1304 Design Standards, Area And Access Requirements

1) Minimum area of subdivision There shall be no minimum area for a subdivision, except as required to meet the minimum lot size and zoning requirements, as provided in the Land Use ordinance for the area in which the subdivision is located. 2) Utilities All improvements to utility systems that would naturally be extended in future to additional subdivisions will be sized appropriately to accommodate the best estimate of future needs. This is to ensure that pre-existing infrastructure need not be re-built each time additional demand is added. All utilities will be underground and within the road easements. 3) Access It shall be the responsibility of the Applicant to provide the proper road access to the subdivision as required in this ordinance. The mere existence of a road or right-of-way to the proposed subdivision does not mean that adequate access exists. The Applicant shall follow the requirements of the International Fire Code. 4) Relations to adjoining street systems Owners/Developers shall locate access streets within the subdivision so that the streets connect with existing public streets. Reasonable effort should be made to locate and design streets so that the adjoining land is not adversely impacted. Half streets on the boundary of a subdivision are prohibited. 5) Angle of minor streets: Minor streets shall approach the major or collector streets at an angle between 80 and 100 degrees. 6) Streets to conform to Master Street Plan Master and collector streets shall conform to the width designated on the master street plan wherever a subdivision is in an area for which a major street plan has been adopted. For territory where such a street plan has not been completed at the time the subdivision preliminary plan is submitted to the Land Use Authority, major or collector streets shall be provided as required by the Authority, with minimum easement widths of 80 feet for major streets and 66 feet for collector streets. At present, it is the intention of the Town for all subdivision streets to be dedicated public streets. However, if private streets are approved, they must be constructed to meet all requirements of public streets in case the Town is required to maintain the streets in the future. Any private streets approved as part of a Subdivision must be accompanied by a maintenance plan by which the Home Owners Association (HOA) will operate. The developer shall be responsible for maintenance and snow plowing the private road(s) until such time that more than 75% of the lots have been built upon, at which point the HOA will assume full responsibility of the maintenance. 7) Minimum street width Streets shall have a minimum width of 40 feet of asphalt. All streets and alleys must conform to the requirements detailed in the currently adopted edition of the International Fire Code. A reduction in the minimum width of asphalt of any street or portion thereof serving a residential property may be approved by the Land Use Administrator if the following occur: a) The reduction is justified by a special consideration such as topography and submitted in writing to the Land Use Authority along with any relevant supporting drawings or documents; b) The reduction has been specifically approved by the Fire Marshal; c) No parking is allowed on the reduced section and no parking signs shall be legally posted on the reduced section; d) The asphalt width may not be reduced to less than 26 feet. 8) Alleys Alleys shall have a minimum width of 26 feet of asphalt and shall only be one direction. Alleys shall not be permitted in the following residential zones: R-l, R2, and R-3. The maximum length of an alley shall only be 700 feet. A snow removal easement shall be included in the design of the alley. There shall be no parking within an alley. 9) Cul-de-sacs Maximum cul-de-sac (dead end street) length shall be no more than 500 feet. Dead ends over 150 feet in length must be terminated by a turnaround not less than 100 feet in diameter. See the International Fire Code for examples of allowed turnarounds. If surface water drainage is into the turnaround due to the grade of the street, necessary catch basins and drainage easements shall be provided. Where a street is designed to remain only temporarily as a dead end street, an adequate temporary asphalted 110 foot diameter turning area shall be provided at the dead end thereof to remain and be available for public use so long as the dead end exists. A temporary cul-de-sac is only allowed for a period of 8 years. 10) Easements within Roadways The Applicant shall set aside easements of at least 15 feet in width on each side of the road for utility access and maintenance to each lot. 11) Service roads Service roads paralleling major streets shall be required unless the Land Use Authority approves double frontage lots which may back onto major highways or collector streets as designated on the major street plan. Where lots back onto a major highway or collector street, a buffer planting strip of trees or shrubs shall be provided at a width of ten feet or wider, but in no case less than ten feet. 12) Protection strips prohibited Protection strips are prohibited. Plats shall not be approved where a proposed subdivision/development plat or any proposed or actual street to the subdivision/development cuts off access to the proposed or actual street by adjacent property owners. 13) Blocks a) Length and Walkways Blocks shall not be longer than 1,300 feet. Dedicated walkways five feet wide may be required in the middle of blocks. Where a walkway is required, the Applicant shall surface the full width of the walkway with concrete or asphalt and install a chain link fence at least four feet high on each side, the full length of the walkway. The chain link fence shall be owned and maintained by the property owner on whose property the fence is located. b) Width Blocks shall be at least two building lots wide, unless the lots are backing a street. 14) Lots All lots shown on the subdivision plan shall conform to the minimum requirements of the Land Use ordinance for the zone in which the subdivision is located, and to the minimum requirements of the Engineer representing Town of Dutch John and the Dutch John Water and Sewer for sewage disposal. The minimum width for any residential building lot shall be as required by the Land Use ordinance. a) All lots shall abut a dedicated street, a public street, or a street which has become public by right of use. Streets shall be at least 40 feet wide (asphalt). In the event a lot abuts a public right-of-way created by use, the owners/developers shall improve the right-of-way to the standards required by this ordinance. b) Corner lots shall have extra width sufficient for maintenance of required building lines on both streets. c) All remnants of lots less than minimum size left over after subdividing a larger tract shall be added to adjacent lots rather than allowed to remain lot remnants. d) Where the land in a subdivision includes two or more parcels in separate ownership and the lot arrangement is such that a property ownership line divides one or more lots, the land in each lot so divided shall be held in either single or joint ownership before approval of the final plan and such ownership shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder. 15) Future Roads Section lines and quarter section lines shall be reserved for public roads, unless designated differently on the master road plan, or unless such location is determined to be unnecessary for future road purposes by the Land Use Authority. The minimum easement width of 66 feet total, and 33 feet on each side of section lines will be required. See Master Road Map for all road easements. 16) Street Grades Minimum street grades of 0.5 percent will be required, with the maximum grade being 7 percent for collector streets, and 10 percent for minor streets. Where the observance of this standard is unfeasible, the Land Use Authority shall make recommendation to the Town Council who , when special pavement surfaces and adequate leveling areas are installed, or, in the opinion of the Land Use Authority, the best subdivision of the land is thereby secured. 17) Street Curves Where the street lines within a block deflect from each other at any one point more than ten (10) degrees, there should be a connecting curve. The radius of the curve for the inner line should not be less than three hundred fifty (350) feet for major streets, two hundred fifty (250) feet for an important neighborhood street, and one hundred fifty (150) feet for minor streets. 18) Default to Standards and Specifications When a standard or specification is not covered or detailed in this ordinance then the “Vernal City’s Standards and Specifications” will apply. See: STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN VERNAL CITY.