8C.1.2 Performance Guarantees

The City Council in its discretion may waive the requirement that the applicant complete and dedicate all public improvements prior to the signing of the subdivision plat, and that, as an alternative, the applicant post an acceptable guarantee (in accordance with the supplementary regulations of this Code (3.17)) at the time of application for final subdivision approval in an amount estimated by the City Engineer, Planning Commission and City Council as sufficient to secure to the municipality the satisfactory construction, installation, and dedication of the uncompleted portion of required improvements. The posting of guarantees are in lieu of actual construction and are therefore established for the benefit of and inure to the public at large and as such are not to be used for satisfying contractor or mechanics liens or other unrelated obligations. The performance guarantee shall also secure all lot improvements on the individual lots of the subdivision as may be required. Such performance guarantee shall comply with all statutory requirements and shall be satisfactory to the City Attorney as to form, sufficiency, and manner of execution as set forth in the Land Management Code. The period within which required improvements must be completed shall be specified by the Planning Commission and the City Council in the resolution approving the final subdivision plat and shall be incorporated in the guarantee and shall not in any event exceed two (2) years from date of final approval. Such guarantee shall be approved by the City Council with surety and conditions satisfactory to them. The Zoning Administrator may, upon proof of difficulty, recommend to the City Council extension of the completion date set forth in such guarantee for a maximum period of one additional year. The City Council may at any time during the period of such guarantee accept a substitution of principal or sureties. In the event the applicant's ability to post an acceptable guarantee is dependent upon prior recording of the plat due to requirements of the Interstate Land Sales Act or other Federal law or regulations, the City Council may authorize plat approval and recording upon receipt from the applicant of an executed and acknowledged agreement signed by all owners of fee, leasehold, contract and security interests in the subject property, in the form of a restrictive covenant that the applicant will not sell, lease or otherwise convey any lot, parcel or portion of a lot of the subject property unless he shall first as a 8C.2 condition precedent thereto, satisfy the foregoing requirements of this Chapter as applicable. The agreement shall be in recordable form, shall specifically provide that the encumbrance created shall be deemed to be a covenant running with the land, binding on applicant's successors and assigns, to install or guarantee installation of all required improvements, and to pay all costs, including attorney's fees, which the City may incur in enforcing the terms and provisions of the agreement, and shall contain the express irrevocable consent of all signers to vacation of the recorded plat if the guarantee requirements have not been complied with within a specified time determined by the City Council of the date of recording of the plat. The encumbrance posed by the agreement shall only be released upon compliance by the applicant or his successors with the provisions of this Code and the Agreement.