The purpose of this Article 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 Community Master Plan of the Village. 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 standards set forth hereinafter. The said standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article
VI herein.
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 more than 10% of the total area of
the subdivision shall be reserved for parks, playgrounds 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 legislature approves such dedication. While the plan may show only a general location for such proposed site, 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 developer satisfactorily grade and seed any such recreation areas shown
on the plat.
(2) The Board shall not accept areas of less than three acres
and shall require that not less than three acres of recreation space be provided
per 100 dwelling units shown on the plat. Open spaces of a lesser area may
be approved where the difference may be made up in conjunction with the future
subdivision of adjacent land. However, in no case, except in planned and cluster
developments, shall the required amount be more than 10% of the total area
of the subdivision. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the Village by
the subdivider if the Village Board approves such dedication.
(3) All lands designated on the plat as park, playground
and recreation areas may be retained in private ownership and shall be subject
to such conditions as the Planning Board may establish for the subdivision
concerning access, use and maintenance of such lands as deemed necessary to
assure the preservation of such lands in perpetuity for their intended purposes.
Such conditions shall be shown on the plat prior to plat approval and recording.
(4) Under either of the sections specified above, the subdivider
may submit a proposed subdivision of said land shown for recreational purposes,
if the Village does not accept either the dedication or purchase of said land:
(a) At the time of the issuance of 2/3 of the certificates
of occupancy in said plat; or
(b) Within 36 months after the date of the 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 to the Planning Board, prior to final approval, three prints
[one on cloth] drawn in ink showing, at a scale of not less than 30 feet to
the inch, such area and the following features thereof:
(1) The boundaries of the said area, giving lengths and bearings
of all straight lines, radii, lengths, central angles and tangent distances
of all curves.
(2) Existing features such as brooks, ponds, clusters of
trees, rock outcrops, structures.
(3) Existing and if applicable, proposed changes in grade
and contours of the said area and of the area immediately adjacent.
D. Waiver of plat designation of area for parks and playgrounds.
In cases where the Planning Board finds that, due to the size, topography,
location or nature of the subdivision, land for park, playground or other
recreation purposes cannot be properly located therein, or if in the opinion
of the Board it is not desirable, the Board may waive the requirements that
the plat show land for such purposes. The Board shall then require, as a condition
to approval of the plat, a payment to the Village of an amount equal to $2,000
per lot for each new lot created by a subdivision of land in the Village of
Florida. 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 Recreation Site Acquisition and
Improvement Fund, to be used for the acquisition of land that is suitable
for permanent park, playground or other recreational purposes and is so located
that it will serve primarily the general neighborhood in which the land covered
by the plat lies, and such payment 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 that there is a need for such improvements.
[Amended 3-12-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; 2-10-2004
by L.L. No. 2-2004]
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 development and to the community, such as large
trees or groves, watercourses and waterfalls, 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 trees 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) Watercourses. Open watercourses shall be recognized as community assets. Subdivision design may well be enhanced by featuring streams and brooks. Floodplain land, areas bordering watercourses, drainageways and other lands which cannot be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from flood may be offered to the Village as a gift to be used as public open space or for recreational purposes at the discretion of the Planning Board. Such land may be in addition to that required in Subsection
B of this section.
(5) Lots. On a lot intended for single-family purpose, no
more than 5,000 square feet shall be cleared for development purposes.
G. School site. Upon receipt from the School Board of a
letter declaring its interest in a school site of a specific size, the location
of which is within a proposed subdivision, the Planning Board may require
a subdivider to set aside such area in the design of the subdivision. Upon
failure of the School Board to secure an option to acquire or to purchase
such school site prior to the date of the final approval of the plat, the
subdivider shall be relieved of the responsibility of showing such land for
public purpose.
It is the policy of the Village that all central sewer and water systems
shall be owned and operated by the municipality. It is required as a condition
to final approval of the plat that where central sewer and/or water systems
are to be installed, an improvement district shall be legally formed or extended.
Such systems with appurtenances shall be offered for dedication to such districts
without cost to the district.
A. Water and sewage facilities.
(1) Endorsement. The proposed subdivision plat shall be properly
endorsed and approved by the Orange County Department of Health. Such endorsement
and approval shall be secured by the subdivider after approval of the preliminary
plat by the Planning Board.
(2) Local requirements. Orange County Department of Health
approval shall constitute only the minimum requirement necessary, and where
considered essential by the Board, a public sanitary and/or water system may
be required for any subdivision.
(3) Ordinance. The requirements contained in the Village
of Florida Sewage Disposal Ordinance, Ordinance No. 56, approved by the Village
Board and as hereafter may be amended, shall apply, and all sewage disposal
systems shall be constructed in conformance thereto, said Sewage Disposal
Ordinance being attached hereto and made a part hereof.
(4) Dedication. Water and sewer mains and systems are to
be offered for dedication to the municipality or duly constituted improvement
district and, upon completion of acceptance, to be maintained by the municipality
and shall be located in the street rights-of-way or in perpetually unobstructed
easements of a width adequate for servicing.
(5) Conditions. The developer shall be responsible not only
for the laterals within the development but also for any lines or connections
that may be necessary to bring the service to the development.
B. Standards for water systems. See the Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code.
[Amended 2-10-1987 by L.L. No. 1-1987]
C. Standards for sewage systems. See the Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code.
[Amended 2-10-1987 by L.L. No. 1-1987]