A.
In order to provide for the health, safety and welfare
of the present and future population of the town, the Planning Commission
shall refuse to approve any proposed subdivision when such subdivision
would bring about the development of land which is unsuitable for
such use due to flooding, lack of drainage, excessive erosive action
by water, unstabilized slope or fill or other conditions which may
cause danger to life, health or property or aggravate erosion of flood
hazards or when the lands involved would, in its opinion, become unsuitable
through the development proposed.
B.
The Planning Commission shall refuse to approve any
proposed subdivision where it determines that there is a lack of adequate
public facilities to serve either the subdivision or the surrounding
area.
A.
Application of standards. The standards and requirements
provided herein shall be considered to be minimums to protect the
public health, safety and general welfare. No subdivision of land
shall be approved unless it complies with the standards herein or
unless a waiver shall be granted in accordance with the provisions
hereof.
B.
General standards. The following general standards
shall apply:
(1)
All portions of a tract being subdivided within the
subdivision shall be taken up in lots, roads, public lands or other
proposed uses so that remnants shall not be created.
(2)
Where trees, groves, waterways, scenic points, historic
features or other assets and landmarks are located within a proposed
subdivision, every reasonable means shall be provided to preserve
these features.
(3)
Lands which are unsuitable for development due to
flooding, lack of drainage, excessive erosive action by water, unstabilized
fill or slope or other conditions which may cause danger to life,
health or property shall be set aside on the plat for uses which will
not be endangered by such conditions and which do not involve the
construction or use of buildings or structures for human occupancy.
(4)
Where deemed appropriate by the Planning Commission,
open spaces constituting a reasonable proportion of the gross acreage
of the subdivision shall be provided for in the proposed subdivision.
Such open spaces may include wetlands, areas set aside for stormwater
management and other facilities, required buffers and lands not suitable
for development. Open spaces shall be landscaped according to such
landscape plan as shall be approved by the Planning Commission. Future
nonrecreational development of the open space shall be prohibited
by deed restrictions and notation on the final plat. Ownership shall
be transferred to a neighborhood association. Open space which does
not contain required facilities may be offered to the town in accordance
herewith, however the town is under no obligation to accept such offer.
C.
Standards for streets. The following standards shall
apply to the layout of streets:
(1)
The street layout of the subdivision shall be in general
conformity with a plan for the most advantageous development of adjoining
areas and the entire neighborhood.
(2)
Where appropriate to design, proposed streets shall
be continuous and in alignment with existing, planned or platted streets
with which they are to connect.
(3)
Proposed streets shall be extended to the boundary
lines of the tract to be subdivided, unless prevented by topography
or other physical condition or unless, in the opinion of the Planning
Commission, such extension is not necessary or desirable for the coordination
of the layout of the subdivision with the existing layout or the most
advantageous future development of adjacent tracts. Temporary turnarounds
will be required at the ends of such streets by means of easements
or otherwise.
(4)
Dead-end streets of reasonable length (normally not
over 600 feet) will be approved where necessitated by topography or
where, in the judgment of the Planning Commission, they are appropriate
for the type of development contemplated. A turnaround shall be provided
at the end of such a street.
(5)
Wherever there exists adjacent to the tract to be
subdivided a dedicated or platted and recorded half-width street or
alley, the other half-width shall be platted.
(6)
The street layout shall conform substantially to existing
topography, minimizing street grades and providing for good drainage,
good building sites and ready access to lots without excessive cuts
or fills.
(7)
Streets shall intersect one another at as nearly right
angles as topography and other limiting factors of good design will
permit.
(8)
Minor residential streets shall be arranged so as
to discourage their use by through traffic.
(9)
Buffering of land abutting highways.
(a)
Land abutting highways shall be platted with
the view of making the lots, if for residential use, desirable for
such use by cushioning the impact of heavy traffic upon them; also
of minimizing interference with traffic on such highways as well as
accident hazards. One or more of the following ways may be used to
accomplish this:
[1]
By platting the lots extra deep and providing
vehicular access to them by alleys or service drives in the rear or
by service drives in front separated from the highway by a parkway
and connecting therewith at infrequent intervals.
[2]
By backing the lots upon the highway so that
they front on and have access from a parallel minor street one-half
(1/2) block away. Vehicular access to the lots from the highway should
be prohibited by a parking easement along the rear of the lots, covered
by deed restrictions.
[3]
By arranging the lots around a series of loop streets or dead-end streets stemming from a collector street generally parallel to and some 600 to 1,000 feet distant from the highway, the ends of such loops or dead-ends being one lot depth away from the highway. Parking easements and deed restrictions as in Subsection C(9)(a)[2] above should be provided along the rear of such lots adjoining the highway.
(b)
The choice between the foregoing or other methods
for accomplishing the desired purpose in a specific case must necessarily
be made in consideration of topography and other physical conditions,
the character of existing and contemplated developments and other
pertinent factors.
(10)
Public improvements shall not be approved in
any private streets.
(11)
Street names shall be subject to approval by
the Planning Commission. Names shall not duplicate nor closely approximate
existing street names in or near the municipality, except for extensions
of existing streets.
(12)
Streets shall be spaced to allow for blocks
meeting the dimensional requirements specified herein. The number
of intersections along highways and other major streets shall be held
to a minimum, normally spaced not less than 1,200 feet apart.
(13)
Alleys shall be provided in all commercial and industrial areas if no other provisions are made for adequate access to parking and loading spaces. Alleys may be provided in the rear of residential lots located on highways and major thoroughfares in order to provide safe access to such lots, or service drives may be platted in front thereof, or such lots shall be designed as suggested in Subsection C(9) above. Alleys will not be approved elsewhere in residential districts except for row dwellings or unless required by unusual conditions. In the absence of alleys, easements will be required for utility lines or drainage.
(14)
Minimum widths for the right-of-way of streets,
alleys and easements shall be as follows (extra widths may be required
where necessary):
(15)
Street grades, curves and sight distances shall
be as follows:
(a)
Grades shall not be less than one-half of one
percent (1/2 of 1%) and shall not exceed 6%.
(b)
All changes in street grades of more than 1%
shall be connected by vertical curves of a minimum length of 50 feet
or equal to 15 times the algebraic difference in the change in grade,
whichever is larger.
(d)
Between reversed curves, either of which has
a radius of less than 200 feet, there shall be a tangent at least
100 feet long, if possible.
(e)
At street intersections, each property corner
shall be rounded off by an arc, the minimum radius of which shall
be 20 feet; except that in a business district a chord may be substituted
for such arc. At alley intersections (within the block), a chord shall
be used cutting off the corner at least 10 feet back from the point
of intersection in each direction. Where the smallest angle of intersection
is less than 60°, the foregoing radii and chords shall be increased.
(f)
Curbs at street intersections shall be rounded
off concentrically with the property line.
(16)
Poles and wires for the distribution of electric,
telephone or similar services within the subdivision shall not be
placed in streets but shall be in rear alleys and easements, except
where street placement is unavoidable.
(17)
The minimum widths of the paved areas of the
various types of streets shall be the minimum set out in the transportation
elements of the Comprehensive Plan.
D.
Blocks and lots. The following standards shall apply
to the layout of lots and blocks:
(2)
In a long block, a crosswalkway may be required to
improve access to a school, church, playground or other pedestrian
objective.
(3)
Business and industrial blocks may be specially designed
to serve their particular purposes, which designs shall be subject
to approval by the Planning Commission. Business blocks shall not
exceed 300 feet in length unless provided with interior public driveways
for access and circulation.
(4)
Lots shall be of such size, shape and orientation
as will be appropriate for the location and the type of development
contemplated. Normally, a proportion of about two and one-half (21/2)
to one in depth and width will be considered appropriate. Excessive
depths in relation to width shall be avoided.
(5)
All lots shall comply with at least the minimum size
and area requirements of the zoning district in which located.
(6)
Corner lots shall have extra widths to provide for
extra side yards on the street sides of such lots, in accordance with
good design practice and sufficient in any case to meet the side yard
requirements for such lots in any applicable zoning ordinance.
(7)
Residential lots fronting or abutting on highways
and major streets should have extra depths and extra deep building
lines or should have service drives.
(8)
Every lot shall abut on a public street. Through lots
(extending through the block) and reversed-frontage lots (fronting
on a side street) shall be avoided.
(9)
Side lot lines shall be approximately at right angles
to or radial to the right-of-way line of the street.
(10)
Building lines shall be shown on the plat, along
each street, at least as required in each case by the applicable zoning
regulations. The locations of these lines shall be clearly indicated
by dimensions.
(11)
All lot measurements shall be net measurements,
not including any part of any street, alley or crosswalkway. Easements,
however, shall be regarded as within the lot.