MORGAN -- Concerned with unintended consequences, the Morgan County Council has asked the planning commission to rework a proposed private lane standard ordinance.
County Planner Charles Ewert said some of the ordinance's elements, drawn up to allow flexibility in the place of a now defunct Planned Residential Unit Development ordinance, could be controversial.
Private lanes, which can extend 1,000 feet and do not have to meet the width or pavement standards of public county roads, would allow a shared driveway for up to four 1-acre single-family lots and could create frontage for building lots.
"It provides a resource for land owners to use alternative standards and provide for better ability to develop," Ewert said. "It's going to free up a lot of area to develop in the foothills."
But Councilman Robert Kilmer said it would also create hundreds of flag lots in the county.
He said using flag lots could create more density in the county, and "many area plans were based on density determined by public roads."
"Are we prepared to open this door?" he asked. "It opens up flag lots by the hundreds in this county."
"In theory, it is great," Councilman Ned Mecham said. "But there are unintended consequences."
Ewert said zoning ordinances would still govern density of property.
"Anytime you go flexible, there's always unintended consequences," said Ewert, who noted that the planning commission was concerned with density issues as well.
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