A. Rural areas shall be those nonurban areas designated by the general plan coastal element land use plan. Those areas shall be divided into five separate and distinct sections as set forth in the land use plan and shall be known as:
1. Planning Area No. 1, Ocean View Drive
2. Planning Area No. 2, Smith River Area
3. Planning Area No. 3, Lake Earl Area
4. Planning Area No. 4, Crescent City
5. Planning Area No. 5, Klamath Area.
B. In the above rural areas, new development shall be required to prove the subject area\'s ability to accommodate such development prior to approval. Both major and minor subdivisions shall be permitted when fifty percent of the useable parcels in the areas have been developed and the created parcels would not be smaller than the average size of the surrounding parcels. To determine if this criteria is met, the following shall apply:
1. Useable parcels does not include (1) parcels committed to agricultural and designated as such in the land use plan (2) parcels committed to timberland and designated as such on the land use plan (3) parcels or portions of parcels committed to the resource conservation area for purposes other than compliance with zoning district minimum yard regulations, traffic safety visibility standards, setbacks from geologically unstable areas, buffers around environmentally sensitive habitat areas floodway management, or other such siting restrictions required by certified LCP.
2. To determine if the fifty percent rule has been met, a survey of the existing parcels in each planning area (delineated on the land use maps) will need to be conducted. If fifty percent or more of the existing lots are developed, then the land division may be processed.
3. The local coastal program zoning plan designates the minimum lot size for parcels in each planning area. As these minimum lot sizes are reflective of the average size of lots in each area, the minimum lot size designated by the zoning district standards in which the proposed land division is located establishes the average size for new development.
D. This section is not applicable to lands designated as agriculture, timber or resource conservation area by the general plan. Any specific criteria set forth by the respective zoning district regulations and the balance of this title shall still apply.
(Ord. 2004-004 § 2, 2004 Ord. 83-03 (part), 1983.)