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Plan Commission forwards multiple CDO text amendments, including setback, tree and shoreline changes, to county commissioners
Summary
The commission voted 7–1 to send a package of corrections and substantive changes to the Monroe County development ordinance to the county commissioners, including clarifications on platted setbacks, added kennel use, street-tree standards and a change to lake shoreline setback from 125 to 200 feet.
The Monroe County Plan Commission on April 15, 2025, voted 7–1 to forward ZOA-25-1, a package of text amendments to the county development ordinance (CDO), to the county commissioners with a waiver of final hearing.
Staff described the package as a mix of scrivener corrections, navigational improvements (hyperlinked two-pager zone summaries) and substantive changes that codify established practices. Among the substantive changes staff highlighted were language clarifying which setbacks may control when a lot is within a recorded subdivision; reinstating "kennel" in the use table; adding street-tree standards and preservation-area measurement; increasing a certain lake shoreline setback from 125 feet to 200 feet to align with septic separation rules; and restoring the option for a scaled plot plan for residential storage structures rather than always requiring a certified plot plan.
On platted setbacks, staff explained the intended change: "If a lot is within a recorded subdivision in which the setback measurements, front, side, and rear, are tabulated or illustrated on the recorded plat, a lot may be developed pursuant to those platted setbacks regardless of zoning setbacks." Staff said the language aims to avoid forcing built-out subdivisions to change building placement when zoning changes after a plat has been approved.
The tree standard added to the ordinance calls for one street tree for every 40 feet of lot frontage or, where trees are not planted, a preservation area equivalent to at least 500 square feet of closed canopy structure per required street tree. Staff said the change restores standards that had been omitted during earlier consolidation of ordinance chapters.
Commissioners asked detailed questions about how the footnotes, overlays (for example, ECO overlay) and septic/sewer access interact with minimum lot-size rules; staff said the footnotes are intended to guide users to other applicable CDO chapters and not to create new requirements. Staff also said references to hearing officers will be removed from the CDO and that several definitions were clarified.
Public comment included a brief remark during the meeting from a person who thanked staff but said a few amendments in the batch were not supported; that speaker voted no on the motion. The commission’s favorable recommendation now goes to the county commissioners for final action.
