a.
Generally.
1.
Easements
for utilities, drainage, walkways, access and other comparable purposes
shall generally be located along the side or rear or front lot lines
and/or drainage flow lines and shall be labeled “Utility Easement,” “Drainage
Easement,” “Pedestrian Access Easement,” “Common
Access Easement,” “Maintenance and Access Easement,” “Emergency
Access Easement” or other specifically appropriate labeling
on the final plat.
2.
Unless
otherwise recommended by the City Engineer, the developer shall dedicate
a ten-foot general utility easement along the front lot line of each
lot and any side that is adjacent to a street. A general utility easement
five feet in width shall be on dedicated [sic] along the rear lot
line of each lot. All other side lot lines shall have a five-foot
general utility easement on each side of the common lot line. Easements
shall be larger when the City Engineer determines necessary special
conditions warrant.
3.
To facilitate
access from roads to schools, parks, playgrounds, or other nearby
roads, the City may require perpetual unobstructed access easements
for pedestrian or bicycle traffic.
4.
Easements
dedicated on the plat shall be deemed dedicated to the public and
to the City unless specified otherwise.
5.
Private
streets shall be labeled as “Emergency Access and Utility Easements”
in order to facilitate access for police, fire and other public safety
and governmental vehicles and personnel and franchise utility and
solid waste disposal vehicles and personnel.
6.
The width
of easements for utility providers other than the City, such as for
water, gas, electric, telephone, cable television, or internet, shall
be as required by that particular entity. It shall be the applicant’s
responsibility to determine appropriate easement widths required by
other utility companies.
7.
Wherever
possible, easements shall be centered or along front or side lot lines
rather than across the interior or rear of lots.
8.
Each side
of a lot shall adjoin either a public right-of-way or easement in
order to facilitate the connection of utilities to each lot. Where
right-of-ways do not exist, easements must be dedicated as specified
in the zoning ordinance. If necessary for the extension of water or
sewer mains, storm drainage or other utilities, easements of greater
width may be required along lot lines or across lots. In all cases,
easements shall connect with easements already established in adjoining
property.
b.
Drainage
Easement or Right-of-Way.
Where a subdivision is traversed
by a watercourse, drainage way or channel, there shall be provided
a storm drainage easement conforming substantially with such course
and of such additional width as may be designated by the City Engineer,
according to proper engineering considerations. The required width
shall, under normal conditions, be measured from the centerline of
creeks, ditches or drainage channels, conform to the requirements
set forth by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, and/or the City and shall be sufficient to
accommodate the 100-year flood return elevation.
1.
Parallel
streets or parkways may be required adjacent to certain portions of
creek or drainage ways to provide maintenance access and/or public
access and visibility into public open space or recreation areas.
2.
The number
of lots that back or side onto creeks, drainage ways, public parks
and open spaces, and public school sites shall be limited as required
to provide public access, visibility, safety and security within these
areas are maximized.
3.
Other
utilities may be permitted within a drainage or floodway easement
only if approved by the City Engineer.
c.
Drainage
Piping Requirement.
Any drainage piping that is to be
dedicated to the City shall be in an easement with a minimum width
of the structure (i.e., pipe diameter or box width) plus twelve feet.
d.
On-Site
Easements.
All necessary on-site easements shall be established
on the plat and not by separate instrument, and they shall be labeled
for the specific purpose, and to the specific entity if other than
the City, for which they are being provided.
e.
Off-Site
Easements.
Any necessary easements not shown on the plat
shall be procured by separate instrument, in a form approved by the
City Attorney, and shall be the developer or property owner’s
responsibility. If the developer cannot obtain a required off-site
easement, then the developer may request that the City assist in the
acquisition of the easement. The developer must make an offer in writing,
based on the fair market value of the easement, to the property owner
from whom the easement is being sought. All costs of obtaining the
easement shall be the responsibility of the developer or property
owner and the City must be reimbursed for any costs incurred including
its attorney’s fees, condemnation award and any fees or expenses
of litigation whether at the trial or the appellate level or both.
f.
Common
Access Easements and Cross Access Easements.
To reduce
the congestion created by a number of drives along streets while maintaining
adequate access to developments, the City may require that “common
access easements” or “cross access easements” be
dedicated at the corners of lots not intended for low-medium density
residential developments when adjacent to lots of a similar use. These
easements will typically be sixteen (16) feet in width and thirty-five
(35) feet in length but may vary given the shape of the particular
tract and traffic patterns.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Division
of Property.
Every owner of property which an application
for approval of a development has been submitted shall be required
to dedicate to the City that portion of such property as is necessary
for the orderly development of streets, roadways, thoroughfares, utilities,
drainage improvements, or other public purposes. Such dedication requirements
shall be a prerequisite to plat approval.
b.
Effect
of Approval/Disapproval on Dedication.
The approval of
a plat is not considered an acceptance of any proposed dedication
and does not impose on the City any duty regarding the maintenance
or improvement of any dedicated parts until the City makes an actual
appropriation of the dedicated parts by entry, use, or improvement.
The disapproval of a plat is considered a refusal by the City of the
offered dedication indicated on the plat.
c.
Dedication
and Construction of Improvements.
The developer shall
dedicate all rights-of-way and easements for, and shall construct
capital improvements within the rights-of-way or easements for those
water, wastewater, road or drainage improvements needed to adequately
serve a proposed development consistent with the applicable master
facilities plans, whether the facilities are located on, adjacent
to or outside the boundaries of the property being developed.
d.
Facilities
Impact Studies.
The City may require that a developer
prepare a comprehensive traffic impact study, drainage study or other
public facilities study to assist the City in determining whether
a proposed development will be supported with adequate levels of public
facilities and services concurrent with the demand for the facilities
created by the development. A study shall identify at a minimum the
adequacy of existing facilities and the nature and extent of any deficiencies,
and the capital improvements needed to meet the adopted level of service
assuming development at the intensity proposed in the development
application. The study shall be subject to approval by the City Engineer.
The City also may require, at the time of approval of a subsequent
development application, an update of a public facilities study approved
in connection with a prior development application.
e.
Timing
of Dedication and Construction.
1.
Initial
Provision for Dedication or Construction.
The City shall
require an initial demonstration that a proposed development shall
be adequately served by public facilities and services at the time
for approval of the first development application that portrays a
specific plan of development, including but not limited to a petition
for establishing a planned development zoning district, or other overlay
zoning district; a petition for annexation or an agreement; or an
application for a preliminary or final plat. As a condition of approval
of the development application, the City may require provision for
dedication of rights-of-way or easements for, and construction of,
public works improvements to serve the proposed development.
2.
Deferral
of Obligation.
The obligation to dedicate rights-of-way
for or to construct one or more public works improvements to serve
a new development may be deferred until approval of a subsequent phase
of the subdivision, upon written request of the property owner, or
at the City’s own initiative. As a condition of deferring the
obligation, the City shall require that the subdivider enter into
a developer’s agreement, specifying the time for dedication
of rights-of-way for or construction of capital improvements serving
the development.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Determination.
Prior to a decision on an application for approval of a plat
or permit for which an exaction requirement is required as a condition
of approval, the City Engineer shall affirm that each exaction requirement
to be imposed as a condition of plat or permit approval is roughly
proportionate to the demand created by the development on the City’s
public facilities systems, taking into consideration the nature and
extent of the development proposed. In making this determination,
the City Engineer may consider the following:
1.
Categorical
findings and recommendations of the North Central Texas Council of
Governments in developing standard specifications for public works
improvements;
2.
The proposed
and potential use of the land;
3.
The timing
and sequence of development in relation to availability of adequate
levels of public facilities systems;
4.
Impact
fee studies, traffic impact studies, drainage studies or other studies
that measure the demand for services created by developments and the
impact on the City’s public facilities system;
5.
The function
of the public works improvements in serving the proposed subdivision
or development;
6.
The degree
to which public works improvements necessary to serve the proposed
subdivision are supplied by other developments;
7.
The anticipated
participation by the City in the costs of necessary public works improvements;
8.
The degree
to which acceptable private infrastructure improvements to be constructed
and maintained by the developer will offset the need for public works
improvements;
9.
Any reimbursements
for the costs of public works improvements for which the proposed
subdivision is eligible; and/or
10.
Any
other information relating to the impacts created by the proposed
subdivision or development on the City’s public facilities systems.
b.
Affirmation.
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, does not impose costs on the applicant for public
works improvements that exceed those roughly proportionate to the
impact of the proposed subdivision or development.
c.
Additional
Information.
The City Engineer may require that the applicant,
at its expense, submit any information or studies that may assist
in making the proportionality determination.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Generally.
An applicant for an approval of a plat or 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 application.
b.
Purpose.
The purpose of a proportionality appeal is to assure that an
exaction requirement imposed on a proposed development as a condition
of approval does not result in a disproportionate cost burden on the
developer, taking into consideration the nature and extent of the
demands created by the proposed development on the City’s public
facilities systems.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Requirements
for Appeal.
An applicant seeking approval of a plat or
any other type of 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 Council or other City official takes
action applying the exaction requirement. The applicant shall submit
fifteen (15) copies of the appeal. 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.
b.
Postponement
of Action on Plat.
The applicant may request postponement
of consideration of the applicant’s plat application by pending
preparation of the study required by subsection d, in which case the
applicant shall also waive the statutory period for acting upon a
plat for the time necessary for the City Council to decide the appeal.
c.
Basis for
Appeal.
The appeal shall allege 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.
d.
Study Required.
The appellant shall submit to the City Engineer fifteen (15)
copies of a study in support of the appeal that includes, with respect
to each specific exaction requirement appealed, the following information
within thirty (30) days of the date of appeal:
1.
Total
capacity of the City’s water, sanitary sewer, roadway, drainage,
or park system, as applicable, to be utilized by the proposed subdivision
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. 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;
2.
Total
capacity to be supplied to the City’s public facilities systems
for water, sanitary sewer, 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;
3.
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 shall be considered;
4.
The amount
of any City participation in the costs of oversizing the public works
improvements to be constructed by the applicant in accordance with
the City’s requirements;
5.
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
6.
Any other
information that shows the alleged disproportionality between the
impacts created by the proposed development and the exaction requirement
imposed by the City.
e.
Evaluation.
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.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Appeal
Hearing.
After the applicant certifies to the City Secretary
that all evidence has been submitted, the City Secretary shall schedule
the appeal on an agenda of a meeting of the City Council, and shall
cause the applicant to be notified, at the address given on the appeal
form, of the date and place at which the Council will consider the
appeal. The City Council shall decide the appeal within thirty (30)
days of the date of final submission of any evidence by the applicant.
The applicant shall be allotted time to present his appeal at the
City Council meeting and may introduce other testimony and shall be
allotted thirty (30) minutes to present testimony in support of the
appeal. The City Council shall base its decision on the criteria listed
in Section 3.03.a and Section 3.05.d.
b.
Action.
The City Council may:
1.
Deny the
appeal and impose the exaction requirement in accordance with the
City Engineer’s recommendation; or
2.
Grant
the appeal, and waive in whole or in part an exaction requirement
to the extent necessary to achieve proportionality; or
3.
Grant
the appeal, and direct that the City participate in the costs of acquiring
land for or constructing the public works improvement.
c.
Factors.
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, sanitary
sewer, roadway, drainage, or park facilities, as applicable, and reasonably
benefits the subdivision. In making such determination, the Council
shall consider:
d.
Additional
Information.
The City Council may require the applicant
or the City Engineer to submit additional information that it deems
relevant in making its decision.
e.
Modification.
The applicant shall not be deemed to have prevailed in the event
that the City Council modifies the exaction requirement.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
a.
Decision
to Modify.
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 City Council 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. If the
applicant fails to conform the plat to the City Council’s decision
within the thirty (30) day period provided, the relief granted by
the City Council on the appeal shall expire.
b.
Decision
to Waive.
If the City Council finds in favor of an applicant
for any other permit and waives the exaction requirement as a condition
of permit 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. If the applicant fails to do so, the relief granted by the
City Council shall expire.
c.
Denial
of Appeal.
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 City Council within thirty (30) days of the City Council’s
decision.
d.
Additional
Dwelling Units.
If the plat application is modified to
increase the number of residential dwelling units or the intensity
of nonresidential uses, the City Engineer may require a new study
to validate the relief granted by the City Council.
e.
New Appeal
Required.
If the plat application for which relief was
granted is denied on other grounds, a new appeal shall be required
on any subsequent application.
(Ordinance 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
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 thirty (30) days of the date that the 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 490-15 adopted 2/19/15)
