Union County asks staff to draft text amendment to make four-lot threshold the line between minor and major subdivisions

Union County commissioners asked staff Jan. 12 to draft a text amendment that would redefine a major subdivision as a subdivision "consisting of four lots or more," and to move the draft through the land-use-board review and a public hearing as soon as notice requirements permit.

Planning Director Lee Jensen told commissioners that under the current ordinance a "minor subdivision is any subdivision that does not create, more than 8 lots," and he walked the board through statutory exemptions, review procedures and the distinctions between minor and major reviews. Jensen said the county's unified development ordinance has been in effect since 2014; from that date staff found about 1,200 minor-subdivision cases that created roughly 3,200 lots and that about 934 of those minor subdivisions created two lots or fewer.

Jensen described how minor subdivisions use a one-step review (final plat submitted to county planning, water and environmental health with a typical two-week processing time), while major subdivisions require sketch, preliminary and final-plat stages, traffic-impact analyses and often infrastructure construction and performance guarantees. He also outlined potential policy levers—lowering the numeric threshold, adopting tiered standards by lot size, or changing applicable standards for different categories of subdivisions.

Commissioners voiced particular concern about farmland loss and the cumulative effect of many small divisions. One commissioner said the agricultural advisory board considers eight lots "a little... high," and several members signaled interest in studying a lower threshold. After discussion, a commissioner moved to direct staff to prepare a draft text amendment defining a major subdivision as four lots or more and to take the necessary steps for land-use-board review with the goal of a public hearing in February; the board voted to approve the motion.

Staff emphasized exemptions that cannot be changed because they are statutory and noted that some process steps (for example TIA triggers or sunflower surveys tied to very large developments) are controlled by statute or external agencies.

Next steps, per staff and the board: draft the ordinance text, send it to the land-use board for a recommendation (the land-use board meeting schedule provides a possible January review date) and file the required notices to schedule a February public hearing before the commissioners.