| Input
due on zoning changes By SUE
WATSON
Staff Writer
Changes in
Marshall County’s zoning ordinances and subdivision
regulations were discussed at a public hearing February
28. The materials are available for public use at the
zoning office during regular working hours, according to
Larry Britt, county engineer.
The public
is invited to review the materials, including new zoning
maps, and submit suggestions for changes of the
ordinances by March 14, he said. The ordinances have not
been adopted by the board of supervisors.
Highlights
of the major changes in zoning were presented to the
public by planning consultant Ben Smith and Britt.
Smith said
the book of new zoning maps are a major advancement for
the public to use in determining how their property is
zoned. Prior maps were so small that it often was
difficult to see how a parcel was zoned using the old
maps, he said.
The
ordinances themselves were made more understandable by
writing them in standard zoning language with the use of
definitions and improved organization, Smith said.
Some
significant changes in zoning have been made:
- The
minimum lot size in agricultural and
agricultural-residential zoning districts has
been increased from one acre to an acre and a
half. Smith said the minimum lot size was
increased to satisfy health department concerns
relating to septic tank permitting.
- A
new Residential Estate Zoning District was
created. The RE District is located primarily in
District 3 in some areas that were previously
zoned as agricultural-residential and before that
as agricultural. The RE District, primarily
located in the northwestern portion of the
county, restricts new construction to
single-family sticks and bricks type construction
or modular dwellings.
- Smith
said new high-density residential construction
must be built in areas where sewer systems are
available or the developer will have to provide
the sewer system.
- The
boundaries of floodplains are outlined in green
on the new maps.
- Site
plans must be submitted for multi-family
developments and RV parks.
- New
regulations in commercial and industrial
districts require a 30 foot landscaped buffer
area between those lots and adjoining
agricultural and residential districts.
- Motor
vehicles that are inoperable and without current
inspection stickers will be prohibited in all
districts except industrial and commercial.
The
procedures for requesting variances, special
exceptions, rezoning and for appeal are spelled
out clearly in the new ordinances including any
application forms that must be filed, Smith said.
Britt reviewed the changes in subdivision
regulations - a matter of interest to land
developers.
- Water
and sewer regulations were taken out of the
regulations and will be dictated by the
municipalities that provide them - Potts Camp,
Holly Springs and Byhalia and Kirkwood.
- Streets
or roads in subdivisions must be named by E-911
and be supplied on the subdivision plat.
- Subdivision
paving requirements have been changed. Three
inches of asphalt are required, with the initial
one and a half inches of asphalt applied first.
The remainder is to be applied after the
developer has sold homes and finished building.
Any destruction to the first paving must be
repaired before the final one and a half-inch of
overlay is applied by the developer.
- Electronic
platting by engineers must be provided on
computer disk for tax office use. Plats must be
signed by a registered engineer and surveyor.
- Developers
must install driveway culverts ahead of time to
avoid the responsibility falling back on the
county.
- Building
setback requirements have been taken out of the
subdivision regulations and placed in the zoning
ordinances.
- Water
and sewer must be approved by the state or local
utility district before a construction
application is submitted.
- Four
concurring votes, rather than a simple majority,
is required for approval of a motion before the
planning commission or board of adjustment.
In the
commenting period, Terry Robbins asked which would take
precedent when there is a discrepancy between subdivision
covenants and the planning commission regulations. He
asked who would enforce the covenants.
“If the
covenants are more restrictive than the regulations, then
the covenants will rule,” Smith said. The homeowners
or subdivision residents enforce the covenants, he said.
William
Clark suggested that sanitary landfills be a use by
special exception not only in agricultural districts but
also by special exception in Heavy Industrial Districts,
provided the landfill was no closer than 2,000 feet from
a residence.
Del Stover
of Red Banks commended the board on the upgrade in
zoning, recommending its approval. He reminded the board
that zoning may have to be revisited when the I-269 route
through the county is set.
Patrick
Terrell asked if rezoning requests will be harder to get
approved in the future.
Britt said
requests would be handled on a case-by-case basis and
should not be any more difficult than in the past.
Animal
control ordinances are being studied, according to board
attorney Tacey Clayton. She said those ordinances could
be available for public consideration in a few weeks.
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