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• DANE COUNTY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT SUPPLEMENTARY STAFF REPORT Petition 7376: Ervin Lee Public Hearing Date: 10/27/98 Town of Vermont Date of this report: 11/3/98 I. Compliance with Town Density Policy The Town of Vermont Land Use Plan (dated 4/4/97 and adopted by Dane County on 8/21/98) contains the following policy concerning nonfarm residential development: "Residential development shall be limited to `one potential development right'per 35 acres, based on land ownership as of Jan. 1, 1985. " Based on Zoning Division and Register of Deeds records, on January 1, 1985 the portion of the property that is the subject of this petition was part of an 85 acre farm owned by Raymond& Bernice Lee. Raymond and Bernice are Ervin Lee's parents. At that time, Ervin and Sharon Lee owned 120 acres of land to the northwest of Raymond and Bernice's property (See Map 1 and copy of 1985 Dane County Plat Book, attached). According to the Lees, these two legal parcels have been fanned as if they were a single property since 1981. The two legal parcels were combined in 1987,when Ervin and Sharon purchased the 85-acre parcel (see Map 2). If we look at each parcel separately,the 85-acre parcel would have yielded a total of two splits under the Town's density policy. Since 1985, this 85-acre parcel has been divided twice (including Petition 7316, currently pending), leaving no splits available. The 120 acre parcel in 1985 would have yielded a total of three splits. Since 1985, this parcel has been divided once, leaving two splits remaining. The Town Plan is silent as to whether contiguous land owned by parent and child in 1985 should be counted as common or separate ownership for purposes of calculating maximum density. The Town of Vermont chair has indicated that for these purposes, the town has traditionally treated such parcels as 4f they were in single ownership. II. CONCLUSIONS A literal interpretation of the language in the town plan would suggest that once Petition 7316 is finalized,no available splits will remain on the 85-acre parcel that is the subject of this petition. However,the applicant claims, and the Town Board apparently concurs,that adjacent property owned by members of the same family in 1985, if farmed as a single unit, should count as commonly owned property under the Town's density policy. Under this definition,the combined acreage of the two properties would allow for an original total of five divisions, with two such splits currently remaining. Using these assumptions, if Petition 7376 is approved, there would be two remaining splits left on the combined Lee farm. In fairness to future applicants, if this is an adopted policy of the Town of Vermont, appropriate language to this effect should be included in the Town Plan. An alternative would be for the town to amend its land use plan to include comprehensive guidelines for the transfer of development rights from one parcel within the township to another. The Department of Planning and Development would be happy to assist the town in developing an appropriate transfer of development rights program.