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Single-Family Residential Lot Split Study Report May 14, 2007 <br />in the code (300 feet from water bodies designated in the code). The CAG recommended that this <br />become a zoning district and properties that are within the prescribed area would be, therefore, <br />shown on the City's Zoning Map, and the lot standards would mirror those currendy assigned to the <br />overlay district. <br />The pre-May 21, 1959 "de facto" overlay district is not specifically called out as a zoning overlay <br />district within the City Code, but is buried within the General Requirements Chapter of the Zoning <br />Code. These regulations provide a separate set of regulations for substandard parcels created prior <br />to the enactment of the code. To elucidate the requirements for these pre-1959 lots, the CAG <br />recommends that the City Council should designate an overlay zoning district for single-family lots <br />platted prior to May 21, 1959 to ensure that they remain legally nonconforming lots. <br />The CAG discussed a variety of other issues associated with zoning district regulation. These topics <br />included establishing lot size maximums as a method to prevent "McMansions;" amending the lot <br />standards for the existing R-1 Single-Family Residential District, and single-family residential design <br />standards. However, time was not available to fully discuss these issues. <br />Hvbrid Regulation: In addition to examining the neighborhood-context and the standard zoning <br />methods, the CAG also considered a regulatory scheme that would combine both systems into one <br />hybrid regulation. This would include designating new zoning districts within the community and <br />then applying the neighborhood-context methodology to determine minimum lot regulations. This <br />concept did receive some initial support from CAG members, but ultimately consensus developed <br />around designating several zoning district without the addition of the neighborhood-context system <br />of regulation. <br />Lot Shape <br />The CAG identified three key lot shape issues—gerrymandered lot lines, flag lots, and design <br />flexibility—and discussed them as they related to the Subdivision Ordinance. Existing code speaks <br />to lot shape through three specific requirements: 1) Side lot lines must be "substantially at right <br />angles" or perpendicular to the front lot line or radial in the case of a cul-de-sac; 2) the front yard <br />must be 85 feet wide; and 3) the rear lot must be a minimum of 30 feet wide. <br />Gerrvmandered Lot Lines: The City Council specifically requested this issue be studied in the <br />interim ordinance creating the moratorium. As described above, the Subdivision Code requires that <br />a side lot line be "substantially at right angles," but the word substantially is not defined within the <br />ordinance, which leaves lot shape open to interpretation. The CAG discussed this issue, and <br />instituting a more definitive standard was the consensus. Group members wanted to avoid property <br />owners "zigzagging" lot lines and declaring that they were substantially perpendicular in order to <br />meet minimum lot area and dimension standards. The CAG recommends that the City Council <br />should amend the lot line requirement within the Subdivision Ordinance to require that lot lines are <br />perpendicular to the front property line unless a variance is granted. <br />Flag Lots: The only recommendation upon which the CAG could not reach consensus was that of <br />flag lots. A flag lot is one in which two residential lots are created end to end versus side by side. <br />Two group members wanted the City Council to expressly prohibit flag lots by ordinance, as they <br />promote haphazard infill development The majority of the group felt that requirements within the <br />Subdivision and Zoning Codes were sufficient, and if a property owner wanted to create a flag lot, <br />12 <br />