Agenda Package - 04-16-07 - Laserfiche WebLink

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0 7 7 It should be noted that all three of the previous zoning ordinances contained the same limitation as the UDO. However, it should also be noted that the County did allow accessorv structures to be on stand alone lots in the 1990s. However, that policy changed in the late 1990s do to concerns over the inappropriate commercial use of some of these detached accessory buildings. The planning staff suggests that illegal land use is an issue regardless of whether the accessory structure is on a separate lot. The Joint Planning Commission considered the issue and unanimously recommended that the boards consider an amendment to allow accessory buildings to be located on separate parcels in the unincorporated areas of Lee County's zoning jurisdiction with the condition that each application be subject to obtaining a special use permit from the Lee County Board of Adjustment. As stated, this amendment would not affect Sanford or Broadway. A draft of the proposed UDO language is attached. Amendment 92 - Consider an amendment to delete Section 6.4 Cluster Subdivisions in its entiretv from the UDO. As our community continues to see increased demands for development, our UDO policies need to be constantly monitored to ensure that such policies promote desired outcomes. Because of the desire for higher density and the need for urban infrastructure, this issue is primarily an issue for the two municipalities. The City of Samford is the only community in Lee County to have had any experience with cluster projects, having had nine approved prior to the UDO and one approved under the UDO. The cluster approach ® allows a developer to group housing units/lots into a smaller, tighter design with the tradeoff being greater amounts of undeveloped open space areas are retained. Under the old Sanford zoning ordinance as well as within the UDO, a cluster project was reviewed under the procedures as used for approving a preliminary subdivision plat, which is considered a "technical" review. A technical review is much different than a legislative (rezoning) review. Under a technical review, the board (appointed and/or elected) has very limited discretion as to what can be denied. In other words, if an application for a cluster subdivision is submitted and it meets the UDO standards, the board is compelled to approve it. Based on feedback staff has received from the community and from members of the City of Sanford boards, the results have been mixed at best. Some board members have expressed frustration because of the way our approval process works - rezoning first, then cluster application. As an example, a typical scenario is that a developer will petition for rezoning from R-20 to R-12SF or R-14. After the new zoning is approved, a plat is then submitted showing a cluster design in which the majority of the lots are actually 8-10,000 square feet in area, not 12,000 or 14,000 square feet. Once the zoning is approved, neither the planning board nor the elected body has strong footing to deny the cluster design simply based on the reduced lot size because it conforms to the UDO cluster option. Board members have expressed concern that the zoning approval is misleading and not an accurate reflection of what the real intent is in terms of lot size within the development. Additionally, some board members have expressed concern that the value of the additional open space areas in the some of the approved cluster projects do not appear to be adding enough value to the project to ® warrant the smaller lot design