfare of the public and of further accomplishing the
objectives of §
15.2-2200. To these ends, such ordinances
shall be designed to give reasonable consideration to each of the
following purposes, where applicable:
(i) to
provide for adequate light, air, convenience of access, and safety from
fire, flood, crime and other dangers;
(ii) to
reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets;
(iii) to
facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive and harmonious
community;
(iv) to
facilitate the provision of adequate police and fire protection,
disaster evacuation, civil defense, transportation, water, sewerage,
flood protection, schools, parks, forests, playgrounds, recreational
facilities, airports and other public requirements;
(v) to
protect against destruction of or encroachment upon historic areas;
(vi) to
protect against one or more of the following: overcrowding of land,
undue density of population in relation to the community facilities
existing or available, obstruction of light and air, danger and
congestion in travel and transportation, or loss of life, health, or
property from fire, flood, panic or other dangers;
(vii) to
encourage economic development activities that provide desirable
employment and enlarge the tax base;
(viii)
to provide for the preservation of agricultural and forestal lands and
other lands of significance for the protection of the natural
environment;
(ix) to
protect approach slopes and other safety areas of licensed airports,
including United States government and military air facilities;
(x) to
promote the creation and preservation of affordable housing suitable for
meeting the current and future needs of the locality as well as a
reasonable proportion of the current and future needs of the planning
district within which the locality is situated; and
(xi)
to provide reasonable protection against encroachment upon military
bases, military installations, and military airports and their adjacent
safety areas, excluding armories operated by the Virginia National
Guard. Such ordinance may also include reasonable provisions, not
inconsistent with applicable state water quality standards, to protect
surface water and ground water as defined in §
62.1-255.
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