06-22-1992 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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'J' rO k r‘‘ Secondan ’ protection areas cover the tarrns in the Kca that have not -f cover ani^: 25 agricultural preserves. The Council believes the commercial agriculture area ls a place '*here agriculture ;s the best permanent use of the land. Long-term investments in farm equipment and m land preservation can be made with the confidence that urban development is not going to destroy or limn these investments. General Rural Use Area The r .icral rural use area is the area outside the urban service are" hat is not designated for commercial agriculture. Over 40 percent of the land in the Metropoi..an ,«\rea falls in this category. TliC area contains a wide variety of land uses, including agricultural residei.tial and urban-type facilities. Tnere are sizable parts of the general rural use area that host no particular kind of land use-land that is often called unused. Most of the area looks rural, but many ot us residents are tied economically to the urban area and many of us land uses provide services to people living in the urban service area. ithin th» ar <»a i General Farmland A large part of the general rural use area is devoted to agriculture. The Cocncil supports the continuation of agriculture and encourages local governm.ems to support it o> zoning agricultural land at one unit per 40 acres. For farms within an area so zoned that ar^ .ubscquently cernh^l eligible for the agriculture preserves program, the Council will reclassify them as part ot the commercial agricultural area. Rural Residential Development Rural residential development 6on 6i6tf ^ homes on iar g»k>*s mav an appr^r.atc land^use _in areas that are hilly, wooded or otherwise unsuited to agncultural production. The Council urbaaiaatioii. The CouncU supports this type of use as long as the density docs not exceed one housing unit per 10 acres of land. The Council will compute rural residential density on the basis of 640-acre parcels fone square mile or section based on the pubije land survey). This will pr^nt excessive clustering of a large number of homes on small miniimim lots that wzes. n-ithin thfl Th« rr>nnril oppofi M such clufitenng could result in theWIUllll-tmj mwiuii ------------------ need for urban services, such as package sewerage disposal sy-stems. Some communities in the rural area have significant land area in public parks and open space , or wetlands that ..re legally restricted from development. Others nave protected large amoun^.^ agricultural land bv designating it part of the commerc ial agricultural area. The Council wUl recognize this when it applies the density po licy. Lower densities in areas restnctedjr^ development mav be used to balance higher densities in sections without such linuta tigns, it does not result in excessive clustering that would create , demands for services (such.^ —“T and water systems, storm sewers, roads and o ther urban services) not tvE ically needed_in