Commissioners Pass Rural Standards Ordinance

The Clark County Board of Commissioners voted on Wednesday, May 6, to approve an ordinance instituting specialized standards for rural areas of the county. The ordinance regulates what can and cannot be parked or stored on the property of rural residents. It was approved by the local town advisory boards back in February.

The ordinance (ORD-0073-09) makes allowances for the rurals in three main areas. In the area of Commercial Vehicle storage, the ordinance would allow for one commercial vehicle to be parked on a 1/2 acre lot for up to a 72 hour stay.

In connection with this, the ordinance also would expand the definition of commercial vehicle to include large semi-trucks, passenger buses, public service vehicles, emergency response vehicles, dump trucks, cement trucks, commercial vans, large pickup trucks and other commercial vehicles.

This section of the ordinance also allows that “equipment may be stored on-site”. This language is broad enough to include tractors, backhoes and other farm and ranch implements. In addition, the ordinance makes special allowances to rural areas for automobile hobby repair and restoration. It would allow this type of use with a minimum of 1/2 acre (20,000 sq ft) lot size; allowing one vehicle per 10,000 sq ft of lot area.

Any hobby auto repair project would be required to take place in the rear or side yard with a 100 ft setback from the front property line. The ordinance would drop an existing requirement for paving on the property.

In addition it would relax certain screening requirements. In urban areas a six foot block wall is required to screen any hobby auto repair activity. This rule would be modified in rural areas to allow screening with landscaping or existing buildings.

The third issue addressed in the ordinance allows private outdoor storage yards in rural areas. This use would require a minimum of one acre lot size. It also would retain only loose screening requirements allowing landscaping, fencing or other buildings to serve as screens rather than mandating a block wall.

Some specific materials would be prohibited by the ordinance from being stored in private yards. These include hazardous materials, explosives, bottles, cans, paper, rags, plastic and refuse.

During the public comment period at the meeting, Logandale resident Dorene Starita expressed appreciation to the commissioners for the ordinance. Starita spent five years working on the committee that helped establish the standards in the ordinance. “Thank you for recognizing that there are different types of standards for different areas of the county,” Starita said. “We are in a rural area. We certainly wouldn’t expect our livestock to be allowed in urban areas. But we also don’t want to have urban standards applied to our rural lifestyle.” Other local residents who spoke in favor of the ordinance were John Hudrlik, Roy Wilmer and Ralph Starita.

County Commissioner Tom Collins made a motion to approve the ordinance. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.