|
Officials explain new ordinances
By Justin Goble
With last week’s approval of the county’s first steep-slope and subdivision ordinances, many people have expressed confusion over new procedures and concern that building will come to a halt.
The new ordinances, which affect the unincorporated areas in the county, went into effect Aug. 6.
In an effort to determine some of the ways new guidelines will impact development in Jackson County, The Herald sat down with Jackson County Planning Director Linda Cable, and land-development compliance officers Robbie Shelton and Tony Elders to pose a few questions.
Herald: If I owned a 100-acre tract on a slope greater than 30 percent, what would I have to do to build a major subdivision, which is defined is the new ordinance as having more than eight lots?
Elders: First, you’d have to come in and fill out our land development compliance application. Then we calculate the average slope of the land.
After we do that, we start talking about lot sizes. In the ordinance, the minimum lot size is determined by the slope. So once we have an idea about that, the developer’s surveyor gives us a preliminary plat plan, which shows lots, roads, green space and setbacks.
That preliminary plat plan then goes before our technical review board, which includes people from our staff, department of transportation, the health department and other agencies. We look at it, and any suggestions or changes would be addressed. Once those things are corrected, the application goes to the planning board with our recommendation for approval.
I don’t foresee the planning board having to hold a public hearing or anything over approving a major subdivision. It’s statutory that the planning board gives it final approval. Major subdivisions are the only ones that the board has to approve.
Herald: The ordinance calls for 25 percent open space in all major subdivisions. How does that affect people’s lots?
Elders: A person’s property line ends at the edge of any land set aside for open space. We’re asking the developers to set aside the open space. That land is owned and controlled by the homeowner’s association.
Shelton: That’s the common way of doing it. Lands can be turned over to conservation groups (through conservation easements) as well.
Herald: So the developers set aside open space before they start marking out their lots?
Cable: Well, they can do it a lot of different ways. If a developer is more concerned with setting aside certain areas for conservation, they can set that aside and then start mapping out the lots. If a developer wants to put as many lots as you can on a piece of property as they can, they might map out their lots and then see where they need to put their open space.
Elders: When we look over the plats, that’s going to be something we look at very closely. We’re going to make sure that they have that 25 percent of green space in there.
Herald: If a developer sets aside the steepest part of their property as open space, does that affect density requirements?
Elders: Developers can take the steep portion, put it in a conservation easement and deed it over to a non-profit organization. The highest slope is then taken out and not used to calculate the average slope for the total piece of land. That would make the average slope lower and would change the density requirements on that piece of property and allow more lots to be developed. Things like golf courses are considered open space, but we will include them when calculating the average slope of a tract.
Herald: Can a developer pay a fee to the county in lieu of providing open space?
Cable: No, they can’t. That was a provision in one draft of the subdivision ordinance, but we took it out.
Herald: How do family subdivisions (less than eight lots all owned by persons who are related) differ? What process do people have to go through to get those approved?
Elders: If it’s a new subdivision, the process is very similar to major subdivisions. They come in and fill out our land development compliance application. We look over the plat plans the same way. There’s only a couple things that are different. One is the open space requirement – that only applies to major subdivisions. It doesn’t apply to a family subdivision at all. Second is the road standards. On a family subdivision, we’re asking for a 14-foot right-of-way with a 4-foot shoulder.
Shelton: The roads in major subdivisions have varying standards. It really depends on what purpose they serve. If it’s a main road, we’ll have different standards for those than on a road that serves one or two houses. Our standards aren’t as stringent as the DOT’s standards, but developers should build to DOT guidelines if they want the state to take the roads over.
Elders: A lot of calls we’ve gotten on this are from people who really don’t have anything to worry about. If they’ve got lots that have already been recorded, then they are exempt from these ordinances. Any lot of record is exempt – these ordinances mainly deal with new developments. I’ve had more than one person call me and say, ‘I’ve got two acres on a steep slope. Now I can’t build a house.’ If the lot has been recorded, they can.
Herald: So who is considered “family” under the subdivision ordinance?
Cable: The statutory definition says that the land can be deeded to anyone with a lineal relation and up to three degrees of collateral relation. Mainly, anybody can give land to any of their children or grandchildren. That can go the other way too – someone can give their grandmother a piece of land, too. That’s the lineal relation. The collateral relation is things like uncles, nephews or cousins.
Herald: In the steep-slope ordinance, it calls for geotechnical analysis and other tests. Are family subdivisions responsible for those as well?
Elders: When a developer is dividing property, we don’t require any tests. When people start building on their lots, that’s when we require those tests. On a steep slope, we do require a soils report. But we have a lot of that information here. We can get GIS data and a soils report here in our office. If some of that data shows there could be a problem building on the lot, then we’d require further tests. But you don’t need to call in experts right away.
Cable: The only issue is that it may take a few days for us to get the information. We’ve been dealing with a lot of calls these past few weeks.
Elders: There’s 30,000 existing buildable lots in Jackson County. As of last week, half of those people want to know the slope of their property. So we’ve been talking with a lot of people. But we’re working as hard as we can.
Herald: Can you explain how estate lot subdivisions differ?
Cable: For those, developers have to set aside a larger tract of land. The minimum lot size is 3 acres. They have to agree not to develop all of the land. In fact, no more than 25 percent of the land can be cleared, and impervious surfaces can cover no more than 10 percent. That way, developers have an option of moving away from the 25 percent requirement, since these lots can apply in both major and minor subdivisions.
Elders: They still have to set aside the primary conservation areas, like wetlands and things like that. That’s a state law.
Herald: How much will it cost? Have there been any change to the fees for building permits or the addition of new fees?
Cable: We’ve added some new fees. The land development compliance permit has some fees attached to it. There are plat approval fees as well.
Elders: The building inspection fees have gone up. I don’t think it’s because of this, though. Those fees were scheduled for a review. They haven’t changed in five years or so.
(The new land-development compliance fees were approved as part of this year’s budget, and the cost depends on whether a single lot or subdivison is being developed. Cost for a single-family residential land development permit is $20; cost for a minor or family subdivision is $125; and cost for a major subdivision is $250. Complete fee schedules are available at the planning department’s Justice Center office.)
Herald: There has been some strong criticisms of these ordinances. Do you think that people will change their opinions once they see how they are implemented?
Cable: I think people are finding out that it isn’t nearly as bad as its been made out to be. Some folks may not get the answers they want as fast as they would like. But we’re getting this whole procedure down pat. New staff is being hired and we’re collaborating between the different departments. It will be smoother, but it will take some time.
Elders: It’s definitely changed the way we do business. We may be causing people to go to another office or two. But we’re working on streamlining everything. This whole process will be under constant revision.
|
