(A) Purposes. The same purposes apply as are listed in § 159.030 of the County Subdivision Ordinance.
(B) Applicability. This section offers an applicant the option to reduce the minimum required lot sizes and lot widths if the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission that the development will fully comply with this section.
(1) The provisions of § 159.030 of the County Subdivision Ordinance shall also apply to any Single Family Cluster Development in the Deep Creek Watershed. A tract shall include a minimum total lot area of 5 acres in order to be eligible as a Single Family Cluster Development.
(2) The application shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator, who shall forward copies to the Planning Commission. An applicant may, at his or her option, have a Cluster Development approval considered prior to or as part of a formal complete application for approval under the Subdivision Ordinance.
(3) The Planning Commission shall advise the Zoning Administrator regarding whether the submittal meets the requirements of this section. The Zoning Administrator shall then determine compliance with this chapter.
(4) In addition to the specific requirements of this section, a Cluster Development shall only be approved if the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission that requirements of § 159.030 of the Subdivision Ordinance will be met. Those requirements are hereby incorporated by reference.
(C) Reduction of lot width and area. If approved as a Cluster Development, then the minimum lot area and minimum lot width of the following districts may be reduced as follows, provided that the minimum preserved open space on the entire tract meets the requirement stated below and all other requirements of this chapter. Cluster Development shall only be permitted under the situations listed below.
Zoning District/Water and Sewage Service | Non-Cluster Minimum Lot Area**** (sq. ft.) | Non-Cluster Minimum Lot Width (feet) | Permitted Minimum Lot Area in a Cluster Development**** (sq. ft.) | Permitted Minimum Lot Width in a Cluster Development** (feet) | Minimum Preserved Open Space Within the Tract of a Cluster Development*** | Maximum Density Bonus (see § 157.073(H)) |
Zoning District/Water and Sewage Service | Non-Cluster Minimum Lot Area**** (sq. ft.) | Non-Cluster Minimum Lot Width (feet) | Permitted Minimum Lot Area in a Cluster Development**** (sq. ft.) | Permitted Minimum Lot Width in a Cluster Development** (feet) | Minimum Preserved Open Space Within the Tract of a Cluster Development*** | Maximum Density Bonus (see § 157.073(H)) |
1. AR and RR | See § 157.053 | See § 157.053 | See § 157.053 | See § 157.053 | See § 157.053 | See § 157.053 |
2. LR1 with county-approved central water and central sewage services | 43,560 | 150 | 25,000 | 100 | 35% | One additional dwelling unit for each 15 acres of total lot area |
3. LR1 with county-approved central water or central sewage service | 43,560 | 150 | 25,000 | 100 | 25% | One additional dwelling unit for each 15 acres of total lot area |
4. LR1 not meeting rows “1” or “2” above, but with the well and/or septic field approved to be located within common open space | 43,560 | 150 | 35,000 | 100 | 20% | One additional dwelling unit for each 15 acres of total lot area |
5. LR2, without county-approved central water or sewage services, but with the well and/or septic field approved to be located within common open space. | 2 acres | 200 | 35,000 | 100 | 40% | One additional dwelling unit for each 15 acres of total lot area |
6. TR or TC/ with county- approved central water and central sewage services | 10,000 | 75 | 8,000 | 65 | 15% | Not applicable |
Notes: | ||||||
**—For the purposes of this § 157.073, lot width shall be calculated based upon the average of the following: a) the length of the rear lot line, and b) the width of the lot at the front of the proposed principal building. This front line used for calculating required lot width shall be shown on the record plat and shall be the required front building setback line for the lot. In addition, for lots that are adjacent to publicly accessible recreation land that abuts Deep Creek Lake, each lot that is adjacent to a common property line (as provided in § 157.170) shall have an absolute minimum lot width of 100 feet as measured along such “common property line.” | ||||||
***—Shall be calculated based upon the “Total Area of the Tract” (see definition above). | ||||||
****—Except where the steep slope regulations of the Sensitive Areas Ordinance apply. | ||||||
*****—Non-cluster provisions are only summarized in the above table for general information purposes. For non-cluster development, see the actual provisions in § 157.041. | ||||||
(D) Other requirements. A Cluster Development shall comply with all of the same requirements that apply to any other subdivision of single family detached dwellings, except for provisions that are specifically permitted to be adjusted by this Section. All other requirements of this chapter and the County Subdivision Ordinance shall still apply to a Cluster Development.
(E) Open Space. Division (C) above states the minimum percentage of the tract area within a Cluster Development that shall be permanently preserved as public, semi-public or private open space. Such preserved open space shall meet all of the requirements of § 159.030 of the Subdivision Ordinance.
(F) Steep slopes. A lot required to have a larger minimum lot area under § 157.071 because of steep slopes shall not be permitted to be reduced in lot area under this section. However, through the use of the smaller minimum lot areas in this section, the lot layout may be able to be revised to move proposed building sites away from steeply sloped portions of a tract so that the requirements of § 157.071 no longer apply.
(G) Access. A Cluster Development shall have an interior road system that minimizes or avoids the need for individual driveways entering directly onto arterial or major collector roads.
(H) Yield plan.
(1) Purpose. To make sure that the Cluster Development does not result in an excessive increase in density from the maximum that would otherwise be permitted.
(2) A Yield Plan shall be submitted as part of an application for a Cluster Development. The Yield Plan shall be a sketch plan drawn to scale that shows the number and location of lots that could reasonably be expected to be permitted under the conventional zoning regulations of the applicable district. Such Yield Plan shall consider the impacts of regulations regarding steep slopes, floodplains, wetlands and similar matters. The Yield Plan shall consider the same areas of land as the proposed Cluster Development.
(3) A Cluster Development shall not be permitted to include a greater total number of dwelling units than is determined to have been possible based upon the Yield Plan, unless a density bonus is specifically permitted in division (C) above. The Yield Plan shall be subject to acceptance by the Planning Commission.
(Ord. —, passed 5-13-1997; Am. Ord. —, passed 8-8-2000; Am. Ord. —, passed 4-30-2002; Am. Res. 2010-7, passed 5-25-2010)