In any new subdivision plat or certified survey
map, the street layout shall conform to the arrangement, width and
location indicated on the Official Map or Comprehensive Plan of the
City. In areas for which such plans have not been completed, the street
layout shall recognize the functional classification of the various
types of streets and shall be developed and located in proper relation
to existing and proposed streets, to the topography, to such natural
features as streams and tree growth, to public convenience and safety,
to the proposed use of the land to be served by such streets and to
the most advantageous development of adjoining areas. The subdivision
shall be designed so as to provide each lot with satisfactory access
to a public street. In addition:
A. Major streets. Major, or arterial, streets shall be
arranged so as to provide ready access to centers of employment, centers
of governmental activity, community shopping areas, community recreation
and points beyond the boundaries of the community. They shall also
be properly integrated with and related to the existing and proposed
system of arterial streets and highways and shall be, insofar as practicable,
continuous and in alignment with existing or planned streets with
which they are to connect.
B. Collector streets. Collector streets shall be arranged
so as to provide ready collection of traffic from residential areas
and conveyance of this traffic to the major street and highway system
and shall be properly related to the mass transportation system, to
special traffic generators, such as schools, churches and shopping
centers and other concentrations of population, and to the major streets
to which they connect.
C. Minor streets. Minor streets shall be arranged to
conform to the topography, to discourage use by through traffic, to
permit the design of efficient storm and sanitary sewerage systems
and to require the minimum street area necessary to provide safe and
convenient access to abutting property.
D. Proposed streets. Proposed streets shall extend to
the boundary lines of the tract being subdivided unless prevented
by topography or other physical conditions or unless, in the opinion
of the Council, such extension is not necessary or desirable for the
coordination of the layout of the subdivision or for the advantageous
development of the adjacent tracts.
E. Major street and highway protection. Whenever the
proposed subdivision contains or is adjacent to a major street or
highway, adequate protection of residential properties, limitation
of access and separation of through and local traffic shall be provided
by reversed frontage with screen planting or an earth berm contained
in a nonaccess reservation along the rear or side property line, or
by the use of frontage streets.
F. Stream or lake shores. Stream or lake shores shall
have a minimum of 60 feet of public access platted to the low-water
mark at intervals of not more than 1/2 mile as required by § 236.16(3),
Wis. Stats.
G. Reserve strips. Reserve strips shall not be provided
on any plat to control access to streets or alleys, except where control
of such strips is placed with the Council under conditions recommended
by the Plan Commission.
H. Alleys. Alleys shall be provided in commercial and
industrial areas for off-street loading and service access if required
by the Council but shall not be approved in residential districts.
Dead-end alleys shall not be approved. Alleys shall not connect to
a major thoroughfare.
I. Street names. Street names shall not duplicate or
be similar to existing street names elsewhere in the City and environs,
and existing street names shall be projected wherever possible.
Whenever the proposed subdivision contains or
is adjacent to a limited access highway or railroad right-of-way,
the design shall provide the following treatment:
A. When lots within the proposed subdivision back upon
the right-of-way of an existing or proposed limited access highway
or a railroad, a planting strip at least 30 feet in depth and/or an
earth berm shall be provided adjacent to the highway or railroad in
addition to the normal lot depth. This strip shall be a part of the
platted lots but shall have the following restriction lettered on
the face of the plat: "This strip is reserved for the planting of
trees and shrubs; the building of structures and placement of longitudinal
easements for utilities hereon are prohibited."
B. Commercial and industrial properties shall have provided,
on each side of the limited access highway or railroad, streets approximately
parallel to and at a suitable distance from such highway or railroad
for the appropriate use of the land between such streets and highway
or railroad, but not less than 150 feet.
C. Streets parallel to a limited access highway or railroad
right-of-way, when intersecting a high collector street and highway
or collector street which crosses said railroad or highway, shall
be located at a minimum distance of 250 feet from said highway or
railroad right-of-way. Such distance, where desirable and practicable,
shall be determined with due consideration of the minimum distance
required for the future separation of grades by means of appropriate
approach gradients.
D. Local streets immediately adjacent and parallel to
railroad rights-of-way shall be avoided, and location of local streets
immediately adjacent to high collector streets and highways and to
railroad rights-of-way shall be avoided in residential areas.
Streets shall intersect each other at as nearly
right angles as topography and other limiting factors of good design
permit. In addition:
A. The number of streets converging at one intersection
shall be reduced to a minimum, preferably not more than two.
B. The number of intersections along major streets and
highways shall be held to a minimum. Wherever practicable, the distance
between such intersections shall not be less than 1,000 feet.
C. Intersections on minor streets shall be offset at
least 125 feet measured from the center lines of the two streets.
D. Property lines at street intersections shall be rounded
with a minimum radius of 20 feet, or of a greater radius when required
by the Plan Commission, or shall be terminated by a straight line
through the points of tangency of an arc having a radius of 15 feet.
E. Minor streets shall not necessarily continue across
major or collector streets, but if the center lines of such local
streets approach the major streets from opposite sides within 300
feet of each other, measured along the center line of the major or
collector street, then the location shall be so adjusted that the
adjoinment across the major or collector street is continuous and
a jog is avoided.
The widths, lengths and shapes of blocks shall
be suited to the planned use of the land, zoning requirements, need
for convenient access, control and safety of street traffic and the
limitations and opportunities of topography. In addition:
A. The length of blocks in residential areas shall not,
as a general rule, be less than 400 feet nor more than 1,200 feet
in length unless otherwise dictated by exceptional topography or other
limiting factors of good design.
B. Pedestrianways are generally not desired and should
be avoided; however, pedestrianways of not less than 10 feet in width
may be required near the center and entirely across any block over
900 feet in length where deemed essential by the Plan Commission to
provide adequate pedestrian circulation or access to schools, parks,
shopping centers, churches or transportation facilities.
C. The width of blocks shall be wide enough to provide
for two tiers of lots of appropriate depth, except where otherwise
required to separate residential development from through traffic.
Width of lots or parcels reserved or laid out for commercial or industrial
use shall be adequate to provide for off-street service and parking
required by the use contemplated and the area zoning restrictions
for such use.
D. Utility easements. See §
425-52 below.
The size, shape and orientation of lots shall
be appropriate for the location of the subdivision and for the type
of development and use contemplated. The lots should be designed to
provide an aesthetically pleasing building site and a proper architectural
setting for the building contemplated. In addition:
A. Side lot lines shall be at approximately right angles
to straight street lines or radial to curved street lines on which
the lots face. Lot lines shall follow municipal boundary lines rather
than cross them.
B. Double frontage and reverse frontage lots shall be
prohibited except where necessary to provide separation of residential
development from through traffic or to overcome specific disadvantages
of topography and orientation.
C. All lots shall abut upon a public street, and each
lot shall have a minimum frontage of 60 feet, except in the case of
single-family zoned areas where the minimum frontage may be reduced
to 40 feet on cul-de-sac lots only.
[Added by Ord. No. 845-97]
D. Area and dimensions of lots shall conform to the requirements
of the Zoning Code and, in areas not served by public sewers, shall, in addition,
conform to the requirements of Ch. Comm 85, Wis. Adm. Code. Whenever
a tract is subdivided to large parcels, such parcels shall be arranged
and dimensioned as to allow resubdivision of any such parcels into
normal lots in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
E. Depth of lots shall be a minimum of 100 feet. Excessive
depth in relation to width shall be avoided and a proportion of 2:1
shall be considered a desirable ratio under normal conditions. Depth
of lots or parcels reserved or laid out for commercial or industrial
use shall be adequate to provide for off-street service and parking
required by the use contemplated.
F. Width of lots shall conform to the requirements of
the Zoning Code.
G. Corner lots shall have an extra width of 10 feet to
permit adequate building setbacks from side streets.
H. Lands lying between the meander line and the water's
edge and any otherwise unplattable lands which lie between a proposed
subdivision and the water's edge shall be included as part of lots,
outlots or public dedications in any plat abutting a lake or stream.
Where not controlled by zoning regulations,
building setback lines, appropriate to the location and type of development
contemplated, shall be established as may be required by the Council.