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Memo to Planning Commission/OA 99-14 August 24, 1999 Page 2 IIIProposed Amendment and Criteria In order to accommodate the Barsodys, staff has drafted the attached amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance. The proposed amendment would allow property owners that met certain criteria a one-time exemption from the lot area and dimensional requirements in the A-1 District. The following are suggested criteria: • Are zoned agricultural (A-1) In other areas of the city, smaller lot sizes are already permitted. • Have been in the same ownership, homesteaded and have not been previously subdivided since October 31, 1977. October 31, 1977 is the date the Elk River Township and City consolidated. This criterion is intended to limit applicability to long time residents who have not recently subdivided their property. • Are at least 11 acres in size and smaller than 20 acres. The amendment is intended to provide relief for those property owners that would not be able to subdivide their property without a variance (lots at least 11 acres but less than 20). With lots less than 11 acres, subdividing them would create 2 non-conforming lots. Generally at Ili least 1 acre is needed to provide adequate area for well and septic. Lots 20 acres and larger can be subdivided under the density option. • The remnant parcel, which shall be considered the lot that contains the original homestead, shall be 10 acres in size. This criterion is to ensure that at least one of the lots meets the minimum lot size requirement. In certain situations, as in the Barsody case, it may allow for a lot size as small as 1% acre. If the original parcel is larger, say 15 acres, the new lot will be larger, 5 acres for the new lot and 10 acres for the remnant. • Structures on both the new lot and the remnant parcel shall meet the setback requirements for the A-1 district. The purpose of this criterion is to minimize the impact on adjacent lots and ensure sufficient separation between structures on adjoining lots. Since the property owner is creating a new lot, they will have to go through the administrative subdivision process. As part of the review process staff will consider access, impact on adjacent properties, suitability for well and septic, environmental concerns such as wetland impacts, and engineering issues such as grading and drainage. II S:\PLANNING\SCOTT\OA99-14.DOC