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Plan Commission advances draft subdivision ordinance, strikes residence limit and schedules September public hearing
Summary
The Washington County Plan Commission voted unanimously July 1 to remove a provision limiting residences in new subdivisions and set a public hearing on the draft Subdivision Control Ordinance for the regular September meeting, after the commission and staff flagged wording and citation errors for revision.
The Washington County Plan Commission voted July 1 to remove a provision from the draft Subdivision Control Ordinance that would have limited the number of residences per lot and to schedule the ordinance for a public hearing in September.
Conner Barnette, the guest speaker who presented the draft, told the commission he thought "we were ready to go to the public hearing stage." President Todd Ewen and other members questioned General Provisions section 2d, which restricted the number of residences to one; Barnette advised that household-size or accessory-unit rules are more properly handled in the zoning ordinance rather than in subdivision controls.
Lori Gilstrap moved to strike section 2d; Andrew Davisson seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The motion replaces the draft language with a direction to address multi-unit and accessory-residence questions in a forthcoming zoning update.
Barnette also noted that utility extensions can trigger reclassification of a minor subdivision into a major subdivision, affecting review requirements. Commission Attorney Lisa M. Fleming advised that several legal citations in the draft were incorrect and handed Barnette written corrections; Fleming said she would continue reviewing citations before the public hearing.
Andrew Davisson moved, and Emily Rodman seconded, to hold the first public hearing on the draft Subdivision Control Ordinance at the commission's regular September meeting; the motion passed unanimously. The commission did not set a specific September date during the meeting; the notice will reflect the regular meeting schedule.
The action shifts the ordinance from internal review into a public-comment phase. Commissioners pressed staff to clarify the interactions between subdivision requirements and accessory or aging-parent housing needs during the zoning rewrite.
What happens next Staff and the commission attorney will incorporate Fleming's citation corrections and the commission's edits before publishing public-hearing materials. The commission scheduled the hearing for its regular September meeting, when written notices and a public comment period are expected to accompany the draft.
