Cluster developments will be strictly managed and designed to conserve agricultural lands and encourage the agricultural economy through the following objectives:

A.

Preserve land for long-term farming and minimize reductions in farm productivity;

B.

Generally site homes to minimize negative impacts to the protection of farmland;

C.

Minimize conflicts between working farms and nonfarm dwellings;

D.

Buffer the impacts of new lots from farms and farmland;

E.

Provide flexibility to land owners when dividing their property and configure new parcels to be less than the minimum normally required by zoning, without creating a density bonus;

F.

Prevent the division of very large tracts to maximize their development potential;

G.

Prevent the spread of wildfire and damage to property, structures and crops;

H.

Prevent the spread of noxious weeds;

I.

Create lots with safe access to public roads. (Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 § 1(part), 2006)

A.

The county requires compliance with this chapter for lawfully created parcels of record as of the date of approval of the ordinance approving this chapter. Parcel is defined as a lot created by a subdivision, short plat or exempt segregation per RCW 58.17. Assessor's parcels, created for taxation purposes only, are not lawfully created lots of record.

B.

Cluster developments are permitted only in the Primary Agriculture-40, General Agriculture-20 and Agriculture Residential-10 zones subject to approval of an appropriate land division designed in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

C.

Land divisions on resource lands zoned Agriculture Residential-10 or that are included in the areas identified as being either "primary significance" or "unique land," as shown on maps in the county's comprehensive plan shall comply with the provisions of this chapter except as provided below in this section.

D.

The creation of parcels that are one hundred sixty acres or larger in the Agriculture Residential-10 zoning district are exempt from the requirements of subsection C of this section.

E.

The creation of parcels through a planned unit development shall be allowed to vary from the minimum lot size requirements provided that the planned unit development is otherwise consistent with all other requirements of this chapter.

F.

Divisions of land into twenty-acre lots in the General Agriculture 20 zone on lands included in the areas identified as being either "primary significance" or "unique land" as shown on maps of the county's comprehensive plan shall be allowed so long as a minimum of seventy percent of each lot is maintained and preserved for a resource use through a notation on the face of any recorded plat or short plat. (Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 § 1(part), 2006; Ord. 358 § 1, 2007)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 475, § 3, adopted July 1, 2019, repealed former § 17.31.040 in its entirety which pertained to a fee for development and derived from Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 § 1(part), 2006.

Applications for a cluster development are processed according to the land division procedures prescribed in WWCC Title 14 (Development Code Administration). (Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 § 1(part), 2006)

Cluster developments shall be designed and approved in accordance with the following requirements:

A.

Cluster developments will be allowed only at the density permitted by the assigned zoning.

B.

The minimum land area needed to implement a cluster development is as follows:

1.

Primary Agriculture-40 zone: eighty acres;

2.

General Agriculture-20 zone: forty acres;

3.

Agriculture Residential-10 zone: twenty acres.

C.

Cluster developments do not have to comply with minimum lot size requirements specified by the assigned zoning.

D.

All required infrastructure improvements to serve the development, such as potable water, wastewater disposal, and access to public roads shall occur concurrent with development.

E.

Cluster development lot width shall be a minimum of one hundred fifty feet.

F.

Cluster developments may occur in phases.

G.

New residential parcels in the forty- and twenty-acre zones shall not be created in more than two sites in a single development parcel and shall otherwise comply with the requirements of the county's subdivision ordinance in WWCC Title 16 (Subdivisions). New residential parcels on lands in the ten-acre zone shall not be created on more than four sites in a single development.

H.

With the exception of developments within the Agriculture Residential-10 zone, at least seventy percent of the overall development site shall be maintained and preserved for a resource use through a recorded instrument approved by the director. In the Agriculture Residential-10 zone, at least eighty-five percent of the overall development site will be maintained and preserved for a resource use through a recorded instrument approved by the director. Resource use shall include all permitted and conditional uses and buffer requirements in the Agriculture Residential-10 zone other than residential lots.

I.

Within the Primary Agriculture-40 acre zone and the General Agriculture-20 acre zone, the maximum number of parcels smaller than the minimum parcel size is specified by the assigned zoning, and shall comply with the following limits:

1.

Where there are existing domestic and irrigation water rights, no more than twelve smaller parcels shall be created;

2.

Where there are existing irrigation water rights only, no more than eleven smaller parcels shall be created;

3.

Where there are no existing water rights (domestic nor irrigation), no more than four smaller parcels shall be created.

J.

Within the Agriculture Residential-10 acre zone, the maximum number of lots will be calculated at a rate of one unit per ten acres.

K.

Sufficient water to serve both domestic and residential irrigation needs must in fact be present and shall be required. With regard to provision of domestic water and consistent with the requirements regulating the number of smaller parcels allowed on an overall site, the following requirements shall be met:

1.

Where there are sufficient existing domestic and irrigation water rights to serve the development, a community water system shall be implemented for the smaller parcels;

2.

Where there are existing irrigation water rights only, or where there are no existing water rights (domestic nor irrigation), an exempt well(s) may be utilized to serve the smaller parcels with domestic water, provided all applicable regulations governing exempt wells are met, as demonstrated by approval from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

L.

Wellhead protection zones shall be overlapped to the extent possible.

M.

Cluster developments shall comply with all applicable county and state health requirements for water and sewage disposal.

N.

A farm center parcel containing farm-related buildings can be up to ten acres in size, and is not to be included in the average lot size calculation, provided the new property line follows the perimeter of the existing farm center footprint comprised of such structures as a home, outbuildings, equipment storage areas, barns and corrals.

O.

No parcel in the cluster development, except a farm center parcel with existing building or a resource parcel, shall exceed three acres in area.

P.

The average lot size of the smaller parcels shall not exceed two acres in size.

Q.

The buffer space shall be a minimum of fifty feet from the resource parcel created by the cluster development to any dwelling in the cluster development. All required buffers between the resource parcel and the smaller development parcels shall be provided within the new lots, and shall not encumber the resource parcel.

R.

Setbacks.

1.

For all nonfarm-related development on lands adjacent to or abutting agricultural resource lands that are not part of the cluster subdivision: all structures shall maintain a minimum setback of fifty feet from land designated for agricultural purposes; provided, however, the appropriate authority may reduce the setback through a variance where:

a.

The owner requesting the administrative variance records an agricultural easement for the benefit of the abutting commercial farmlands of significance, granting a right to all normal and customary agricultural primary or accessory practices in accordance with recommended best management practices in Walla Walla County.

S.

Public access that meets applicable county standards shall be available to the development site that meets applicable county standards.

T.

A right-to-farm covenant shall be recorded with the land division.

U.

Owners of cluster lots created under the provisions of this chapter shall prevent the spread of noxious weeds. All development approvals shall include this requirement on the face of the land division and recorded with the county auditor and in a covenant enforceable by an adjacent property owner (see Washington State Noxious Weed List).

V.

Prior to issuance of a permit for lots in a cluster development, the property owner(s) shall acknowledge that the site is in or near agricultural lands through a recorded statement filed with the county auditor that is binding upon future owners, heirs and successors.

W.

A land division approved under the authority of this chapter shall include a note on the recorded land division instrument stating that the acreage shall not be used more than once for determining the allowable number of units. The applicant shall denote on the land division instrument the specific acreage used for determining the proposed new lots.

X.

Cluster lot density can be transferred from contiguous parcels in the same ownership where density is transferred between lands in the same zoning district or from lands in a lower density zoning district (e.g. from Primary Agriculture -40 to Primary Agriculture -40; from Primary Agriculture-40 to Agricultural Resource-10). Two legal parcels separated by roads (all types) and/or railroads are considered to be contiguous.

Editor's note— Due to scrivener's error, § 17.31.060.X refers to "Agricultural Resource-10," a zone that does not exist. The correct zone to be referenced is Agricultural Residential 10."

Y.

In the Agricultural Residential-10 zone, contiguous parcels in common ownership can be changed through the use of boundary line adjustments to create parcels that can subsequently be divided using the clustering provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 §1(part), 2006)

(Ord. No. 371, § III(Exh. A, Pt. G), 8-3-2009; Ord. No. 400, § III(Exh. A), 11-15-2011; Ord. No. 476, § III(Exh. A), 8-5-2019)

Property owners of a parcel, that is larger than the minimum parcel size and smaller than twice the minimum parcel size permitted in specific zones, shall be permitted a one-time land division, consistent with all of the following provisions:

A.

This land division process is limited to the Primary Agriculture-40 acre and General Agriculture-20 acre zones;

B.

A lot created via the one-time land division shall be not more than one acre, unless used to divide off an existing farmstead, in which case the new lot can be up to ten acres, provided the new property line follows the existing farm center footprint comprised of such structures as a home, outbuildings, equipment storage areas, barns and corrals;

C.

Sufficient surface and/or ground water rights shall be available to the new smaller parcel to permit for domestic use, reasonable irrigation, such as yard, garden, and caring for animals, fire suppression, and to avoid a portion of the smaller lot becoming a nuisance with regard to such concerns as dust, and weed control; and

D.

A one-time land division counts against the maximum number of dwellings in a future clustering proposal. (Ord. 308 Exh. A (part), 2004; Ord. 328 §1(part), 2006)