For purposes of these regulations, certain terms and words used in
these regulations shall be interpreted and defined as set forth in
this subsection:
ABUTTER
Adjacent landowners. Property sharing a common boundary line
with the property proposed to be subdivided or resubdivided and for
these regulations all property in any direction within 200 feet of
any boundary line of the proposed subdivision. Includes all adjacent
landowners within the Town of Ashford or any other town.
APPLICANT
Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other legally
recognized entity which shall apply to the Commission for approval
of a subdivision, either on the applicant's own behalf or as an agent
for one or more or successor in interest.
APPLICATION
A request for approval of a specific subdivision plan, including
an application form as may be prescribed by the Commission, accompanied
by all supporting information, documents, reports, and the like which
may be required by these regulations.
AQUIFER
Any geological formation, such as bedrock, sand and gravel,
or glacial till, capable of yielding usable amounts of groundwater.
BUILDABLE LAND/LOT/AREA
That area of land within a lot or parcel meeting the requirements
of the Ashford Zoning Regulations.
CENTER ISLAND
Strip or corridor of land at least eight feet wide running
from the beginning of a cul-de-sac to the turnaround between two one-way
streets.
CHECKLIST
Lists found in Appendix A that will assist in keeping track of various drawing requirements,
submissions and procedures for a complete formal subdivision plan
proposal application.
COMMISSION
The Planning and Zoning Commission, Town of Ashford, Connecticut.
CONVENTIONAL SUBDIVISION
A subdivision design that is consistent with the provisions
of the Ashford Zoning Regulations and Ashford Subdivision Regulations.
Specifically a conventional subdivision is a subdivision or resubdivision
of land into lots for single-family detached dwelling units that meets
the frontage and minimum two-acre buildable land requirements of the
Ashford Zoning Regulations. Not an open space subdivision.
CUL-DE-SAC
A street having only one outlet to a through road. A street
with a temporary or permanent turnaround at the end.
DATE OF RECEIPT
The day of the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission
immediately following the day of submission of the application to
the Commission, or its agent, or 35 days after such submission, whichever
is sooner.
DESIGN ADVISORY BOARD
An ad hoc committee whose members are appointed by the Commission
to provide guidance with site plan and architectural design of nonresidential,
multifamily and open space subdivision buildings and structures.
DISTURBED AREA
An area where the natural vegetative ground cover is destroyed,
moved or removed.
EASEMENT
A right, established by deed or other legal means, of one
party to use a designated portion of a second party's land for a specific,
limited purpose.
EROSION
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by
water, wind, ice or gravity. Human activities can aggravate and accelerate
erosion.
FINAL SUBDIVISION PLAN
The Mylar maps, drawings, and all supporting data as approved
by the Commission, containing all modifications and revisions required
by such approval, and ready for endorsement by the Commission and
for filing with the Town Clerk pursuant to C.G.S. § 8-25.
FLOOD or FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(1)
The overflow of inland or tidal water.
(2)
The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters
from any source.
FORMAL SUBDIVISION PLAN
The map, drawings, and all supporting data required by these
regulations upon which a formal (i.e., non-preliminary) plan of subdivision
is presented to the Commission for action.
HALF STREET
A proposed street, or any extension of an existing street,
along and roughly parallel to a property line such that less than
the entire required right-of-way and street improvements, longitudinally,
would be located on one property. (Prohibited)
IMPROVEMENT
Any change or alteration to the existing conditions of the
subdivision site for the purpose of complying with these regulations,
or any approval granted hereunder, or rendering the site more suitable
for development and/or habitation. As used in these regulations, improvements
include but are not limited to construction and installation of roadways,
paved streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, utilities, street signs,
monuments, shade trees, drainage facilities, erosion and sedimentation
control measures, buildings, driveways, septic systems, water supplies,
earth filling or removal, seeding, plantings and grading.
INTERIOR LOT
A lot that does not meet the minimum lot frontage requirements.
Special permit required. Not allowed in open space subdivisions. See
Zoning Regulations.
KEYSTONE
A linkage property between two or more properties and/or
a property of large acreage that abuts other unfragmented properties.
LOOP STREET
A street intersecting with the same street twice.
LOT
A plot or parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied
by one principal building and the accessory buildings or uses customarily
incidental to it, including such yards, open spaces, and buffer areas
as are required by the Ashford Zoning Regulations, and which meets
the frontage requirements of these regulations and the Ashford Zoning
Regulations.
[Amended 5-10-2021]
LOT, CORNER
A lot located at the intersection of two roads, or a lot
bound on two sides by a curving road, any two chords of which form
an angle of 120° or less.
OPEN SPACE
Land defined to include, but not be limited to, land left
in its natural, undisturbed, or undeveloped state; land used for managed
forest land or agriculture; and land containing important farmland
soils as defined in the report "Important Farmlands - Windham County
Connecticut, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service."
Open space land may include areas and facilities for passive or active
recreation; land areas for wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge,
watershed protection, or scenic view or vista preservation; lands
having the presence of an endangered or threatened species or other
natural resources and/or archaeological or historically significant
features and the like; forests; parks; reservoirs; and wetlands. "Open
space" does not necessarily mean open and accessible to the public.
"Open space" may include private property with permanent conservation
easements and other protections (e.g., Connecticut Farmland Preservation
Program where development rights are acquired by the state).
OPEN SPACE SUBDIVISION
A cluster development, as defined by C.G.S. § 8-18,
in which the dimensions that would otherwise be required for lots
and buildable land under the Ashford Zoning and Subdivision Regulations
may be reduced for the purposes of encouraging the dedication and
preservation of additional open space. Specifically, an open space
subdivision is a subdivision or resubdivision of land into lots for
single-family detached dwelling units that meets the frontage and
minimum one-acre contiguous buildable land requirements of the Ashford
Zoning Regulations. Interior lots are prohibited.
PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY TECHNIQUES
The utilization of building features, materials and systems,
building orientation, street and/or lot layout, vegetation, natural
or man-made topographical features and the protection of solar access
within a subdivision as tools for maximizing solar heat gain, minimizing
heat loss, and providing thermal storage within a building during
the heating season and for minimizing heat gain and providing for
natural ventilation during the cooling season.
PLAN AND PROFILE
The drawing(s) depicting respectively the horizontal and vertical design for street construction and drainage and containing all information required by Article
IV, §
295-14, of these regulations.
PLAN OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Plan of Conservation and Development of the Town of Ashford,
as it may be adopted and amended from time to time, in accordance
with C.G.S. § 8-23, as amended.
PRE-APPLICATION CONFERENCE
A meeting between the Commission, or its designee, and a
potential subdivider, resubdivider, applicant, or property owner for
the purpose of discussing conceptually a possible subdivision or resubdivision
of land.
PRELIMINARY LAYOUT
The preliminary map(s), drawing(s) and all required supporting
data indicating the proposed manner and layout of a subdivision or
resubdivision likely to be submitted to the Commission for consideration
as a formal subdivision plan.
PRINT
A blueprint, photostat, lithoprint, or other copy which reproduces
exactly the data on the original drawing(s) from which it is made.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT SPECIFICATIONS
Those requirements covered in the Ashford Public Improvement
Specifications document relating to roads, streets, driveways, storm
drainage, etc.
REQUIRED SUBMITTALS
The complete list of documents, certifications, reports,
statements, study results, letters of recommendation, etc., that must
be submitted for a complete subdivision application.
RESERVE STRIP
Land to be set aside for dedication to the public upon future
development. Reserve strips may include land to be set aside for streets,
street connections, pedestrianways, parks, or other land dedicated
to public use.
RESUBDIVISION
A change in a map of an approved or recorded subdivision
or resubdivision if such change affects any street layout shown on
such map, affects any area reserved thereon for public use, or diminishes
the size of any lot shown thereon and creates an additional building
lot, if any of the lots shown thereon have been conveyed after the
approval or recording of such map.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
The distance between property lines measured across and perpendicular
to a street or, where no right-of-way has been established, 25 feet
on either side of the center line of the street pavement as defined
below.
ROAD REGULATIONS
The standards, specifications and details for construction
of streets, driveways, drainage, etc., as specified in Ashford Public
Improvement Specifications. The word "road" is interchangeable with
the word "street." Both "road" and "street" mean the same thing in
these regulations.
SEDIMENT
Solid material, either mineral or organic, that is transported,
or has been moved from, its site of origin. (See "erosion.")
SLOPE RIGHTS
The two fifteen-linear-foot rights-of-way, adjacent to both
sides of the street right-of-way, reserved for remedying drainage
problems.
SOLAR ACCESS
Where feasible the access to unobstructed sunlight required
by solar collectors for efficient operation. Solar access shall be
considered adequately available for 75% of the time between 7:34 a.m.
and 3:08 p.m. local time on December 21.
STREET
A street, avenue, lane, road or other right-of-way dedicated
and legally accepted by the Town, the State of Connecticut or a private
association for the purpose of public travel. All new streets and
streets serving new streets must meet the minimum standards of the
Ashford Public Improvement Standards. "Road" means the same thing
as "street" in these regulations.
STREET PAVEMENT
The wearing or exposed surface of the roadway used by vehicular
traffic.
STREET TREES
Those trees, six-inch diameter at breast height or greater,
along existing and proposed streets that maintain and enhance the
rural character of the roadway and are within 30 feet of the center
line of the street.
SUBDIVIDER
The person or other legally recognized entity primarily responsible
for implementing an approved final subdivision plan. The applicant
may or may not be the subdivider.
SUBDIVISION
The division of a tract or parcel of land into three or more
parts or lots for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale
or building development, expressly excluding development for municipal,
conservation, or agricultural purposes, and includes resubdivision.
Building development includes development for residential, commercial,
or industrial purposes. See Zoning Regulations for divisions of less
than three lots.
SUBDIVISION APPLICATION
The body of forms, drawings, studies, engineering, and other
required submittals that must be submitted to request the subdivision
of land.
TOWN
The Town of Ashford, County of Windham, Connecticut.
TRAVELED WIDTH
The distance between curb faces, or the width of the street
pavement, measured in a direction perpendicular to the street.
WETLANDS
Land, including submerged land, which consists of any of
the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained,
alluvial and floodplain by the National Cooperative Soils Survey,
as may be amended from time to time, of the Natural Resources Conservation
Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.