Proposed Ordinance
Amendment
Staff Report
Board of Commissioners Meeting: September 20, 2004
Ordinance Amendment File Number: OA 04/05
Staff: Keith A. Lankford, Planner III
Request: To amend the current Wake County Subdivision
Ordinance to change the manner in which cul de sac length is measured.
Background: The Planning Board has received, and approved, 31 requests for
variances from the Subdivision Ordinance’s maximum allowable cul de sac length
(Section 3-4-8 (D) (9) between January 2003 and April 2004 (16 months). The Planning Board has not declined any
variance requests of this nature because all such applications were found to
comply with the required variance justification provisions. In most cases, the maximum allowable cul de
sac length established by the ordinance is 900 feet, but it varies depending
upon the specific zoning district where the site is located (see table
below). The granted variances ranged
from 200 feet to 5,945 feet. Slightly
more than one-half (16 of 31) of the variances were for public roads, with the
remaining 15 were for private roads.
The average length of the 31 variances was 1,618 feet.
Zoning District
|
Lot By Lot Subdivisions *
|
Cluster Subdivisions *
|
|
R-80W and R-80 |
900 feet |
900 feet |
|
R-40W and R-40 |
900 feet |
750 feet |
|
R-30, Highway
District and Office and Intuitional
** |
900 feet ** |
600 feet ** |
|
R-20 |
750 feet |
500 feet |
|
R-15 |
650 feet |
450 feet |
|
R-10 and R-5 |
550 feet |
400 feet |
*The ordinance states
that the length of a cul-de-sac shall not exceed ten (10) times the minimum lot
width, or nine hundred (900) feet, whichever is less.
**The 900-foot figure shown is for the
R-30 district and the Highway District.
General Business and Special Highway districts have a limitation of 600
feet for cluster subdivisions, but the Planning Department has never processed
an application for a cluster development in those zoning districts. The other zoning districts do not have a
minimum lot width, and therefore would default to the 900-foot limitation.
Analysis: Typically, such a large number of variances from one specific
ordinance section (e.g.—cul de sac length) indicates that the regulation is not
a good fit with the development patterns that are occurring within the community. Several of the situations where variances
have been granted by the Planning Board were cases where the subdivider was
proposing to make only a relatively minor road extension that, by itself, did
not exceed the cul de sac length limitation.
The necessary variance resulted from their site being at the end of a
lengthy existing road system that had complied with the County’s
interconnectivity requirements, but now cannot be extended any further because
they are effectively blocked by floodplains, wetlands, water quality buffers or
other environmental constraints.
Currently,
the Subdivision Ordinance measures the length of a cul de sac street from the
center of the cul de sac bulb back to the midpoint of the closest intersection
with a through street. For the purposes
of this section, a through street is interpreted as a street that does not end
in a dead end (e.g.—a cul de sac or a T-turnaround). Changing the manner in which the length of a cul de sac is
measured will eliminate many of the variance requests. The proposed ordinance amendment would
measure the length of the cul de sac from the midpoint of the cul de sac bulb
to the midpoint of the closest intersecting street, whether or not that street
is a through street.
Staff Findings: The proposed amendment is desirable because it would:
Staff Recommendation: That the Board of Commissioners hold a public hearing and approve the
proposed ordinance amendment as presented.
OA-04-05
A RESOLUTION INTRODUCING AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE WAKE COUNTY
SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE TO CHANGE THE MANNER IN WHICH CUL DE SAC LENGTH IS
MEASURED
WHEREAS,
the Planning Board has reviewed, and approved, a large number of variances to
the Subdivision Ordinance’s limitation to the allowable length of a cul de sac;
WHEREAS,
such a large number of variances from one specific ordinance section indicates
that the regulation is not a good fit with the development patterns that are
occurring within the community;
WHEREAS,
many of the situations where variances have been granted have been tracts of
land that lie at the end of a lengthy existing road system (public or private)
that meet the County’s road interconnectivity requirements, but now cannot be
extended any further because they are effectively blocked by floodplains,
wetlands, water quality buffers or other environmental constraints;
WHEREAS,
many or the variance requests are a result in the manner in which the cul de
sac lengths are measured (i.e.—back to the nearest through road),
WHEREAS,
changing the manner in which cul de sac length is measured (i.e.—back to the
nearest intersecting street, whether or not it is a through road) would
eliminate the need for many variances;
WHEREAS,
the Planning Board held a public meeting on August 4, 2004 and reviewed the
proposed amendment;
WHEREAS,
the Board of Commissioners held a duly advertised public hearing on
______________, 2004 to consider the proposed amendment;
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE WAKE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS:
Commissioner
_________________ made a
motion that the
attached ordinance be
adopted. Commissioner ______________ seconded
the motion, and
upon vote, the
motion carried
this ____ day
of __________, 2004.
This
instrument is approved as to form:
________________________________________
Wake
County Attorney
________________________________________
Date
OA-04-05
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE WAKE COUNTY SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE TO CHANGE
THE MANNER IN WHICH CUL DE SAC LENGTH IS MEASURED
PART II
of the Wake County Code of Ordinances (Subdivision Ordinance), Chapter 3-4
(REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS AND MINIMUM DESIGN STANDARDS), Section 3-4-8 (ROADS), Subsection (D) (GENERAL ROAD
STANDARDS), Paragraph (9) Cul de Sac Roads) is hereby amended as follows, deleting
the strikethrough (strikethrough) text and adding the underlined
text:
(9) Cul-de-Sac Roads
(a) Cul-de-sacs shall not exceed ten times the
minimum lot width, or nine hundred (900) feet, whichever is less. A
cul-de-sac's length is measured from the center point of its turnaround, along
the centerline of its right-of-way and that of any
intervening roads, to the centerline of the right-of-way of the
nearest through intersecting road.
The cul-de-sac length limit may be increased by up to thirty-five (35) percent
if the following findings are made:
1. It is impracticable to provide the area
proposed to be served by the cul-de-sac a current or potential second means of
access that would avoid the cul-de-sac or allow the cul-de-sac to meet the
cul-de-sac length limit because:
a. The area is so separated from other parts
of the subdivision by floodplains, wetlands, or steep slopes whose extent or
degree makes it impracticable to provide the area a second means of access that
would avoid the cul-de-sac or allow the cul-de-sac to meet the cul-de-sac
length limit (e.g., by providing a lop road into the area of the cul-de-sac, or
extending the cul-de-sac to connect to another road in the subdivision), and
b. Other properties adjoining the area have
already been subdivided or developed in a manner that precludes connecting the
cul-de-sac to a surrounding existing or potential road system, or the area is
so separated from adjoining properties providing potential access by
floodplains, wetlands, or steep slopes whose extent or degree makes it
impracticable to extend or connect the cul-de-sac to the adjoining properties;
and
2. Use of cluster subdivision provisions would not reasonably allow both compliance with the above cul-de-sac length limit and realization of at least eighty (80) percent of the maximum lot density allowed by the site's zoning and physical characteristics;
3. The degree of increase in allowable
cul-de-sac length is the minimum necessary to allow the above findings.
The
subdivider bears the burden of submitting sufficient evidence to reasonably
support each of the above findings.
This
amendment shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.