MINERAL SPRINGS – Mineral Springs’ longstanding halt on large new subdivisions ends next month, and town leaders are moving forward on changes they hope will manage growth in the long term.
The Town Council will hold a special meeting Feb. 26 on an array of amendments to the town’s proposed zoning and subdivision ordinances. Most are technical. But taken with the land-use plan and map adopted last fall, the changes are intended to plot how the town of 2,500 will grow over the next 20 or 30 years.
Under the zoning map adopted in October, most existing acreage would fall under “agricultural residential” zoning, with maximum density of one dwelling per two acres. The next-largest zoning district, called “rural residential,” would allow no more than one dwelling per 1.5 acres.
In these zoning districts, developers looking to build on tracts larger than six acres would be subject to a complex set of rules, Mayor Rick Becker said. For example, the rules require that site plans for such developments include “estimates of the number of trees by species” for tree clusters a half-acre or greater.
The town enacted a moratorium on large subdivisions in June 2005 in response to rapid development around the county. The moratorium expired in November, but the town adopted a new one to give planners more time to write the ordinances.
One developer had sued the town over the moratorium; the town eventually settled the lawsuit. Another developer had sought an exemption from the moratorium. The Town Council persuaded her to scale back her site plan so it would conform to new ordinances.
The moratorium’s expiration means developers can again seek to build big subdivisions in Mineral Springs. Becker said he was unaware of any developers waiting to submit new site plans.
If the Town Council approves the amendments, it could vote on the ordinances. Becker said he expects the council will adopt the new laws.
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