Whenever any subdivision of land is proposed
and before any contract for the sale or lease of any part thereof
is made, the subdividing owner or his duly authorized agent shall
proceed to secure approval of the proposed subdivision in accordance
with the following steps:
This step is recommended for the benefit of
the applicant, but is not required. If followed, the procedure shall
generally be as follows:
A.
Initial conference. The applicant shall submit a request
to the Planning Board Secretary, at least two weeks in advance of
a regular Planning Board meeting, of his desire to be placed on the
agenda for an initial conference. At such conference, he shall present
a sketch layout of the proposed subdivision (marked-up copies of the
Town Tax Maps are suggested for this purpose). The sketch layout shall
include a site location sketch (at a scale of one inch equals 1,000
feet) indicating the applicant's entire holdings in relation to neighboring
streets and properties and shall show the general nature of the proposed
arrangement of streets, lots and recreation areas and the proposed
concept for providing utility service.
B.
Field trip. After the initial conference, the Planning
Board may schedule a field trip to the proposed subdivision site.
The applicant or his representative should attend the site inspection,
and prior to it, the center line of all proposed streets and front
lot corners shall be located by temporary stakes. Road stakes shall
be located at fifty-foot intervals and at all proposed street intersections.
C.
Planning Board recommendations. At or subsequent to the field trip, the Planning Board shall advise the applicant or his representative of the additions and modifications, if any, which should be made if an application for subdivision approval is to be submitted. The Planning Board may classify the proposed subdivision as a minor subdivision at this time, in accordance with § A227-15G.
Prior to requesting approval of a proposed final
subdivision plat, the applicant shall file an application for approval
of a preliminary plat, in duplicate, on forms available from the Planning
Board Secretary. (See sample in Appendix 1.[1]) Such application shall be filed with the Planning Board
Secretary at least two weeks prior to the regular Planning Board meeting
at which it is to be officially submitted and considered and shall
be accompanied by the following:
A.
Items to accompany application; distribution of plat
and construction plans.
(1)
Application for preliminary plat approval shall be accompanied by the following information, as further specified in § A227-31; where possible, said information shall be shown on the preliminary plat:
(b)
Show all contiguous land of the applicant.
(e)
A statement from the applicant's engineer or
land surveyor certifying the total amount of acreage within the property
to be subdivided.
(f)
A list of all districts within which the property
proposed for subdivision is located, such as fire, school, water,
sewer, garbage and streetlighting.
(g)
A certification, under oath, of the applicant's
ownership of the property included in the proposed subdivision, including
information on any rights or easements of record, and a specific statement
that a search of the filed maps on record discloses no maps of any
part of it, except as noted.
(h)
Certified authority from the owner of the property
for the agent to represent the owner(s).
(2)
Distribution of the preliminary plat and preliminary
construction plans shall be as follows:
|
Recipient
|
Number
|
|---|---|
|
Planning Board members
|
5
|
|
Town Engineer
|
1
|
|
Planning consultants
|
1
|
|
Official Planning Board file copy
|
1
|
|
Department heads and Conservation Commission
(for circulation)
|
2
|
|
--------------------------
|
----
|
|
Total
|
10
|
B.
Field trip. The Planning Board may schedule a field inspection of the proposed subdivision, as described in § A227-14.
C.
Public hearing. Upon receipt of the preliminary application
and all accompanying material, the Planning Board shall call a public
hearing to be held within 45 days of the date of submission. The Planning
Board Secretary shall submit notices to the official Town newspaper
for publication. The applicant shall mail copies of the notices to
abutting property owners and shall file copies of the preliminary
plat and construction plans for public review at least five days prior
to the public hearing. The Planning Board Secretary shall also mail
a copy of the public notice and a copy of the preliminary plat to
the County Planning Board, where notice to such Board is required
by law, and to the Clerk of any abutting municipality where the land
to be subdivided is within 500 feet of such municipality, each to
be received at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing.
D.
Action on preliminary plat application. Within 45
days from the date of the public hearing, the Planning Board shall
take action to approve or conditionally approve, with or without modifications,
or disapprove such preliminary plat. The grounds of any modification
required or the grounds for disapproval may be by resolution and shall
be stated in the Planning Board minutes, and a copy of such action
shall be sent to the applicant. Notwithstanding the foregoing forty-five-day
limitation, the time in which the Planning Board must take action
on such plat may be extended by mutual consent of the owner and the
Planning Board.
E.
Informal hearings. The Planning Board, at its discretion,
may hold informal public hearings on the preliminary plat.
F.
Expiration of approval. Approval of a preliminary plat shall expire six months from the date of Planning Board action in Subsection E if no application for final subdivision plat approval is submitted within such period, except that the time limit may be extended by resolution of the Planning Board.
G.
Waiver of preliminary plat. In order to expedite the
subdivision review procedure, where a proposed subdivision does not
involve a new road, road extension or road connection and where three
or fewer building lots are involved, the Planning Board may, by resolution,
classify such subdivision as a minor subdivision and waive the requirement
for preliminary plat approval. In such case, the preliminary application
fee shall be substituted for the final application fee when the final
plat application is submitted. The Planning Board may also designate
a subcommittee of one or more of its members, with the assistance
of its agents, to review the final plat and application and to prepare
recommendations for final plat approval.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix 1 is on file in the
Town offices.
Within six months after the Planning Board's
action on the preliminary plat, an application for final subdivision
plat approval may be filed with the Planning Board Secretary, at least
two weeks before the regular Planning Board meeting at which it is
to be officially submitted and considered. Such application shall
be prepared in duplicate on forms available from the Planning Board
Secretary. (See sample in Appendix 1.[1])
A.
Items to accompany application. Application for final approval shall be accompanied by the following information, as further specified in § A227-31; where possible, said information shall be shown on the final plat:
(2)
Proof of ownership by the applicant of the premises
affected by the application; certification as to title by the applicant,
his legal counsel or certificate of title company covering all interests,
liens and objections to title, if any.
(3)
Where subdivision roads and/or other improvements
are involved, a statement from the applicant's engineer giving an
estimated cost of construction, together with the quantities and unit
costs used in making the estimate, submitted to the Town Engineer
for verification and as an aid in establishing the amount of any performance
bond which may be required.
(4)
Where streets or park areas are included within the
proposed subdivision, a formal offer of cession to the Town of all
such streets and park areas, in a form showing approval by the Town
Attorney, except where the proposed final subdivision plat has a notation
to the effect that no offer of dedication of such street and park
areas or any of them is made to the public.
(5)
Where, after consultation with and recommendations
from the Recreation Commission, the Planning Board determines that
there is no need for a park area to be shown on the proposed plat,
a recreation fee, payable to the Town of Mount Pleasant, submitted
in the amount determined for such cases by resolution of the Town
Board.
(6)
A written agreement, in form satisfactory to the Town
Attorney, permitting entry by the Town onto any streets, easements
and park areas, for the purposes of inspecting and installing any
required improvements in the event of the failure of the applicant
to make such installations or to properly maintain such installments
until such time as the Town assumes the responsibility for them.
(7)
A list of any and all waivers of the provisions of
these regulations which the applicant requests the Planning Board
to grant his specific case, with the reasons therefor.
(8)
Proof of approval by the State Department of Transportation
or the County Department of Public Works, as appropriate, of the location,
design and proposed construction of any intersection of a proposed
road in the subdivision with a state or County highway, including
drainage from the proposed subdivision onto the state or County highway.
(9)
Statements of covenant, in a form and with a content
satisfactory to the Town Attorney, to be included in the deed of every
lot in the subdivision, providing for the obligation of each and every
property owner to maintain all streets, open spaces and parks in the
subdivision and establishing an instrument for exercising such obligation
until such time as such areas are formally offered for dedication
to and accepted by the Town.
B.
Public hearing.
(1)
Within 45 days of the official submission date of the final subdivision application and all accompanying material, the Planning Board shall hold a public hearing on said application, except that where a preliminary plat has been required and the Planning Board deems the final plat to be in substantial agreement with said approved preliminary plat, it may waive the public hearing on the plat. The Planning Board Secretary shall submit a notice of any such hearing to the official Town newspaper for publication in said newspaper at least five days before such hearing, and the applicant shall mail copies of the notice to property owners abutting and across the street from the proposed subdivision as required in § A227-8. A copy of the proposed plat and construction plans shall be maintained on file in the Town Engineer's office, available for public inspection during normal business hours for the five-day period immediately preceding the hearing. The applicant and/or his representative should attend the public hearing.
(2)
Notice to County Planning Board and adjacent communities.
If the proposed subdivision involves a new street connecting directly
into any state or County highway, parkway, thruway or road or involves
drainage lines connecting directly into any channel lines established
by the County Commissioner of Public Works under the Westchester County
Stream Control Act, a notice of the public hearing shall be mailed
to the County Planning Board at least 10 days prior to the date of
the hearing. If the land to be subdivided is within 500 feet of any
abutting municipality in the County, a notice of the public hearing
shall be mailed by the Planning Board to the Clerk of such abutting
municipality at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing. At
the public hearing, the Planning Board shall give opportunity to any
interested person to examine or comment on the proposed subdivision
plat and construction plan.
C.
Action by Planning Board. Within 45 days of the public
hearing or within 45 days of receipt of the final application, when
a hearing is waived, the Planning Board shall approve or conditionally
approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove the subdivision
application, by resolution, which shall set forth any conditions to
which the approval is subject or the reason for disapproval, pursuant
to § 276 of the Town Law, including the amount of any performance
bond and the time limit for any required improvements. A copy of the
resolution shall be mailed to the applicant. Such time period may
be extended by mutual consent of the owner and the Planning Board.
D.
Authorization for filing plat by sections. Prior to
granting its approval, the Planning Board may permit the plat to be
subdivided into two or more sections and may impose such conditions
upon the delineation and filing of the sections as it may deem necessary
to assure the orderly development of the plat. Approval to the sections,
subject to any conditions imposed by the Board, shall be granted concurrently
with approval of the plat. If the owner files only a section of an
approved plat, such section shall encompass at least 10% of the total
number of lots contained in the approved plat. Within 30 days of the
filing of a section of an approved plat with the County Clerk, the
owner shall file the entire approved plat with the Mount Pleasant
Town Clerk and with the Planning Board Secretary. The Planning Board
may deny approval of any section of a plat if a prior section has
not first been satisfactorily completed. Such Planning Board action
may include, for example, limitation on the number of building permits
to be granted in any approved section.
E.
Action by applicant. Based upon the Planning Board
resolution and any condition therein and within 180 days of said resolution
(which time period may be extended by the Planning Board for up to
two additional ninety-day periods), the applicant shall have the final
subdivision plat and construction plans revised, if necessary, in
accordance with said resolution, shall submit a completed checklist
as may be supplied by the Planning Board and as noted in Appendix
2 of these regulations[4] and shall submit 10 copies of the revised maps to the
Town Engineer. Any performance bond which is to be posted shall be
submitted to the Town Attorney for review as to legal sufficiency.
The Town Engineer shall check the revised final maps to determine
whether they are in substantial compliance with the Planning Board's
resolution of approval and, if so, shall so certify to the Planning
Board. The Town Attorney shall be responsible for determining and
certifying to the Planning Board whether or not the surety, form,
sufficiency and manner of execution of the bond is acceptable to and
has been approved by the Town Board.
[4]
Editor's Note: Appendix 2 is on file in the
Town offices.
F.
Approval of construction plans. The construction plans,
revised as necessary to meet the requirements of the Planning Board
resolution, shall be endorsed by the Town Engineer as "approved" and
in substantial compliance with the requirements of said resolution
and the Town's construction standards and specifications prior to
the signing of the plat and the beginning of any construction work
within the proposed subdivision.
G.
Final approval of subdivision plat. The Chairman or
other duly authorized officer of the Planning Board shall endorse
(sign) the Board's final approval on the plat only after receipt of
written certification from the Town Engineer that all required conditions,
modifications and improvements have been met and/or completed in accordance
with the Planning Board's resolution of approval of the plat and construction
plans or, alternatively, that a bond of the required amount and surety
has been filed and that all other required conditions of the resolution
of approval, including the payment of all fees, and the approval of
the Westchester County Department of Health have been complied with.
Said Planning Board endorsement shall be by signature and date in
ink on the original of the plat (which shall be returned to the applicant
for filing) and on a print of the plat (which shall be retained in
the record files of the Planning Board).
H.
Filing plat With County Clerk. The approved plat shall
be filed by the applicant with the Westchester County Clerk, Division
of Land Records, within 60 days of the date of Planning Board signing.
The approval of any plat not so filed shall expire 60 days from the
date of signing.
I.
Submission of copies of filed plat. The applicant
shall submit four print copies of the final plat, plus one Mylar tracing,
showing the endorsement and file number of the County Clerk to the
Planning Board Secretary within 30 days of the date of filing.
J.
Failure of Planning Board to act on subdivision plat. Where the Planning Board does not act to approve, conditionally approve, with or without modifications, or disapprove the subdivision plat within 45 days as provided in Subsection C, the plat shall be considered approved as provided for in § 276 of the Town Law.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix 1 is on file in the
Town offices.
