County commissioners are set to discuss a temporary ban on constructing homes on rural tracts currently exempt from the rezoning and platting process.

Concerns over abuse of the so-called “five-acre exemption” rule have prompted commissioners to consider passing a moratorium.

The exemption currently allows landowners who have at least five acres of rural property to build a home without going through rezoning and platting, an often costly process.

“I don’t think it’s a forgone conclusion that we will adopt a moratorium; we may not,” Douglas County Commissioner Bob Johnson said. “But I thought it was time for us to fire the shot across the bow and get people’s attention and get people committed to the idea that we can do better and let’s find a way to do it.”

Johnson and Commissioner Charles Jones have both stated concerns with developers taking advantage of the five-acre exemption to create subdivisions in rural parts of the county. These areas may cause future problems if left unchecked, Johnson said.

“In some cases, this isn’t a problem,” Johnson said of the rule. “But it’s simply not in the best interest in the long term for the cities and the county itself to have so much unplanned and unplatted areas of developed land.”

If passed, the resolution would go into effect the same day and continue through Jan. 1, 2006, with the option of repealing it at an earlier time. The proposed resolution would require that a tract have 250 feet of frontage along a public road right-of-way before it could be built upon. Building permits wouldn’t be issued to build along a road designated as minimum maintenance. But still unresolved in the proposed moratorium is how many acres a person must have in order to avoid rezoning or platting.

“That’s up for debate,” Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug said.

Commissioner Jere McElhaney said he didn’t agree with the concept of a temporary ban on the five-acre exemption.

“A moratorium is a pretty scary idea and I don’t think it’s the way to proceed,” he said. “I don’t disagree that the five-acre exemption does need to change. We’ve been looking at it for years and we need to look at it and we need to get something resolved on it. The moratorium is not the way to go. The way to go is to make a decision and move forward.”

For several months, the rural development subcommittee of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission has been drafting a new regulation to deal with growth in the county. Planning Commission Chairman John Haase said it was suggested at an earlier time that a moratorium be put in place until that regulation writing was complete.

Weinaug said county officials had seen an increase over the past year in landowners splitting property. The timing of that increase somewhat coincides with when the subcommittee began working on rural subdivision regulation.

“It doesn’t mean that the discussion caused the increase, but it’s been pretty clear that the county is considering moving to something else with regards to the five-acre exemption rule,” Weinaug said.

If the proposed moratorium is passed, the resolution includes a process landowners can use to receive an exemption.