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COMPOSITE REPORT - Page 2 APPLICATION NO. 6606 STAFF COMMENTS REGIONAL PLANNING Petition 6606. This proposed residential parcel is in an agricultural preservation area of the Town of Vermont where there appears to be some conflict with adopted town/county policies. The specific policy which applies is: "6. To limit non farm residential development to areas which will not adversely affect agriculture, or the rural environment of the town. To carry out this policy the following site criteria will be applied in evaluation of potential homesites: - Land of agricultural significance (as defined in the appendix) should not be included in the parcel, nor should the parcel limit farming operations. - Minimum lot size is one acre. There must be justification for larger parcels. The town may approve larger parcels to accommodate topographic problems, keeping of livestock and other specific needs. Only that portion of land necessary for the requested use will be considered" Comments related to the policies: 1. According to the application,the soils on the site are 80%Class I and II and 20%Class III in agricultural capability. In terms of the USDA definitions,there is approximately 80%considered prime farmland, while 20%is less productive(a narrow strip along the highway). The definition referred to in the policy is on page 17 as follows: "Land of Agricultural Significance -is that which is of sufficient quality to be preferred for agricultural use as determined by a town planning committee evaluation of size,productivity, slope, crop history, shape and accessibility." We note that this definition was included in the Vermont plan because there is very little Class I and II agricultural soils in the town. 2. The parcel proposed is 7 acres, with no justification provided as to why there needs to be more than one acre as the policy requires. Because of the quality of the soil involved and the acreage proposed,there needs to be some justification to approve this site as proposed. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH (septic, etc.) None as of 6/4/96. DANE COUNTY HIGHWAY CTH"FF"is not a controlled access highway. Any changes to existing points of accesses or new access points requires a permit from the area maintenance supervisor. OTHER None.