Dayton City Council work session debates A-3 large‑lot subdivision rules, 'ghost plat' and shared‑driveway limits

Dayton City Council members and staff spent a work‑session meeting reviewing a proposed A‑3 district that would allow large, unsewered residential lots as an interim use while preserving land for future sewer service.

City staff explained the A‑3 intent, saying the district would “reserve land resources for efficient future urban development” and allow temporary unsewered development that could be converted once regional sewer and water are available. “All of Dayton is within the Metropolitan Urban Services area, meaning that all of Dayton at some point in the future is going to be serviced by regional sewer and water,” a city staff member said.

The council discussed several code elements staff will bring back for formal review: where to draw the A‑3 boundary (council members discussed keeping it in northwest Dayton near Vicksburg and along areas adjacent to the planned Dayton Parkway), minimum lot sizes, whether to require public streets or allow private gravel streets, limits on shared private driveways, options for preserving undeveloped acreage (ghost platting, deed restrictions, conservation easements, covenants) and whether to encourage or require Planned Unit Developments (PUDs).

Why it matters: the A‑3 district is framed as a way to allow interim low‑density housing while protecting larger parcels so they can be serviced at higher…