In considering applications for subdivision of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standards set forth hereinafter. Said standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article VII herein.
A.
Character of land. Land which cannot be used without
danger to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace shall not
be subdivided for residential purposes nor for such other uses as
may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate a flood
hazard, but such land shall be set aside for such uses as shall not
be endangered by periodic or occasional flooding or shall not produce
satisfactory living conditions.
B.
Conformity to Official Map and Village Plan. Subdivisions
shall conform to the Official Map of the Village and shall be in harmony
with such portions of the Village Plan as may be in existence from
time to time.
A.
Width, location and construction. Streets shall be
of sufficient width, suitably located and adequately constructed to
accommodate the prospective traffic and to afford access of firefighting,
snow removal and other road maintenance equipment and shall be coordinated
so as to compose a convenient system. The arrangement of streets shall
be such as to cause no undue hardship to adjoining properties.
B.
Arrangement. The arrangement of streets in the subdivision
shall provide for the continuation of principal streets of adjoining
subdivision, and for proper projection of principal streets into adjoining
properties which are not yet subdivided, in order to make possible
necessary fire protection, movement of traffic and the construction
or extension, presently or when later required, of needed utilities
and public services such as sewers, water and drainage facilities.
Where, in the opinion of the Planning Board, topographic or other
conditions make such continuance undesirable or impracticable, the
above requirements may be modified.
C.
Minor streets. Minor streets shall be so laid out
that their use by through traffic shall be discouraged.
D.
Special treatment along major streets. Where a subdivision
abuts or contains an existing or proposed major street, the Board
may require marginal access streets, reverse frontage with screen
planting contained in a nonaccess reservation along the rear property
line, deep lots with rear access or such other treatment as may be
necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to
afford separation of through and local traffic.
E.
Special treatment along limited access highways. Where
a subdivision borders on or contains a limited access highway right-of-way,
the Board may require a street approximately parallel to and on each
side of such right-of-way, at a distance suitable for the appropriate
use of the intervening land, as for park purposes in residential districts
or for commercial or industrial purposes in appropriate districts.
Such distances shall be determined with due regard for the requirements
of approach grades and future grade separations.
F.
Provision for future resubdivision. Where a tract
is subdivided into lots substantially larger than the minimum size
required in the zoning district in which a subdivision is located,
the Board may require that streets and lots be laid out so as to permit
future resubdivision in accordance with the requirements contained
in these regulations.
G.
Reserve strips. Reserve strips controlling access
to streets shall be prohibited.
H.
Dead-end streets, loop streets and superblocks. The
creation of dead-end or loop residential streets and overblocks will
be encouraged wherever the Board finds that such type of development
will not interfere with normal traffic circulation in the area, provided
that interior parks are covered by appropriate covenants as to maintenance.
In the case of dead-end streets, where needed or desirable, the Board
may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide easement to provide
for continuation of pedestrian traffic and utilities to the next street.
Subdivisions containing 50 lots or more shall have at least two street
connections with streets duly placed on the Official Map.
I.
Intersections with major streets. Minor or collector
street openings into a major street shall, in general, be at least
500 feet apart.
J.
Street jogs. Street jogs with center-line offsets
of less than 125 feet shall not be permitted except with the approval
of the Board.
K.
Block size. Blocks shall not be excessively long,
thereby causing unnecessarily circuitous travel on streets. In long
blocks, the Planning Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide
easement through the block to provide for the crossing of underground
utilities and pedestrian traffic where needed or desirable. In general,
no block shall be less than 200 feet in width nor more than 1,200
feet in length.
L.
Relation to topography. The street plan of a proposed
subdivision shall bear a logical relationship to the topography of
the property, and all streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as
many of the building sites as possible at or above the grade of the
streets.
M.
Angle of intersection. Except where impracticable,
all streets shall join each other so that, for a distance of at least
100 feet, the street is approximately at right angles to the street
it joins.
N.
Four-cornered intersections. Cross (four-cornered)
street intersections shall be avoided except where absolutely necessary.
B.
Improvements. Streets shall be graded and improved
with pavement, curbs, monuments, sidewalks, trees, drainage facilities,
water, sewers, streetlights and signs and fire alarm signal devices
and hydrants, except where waivers may be requested, and the Planning
Board may waive, subject to appropriate conditions, such improvements
as it considers may be omitted without jeopardy to the public health,
safety and general welfare. Such grading and improvements shall be
approved as to design and specifications by the Village Engineer.
C.
Utilities in streets. Unless otherwise required by
the Planning Board, underground utilities shall be placed in the street
right-of-way directed by the Village Engineer. Where topographic or
other conditions make such placement impracticable, the Board may
waive this requirement to the extent necessary. The subdivider shall
install underground service connections to the property line of each
lot within the subdivision for such required utilities before the
street is paved.
D.
Utility easements. Where topography is such as to
make impractical the inclusion of utilities within the street lines,
perpetual unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width shall be
provided across property outside the street lines and with satisfactory
access to the street. Wherever possible, easements shall be continuous
from block to block and shall present as few irregularities as possible.
E.
Grades. Grades of all streets shall conform in general
to the terrain and shall not be less than 1% nor more than 5% for
major streets, 7% for collector streets or 10% for minor streets.
F.
Changes in grade. All changes in grade shall be connected
by vertical curves of such length and radius as meet the approval
of the Village Engineer so that clear visibility shall be provided
for the safe distance.
G.
Curb radius. All street intersection corners shall
be rounded by curbs of radii of at least 30 feet. At curves, the street
radius shall not be less than 100 feet.
H.
Steep grades and curves. A combination of steep grades
and curves shall be avoided. Where the grade of a street intersecting
another street exceeds 5%, the land at each corner of such intersection
shall be so graded as to prevent a blind corner, and sufficient land
shall be included in the street right-of-way at the intersection to
permit permanent maintenance of visibility for safety of traffic.
I.
Dead-end and loop streets. Where dead-end streets
are designed to be so permanently, they should, in general, not exceed
1,000 feet in length and shall terminate in a circular turnaround
having a minimum radius of 50 feet.
J.
Watercourses.
(1)
Where a watercourse separates a proposed street abutting
property, provision shall be made for access to all lots by means
of culverts or other structures of design by the Village Engineer.
(2)
Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse,
drainageway, channel or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater
easement or drainage right-of-way as required by the Village Engineer.
A.
Type of name. All streets shown on a preliminary layout
or subdivision plat shall be named. Streets shall have names and not
numbers or letters such as 1st, First or A Street.
B.
Names to be substantially different. Proposed street
names shall be substantially different so as not to be confused in
sound or spelling with present names in the Village of Mount Kisco,
except that streets that are continuations of, or are in alignment
with, streets of an abutting or neighboring property shall bear the
same name.
A.
Lots to be buildable. The lot arrangement shall be
such that there will be no foreseeable difficulties, for reasons of
topography or other natural conditions, in complying with the Building
Zone Ordinance in order to build on each lot. Lots shall not be of
unreasonable depth, encouraging the later creation of a second building
lot at the rear.
B.
Side lines. All side lines of lots shall be at right
angles to straight street lines and radial to curved street lines,
unless a variation from this rule will give a better street or lot
plan.
C.
Corner lots. Corner lots shall be of sufficient dimensions
so that any structure placed thereon shall conform to the building
setback line of each street.
D.
Driveway access. Where practicable, lots shall be
so laid out that the driveways have access to a street carrying the
lesser amount of traffic of the streets on which such subdivision
abuts.
E.
Conformance to zoning. All lots shall be in conformity
with the requirements of the Building Zone Ordinance for the district
in which such lots are located.
F.
Frontage on private streets. Frontage on private streets
shall be deemed acceptable only if such streets are designed and improved
in accordance with these regulations.
A.
Parks and playgrounds shown on Village Plan. Where
a proposed park or playground shown on the Village Plan is located
in whole or in part in a subdivision, the Board may require the dedication
or reservation of such area within the subdivision, in those cases
in which the Board deems such requirements to be reasonable.
B.
Parks and playgrounds not shown on Village Plan. Where
deemed essential by the Board, upon consideration of the particular
type of development proposed in the subdivision, and especially in
scale developments not anticipated in the Village Plan, the Board
may require the dedication or reservation of sites of a character,
extent and location suitable to the needs created by such development
for playgrounds or parks. In no case shall the Board require that
more than 10% of the gross area of the subdivision be so dedicated
or reserved. The Board shall give due credit for the provision of
open spaces reserved for the common use of all property owners within
the proposed subdivision by covenants in the deeds. Generally, the
minimum area of contiguous open space acceptable for dedication for
public use shall be at least three and preferably five acres. Open
spaces with a lesser area may be approved by the Board whenever it
deems that the difference between the area offered and three acres
may be made up in connection with the future subdivision of adjacent
land.
C.
School sites or sites for other public uses. The Board
may also require a subdivider to set aside such area as it may deem
to be required for a school or other public use. Upon failure of the
proper authorities to purchase such sites within one year after the
date of the approval of the plat, the subdivider, upon application
to the Board and approval of such application, shall be relieved of
the responsibility of reserving such land for public purposes.
D.
Substitution of payments in lieu of land dedication
for parks and playgrounds. In cases where, due to the size, topography
or location of the subdivision, a requirement for land dedication
would be unreasonable or undesirable, at its discretion, the Planning
Board may require that a payment of $5,000 for each proposed lot be
paid into a special Village Recreation Site Acquisition and Improvement
Fund in lieu of such land dedication.
[Amended 10-5-1987 by L.L No. 13-1987; 4-16-2001 by L.L. No. 6-2001]
E.
Preservation of natural features. The Planning Board
may require the preservation of all natural features which add value
to residential developments and to the community, such as large trees
or groves, watercourses, historic spots and similar irreplaceable
assets.
