The Planning Board, in considering an application
for the subdivision of land, shall be guided by the following considerations
and standards.
A.
Character of land. Land to be subdivided shall be
of such character that it can be used safely for building purposes
without danger to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace.
B.
Conformity to Official Map and Town Comprehensive
Plan. Subdivisions shall conform to the streets and parks shown on
the Official Map, if any, of the Town, and shall be properly related
to the Town Comprehensive Plan, if any, adopted by the Town Planning
Board.
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
A.
Location, width and improvement of streets. Streets
shall be suitably located, of sufficient width and adequately improved
to accommodate the prospective traffic and to afford satisfactory
access to police, fire-fighting, snow removal or 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.
Conformity to Town specifications. Streets shall conform
in all respects to the Standard Specifications for Street Improvements
adopted by the Town Board.
C.
Relation to topography. Streets shall be logically
related to the topography, and all streets shall be arranged so as
to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at or above the
grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely
as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades
and sharp curves shall be avoided.
D.
Block size. Within any zoning district, block dimensions shall be at least twice the minimum lot depth and generally not more than 12 times the minimum lot width. In long blocks, the Planning Board may require the reservation through the block of a twenty-foot-wide easement to accommodate utilities or pedestrian traffic. See § 195-16D of Article III.
E.
Intersections. Intersections of major streets with
other streets shall be at least 800 feet apart, if possible. Cross
(four-cornered) street intersections shall be avoided insofar as possible,
except at important traffic intersections. A distance of at least
150 feet shall be maintained between offset intersections. Within
40 feet of an intersection, streets shall be approximately at right
angles.
F.
Continuation of streets into adjacent property. The
arrangement of streets shall provide for the continuation of principal
streets between adjacent properties where such continuation is necessary
for convenient movement of traffic, effective fire protection and
efficient provisions of utilities and particularly where such continuation
is in accordance with the Town Comprehensive Plan, if any. If the
adjacent property is undeveloped and the street must be a dead-end
street temporarily, the right-of-way and improvements shall be extended
to the property line. The Planning Board may limit temporary dead-end
streets to a length not more than double the permitted length of permanent
dead-end streets.
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
G.
Permanent dead-end streets. Where a street does not
extend to the boundary of the subdivision and its continuation is
not needed for access to adjoining property, it shall be separated
from such boundary by a distance not less than the minimum lot depth
prescribed by the zoning regulations for the zoning district in which
the street is located.[1] Reserve strips of land shall not be left between the end
of a proposed street and an adjacent piece of property. The Planning
Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide easement to
accommodate pedestrian traffic or utilities. A circular turnaround
shall be provided at the end of a permanent dead-end street. For greater
convenience to traffic and more effective police and fire protection,
permanent dead-end streets shall, in general, be limited in length
to six times the minimum lot width for the zoning district.
H.
Street names and house numbering.
(1)
All streets shall be named, and such names shall be
subject to the approval of the Planning Board. Names shall be sufficiently
different in sound and in spelling from other street names in the
Town so as not to cause confusion. A street which is a continuation
of an existing street shall bear the same name.
(2)
On April 21, 1964, the Town Board adopted an Approved
Property Numbering System. Numbering of houses shall be in accordance
with the Approved Property Numbering System authorized to be adopted
by the Town by resolution of the Town April 21, 1964.
A.
Street improvements. Streets shall be graded and improved
with pavement, street signs, sidewalks, streetlighting standards,
curbs and gutters or ditches, street trees, water mains, sanitary
sewers, storm drains and fire hydrants, except where waivers are requested
and granted in writing by the Planning Board, subject to appropriate
conditions for improvements not requisite in the interest of the public
health, safety and general welfare. The subdivider shall install underground
utility lines and service connections before the street is paved.
Such grading and improvements shall conform to the Standard Specifications
for Street Improvements and shall be approved as to design and specifications
by the Town's Engineer and other appropriate officials. The developer,
before the approval of the final subdivision plat, shall complete
all improvements to the satisfaction of the Town's Engineer or post
a performance bond sufficient to ensure the satisfactory completion
of such improvements.
A.
Lot arrangement. The lot arrangement shall be such that there will be no foreseeable difficulties, for reasons of topography or other conditions, in securing building permits to build on all lots, in compliance with Chapter 240, Zoning, and in providing access to buildings on such lots from an approved street.
B.
Access across a watercourse. Where a watercourse separates
the buildable area of a lot from the street by which it has access,
provision shall be made for installation of a culvert or other structure,
of design approved by the Town's Engineer.
C.
Lot dimensions.
(1)
Lot dimensions shall at least comply with the minimum standards of Chapter 240, Zoning, except as varied as hereafter set forth. Where lots are more than double the minimum required area for the zoning districts, the Planning Board may require that such lots be arranged so as to allow further subdivision and the opening of future streets where they would be necessary to serve such potential lots.
(2)
The Town Board has been given power under § 278 of the Town Law to vary provisions of Chapter 240, Zoning, in certain circumstances. If the applicant intends to request such variance, its full request, together with supporting memorandums, should be submitted as soon as possible in the subdivision approval process, in order to avoid delays.
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
D.
Side lot lines. Side lot lines shall be at right angles
to street lines unless a variation from this rule will give a better
street or lot plan.
E.
Access. The subdivision shall be so designed as to
provide access to minor streets wherever possible.
A.
Parks and playgrounds. The Planning Board may require
adequate, convenient and suitable areas for parks and playgrounds
or other recreational purposes to be reserved on the plat. The area
shall be shown and marked on the plat "reserved for park or playground
purposes."
B.
Widening or realignment of existing streets. Where
the subdivision borders an existing street and the Official Map or
Comprehensive Plan, if any, indicates plans for realignment or widening
of the street that would require reservation of some land of the subdivision,
the Planning Board may require that such areas be shown and marked
on the plat "reserved for street realignment (or widening) purposes."
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
C.
Utility and drainage easements. Where topography or
other conditions are such as to make impractical the inclusion of
utilities or drainage facilities within street rights-of-way, perpetual
unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width for such utilities
shall be provided across property outside the street lines and with
satisfactory access to the street. Easements shall be indicated on
the plat.
D.
Easements for pedestrian access. The Planning Board,
where it deems it necessary, in order to facilitate pedestrian access
from streets to schools, parks, playgrounds or other nearby streets,
may require perpetual unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width.
Easements shall be indicated on the plat.
E.
Responsibility for ownership of reservations. Ownership
shall be clearly indicated on all reservations for parks and playground
purposes.
Existing features which would add value to residential
development, such as large trees, watercourses and falls, beaches,
historic spots and similar irreplaceable assets, should be preserved,
insofar as possible, through harmonious design of the subdivision.
The owner may place restrictions on the development greater than those required by Chapter 240, Zoning. Such restrictions, if any, shall be indicated on the final plat.
The Planning Board may modify the specified
requirements in any individual case where, in the Board's judgment,
such modification is in the public interest or will avoid the imposition
of unnecessary individual hardship.
