[Added 9-12-2001; amended 8-24-2004; 7-23-2008; 6-13-2012; 12-13-2023]
The MS (Medical Support) District is intended to provide for areas to support hospitals, medical centers, medical offices, clinics, and schools of medicine. These areas are intended to allow for a variety of support services and related residential land uses to be within close proximity of each other to provide for professional and patient convenience. All land to be contained within the Medical Support District shall be included within a master development plan to ensure that land uses are compatibly mixed, designed in a harmonious fashion, and developed to minimize adverse impacts to adjoining properties. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) shall be used to assist the Zoning Administrator in classifying the permitted uses.
A. 
All land uses shall be developed in accordance with an approved master development plan that meets the criteria in Article VIII of this chapter.
B. 
Structures are to be erected or land used for one or more of the identified uses.
Permitted Uses
Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools, and Junior Colleges
Libraries
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
Scientific Research and Development Services including Testing Agencies
Food and Beverage Retailers excluding Fruit and Vegetable Stands and Vending Machine Operators
Food Services and Drinking Places excluding Mobile Food Services
Health and Personal Care Retailers
Miscellaneous Retailers limited to Bookstores, News Stands/Dealers, Stationary Stores, Gift Shops, Florists, and Uniform Stores
Finance and Insurance, Holding, and Office of Real Estate
Hotel and Motels, including Rooming and Boarding Houses, and Dormitories; excluding Workers Camps
Coin Operated Laundries, Drycleaners, and Linen Supplies
Personal Care Services
Photocopying and Duplicating Services
Medical Equipment Rental and Leasing
Data Entry, Data Processing, Data Verification, and Optical Scanning Data Services
Product Sterilization Services
Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance
Physical Fitness Facilities
Civic and Social Organizations
Ambulatory Health Care Services, Hospitals, Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
Adult Day-Care Centers
Child Day-Care Services
Public Buildings, including Social Service Offices
Pharmaceutical Machinery Manufacturing
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing
Medical, Dental, and Hospital Equipment Merchant Wholesalers
Ophthalmic Goods Merchant Wholesaler
Drugs and Druggists' Sundries Merchant Wholesalers
Dormitories, Medical and Allied Health (as defined)
Halfway House (as defined)
Treatment Home (as defined)
Family Care Home (as defined)
Group Home (as defined)
Protected Populations Home (as defined)
Places of Religious Worship
Fire Protection
Conference/Event Centers (as defined)
Fleet Maintenance Facility
On-Site Utility Systems (as defined)
Telecommunications Towers and Facilities (as defined)
Warehousing, Medical and Allied Health Services (as defined)
Wellness Centers (as defined)
(1) 
Residential care facilities.
(a) 
Residential care facilities may consist of any of the following residential structures: single-family small lot, duplex, multiplex, atrium house or garden apartments.
(b) 
Residential care facilities may include home occupations (as defined).
(c) 
Residential care facilities must conform to the following performance standards:
[1] 
Maximum residential density shall not exceed 10 units per acre, provided the following:
[a] 
Single-family detached and single-family attached residential structures having individual access shall have an average lot area of 3,000 square feet per dwelling unit.
[b] 
All other residential land uses shall provide a minimum of 1,000 square feet of average lot area per bedroom.
[2] 
The residential care facilities must consist of residential units which provide all of the following for its residents: independent-living facilities, congregate-care assisted-living facilities, and nursing home care.
[3] 
Occupancy of the dwelling units is restricted to older persons [as such term is used in the definition of "housing for older persons" in § 36-96.7 of the code of Virginia (1950, as amended)], with the following exceptions:
[a] 
The spouse of a resident, regardless of age; and
[b] 
The child of a resident, provided that the child requires convalescent care, regardless of the age of the child; and
[c] 
Resident staff necessary for operation of the facility are also allowed to live on site.
[4] 
The communities may provide ancillary services and facilities, such as, but not limited to, transportation, a common dining room and kitchen, recreation area, meeting or activity rooms, library, chapel, convenience commercial area, or other services and facilities for the enjoyment, service or care of the residents. Such facilities must be conveniently located in relation to the remainder of the development, particularly the dwelling units; they must not be externally advertised. The Board of Supervisors may restrict their use to residents and staff only.
A. 
All parcels that are zoned MS (Medical Support) District shall contain a minimum of 20 acres. These parcels shall be required to receive approval of a master development plan which meets all applicable requirements of Article VIII of this chapter.
B. 
Parcels that are less than 20 acres in size that are contiguous to a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District development, including those parcels that are directly across public rights-of-way to a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District development, may be rezoned to the MS District.
C. 
The Board of Supervisors may provide for the administrative approval of a parcel subdivision which fronts on private street systems during the master development plan review process.
D. 
Hospitals, office buildings, conference/events centers, wellness centers, and all land use permitted under § 165-504.02B, Educational support services, shall be allowed to develop a maximum floor-to-area ratio (FAR) of two. The maximum FAR shall be based on the total site area for a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District development that is to be developed as one parcel, or for the total site area of individual parcels in the development that are subdivided for development purposes.
E. 
All permitted land uses other than those described in § 165-504.03B providing support services to this district shall be allowed to develop a maximum floor-to-area ratio (FAR) of one. The maximum FAR shall be determined as described in § 165-504.03D.
F. 
The overall gross densities for permitted land uses identified in § 165-504.02B shall be calculated as described under this subsection:
(1) 
Single-family detached and single-family attached residential structures having individual access may have a minimum lot size or average lot area of 3,000 square feet per dwelling unit.
(2) 
All other related residential land uses shall provide a minimum of 1,000 square feet of lot size or average lot area per bedroom.
A. 
All land uses permitted in this Part 504 shall be served by street systems that are constructed to the geometric design standards for urban collector streets and urban local streets. Such street systems may be private or may be dedicated to Frederick County for eventual acceptance into the state secondary road system.
B. 
Parcels that contain portions of collector street systems that are intended to continue through to other parcels to meet the intent of the Frederick County Comprehensive Policy Plan shall be built to applicable state secondary road standards and shall be dedicated to Frederick County for eventual acceptance into the state secondary road system.
C. 
Commercial entrances for permitted support services and entrances for related residential developments on urban collector streets shall have a minimum spacing requirement of 250 feet or minimum VDOT spacing, whichever is greater, between entrances.
D. 
Commercial entrances for permitted support services and entrances for related residential developments shall have a minimum spacing requirement satisfying VDOT spacing standards, from street intersections to provide for adequate vehicle stacking.
E. 
Driveways serving individual related residential land uses shall only be permitted along urban local streets.
F. 
All permitted land uses shall be designed to provide for internal traffic circulation and interparcel connectors to adjoining land uses to provide for access between uses without entering onto urban collector streets. The Zoning Administrator may grant a waiver to this requirement if topographic constraints or land use conflicts prevent interparcel connectivity or make it undesirable.
A. 
All permitted educational, research, professional, commercial, and other related support services shall have a minimum front yard setback of 50 feet from any urban collector street and a minimum front yard setback of 35 feet from any urban local street.
B. 
All permitted related residential uses and continuing care retirement communities shall have a minimum front yard setback of 25 feet from any public urban local street and a front yard setback of 20 feet from any private urban local road. On residential units utilizing a rear alley for access, the setback off of a private road may be reduced by 10 feet, provided there are not driveways on the private road to the residential unit. Structural front yard setbacks from private roads shall be measured from the edge of the access easement.
C. 
Residential housing units within a continuing-care retirement community, to include single-family small lot, duplex and multiplex, shall have a minimum building spacing of 10 feet between units and no building can be within 50 feet of the perimeter boundary of the development, provided that all requirements of § 165-504.07 have been satisfied.
D. 
All permitted support services and related residential land uses other than those described in § 165-504.05C are not proposed to have minimum side or rear yard setbacks. Individual parcels which are designed to have structures placed on a side or rear property line shall be provided with a maintenance easement on the adjoining parcel that is a minimum of 10 feet in width.
E. 
Parking lots shall be set back a minimum of 20 feet from urban collector streets and shall be set back a minimum of 10 feet from urban local streets to provide for safe ingress and egress into developed parcels.
F. 
Parking lots located between the urban collector street and the building front shall be developed to include an earth berm or natural topography that is a minimum of three feet in height above the finished grade developed at a slope of 3:1. Evergreen shrubbery that is a minimum of two feet in height at the time of planting shall be provided along the apex of the berm at a rate of 25 plantings per 100 linear feet. This element shall begin at the street right-of-way and end at the beginning of the parking lot. Parking lots located between the urban local street and the building front shall be developed to the standards set forth in § 165-202.01 of this chapter.
G. 
Parcels which are designed to have parking lots located behind the building may have a reduced front yard setback of 20 feet from any urban collector street and 15 feet from any urban local street.
A. 
The maximum structural height for hospitals, office buildings, and all land use permitted under § 165-504.02B, shall be 90 feet.
B. 
The maximum structural height for residential care facilities, nursing and personal care facilities, dormitories, garden apartments and automobile parking structures shall be 70 feet.
C. 
The maximum structural height for all other land uses permitted in this Part 504 shall be 35 feet.
D. 
Structural setbacks for all land uses permitted under § 165-504.06A and B shall be increased one foot for every foot that the structure exceeds 35 feet in height. The increased structural setback shall be measured as follows:
(1) 
From the minimum front yard setback established along urban collector streets and urban local streets for a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District development that is to be developed as one parcel, or from the minimum front, side, and rear yards of individual parcels that are subdivided for development purposes.
(2) 
From any required buffer area for a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District that is to be developed as one parcel, or for individual parcels that are subdivided for development purposes.
(3) 
From the minimum building separation distance established between residential and nonresidential land uses.
E. 
A clear zone void of structures, signage, vegetation, and berms shall be established in areas determined by the Fire Marshal to ensure appropriate emergency access for all land uses permitted under § 165-504.06A and B. These identified areas shall begin at a distance of 25 feet from the structure and shall have a minimum width of 20 feet. An easement shall be obtained on adjoining properties to establish required clear zone areas if they cannot be provided on the individual lot proposed for development.
A. 
The minimum open space percentage for the MS (Medical Support) District shall include:
(1) 
Twenty percent of the overall gross area of a master-planned MS (Medical Support) District that is to be developed as one parcel.
(2) 
Twenty-five percent of the total site area of individual parcels that are subdivided for support services and 30% of the total site area of individual parcels that are subdivided for related residential land uses.
B. 
All open space areas shall be landscaped to provide for a grass cover and vegetative elements as required under § 165-202.01D(13), regarding parking lot landscaping, and § 165-203.02, Buffer and screening requirements, of this chapter. Minimum standards for required vegetative elements include two-inch caliper trees and three-foot shrubs at the time of planting. Stormwater management facilities and landscaped parking lot raised islands shall be permitted to be calculated as part of the overall open space percentage.
C. 
Buffer and screening requirements for the MS (Medical Support) District shall include:
(1) 
Master development planned area that is to be developed as one parcel.
(a) 
A fifty-foot perimeter buffer from all adjoining parcels. The first 25 feet of this buffer area, measured from the adjoining property line, shall provide vegetative plantings, including a single row of evergreen trees on ten-foot centers that are a minimum of four feet at the time of planting, and a single row of deciduous trees spaced 30 feet apart that have a minimum two-inch caliper at the time of planting. An earth berm that is four feet in height and constructed on a slope of 3:1 shall be provided in addition to the vegetative plantings if the primary use of the adjoining property is residential. Parking and maneuvering areas may be established within the remainder of the buffer area, provided that all requirements of § 165-202.01D(13), regarding parking lot landscaping, are met.
(b) 
A fifty-foot internal separation buffer between all support service land uses and related residential land uses meeting the vegetative planting and earth berm requirements specified in § 165-504.07C(1)(a) of this Part 504.
(c) 
An internal residential separation buffer between detached, semidetached, and all other related residential land uses containing a twenty-five-foot buffer with a single row of evergreen trees on ten-foot centers that are a minimum of four feet at the time of planting.
(d) 
Continuing-care retirement communities (as defined) shall be exempt from internal separation and internal residential separation buffers.
(2) 
Master development planned area that is to be developed as individual parcels.
(a) 
Buffer and screening requirements between all land uses which are not contained within the same categories identified in § 165-504.02B of this Part 504.
(b) 
All land uses required to provide buffers and screening internal to the MS (Medical Support) District shall meet the requirements of a B Category buffer as described in § 165-203.02 of this chapter; as well as all other applicable provisions of this section.
(3) 
All parcels within the MS (Medical Support) District which adjoin parcels that are utilized for agricultural activities shall provide the following buffers:
(a) 
A 100-foot buffer adjacent to a parcel whose primary use is agriculture. Agricultural land use shall be considered to be any parcel zoned RA (Rural Areas) District whose primary use is not residential or orchard. A twenty-foot landscaped easement, measured from the adjoining property line, shall be provided which contains a single row of evergreen trees on ten-foot centers that are a minimum of four feet at the time of planting and an earth berm that is three feet in height and constructed on a slope of 3:1. Parking and maneuvering areas may be established within the remainder of the buffer area, provided that all requirements of § 165-202.01D(13), regarding parking lot landscaping, are met.
(b) 
A 200-foot buffer adjacent to a parcel whose primary use is orchard. A forty-foot landscaped easement, measured from the adjoining property line, shall be provided which contains a double row of evergreen trees on ten-foot centers that are a minimum of four feet at the time of planting and an earth berm that is six feet in height and constructed on a slope of 3:1. Parking and maneuvering areas may be established within the remainder of the buffer area, provided that all requirements of § 165-202.01D(13), regarding parking lot landscaping, are met.
(4) 
A road efficiency buffer meeting the requirements § 165-203.02E of this chapter shall be provided for all related residential land uses permitted in § 165-504.02B(5) of this Part 504.