Public Hearings - CHR 6-2009 Assisted Living Facilities- Legislation

THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND

October 6, 2009 Legislative Session Day
Legislative Session Day October 6, 2009

BILL NO. 6 - 2009

INTRODUCED BY: Roy W. Crow, President of the Board of County Commissioners for Kent County,
Maryland, at the request of the Kent County Planning Commission.

An Act to amend Article V, Sections 1.3 (Agricultural Zoning District - Special Exceptions), 3.3 (Rural Character – Special Exceptions), 4.3 (Rural Residential – Special Exceptions), 5.3 (Critical Area Residential – Special Exceptions), 6.3 (Community Residential); Article VII Section 6 (Special Exceptions) and Article VII, Section 7 (Special Exceptions) of the Kent County Land Use Ordinance to add new special exception provisions for assisted living facilities with five to eight beds.

THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF KENT COUNTY

By:_____________________________________________
Roy W. Crow, President

INTRODUCED, read first time, ________________, 2009, ordered posted and public

hearing scheduled on the ______ day of _____________ , 2009, at _________a.m. in the

County Commissioners Hearing Room, County Government Center, 400 High Street,

Chestertown, Maryland.
By Order Of

________________________________________________
Janice F. Fletcher
Executive Assistant

PUBLIC HEARING

HAVING been posted and notice of time and place of hearing and copies having been made available to the public and the press, a public hearing was held on _________________,2009, and concluded on _________________, 2009. Reported favorably [with] [without] amendments, read second time and ordered to be considered on _______________________,2009, a legislative session day.

________________________________________
Janice F. Fletcher
Executive Assistant


A BILL ENTITLED


AN ACT TO AMEND ARTICLE V, SECTIONS 1.3 (AGRICULTURAL ZONING DISTRICT - SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS), 3.3 (RURAL CHARACTER – SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS), 4.3 (RURAL RESIDENTIAL – SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS), 5.3 (CRITICAL AREA RESIDENTIAL – SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS), 6.3 (COMMUNITY RESIDENTIAL); ARTICLE VII SECTION 6 (SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS) AND ARTICLE VII, SECTION 7 (SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS) OF THE KENT COUNTY LAND USE ORDINANCE TO ADD NEW SPECIAL EXCEPTION PROVISIONS FOR ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES WITH FIVE TO EIGHT BEDS AND GENERALLY RELATING TO ARTICLE V AND VII OF THE KENT COUNTY LAND USE ORDINANCE.

Whereas, there is a pubic need identified in the Comprehensive Plan to provide housing for special populations including assisted living facilities, to support the County’s health care industry, and to promote the development of small local business; and

Whereas, the proposed amendments are consistent with the Kent County Comprehensive Plan.

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED by the County Commissioners of Kent County, Maryland that a new subsection be added to the Kent County Land Use Ordinance Article V, Sections 1.3 (Agricultural Zoning District - Special Exceptions), 3.3 (Rural Character – Special Exceptions), 4.3 (Rural Residential – Special Exceptions), 5.3 (Critical Area Residential – Special Exceptions), 6.3 (Community Residential), as follows:

4.5. Assisted living facilities with five to eight beds

SECTION 2. BE IT ENACTED by the County Commissioners of Kent County, Maryland that Article VII, Section 6 (Special Exceptions – Procedures) be and is hereby repealed; and

BE IT FURTHER ENACTED THAT A NEW SECTION is hereby enacted in lieu thereof to read as follows:

SECTION 6 PROCEDURES

The application for a special exception shall include a site plan together with such data and information as may be required for a determination of the nature of the proposed use and its effect on the Comprehensive Plan, the neighborhood, and surrounding properties.

The Planning Director may hear and decide the following special exceptions:

1. Accessory storage structures
2. Accessory structures in the front yard requirement of waterfront parcels
3. Accessory structures in the front yard of a through lot or corner lot*
4. Day care group
5. Assisted living facilities with five to eight beds

The Planning Commission shall review and send a recommendation to the Board of Appeals on the following special exceptions:

1. Aquaculture
2. Adaptive reuse of historic structures
3. Airport, landing field, heliport, or helistop, public or private
4. Attached retail businesses
5. Automobile repair
6. Automobile service stations
7. Boat building and sales
8. Car wash
9. Cemetery, including crematorium and mausoleum
10. Conference center
11. Convalescent, nursing, or group homes for the aged with five or more beds
12. Cottage industries, tradesmen and artisan shops
13. Country inn
14. Country stores
15. Dredge spoil site
16. Excavation contractor’s yard
17. Feedlot or confinement dairy
18. Golf courses, public or private
19. Hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, or other similar institutions for human care
20. Houses of worship
21. Migrant labor camps
22. Mobile home parks
23. Multi-level boat storage
24. Outdoor entertainment
25. Outdoor recreation, miniature golf, but not golf courses
26. Personal wireless facility tower
27. Poultry houses on parcels where the owner cannot handle the waste generated
28. Printing and publishing
29. Private schools
30. Public utilities and structures
31. Pubs, taverns and bars
32. Radio and television tower, commercial
33. Raising of livestock and fowl
34. Recreational facilities
35. Resort
36. Retreat
37. Sand and gravel pits
38. Sanitary landfill or rubble fill
39. Seafood processing
40. Sewage sludge land application
41. Shopping centers
42. Structures for the buying, processing, and sale of animal products
43. Truck parking lot
44. Truck stops
45. Truck terminals

The following special exceptions shall be forwarded directly to the Board of Appeals:

1. Dog kennels, commercial
2. Dormitories for employees
3. Exposition center or fairgrounds
4. Farm employee housing
5. More than four horses and mules on land less than 20 acres in size
6. Private clubs
7. Public landings
8. Raising of small animals
9. Rifle and pistol ranges
10. Single family dwellings
11. Structures for the buying, processing, and sale of farm products in structures that exceed 10,000 square feet but are less than 25,000 square feet

The Board of Appeals may hire expertise as shall be needed to provide advice and assist in its decision-making. In its recommendation, the Planning Commission may recommend that additional expertise is warranted.

Within thirty days of the decision, with respect to special exceptions approved by the Planning Director, any person aggrieved by the decision of the Planning Director may appeal the decision to the Board of Appeals.

Within thirty days of the decision, any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board of Appeals may file a notice of appeal with the Circuit Court.

SECTION 3 BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the County Commissioners of Kent County Maryland that a new subsection be added to the Kent County Land Use Ordinance, Article VII, Section 7 (Special Exceptions) as follows:

#6.5 ““Assisted Living Facilities with five to eight beds in AZD, RC, RR, CR, and CAR provided:

a. The property owner resides on the premises.
b. The assisted living facility is subordinate and accessory to the principal dwelling in size and appearance and is in the same structure as the principal dwelling unit. Expansions shall be designed in keeping with or to enhance the character of the other buildings.
c. The rooms for the use are not designed or constructed to be separate dwelling units and may not be sold as separate dwelling units.
d. The appearance of the structure and property remain that of a single family dwelling so that the average neighbor is unaware of the assisted living facility’s existence.
e. The structure meets all applicable Kent County Codes, including the building code, and Health Department requirements.
f. The applicant has received approval from the appropriate State of Maryland Agencies.
g. The facility does not create an unacceptable environmental impact by way of noise, odor, noxious materials, or other nuisances.
h. The facility does not generate traffic of a type or amount inappropriate for all access roads and the surrounding area. It does not require road improvements detrimental to the character of the area.








SECTION 4. BE IT FURTHER ENACTED that this Act shall take effect on the _____ day of _________________, 2009.

Read Third Time _____________________________.

PASSED this _____ day of ________________, 2009.

Failed of passage_____________________________.


ORDERED a fair summary thereof of the entire bill shall be published in at least one

newspaper of general circulation in the County, not less than three times at weekly intervals

within a four week period.

By Order Of:



__________________________________
Janice F. Fletcher
Executive Assistant


Approved: THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Date:______________ OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND


__________________________________
Roy W. Crow, President



__________________________________
Ronald H. Fithian, Member



__________________________________
William W. Pickrum, Member