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Information about Casa Grande Valley News
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Casa Grande Valley News
Casa Grande, California
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http://WWW.ZWIRE.COM
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Summary: http://WWW.ZWIRE.COM/SITE/NEWS.CFM?NEWSID=12923076&BRD=1817&PAG=461&DEPT_ID=
newspaper - online article
Grouping new homes between patches of open space is a concept often favored by developers, and Pinal County officials are considering a wider use of the concept. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THIS ISSUE SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
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Other Information: For several months, county officials have been considering a text amendment to the zoning code that would allow developers the option of using cluster development designs in the general rural zone. Consideration of cluster development has led to a couple of work sessions between the county's planning staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission, the last session consisting of some fine tuning of the finalized version of the ordinance. The commissioners voted 5-2 to forward it to the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors held their own work session on the ordinance and then set a public hearing for Sept. 22.
The term itself, cluster development, has a rather negative ring to it - lots of houses bunched together - especially being proposed for the general rural zone, which generally requires more than 1 acre per homesite. However, the clustering of houses in the case of this newly proposed ordinance is not, as most would imagine, a way of cluttering the rural landscape with rooftops.
"Cluster development is an important tool that community planners should consider as they look to the future," said David Kuhl, Pinal County planning and development director. "Local officials in most rural and suburbanizing areas have a long-term choice about whether to continue implementing conventional zoning or whether to refine their existing land-use regulations to ensure the preservation of open space through creative development design. Cluster development is not intended to be just for the benefit of the developer, which it is to some extent, but it also is there to benefit the overall community and provide more open space and protect resources.
"The cluster development ordinance still allows all the other uses in general rural zones. This is just another option that would be allowable in general rural, where it hasn't been an option before. It's really the same concept as the master-planned communities that we're approving everywhere. This just allows the staff to review it against some established criteria in the ordinance, and you get to go back and forth with the developer and do some trade-offs to make sure that it's a sound development and that it still creates the necessary open space."
Kuhl noted that conventional zoning essentially is a blueprint for development that normally separates incompatible uses and establishes certain standards, such as maximum densities and minimum setbacks, but it typically does little to protect open space or to conserve rural character. The reason many subdivisions consist of nothing more than house lots and streets is because zoning and subdivision design standards usually require developers to provide nothing more, he said.
"While many ordinances contain detailed standards for pavement thickness and culvert diameters," Kuhl said, "very few set any noteworthy standards for the quantity, quality and configuration of open space to be preserved. Conventional zoning has been accurately described as 'planned sprawl,' because every square foot of each development parcel is converted to front yards, back yards, streets, sidewalks or driveways, period. Very little is left over to become open space in this land-consumptive process, although the zoning commissioners have fought hard to make sure that at least 15 percent of all developments are dedicated to open space.
"The intent of cluster development ordinances is simple: develop less land area while allowing the same number of housing units that would be permitted under standard subdivision ordinances. By allowing the same number of units, landowners and developers aren't penalized financially for doing cluster development.
"Residential cluster development is a means of permanently protecting open space, rural character and important environmental resources in new housing developments, while still providing homeowners with good housing and landowners with the opportunity to develop their property. These issues include the design, use, approval and management of wastewater and storm water rural technologies. These technologies address people's legitimate concerns over the environmental degradation often associated with residential development in rural areas."
Of course, the question of the day is just what is cluster development as it pertains to subdivisions? In the manuscript presented to the Board of Supervisors, the question is answered as follows:
A cluster subdivision generally sites houses on smaller parcels of land, while the additional land that would have been allocated to individual lots is converted to common shared open space for the subdivision residents. Typically, road frontage, lot size, setbacks and other traditional subdivision regulations are redefined to permit the developer to preserve ecologically sensitive areas, historical sites or other unique characteristics of the land being subdivided.
For example, a 100-acre piece of land might be subdivided into 50 2-acre parcels, each with a residential dwelling. Under a cluster design, the developer would still call for 50 dwellings, but this time each would be located on, say, half-acre parcels, clustered together in groups. This would use only 25 acres of land for residences and would leave 75 acres of open space. Typically, the open-space areas are in the midst of the development and are designed around the natural or man-made features of the landscape.
In our hypothetical 100-acre parcel, for example, we might have three separate open-space areas averaging 25 acres each. One might be centered on a section of woods, one around a pond or creek and one around a meadow. In a typical cluster subdivision, each homeowner has access to all of the open-space areas, which may be permanently preserved by a conservation easement or as a common area.
To provide maximum protection for both the resource and the residents, the conservation easement may be assigned to a homeowners' association or a local government agency or land trust. The conservation easement should specify the types of activity permitted on the open land, i.e., recreation, and types of agriculture, open-space protection or buffers.
The question of what is cluster development was answered thusly:
Cluster development is the grouping of a particular development's residential structures on a portion of the available land, reserving a significant amount of the site as protected open space. New ordinances require design standards and identify minimum open space and density standards. These key changes have prompted some communities to opt for more descriptive terminology, including open space development or conservation subdivision design, for the more traditional cluster development. While the different terminology has created some confusion, each term still adheres to the three basic goals of cluster development: preserving open space, protecting critical ecological habitat and preserving agricultural land. The usable open space created by a cluster development can meet a number of community goals.
In the past, zoning regulations that called for large minimum lot sizes (2 to 5 acres, for example) were put into place primarily to allow adequate room for on-site septic systems. This was especially true in rural areas, where central sewers were not available. Advances in technology, however, have given developers the capability of creating small community systems where wastewater is transported and treated in an environmentally safe, economically feasible and aesthetically pleasing manner.
Perhaps the most controversial issue surrounding the cluster concept is the suggestion that this open-space approach be made mandatory. The rationale is that there are certain types of irreplaceable natural resources that are extremely important to protect. Among these may be aquifers, riverfront land and pastures. In addition, clustering allows flexibility in layout so that a developer can avoid impacting important wildlife habitat areas.
Several possible options to mandating open space exist. One is to require the cluster approach in only certain zoning districts or when certain resources are present. Another alternative is to authorize the planning commission to require it only when the developer's conventional plan would destroy or remove more than a specified percentage of certain listed resources, leaving determination on a case-by-case basis.
Another concern is that cluster housing will not blend in with a town's rural character. It is true that some cluster developments done in the past have failed to harmonize with their surroundings. Recognizing this potential problem, a few communities are now requiring that new cluster plans consist of only detached, single-family homes, each set on its own downsized individual lot, roughly resembling a traditional village pattern. This also ensures that everyone will have his or her own separate yard space in addition to the larger open space, which the cluster approach creates.
The related issue of impact upon surrounding property values is also often raised. Along any part of the parcel perimeter where downsized lots would adjoin standard-sized lots, communities can require buffer strips. Along other edges, this may not be desirable or logical, as lots which border permanently protected open space almost always enjoy higher property values. Indeed, most brokers would attest to the fact that all lots within a well-designed cluster development usually gain enhanced value as a result of protected open space.
In conclusion: The conventional approach to development results in the entire parcel being covered with house lots and subdivision streets. Communities that have had experience with this type of development ultimately come to realize that, as one parcel after another is eventually developed, their formerly open landscape evolves into a network of wall-to-wall subdivisions.
The beauty of cluster development is that it is easy to administer, does not penalize the rural landowner, does not take development potential away from the developer and is extremely effective in permanently protecting a substantial proportion of every development tract. Furthermore, it does not require large public expenditures and allows farmers and others to extract their rightful equity without seeing their entire land holding bulldozed for complete coverage by house lots.
©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2004
MY RESPONSE:
THE RESIDENTS OF PINAL WOULD DO THEMSELVES A FAVOR TO SHOW UP IN NUMBERS AT THIS MEETING & CONVINCE PINAL COUNTY THIS IS NOT THE PATH TO FOLLOW. THIS IS JUST NEWER & FANCY WORDING FOR THE CREATION OF HOAS, WHEREBY HUMAN PERSONAL LIVES ARE CONTROLLED BY THEIR NEIGHBORS IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. THEY CAN PROHIBIT FLYING A FLAG, THEY CAN TELL YOU WHAT COLOR TO PAINT YOUR HOUSE, WHAT KIND OF FENCE YOU CAN HAVE, AND THEY WILL HAVE A PERMANENT LIEN ON YOUR PROPERTY WITH THE ABILITY TO FORECLOSE, OVER A $100 DISPUTE. THEY WILL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO FINE YOU FOR VIOLATIONS OF THEIR NEW RULES GOVERNING YOUR PERSONAL LIVES FOR LIVING IN A RESIDENTIAL CLUSTER COMMUNITY. IN SHORT, THIS WILL FORCE THE RESIDENTS IN THESE COMMUNITIES TO SUBMIT TO THE MORALS, IDEAS & CONCEPTS OF THEIR NEIGHBORS, WITH THE THREAT OF FORECLOSURE AS THE PENALTY. THERE IS NO ENFORCEMENT AGENCY THAT OVERSEES THESE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS, AND THERE IS NO REMEDY FOR THE HOMEOWNER. THIS ARRANGMENT ALSO MAKES THE CITIZENS CONTINUE PAYING THEIR TAXES TO THE COUNTY, WHILE THE COUNTY IS NO LONGER OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE HOMEOWNERS. THE HOMEOWNERS THEN PAY A DOUBLE TAX (ASSESSMENTS & DUES) FOR THOSE SAME SERVICES TO PROVIDED BY THEIR PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS GOVERNING THIS CLUSTER COMMUNITY.
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