These rules and regulations are adopted by authority
of the Mount Pleasant Town Board, pursuant to the provisions of Article
16, §§ 272 and 276 of the Town Law of the State of
New York.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Town Law § 272 was
repeated by L. 1992, c. 663, effective July 1, 1993.
Land within the unincorporated portion of the
Town of Mount Pleasant may be subdivided into lots, blocks or sites,
with or without streets or highways, only if approved by the Planning
Board in accordance with the procedures and requirements as set forth
in these regulations and only if the approved plat is duly filed in
the office of the County Clerk of Westchester County, New York. Construction,
excavation, filling, regrading, clearing of vegetation or other similar
activities shall not be begun within any area proposed or intended
for subdivision until said subdivision shall have been approved or
conditionally approved by the Planning Board.
A resubdivision, as defined herein, is subject
to the same procedure, rules and regulations applicable to an original
subdivision.
The review of subdivisions by the Planning Board
shall be in accordance with and under the authority granted by the
Town Board pursuant to provisions of Article 16 of the Town Law. It
is declared to be the policy of the Planning Board to consider land
subdivisions as part of a plan for the orderly, efficient and economical
development of the Town. Land to be subdivided shall be of such character
that it can be used safely for building purposes without danger to
health or peril from fire, flood or other menace and without resulting
in significant and/or irreparable damage to the ecology of the area
in which it is located. Proper provision shall be made for drainage,
water, sewerage and other needed improvements. Streets shall compose
a convenient system conforming to the Official Map, if one exists,
and shall be properly related to the proposals shown on the Town Development
Plan. Streets shall be of such width, grade and location as to accommodate
the prospective traffic, to afford adequate light and air and to facilitate
fire protection. In proper cases and when required by the Planning
Board, one or more park areas of suitable location, size and character
for playground or other recreational purposes shall be shown on the
subdivision plat. Fees shall be required by the applicant to cover
the costs of technical and expert review of all design and development
proposals.
No permit shall be issued for the erection of
any building within a proposed subdivision until said subdivision
has been duly approved by the Planning Board and filed in the office
of the County Clerk and in accordance with § 280-a of the
Town Law. The Building Inspector may issue a single building permit
based upon the entire tract of land where there is no other existing
principal use within the proposed subdivision and where the location
of the proposed building is in accordance with an approved preliminary
plat.
A.
Access. Whenever access to a proposed subdivision
can be obtained only across land in another municipality, the subdivider
shall furnish proof, satisfactory to the Planning Board, that such
access has been legally established, and the Planning Board shall
be notified by the Town Engineer that such access has been adequately
improved or that a performance bond has been duly executed and is
sufficient in amount to assure the adequate construction of the access
road. However, the Planning Board may condition its approval of those
parts of a subdivision which have access only across land in another
municipality by providing that no building permit shall be issued
on lots within the Town until such access to them has been properly
established.
B.
Municipal boundaries. In general, lot lines should
be laid out wherever possible so as not to cross municipal boundary
lines. Where this is necessary, in the opinion of the Planning Board,
it shall require that the deed for any such lot shall provide that
the portion in the other municipality may not be separated from the
portion within the Town, nor occupied by any other use that would
make the lot or use nonconforming if the lot were entirely within
the Town.
C.
Municipal jurisdiction. Approval by the Planning Board
shall be granted only for that portion of the subdivision lying within
the Town, and such approval shall be contingent upon approval by the
Planning Board having jurisdiction over that portion lying within
the adjacent municipality.
A.
Time, location and other procedures. All applicants,
at least 10 days prior to attending a public hearing of the Planning
Board, shall send a written notice by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to all contiguous landowners and landowners on the opposite
side of the highway or right-of-way on which the applicant's property
has frontage. The landowners on the opposite side shall be determined
by extending straight lines perpendicular to the highway or right-of-way
on which the applicant's property abuts from the end points of that
frontage where the property line recedes from the highway or right-of-way.
Frontage on more than one highway or right-of-way requires that all
opposite owners be given notice, including the property owner diagonally
opposite a corner parcel. Property owners entitled to notice shall
be those listed as owners on the records of the Mount Pleasant Tax
Assessor's office as of the date of mailing. The written notice shall
contain information equal to the notice published in the newspaper.
Proof of mailing receipts must be furnished prior to the public hearing.
Should the determination of the landowners entitled to receive notice
be in question when determined by the above methodology, the notifier
shall forward notice to the questioned contiguous landowners also.
B.
Availability of preliminary sketch or plat. Such notice
shall include the statement that a copy of the preliminary sketch
or preliminary plat is available in the Town Engineer's office for
detailed review and study (the responsibility for having such sketch
or preliminary plat available shall be that of the applicant).
C.
Amendment notice. Notice as required in Subsection A above shall be given of any amendment made or sought by the applicant.
D.
Proof of distribution. The applicant shall also furnish
an affidavit that a description of the property by Tax Map designation
and the substance of the proposed use, including the number of proposed
or potential buildings and their type, has been made to the following:
(1)
The fire or fire protection district having jurisdiction.
(2)
The water district having jurisdiction.
(3)
The sewer district having jurisdiction.
(4)
The sanitation district having jurisdiction.
(5)
The Town Supervisor.
(6)
The Superintendent of Highways.
(7)
The Tax Assessor.
(8)
The Traffic and Safety Committee.
(9)
The Recreation Commission.
(10)
The Conservation Advisory Commission.
(11)
The Architectural Review Board.
E.
Sufficiency of notice. If mail receipts are delayed,
the Board may retain the application on a finding of substantial compliance
by applicant's affidavit and/or make further proof of service of notice
a condition precedent to any decision, or if the public hearing shows
sufficient public response, the Board may waive further proof.
A.
Where the Planning Board finds that because of the
special circumstances of a particular case extraordinary hardship
or unnecessary delay may result from strict compliance with these
regulations, such as in minor or simple subdivisions, it may adjust
the regulations and reduce the procedural requirements so that substantial
justice may be done and the public interest secured, provided that
any such adjustment or procedural modification will not have the effect
of nullifying the spirit and intent of these regulations, the Town
Development Plan or the Official Map, if one exists. In permitting
any such adjustment or procedural modification, the Planning Board
shall attach such conditions as are, in its judgment, necessary to
substantially secure the objectives of the standard or requirement
so adjusted or modified.
B.
As authorized by resolution of the Town Board, the
Planning Board may, simultaneously with the approval of a plat, modify
applicable provisions of the Zoning Ordinance in accordance with the
provisions of § 281 of the Town Law[1] as set forth in Article VII, § 218-94, of the Mount Pleasant Zoning Ordinance.[2]
A.
Procedure. These regulations may be amended by the
Planning Board, after public hearing and subject to the approval of
the Town Board. Notice of the time, place and purpose of such hearing
shall be given by publication in the official Town newspaper at least
five days prior to the date on which it is to be held. A copy of the
proposed amendment shall be placed on file in the office of the Town
Clerk, where it shall be available for public inspection during normal
working hours for at least the five-day notice period before such
hearing.
B.
Effective date. Amendments adopted by the Planning
Board shall take effect on the date of Town Board approval.
C.
Effect on subdivisions under consideration. Any proposed
preliminary subdivision plat which has not received conditional approval
prior to the effective date of an amendment to these regulations or
any conditionally approved preliminary subdivision plat where an application
for final plat approval has not been received shall fully comply with
any amendment to these regulations.
If any article, section, subsection, paragraph,
sentence, clause or other part of these regulations is for any reason
held invalid, the validity of the remaining portion of these regulations
shall not be affected.
In order that land may be subdivided in accordance
with the authority, jurisdiction and policy as set forth above, these
regulations are hereby adopted and enacted.