Scott City officials want to ease rules on subdivisions

Not all subdivisions are big.

In fact, under Scott City law, a subdivision is created any time a piece of land owned by one entity is divided into two or more. And along with the subdividing process comes a series of public hearings and regulations that can hinder building on that land for weeks.

The city's mayor and other officials see a problem with the situation -- an undue burden placed on landowners who want to split their land and sell a portion to a friend, family member or someone else.

"I really think we need to make it easier on a person who just wants to sell their kid half their property," said Mayor Tim Porch. "Some people on the edges of town have enough land where they can sell one or two small lots. And they already have access to sewer, water and roads."

The city council has been discussing the problem for weeks, trying to come up with a new ordinance to expedite the process for subdivisions that involve only a few plots of land. Members of the city's ordinance committee are trying to find a way to eliminate part of the public hearing process for these landowners, who are required to go through two hearings with the city's Planning and Zoning committee and one with the city council for even a two-plot subdivision.

One proposal for changing the ordinance has already been put before the city council. The proposal set the number at five lots for a minor subdivision.

But Porch said that number is probably too high. With the maximum for a minor subdivision set at two lots, Porch said infrastructure concerns aren't a problem. But when the subdivisions start to approach the recommended five lots, problems arise in those areas. Too many people may be hooked onto one sewer line, and roads would have to be built for access to some properties unless private drives were installed.

Porch's concern with the private drives is that, unless properly recorded as private drives, those may be considered city streets by a future council, making the city responsible for the upkeep of private property.

One issue in changing the ordinance is legality, said city administrator Ron Eskew. At the council's last meeting two weeks ago, city attorney Frank Siebert was asked whether eliminating a public hearing was legal.

Siebert found no restrictions in state law against eliminating a hearing, a finding that will be presented to the council on Monday.

One neighboring town, Chaffee, already has such an ordinance that cuts out requirements for subdivisions of four or fewer lots. That ordinance was put in place within the last 15 years, said Chaffee city attorney David Summers.

The Scott City ordinance won't be acted on Monday because the council still has to hammer out some of the details.

msanders@semissourian.com

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