Ordinance No. 2006-01

AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF BOUNDARY COUNTY, IDAHO, PROHIBITING THE DIVISION OF PROPERTY BELOW MINIMUM ZONE DISTRICT SPECIFICATIONS, ESTABLISHING SHORT PLAT AND LONG PLAT SUBDIVISION PROCEDURES AND ESTABLISHING STANDARDS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN SUBDIVISIONS.

WHEREAS: Boundary County Commissioners find that the Boundary County Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance allows unrestrained division of land below the established minimum parcel requirements of the various zone districts within Boundary County without imposing sufficient specifications and standards to ensure expansion of the infrastructure to accommodate said growth; and

WHEREAS: Boundary County Commissioners find that this lack of specifications poses imminent peril to the health, safety and welfare to the citizens of Boundary County by failing to adequately provide standards for emergency access and transportation routes, water and septic services; and

WHEREAS: Idaho Code 67-6523 and Idaho Code 67-6524 provides authority for the Board of Boundary County Commissioners, acting as governing board on planning and zoning matters, to enact emergency ordinance provisions when a finding of imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare is made;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF BOUNDARY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS hereby establish the following emergency ordinance provisions, to be in effect for a period not to exceed one (1) year to allow the planning and zoning commission, with assistance and input from the community at large, to conduct a thorough review of the Boundary County Comprehensive Plan and to enact amendments to the Boundary County Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance and the Boundary County Zone Map as may be dictated by this review process; and,

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED:

  1. Any division of land below the minimum parcel size established in each of the various zone districts in Boundary County, either by gift deed exemption or designed development, shall be hereby prohibited.
  2. A subdivision shall be defined as the division of land into two or more lots or parcels by recording a deed or plat, excluding those exemptions defined at Chapter 15, Section 1 D and E, and the following subdivision processes shall be hereby established:
    1. Short Plat: To create up to and including three (3) parcels from land with has not previously been platted and which require no change in zone district in order to be in compliance with the provisions of the Boundary County Zoning Ordinance and when no shared infrastructure or improvements must be constructed to meet the requirements of Boundary County or other agencies. Applications for minor subdivisions shall be made on forms provided by the Boundary County Zoning Administrator, who shall have the authority, without need of public hearing, to approve or deny the application based solely on the standards established by this ordinance and the provisions of the zone district in which the subdivision is proposed.
    2. Long Plat: A proposal to create four (4) or more lots from land which has not previously been platted or which require shared infrastructure improvements, including road and utility easements, either private or proposed for dedication to Boundary County. Applications for long plat subdivisions shall follow the public hearing procedure currently established by the existing Boundary County Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance.
  3. The following standards shall be established for urban long-plat subdivisions within the Rural Residential, Rural Community/Commercial, Residential and Industrial Zone Districts in which the proposed lot sizes are below two (2) acres:
    1. All parcels created by platting shall be provided a minimum utility and access easement of 60-feet.
    2. Roadways within a subdivision accessed primarily by county road shall be built to minimum current Boundary County Road and Bridge standards commensurate to the surface of the county road from which the development is accessed.
    3. If a proposed subdivision is primarily accessed by state highway, approaches shall be built to specifications established by the Idaho Department of Transportation and roads within the subdivision shall be built to county specifications for paved roads.
    4. If a proposed subdivision is accessed primarily by private road, proof of access and utility easement from the proposed development to the nearest arterial shall be provided as part of the application.
    5. Available utilities, to include gas, electricity, water, septic and telephone, shall be brought to each parcel and situated so as to ensure any construction occurring on the parcel meets minimum county setback requirements for the zone district in which the subdivision is located. If water is to be provided by private well, working wells shall be installed prior to the sale of that lot or parcel said wells shall be approved in combination with the septic system by Panhandle Health District.
    6. In the event an easement or roadway is proposed for dedication to Boundary County, an improvement plan as defined in Chapter 4 shall be required and a guarantee of installation may be imposed.

THIS ORDINANCE is effective, on its passage, for a period not to exceed one (1) year.

Regularly passed and approved, done this fourth day of October, 2005.

/s/

RON SMITH, CHAIRMAN

/s/

DAN DINNING, COMMISSIONER

/s/

WALT KIRBY, COMMISSIONER

Administrative Procedure: Subdivision

Ordinance 2006-01 effectively supercedes Chapter 15, Section 3 A, Short Plat, and Chapter 15, Section 3 C, Designed Development, provisions of the Boundary County Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance.

Short Plat (Simple Subdivision)

  1. Applicant submits to the zoning administrator a completed application, copy of deed of ownership of parcel being divided, legal description or record of survey for each parcel proposed, to include the size of the lots being created in acres.
  2. Zoning administrator will verify that all lots meet minimum zone district size requirements, that the parcel has not been previously platted, and no shared infrastructure improvements, to include access and utility easements, must be constructed.
  3. Upon verification of the above, the zoning administrator shall issue a certificate of compliance, which may be recorded with the clerk of court along with the deed.

Long Plat

As established at Chapter 15, Section 3B, Boundary County Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance.

Enforcement

  1. The zoning administrator shall receive on a regular basis records of property divisions processed by the assessor’s office, and shall check each division to ensure compliance with the provisions of Ordinance 2006-01.
  2. In the event a parcel or parcels are created beneath the minimum property size restrictions in the zone district, the administrator shall send, via certified mail, the previous owner of the parcel a notice of violation (sample attached) with a courtesy copy sent to the purchaser(s) of record, if possible, requesting contact with this office. Possible remedies include application for variance, zone map amendment application or hardship exemption proceedings. If no response is made within thirty (30) days from date of the notice of violation, the zoning administrator shall record a notice of non-compliance with the clerk of court, which shall include the name of the original owner, the name(s) of those to whom the property was conveyed, the parcel number of the original parcel and the parcel numbers created as a result of the division of property, and the instrument numbers of the deeds which created the non-conforming parcels.
  3. In the event a parcel or parcels or parcels are created which fall under the short plat provisions of Ordinance 2006-01 but for which no application was made, the zoning administrator shall send, via certified mail, a notice of violation (sample attached) to the original owner of the parcel, with courtesy copy to the purchaser(s). Remedy is to submit application for short plat and the issuance of certificate of compliance. If no response is made within thirty (30) days from the date of the notice of violation, the zoning administrator shall record a notice of non-compliance with the clerk of court, which shall include the name of the original owner, the name(s) of those to whom the property was conveyed, the parcel number of the original parcel and the parcel numbers created as a result of the division of property, and the instrument numbers of the deeds which created the non-conforming parcels.
  4. In the event parcels are created which fall under the long plat provisions of ordinance 2006-01 but for which no application was made, the zoning administrator shall send, via certified mail, a notice of violation (sample attached) to the original owner of the parcel, with courtesy copy to the purchaser(s). Remedy is to submit application for long plat, the issuance of certificate of compliance and the approval and recording of a final plat. If no response is made within thirty (30) days from the date of the notice of violation, the zoning administrator shall record a notice of non-compliance with the clerk of court, which shall include the name of the original owner, the name(s) of those to whom the property was conveyed, the parcel number of the original parcel and the parcel numbers created as a result of the division of property, and the instrument numbers of the deeds which created the non-conforming parcels.