Upon receipt of a complete application for approval
of a plan of resubdivision, the Commission shall schedule and hold
a public hearing thereon as hereinafter provided. Upon receipt of
a complete application for approval of a plan of subdivision, the
Commission shall decide whether or not to hold a public hearing thereon
and, if it so decides, shall schedule and hold such public hearing
as hereinafter provided. If the Commission decides not to hold a public
hearing upon any application for approval of a plan of subdivision,
it shall afford the applicant an opportunity to appear before the
Commission at a meeting and to be heard in support of his application.
For such purpose, the Commission shall schedule at least one meeting
of the Commission and shall give written notice, at least seven days
prior thereto, to the applicant of the time and place of such meeting.
[Amended 5-18-2004]
Whenever the Commission shall hold a public
hearing on an application hereunder, such hearing shall commence within
65 days after receipt of such application and shall be completed within
35 days after such hearing commences. Notice of the hearing shall
be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in such municipality
where the land that is the subject of the hearing is located at least
twice at intervals of not less than two days, the first not more than
15 days nor less than 10 days and the last not less than two days
before the date set for the hearing. A copy of such notice shall be
sent by certified mail to the applicant. Such notice shall state the
name of the applicant, the general location of the plan area, and
such other information as the Commission may deem appropriate. All
applications and maps and documents relating thereto shall be open
for public inspection. At such hearing any person or persons may appear
and be heard and may be represented by agent or attorney. All decisions
on such matters shall be rendered within 65 days after completion
of such hearing. The petitioner or applicant may consent to one or
more extensions of any period specified in this section, provided
that the total extension of all such periods shall not be longer than
65 days, or may withdraw such petition, application, request or appeal.
[Amended 5-18-2004]
A.
The concurring vote of a majority of the members of
the Commission shall be necessary to approve, or modify and approve,
any application hereunder. The failure, for lack of such a vote, of
a motion to approve a plan for subdivision without modification or
condition shall be deemed to constitute the action of disapproval.
The vote upon any application hereunder of any member who is not present
at any public hearing or an adjourned session thereof upon such application
shall not be counted. The Commission shall approve, modify and approve,
or disapprove an application hereunder within 65 days after submission
of the application, except that it shall approve, modify and approve,
or disapprove any application upon which a public hearing is held
within 65 days after completion of the public hearing or hearings
held thereon. Whenever a decision is to be made on an application
for subdivision on which no hearing is held, the applicant may consent
to one or more extensions of such sixty-five-day period, provided
that the total period of any such extension or extensions shall not
exceed 65 days, or may withdraw such application.
B.
The Commission shall not render a decision on the
application until the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission
has submitted a report with its final decision to such Commission.
In making its decision the Commission shall give due consideration
to the report of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if
a application involves a regulated activity upon an inland wetland
or watercourse and the time for a decision by the Planning and Zoning
Commission established pursuant to this section would elapse prior
to the 35th day after a decision by the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses
Commission, the time period for a decision shall be extended to 35
days after the decision of such agency. The provisions of this subsection
shall not be construed to apply to any extension consented to by an
applicant or petitioner.
The Commission may modify any element of a plan of subdivision submitted hereunder to conform to the standards and requirements established in Article VII of these regulations and approve such plan as so modified. Such modification may involve, for example, the alteration of the size, shape, location and boundaries of lots or parts into which the plan area is to be divided or the elimination of such lots or parts for use as building sites, in which case the record subdivision map shall be appropriately marked with a conspicuous notation of such elimination. Whenever the Commission shall modify and approve the plan of subdivision submitted hereunder, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to prepare and file with the Commission revisions of all documents as necessary to reflect such modification. No record subdivision map shall be endorsed or delivered to the applicant until all such revisions have been received by the Commission.
Prior to a decision by the Commission thereon, an applicant may amend his plan of subdivision at any time within 35 days after submission of his application for approval hereunder, provided that he/she shall file with the Commission, in the form and manner prescribed under Article IV of these regulations for original applications, such revised documents as may be necessary to reflect such amendment, together with a written consent to the extension, for an additional period of 65 days, of the period within which the Commission is required to act upon the application under § 8-26d of the Connecticut General Statutes and § 485-20 hereof. In the case of an application for approval of a plan of resubdivision in respect to which the hearing has not yet been held, the applicant shall file such consent to an extension for the same additional period of the time within which such public hearing is required to be held.
The Commission shall approve a plan of subdivision hereunder if it finds that such plan and all of the proposed work in connection therewith conform to all of the standards and requirements established in Article VII of these regulations. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall give due consideration to the decision made by the Inland Wetland and Watercourses Commission. The Commission may modify and approve a plan of subdivision if it finds that such plan and proposed work in connection therewith are in conformance with the plan as modified by the Commission.
A.
The Commission shall disapprove a plan of subdivision
if:
(1)
It is unable, for lack of information, to determine
whether or not the plan and all proposed work in connection therewith
conform to all of said standards and requirements; or
(2)
It finds that any aspect or element of the plan or
proposed work in connection therewith does not conform to any of said
standards or requirements; or
(3)
It finds, where the applicant has elected to develop
in stages, that the plan area constitutes an inappropriate portion
of the subdivision area for separate approval by reason of its size,
location or the relationship of such plan area, or the work proposed
in connection therewith, to the remaining portion of the subdivision
area.
B.
Approval of a plan hereunder shall not constitute,
nor relieve the applicant from seeking, any other license, permit
or approval required to implement any aspect of the plan of subdivision
approved, including but not limited to a permit to conduct a regulated
activity from the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission as required
in the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Regulations.
Notice of the decision of the Commission shall
be published in a newspaper having a substantial circulation in the
Town and shall be sent by certified mail to the applicant by the Commission's
Secretary or Clerk under his signature, in any written, printed, typewritten
or stamped form, within 15 days after such decision has been rendered.
Such notice shall be a simple statement that such application was
approved, modified and approved, or disapproved together with the
date of such action.
A.
The Commission's decision upon each application for
approval of a plan of subdivision shall be embodied in a writing which
shall be titled "Memorandum of Decision." Each memorandum of decision
granting approval of a plan of subdivision shall:
B.
Each memorandum of decision shall contain the grounds
for the Commission's decision, shall be signed by the Chairman or
Secretary of the Commission and shall become a permanent record of
the Commission. A copy of the memorandum of decision shall be dispatched,
by certified mail, to the applicant, and a copy of the memorandum
of decision shall be filed in the office of the Town Clerk.
A.
Bond.
[Amended 5-21-2013]
(1)
Whenever the Commission shall approve, or modify and approve, a plan
of subdivision for which all or any part of the proposed or required
work in connection therewith has not, at the time of the Commission's
approval decision, been completed in conformity with such plan and
these regulations, the applicant shall execute and file with the Commission
a performance bond or surety securing completion, in conformity with
such plan and these regulations, of all of the work in connection
therewith and maintenance of the subdivision road prior to acceptance
by the Town.
(2)
Said bonds or surety shall be furnished in such form, in such amount,
and of such duration as shall be determined by the Commission. If
the subdivision is to be performed in stages and the entire length
of the road exceeds 1,000 feet in length, the entire length of the
road shall be bonded. The amount and duration of each bond shall be
subject to annual review by the Commission. For any subdivision that
is approved for development in phases, the surety provisions of this
section shall apply as if each phase was approved as a separate subdivision.
(3)
No work shall be performed by the developer until a bond is posted
in the amount of a performance bond or surety designated by the Town
Engineer and approved by the Commission for erosion and sedimentation
control. No lot or part of a tract or parcel of land constituting
the area of an approved subdivision plan shall be sold or offered
for sale or used or offered for use for building development unless
the performance bond or surety prescribed by the Commission to secure
completion of the work of the plan has been posted in accordance with
these regulations.
(4)
The amount of the performance bond shall be in an amount as determined
by the Town Engineer and approved by the Commission. To satisfy any
bond requirement in this section, the Commission shall accept cash
bonds, passbook or statement savings account assignments and other
bonds, including, but not limited to, letters of credit, or a lien
against all the real property of the project or such parts as the
Commission specifies, provided such bond is in a form acceptable to
the Commission and the financial institution or other entity issuing
any letter of credit is acceptable to the Commission. Any financial
institution issuing a passbook or letter of credit shall maintain
offices within the State of Connecticut. Such bond may, at the discretion
of the person posting such bond, be posted at any time before all
public improvements and utilities are constructed and installed, except
that the Commission may require a bond for erosion control prior to
the commencement of any such construction or installation, and further
no lots shall be conveyed unless and until such public improvements
bond is posted. This restriction shall be secured by a restrictive
covenant in a form prescribed by the Commission's legal counsel.
The performance bond shall be maintained until the road is accepted
by the Town as a Town road. Upon failure of the developer to complete
all work as specified in the approved plan of subdivision, the Town
may utilize the performance bond to complete such work.
[Amended 11-1-2016]
(5)
In the event of default of maintenance of the subdivision
road by the developer prior to acceptance by the Town as a Town road,
the Town shall utilize the performance bond to reconstruct, repair,
replace, snowplow, and otherwise maintain each subdivision road and
any appurtenant curbing, sidewalk, drains, culverts, bridges, fences,
railings, and other improvements in good structural and functional
repair and safe condition and, without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, free of cracks, heaves, pits, potholes, ice, snow,
water or other obstruction, impediment or hindrance to vehicular or
pedestrian travel or to effective drainage.
B.
Map endorsement.
(1)
Upon approval, or modification and approval, of any plan of subdivision, the Chairman or Secretary of the Commission shall endorse and deliver the record subdivision map to the applicant in accordance with the provisions of § 8-25 of the Connecticut General Statues; provided, however, that all documents of revision prescribed in § 485-21, any required dedication of open space, and any required performance and maintenance bonds shall have been previously filed by the applicant in proper form and manner with the Commission. The applicant shall present the record subdivision map, including documents of revision, of an approved, or modified and approved, subdivision to the Commission for endorsement. The endorsed record subdivision map shall be delivered to the applicant not less than 30 days after the time for taking an appeal from the action of the Commission has elapsed. The record subdivision map shall be filed by the applicant in the office of the Town Clerk within 90 days of the expiration of the appeal period. The Commission may extend the time for such filing for two additional periods of 90 days, and the plan shall remain valid until the expiration of such extended time. Any plan not so presented and filed within the prescribed time shall become null and void.
(2)
The Commission may, at its discretion, deliver the
record subdivision map to the applicant prior to filing of the required
performance and maintenance bonds hereunder and authorize filing the
same with a conditional approval endorsed thereon conditioned upon
the filing of the bonds and, upon the filing of the bonds, endorse
final approval on the record subdivision map. Each performance bond
filed hereunder shall be maintained in full force and effect until
completion of all of the work secured thereby and the road is accepted
by the Town as a Town road. The maintenance bond shall be maintained
in full force and effect for a period of one year after final acceptance
of the road. In the event of delivery by the Commission of the record
subdivision map under a conditional approval pending filing of the
performance and maintenance bonds as authorized above, such conditional
approval shall lapse five years from the date it is granted, provided
that the applicant may apply for and the Commission may, in its discretion,
grant one or more extensions of the time to complete all or part of
the work in connection with such subdivision, provided that the time
for all extensions shall not exceed 10 years from the date the subdivision
was approved. If the Commission grants an extension of an approval,
the Commission may condition the approval on a determination of the
adequacy of the amount of the bonds.
Upon completion of all work in connection with
a subdivision for which a bond has been posted hereunder, the applicant
shall deliver to the Zoning Enforcement Officer a written certification
that all of the work in connection with such plan of subdivision has
been performed and completed in accordance with the plan approved
and these regulations. The Zoning Enforcement Officer shall review
the completed work and shall report his findings to the Commission.
If the Commission finds by resolution that all such work has been
completed in accordance with the plan of subdivision and these regulations,
the Chairman of the Commission shall issue to the applicant a written
certification of completion and shall have the authority to execute
such document or documents as may be necessary to release any performance
bond filed to secure such completion.
All work proposed or required under these regulations
in connection with a plan of subdivision approved hereunder shall
be completed within five years after the date of decision of the Commission
approving such plan of subdivision. If all such work is not completed
at the time of expiration of said five-year period, the Commission
shall afford the applicant an opportunity to appear before the Commission
at a hearing and to be heard concerning such expiration. If the Commission
determines that the time period for completion has expired and no
extension for completion has been granted, the Commission shall publish
notice of such expiration in a newspaper having a substantial circulation
in the Town within 15 days of the hearing and shall file on the Land
Records of the Town a notice of such expiration and shall endorse,
on the filed record subdivision map, a notation that the period has
expired without the completion of all of the work. Upon filing of
such notice and endorsement of the record subdivision map, no further
lots or parts within the subdivision area of said plan of subdivision
shall be conveyed unless a new application for subdivision of such
premises has been approved by the Commission. If all work shall not
have been completed within the aforesaid five-year period, and lots
or parts within the subdivision area have been conveyed during the
aforesaid five-year period, then, upon expiration of said period,
the Commission shall call the bond or other surety of security on
said subdivision to the extent necessary to complete the improvements
required to serve those lots or parts.
In the event that, upon notification of completion under § 485-27, the actual construction fails to conform to the location, layout, design or work as approved, the Commission may authorize issuance of the certificate of completion notwithstanding such nonconformity but only if the Commission finds that:
[Amended 5-21-2013]
No bond securing all work in connection with all roads proposed
or required under an approved plan of subdivision shall be released
until:
A.
Approval by Town Engineer. All work in connection with all roads
proposed or required under an approved plan of subdivision has been
inspected and certified as completed by the Town Engineer and,
B.
Acceptance by Town. All of such roads have been accepted by the Town
for use as Town roads.
C.
If the person posting a bond or surety under this section requests
a release of all or a portion of such bond or surety, the Commission
shall, not later than 65 days after receiving such request:
(1)
Release any such bond or surety or portion thereof, provided the
Commission or its agent is reasonably satisfied that the modifications
for which such bond or surety or portion thereof was posted have been
completed; or
(2)
Provide the person posting such bond or surety with a written explanation
as to the additional modifications that must be completed before such
bond or surety or portion thereof may be released.
Anything in these regulations to the contrary
notwithstanding, where any proposed road or drainage facility will
join with any state highway or state highway drainage facility, a
copy of the permit authorizing such connection issued by the Bureau
of Highways of the Connecticut Department of Transportation shall,
upon issuance, be delivered to the Commission. The Commission shall
neither endorse nor deliver a record subdivision map until all such
permits have been received by the Commission.
[Amended 5-18-2004]
Anything in these regulations to the contrary
notwithstanding, the Commission shall not consider, and shall forthwith
return, any application for approval of a plan of subdivision if another
application for approval of a plan of subdivision of the same or substantially
the same subdivision area is then pending before the Commission.
In the case of an application hereunder made
by more than one applicant, the applicants shall specify in writing,
at the time of filing the application hereunder, the name and mailing
address of one of the applicants to whom any notice or other communication
from the Commission, or any person on behalf of the Commission, required
or permitted hereunder shall be sent. In the absence of any such designation,
dispatch of any such notice or communication to any one of the applicants
shall constitute notice to all applicants.
The Commission shall have, for the purpose of these regulations, the same power to allow or require departures from road construction standards and drainage improvement construction standards as it has under § 480-83 of the Road Regulations to allow or require departures from criteria and standards prescribed therein.
Any prospective applicant for approval of a plan of subdivision or resubdivision may, prior to making the application prescribed in Article IV, submit to the Commission, and the Commission may consider and discuss with the prospective applicant, a preliminary application. The submission of such preliminary application shall not constitute an application under Article IV. The Commission may, in its discretion, indicate to such prospective applicant the respects in which such preliminary application conforms, or fails to conform, to the requirements prescribed in these regulations for approval of a subdivision or resubdivision. Two copies of such preliminary application shall be filed and should include:
By making an application for preliminary or
final approval hereunder, the applicant and the owner of the premises
to which such application relates consent and authorize the Commission
or its designee to enter upon said premises and to inspect the same
and to perform, or have performed, tests, measurements, studies, environmental
review, and other procedures necessary or appropriate to verify or
clarify information supplied with such application or to ascertain
new information reasonably necessary to a proper determination of
such application. By making an application for preliminary of final
approval hereunder, the applicant and the owner of the premises to
which such application relates consent and authorize the Town Engineer
to review the application, to inspect the premises prior to a decision
on the application, and to inspect and monitor work performed following
approval of the application. The costs of such inspections shall be
according to a schedule of fees established by the Commission. The
applicant shall pay the amount of the fees thereof when due and payable.
If the applicant does not pay the fees after notification of the amount,
the Commission shall not proceed to a hearing or determination of
the application and may, without further proceedings, disapprove it
or, in the case of an approved application, shall not issue zoning
permits for the buildings and shall deduct such fees from any performance
bond prior to its release.
