A plan for a residential subdivision of land consisting of five (5) or fewer units or lots, provided that such subdivision does not require waivers or modifications as specified in these Regulations, shall be reviewed subject to the provisions of this Article. All nonresidential subdivisions shall be considered as major subdivisions.
1. 
Review stages. Minor plan review shall consist of two (2) stages, preliminary and final. If a street creation or extension is involved, a public hearing is also required. The Planning Board may vote to combine the approval stages, providing requirements for both stages have been met by the applicant to the satisfaction of the Board.
2. 
Submission requirements. Any applicant requesting approval of a proposed minor subdivision or minor land development, as defined in this Regulation, shall submit to the Administrative Officer the items required by the Application Checklist for Minor Land Developments and Minor Subdivisions.
3. 
Certification. The application shall be certified complete or incomplete by the Administrative Officer within twenty-five (25) days, according to the provisions of Article III.
4. 
Re-assignment to major review. The Planning Board may re-assign a proposed minor project to major review only when the Planning Board is unable to make the positive findings required in Article XIII.
5. 
Decision.
a) 
If no street creation or extension is required, the Planning Board shall approve, deny, or approve with conditions, the preliminary plan within sixty-five (65) days of certification of completeness, or within such further time as is agreed to by the applicant and the Board, according to the requirements of Article XIII.
b) 
If a street extension or creation is required, the Planning Board shall hold a public hearing prior to approval according to the requirements in Article VI and shall approve, deny, or approve with conditions, the preliminary plan within ninety-five (95) days of certification of completeness, or within such further time as is agreed to by the applicant and the Board, according to the requirements of Article XIII.
c) 
If an extension of time is agreed to by the applicant and the Board as provided in Article III, this time period shall be stayed.
d) 
All changes and conditions shall be noted on the plans prior to signature by the appropriate Planning Board official and recording.
Failure of the Planning Board to act within the period prescribed shall constitute approval of the preliminary plan and a certificate of the Administrative Officer as to the failure of the Planning Board to act within the required time and the resulting approval shall be issued on request of the applicant. If an extension of time is agreed to by the applicant and the Board as provided in Article III, this time period shall be stayed.
A Final Plan shall be submitted to the Administrative Officer, which shall conform to the requirements of the "Final Plat Checklist - Minor Land Developments and Minor Subdivision",[1] and contain all special conditions imposed by the Planning Board. The Planning Board may delegate final plan review and approval to either the Administrative Officer or the Technical Review Committee. The officer or committee shall report its actions to the Planning Board at its next regular meeting, to be made part of the record.
1. 
Certificate from the Town Tax Collector that all taxes due on the subject land have been paid and that there are no outstanding tax liens thereon. No plat shall be approved by the Planning Board in the absence of such certificate.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Final Plat Checklist is included as an attachment to this chapter.
Approval of a minor land development or subdivision plan shall expire ninety (90) days from the date of approval unless within such period a plat or plan, in conformity with such approval, and as defined in this act, is submitted for signature and recording as specified in Article XIII. Validity may be extended for a longer period, for cause shown, if requested by the applicant in writing, and approved by the Planning Board.
Any subdivision of a parcel of land into at least two (2) but no more than five (5) lots for the purpose of development, all of which have frontage on a public street, which meet all applicable area and dimensional requirements of the Zoning Ordinance[1] but which do not require the extension or creation of a street shall be considered to be a minor subdivision and shall be reviewed according to the applicable provisions of this Article.
1. 
Minor subdivisions involving the creation of two (2) lots:
a) 
Minor subdivisions described above involving the creation of no more than two (2) lots (one (1) original lot plus one (1) new lot) shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedure established in Article XII. The applicant shall be required to submit to the Administrative Officer all plans and supporting materials as required by the Preliminary Plat Checklist for Minor Subdivisions.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: The Preliminary Plat Checklist for Minor Subdivisions is included as an attachment to this chapter.
b) 
Any further subdivision of either of the two (2) lots created hereunder at any time after the effective date of these Regulations, whether immediate or future, shall be considered to be a minor subdivision of three (3) or more lots or a major subdivision and shall be reviewed under the applicable provisions of these Regulations.
c) 
Criteria for review. The following criteria shall be used by the Planning Board in their review of any two (2)-lot minor subdivision within this subsection:
(1) 
Potential for further subdivision. The Planning Board shall consider whether the parcel being subdivided has the potential for further subdivision under current applicable zoning regulations.
If it has such potential, the Planning Board shall consider the impacts from such future development in their review of the proposed subdivision and may impose any or all of the Lot Development Standards provided below as necessary to mitigate such impacts.
(2) 
Adequacy of the street on which the proposed lots front.
(a) 
The lots must be provided with access to a street which is adequate for access for vehicular traffic; and,
(b) 
The frontage must provide safe and adequate access to a public street.
(3) 
Adequacy of the access from the lots onto the street.
(a) 
The lots must be accessible by the fire department, police department and other agencies charged with protection of the public peace, safety and welfare; and,
(b) 
The lots must be physically accessible from the street upon which they front, i.e., they cannot be isolated by topographic or natural features which prevent adequate physical access from the street.
(4) 
Conformance with zoning. The proposed lots must be in conformance with all applicable zoning ordinance requirements.
(5) 
Conformity with the comprehensive plan. The proposed lots shall be in conformity with the Town's Comprehensive Community Plan with regard to:
(a) 
Discouraging the development of residential lots having direct frontage on major streets.
(b) 
Establishing a functional classification of roads that encourages residences to take access from local roads.
(c) 
Preserving visual quality and rural character.
(6) 
Relationship to adjacent or nearby uses. The proposed lots and access thereto shall be designed so as to minimize conflict with existing adjacent uses, driveways, buildings or other structures, streets, intersections, hills, curves or other similar existing features.
d) 
(Reserved)
e) 
Lot development standards. Standards which may be imposed by the Planning Board on any two (2)-lot minor subdivision as a condition of approval may include the following:
(1) 
The location of the proposed access driveway along the road frontage may be modified or relocated.
(2) 
The proposed number of access driveways onto any street from any lot or group of lots may be modified or limited. (See also Traffic Sensitive District in Article X.)
[Amended 4-29-1998[3]]
[3]
Note: Changed 4-29-1998 from '(2) The proposed number of access driveways onto any street from any lot or group of lots may be modified or limited. (See also Traffic Sensitive District in the Portsmouth Zoning Ordinance)'
(3) 
Driveways of adjacent lots, or groups of contiguous lots may be combined and the use of common driveways may be required where feasible.
(4) 
Screening, buffering, and/or landscaping of the lot and/or driveway from adjacent public streets may be required.
(5) 
Preservation of any existing unique natural and/or historic features such as trees or stone walls may be required. The applicant shall endeavor to preserve such features, and the Planning Board may require specific such features to be preserved.
(6) 
Provisions may be made for ensuring adequate sight distances from the proposed access driveway along adjacent public streets in order to alleviate any potentially hazardous situation.
(7) 
Subdivision of lots having frontage along Traffic Sensitive District roads shall adhere to the standards of Article X.
[Amended 4-29-1998[4]]
[4]
Note: Changed 4-29-1998 from '(7) Subdivision of lots having frontage along Traffic Sensitive District roads shall adhere to the standards of Article III of the Portsmouth Zoning Ordinance.'
2. 
Minor subdivisions involving the creation of three (3) to five (5) lots. Minor subdivisions described above involving the creation of three (3), four (4) or five (5) lots for the purpose of development shall be reviewed by the Planning Board in accordance with the procedure established in Article XII. The applicant shall be required to submit to the Administrative Officer all plans and supporting materials as required by the Preliminary Plat Checklist for Minor Subdivisions.[5] Any further subdivision of any lot(s) at any time after the effective date of these Regulations, whether immediate or future, so as to create a total of six (6) lots or more from the original lot, after the effective date of adoption of these Regulations shall be considered to be a major subdivision and shall be reviewed under the provisions of Article VI.
a) 
Criteria for review. In their review of any three (3) to five (5)-lot minor subdivision, the Planning Board shall use the criteria for review of a two (2)-lot minor subdivision involving no street creation or extension as provided in Section F.1. above. In addition, the Committee and Planning Board may also consider the following:
(1) 
Feasibility of internal access streets. Wherever possible and practical, the lots shall be developed on remaining portions of the parcel being subdivided so as to avoid creation of individual lots having direct frontage on an existing public arterial or collector street. In such cases, the Planning Board shall require the applicant to submit alternative plans to demonstrate the feasibility of creating other types of subdivisions, such as a three (3) to five (5)-lot minor subdivision with an internal street, a residential compound, or a conventional subdivision. If the Planning Board determines that such development is feasible and practical, the creation of frontage lots shall be prohibited and the applicant shall be required to develop the property in an alternative fashion.
b) 
Lot development standards. If the creation of three (3) to five (5) frontage lots is not prohibited under the provisions of (2)(a) above, the Planning Board shall review the proposed frontage lots as a three (3) to five (5)-lot minor subdivision. Standards which may be imposed by the Planning Board as a condition of approval of any three (3) to five (5)-lot minor subdivision involving no street creation or extension may include any of the standards for the development of a two (2)-lot minor subdivision as provided in Section 1.c (1)-(6) above, plus any of the following:
(1) 
Improvements to the street on which the proposed lot(s) front(s) may be required in order to provide safe vehicular access. Provided, however that the standards for construction or upgrading of any such access street(s) shall not exceed those standards required by Article X of these Subdivision Regulations for construction of streets in minor subdivisions.
(2) 
Easements may be required to be granted to the Town to prohibit individual driveway access from lots onto frontage streets if adequate provision is made for access from individual lots to service roads.
(3) 
Provisions may be made for incorporating proposed frontage lots into future subdivision of contiguous land, if such future subdivision is determined to be feasible by the Planning Board. Such provisions may include the following:
(a) 
Preparation of a concept plan to indicate future access to and development of residual land contiguous to proposed frontage lots;
(b) 
Reservation of land or easements to provide for future access from access streets to contiguous land; and/or,
(c) 
Temporary driveways for frontage lots with provisions made for future permanent driveways to be connected to future streets in subdivision of contiguous land.
[5]
Editor's Note: The Preliminary Plat Checklist for Minor Subdivisions is included as an attachment to this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 405, Zoning.
Any subdivision of a parcel of land into at least two (2) but no more than five (5) lots for the purpose of development and which requires the creation or extension of a public street shall be considered a minor subdivision and shall be reviewed by the Planning Board in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section B herein. Standards for the design and required improvements of such minor subdivisions shall be as follows:
1. 
Creation or extension of a public street. Any minor subdivision that proposes the creation or extension of a public street shall be required to meet the design improvement standards for public streets as provided in Article X.
2. 
Creation or extension of a private street. Creation or extension of private streets shall not be permitted.
3. 
Subdivision of lots having frontage along Traffic Sensitive District roads shall adhere to the standards of Article X.
[Amended 4-29-1998[1]]
[1]
Note: Changed 4-29-1998 from '(3) Subdivision of lots having frontage along Traffic Sensitive District roads shall adhere to the standards of Article III of the Portsmouth Zoning Ordinance.'
4. 
As-Built Road and Public Improvement Construction Drawings showing compliance with these regulations and any special conditions imposed by the Planning Board and/or any applicable division of the State of Rhode Island shall be required prior to the release of any performance or road bonds.