Staff recommends eliminating 'cluster' subdivision option after finding common open space is rarely useable

At a planning commission workshop item, county planning staff reviewed how the current “cluster” subdivision option has performed in practice and offered three paths forward: require clearer, demonstrable clustering that preserves usable common open space (potentially restricted to urban growth boundaries), amend the zoning text to fix an unintended omission, or eliminate the option and revert sites to conventional lot patterns.

Why it matters: The county’s cluster rule is intended to concentrate housing units and preserve shared natural open spaces. Staff said recent projects have produced smaller lots and peripheral, largely unusable “open space” (stormwater detention, steep topography or rockfaces) rather than community amenities.…