Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Subdivision Regulations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission trims subdivision lot-size limits, allowing smaller well-and-septic parcels
Summary
The commission voted to lower the minimum lot-size threshold for well-and-septic subdivisions from 10 to 5 acres and to allow central water paired with on-site wastewater systems at a 2.5-acre threshold, removing a proposed option that combined central sewer with individual wells. The changes were approved for transmission to county decision-makers.
Elbert County's Planning Commission approved revisions to subdivision design standards that reduce the minimum acreage thresholds governing whether lots must connect to central water or may use wells and septic systems.
During a work session on proposed edits to Article 11 of the subdivision regulations, staff explained that the chart tying lot-size thresholds to required water/sewer systems had been moved earlier in the chapter and that the Board of County Commissioners (via Commissioner Buck) had requested reconsideration of the threshold numbers to allow more financially feasible mid-sized subdivisions.
Commissioners debated water availability, precedent in nearby subdivisions and the financing mechanisms (for example, metro or special districts) developers use to provide central water and sewer. Several members said permitting well-and-septic on smaller parcels could provide more options for mid-sized rural neighborhoods without forcing high-density development to achieve cost-effective central systems.
"We're giving them the option to do something that's more than what they've requested in terms of this sort of medium-size neighborhood," one commissioner said in support of the change, framing the edits as a way to broaden feasible housing options while preserving a rural character.
The commission agreed to lower the top-line well-and-septic threshold from 10 acres to 5 acres, set the central-water-plus-on-site-wastewater (OWTS) threshold to roughly 2.5 acres (matching existing RA2-style lot sizes), and remove the proposed allowance that combined central sewer with individual wells as an option. Commissioners noted legal and groundwater concerns and asked staff to obtain county-attorney review of aquifer-specific language and any restrictive-covenant approach proposed for water dedication.
Commissioners also discussed open-space options (including cash-in-lieu) and enforcement mechanisms (replacement-planting bonds, stop-work authority and binding conditions of approval) and asked staff to identify clearer enforcement language and dollar/percentage thresholds for incentives. Staff summarized the agreed changes and the commission approved the Article 11 edits by voice vote; staff will forward the package and the commission's notes to the Board of County Commissioners for legal review and further action.
The commission asked staff to return with refined language after county-attorney review and subcommittee work, and set follow-up items to ensure the changes do not unintentionally stress local aquifers or contradict state water-rights law.
