City of River Oaks, TX PART II GENERAL SUBDIVISION DEVELOPMENT PROCESSING PROCEDURE

Art. 12 Procedure Summary.

12-100 Any person who plats land as required by this Ordinance shall conform to the general procedure described as follows:

1. Every application for approval of any type of plat or plan for development shall be subject to a determination of completeness by the Director of Public Works.

2. No application shall be deemed complete and accepted for processing unless it is accompanied by all documents required by and prepared in accordance with the requirements of this Ordinance. For a determination of completeness to be issued, an application must include the following:

a. a completed application form signed by the owner or the owner’s authorized agent;

b. every item, study and document required by this Ordinance for the type of plat being submitted, or required for the plan for development;

c. a nonrefundable application submittal fee, as specified in the fee schedule; and

d. evidence that the requirements of all applicable regulations set forth in the City’s Zoning Ordinance and other applicable ordinances of the City are satisfied.

3. The Zoning Administrator, Director of Public Works or the City Engineer may from time-to-time identify additional requirements for a complete application that are not contained herein but are consistent with the application contents and standards set forth in this Ordinance.

4. A determination of completeness shall not constitute a determination of compliance with the substantive requirements of this Ordinance or other applicable ordinances.

12-101 Not later than the tenth (10th) business day after the date an application is submitted, the Director of Public Works shall make a written determination whether the application constitutes a complete application. This shall include a determination that all information and documents required by this Ordinance or other applicable ordinances have been submitted. A determination that the application is incomplete shall be mailed to the applicant within such time period by United States Certified Mail or regular mail at the address listed on the application or by personal delivery to the applicant or the applicant’s agent. The determination shall specify the documents or other information needed to complete the application and shall state that the application will expire if the documents or other information is not submitted within forty-five (45) days after the date the application was submitted.

12-102 An application for approval of a plat or plan for development filed on or after the effective date of this Ordinance shall be deemed complete on the eleventh (11th) business day after the application has been received, if the applicant has not otherwise been notified that the application is incomplete. For purposes of this Section, the applicant shall be deemed to have been notified if the City has mailed or delivered a copy of the determination as provided in Section 12-101.

12-103 The processing of an application by any City employee prior to the time the application is determined to be complete shall not be binding on the City as the official date of acceptance of the application for filing. The date of filing shall be the date the Director of Public Works determines that the application meets the requirements of this Ordinance or other applicable ordinances governing the development, such as the Zoning Ordinance, except for any requested variances.

12-104 The incompleteness of an application shall be grounds for denial of the application regardless of whether a determination of incompleteness was mailed to the applicant.

12-105 An application for approval of any type of plat or plan for development shall expire on the forty-fifth (45th) day after the application is submitted to the Director of Planning and Inspections for processing if the applicant fails to provide documents or other information necessary to meet the requirements of this Ordinance as specified in the completeness determination provided to the applicant. Upon expiration, the application will be returned to the applicant together with any accompanying documents. Thereafter, a new application for approval of the plat or other plan for development must be submitted.

12-106 The detailed procedures for each phase of the platting process are addressed in Parts III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII of this Ordinance.

12-107 Upon approval of a final plat, the Director of Planning and Inspections shall immediately file such plat in the plat records of Tarrant County, Texas.

(Ordinance 1209-2018 adopted 11/27/18)

Art. 13 Rough Proportionality.

13-100 Proportionality Determination.

1. Prior to a decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission on an application or for approval of a plat or plan for development or prior to a decision on any other application on which an exaction requirement is placed as a condition of approval, including a planned development zoning district or building permit, the City Engineer shall prepare a written statement affirming that each exaction requirement to be imposed as a condition of approval is roughly proportionate to the demand created by the subdivision or development on the applicable public facilities system of the City, taking into consideration the nature and extent of the development proposed. In making this determination, the City Engineer may consider:

a. categorical findings and recommendations of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in developing standard specifications for public infrastructure improvements and stormwater management;

b. the proposed and potential use of the land;

c. the timing and sequence of development in relation to availability of adequate levels of public facilities systems;

d. impact fee studies; traffic impact studies (both geometric and capacity oriented); drainage studies; fire protection, consumption and irrigation water needs; solid or liquid waste collection and disposal; or other studies or standards that measure the demand for services created by developments and the impact on the City’s public facilities systems;

e. the level of service and functionality of both on-site and off-site public infrastructure improvements in serving the proposed subdivision or development;

f. the degree to which public infrastructure improvements necessary to serve the proposed subdivision are supplied by other developments;

g. the anticipated participation by the City in the costs of necessary public infrastructure improvements;

h. the degree to which acceptable private infrastructure improvements to be constructed and maintained by the applicant will offset the need for public infrastructure improvements;

i. any reimbursements for the costs of public infrastructure improvements for which the proposed subdivision is eligible; and/or

j. any other information relating to the impacts created by the proposed subdivision or development on the City’s public facilities systems.

2. Based upon the proportionality determination, the City Engineer shall affirm that the exaction requirements of this Ordinance, or other ordinance requiring the permit, as applied to the proposed subdivision or development, do not impose costs on the applicant for public infrastructure improvements that exceed those roughly proportionate to the impact of the proposed subdivision or development.

3. The City Engineer may require that the applicant, at its expense, submit reasonable information or studies that may assist in making the proportionality determination.

13-101 Rough Proportionality Determination.

1. The Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council shall consider the City Engineer’s report concerning the proportionality of the exaction requirements in making a decision on a plat application or plan for development. The Commission and the City Council may consider the City Engineer’s report in granting a variance to the requirements of this Ordinance pursuant to Article 7 hereof.

2. The City official responsible for issuing a permit for which an exaction requirement is imposed as a condition of approval shall consider the City Engineer’s report concerning the proportionality of the exaction requirements in making its decision as to whether to grant the permit, or to modify or waive an exaction requirement.

13-102 Rough Proportionality Appeal.

1. An applicant for approval of a plat or plan for development or other permit which imposes an exaction requirement as a condition of approval may file an appeal to contest any exaction requirement, other than impact fees, imposed as a condition of approval or in which the failure to comply is grounds for denying the plat or permit application[.]

2. The purpose of a proportionality appeal is to assure that an exaction requirement imposed on a proposed plat or plan for development as a condition of approval does not result in a disproportionate cost burden on the applicant, taking into consideration the nature and extent of the demands created by the proposed subdivision or development on the City’s public facilities systems.

13-103 Appeals Procedure.

1. An applicant for approval of a plat or plan for development or an applicant seeking approval for any other permit or zoning for which an exaction requirement is imposed shall file a written appeal with the City Secretary within ten (10) days of the date the Planning and Zoning Commission or the city official responsible for issuing the permit takes action applying the exaction requirement. This may include denial of the permit or plat. The applicant shall submit seven (7) copies of the appeal.

2. A separate appeal form shall be submitted for each exaction requirement for which relief is sought. The City Secretary shall forward the appeal to the City Council for consideration.

3. The applicant may request postponement of consideration of the applicant’s application by the City Council pending preparation of the study required by Paragraph 6, in which case the applicant shall also waive any statutory period for acting upon the application for the time necessary for the City Council to decide the appeal.

4. No Facilities Agreement may be executed by the City:

a. until the time for appeal has expired unless the applicant agrees in writing that the rough proportionality determination of the City Engineer is reasonable and accurate and that no appeal will be filed; or

b. if an appeal is filed, until the City Council has made a determination with respect to the appeal.

5. The appeal shall state the reasons that application of the exaction requirement is not roughly proportional to the nature and extent of the impact created by the proposed subdivision or development on the City’s public facilities systems and does not reasonably benefit the proposed subdivision or development.

6. The appellant shall submit to the City Engineer seven (7) copies of a study in support of the appeal that includes, with respect to each exaction requirement appealed, the following information within thirty (30) days of the date of appeal, unless a longer time is requested:

a. total capacity of the City’s water, wastewater, roadway, drainage, or park system, as applicable, to be utilized by the proposed subdivision or development, employing standard measures of capacity and equivalency tables relating the type of development proposed to the quantity of system capacity to be consumed by the subdivision or development. If the proposed subdivision is to be developed in phases, such information also shall be provided for the entire development, including any phases already developed;

b. total capacity to be supplied to the City’s public facilities systems for water, wastewater, roadway, drainage or parks, as applicable, by the exaction requirement. This information shall include any capacity supplied by prior exaction requirements imposed on the development;

c. comparison of the capacity of the applicable City public facilities systems to be consumed by the proposed subdivision or development with the capacity to be supplied to such systems by the proposed exaction requirement. In making this comparison, the impacts on the City’s public facilities systems from the entire subdivision or development shall be considered;

d. the amount of any City participation in the costs of oversizing the public infrastructure improvements to be constructed by the applicant in accordance with the City’s requirements;

e. comparison of the minimum size and capacity required by City standards for the applicable public facilities systems to be utilized by the proposed subdivision or development with the size and capacity to be supplied by the proposed exaction requirement; and

f. any other information that shows the alleged disproportionality between the impacts created by the proposed development and the exaction requirement imposed by the City.

7. The City Engineer shall evaluate the appeal and supporting study and shall make a recommendation to the City Council based upon the City Engineer’s analysis of the information contained in the study and utilizing the same factors considered by the Engineer in making the original proportionality determination.

13-104 City Council Decision.

1. The City Council shall decide the appeal within thirty (30) days of the date of final submission of any evidence by the applicant. Upon receipt of the final submission of evidence from the applicant, the City Secretary shall schedule a time and date for the City Council to consider the appeal and shall cause the applicant to be notified at the address specified in the appeal form of the time, date and location at which the City Council shall consider the appeal.

2. The applicant shall be allotted time, not to exceed thirty (30) minutes, to present testimony at the City Council meeting. The Council shall base its decision on the criteria listed in Sections 13-100.1 and 13-103.6 and may:

a. deny the appeal and impose the exaction requirement in accordance with the City Engineer’s recommendation or the Planning and Zoning Commission’s decision on the plat or other development application; or

b. grant the appeal, and waive in whole or in part an exaction requirement to the extent necessary to achieve proportionality; or

c. grant the appeal, and direct that the City participate in the costs of acquiring land for or constructing the public infrastructure improvement.

3. In deciding an appeal, the City Council shall determine whether application of the exaction requirement is roughly proportional to the nature and extent of the impact created by the proposed subdivision on the City’s public facilities systems for water, wastewater, roadway, drainage, or park facilities, as applicable, and reasonably benefits the subdivision. In making such determination, the Council shall consider:

a. the evidence submitted by the applicant;

b. the City Engineer’s report and recommendation, considering in particular the factors identified in Sections 13-106.1 [Section 13-103.1] and 13-109.6 [Section 13-103.6]; and

c. if the property is located adjacent to a state or county road, any recommendations from the county or state.

4. The City Council may require the applicant or the City Engineer to submit additional information that it deems relevant in making its decision.

5. The applicant shall not be deemed to have prevailed in the event that the City Council modifies the exaction requirement.

13-105 Action Following Decision of City Council.

1. If the City Council finds in favor of the applicant and waives the exaction requirement as a condition of plat approval, or modifies the exaction requirement to the extent necessary to achieve rough proportionality, the applicant shall resubmit the plat application to the Planning and Zoning Commission or City official responsible for issuing the permit within thirty (30) days of the date the City Council takes action, with any modifications necessary to conform the plat with the City Council’s decision. Failure to resubmit within the thirty (30) day window shall be considered a withdrawal of the application.

2. If the City Council finds in favor of an applicant for any other permit or zoning and waives the exaction requirement as a condition of permit or zoning approval, or modifies the exaction requirement to the extent necessary to achieve rough proportionality, the applicant shall resubmit the permit application to the responsible official within thirty (30) days of the date the City Council takes action, with any modifications necessary to conform the application with the City Council’s decision. Failure to resubmit within the thirty (30) day window shall be considered a withdrawal of the application.

3. If the City Council denies the appeal and the applicant has executed a waiver of the statutory period for acting upon a plat, the City shall place the plat application on the agenda of the Planning and Zoning Commission within thirty (30) days of the City Council’s decision.

4. If the plat application is modified to increase the number of residential dwelling units or the intensity of nonresidential uses, the City Public Works Director or City Engineer may require a new study to validate the relief granted by the City Council.

5. If the plat application for which relief was granted is denied on other grounds, a new appeal shall be required on any subsequent application.

13-106 through 13-111 (Reserved)

13-112 An applicant may appeal the decision of the City Council to the county or district court of the county in which the development is located within 30 days of the date that the City Council issues its final decision. In the event that the applicant prevails in such action, the applicant will be entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs, including expert witness fees.

(Ordinance 1209-2018 adopted 11/27/18)