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Memo to Planning Commission Page 2 March 26, 1996 • at the northwest corner of County Road 32 and 214th Avenue. The surrounding land uses include single family, farmland and vacant residential lots. The applicant is also requesting a Conditional Use Permit to have horses on their property. Agricultural uses (the keeping of horses) on a platted lot or a lot of less than five acres requires a conditional use permit. The applicant received a building permit to construct the pole barn in its present location because they indicated that the building was going to be used for storage, not for agricultural use. When the applicant started construction of a split rail fence, the building inspector notified them that if they were going to use the building for agricultural purposes it would have to be 300 feet from the neighbor's house and the fence would have to be 200 feet from the neighbor's house. It was at this point that they applied for the variance and conditional use permit. The applicant requires this variance because the building is metal and because it is going to be used to house a horse. During the review of this request, some confusion has arose relating to the application of setbacks for agricultural uses. • It is unclear if the 300 foot setback from the adjacent residence for agricultural buildings applies only if the building is constructed of metal. The • Zoning Code lists metal skin agricultural buildings as requiring the 300 foot setback. It is not clear if agricultural buildings constructed of other materials, such as wood, require the same setback as metal buildings. It would seem that they should. • If it is the intent to keep a 300 foot separation between agricultural activity and adjacent residences, the agricultural activity should be subject to the 300 foot setback; there should not be a distinction between building types. It would also be easier to apply the setback requirement if the setback was measured from a fixed point, such as a property line. • Livestock fences are currently subject to a 200 foot setback. It is not clear why it is ok to have livestock 200 feet from the adjacent house if they are outside but they have to be 300 feet away if they are inside a metal building. The Zoning Code also makes a distinction between platted property and unplatted property. • In the R1a zone and Al zone agricultural uses require a CUP if they occur on a platted lot; it does not matter what size the lot is. A person could have a 10 acre platted lot and a CUP is required for agricultural uses. If that same person had a 5.5 acre unplatted lot, they could conduct the same activity without a CUP. It is not clear why there is a distinction between platted and unplatted property. If proximity to neighboring residences is the concern, lot s:\planning\scott\cu96-3.doc