Polk County’s Unified Development Ordinance committee Jan. 26 discussed lot sizes and density within the Mountainside Ridgeline Protection Ordinance (MRPO) in an effort to make the regulations more streamlined with the county’s recently approved Subdivision Ordinance.
“Should we be rethinking this density in light of the new subdivision ordinance, especially with the new cluster development incentives we have in that ordinance?” asked committee chair Mark Byington.
The county’s subdivision ordinance changes regulations for cluster development for major subdivisions. According to tables in the Subdivision Ordinance, available through the Polk County Department of Planning and Zoning, in a major subdivision with cluster development, the minimum size of a lot for a single dwelling unit is 2 acres if the lot receives public water and public sewer; 3 acres if it has public water and individual or community sewer; and 5 acres if it receives individual water, and individual or community sewer.
All three of the major subdivision cluster development options are required to maintain 50 percent of the acreage dedicated to open space, a minimum 50-foot road frontage and at least 50 feet of exterior development setback.
In minor subdivisions utilizing cluster development, public water and sewer allows for two dwelling units per acre; public water and individual sewer or individual water and sewer both allow for just one dwelling unit per acre with the same setback, open space and road frontage requirements.
After a brief discussion about the effects this could have in the ridgeline and higher elevations of the county, UDO member Wayne Horne made a motion to go with the subdivision ordinance density levels completely instead of the MRPO density options. Roger Odel seconded the motion, but it failed in the end three to five.
Committee member Renée McDermott followed the vote with a motion to keep in MRPO the density requirements of 5 acres with public water and sewer and 7 acres without public water and sewer, but to change the minimum lot size to correspond with the lot sizes in the Subdivision Ordinance for cluster subdivisions.
The committee approved this motion five to three, with three committee members absent for personal reasons.
The UDO committee’s next meeting on Feb. 16 will run from 3-9 p.m. at the senior center. The meeting will discuss the Table of Permitted Uses, signage and landscaping and other related issues.