In order that land subdivisions may be made in accordance with
the authority, jurisdiction, and policy as set forth below, these
regulations, which shall be known and cited as the "Town of Walton
Land Subdivision Regulations," have been adopted by the Planning Board
on March 24, 1986, and approved by the Town Board on March 24, 1986.
By the authority of the resolution of the Town Board of the
Town of Walton, adopted on October 29, 1985, pursuant to the provisions
of Article 16 of the Town Law of the State of New York, the Planning
Board of the Town of Walton is authorized and empowered to approve
plats showing lots, blocks, or sites, with or without roads or highways,
to approve the development of entirely or partially undeveloped plats
already filed in the office of the County Clerk.
Land within the unincorporated portion of the Town of Walton
may be subdivided into lots, blocks, or sites, with or without streets
or highways, only if approved by the Planning Board in accordance
with the procedures and requirements as set forth in these regulations,
and only if the approved plat is duly filed in the office of the County
Clerk of Delaware County, New York. Construction, excavation, filling,
regrading, clearing of vegetation or other similar activities shall
not begin within any area proposed or intended for subdivision until
said subdivision shall have been approved, or conditionally approved,
by the Planning Board.
It is declared to be the policy of the Planning Board to consider
land subdivision as part of a plan for the orderly, efficient, economic
and aesthetic development of the Town. This means, among other things:
A.
That 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.
That proper provision shall be made for surface drainage, water supply,
sewage and other needed improvements;
C.
That roads and streets shall be of such width, grade and location
as to accommodate the prospective traffic, to follow the natural contours
of the land, to afford adequate light and air, to facilitate fire
protection and to provide access of firefighting and other emergency
equipment to buildings;
D.
That all proposed lots shall be so laid out and of such size as to
not cause any adverse effects, such as erosion, on neighboring properties;
E.
That proper provisions shall be made of open spaces for parks and
playgrounds.
These regulations are adopted for the following purposes:
A.
To protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the Town
by providing for adequate light and air, and security from fire, flood
and other danger;
B.
To guide the future growth and development of the Town, in accordance
with the Comprehensive Plan;
C.
To protect and conserve the value of the land throughout the Town;
D.
To ensure that public and private utilities and facilities are of
sufficient capacity to serve the proposed subdivision;
E.
To ensure proper legal descriptions and monumenting of subdivided
land;
F.
To establish reasonable design standards and procedures for subdivisions
and resubdivisions;
G.
To prevent the pollution of air, water and land. To assure adequate
drainage facilities; to safeguard water tables; and to encourage the
preservation and management of natural resources in the Town;
H.
To encourage the use of open spaces through the design and layout
of the land;
I.
To ensure that the natural contours of the land will be followed
in the design and layout of subdivisions.
No building permit shall be issued for the erection of any building
within a proposed subdivision until said subdivision has been duly
approved by the Planning Board and filed in the office of the County
Clerk. However, the Building Inspector may issue a single building
permit for a model home based upon the entire tract of land where
there is no other existing residence within the proposed subdivision
and where the location of the proposed building is in accordance with
an approved preliminary plat.
A resubdivision, as defined herein, is subject to the same procedures,
rules and regulations applicable to an original subdivision.
Regulation of the subdivision of land and the attachment of
reasonable conditions is an exercise of valid police power delegated
by New York State to the Town. The subdivider or developer has the
duty of compliance with reasonable conditions laid down by the Planning
Board for design, dedication, improvement, and restrictive use of
the land so as to conform to the physical, economic and aesthetic
development of the Town and to the safety and general welfare of the
future plat owners in the subdivision and the community at large.
A.
General.
(1)
Where the Planning Board finds that compliance with these regulations
would cause unusual hardship or extraordinary difficulties because
of exceptional and unique conditions of topography, access, location,
shape, size, drainage or other physical features of the site, the
minimum requirements of the regulations may be modified to mitigate
the hardship, provided that the public interest is protected and the
development is in keeping with the general spirit and intent of these
regulations.
(2)
No such modification may be granted if it would have the effect of
nullifying the intent and purpose of the Comprehensive Plan or these
regulations.
B.
Conditions. In approving waivers, the Planning Board may require
such conditions as will, in its judgment, secure substantially the
objectives of the policy and standards of these regulations.
C.
Procedure.
These regulations may be amended by the Planning Board after
public hearing on such amendments and are subject to the approval
of the Town Board. Any proposed preliminary subdivision plat which
has not received conditional approval prior to the effective date
of an amendment to these regulations, or any conditionally approved
preliminary subdivision plat where an application for final plat approval
has not been received within six months of the date of conditional
approval, shall fully comply with any amendment to these regulations.
A.
General.
(1)
It shall be the responsibility of the Planning Board to bring to
the attention of the Town Attorney any violations or lack of compliance
herewith.
(2)
No owner, or agent of the owner, of any parcel of land located in
a proposed subdivision shall transfer or sell any such parcel before
a plat of such subdivision has been approved by the Planning Board,
in accordance with the provisions of these regulations, and filed
with the County Clerk.
(3)
The subdivision of any lot or any parcel of land, by the use of metes
and bounds description for the purpose of sale, transfer, or lease
with the intent of evading these regulations, shall not be permitted.
All such described subdivisions shall be subject to all of the requirements
contained in these regulations.
(4)
No building permit shall be issued for the construction of any building
or structure located on a lot or plat subdivided or sold in violation
of the provisions of these regulations.
B.
Civil enforcement. Appropriate actions and proceedings may be taken
by law or in equity to prevent any violation of these regulations,
or prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages, to restrain,
correct, or abate a violation, or to prevent illegal occupancy of
a building, structure or premises; and these remedies shall be in
addition to the penalties described in a separate local law.
Should any section or provision of the regulations contained
herein or as amended hereafter be declared by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity
of the regulation as a whole or any part thereof other than the part
so declared to be invalid.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Planning Board relative
to a subdivision may have such decision reviewed by a special term
of the Supreme Court in the manner provided by Article 78 of the Civil
Practice Law and Rules, providing the proceeding is commenced within
30 days after the filing of the decision in the Town Clerk's
office, as set forth in § 282 of Town Law.
