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Commission opposes large A→A/R rezoning but backs one-acre lot-size option after public outcry
Summary
A Board proposal to rezone roughly 1,400 tracts (~48,000 acres) from Agricultural to Agricultural/Rural drew substantial public opposition; the commission recommended the Board not proceed and later suggested a text amendment to reduce minimum Agricultural lot size from two acres to one acre as a less disruptive alternative.
A high-profile proposal to rezone approximately 1,400 tracts totaling about 48,000 acres in the Rich Valley and Ceres communities from Agricultural (A) to Agricultural/Rural (A/R) prompted extensive public comment at the July 28 joint hearing.
Staff presented maps and noted the differences between A and A/R zoning. Board member Phil Stevenson described the proposal as a mechanism to enable younger buyers to purchase small lots and to facilitate community growth, and noted conservation easements in parts of the area. Public turnout included approximately 18 speakers opposed — citizens raised concerns about preserving agricultural land, complying with the Comprehensive Plan, preventing mobile-home or unsightly development, environmental consequences and potential tax impacts — and about four speakers in favor who argued rezoning could support local growth and services.
After hearing public comment, the Planning Commission voted to recommend the Board not amend the Agricultural District to Agricultural/Rural as presented. The Board later returned a reduced compromise map to the commission; the commission again recommended against rezoning any portion and instead proposed pursuing a text amendment to reduce the minimum lot size in the Agricultural District from two acres to one acre. That lot-size text amendment was later recommended by the commission following its public hearing on Oct. 27.
The sequence shows the commission favoring targeted regulatory change (minimum-lot-size reduction) over broad map-wide rezoning in response to citizen concerns.
