The City hereby defines its policy to be that the City will
withhold all City services and improvements of whatsoever nature,
including the maintenance of streets and the furnishing of and all
other City services from all additions until all of the street, utility,
storm drainage and other public improvements, as well as lot improvements,
are properly constructed according to the approved engineering plans
and to City standards, and until such public improvements are dedicated
to and accepted by the City.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) Property
Owner’s Guarantee.
Before approving the final plat
of a subdivision located all or partially within the City or its extraterritorial
jurisdiction, the City Council must be satisfied that all required
public improvements will be constructed in accordance with the approved
engineering plans and with the requirements of this Ordinance.
(b) Improvement
Agreement and Guarantee.
The City Council may waive the
requirement that the applicant complete and dedicate all public improvements
prior to approval of the final plat, and may permit the property owner
to enter into an improvement agreement by which the property owner
covenants to complete all required public improvements no later than
two (2) years following the date upon which the final plat is approved.
The City Council may also require the property owner to complete or
dedicate some of the required public improvements prior to approval
of the final plat, and to enter into an improvement agreement for
completion of the remainder of the required improvements during such
two-year period.
(c) Security.
Whenever the City permits an applicant to enter into an improvement
agreement, it shall require the applicant to provide sufficient security,
covering the completion of the public improvements. The security shall
be in the form of cash escrow or, where authorized by the City, a
performance bond or letter of credit or other security acceptable
to the City administrator and the City attorney, as security for the
promises contained in the improvement agreement. Security shall be
in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the estimated
cost of completion of the required public improvements and lot improvements.
(d) Performance
Bond.
If the City Council authorizes the applicant to
post a performance bond as security for its promises contained in
the improvement agreement, the performance bond shall comply with
the following requirements:
(1) All
performance bonds must be in the forms acceptable to the City administrator
and the City attorney;
(2) All
performance bonds must be executed by such sureties as are named in
the current list of “Companies Holding Certificates of Authority
as Acceptable Sureties on Federal Bonds and as Acceptable Reinsuring
Companies,” as published in Circular 570, as may be amended,
by the Financial Management Service, Surety Bond Branch, U.S. Department
of the Treasury;
(3) All
performance bonds must be signed by an agent, and must be accompanied
by a certified copy of the agent’s authority;
(4) All
performance bonds shall be obtained from surety or insurance companies
that are duly licensed or authorized in the State of Texas to issue
performance bonds for the limits and coverage required.
If the surety on any performance bond furnished by the applicant
is declared bankrupt, or becomes insolvent, or its right to do business
is terminated in the State of Texas, or the surety ceases to meet
the requirements listed in Circular 570, the developer shall, within
twenty (20) calendar days thereafter, substitute another performance
bond and surety, both of which must be acceptable to the City.
(e) Letter
of Credit.
If the City Council authorizes the applicant
to post a letter of credit as security for its promises contained
in the improvement agreement, the letter of credit shall:
(2) Be
for a term sufficient to cover the completion, maintenance and warranty
periods, but in no event less than two (2) years; and
(3) Require
only that the City present the issuer with a sight draft and a certificate
signed by an authorized representative of the City certifying to the
City’s right to draw funds under the letter of credit.
(f) As portions
of the public improvements are completed, the applicant may make application
to the City administrator to reduce the amount of the original security.
If the City administrator is satisfied that such portion of the improvements
has been completed in accordance with City standards, he may, but
is not required to, cause the amount of the letter of credit to be
reduced by such amount that he deems appropriate, so that the remaining
amount of the security adequately insures the completion of the remaining
public improvements.
(g) Upon acceptance
by the City of all required public improvements, the City shall authorize
a reduction in the security to 25% of the original amount of the security
if the applicant is not in breach of the improvement agreement. The
remaining security shall be security for the applicant’s covenant
to maintain the required public improvements and to warrant that the
improvements are free from defects for two (2) years thereafter. If
the required security for maintenance and warranty is provided by
the contractor’s bond, maintenance bond, or by others, the City
will release the entire amount of the developer’s security.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) The applicant
shall build and pay for all costs of temporary improvements required
by the City, and shall maintain those temporary improvements for the
period specified by the City.
(b) Any temporary
public improvement (e.g., a temporary cul-de-sac, alley turnout, drainage
swale, erosion-control device, etc.) shall be placed within an easement
established specifically for that purpose. The recording information
of the instrument establishing the temporary easement shall be clearly
shown on the final plat for the subdivision prior to approval of the
final plat. A temporary easement for a required public improvement
shall not be abandoned without the City Engineer’s approval
and without written consent by the City.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
Governmental units to which these contract and security provisions
apply may file, in lieu of the contract and security, a certified
resolution or ordinance from officers or agents authorized to act
in their behalf, agreeing to comply with the provisions of this Ordinance.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) For plats
for which no improvement agreement has been executed and no security
has been posted, if the public improvements are not completed within
the period specified by the City, the plat approvals shall be deemed
to have expired. In those cases where an improvement agreement has
been executed and security has been posted, and the required public
improvements have not been installed within the terms of the agreement,
the City may:
(1) Declare
the agreement to be in default and require that all the public improvements
be installed regardless of the extent of completion of the development
at the time the agreement is declared to be in default;
(2) Suspend
final plat approval until the public improvements are completed, and
may record a document to that effect for the purpose of public notice;
(3) Obtain
funds under the security and complete the public improvements itself
or through a third party;
(4) Assign
its right to receive funds under the security to any third party,
including a subsequent owner of the subdivision for which public improvements
were not constructed, in whole or in part, in exchange for that subsequent
owner’s promise to complete the public improvements on the property;
or
(5) Exercise
any other rights available under the law.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
Acceptance of formal offers for the dedication of streets, public
areas, easements or parks shall be by authorization of the City Council.
The approval by the City Council of a preliminary or final plat shall
not, in and of itself, be deemed to constitute or imply the acceptance
by the City of any street, public area, easement or park shown on
the plat. The City may require the plat to be endorsed with appropriate
notes to this effect.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
The applicant shall maintain all required public improvements
for a period of two (2) years following acceptance of the subdivision
by the City, and shall also provide a two-year maintenance bond, or
such other guarantee or warranty as is satisfactory to the City administrator
and City attorney, that all public improvements will be free from
defects for a period of two (2) years following such acceptance by
the City.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) A site
development permit is required from the City prior to beginning any
site development-related work in the City or its extraterritorial
jurisdiction which affects erosion control, storm drainage, vegetation
or tree removal, or a floodplain.
(b) Preconstruction
Conference.
The City may require that all contractors
participating in the construction meet for a preconstruction conference
to discuss the project prior to release of a site development or building
permit, and before any filling, excavation, clearing or removal of
vegetation and trees that are larger than six inch (6") caliper. All
contractors shall be familiar with, and shall conform with, applicable
landscaping provisions of the zoning ordinance.
(c) Conditions
Prior to Authorization.
Prior to authorizing release
of a site development permit, the City engineer shall be satisfied
that the following conditions have been met:
(1) The
preliminary plat has been approved by the City Council, and any conditions
of such approval have been satisfied;
(2) All
required engineering documents are completed and approved by the City
engineer;
(3) All
necessary off-site easements and dedications required for City-maintained
facilities and not shown on the plat must be conveyed solely to the
City, such as by filing of a separate instrument, with the proper
signatures affixed;
(4) All
contractors participating in the construction shall be presented with
a set of approved plans bearing the stamp of release of the City engineer,
and at least one set of these plans shall remain on the job site at
all times;
(5) A complete
list of the contractors, their representatives on the site, and telephone
numbers where a responsible party may be reached at all times must
be submitted to the City; and
(6) All
applicable fees must be paid to the City.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) General
Procedure.
Construction inspection shall be supervised
by the City engineer. Construction shall be in accordance with the
approved engineering plans and other applicable codes and ordinances.
Any change in design that is required during construction should be
made by the licensed professional engineer whose seal and signature
are shown on the plans. Another engineer may make revisions to the
original engineering plans if so authorized by the owner of the plans,
and if those revisions are noted on the plans or documents. All revisions
shall be approved by the City administrator. If the City administrator
finds, upon inspection, that any of the required public improvements
have not been constructed in accordance with the City’s standards,
then the applicant shall be responsible for completing and correcting
the deficiencies such that they are brought into conformance with
the applicable standards.
(b) Letter
of Satisfactory Completion.
The City will not deem required
public improvements satisfactorily completed until the applicant’s
engineer or surveyor has certified to the City administrator, through
submission of detailed sealed “as-built,” or record, drawings
of the property which indicate all public improvements and their locations,
dimensions, materials and other information required by the City engineer,
and until all required public improvements have been completed. The
“as-builts” shall also include a complete set of sealed
record drawings of the paving, drainage, water, sanitary sewer and
other public improvements, showing that the layout of the lines and
grades of all public improvements are in accordance with engineering
plans for the plat, and showing all changes made in the plans during
construction, and containing on each sheet an “as-built”
stamp bearing the signature and seal of the licensed professional
engineer and the date. One reproducible drawing of the utility plan
sheets containing the as-built information shall also be submitted.
The engineer or surveyor shall also furnish the City with a copy of
the approved final plat and the engineering plans. When such requirements
have been met, the City administrator shall thereafter make a recommendation
to the City Council for consideration of satisfactory completion of
the public improvements. Once the board votes its approval of satisfactory
completion, the City administrator shall issue the Letter of Satisfactory
Completion.
Acceptance of the development shall mean that the applicant
has transferred all rights to all the public improvements to the City
for use and maintenance. The City Council may, at its option, accept
dedication of a portion of the required public improvements if the
remaining public improvements are not immediately required for health
and safety reasons, and if the applicant has posted a performance
bond, letter of credit or cash bond in the amount of one hundred percent
(100%) of the estimated cost of those remaining improvements for a
length of time to be determined by the City Council. If the remaining
public improvements are greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00)
and are not completed within the determined length of time, the City
will impose a ten percent (10%) penalty of the performance bond, letter
of credit, or cash bond. The obligation to complete the improvements
remains with the applicant, and all future building permits or certificates
of occupancy will be withheld until the improvements are complete.
If the remaining public improvements are less than ten thousand dollars
($10,000.00), the applicant shall pay the actual dollar amount. The
length of time may be extended due to inclement weather or unforeseen
delays by mutual agreement between the developer and the City.
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Upon acceptance of the required public improvements, the City
administrator shall submit a certificate to the applicant stating
that all required public improvements have been satisfactorily completed.
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(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) The City
Council may, upon petition of the applicant and favorable recommendation
of the City engineer, defer at the time of plat approval, subject
to appropriate conditions, the provision of any or all public improvements
as, in its judgment, are not required in the immediate interests of
the public health, safety and general welfare.
(b) Whenever
a petition to defer the construction of any public improvements required
under this Ordinance is granted by the City Council, the applicant
shall deposit in escrow his or her share of the costs, in accordance
with City participation and oversizing policies, of the future public
improvements with the City prior to approval of the plat, or the applicant
may execute a separate improvement agreement secured by a cash escrow
or, where authorized, a letter of credit guaranteeing completion of
the deferred public improvements upon demand of the City.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)
(a) No building
permit shall be issued for a lot, building site, building or use unless
the lot or building site has been officially recorded by a final plat
approved by the City Council, and unless all public improvements,
as required by this Ordinance for final plat approval, have been completed,
except as may be permitted below:
(1) A
building “foundation only” permit may be issued for a
nonresidential or multifamily development provided that a preliminary
plat has been approved by the City Council, and provided that the
engineering plans have been released by the City engineer. However,
the building permit shall not be issued and building construction
shall not be allowed to surpass the construction of fire protection
improvements.
(2) The
City Council may release some residential building permits for not
more than ten percent (10%) of the lots within a new residential subdivision,
provided that a preliminary plat has been approved by the City Council
and the engineering plans have been approved by the City engineer,
and provided that all public improvements have been completed for
that portion of the development including, but not limited to, those
required for fire and emergency protection, such as streets providing
at least two points of emergency access, alleys, water lines serving
fire hydrants, and other similar, required public safety improvements.
Except for property located and used for commercial purposes and for
which a development plat has been approved, no lot may be sold nor
title conveyed until the final plat has been approved by the City
Council and recorded with the Lynn County Clerk.
(3) No
certificate of occupancy shall be issued for a building or the use
of property unless all subdivision improvements have been completed
and a final plat has been approved by the City Council and recorded
with the Lynn County Clerk. Notwithstanding the above, the City administrator
may authorize the conditional occupancy of a structure provided that
an agreement providing cash escrow, a letter of credit, or other sufficient
surety is approved by the City administrator for the completion of
all remaining public improvements, and provided that the structure
is safely habitable in accordance with the City’s Building Codes.
(Ordinance adopted 6/14/10)