In 2008, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) directed the Planning Department to substantively update the County’s existing subdivision regulations. The Planning Department released an initial draft on June 1, 2010 and a subsequent version on December 1, 2010. The December 1, 2010 version was adopted on December 23, 2010.
On February 3, 2011, the December 23, 2010 version of the subdivision regulations was repealed and replaced with the County’s previous regulations, including required 2009 legislative changes.
The Planning Department then conducted working sessions with the BCC over the past four months, collecting public and Commissioner comments on the March 2, 2011 draft subdivision regulations.
A public hearing was held on August 11, 2011, to review and potentially approve amended subdivision regulations. The hearing was continued to August 15, 2011, at which point the BCC determined to forward a final draft set of regulations (including the comments and recommendations provided at both the August 11, 2011, and August 15, 2011, hearings) to the County Attorney’s Office for legal review. A clean version of the draft will be posted once it is returned from legal review. This version of the draft regulations will be presented to the BCC at a properly scheduled and notified public hearing, during which the BCC will pass a resolution to adopt updated subdivision regulations.
County Planner Tristan Riddell said that not a lot of significant changes were made in the last round of review. He said one change worth commenting on was the change in language dealing with an additional structure with wastewater facilities being exempted from subdivision review. Another item up for legal review is the question of whether the many 10-acre orchard tracts that were created in the Apple Boom era are considered legal subdivisions that may be transferred within a family. The county has a preliminary opinion stating that they are legal subdivisions and a later County Attorney opinion that they are not legal subdivisions. The commissioners are seeking a third opinion from the current County Attorney.