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HomeMy WebLinkAboutord2001-063WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL AGENDA BILL NO. 2001 -371 CLEARANCES I i Date Date Received in Council 0 ice AendaDate Assinedm: Originator: Amy. Pederson �0 V1 f7. r/- 2 � V 2 V'll l� M LS pV LS Y NOV O p 200 WHACOUNCIL 11/13/01 Introduction Division Head: Sylvia Goodwin ! 11/27/01 P & D /Council Dept. Head: Hal A. Aart ,1jj1i ((t1R tp/ Prosecutor: Karen Fouler 0 Purrbasing7Rudgen: is �/ Executive: PeteKremen tS. 0 SUBJECT: Ordinance adopting changes to the official Whatcom County Zoning Ordinance, sections 20.71.301 —Open space requirements; 20.71.302 — Impervious surface requirements; 20.80.720 — Variances to tot area and width requirements; 10.97.170 — Gross density; 20.97.217— Lot coverage; 20.97.240 — Minimum lot size; and 20.97.275 —Open space. ATTACHMENTS: (1) Proposed Ordinance (1) Agency Report (3) Staff Report 4 Planning Commission Minutes To be orwarded when cam feted. SEPA review required? ( x ) Yes ( ) NO SEPA review completed? ( x ) Yes ( ) NO Should Clerk schedule a hearing? ( ) Yes ( X ) NO Requested Date: IThe Council must hold a hearing if they want to change the Planning Commission's recommendation (WCC 20.10.110). SUMMARY STATEMENT. The request is to amend the official "arteom County Zoning Ordinance, sections 20.71.301, 20.71.302, 20.80.720, 20.97.170, 20.97.217, 20.97.240, and 20.97.275, to exclude submerged aquatic lands from parcel calculations for impervious surface, gross density, open space, minimum lot Size and lot coverage. Distribution Request )nd/ome those who should receive a copy after Council anion List specific names to the right. ADS Facilities Management ADS Finance ADS Human Resources ADS Info Services Assessor Auditor Cooperative Extension District Court Executive Health Hearing Examiner ✓aR COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: 2001 -371 11113/2001: Introduced 11127/2001: Adopted 5 -0, Imhof, Brenner absent, Ord. 02001 063 held Related File Numbers: File #ZON2001 -00006 Juvenile Parks Planning Hal H. Hart Prosecutor Public War" Sheri Superior Court Treasurer =her Ordinance or Resnolution Number (this item): O v%ov �; D SPONSORED BY: Planning PROPOSED BY: PDS INTRODUCTION DATE: 11/13/01 ORDINANCE NO. 2001 -063 AMENDING THE OFFICIAL WHATCOM COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE TO EXCLUDE SUBMERGED AQUATIC LANDS FROM PARCEL AREA CALCULATIONS FOR IMPERVIOUS SURFACE, GROSS DENSITY, OPEN SPACE, MINIMUM LOT SIZE AND LOT COVERAGE. WHEREAS, pursuant to WCC 20.90, proposed zoning amendments shall be docketed for consideration once per year; and WHEREAS, the SEPA Administrator for Whatcom County issued a Determination of Non - significance on August 29, 2001; and WHEREAS, pursuant to RCW 36.70.590, legal notice was published in the Bellingham Herald on Thursday, August 30, 2001; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed amendments on September 13, 2001, and considered all testimony; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission made a motion to reconsider the proposed amendments with an additional text change on October 25, 2001 and recommended approval; and WHEREAS, the Council held a work session on 11/27 , 2001 to consider this matter; and WHEREAS, the Council found the amendments in the best interest of the public health, safety, and welfare; and WHEREAS, the Council has adopted the following Findings and Conclusions: FINDINGS 1. On December 7, 1999, County Council adopted the Water Resource Protection Overlay District by Ord. 99 -086. 2. The provisions of the Water Resource Protection Overlay District, section 20.71.300, regulate the total amount of impervious surfaces allowed on a parcel. 3. The Soil Conservation Service and King County classify open water bodies as impervious surfaces based upon a 100% runoff rate. 4. King and Island County codes prohibit the use of submerged lands toward the calculation of development and /or subdivision allowances. \PDS-1\V0L1\USERS \PDS \SHARED\2 Planning Division\Zoning Amendmen[s¢oning 2001\ZON2001 -00006 Submerged lands ORD.doc Page 1 5. Whatcom County Code, sections 20.71.301 and 20.97.275 already prohibit the use of "tidelands or shorelands" as open space, "unless specifically authorized under WCC Title 23." CONCLUSIONS 1. The proposed text amendments, as presented in Exhibit A, are consistent with the goals and policies of the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan and the County-Wide Planning Policies. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Whatcom County Council that: Section 1. The Official Whatcom County Zoning Code is hereby amended as shown in Exhibit A. Section 2. Adjudication of invalidity of any of the sections, clauses, or provisions of this Ordinance shall not affect or impair the validity of the Ordinance as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid. ADOPTED this 27 day of November , 2001. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL ATTEST: WHATCOM COUNTY. WASHINGTON t Dana Brown - Davis, . Ward Nelson,Count5il Chair Clerk of the Council APPROVED as to form (fj Approved () Denied N Karen FraRes, Civil Deputy Prosecutor e Merger, Executive Date:4d -O \\PDS -1 \V0L1\USERS \PDS \SHARED\2 Planning Division\REZONE\Zoning 2001TON2001 -00006 Submerged lands ORD.doc Page 2 EXHIBIT A Planning Commission Recommended Amendments to Title 20 re: Submerged Lands 1. 20.71.300 Open space and impervious surfaces. .301 Open space requirements shall be as follows: (1) For uses in the TC and NC zones, at least 25 percent of the parcel shall be reserved as open space. (2) For uses in the RC zone, at least 40 percent of the parcel shall be reserved as open space. (3) Parking areas, driveways, patios and outdoor storage and loading areas that are constructed of impervious surfaces shall not be considered open space; RBFshall t de ands ^F ^`^F^ ands unless (4) Open space areas shall be maintained in natural vegetation or landscaped per WCC 20.80.325. .302 Impervious surface requirements shall be as follows: (1) For uses in the UR, and URM, and 'R " "" zone districts, at least 50 percent of the parcel shall be kept free of structures and impervious surfaces, except for in the UR zone, where on lots larger than 10,000 square feet, 60 percent of the lot shall be kept free of impervious surfaces. (2) For uses in the RR zone district, at least 80 percent of the parcel shall be kept free of structures and impervious surfaces. (3) For uses in the R zone district, at least 90 percent of the parcel shall be kept free of structures and impervious surfaces. (4) For parcels where the applicable formulas in subsections .302(1), (2), and (3) would not allow a 3,000 square foot impervious surface area, 3,000 square feet of impervious surface shall be allowed. (5) A mobile home within an existing mobile home park in the Lake Samish Watershed may be replaced with a larger mobile home (not to exceed a maximum of 1,500 square feet) provided there is not an increase in the overall number of mobile homes in the park or any increase in other impervious surfaces beyond the new mobile home footprint. (6) Not more than a total of 35 percent of the required pervious surface area for a parcel may be provided in patios, paths, driveways, parking areas, outdoor storage, loading areas, etc. which utilize alternative surfacing options tie: paying ao vina blocks, plastic matting, gravel, bark, and similar materials). 2. 20.97.170 Gross density. "Gross density" means the number of dwelling units per unit of area. Gross density shall be computed based on the total area of the parcel of record and shall include the area of adjoining rights - of -way if the parent parcel is 5 acres or greater; however, adjoining road rights -of -way shall be excluded for parent parcels of less than 5 acres. For properties within the jurisdiction of the Shoreline EXHIBIT A Management Program submerged lands and /or tidelands within the boundaries of any waterfront parcel that are located waterward of the ordinary high water mark shall not be used to compute gross density. 3. 20.97.217 Lot coverage. "Lot coverage" means the percent of a lot or parcel which is, or will be, covered by all structures located thereon. Coverage is determined by measuring areas covered by a weather tight roof. For 4. 20.97.240 Minimum lot size. "Minimum lot size" means that portion of total parcel area which is determined to be usable for the purpose of creating a building lot, pursuant to all applicable Whatcom County regulations. Parcels of five acres or greater may be regarded as nominal and may be measured to the center of proposed and bounding roads; however, parcels of less than five acres shall exclude those portions of lot area devoted for access, including all access easements, and easements not usable to the present or future surface owner of the parcel. For properties within the jurisdiction of the Shoreline Management 5. 20.97.275 Open space. "Open space" means any parcel or area of land or water not covered by structures, hard surfacing, parking areas, and other impervious surfaces except for pedestrian or bicycle pathways, or where otherwise provided by this title or other county ordinance and set aside, dedicated, for active or passive recreation, visual enjoyment or critical area development buffers, as established in the Whatcom County Critical Areas Ordinance. Tidpdgnrls eF RhnFalandq qhpll net the P.Anq dared """ space calculations. 6. 20.80.720 Variances to lot area and width requirements for new subdivisions. Minimum building site area and width requirements may be varied in the approval of new subdivisions and short subdivisions by means established in the Whatcom County Subdivision Ordinance; provided that the gross density of the subdivision shall not exceed that of the applicable zone district; and provided that no site shall be allowed to differ more than 10 percent in area or in average width from the standard requirement. Such variation in lot size shall not include land of 20 percent or greater slopes, tidelands and water areas and thus shall not be included in calculating the gross density of a site for purposes of determining the number of parcels eligible for the 10 percent lot area or width reduction allowed by this section. 6ands of "' MR ' -"