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Committee advances subdivision rule change to block ‘flag‑lot’ redevelopment loophole; adds shared‑access exception
Summary
The committee voted to recommend to full council a Subdivision Regulation Amendment that forbids using flag lots or through lots to place multifamily development behind single‑family houses, creates a "shared access lot" definition for allowed townhouse/duplex ownership forms (now including apartment buildings), and sets median‑area consolidation limits by zone.
At the end of the Sept. 29 work session, committee members reviewed and amended a Subdivision Regulation Amendment (SRA) meant to prevent circumvention of the recently adopted ZTA 2502 workforce housing mechanisms by creating townhouse or multifamily development behind existing single‑family homes using flag lots or through lots.
Planning attorney Miss Nadeau told the committee the SRA contains two core provisions: a prohibition on approving flag lots, lots that do not abut a public or private road, and through lots for the optional‑method workforce housing program; and limits on how many eligible lots can be assembled. To avoid an unintended consequence that could prevent ownership of townhouses built as part of redevelopment, staff proposed a narrowly defined "shared access lot" exception that would allow duplexes, triplexes, townhouses — and, by committee amendment, apartment buildings — as part of a development where ownership subdivision is needed.
On consolidation, staff presented three options (percent‑oversize trigger, area limited to a multiple of average/median eligible lot size, or a multiple of minimum lot size). The committee chose option B by straw vote: limit assembled parcel area using the median eligible‑lot area for the zone, rounded to whole numbers (R60 7,800 sq ft; R90 11,200 sq ft; R200 22,000 sq ft; R40 6,500 sq ft countywide). The chair added a clarifying amendment that assemblage must involve only eligible lots under the relevant zoning section. The committee voted to forward the SRA as amended to the full council by voice vote (recorded as "3 to nothing").
Why it matters: The SRA aims to preserve the corridor‑front development intent of the master plan while allowing ownership opportunities for townhouse/duplex projects. The consolidation‑by‑area rule is intended to prevent multiple, successive consolidations that could create large parcels beyond the plan’s intent.
