The purpose of the following section is to ensure
that the highest standards of site, building and landscape design
are conscientiously met through the use of qualified technical and
aesthetic judgment, compatible with the master plan of the Village,
if one exists. In acting upon plats, the Planning Board shall require
among other conditions, in the public interest, that the tract shall
be adequately drained and the streets shall be of sufficient width
and suitable grade and suitably located to accommodate the prospective
traffic and to provide access for fire-fighting equipment to buildings.
The Planning Board shall further require that all lots shown on the
plats shall be adaptable for the intended purposes without danger
to health or peril from flood, fire, erosion or other menace. Required
improvements shall be designed and constructed to conform to the specifications
as established by the Village. In considering applications for subdivision
of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standard set forth
hereinafter or as approved by the Village Board. Said standards shall
be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the
Board only under circumstances set forth in this chapter.
For streets, refer to the Village of Monroe
Street Specifications, as adopted by the Village Board.
The purpose of this section is to provide an
equitable and effective development standard for securing adequate
land for parks, playgrounds and recreation purposes in new subdivisions
throughout the Village. Except as hereinafter provided, lands comprising
approximately 10% of the total area to be subdivided shall be reserved
for parks, playground or recreational purposes in a location with
suitable public access within the subdivision, as selected and determined
by the Planning Board.
A. Recreation areas shown on master plan. Where a proposed park, playground or open space shown on the master plan is located in whole or in part in a subdivision, the Board shall require that such area or areas be shown on the plat in accordance with the requirements specified in Subsection
B below. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the Village or county by the subdivider if the Village Board approves such dedication. While the plan may show only a general location of such proposed sites, the required reservation of land for recreation purposes must be specifically located and designated on the subdivision plat.
B. Parks and playgrounds not shown on master plan.
(1) The Planning Board shall require that the plat show
sites of a character, extent and location suitable for the development
of a park, playground or other recreation purpose. The Planning Board
may require that the subdivider satisfactorily grade and seed any
such recreation areas shown on the plat.
(2) All lands designated on the plat as park, playground
and recreation area may be retained in private ownership and shall
be subject to such conditions as the Planning Board may establish
on the subdivision concerning access, use and maintenance of such
lands as deemed necessary to assure the preservation of such land,
in perpetuity, for their intended purposes. Such conditions shall
be shown on the plat prior to plat approval.
(3) If the Village Board does not accept the dedication
of the land for recreational purposes, the subdivider may apply for
redesignation of that land from recreational purposes to residential
lots:
(a)
At the time of this issuance of 2/3 of the certificates
of occupancy in said plat; or
(b)
Within 36 months after the date of filing of
said plat with the County Clerk.
C. Information to be submitted. In the event that an
area to be used for a park or playground is required to be so shown,
the subdivider shall submit, prior to final approval, to the Planning
Board, three prints, (one on cloth) drawn in ink, showing, at a scale
of not less the 30 feet to the inch, such area and the following features
thereof:
(1) The boundaries of said area, giving lengths and bearings
of all straight lines and radii, lengths, central angles and tangent
distances of all curves.
(2) Existing features such as brooks, ponds, clusters
of trees, rocks outcrops and structures.
(3) Existing and, if applicable, proposed changes in grade
and contours of said area and of areas immediately adjacent.
D. Waiver of plat designation of area for parks and playground.
In cases where the Planning Board finds that, due to the size, topography
or location of the subdivision, land for park, playground or other
recreation purpose cannot be properly located therein or, if in the
opinion of the Board it is not desirable, the Board may waive the
requirement that the plat show land for such purposes. The Board shall
then require as a conditions to approval of the plat a payment to
the Village of an amount as specified by the Village Board for fee
in lieu of park land. Such amount shall be paid to the Village Board
at the time of final plat approval, and no plat shall be signed by
the authorized officer of the Planning Board until such payment is
made. All such payments shall be held by the Village Board in a special
Village recreational site acquisition and improvement fund to be used
for the acquisition of land that is suitable for permanent park, playground
or other recreational purposes; is so located that it will serve primarily
the general neighborhood in which the land covered by the plat lies
; and shall be used only for park, playground or other recreational
land acquisition or improvements. Such money may also be used for
the physical improvement of existing parks or recreation areas serving
the general neighborhood in which the land shown on the plat is situated,
provided that the Planning Board finds there is a need for such improvement.
E. Reserve strips prohibited. Reserve strips of land,
which might be used to control access from the proposed subdivision
to any neighboring property or to any land within the subdivision
itself shall be prohibited.
F. Preservation of natural features. The Planning Board
shall, wherever possible, establish the preservation of all natural
features which add value to residential developments and to the community,
such as large trees or groves, watercourses and falls, beaches, historic
spots, vistas and similar irreplaceable assets.
(1) Natural terrain. Subdivision design shall preserve,
insofar as possible, the natural terrain and natural watercourses,
improvements and drainage areas.
(2) Trees. A conscious effort shall be made to preserve
all worthwhile trees and shrubs which exist on the site. Such features
may well be suggested for park or playground areas. On individual
lots or parcels, care shall be taken to preserve selected trees to
enhance the landscape treatment of the development. No tree with a
diameter of eight inches or more as measured three feet above the
base of the trunk shall be removed unless such tree is within the
right-of-way of a street as shown on the final subdivision plat. Removal
of additional trees shall be subject to the approval of the Planning
Board. In no case, however, shall a tree with a diameter of eight
inches or more as measured three feet above the base of the trunk
be removed without prior approval by the Planning Board.
(3) Soil. Natural fertility of the soil shall be preserved
by disturbing it as little as is possible, and no topsoil shall be
removed from the site.
(4) Watercourse. Open watercourses shall be recognized as community assets; subdivision design may well be enhanced by featuring streams and brooks. Floodplain land, areas bordering on watercourses, drainage and other lands which cannot be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from flood may be offered to the municipality as a fit to be used as public open space or for recreational purposes, at the discretion often Planning Board, but shall be in addition to that required in Subsection
B.