A-1
Dimensional standards
Lot
- Minimum lot areaMinimum lot areaThe smallest parcel on which the district allows anything to be built.
- 4,356,000 sq ftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000. (100 acacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.)
Uses
Conditional / special use20
- Small neighborhood businesses, as defined
- Facilities, activities and operations that are provided by a duly constituted unit of government
- Outdoor amusement/entertainment areas
- Campgrounds
- Child welfare homes, agencies and institutions
- Communications towers and antenna systems
- Manufactured home parks
- Mobile home parks
- Boat storage facilities
- Commercial firing range, indoor or outdoor
- Small wind energy systems
- Colleges, universities and schools that maintain residential dormitories
- Community/shared solar energy facilities
- Large scale solar energy facilities
- Residential special care treatment facility
- Farming and agricultural operations which process raw agricultural products into a finished product
- Retail stores and shops
- Short term rental with shared amenities or if hunting is allowed
- Golf driving ranges
- Exotic animal welfare care and management
Accessory1
Extracted standards
16 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.
Environmental
- Nutrient management plan required
A nutrient management plan shall be required for all livestock, dairy, poultry operations subject to this article.
- Odor abatement technologies
Odor control technologies and mechanisms shall include, to the extent possible, those mechanisms which operate to reduce the transmission of odor to the extent practically possible including, but not limited to, vertical directed exhaust from animal confinement areas, deflection walls, and/or water curtains.
- Odor management plan required
An owner/operator of any CAFO shall operate its facility in a manner to minimize odor detectable on properties in the area and shall operate its facility according to best management practices of the industry for odor control. An owner/operator shall submit to the county, prior to construction, a detailed odor management plan...
- Waste disposal system plan required
The owner/operator of any confined animal feeding operation shall submit to the county, prior to construction, a waste disposal system plan prepared in accordance with the standards and specifications of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
- Well water testing parameters
Well testing shall address at a minimum the following: Ammonia Nitrogen, Nitrate Nitrogen, pH, Conductivity.
- Baseline well water testing required
The owner/operator of any livestock, dairy or poultry facility approved subsequent to the effective date of this article shall submit to the county, prior to construction, baseline well water data from all adjoining properties with a water supply well.
Lot
- Minimum parcel size100 acresacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.
No confined animal feeding operation shall be located on a parcel of land containing less than 100 acres.
- No subdivision to violate setbacksSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
No parcel on which confined animal feeding operations are located, including waste storage and waste disposal sites, shall be partitioned or subdivided so as to violate any setback or offset provisions of this article.
Other
- Maximum number of swine per facility5,000 swine
There shall be a maximum of 5,000 swine (2,000 animal units) permitted at any one intensive livestock facility.
- Minimum setbackSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line. from blue line streams1,000 ft
Confined animal feeding structures shall be located no closer than 1,000 feet to any stream, river, pond or lake as identified as a blue line stream on the Halifax County Hydrologic Units Map prepared by Department of Conservation and Recreation.
- Minimum setbackSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line. from existing CAFO facilities15,840 ft
All proposed livestock, dairy and poultry facilities shall be setback from any existing or permitted livestock, dairy or poultry facility a minimum of three miles, as measured from the centerpoint of the existing or permitted livestock, dairy or poultry structure(s) site.
- Minimum setbackSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line. from Dan, Staunton, Banister, Hyco Rivers and Aaron's Creek5,280 ft
Confined animal feeding structures shall be located no closer than one mile to Dan River, Staunton (Roanoke) River, Banister River, Hyco River, and Aaron's Creek, as measured from the centerline of each river.
- Site plan contents
The site plan/development plan shall address, at a minimum, the location of all existing and proposed structures, waste storage and disposal facilities, roads, utilities, drainage facilities, surface waters, wells, property lines, dwellings, platted residential subdivisions, residentially zoned districts, mobile home parks, public schools, hospitals, churches, county, town and community recreation areas, public facilities, town corporate limits, public or community permitted drinking water sources, and 100-year flood plains.
- Site plan/development plan required
A site plan/development plan, drawn to scale, shall be submitted detailing operation buildings and accessory/support facilities, including waste collection and disposal areas.
- Site plan review and approval
The site plan/development plan shall be reviewed and approved by the county planning and zoning office prior to the issuance of any building permit or other zoning approval.
- Variances allowed under certain conditions
An applicant for a confined animal feeding operation shall have the right to seek a variance from the terms and standards of this article provided the applicant can present evidence that the variance is in harmony with the intent, spirit, and purpose of this article.
From the ordinance
Any agricultural production activity that is described in Article VII of the Zoning Ordinance and that is undertaken in accordance with the provisions of this chapter within A-1, Agricultural District shall be a use by right.