Chapter 14.76
STANDARDS FOR SPECIAL LAND DIVISIONS

Sections:

14.76.200    One-acre segregation for agricultural land preservation.

14.76.300    One-acre-lot Urban Reserve Residential (URR) land divisions.

14.76.400    Unit lot subdivisions.

14.76.200 One-acre segregation for agricultural land preservation.

(1)    Purpose. This Section is intended to encourage long-term conservation of agricultural land.

(2)    Applicability. This Section applies to a lot that:

(a)    Consists predominantly of lowland prime soils (as defined by the Department’s “Farmland Soils Map”); and

(b)    Is zoned Agricultural—Natural Resource Land or Rural Resource—Natural Resource Land.

(3)    Creation of a Substandard Residential Lot.

(a)    The owner of an existing house on a qualifying lot may create a substandard residential lot in consideration for placing a conservation easement per Subsection (4) of this Section on the balance of the property by means of:

(i)    A short subdivision, in cases involving a single legal lot;

(ii)    A boundary line adjustment, in cases involving multiple legal lots (where the net number of lots will not be increased).

(b)    If the lot has more than one residential structure existing as of September 11, 1996, then separate lots may be created for each such primary residence.

(c)    The substandard residential lot to be created must include the existing house and is limited to one acre in size unless site constraints preclude placement of a well or septic system, in which case it must be the minimum necessary to accommodate a well and septic system.

(d)    Critical areas review per SCC Chapter 14.24 is not required for the purpose of this segregation unless additional development, including a new well or septic system, is contemplated as part of the segregation. Any subsequent development on the segregated lot is subject to standard critical areas review. Water and septic review is not required for the portion of the lot being conserved.

(4)    Agricultural Conservation Easement. The property owner must grant a conservation easement under the provisions of RCW 64.04.130 on the remainder of the property. The conservation easement must:

(a)    Extinguish future residential development rights;

(b)    Limit use of the property to agricultural production;

(c)    Be on forms acceptable to the Department and the Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program;

(d)    By its terms remain in effect until a court of competent jurisdiction finds that it is no longer possible to commercially use the property for the production of food or agricultural products;

(e)    Be granted to Skagit County or a substantially similar conservation easement to a nonprofit Skagit County based land trust or other qualified conservation organization as defined in RCW 84.34.250. (Ord. O20250005 § 2 (Exh. A))

14.76.300 One-acre-lot Urban Reserve Residential (URR) land divisions.

(1)    Purpose. The purpose of this Section is to prescribe standards for the creation of one-acre lots in the Urban Reserve Residential UGA zone while requiring shadow platting of the remainder of the land division to facilitate provision of future urban services and urban lot sizes.

(2)    Applicability. This Section applies to short subdivisions (one to four lots) of property that is both:

(a)    Within the Urban Reserve Residential (URR) UGA zone; and

(b)    Within the relevant city’s URR overlay zone for one-acre lot development pursuant to Subsection (3) of this Section.

(3)    Designation of Overlay Zone.

(a)    A city with a portion of their UGA zoned URR may designate all or a portion of that URR zone to allow one-acre lot development prior to annexation and extension of urban services. To accomplish that designation, the city must amend its comprehensive plan designation and adopt an overlay zone for the area to designate it appropriate for one-acre lot development.

(b)    The city comprehensive plan amendment and zoning overlay amendment must include findings that demonstrate how the area proposed for one-acre lot development meets all of the following criteria:

(i)    The city has determined the area can be served with extension of city sewer within six years from the date of development approval.

(ii)    The city will limit the number of one-acre lots created to four lots per lot that exists as of the date of the request for the one-acre lot development.

(iii)    The city has determined that a development proposal’s payment of city impact fees, if any are adopted and required, is adequate mitigation of the public facilities or services for which the impact fees were collected.

(iv)    The city has determined that reviewing and approving a one-acre plat for the area would not preclude future extension of urban infrastructure and services to the area or to other portions of the unincorporated UGA and would not interfere with ultimate future development of the area platted at minimum urban densities, consistent with the city’s planning and zoning designations for this portion of the city UGA.

(4)    Preliminary Approval Application Requirements. In addition to the application requirements of SCC 14.74.100, an application for a preliminary approval of a land division under this Section requires submission of a shadow plat.

(a)    The shadow plat must demonstrate how the property can be further subdivided and developed in the future at the minimum urban densities required by the city’s residential zoning.

(b)    The shadow plat must show proposed future urban lot lines and proposed future urban infrastructure sufficient for the County to verify that the current development proposal will not preclude future urban infill of the property when it is annexed to the city and urban services are provided.

(c)    The shadow plat is not to be recorded as lot lines or other restriction on the property, but must be retained by the County to assist the property owner and the County or city in achieving future urban development of the property after annexation and extension of urban services.

(d)    The shadow plat may be used by the County in reviewing and approving the locations of structures within the lots being developed, as part of building permit review.

(e)    The future urban lot lines and future urban infrastructure locations shown on the shadow plat may be modified administratively by the County, at the request of the property owner, provided the County consults with the city in whose UGA the property is located before doing so and provided any such modification protects the ability to develop the property in the future at urban densities.

(f)    Creation of additional lots at urban densities in the future requires annexation to the city in whose UGA the property is located and a future subdivision, binding site plan or short plat approval, whichever is applicable, pursuant to the applicable city subdivision regulations.

(5)    Review and Approval. The decisionmaker must include conditions or limitations in the preliminary approval to:

(a)    Ensure adequate utilities, public services, and infrastructure prior to annexation; and

(b)    Facilitate development at full urban densities after annexation.

(6)    Final Approval Application Requirements. In addition to the application requirements of SCC 14.74.200, an application for final approval of a land division under this Section requires:

(a)    The plat must contain the following note on the face of the plat or site plan indicating that the County has on file shadow-plat information demonstrating how the site may be further developed at urban densities in the future:

This subdivision was approved together with a shadow-plat showing that this property could be developed at a density of 4 dwelling units per acre at a future date. Before any further subdivision or structures are constructed on this site, the Department must review the shadow-plat as part of the project permit review to ensure that said development is in conformance with the shadow-plat.

(Ord. O20250005 § 2 (Exh. A))

14.76.400 Unit lot subdivisions.

(1)    Purpose. The purposes of this Section are:

(a)    To provide rules, regulations, and standards governing the approval of unit lot subdivisions; and

(b)    To provide another tool that allows for individual ownership of individual unit(s) that share a lot.

(2)    Applicability.

(a)    A unit lot subdivision may be used in any development with two or more dwelling units meeting the standards of this Section.

(b)    A unit lot subdivision may also be used to subdivide an accessory dwelling unit from the principal structure.

(c)    A unit lot subdivision may be combined with a subdivision or short subdivision so long as the portion of the development utilizing this Section meets the requirements of this Section.

(3)    General Provisions.

(a)    Development on the parent lot, rather than individual unit lots, must comply with the applicable standards for the underlying zone.

(b)    Parking required for a dwelling unit may be provided on a different unit lot than the unit lot with the dwelling unit for which the parking serves, as long as the right to use the parking is included in notes on the face of the plat or formalized by an easement recorded with the Skagit County Auditor’s Office.

(c)    Portions of the lot not subdivided for individual unit lots must be owned in common by the owners of the individual unit lots, or by a homeowners’ association consisting of the owners of the individual unit lots.

(d)    Unit lots may not be further divided by additional unit lot subdivisions.

(e)    Notes must be placed on the face of the short plat or plat that state:

(i)    The title of the plat including the phrase “Unit Lot Subdivision.”

(ii)    Approval of the development on each unit lot was granted by the review of the parent lot.

(iii)    Subsequent subdivision sections, additions, or modifications to unit structure(s) may not create or increase any nonconformity of the parent lot.

(f)    Access easements, joint use and maintenance agreements, and covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) identifying the rights and responsibilities of property owners and homeowners’ association must be executed for use and maintenance of common garage, parking, and vehicle access areas; bike parking; solid waste collection areas; underground utilities; common open space; shared interior walls; exterior building facades and roofs; and other similar features. (Ord. O20250005 § 2 (Exh. A))