PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

Regular Agenda -- Public Hearing Item

 

PC Staff Report

08/24/05

ITEM NO. 18:

TEXT AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 21, CITY/COUNTY SUBDIVISION  REGULATIONS (LMF/SMS)

 

TA-07-02-05: Consider a text amendment to Chapter 21 of the City/County Subdivision Regulations regarding concurrent submissions of preliminary and final plats.  Initiated by the Planning Commission on July 27, 2005.

 

Reason for Request:

Staff suggested this revision to expand the scope of the regulations to allow for certain types of concurrent submissions.

 

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:  Staff recommends the Planning Commission forward the proposed text amendment to the Lawrence City Commission and the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation for approval.

 

 

KEY POINTS The current limitation of creation of no lot larger than five acres in the unincorporated areas of Douglas County has required a number of property owners who are platting single lot subdivisions to go through a length review process to create a single building site. The current limitation of lots no larger than one acre in the City of Lawrence has placed an unusual time constraint on many public properties that are also required to go through the site plan process. The Planning Commission has been asked several times in the past year to waive the concurrent submission standards to accommodated property owners’ time frames.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING      None.

 

STAFF REVIEW

This is a text amendment suggested by Staff in an effort to provide more flexibility in the concurrent plat requirements and to reduce the number of requests the Planning Commission receives to waive these requirements for specific properties.  The existing text in Section 21-204 is provided in italics and the proposed text is shown in bold below.

 

 

 

EXISTING REGULATIONS

21-204.        CONCURRENT SUBMISSION OF PRELIMINARY AND FINAL PLATS.

Concurrent submissions of preliminary and final plats for the same property shall be permitted if the following descriptions do not apply to the property being platted:

(a)     Platting of large lot subdivisions.  Plats that result in the creation of individual lots of one (1) acre or greater in area in the incorporated city limits; or 5 acres or greater in the unincorporated areas of the county, shall require preliminary plat approval prior to submission of a final plat,

(b)     Dedication of multiple street or road rights-of-way. Preliminary plats which propose dedication of multiple street or road rights-of-way shall require review and approval prior to submittal of a final plat.

(c)      Multiple zoning designations.  Preliminary plats which include or propose lots for more than one zoning category shall require review and approval prior to submittal of a final plat.

 

 

Proposed Regulations

21-204                    Concurrent Submission of Preliminary and Final Plats.

Concurrent submissions of preliminary and final plats for the same property shall be permitted:

(a)   IF the following criteria apply:

(i)      Maximum size of the subdivision being platted is one (1) acre or less if located within the city limits of Lawrence or exceeds ten (10) acres if located within the unincorporated area of Douglas County; AND

(ii)    No new street rights-of-way are required or are being dedicated; AND

(iii)          The subdivision has no more than one zoning classification, excluding floodplain overlay or historic district designations.

(b)  OR

(i)        Subdivisions platted for the development of a public building, school building, or sports facility have a maximum size limitation of 50 acres; AND

(ii)      Development of the land within the subdivision is subject to review of drainage and stormwater runoff requirements based on other regulations that apply to development prior to the issuance of a building permit.