COM 0794.000 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Honorable Spencer K. Schutte, Chairman and Members of the County Council Page 2 Direct access to the property from the Volcano Highway is provided along a 60-foot wide gravel roadway lot located adjacent to the north of the subject property. Access is also available via Slaughterhouse Road, which has a pavement width of 20 feet within a 50-foot wide right-of-way, and along a remnant of the old Volcano Road, which has a 12-foot wide gravel surface within a 40-foot wide right-of-way. According to Section 23-41 (Minimum right-of-way and pavement widths) of the Subdivision Code, an agricultural minor street, such as the private roadways which provide access to the subject property, should be improved with a minimum 20-foot wide pavement within a 50-foot right-of-way. The 60-foot wide roadway lot and the Old Volcano Road remnant both fail to meet these standards. To require the applicant to improve one or both roadways to current roadway standards would probably be a financial burden. Should the applicant be willing to improve that portion of both roadways fronting its property to current standards, it would only resolve the access problems associated with the subject property. In addition, requiring improvements to private roadways may create a new level of problems. The County does not have the legal authority to require improvements to private roadways without the consent of its owners. In this particular case, the affected roadways are owned by its adjoining landowners. There is no community association or road maintenance committee to oversee the maintenance of the existing roadways. Therefore, this Department has not received authorization from the owners of the affected roadways for roadway improvements which should be required if the change of zone request were to be approved. In reviewing the subject request, a regional perspective must be considered as it may have a cumulative impact on the surrounding area. The entire alignment of the Old Volcano Road remnant is unimproved. Should this change of zone request be approved, it may result in other similar requests being made for surrounding properties, most of which must use the old Volcano Road remnant as its primary access. Roughly half of the approximately 19 lots gaining access over the Old Volcano Road remnant, Slaughterhouse Road or the 60-foot roadway lot are over 5 acres in size. The largest parcel in the area is over 90 acres. Approval of this request could result in similar rezoning requests in the immediate area. While this specific rezoning request is limited in nature, a similar request for all properties along the old Volcano Road remnant could ultimately result in roughly 210 1-acre lots being created. To recommend approval of the proposed change of zone would disregard the inadequate access available to the subject property and