Amelia County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXV
Rural Cluster Development Option
§ 325-25.1 Intent.
The cluster option is intended to help preserve open space, agricultural land, environmental resources and the rural character of the County.
§ 325-25.2 Applicability.
[Amended 6-23-2005]
A.
The cluster development option may be used for eligible tracts in the R-10, R-5, and R-3 Zoning Districts, at the option of the applicant. If the cluster option is selected, all requirements in this article will apply to the entire parcel or parcels selected for cluster development.
B.
If the cluster option is selected, the provisions of this article shall apply to subdivision and development of the subject parcel or parcels, in addition to the other underlying zoning provisions of the district. When in conflict, the cluster provisions prevail.
§ 325-25.3 Lot and building requirements.
[Amended 6-23-2005]
C.
Total lot area for cluster and conservation lots. Except as provided in § 325-25.10, the total area in cluster lots shall not exceed 35% of the total parent tract. The total area in conservation lots shall be no less than 60% of the total parent tract. In no case shall the number of cluster and conservation lots combined be greater than an average of one lot per 10 acres in the R-10 District, one lot per five acres in the R-5 District and one lot per three acres in the R-3 District (excluding 100-year floodplain).
§ 325-25.4 Building setback from lot lines in cluster lots (for all districts).
[Amended 9-15-2004]
§ 325-25.5 Frontage, minimum per lot in cluster lots.
§ 325-25.6 Buffer along existing public roads; cluster lots.
[Amended 9-15-2004]
A buffer 75 feet in width shall be preserved along cluster lot lines abutting existing public roads. No trees shall be removed within such buffer except as necessary for wired utility and drainage easements which may cross generally at right angles. In buffers where no trees currently exist, additional evergreen and/or deciduous trees with a caliper of no less than two inches, minimum eight feet in height may be required by the Board. Such buffer shall be identified and recorded on final plats.
§ 325-25.7 Building setback from lot lines in conservation lots (for all districts)
[Amended 9-15-2004]
§ 325-25.8 Frontage, minimum per lot in conservation lots.
§ 325-25.9 Conservation easement required for conservation lots and open space.
[Amended 9-15-2004; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
At the time of recordation of the plat of subdivision establishing the cluster and conservation lots, the applicant shall also record a permanent conservation easement on all of the conservation lots in the subdivision and on any land provided for open space purposes to a subdivision homeowners' association or to the County, which shall prohibit any further subdivision or any use of greater intensity than one principal residential dwelling per lot and general agriculture uses. The beneficiaries of such easement shall be held jointly by at least two of the following: the County, a homeowners' association created for the subdivision, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a designated conservation organization approved by the County and authorized to hold easements by state law, Title 10.1, Chapter 10.1, Virginia Conservation Easement Act, Code of Virginia.
§ 325-25.10 Density bonus.
[Amended 6-23-2005]
As part of the rezoning approval, the Board may grant density increases in return for:
A.
Provision of 10% of the total units being affordable dwelling units.
(1)
For the purposes of this subsection, an "affordable dwelling unit" shall be defined as a unit for which rent or mortgage costs are no greater than 25% of the gross income of families earning no more than 80% of the median family income in the jurisdiction.
(2)
If at least 10% of the total dwelling units in the proposed subdivision will be affordable dwelling units, then the maximum number of lots allowed by the underlying zoning district may be increased by 5%.
B.
Use of available public central wastewater. If public wastewater is available and approved to serve the cluster lots, the minimum lot size may be reduced to one acre in the R-5 District and 0.5 acre in the R-3 District.
C.
Provision of open space to a subdivision homeowners' association and/or to the County.
(1)
If at least 20% of the total area in conservation lots specified in § 325-25.3 above is provided to the subdivision homeowners' association for use by the association members or to the County as open space for use by the general public, then the maximum number of lots allowed by the underlying zoning district may be increased by 5%.
D.
Provision of larger conservation lots.
(1)
To encourage the creation of conservation lots larger than the minimum specified in § 325-25.3 above for the R-3 and R-5 Districts, two additional cluster lots may be granted for each thirty-acre (R-5) or twenty-acre (R-3) conservation lot that is combined to create the larger conservation lot.
(2)
To encourage the creation of conservation lots larger than the minimum specified in § 325-25.3 above for the R-10 District, two additional cluster lots may be granted for each forty-acre (R-10) conservation lot that is combined to create the larger conservation lot.