The elements within this Article IV may be applicable to individual land development projects and subdivisions, depending upon the individual site and project design.
Where the Planning Board requires, as a condition
of approval of a proposed land development or subdivision project,
dedication of land to the public, public improvements, payment in
lieu of dedication or construction, or payments to mitigate the impacts
of a proposed project these regulations require that the following
standards shall be met:
A.
All required public improvements must reflect the
character defined for that neighborhood or district by the Town's
Comprehensive Plan;
B.
The need for all dedications of land to the public
and for payments in lieu of such dedications must be clearly documented
in the adopted plans of the community, i.e., the Comprehensive Plan
and the Capital Improvement Plan as well as in the public record of
the development application under review;
C.
No dedications of land to the public or payments-in-lieu
of dedications shall be required until the need for such are identified
and documented by the Town, the land proposed for dedication is determined
to be appropriate for the proposed use, and/or the formulas established
by these regulations for calculating a payment in lieu of dedication
have been used;
D.
All dedications, improvements, or payments in lieu
thereof, for mitigation of identified negative impacts of proposed
projects must meet the above standards. Furthermore, the significant
negative impacts of the proposed development on the existing conditions
must be clearly documented. The mitigation required as a condition
of approval must be related to the significance of the identified
impact; and
E.
All payments in lieu of dedication or construction
to mitigate the impacts of the proposed development shall be kept
in restricted accounts and shall only be spent on the mitigation of
the identified impacts for which it is required.
A.
The Planning Board shall approve agreements for the
completion of all required public improvements prior to final plan
approval in the form of completion of actual construction of all improvements,
improvement guarantees, or a combination thereof.
B.
An improvement guarantee is a security instrument
accepted by the Town to ensure that all improvements, facilities,
or work required by these regulations or as a condition of approval
of a subdivision plan by the Planning Board will be completed in compliance
with the approved plans and specifications. Improvement guarantees
shall be provided to ensure the proper installation and maintenance
of required street, utility and other physical improvements and to
ensure compliance with other nonstructural conditions of final plat
approval (if any). The nature and duration of the guarantee shall
be structured to achieve this community objective without adding unnecessary
costs to the subdivider.
C.
Where improvements are constructed without a financial
guarantee, the work is to be completed prior to final approval. All
construction shall be inspected and approved by the Town Engineer
in accordance with these regulations.
D.
Improvement guarantees shall be in an amount and with
all necessary conditions to secure for the Town the actual construction
and complete installation of all the required improvements, within
the period specified by the Planning Board. The amount shall be based
on actual cost estimates for all required public improvements, and
these estimates shall be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board.
The Board may fix the guarantee in a reasonable amount in excess of
the estimated costs to anticipate for economic or construction conditions.
The Board shall review guarantees on a regular basis and upgrade them
as necessary.
E.
The security shall be in the form of a financial instrument
acceptable to the Town's Director of Finance. The guarantee shall
enable the Town to gain timely access to the secured funds, for cause.
F.
The Planning Board, in consultation with the Administrative
Officer and the Town Engineer, shall set the amounts of improvement
guarantees, review and approve the constructed improvements and release
the improvement guarantee to the applicant. The Board may authorize
partial releases of the guarantees as stages of the improvements are
completed, inspected, and approved under the coordination of the Administrative
Officer and reported to the Planning Board.
G.
In the cases of developments and subdivisions which
are being approved and constructed in phases, the Planning Board shall
specify improvement guarantee requirements related to each particular
phase.
H.
The Planning Board may also require maintenance guarantees
to be provided for a one-year period subsequent to completion, inspection
and acceptance of the improvement(s), unless there are extenuating
circumstances.
I.
Once new public improvements have been inspected and
approved, the Planning Board shall recommend their acceptance to the
Town Council. All such improvements shall be accepted into the Town
system only by resolution of the Town Council.
J.
The Town is hereby granted the power to enforce the
guarantees by all appropriate legal and equitable remedies.
A.
When a major land development or major subdivision is submitted for master plan approval as provided in § A261-28, the Planning Board shall review the adequacy of existing and projected future public improvements, services and facilities which may be impacted by the proposed development in its entirety. If the Planning Board determines that such improvements, services and facilities, including but not limited to water supply, sewage disposal, streets and associated drainage facilities, schools, recreational facilities, and fire and police protection will not be adequate to serve the residents of the subdivision or the land development project at the time of recording of the plat or plan, the Planning Board shall have the authority to establish a rate of development of the entire subdivision or land development by requiring it to be built in phases.
B.
When an application is submitted for master plan approval, the applicant shall submit to the applicable municipal, state or private agency, as provided in the Master Plan Checklist for Major Land Developments and Major Subdivisions, a copy of the master plan narrative report for their review and comment. Each agency so notified by the applicant, proof of which shall be presented to the Administrative Officer, shall be requested to provide its comments in writing to the Planning Board. Comments shall be received from each agency prior to the date of the informational meeting. If the Administrative Officer does not receive comments by that date, it shall be assumed that the agency does not wish to comment. If the public informational meeting on the master plan and the public hearing on the preliminary plan are combined as provided in § A261-28C, all comments from reviewing agencies shall be received prior to the date of the public hearing.
C.
Each department or agency to which such a request
for comments is made shall deliver to the Administrative Officer,
in addition to the written correspondence, any supplementary material,
which shall describe:
(1)
An estimate of the impact of the subdivision on the
facilities and/or services provided by the department or agency;
(2)
Whether existing facilities and/or services are adequate
to serve the subdivision's residents;
(3)
Whether plans for the necessary improvements to existing
facilities and/or services are included in the Town's Capital Improvement
Program or are otherwise planned; and
(4)
An estimate of how long it would take to provide any
necessary improvements to existing facilities and/or services.
D.
Based on the responses received from the various departments
and agencies, the Planning Board shall establish, at the time of master
plan approval, a rate of development of the entire subdivision or
development that will permit residential construction only when improvements,
services and facilities will be adequate to serve the residents of
the subdivision or development. As part of such a growth rate plan,
the Planning Board may require that improvements are installed, or
lots sold, in two or more phases.
E.
If phasing is required, the Planning Board shall approve the entire master plan first. Thereafter, the applicant shall be required to submit plans for preliminary and/or final review and/or approval indicating the development of the entire site in two or more phases but no more than five phases as required by the Planning Board in Subsection D above. In such review and approval, the Board may, in its discretion, impose conditions for determining the physical limits of phases, for allowing progression to additional phases, for allowing two or more phases to proceed in review or construction simultaneously, for interim public improvements or construction conditions, for changes to master or preliminary plans, and may include other provisions as necessitated by special conditions.
F.
The master plan documents may contain information
on the physical limits of the phases, the schedule and sequence of
public improvement installation, improvement guarantees, and the work
and completion schedules for approvals and construction of the phases.
A.
The Planning Board may waive requirements for development
plan approval where there is a change in use or occupancy and no extensive
construction of improvements is sought. The waiver may be granted
only by a decision by the Planning Board finding that the use will
not affect existing drainage, circulation, relationship of buildings
to each other, landscaping, buffering, lighting and other considerations
of development plan approval, and that the existing facilities do
not require upgraded or additional site improvements.
B.
The application for a waiver of development plan approval
review shall include documentation, as required by the Planning Board,
on prior use of the site, the proposed use, and its impact.
A.
The Planning Board shall have the authority to waive
or modify one or more of the requirements for land development or
subdivision approval contained in these regulations if the Planning
Board finds, on that record, that:
(1)
The waiver or modification is reasonable and within
the general purposes and intents of these regulations; and
(2)
Literal enforcement of one or more provisions of the regulations is impracticable and will exact undue hardship because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question; or where such waiver and/or modification is in the best interest of good planning practice and/or design as evidenced by consistency with the Town's Comprehensive Plan and Chapter 260, Zoning.
B.
The Planning Board shall approve, approve with conditions,
or deny a request for a waiver or modification by the following procedure:
(1)
The Planning Board's decision shall be made within
45 days of the date the request for the waiver or modification was
first considered by the Planning Board, unless the applicant waives
that deadline.
A.
When an applicant has exceeded a deadline established
by these regulations for submission of material for a land development
or subdivision, thereby rendering a previously granted approval invalid,
the application may be reinstated by the Planning Board under the
following conditions:
(1)
The development is consistent with the Comprehensive
Community Plan;
(2)
The land development and subdivision regulations are
substantially the same as they were at the time of original approval;
(3)
The zoning of the development parcel is substantially
the same as it was at the time of original approval;
(4)
Physical conditions on the development parcel are
substantially the same as they were at the time or original approval;
and
(5)
Any applicable state or federal regulations are substantially
the same as they were at the time of original approval.
B.
Application for reinstatement of a previously approved
subdivision shall be made, in writing, to the Planning Board. The
Planning Board, in approving or denying the request for an extension,
shall make findings of fact which shall be made part of the record.
