2010-252A (17) - Laserfiche WebLink

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In the future, the county's policy should be to maintain its urban service area. In so doing, the county should maintain its current USA boundary, except for those areas where commercial/industrial nodes need to be expanded for economic development purposes. Also, the county should continue to restrict urban development outside the USA. Residential Development As of 2007, a majority of the residential land in the unincorporated county urban service area had been developed. Developed land consists of those residential parcels with either an existing residential unit or a building permit to construct a residential unit. By 2007, 19,693 acres (or 60%) of residential land in the unincorporated county urban service area had been developed. In addition to the developed land described above, the unincorporated county, in 2007, contained 10,098 vacant lots in existing, platted subdivisions. Those vacant platted lots comprised 3,207 acres of residential land. Combined, developed residential land as well as vacant platted lots comprise 22,900 acres, representing 70% of the 32,761 acres of residentially -designated land in the unincorporated county urban service area. Within the unincorporated county urban service area, significant development potential still exists. In addition to the 10,098 vacant lots in existing, platted subdivisions, there are approximately 9,861 acres of undeveloped residential land. Because more land is already designated for residential use than will be needed in 2030, sufficient land is available to accommodate the county's projected 2030 population. ➢ Residential Densities Besides dictating where residential growth occurs, comprehensive plan policies also dictate the density of new residential development. In the past, new residential development in all residential categories has occurred at or below the maximum densities specified in the comprehensive plan. Generally, single-family residential growth has occurred in areas designated L-1 and L-2. Combined, those two land use categories account for over 76% of residential land within the urban service area. In both L-1 and L-2 areas, new single-family developments have been built at densities lower than the maximums allowed by the county's Future Land Use Map. In the L-1 category (up to 3 units/acre), for example, the corresponding zoning district is typically RS -3 (single-family residential, up to 3 units/acre). While both the L-1 future land use category and the RS -3 zoning district allow up to 3 units/acre, most L-1/RS-3 subdivisions are developed at less than 2 units/acre. Similarly, subdivisions developed in the RS -6 zoning district (single- family residential, up to 6 units/acre), the corresponding single-family zoning district to the L-2 future land use category, are typically built at approximately 3 units/acre. In 2006, for example, new RS -3 subdivisions had an average density of 1.7 units/acre, while new RS -6 subdivisions had an average density of 2.3 units/acre. Future Land Use Element 90