In considering applications for subdivision of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standards set forth hereinafter. The said standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article IV herein.
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.
C.
Specification for required improvements. All required improvements
shall be constructed or installed to conform to the Town specifications,
which may be obtained from the Town Engineer.
A.
Width, location and construction. Streets shall be of sufficient
width, suitably located and adequately constructed to conform to the
Comprehensive Plan and to accommodate the prospective traffic and
afford access for firefighting, snow removal and other road maintenance
equipment. The arrangement of streets shall be such as to cause no
undue hardship to adjoining properties and shall be coordinated so
as to compose a convenient system.
B.
Arrangement. The arrangement of streets in the subdivision shall
provide for the continuation of principal streets of adjoining subdivisions
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 conditions may be modified.
C.
Minor streets. Minor streets shall be so laid out that their use
by through traffic will be discouraged.
D.
Special treatment along major arterial streets. When a subdivision
abuts or contains an existing or proposed major arterial 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 service alleys or such other treatment as
may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties
and to afford separation of through and local traffic.
E.
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 this chapter.
F.
Dead-end streets. The creation of dead-end or loop residential streets
will be encouraged wherever the Board finds that such type of development
will not interfere with normal traffic circulation in the area. 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 20 lots or more shall have at least two street
connections with existing public streets or streets shown on the Zoning
Map or streets on an approved subdivision plat for which a bond or
letter of credit has been filed.
G.
Intersections with collector or major arterial roads. Minor or secondary
street openings into such roads shall, in general, be at least 500
feet apart.
H.
Street jogs. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 125
feet shall be avoided.
I.
Angle of intersection. In general, 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.
J.
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. Grades of
streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography.
K.
Other required streets. Where a subdivision borders on or contains
a railroad right-of-way or limited-access highway right-of-way, the
Planning 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 also be determined with due regard
for the requirements of approach grades and future grade separations.
A.
Improvements. Streets shall be graded and improved to meet Town requirements.
B.
Utilities.
(1)
The subdivider shall connect to public utilities, i.e., sewer and
water, when available. The Planning Board shall, wherever possible,
require that all utilities be placed underground in the street right-of-way
between the paved roadway and street line to simplify location and
repair of lines when they require attention. The subdivider shall
install or provide for installation of underground service connections
to the property line of each lot within the subdivision for such required
utilities before the street is paved.
(2)
Utility easements. Where topography is such as to make impractical
the inclusion of utilities within the street rights-of-way, perpetual
unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width shall be otherwise
provided with satisfactory access to the street. Wherever possible,
easements shall be continuous and shall present as few irregularities
as possible. Such easements shall be cleared and graded where required.
A.
Type of name. All street names shown on a preliminary plat or subdivision
plat shall be approved by the Planning Board. In general, streets
shall have names and not numbers or letters.
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, except that streets that join or are in alignment
with streets of an abutting or neighboring property shall bear the
same name. Generally, no street should change direction by more than
90° without a change in street name.
A.
Lots to be buildable. The lot arrangement shall be such that in constructing a building in compliance with Chapter 134, Zoning, there will be no foreseeable difficulties for reasons of topography or other natural conditions. Lots should not be of such depth as to encourage the later creation of a second building lot at the front or rear.
B.
Side lines. All side lines of lots shall be at right angles to street
lines, unless a waiver from this rule will give a better street or
lot plan.
C.
Corner lots. In general, corner lots should be larger than interior
lots to provide for proper building setbacks from each street and
provide a desirable building site.
D.
Driveway access. Driveway grades between the street and the setback
line shall not exceed 10%.
E.
Monuments and lot corner markers. Permanent monuments meeting specifications
approved by the Town Engineer as to size, type and installation shall
be set at such block corners, angle points, points of curves in streets
and other points as the Town Engineer may require, and their location
shall be shown on the subdivision plat.
A.
Removal of spring and surface water. The subdivider may be required
by the Planning Board to carry away by pipe or open ditch any spring
or surface water that may exist, either previous to or as a result
of the subdivision. Such drainage facilities shall be located in the
street right-of-way, where feasible, or in perpetual unobstructed
easements of appropriate width.
B.
Drainage structure to accommodate potential development upstream. A culvert or other drainage facility shall, in each case, be large enough to accommodate potential runoff from its entire upstream drainage area, whether inside or outside the subdivision. The Town Engineer shall approve the design and size of the facility based on anticipated runoff from a ten-year storm under conditions of total potential development permitted by Chapter 134, Zoning, in the watershed.
C.
Responsibility from drainage downstream. The subdivider's engineer
shall also study the effect of each subdivision on the existing downstream
drainage facilities outside the area of the subdivision; this study
shall be reviewed by the Town Engineer. Where it is anticipated that
the additional runoff incident to the development of the subdivision
will overload existing downstream drainage during a five-year storm,
the Planning Board shall notify the Town Board of such potential condition.
In such case, the Planning Board shall not approve the subdivision
until provision has been made for the improvement of said condition.
D.
Uninhabitable land. Land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable
shall not be platted for residential occupancy, nor for such other
uses as may increase danger to health, life of property or aggravate
a flood hazard, but such land within the plat shall be set aside for
such uses as shall not be endangered by periodic or occasional inundation
or improved in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board to remedy
said hazardous conditions.
A.
Recreation areas shown on Town plan. Where a proposed park, playground or open space shown on the Comprehensive Plan is located in whole or in part in a subdivision, the Board shall require that such area or areas be shown on the plat in accordance with the requirements specified in Subsection B below. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the Town or county by the subdivider if the Town Board approves such dedication.
B.
Parks and playgrounds not shown on Comprehensive Plan.
(1)
The Planning Board shall require that the plat show sites of a character,
extent and location suitable for the development of a park, playground
or other recreation purpose. The Planning Board may require that the
developer satisfactorily grade any such recreation areas shown on
the plat.
(2)
The Board shall require that not less than three acres of recreation
space be provided per 100 dwelling units shown on the plat. However,
in no case shall the amount be more than 10% of the total area of
the subdivision. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the Town by
the subdivider if the Town Board approves such dedication. Appropriate
legal measures should be taken to assure that such land can never
be developed for other than recreational purposes.
C.
Waiver of plat designation of area for parks and recreation.
(1)
In cases where the Planning Board finds that, due to the size, topography or location of the subdivision, land for park, playground or other recreation purpose cannot be properly located therein, or if in the opinion of the Board it is not desirable, the Board may waive the requirement that the plat show land for such purposes. The Board shall then require as a condition to approval of the plat a payment to the Town of Lenox of $100 per gross acre of land which otherwise would have been acceptable as a recreation site. The amount of land which otherwise would have been acceptable as a recreation site shall be determined in accordance with the standards set forth in Article V, § 114-21B.
(2)
Such amount shall be paid to the Town Board at the time of final
plat approval, and no plat shall be signed by the authorized officer
of the Planning Board until such payment is made. All such payments
shall be held by the Town Board in a special Town Recreation Site
Acquisition and Improvement Fund to be used for the acquisition of
land that is suitable for permanent park, playground or other recreational
purposes; is so located that it serves primarily the general neighborhood
in which the land covered by the plat lies; and shall be used only
for park, playground or other recreational land acquisition or improvements.
Such money may also be used for the physical improvement of existing
parks or recreation areas serving the general neighborhood in which
the land shown on the plat is situated, provided that the Planning
Board finds there is a need for such improvements.
