The County shall require Open Space properties contiguous with Agricultural designated land to have a minimum lot area of 20 acres.
MPSP
LU-9.5 Recreational Areas Appropriate for the Open Space Land Use Designation
The County shall designate areas appropriate for recreational activities as Open Space, including, but not limited to, use and enjoyment of recreational trails and areas for hunting and fishing. Preservation of open space also serves to protect areas of outstanding scenic, historic, and cultural value; areas particularly suited for park and recreation purposes, including access to lakeshores, beaches, and rivers and streams; and areas which serve as links between major recreation and open space reservations, including utility easements, banks of rivers and streams, trails, and scenic highway corridors.
LU-9.6 Undeveloped Areas Appropriate for the Open Space Land Use Designation
The County shall designate undeveloped natural areas as Open Space if they surround urbandesignated areas which have been set aside to define the boundaries of the urban-designated areas, to prevent urban sprawl, and to promote efficient municipal services and facilities by confining the areas of urban development.
LU-3.1 Existing Community Designated Areas
The Existing Community Designated Area boundary, referred to in the Save Open Space & Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative as the “Existing Community Land Use Designation”, is used to depict existing urban residential, commercial, or industrial enclaves outside of incorporated areas and unincorporated urban centers. Existing Community Designated Areas recognize existing land uses in unincorporated areas which have been developed with urban building intensities and urban land uses, contains these enclaves within specific areas so as to prevent further expansion, and limits the building intensity and land use to previously established levels. Thomas Aquinas College is newly designated in this initiative as Existing Community, with the intention that it be confined to its current boundaries with the understanding that it may continue to intensify its building for its educationally related purposes.
Figure 2-1 depicts the boundary of the Existing Community Designated Area. All areas inside these boundaries are considered within the “Existing Community Land Use Designation” for purposes of this General Plan and implementation of the Guidelines for Orderly Development and Save Open Space & Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative. This term is considered synonymous with “Urban Enclave” as used in other planning documents.
Figure 2-1 depicts the boundary of and areas within Existing Community designated areas in the unincorporated county.
LU-3.2 Areas Appropriate for Inclusion as Existing Community Designated Areas
The County shall include existing unincorporated urban enclaves located outside cities and unincorporated urban centers within Existing Community designated area boundaries.
LU-3.3 Range of Uses in Existing Community Designated Areas
The County shall recognize that the Existing Community designated area boundaries may cover the range of zone classifications present in the area including, but not limited to, residential, commercial, and industrial, as well as the range of existing population densities and building intensities. The County shall allow the appropriate zoning, population densities, and building intensities based on the adopted Area Plan or, where no Area Plan exists, by the applicable Existing Community Map contained in Appendix A. Because of the degree of specificity on the Existing Community Maps, the County shall require a General Plan amendment for any zone change within an Existing Community.