A. Purpose: This regulation allows owners of a qualifying property in the rural preservation district (RP) to create one residential parcel for conveyance. If the qualifying property is decreased below the minimum property size as a result of granting the farm development right, the remainder of the qualifying property shall still be considered a conforming property.
B. Applicability: This regulation shall apply to any property that meets all of the following criteria:
1. The property is within the rural preservation district;
2. The property is a minimum of forty (40) acres of contiguous land; and
3. The property was of record in the Ada County recorder's office as of January 1, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the "property of record"), the boundaries of which shall not have changed except as the result of a governmental action. (See section 8-4A-19 of this title.)
a. The property of record shall be entitled to a maximum of one farm development right.
b. For the purposes of this title, parcels approved prior to the effective date of this title subject to the one acre lot regulations or one acre parcel regulations shall be considered farm development rights.
C. Process:
1. Application The applicant shall submit an application and fees on forms provided by the development services department as set forth in chapter 7, article A of this title.
2. Tentative Approval; Requirements: Upon tentative approval of the application by the director subject to the regulations of section 8-7A-6 of this title, the applicant or owner shall have one year to complete all of the following tasks:
a. Cause the property to be surveyed and before recording submit to the director draft copies of the record of survey and resultant parcel descriptions for review;
b. Execute and record the record of survey and the necessary deeds with the Ada County Recorder to accomplish the farm development right parcel as approved;
c. Obtain new tax parcel numbers from the Ada County assessor; and
d. Provide copies of the recorded record of survey, recorded deeds, and the new tax parcel numbers to the director.
3. Issuance Of Approval Letter: The director shall determine that all conditions of approval have been met and that the farm development right parcel is in conformance with this section before final approval letter is issued.
D. Standards:
3. If the qualifying property has more than one permanent dwelling, the farm development right parcel shall contain one of the extra dwellings. This standard shall not apply to temporary living quarters.
4. The proposed farm development right division shall maximize to the greatest extent possible the preservation of prime agricultural soils.
5. The farm development right parcel shall be located on the portion of the property that causes the least disruption of agriculture on the remainder of the qualifying property while still meeting the standards of this section.
E. Required Findings: The director shall make the following findings in order to approve, or approve with conditions, the farm development right:
1. The proposed farm development right meets the applicability requirements of subsection B of this section; and
2. The proposed farm development right complies with standards of subsection D of this section. (Ord. 389, 6-14-2000; amd. Ord. 490, 4-9-2003; amd. Ord. 699, 6-18-2008; amd. Ord. 902, 10-2-2019)