Washington County may put moratorium on parcel splitting

WASHINGTON — Landowners in Washington County may have to wait until September to divide their property into parcels, as supervisors consider an ordinance that would clarify some language in the ordinance governing procedures to do so.

“There are changes being made because of uncertainty (in) the current ordinance, and it feels like there are some people out there that are trying to take advantage of that,” said Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius. “My suggestion would be, we put a pause on everything, for the short term, make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Deputy County Auditor Tammy Stewart said the ordinance changes were prompted by an individual “blatantly circumventing the intent” of the current law, subdividing a property into more parcels than should be possible without establishing subdivision, using a loophole in the code’s language.

But other rules on the books require the county to sign off on parcel splits within 30 days of a property owner’s paperwork submission. Some officials said they worried supervisors couldn’t enact code changes before a handful of pending problematic property splits went through.

It was not clear at a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday whether the county could legally implement such a moratorium, which would pause all property splits, until further notice, even if they’re made in good faith.

“We do get some surveys that are pending sales for good purposes, being on the up and up,” Stewart said. “But I don’t know how else to prevent the bad one from taking place.”

Supervisors said they’d consult with the county attorney to figure out their options before a meeting next week.

If implemented, the moratorium would likely last until at least mid-September: long enough to allow the county to hold a public hearing, at least two public readings of the proposed changes, and publish the enacted changes in the paper. All of the above steps are required before enacting a county code amendment.

In the meantime, supervisors said they planned to hold a public hearing and first public reading of the proposed amendments on Tuesday next week — along with other public hearings for ambulance billing and wind energy ordinance changes — starting at 9 a.m. at the Washington County Courthouse.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com