For the purpose of assuring a sound, serviceable arrangement of the following structures and uses and insuring consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, as well as compliance with applicable requirements of this chapter and/or Chapter 73, Land Subdivision, site plans for the following major uses, whether proposed as special exception uses or permitted uses, shall be subject to review and recommendation by the Planning Commission. The site plan shall be approved, disapproved or approved subject to conditions by the Director of Planning.
A site plan is required for any development or land uses where the applicable district regulations require such a plan (Articles X and XI of this chapter) or for any of the following proposed uses or structures:
A.
Any residential development involving uses
other than detached single-family residential units or structures,
including conversions of existing buildings.
B.
Redevelopment of vacant properties or buildings
or changes in use of properties or buildings.
C.
Uses subject to approval as special exception
uses by the Denton Board of Appeals.
D.
Development which requires off-site improvements
involving the expenditure of public funds.
E.
Any and all development or redevelopment
in the Critical Area buffer.
F.
Construction or expansion of a single-family
dwelling and ordinary accessory structure, and related land use activities.
G.
Commercial and industrial structures or
uses, including accessory structures.
[Amended 3-2-2017 by Ord. No. 683]
H.
All signs except in conjunction with new
development.
A.
For each application involving site plan
approval, seven copies of a preliminary site plan, together with the
required information described in Appendix I of this chapter,[1] shall be submitted with the zoning certificate and building
permit application to the Town Director of Planning no later than
45 days prior to the Planning Commission meeting.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix I is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
Minor site plans requiring an administrative
approval shall not have the forty-five-day prior submittal requirement.
C.
The Director of Planning or designated
representative shall be responsible for checking the site plan for
general completeness and compliance with such administrative requirements
as exist or may be established prior to routing copies thereof to
reviewing departments, agencies, and officials. The Director of Planning
shall insure that all reviews are completed on time and that site
plans are submitted to the Planning Commission with review comments
prior to the next regular Planning Commission meeting, provided the
plans have been submitted 45 days prior to the meeting.
D.
Minor site plans, deemed complete and requiring
only an administrative approval, shall be reviewed by the Director
of Planning.
E.
The Planning Commission and/or Director
of Planning shall examine the proposed development with respect to
the traffic and circulation patterns; parking, internal and external;
relation to existing or proposed transportation in the area; utilities,
stormwater management facilities, and community facilities, existing
or proposed; surrounding development, existing or future; the preservation
of trees or historic sites; provision for open space; and in general
with the objective of insuring a durable, harmonious, and appropriate
use of the land consistent with the objectives of the Comprehensive
Plan. When the granting of a special exception is required, the Commission
shall forward the site plan, together with its recommendation, to
the Board of Appeals. The Board of Appeals may prescribe additional
information to be shown on the plan, with all changes and additions
to be reviewed for compliance with this chapter and the Comprehensive
Plan. If specified conditions are met in the revised plan, the Director
of Planning may approve issuance of building permits in accord with
the revisions without returning the plans for further Planning Commission
review. The Director of Planning may approve minor changes in site
plans after approval by the Planning Commission or Board of Appeals
and approve issuance of building permits accordingly, if such changes
do not substantially affect the original approval or conditions attached
thereto.
F.
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted
to permit the granting of a variance or special exception to the regulations
of this chapter or to abridge the procedures or requirements of the
laws and ordinances governing the subdivision of land.
G.
Subsequent to approval of the preliminary
plan, two final drawings must be submitted to the Department of Planning,
with one copy to be kept on file.
Every site plan that is submitted
in accordance with this article shall contain the information shown
in Appendix I at the end of this chapter.
A.
Simplified site plan.
(1)
Upon the determination by the Director
of Planning, with the concurrence of all appropriate agencies, a simplified
site plan may be filed for duplexes, conversions, redevelopment of
existing facilities, development or redevelopment in a BEA, an accessory
building and/or addition to a commercial or industrial use structure
in those cases where a field inspection indicates that the scope of
the proposed accessory building and/or addition is of such a nature
that the provisions for stormwater management, sediment control, off-street
parking, setbacks, water and sewerage, and other requirements can
be adequately addressed with a simplified site plan. Said site plan
may be approved by the Director of Planning upon concurrence of all
appropriate agencies.
(2)
The simplified site plan shall contain
the information for simplified site plans shown in Appendix I at the
end of this chapter.
B.
Concept plan.
(1)
A concept plan is a site plan by
which, at the early stages of development design, the Planning Commission
may consider, approve, or restrict major aspects of the development
without requiring an undue amount of final design work on the part
of the developer. The concept plan is less detailed and specific than
a major site plan in terms of exact arrangement of buildings, parking
areas, open spaces, access points, and any other site design features.
No building permits can be issued based upon a general development
plan.
(2)
Concept plans shall be required as
follows:
The following specific standards
will be met in the site plan, in addition to other requirements of
this chapter:
A.
Lighting. Lighting emitting objectionable
glare or sky glow observable from surrounding properties or streets
will be shielded.
B.
Public facilities. The Town and/or Health
Department shall certify that the proposed water and sewer facilities
are adequate to service the proposed development
C.
Screening. The Planning Commission may
recommend requirement of screening the property lines and around,
and within, the parking areas. Minimum standards are:
(1)
Planting strips will be no less than
five feet wide planted with shrubs and/or trees, which are of a type
and spaced at intervals which may be expected to form a year-round
dense screen at least six feet high within three years; and
(2)
Opaque fencing may be used in lieu
of trees and shrubs, subject to approval of the Director of Planning.
D.
Common areas. If the plan of development
includes common areas, property, and/or facilities, including, but
not limited to, stormwater management facilities, the Director of
Planning, as a condition of approval, shall establish such conditions
on the ownership, use, and maintenance of such lands or property as
he deems necessary to insure the preservation and maintenance of such
areas, property, and facilities for their intended purposes.
In furtherance of the purposes of
this chapter, and to assure public safety and general welfare, the
Town departments, and agencies charged with the responsibility for
the review and approval of site plans, shall require such of the following
improvements as fall within their respective responsibilities:
A.
Designation of pedestrian walkways so that
individuals may walk on same from store to store or building to building
within the site and to adjacent sites.
B.
The concurrence of the State Department
of Transportation with the location and design of vehicular entrances
and exits to and from state-maintained streets and highways.
C.
Connection, wherever possible, of all walkways,
travel lanes, and driveways, with similar adjacent developments.
D.
Screening, fences, landscaping, and buffer
areas as are required by the provisions of this section and other
ordinances of the Town.
E.
Easements or rights-of-way for all facilities
to be publicly maintained. Such easements shall clearly be defined
for the purpose intended.
A.
Prior to approval of any site plan, there
shall be executed by the owner or developer and submitted with the
site plan an agreement to construct such required physical improvements
as are located within public rights-of-way or easements or as are
connected to any public facility in form and substance as approved
by the Town of Denton, together with a bond or surety acceptable to
the Town in the amount of the estimated cost of the required physical
improvement of all work covered thereby, which time may be extended
by the Town Council upon written application by the owner or developer,
signed by all parties (including sureties) to the original agreement.
The adequacy, conditions, and acceptability of any bond or surety
hereunder shall be determined by the approving authority for the Town.
The legal sufficiency of the bond or surety shall be determined by
the Town Attorney.
B.
The Town may also require agreement bonds
for required landscaping and bufferyard plantings. The bond (amount
to be determined by the Town Arborist) may be held for the Town for
a period of one year to ensure that plantings remain healthy and alive
during this period.
Approval of a site plan submitted
under the provisions of this article shall expire one year after the
date of such approval unless building permits have been obtained for
construction in accordance therewith. A single one-year extension
may be given upon written request by the applicant to the Director
of Planning made within 90 days before the expiration of the approved
site plan. The Director of Planning shall acknowledge the request
and shall forward the request within 45 days after receipt to the
Planning Commission for a recommendation regarding the requested extension.
Any site plan may be revised using
the same procedure as originally approved, and any requirements of
this article may be waived by the Planning Commission, or the Director
of Planning for minor modifications as specified in Subsection A,
in specific cases where such requirement is found to be unreasonable.
No such waiver shall be adverse to the purpose of this section. Approved
site plans may be modified as follows:
A.
Minor modifications. The Director of Planning
may authorize minor adjustments in an approved plan as follows:
(1)
Minor modification of the size and
location of drainageways, sewers, roadways, plantings or other similar
features, in light of technical or engineering considerations.
(2)
Minor modifications of the bulk of
any proposed structure, provided that the modified dimensions comply
with all requirements of the applicable zoning district and do not
allow buildings closer to property lines or otherwise adversely affect
neighboring properties or the development authorized by the plan as
originally approved.
(3)
Any request for a modification of
any condition imposed in a site design plan approval which is deemed
by the Planning Director to be a minor modification.
B.
Major modifications. Modifications to any
approved site design plan that the Director of Planning deems to be
a major modification may be approved only in accordance with the procedures
required for original plan approval, subject to waivers of plan submission
requirements by the Director of Planning.
No building permit shall be issued
for any structure in any area covered by the site plan that is required
under the provisions of this article except as it is in conformity
to such site plan which has been duly approved.
