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BOOK J13 PAGE Z41 Currently, zoning in the county is based on future land use designations depicted on a future land use map that is part of an adopted comprehensive plan. That, however, has not always been the case. Although zoning was established in the county in 1957, the county's first comprehensive plan was not adopted until 1976. Not until 1985 was zoning made to conform to the county's comprehensive plan. Prior to 1985, the subject property was zoned R 2D, Multiple -Family. That zoning district required that all conforming lots be at least 7,200 square feet in size. The maximum density for the R -2D district, therefore, was approximately 6 units/acre. In 1985, a countywide rezoning effort was undertaken to make zoning in the county correspond to the 1982 comprehensive plan's land use designations. The 1982 plan designated the site as LD -2, Low Density Residential -2 (up to 6 units/acre). Land consisting of estuarine wetlands, however, was designated as environmentally sensitive. The subject property fell into that category. Since the county at that time did not have a special zoning district for environmentally sensitive land, and the extent of the estuarine wetlands was not known, the entire parcel was down -zoned from R - 2D to RS -1. The RS -1 zoning district, which allows a residential density of up to 1 unitlacre, was consistent with the then applicable 1 unit/acre density of the environmentally sensitive land use designation. When the current comprehensive plan was adopted in 1990, the site was given the L-2 land use designation on the Future Land Use Map. The county, however, recognized that, because of the scale of the Future Land Use Map, the map provides generalized, not site specific, information. For that reason, the county also added a provision to the plan that requires the boundaries of the C-2, Privately Owned Estuarine Wetland Conservation -2, land use designation to be based on a site specific environmental survey of estuarine wetlands on a site. In 1991, the county adopted Land Development Regulations (LDRs) which created the Con -2, Privately Owned Estuarine Wetland Conservation, zoning district for privately owned estuarine wetland areas. Although generally not depicted on the county's zoning atlas, the Con -2 district is established when development is proposed for a site containing estuarine wetland habitat. The boundaries of the Con -2 zoning district (like the boundaries of the C-2 land use designation) are then based on a site specific environmental survey of the property. This information is important because it indicates that the subject property is currently zoned RS -1 because of a past "broad brush" approach to designating environmentally sensitive land. Since the underlying comprehensive plan designation is L-2, the upland portion of the subject property may be rezoned to any of several residential districts, including the requested RS -6 district. Although not depicted on the zoning atlas, the small wetland portion of the subject property is zoned Con -2. In this section, an analysis of the reasonableness of the request will be presented. Specifically, this section will include: • an analysis of the request's impact on public facilities; • an analysis of the request's compatibility with the surrounding area; • an analysis of the request's consistency with the county's comprehensive plan; and • an analysis of the request's potential impact on environmental quality. May 2, 2000 56 0 1*