The Planning Board of the City of Augusta, hereinafter called the "Board," shall administer this Part
4. The City Planner shall provide administrative support to the Board. The Director of Code Enforcement, or his designee, shall be the enforcing officer. The City Engineer, or his designee, shall make a written report to the Board with respect to the proposed grades, drainage, profiles, cross sections, relationship of abutting land and road, parking or other impervious surfacing of a proposed subdivision or major development, before the final plan may be approved. The Board shall also obtain reports from the engineers of utility companies and districts (water, sanitary, electric, telephone, cable television) and such others, including fire and police bureaus, as it deems advisable. Such reports shall be in writing. A permanent record of all meetings, proceedings and correspondence shall be maintained.
[Amended 7-7-2011 by Ord.
No. 11-81]
A. Before submission of a formal preliminary plan, a preapplication
for a subdivision or major/minor development shall be made to the
City Planner and shall include six copies of a sketch plan. The intent
of the preapplication phase is to provide an opportunity for the developer
to meet with the staff and other reviewing agencies to informally
review the proposal.
(1)
The preapplication shall include the following information:
(a)
Fifty-foot by one-hundred-foot scale (200 feet if clarity maintained);
(b)
North arrow (including date and declination if magnetic);
(f)
Road frontage (include existing street names);
(2)
The submittal or review of the preapplication sketch plan shall
not be considered the initiation of the review process for the purposes
of bringing the plan under the protection of 1 M.R.S.A. § 302.
B. Criteria for reviewing the preapplication. When reviewing the preapplication, the staff and the prospective subdivider or developer shall consider the following criteria, as well as the site plan review criteria applicable to conditional uses in §
300-603:
[Amended 4-23-2001 by Ord. No. 37]
(1)
Pollution. The proposed subdivision will not result in undue
water or air pollution. In making this determination, consideration
shall be given to:
(a)
The elevation of the land above sea level and its relation to
the floodplains;
(b)
The nature of soils and subsoils and their ability to adequately
support waste disposal;
(c)
The slope of the land and its effect on effluents;
(d)
The availability of streams for disposal of effluents; and
(e)
The applicable state and local health and water resource rules
and regulations.
(2)
Sufficient water. The proposed subdivision has sufficient water
available for the reasonably foreseeable needs of the subdivision.
(3)
Municipal water supply. The proposed subdivision will not cause
an unreasonable burden on an existing water supply, if one is to be
used.
(4)
Soil erosion. The proposed subdivision will not cause unreasonable
soil erosion or a reduction in the land's capacity to hold water so
that a dangerous or unhealthy condition results.
(5)
Highway or public road congestion. The proposed subdivision
will not cause unreasonable highway or public road congestion or unsafe
conditions with respect to the use of the highways or public roads
existing or proposed.
(6)
For major developments, the developer has made adequate provision
for traffic movement of all types into, out of or within the development
area. The Board shall consider traffic movement both on site and off
site. Before issuing a permit, the Board shall find that any traffic
increase attributable to the proposed development will not result
in unreasonable congestion or unsafe conditions on a road in the vicinity
of the proposed development.
(7)
Sewage waste disposal. The proposed subdivision will provide
adequate sewage waste disposal.
(8)
Municipal solid waste and sewage waste disposal. The proposed
subdivision will not cause an unreasonable burden on the municipality's
ability to dispose of solid waste and sewage, if municipal services
are to be utilized.
(9)
Aesthetic, cultural and natural values. The proposed subdivision
will not have an undue adverse effect on the scenic or natural beauty
of the area, aesthetics, historic sites, significant wildlife habitat
identified by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
or the City of Augusta, or rare and irreplaceable natural areas or
any public rights for physical or visual access to the shoreline.
(10)
Conformity with City ordinances and plans. The proposed subdivision
conforms with a duly adopted subdivision regulation or ordinance,
Comprehensive Plan, development, plan or land use plan.
(11)
Financial and technical capacity. The subdivider has adequate
financial and technical ability to develop the project in a manner
consistent with state and local performance, environmental and technical
standards.
(12)
Surface waters; outstanding river segments. Whenever situated
entirely or partially within the watershed of any pond or lake or
within 250 feet of any wetland, great pond or river as defined in
Title 38, Chapter 3, Subchapter 1, Article 2-B, the proposed subdivision
will not adversely affect the quality of that body of water or unreasonably
affect the shoreline of that body of water.
(a)
When lots in a subdivision have frontage on an outstanding river
segment (Edward's Dam north to town line), the proposed subdivision
plan must require each lot's principal structure to have a combined
lot shore frontage and setback from the normal high-water mark of
500 feet.
[1] To avoid circumventing the intent of this provision,
whenever a proposed subdivision adjoins a shoreland strip narrower
than 250 feet which is not lotted, the proposed subdivision shall
be reviewed as if lot lines extended to the shore.
[2] The frontage and setback provisions of this subsection
do not apply either within areas zoned as general development or its
equivalent under shoreland zoning, Title 38, M.R.S.A., Chapter 3,
Subchapter 1, Article 2-B, or within areas designated by ordinance
as densely developed. The determination of which areas are densely
developed must be based on a finding that existing development met
the definitional requirements of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4401, Subsection
1, on September 23, 1983. (The section referenced includes the definition
of "densely developed area" which is also included in this chapter.)
(13)
Groundwater. The proposed subdivision will not, alone or in
conjunction with existing activities, adversely affect the quality
or quantity of groundwater.
(14)
Flood areas. Based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps and Flood Insurance Rate Maps, and
information presented by the applicant, whether the subdivision, or
any part of it, is in a flood-prone area. If the subdivision, or any
part of it, is in such an area, the subdivider shall determine the
one-hundred-year-flood elevation and flood hazard boundaries within
the subdivision. The proposed subdivision plan must include a condition
of plat approval requiring that principal structures in the subdivision
will be constructed with their lowest floor, including the basement,
at least one foot above the one-hundred-year-flood elevation.
(15)
Freshwater wetlands. All freshwater wetlands within the proposed
subdivision have been identified on any maps submitted as part of
the application, regardless of the size of these wetlands. Any mapping
of freshwater wetlands may be done with the help of the Kennebec County
Soil and Water Conservation District.
(16)
River, stream or brook. Any river, stream or brook within or
abutting the proposed subdivision has been identified on any maps
submitted as part of the application. For purposes of this section,
"river, stream or brook" has the same meaning as in 38 M.R.S.A. § 480-B,
Subsection 9 (also defined in this chapter).
(17)
Stormwater. The proposed subdivision will provide for adequate
stormwater management.
(18)
Access to direct sunlight. The Planning Board may, to protect
and ensure access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems, prohibit,
restrict or control development. The subdivider shall, on request
of the Planning Board or staff, submit development plans which include
either one or a combination of the following:
(c)
Increased setback requirements.
(19)
Title 38 M.R.S.A., as amended, § 484, Standards for
development; Chapter 371, Definition of Terms used in the Site Location
of Development Law and Regulations; Chapter 373, Financial Capacity
Standard; Chapter 374, Traffic Movement Standard; Chapter 375, No
Adverse Environmental Effect Standard; Chapter 376, Soil Types Standard;
and Chapter 377, Review of Roads, shall apply to review of major developments.
(20)
Spaghetti lots prohibited. If any lots in the proposed subdivision
have shore frontage on a river, stream, brook, great pond or coastal
wetland as these features are defined in 38 M.R.S.A. § 480-B,
none of the lots created within the subdivision have a lot depth to
shore frontage ratio greater than five to one.
(21)
All outdoor lighting shall be of a design and construction that
prevents light trespass beyond the boundaries of the property on which
it is located.
[Amended 2-19-2009 by Ord. No. 016]
In all instances the burden of proof is upon the person proposing
the subdivision or major/minor development. In issuing its decision,
the Planning Board shall make findings of fact establishing that the
proposed subdivision or major/minor development does or does not meet
the standards and criteria required.
The approval of a final plan by the Board shall not be deemed
an acceptance by the City of the dedication of any street or other
public way or grounds.
[Amended 2-19-2009 by Ord. No. 016]
The approval of a final subdivision plan shall be attested on
the original drafting film (Mylar) by the signatures of the legal
majority of the members of the Planning Board. A reproducible copy
(drafting film) shall be filed with the City Services Department,
Engineering Bureau. Approval of a final plan for a major/minor development
need not be attested on the plan.
The original tracing of a final plan as approved by the Planning
Board and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, if needed,
shall be filed in the Registry of Deeds before a subdivision may be
developed, or lots in it sold or offered for sale.
The City of Augusta Technical Standards Handbook shall apply to all developments subject to review under the regulations of this chapter. See §
300-602.
See Part
6, Administration, of this chapter.
[Amended 6-20-1994 by Ord. No. 546]
A. Revisions to existing plat or plan. Any application for subdivision approval which constitutes a revision of a subdivision plan which has been previously approved shall indicate that fact on the application and shall identify the original subdivision plan being revised or amended. In reviewing such an application, the Planning Board shall make findings of fact establishing that the proposed revisions do or do not meet the criteria of §
300-404B.
B. In the case of an amendment, if no amended plan is to be recorded,
a certificate shall be prepared in recordable form and recorded in
the Registry of Deeds. This certificate shall:
(1)
Indicate the name of the current property owner;
(2)
Identify the property by reference to the last recorded deed
in its chain of title;
(3)
Indicate the fact that a variance, including any conditions
on the variance, has been granted and the date of the granting.
If a subdivision plat or plan is presented for recording to
a Register of Deeds and that plat or plan is a revision or amendment
to an existing plat or plan, the plat or plan shall:
A. Indicate on the plat or plan that the original plat or plan has been
superseded by another plat or plan;
B. Reference on the new or revised plat or plan the book and page or
cabinet and sheet on which the original plat or plan is recorded.
See Part
6, Administration, of this chapter.