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PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT Regular Agenda -- Public Hearing Item
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ITEM NO. 3: AMENDMENTS TO SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS (MKM)
TA-06-12-08: Consider amendment to Section 20-810 to clarify the natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas that are to be protected or preserved. Initiated by County Commission June 23, 2008. |
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RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Planning Commission forward a recommendation for approval of the proposed amendment, [TA-06-12-08] clarifying the types of natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas that are to be protected, along with revisions to other sections of the Code to provide consistency, to the Board of County Commissioners and the City Commission. |
Reason for Request: To provide a more precise list of natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas and provide objective standards for identifying these resources and areas.
RELEVANT GOLDEN FACTOR:
· Conformance with the Comprehensive Land use Plan is the relevant factor that applies to this request. Amending regulatory tools, one of which is this amendment to the Subdivision Regulations, is an implementation step in Chapter 13 of Horizon 2020, the City/County Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED PRIOR TO PRINTING
No public comment was received.
OVERVIEW OF REVISIONS PROPOSED
Section 20-810(i) of the Subdivision Regulations contains the list of features which are to be considered natural resources or environmentally sensitive areas within the City of Lawrence and Section 20-810(j) contains a list of features which are to be considered natural resources or environmentally sensitive areas in the unincorporated portions of the County. Section 20-810(i) is being revised to be consistent with the changes being made to the environmentally sensitive areas protection standards in Section 20-1101 of the Development Code with text amendment TA-12-27-07. Section 20-810(j) is being revised to provide more precise definitions of the features which constitute natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas which require protection in the unincorporated portions of the County. Language is being added to provide objective criteria for the determination of environmentally sensitive area.
The text amendment, TA-12-27-07, was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on July 23, 2008. Staff identified other areas of the Development Code which required revision in order to maintain consistency with the provisions and terms of the new language in Section 20-1101; therefore the subject text amendment is on this agenda for the Planning Commission to consider the additional changes to other sections of the Development Code and both text amendments will be presented to the governing bodies following the Planning Commission’s action.
Resources used in the determination of the natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas are included in the proposed language. A list of native tree species and a list of approved consulting firms for prairie determination are available in the Planning Office.
HOW TO READ THE AMENDED TEXT
The changes being proposed with this text amendment are shown below. Please note, only the portions of the sections which are being modified are shown below.
Portions of the Sections being
proposed for revised are shown below with the proposed changes noted. New text
is identified by bold, italic typeface whereas deleted text is
identified by double strikethrough.
(i) Resource Preservation – City of Lawrence
(1)
Subdivisions shall be designed to
preserve natural resources and environmentally sensitive areas. such as Environmentally
Sensitive Areas include the following: streams and their corridors,
wetlands, regulatory floodplain, prominent natural geographic geologic
features, prairie remnants, steep slopes, woodland areas stands
of mature trees, and individually significant trees. Section
20-1101 of the Development Code defines the features which constitute
environmentally sensitive areas, lists the percentage of a site which shall be
protected when environmentally sensitive areas are present, and provides
information on the development process for properties containing
environmentally sensitive areas. See Section 20-1101(c) (2)(iii) b.,
which requires that development of lands containing more than 5% defined
sensitive lands can be developed only through a Cluster Development or a
Planned Development (k) Section 1101(c) (3) requires that certain
sensitive lands be dedicated, included in private open space or otherwise
preserved through development design. Note also that Section 1101(c)(4) may
limit the achievable density of developments containing specified sensitive
lands. A Sensitive Areas Site Plan is required prior to, or concurrent
with all subdivision applications for properties containing these resources or
sensitive areas. The requirements of a Sensitive Areas Site Plan are found in
Section 20-1101(h). If land is disturbed prior to the approval of a Sensitive
Areas Site Plan, restoration is required per Section 20-1101(g).
(2)
Subdivisions shall be designed
to preserve archaeological and historical sites which are listed, or are
determined to be eligible for listing, in the the local, state, or national
registers of historic places. See Section 20-1101(c)(2)(iii)b, which
requires that development of lands containing more than 5% defined lands, which
include archaeological and historic sites, can be developed only through a
Cluster Development or a Planned Development. Section 20-1101(c)(3) requires
that certain archaeological and historic lands be included in private open
space or otherwise preserved through development design. Note also that Section
20-1101(c)(4) may limit the achievable density of developments containing
archaeological and historic sites. Section 20-1101 of the Development
Code contains information on the development process for properties which
contain archaeological and historical sites. Sensitive Areas Site Plans are
required for properties which contain archaeological and historic sites.
(3) Determination of environmentally sensitive areas.
The presence of environmentally sensitive areas shall be determined from an examination of the site and the following resources:
(a) FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map for Douglas County, most current adopted map;
(b) United States Geological Survey Quadrangle Maps (USGS Quad Maps), most current map;
(c) US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory Maps;
(d) City Woodland Baseline Map which is based on data developed from satellite imagery provided by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program and the Kansas Biological Survey as well as treeline information from the City GIS map;
(e) Douglas County Natural Areas Inventory Map;
(f) City GIS Contour Map;
(g) Douglas County Soil Survey;
(h) Kansas State Historical Society Archeological and Historic Resources Inventory; and.
(i) Other resources which may be appropriate.
Resource Conservation
Resource Conservation – Unincorporated Area of the County
(1)
Residential Developments and
non-residential Subdivisions in the unincorporated area of the County shall be
designed in a way that protects and conserves the natural resources and
environmentally sensitive areas through the filing of a Temporary Set Aside
Agreement or the filing of a permanent Conservation Easement, with the Register
of Deeds. These natural areas and environmentally sensitive areas shall
include the following: regulatory Floodways, designated on the FEMA
Flood Insurance Rate Map for Douglas County based on the FEMA’s one-hundred year storm; regulatory Floodplains, (100 year flood), designated on the FEMA Flood
Insurance Rate Map for Douglas County based on the FEMA’s one-hundred year storm; jurisdictional
wetlands, streams and their corridors,
prominent natural geographic
geologic features with rocky outcroppings; prairie remnants of one (1) acre or larger; steep slopes, and stands of mature trees; woodland areas; and or individually significant mature trees.
(2) Residential Developments and non-residential Subdivisions shall be designed to protect and conserve archaeological and historical sites which are listed or have been determined to be eligible for listing on the local, state, or national register of historic places through the filing of a Temporary Set Aside Agreement or the filing of a permanent Conservation Easement, with the Register of Deeds.
(3) The presence of environmentally sensitive areas shall be determined from an examination of the site and the following resources:
(a) FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map for Douglas County, most current adopted map;
(b) United States Geological Survey Quadrangle Maps (USGS Quad Maps), most current map;
(c) US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory Maps;
(d) County Woodland Baseline Map which is based on data developed from satellite imagery provided by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program and the Kansas Biological Survey;
(e) Douglas County Natural Areas Inventory Map;
(f) County GIS Contour Map;
(g) Douglas County Soil Survey;
(h) Kansas State Historical Society Archeological and Historic Resources Inventory; and
(i) Other resources which may be appropriate
(a) Preliminary Plat
(2) Existing Conditions
The Preliminary Plat shall also show the following existing conditions:
(i) Location of any area designated as Floodplain or Regulatory Floodplain, location and direction of the flow of existing water courses; and the surface elevation of the Regulatory Flood.
(ii) Location of any area zoned “Floodplain”, location and direction of flow of all water courses; and Base Flood Elevation at water course entrances to and exits from the proposed Subdivision;
(iii) Location of section lines, private or public Streets, Alleys, Easements, and city boundaries within and immediately adjacent to the proposed Subdivision;
(iv) For plats on properties within the unincorporated portions of the County: Location of natural features such as rock outcroppings, unique topographic features, lakes, individually significant mature trees, other features which are listed in Section 810(j) and insofar as can reasonably be shown, natural features to be removed;
(v) For plats on properties within the City Limits of Lawrence: Location of environmentally sensitive areas which were identified on a Sensitive Areas Site Plan for protection and those which will be altered with the development. Article 11 of the Development Code requires that a Sensitive Area Site Plan be submitted with or prior to any development proposal for lands containing environmentally sensitive areas. The Sensitive Area Site Plan is to be incorporated into the plats and other plans.
(v) Boundaries of
significant stands of mature trees, Jurisdictional Wetlands, historic sites
(b) Final Plats
(2) Material to be Included
The Final Plat shall show:
(i) Name under which the Subdivision is to be recorded;
(ii) Descriptive information, which shall:
(a) State the name of the proposed Subdivision;
(b) Show date of preparation, north arrow and graphic scale;
(c) Give a legal description of the proposed Subdivision complete with section, township, range, principal meridian, county, and acreage. Show the location of the nearest section and/or quarter-section corner on the Plat, with a description tying it to the point of beginning for the Subdivision. A replat shall not be required to be referenced to a section and/or quarter-section corner, provided the original Plat for the subject replat is tied to at least one of these corner monuments;
(d) Show names of adjoining Subdivisions or, in the case of unplatted land, the names of the Owner or Owners of adjoining property;
(e) Easements, showing width and general purpose;
(f) Sites proposed for Dedication as drainageway, park, school, or other public purposes;
(iii) In addition, the following information is required which is similarly required on the Preliminary Plat:
(a) Location of any area zoned Floodplain or within a Floodplain Overlay District zoning district;
(b)
Boundaries of environmentally
sensitive areas as defined in Section 20-810)(i) or(j). For properties within
the City Limits of Lawrence, this will coincide with the protected sensitive
areas on the Sensitive Areas Site Plan. See Article 11 of the Development Code
for information on the Sensitive Areas Site Plan. significant stands of
mature trees, Jurisdictional Wetlands, historic sites and Archaeological Sites
on the property proposed for subdivision;
(c) Proposed Streets (including location and proposed names), and their relation to Platted Streets or to proposed Streets as shown on any adopted general Development plan of adjacent property; and,
(d) Block and Lot numbers and dimensions of Blocks and Lots.
(iv) Accurate dimensions for all lines, angles, and curves used to describe boundaries, Streets. Easements and areas to be reserved for public use. Data for all curves shall include radius, arc length, chord length, and central angle;
(v) For land located in a Floodplain, as defined and regulated under Chapter 20, Article 12 of the City Code and the comparable provisions adopted by resolution in Douglas County, the following:
(a) The total area of each Lot located in the designated Floodplain;
(b) The Minimum Building Elevation and Minimum Elevation of Building Opening, as determined from Chapter 20, Article 12or the applicable County Floodplain regulations.
(vi) For any Lot
including or adjacent to a lot including environmentally sensitive areas
lands (see Section 20-1101(c)(iii)), designation of a Building
Envelope within which a building may be built after compliance with all
applicable setback, floodplain and sensitive land standards;
The following definitions shall be added to Section 20-815(b) Definitions:
(b) Definitions
Individually Significant Tree
An existing healthy tree which, when measured four feet above grade, has a minimum diameter at breast height (54 in.) of 8 inches for evergreen trees, or 12 inches for deciduous trees. Significant trees may be of any species listed in the Northeast Kansas Preferred Species List and Native Species List (available at the Planning Office).
Prairie remnant
Prairie areas that have remained intact on undeveloped, untilled portions of properties and consisting of one (1) acre or larger. Prairie areas will be determined by the Kansas Biological Survey, or a consulting firm with local expertise in these habitats, as areas that have remained primarily a mixture of native grasses interspersed with native flowering plants.
Prominent Geologic Features with Rocky Outcroppings
A rocky protrusion of 50% or more exposed rock having greater than a 3:1 slope, a minimum height of 20’ above the surrounding grade and covering an area of 1 or more acres.
Steep Slopes
A slope with a grade of 15% or more.
Stream Corridor
A 200’ protective buffer area which is centered on the stream.
Woodland Areas
Any tract of land containing one (1) acre or more which is shown as ‘woodland’ or ‘forest’ on the City or County Woodland Baseline Map.
The following definition will be revised:
Woodland
Natural hardwood forests,
whether or not actively forested. Any tract of land with a
contiguous wooded area not less than one (1) acre and containing not less than
one hundred (100) trees per acre that are two inches (2 in.) in diameter or
greater measured at diameter breast height (dbh) which is a point 54 in. above
the ground. The extent of any woodland plant community or any part thereof
shall be measured from the outermost drip line of all the trees in such plant
community. Woodland shall include any area where clearcutting has occurred
within the previous three years. (This definition of woodland is to be used
when verification of woodland area is necessary.)