Opinion ID: 2648794
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The CLO Ordinance

Text: The County's Board of Supervisors (the Board) in 2007 adopted a new zoning ordinance that included a set of provisions, entitled collectively the CLO Cluster Overlay District (hereinafter, the CLO Ordinance), permitting the development of cluster subdivisions. 1 CLO Ordinance §§ 90-332.2 through -332.16. A cluster subdivision proposed in accordance with the standards contained in the CLO Ordinance was a permitted use by-right. CLO Ordinance § 90-332.4(A). The standards consisted of categories of both general and specific requirements. CLO Ordinance §§ 90-332.6 through -332.14. The four general standards, which are implicated here, pertained only to minimum acreage, the provision of water and sewer, the exclusion of conservation areas, and the number of dwelling units allowed per acre. CLO Ordinance §§ 90-332.6. In the application process for developing a cluster subdivision, the applicant was required to meet with the zoning administrator to review the requirements for a proposed cluster subdivision, arrange a site visit, and prepare a property resource map of the proposed site depicting such items as, for example, total acreage, slope percentages, flood plains, historic structures and woodlands. CLO Ordinance § 90332.16(A). The applicant was then required to submit a preliminary plat in accordance with the County's subdivision regulations. 2 CLO Ordinance § 90-332.16(B). Finally, upon the 1 The CLO Ordinance was described as offer[ing] an alternative to conventional subdivision development by allowing for compact clusters of housing units rather than spaced lots that encompass the entire property. CLO Ordinance § 90-332.2. 2 The following additional items were also required to accompany the preliminary plat under CLO Ordinance § 90- 2 County's approval of the preliminary plat, the applicant was required to submit a final plat in accordance with the County's subdivision regulations. CLO Ordinance § 90-332.16(C).