For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meaning ascribed to them
as given in this section:
Any structure which is built for the support, shelter, or
enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, machinery, equipment, or
movable property of any kind.
A line parallel to the street right-of-way line and defines
an area on the building lot between the street right-of-way line and
the building line within which no building shall be constructed.
The municipal corporation, City of Katy, Texas.
The person employed as city attorney of the City of Katy,
Texas, and duly appointed by the city council.
The duly and constitutionally elected governing body of the
City of Katy, Texas.
The person or firm employed as city engineer of the City
of Katy, Texas, duly appointed by the city's mayor with the approval
of the city council.
The duly organized body of citizens of the City of Katy,
Texas, and duly appointed by the city council.
The counties of Fort Bend, Harris, and Waller, Texas, in
which respective county any subdivision of land takes place within
the jurisdiction of the City of Katy.
The duly and constitutionally elected governing body of Fort
Bend, Harris, or Waller County in which counties the City of Katy
may have jurisdiction.
A public right-of-way not more than six feet (6’) in
width between property lines which provides pedestrian circulation.
A street having but one (1) outlet to another street and
terminated on the opposite end by a vehicular turnaround.
A street, other than a cul-de-sac, with only one (1) outlet.
Any person or persons, firm, or corporation subdividing a
tract or parcel of land to be sold or otherwise handled for their
own personal gain or use.
A building lot, not a corner lot, which has frontage on two
(2) streets that are parallel or within forty-five degrees (45°)
of being parallel to each other.
A strip of land reserved for the use of the public by the
grantor, usually at the rear or side of lots or parcels of land, in
which to install and maintain utility lines, drainage ditches or channels,
or for other city or public services, the ownership or title to the
land encompassed by the easement being retained by the owner. In granting
the easement, the grantor is in effect vesting the public with authority
to control the use of land within the easement and, in exercising
such control, the city may specify that no buildings or part of a
building or other permanent structure or fence, in case of a drainage
easement, may be located within the limits of the easement.
A person duly authorized and licensed under the provisions
of the Texas Engineering Practice Act, as heretofore or hereinafter
amended, to practice the profession of engineering.
Within the terms of the Texas Municipal Annexation Act, the
term “extraterritorial jurisdiction” means the unincorporated
area, not a part of any other city, which is contiguous to the corporate
limits of the City of Katy, the outer boundaries of which are measured
from the extremities of the corporate limits of the city outward for
such distances as may be stipulated in the Texas Municipal Annexation
Act in accordance with the total population of the incorporated City
of Katy, in which area, within the terms of the act, the city may
enjoin the violation of its subdivision control regulations.
The day on which the project manager files a formal application as provided in section 10.02.002(b) of this chapter and all requirements of sections 10.02.001 and 10.02.002(a) through (e) have been met. Any filing not containing all the certificates, materials and information required by section 10.02.001 and section 10.02.002(a) through (e) shall not be deemed filed until any deficiency or omission is corrected. In that case the date of full compliance shall be the filing date. Mere acceptance of a preliminary plat, found to be incomplete, and filing fee shall not be deemed filing.
The prescribed plat and lot fee rates, as hereinafter stipulated,
to accompany the filing with the city planning commission of preliminary
and final subdivision plats.
The map or plat of a proposed subdivision submitted to the
city planning commission on or before the filing date as the term
is herein defined, for approval by the city planning commission, and
said plat shall be prepared in accordance with this chapter.
That portion of a tract of land which abuts on a public street
to which it has direct access.
A physically undivided tract or parcel of land having frontage
on a public street and which is, or in the future may be, offered
for sale, conveyance, transfer, lease, or improvement, which is designated
as a distinct and separate tract and which is identified by a lot
number or tract symbol on a duly approved subdivision plat which has
been properly recorded.
The length of a straight line connecting the midpoint of
the front and rear lot lines.
The average length of the front and rear property lines.
The master plan of major and secondary streets and highways
as a part of the city's master plan and adaptations, amendments, or
supplements thereto as adopted by the planning commission and the
city council.
A public street which is designed for and used for fast or
heavy traffic, or is intended to serve as a major traffic way of considerable
continuity, and is designated as such upon the most recent plan for
major thoroughfares of the city, as adopted by the planning commission
and city council.
The comprehensive city plan of Katy and adaptations, amendments,
or supplements thereto, which has or have been adopted in principal
by the city planning commission as a guide to future development of
the city and its surrounding area.
Is permissive.
Any public street which is not classified as a major thoroughfare,
collector, or secondary street.
The portion of the surface of a street available for vehicular
traffic and, where curbs are laid, it is the portion between the face
of curbs.
Any individual, association, firm, corporation, governmental
agency, or political subdivision.
A map, drawing, chart, or plan showing the layout of a proposed
subdivision into lots, blocks, streets, parks, school sites, commercial
or industrial sites, drainageways, building lots, easements, alleys,
or any similar type of plat, which a developer submits for approval
and a copy of which he intends to record in final form.
The first or introductory plat of a proposed subdivision.
The first or introductory plat of a proposed subdivision
where a developer intends to submit, from time to time, fractional
final plats.
A subdivision as herein defined, which contains a minimum of fifty (50) lots and in which all of the lots contain at least 10,000 square feet and are a minimum of 70 feet in width and which contains private streets as defined in section 1.01.004.
The developer, subdivider or agent of developer or subdivider,
who is directly responsible for or in charge of development of a proposed
subdivision.
A right granted or dedicated to the public or governmental
agency in, on, across, over or under property for specified use or
uses by an instrument or map duly recorded in the records of the county
clerk of Fort Bend, Harris or Waller County, Texas, wherein the city
has jurisdiction.
A right-of-way dedicated to public use for pedestrian and
vehicular traffic and public utility purposes.
A tract, parcel, or unit of land not physically divided,
having frontage on a public street, which is proposed and intended
for other than single-family residential use and which is, or in the
future may be, offered for sale, conveyance, transfer, lease, or improvement,
and which is designated as a distinct separate tract and which is
identified by reserve symbol on a duly approved subdivision plat which
has been properly recorded with the county clerk of Fort Bend, Harris
or Waller County, Texas.
Is always mandatory.
A minimum forty-eight inch (48”) width Portland cement
paved pedestrian walkway extending for the entire length of a block
or blocks parallel to a street right-of-way line or street pavement
edge, which walkway shall be constructed within the right-of-way of
any public street.
A public right-of-way, however designated, which provides
vehicular circulation and access to adjacent property.
A major street, major thoroughfare, or arterial street means
a principal traffic artery or traffic way, usually of more or less
continuous routing over long distances, whose function is to serve
as a principal connecting street with state and federal highways,
and shall include each street designated as a major thoroughfare or
street on the major street or thoroughfare plan of the city or so
designated by the planning commission and city council. Minimum width
of right-of-way shall be eighty feet (80’), preferably one hundred
feet (100’).
A secondary street or collector street means a street whose
function is to collect and distribute traffic between major thoroughfares
and minor streets, is not necessarily of continuous routing for long
distances, has intersections at grades and provides direct access
to abutting property, and shall include each street designated as
a secondary street on the major street or thoroughfare plan or so
designated by the planning commission and city council. Minimum width
of right-of-way shall be sixty feet (60’), preferably seventy
feet (70’).
A minor street means a street whose function is to provide access
to abutting residential property within neighborhoods, with all intersections
at grade, and not continuous routing for any great distance so as
to discourage heavy, through traffic. Minimum width of right-of-way
shall be sixty feet (60’).
Means the same as developer.
Any division of property for which a plat is required to
be approved and recorded under the provisions of V.T.C.A., Local Government
Code, chapter 212, V.T.C.A., Local Government Code, chapter 43, Texas
Municipal Annexation Act, and under this chapter. The word “subdivision”
shall mean any division of any tract of land situated within the corporate
limits of the city, or within the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)
of such limits, into two (2) or more parts for the purpose of laying
out any subdivision of any tract of land or in any addition of the
city, or for laying out suburban lots or building lots, or any lots,
streets, alleys, or parts or other portions intended for public use
or the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting thereon or adjacent
thereto. Subdivision shall also include resubdivision, but it does
not include the division of land for agricultural purposes in parcels
or tracts of five (5) acres or more and not involving any new street,
alley, or easement of access.
A licensed state land surveyor or a registered public surveyor,
as authorized by the Professional Land Surveying Practices Act.
Shall be used to label or designate land proposed to be used
for a purpose not consistent with the proposed use of the major portion
of the subdivision.
(1999 Code, sec. 9.101; Ordinance 2536 adopted 6/25/12)
(a)
No building, repair, plumbing, or electrical permit shall be issued
by the city for any structure on a lot in a subdivision for which
a final plat has not been approved and filed for record, nor for any
structure on a lot within a subdivision in which the standards contained
herein or referred to herein have not been complied with in full.
(b)
The city shall not repair, maintain, install, or provide any streets
or public utility services in any subdivision for which a final plat
has not been approved and filed for record, nor in which the standards
contained herein or referred to herein have not been complied with
in full.
(c)
The city shall not sell or supply water, electricity, or sewerage
service within a subdivision for which a final plat has not been approved
and filed for record, nor in which the standards contained herein
or referred to herein have not been complied with in full.
(d)
In behalf of the city, the city attorney shall, when directed by
the city council, institute appropriate action in a court of competent
jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter or the standards
referred to herein with respect to any violation thereof which occurs
within the city, within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city
as such jurisdiction is determined under the Municipal Annexation
Act, or within any area subject to all or a part of the provisions
of this chapter.
(e)
Provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall not
be construed to prohibit the issuance of permits for any lots upon
which a residence building exists and was in existence prior to passage
of this subdivision chapter, nor to prohibit the repair, maintenance,
or installation of any street or public utility services for, to or
abutting any lot, the last recorded conveyance of which prior to passage
of this chapter was by metes and bounds, and/or any subdivision, or
lot therein, recorded or unrecorded, which subdivision was in existence
prior to the passage of this chapter.
(1999 Code, sec. 9.102)
The planning commission may authorize a variance from these
regulations, except for the minimum square foot and width requirements
for lots in private street subdivisions, when, in its opinion, undue
hardship will result from requiring strict compliance. In granting
a variance, the planning commission shall prescribe only conditions
that it deems necessary to or desirable in the public interest. In
making the findings hereinbelow required, the planning commission
shall take into account the nature of the proposed use of the land
involved, existing uses of land in the vicinity, the number of persons
who will reside or work in the proposed subdivision, and the probable
effect of such variance upon traffic conditions and upon the public
health, safety, convenience and welfare in the vicinity. No variance
shall be granted unless the planning commission finds:
(1)
That there are special circumstances or conditions affecting the
land involved such that the strict application of the provisions of
this chapter would deprive the applicant of the reasonable use of
his land.
(2)
That the variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment
of a substantial property right of the applicant.
(3)
That the granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the
public health, safety or welfare, or injurious to other property in
the area.
(4)
That the granting of the variance will not have the effect of preventing
the orderly subdivision of other land in the area in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter. Such findings of the planning commission,
together with the specific facts upon which such findings are based,
shall be incorporated into the official minutes of the planning commission
meeting at which such variance is granted. Variances may be granted
only when in harmony with the general purpose and intent of this chapter
so that the public health, safety and welfare may be secured and substantial
justice done. Pecuniary hardship to the subdivider, standing alone,
shall not be deemed to constitute undue hardship.
(Ordinance 2536 adopted 6/25/12)
