(A) Purpose. The purposes of this section are:
(1) To encourage the preservation of open space and rural vistas through large lot development using shared driveways;
(2) To preserve the natural resources of the site and to preserve wildlife habitat and corridors; and
(3) To provide for long-term low density development and minimize the city’s ongoing costs by allowing large lots to be accessed via shared driveways rather than public roads.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
SHARED DRIVEWAY. A privately owned and maintained driveway that serves more than one lot.
SHARED DRIVEWAY MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT. An agreement between the owners of lots served by a shared driveway that includes the standards for maintenance of the shared driveway, who is responsible for the maintenance and how the costs of maintenance are to be allocated among the owners of the lots served by the shared driveway.
(C) General standards for the use of shared driveways.
(1) A conditional use permit shall be required for all subdivisions that use shared driveways. The city may approve the use of shared driveways for a subdivision if it finds that the subdivision satisfies all of the following standards.
(a) A conservation easement that prohibits the future subdivision of all of the lots involved in the subdivision shall be jointly held by the Belwin Conservancy, or other third party approved by the city who will hold the easement for the long-term, and the city, and shall be recorded on the property along with the recording of the subdivision.
(b) Shared driveways shall not be allowed on cul-de-sacs that were purposely created as part of a subdivision to provide access to the subdivision, and already contain the maximum allowed number of lots, and shared driveways shall not be allowed on a cul-de-sac serving a Preservation and Land Conservation Development (PLCD) and cannot be connected to property in a PLCD.
(c) The minimum shared driveway width is 12 feet, but may be required to be wider based on the number of lots to be served and the recommendations from the Fire Department.
(d) The tract of land required for the use of shared driveways is a minimum of 40 contiguous acres in size.
(e) The minimum allowed size of lots served by a shared driveway is 20 acres.
(f) Shared driveways are allowed in the Agricultural and Rural Residential Zoning Districts.
(g) Because access is provided through shared driveways rather than through the construction of a new public road, the new lots served by the shared driveways are not required to meet the public street frontage requirement.
(h) The lot from which a shared driveway serves a new lot shall have at least 60% of the required frontage on a public street, unless the lot is at the end of a dead-end public street that does not have a cul-de-sac. In this case, the following requirements shall be met.
1. A cul-de-sac bulb that meets the requirements of the Fire Department and that is subject to review and approval by the City Engineer shall be provided on the lot.
2. A public street easement shall be provided over the cul-de-sac.
3. A private driveway easement shall be provided from the cul-de-sac to the property to be served by the shared driveway, if there is not a public right-of-way easement beyond the dead-end that extends to the property to be served by the shared driveway.
(i) The location of shared driveways as they meet a public road, including the distance between driveways, shall be subject to review and approval by the City Engineer, to ensure traffic safety requirements are met.
(j) The lots on a shared driveway shall be addressed based on the public street from which the lots are accessed via the shared driveways and signage with the addresses of the lots shall be provided at the point where the shared driveways meet the public street right-of-way.
(k) While a shared driveway shall generally serve a maximum of two lots, a shared driveway that serves up to three lots could be considered if the property owner demonstrates the driveway would better achieve the purposes of this subchapter as set out in division (A) above than would a driveway serving two lots. This could include reducing the impact of the driveways on the open space areas by reducing the number of shared driveways needed and/or substantially reducing the total length of driveways needed.
(l) A shared driveway requires a multi-party shared driveway agreement that sets out how the shared driveway is to be maintained, repaired and improved, who is responsible for planning, coordinating and implementing the maintenance, repairs and improvements, as well as for planning the projected costs of these items, and how the costs of maintenance, repairs and improvements are to be allocated among the owners of the lots served by the driveway. The agreement shall provide for a dispute resolution process that does not include the city. The shared driveway agreement shall be executed for each driveway, subject to review and approval by the city, and shall be recorded against the property of each party
(Ord. 02-2021, passed 3-16-2021)