§ 24-137. Cluster subdivision.

Use of cluster subdivision. A cluster subdivision may be permitted for preliminary plans accepted prior to July 1, 2006 in accordance with this Subtitle.

(a)

Purpose. The purpose of cluster development is to permit a procedure for development which will result in improved living environments; promote more economic subdivision layout; encourage a variety of designs of dwellings; encourage ingenuity and originality in total subdivision layout and individual site and building design; encourage compatibility with historic resources; preserve open space to serve recreational, scenic, and public service purposes; and other purposes related thereto, within the densities established for the cluster net tract area. To achieve these purposes:

(1)

Variations in net lot areas, lot coverages, frontages, and yards are permitted;

(2)

Procedures are established to assure adequate maintenance and restricted use of open space areas for the benefit of the inhabitants of the subdivisions or for dedication to public use; and

(3)

Procedures are established to assure protection of existing and potential developments adjoining cluster developments.

(b)

Dwelling types. All types of attached and detached one-family dwellings may be permitted in a cluster subdivision in the R-80 or R-55 Zone, in accordance with a preliminary plan of subdivision approved prior to September 1, 1986, provided the final plat for such subdivision was approved within the time limits specified in Section 24-119(e). In the R-R Zone, and in the R-80 and R-55 Zones in cluster subdivisions for which the preliminary plan of subdivision was approved on or after September 1, 1986, only one-family detached dwellings are permitted. However, a church may be developed on a lot greater than two (2) acres within an approved cluster subdivision in the R-R Zone for which the preliminary plan of subdivision was approved on or after September 1, 1986. Approval of a Detailed Site Plan and architectural drawings (consisting of exterior elevations, and exterior finish materials) is required in accordance with Part 3, Division 9, Subdivision 3, of the Zoning Ordinance, prior to the issuance of any building or use and occupancy permit for the church.

(c)

Size. Cluster developments shall consist of at least sixteen (16) dwelling units, except that cluster developments that are found by the Planning Board to be a logical extension of an existing or approved cluster development may contain fewer dwelling units.

(d)

Modification of development regulations. Modification of yard, frontage, lot coverage, and net lot area requirements may be permitted by the Planning Board in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Zoning Ordinance for lots within the interior of the cluster subdivision. These provisions represent the theoretical minimum standards and maximum densities permissible in cluster developments. They will not necessarily be acceptable for all cluster developments, and should not be construed to be authorized as a matter of right. These requirements shall not be modified for lots at entrances to cluster developments, or for lots adjoining existing streets along which the cluster development has frontage, in cluster subdivisions for which the preliminary plan of subdivision was approved on or after September 1, 1986, unless a combination of cluster open space and lot areas will result in development that appears to have occurred without approval of modified development regulations. All modifications shall be shown on all preliminary plans, Conceptual Site Plans, and Detailed Site Plans for cluster development.

(e)

Cluster open space requirements. In each zone allowing cluster development, the net lot area may be reduced from the general net lot area for that zone to a specified minimum net lot area for cluster development, subject to the restrictions in Subsection (d) of this Section. All such reductions shall be compensated for by an equivalent amount of land in cluster open space to be preserved and maintained for its scenic value, for recreational or conservation purposes, or for schools, community buildings, or related uses. Improvements shall be limited to serving such purposes. Up to one-third (1/3) of such net lot area reductions may be located either in a one hundred (100) year floodplain, or on land dedicated for a community building or school site, or for a stormwater management facility that provides scenic or recreational amenities for the community. Cluster open space shall not include areas devoted to streets; nor shall it include any land which has been, or is to be, conveyed to a public agency via a purchase agreement for any of the purposes or uses set forth above in this Subsection.

(1)

Public Ownership. Cluster open space shall be made available for the use of all residents of Prince George's County, unless the Planning Board finds that the size, location, type of development, cost of development, maintenance of such cluster open space, or the availability of other public open space, would make public use undesirable or unnecessary. The Planning Board, shall require dedication of all areas indicated for acquisition in the approved Capital Improvement Program, as authorized by the Regional District Act.

(2)

Private Ownership. If cluster open space is not dedicated to public use, it shall be protected by legal arrangements, satisfactory to the Planning Board, sufficient to assure its maintenance and preservation for whatever purpose it is intended. Covenants or other legal arrangements shall specify ownership of the cluster open space; method of maintenance, responsibility for maintenance, maintenance taxes, and insurance; compulsory membership and compulsory assessment provisions; guarantees that any association formed to own and maintain cluster open space will not be dissolved without the consent of the Planning Board; and any other specifications deemed necessary by the Planning Board.

(f)

Preliminary plans; site plans; other submittal requirements. In addition to the information otherwise required, the preliminary plans and final plats for cluster development shall include the location and dimensions of yards. An application for preliminary plan approval shall be accompanied by a Conceptual Site Plan, which shall include proposed street grades. The conceptual site plan shall also include proposed rough grading which would significantly alter the existing topography of the site. The applicant shall obtain approval of a Detailed Site Plan and architectural drawings (consisting of exterior elevations, exterior finish materials and floor plans) from the Planning Board, in accordance with Part 3, Division 9, Subdivision 3, of the Zoning Ordinance, prior to the issuance of any building or use and occupancy permit. Approved street profiles shall be shown on the Detailed Site Plan. The Planning Board may require any additional information it deems necessary to consider the proposal with respect to the criteria for approval. Approval of the architectural drawings shall be for purpose of eliminating monotony of planned front elevations; assuring that nonstandard exterior finish materials (such as cinder blocks) are not used; and encouraging a variety of architectural styling and floor plans. Once approved, the Conceptual and Detailed Site Plans, architectural drawings, and any other approved documents shall govern development of the property as a cluster subdivision. Failure to develop in accordance with these documents shall be cause for denial or revocation of grading, building, and use and occupancy permits.

(g)

Criteria for approval. An approved cluster development shall, through creative design and a variety of one-family detached dwelling styles, provide for a total environment better than that which would normally be achieved under standard regulations. If, in the opinion of the Planning Board, the proposed preliminary plan of subdivision, Conceptual Site Plan, Detailed Site Plan, or architectural drawings could be improved with respect to the criteria listed below by the reasonable modification of the purpose, configuration, location, or design of cluster open space or buildings, or the location or configuration of lots, streets, parking areas, or other features of the development, the proposed preliminary plan of subdivision, Conceptual Site Plan, Detailed Site Plan, or architectural drawings shall be so modified or disapproved. In approving a proposal, the Planning Board shall find that the following criteria have been met, as applicable to the particular plan under consideration:

(1)

Individual lots, buildings, streets, and parking areas will be designed and situated in conformance with the provisions for woodland conservation and tree preservation set forth in Subtitle 25 of the Prince George's County Code, and in order to minimize alteration of the historic resource or natural site features to be preserved.

(2)

Cluster open space intended for a recreational or public use, conservation purposes, or as a buffer for a historic resource is appropriate, given its size, shape, topography, and location, and is suitable for the particular purpose it is to serve on the site.

(3)

Cluster open space will include irreplaceable natural features located on the tract (such as, but not limited to, stream beds, significant stands of trees, steep slopes, individual trees of significant size, and rock outcroppings).

(4)

Cluster open space intended for a recreational or public use will be easily accessible to pedestrians; and the means of access will meet the needs of the physically handicapped and elderly.

(5)

Cluster open space intended for scenic value will achieve this purpose through the retention of those irreplaceable natural features described in paragraph (3) above; or where such natural features do not exist, such techniques as berms planted with trees and the use of landscaping materials may be required to eliminate visual monotony of the landscape.

(6)

Diversity and originality in lot layout and individual building design, orientation, and location will achieve the best possible relationship between development and the land.

(7)

Individual lots, buildings, parking areas, and streets will be arranged, designed, situated, and oriented, so as to harmoniously relate to surrounding properties, to improve the view from dwellings, and to lessen the area devoted to motor vehicle access and circulation.

(8)

Individual lots, buildings, parking areas, and streets will be so situated and oriented as to avoid the adverse effects of shadows, noise, and traffic on, and afford privacy to, the residents of the site.

(9)

Not more than one-fourth (1/4) of any land having slopes greater than twenty-five percent (25%) will be removed or altered, and then only when such slopes are isolated, small, or otherwise occur as insignificant knolls, so that the design of the development or cluster open space will not be adversely affected.

(10)

Appropriate landscaped screening techniques will be employed at each entrance to the subdivision and along adjoining existing streets, so as to assure the compatibility of the appearance of the cluster subdivision with that of surrounding existing and planned residential development not approved for cluster development, and to provide an attractive appearance from streets. Individual lots shall also be appropriately landscaped in such a manner as to provide an attractive appearance.

(11)

If flag lots are proposed within the cluster subdivision, the requirements of Section 24-138.1, as well as those of the Zoning Ordinance relating to flag lots, will be met.

(12)

If zero lot line development is proposed within the cluster subdivision, the requirements of Section 24-138, as well as those of the Zoning Ordinance relating to zero lot line development, will be met.

(13)

All dwellings and other buildings will be served by public water and sewerage.

(14)

When alleys are proposed on the preliminary plan, the Planning Board shall find that their use is appropriate to the overall design and function of the subdivision and that they conform to the provisions of Section 24-128(b)(7)(ii).

(h)

Amendment and withdrawal of preliminary plan or site plan. An approved preliminary plan for cluster development may be amended upon petition by the applicant for the subdivision or by a subsequent owner prior to final plat approval. An approved preliminary plan may be withdrawn at any time before final plat approval. An approved Conceptual Site Plan or Detailed Site Plan may be amended in accordance with Section 27-289 of the Zoning Ordinance. Approved architectural drawings may be amended upon submission to the Planning Board's designee when such amendment will not adversely affect the stated purposes for original approval of such drawings. When the Planning Board's designee finds that the proposed amendment will not achieve the stated purposes for approval of such drawings, the architectural drawings may only be amended in accordance with Section 27-289 of the Zoning Ordinance.

(i)

Record plat notations. A statement shall be included on the record plat indicating that the property is approved for cluster development. In addition, a statement of conveyance of cluster open space land to a public agency or cooperative association shall be placed on the final plat, if appropriate, in the format shown in Division 8. The final plat shall also contain a notation advising prospective purchasers that a Conceptual Site Plan governs development within the subdivision, and that Detailed Site Plan and architectural drawing approval is required prior to the issuance of any permits for grading, development, or use of the property.

(CB-48-1981; CB-13-1986; CB-55-1986; CB-71-1989; CB-74-1989; CB-116-1989; CB-77-1996; CB-68-2000; CB-95-2004; CB-6-2005; CB-4-2006; CB-104-2012; CB-86-2013)