The Clay County Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 7 approved rezoning and both preliminary and final plats for a subdivision called Blankenship’s Paradise, a proposal to divide roughly 39 acres on W. Highway into four roughly 9-acre lots, subject to five conditions required before the plat may be recorded.

Planning staff told commissioners the property is currently zoned agricultural and outlined conditions the applicant must meet before recording the plat: specific plat changes, final approval from the Clay County Health Department, extension of a water main at the developer’s expense or per the water district’s requirement, recorded shared-driveway agreements for two MoDOT-approved access points, and that required variances be approved before recording. “From staff’s perspective… our recommendation is that this property should not be divided into 4 parcels,” a planning staff member said, while also recommending approval under the current comprehensive plan and leaving variances to the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

Applicant Dan Blankenship, who identified himself as the property owner, said the land is held in an irrevocable family trust and described his intent: "My intention are is to divide those into 4, 10, 9 acre lots and build a house for my wife and myself, and for each 1 of my children in the future." He told the commission the trust restricts sales to family members: if one child chooses not to build, the parcel must be sold to a sibling and cannot be sold to an outside party.

Staff and the applicant explained one small, triangular parcel along the frontage — about 0.7 acre — is not part of the subject parcel. County GIS records list Derek and Amanda Ellis as the owner of that triangle, while the applicant’s title company indicated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may hold title. The planning staff said that ownership ambiguity does not make the triangle part of the applicant’s parcel and that the resulting loss of road frontage is the reason the applicant will need at least two variances at the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

MoDOT has approved two shared driveway locations where the subdivision would access W. Highway, staff said. The Clay County Health Department has not yet issued final approval; staff added a condition requiring health-department sign-off after the applicant provides additional soil-morphology information. The water district requires extension of a water main; staff listed that as a condition before recording the plat. The applicant said he has engaged a geologist and is working with the health department and NRCS for pond inspection and soil work but will not extend the water main until the land-split approvals are final.

Commission action: the commission voted to approve the rezoning application and then approved the preliminary plat with the five conditions listed in Exhibit A. The commission subsequently approved the final plat with the same conditions. Roll-call votes on each motion were recorded as unanimous among members voting at the meeting.

The staff noted that while the plat and rezoning were found consistent with the current comprehensive plan’s lot-size guidance (the property is in the natural-resources tier and existing minimum- and typical-lot-size standards were met), the proposal may not be consistent with a new comprehensive plan under development. Planning staff said the burden of proof to meet variance criteria will be on the applicant at the Board of Zoning Adjustment and that the applicant could have difficulty demonstrating the necessary BZA criteria for the variances.

No members of the public spoke in support or opposition during the hearing. The Planning and Zoning Commission is the final decision-making body for this case; the staff reminded the public the case would only go to the County Commission if appealed. The commission also announced that chair and vice-chair elections will occur at its February meeting and that a large solar-farm application has been continued to March.