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Land Use Board backs text change to reset "lots of record" every 10 years to ease family subdivisions
Summary
The board recommended approval of TXT2025‑01, a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance that redefines "lot of record" and resets the baseline every 10 years so family parcels can be divided under the minor‑subdivision rules without a full major‑subdivision process.
The Union County Land Use Board on May 20 recommended approval of a text amendment (TXT2025‑01) to the Unified Development Ordinance that would change how the county defines a “lot of record” and how often the baseline for minor subdivisions is reset. The motion passed unanimously.
Planner Lee Jensen (presenting the staff text changes) explained the amendment would redefine a lot of record to include recorded plats and certain statutorily exempt metes‑and‑bounds parcels and would implement a periodic reset of qualifying lots every 10 years. Jensen said the proposal responds to generational changes in ownership: properties grandfathered under the ordinance’s historic reference date (Feb. 14, 1978) have reached limits on how many minor subdivisions can be created from an original parent parcel, and the change is intended to allow families to divide land for children without triggering the major‑subdivision process in many cases.
Jensen and board members discussed safeguards: the ordinance retains a restriction that divisions requiring new public infrastructure (new streets, public water/sewer, sidewalks) remain subject to the major‑subdivision process. Staff said state exemptions and statute‑defined exempt subdivisions are treated the same as platted parcels for the purposes of the lot‑of‑record count. The board debated the reset interval; several members said a 10‑year interval felt appropriate for generational turnover and administrability. One board member proposed shorter or longer intervals, but the board adopted the 10‑year reset during its recommendation.
Supporters framed the amendment as enabling property owners to accommodate family housing needs without imposing the engineering, infrastructure and review burdens of major subdivisions, while retaining protections that prevent serial developer gaming of the rule because creation of lots that require new infrastructure would still trigger major‑subdivision standards.
The board voted to recommend approval and will forward the text amendment and the advisory consistency and reasonableness statement to the Board of County Commissioners; staff said the BOCC public hearing is expected in mid‑July.
