10-8-1 GENERAL REGULATIONS

1. Short title: This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the City of Wendover Subdivision Ordinance. 2. Purpose: a. This Chapter is established to promote the health, safety and welfare of residents of the City of Wendover and to provide for the orderly subdivision of land located within the City of Wendover, Utah. b. The purpose of the Subdivision Ordinance is to provide policies, standards, requirements, and procedures to regulate and control the design and improvement of all subdivisions; ensure that all proposed subdivisions are consistent with the General Plan and applicable specific plans; and to ensure that land is subdivided in a manner that will promote public health, safety, convenience, general welfare and the physical, social and economic development of the area. c. It is the purpose and intent of the City of Wendover to preserve open space within residential developments; provide flexibility to allow for creativity in developments; minimize the environmental and visual impacts of new development on critical natural resources and historically and culturally significant sites and structures; provide an interconnected network of permanent open space; encourage a more efficient form of development that consumes less open land and conforms to existing topography and natural features; reduce erosion and sedimentation by minimizing land disturbance and removal of vegetation; enhance the community character; permit clustering of houses and structures which will reduce the amount of infrastructure, including paved surfaces and utility lines; encourage street design that controls traffic speeds and creates street inter- connectivity; and promote construction of convenient and accessible walking trails and bike paths both within a subdivision and connected to neighboring communities, businesses and facilities to reduce reliance on automobiles. 3. Authority: This Chapter is enacted and authorized under the provisions of Title 10, Chapter 9a, et seq. Utah Code Annotated, 1953, as amended. 4. Definitions and applicability: For the purposes of this Chapter all terms shall have the same definition as provided by §10-9a-103, Utah Code Annotated, 1953, as amended. 5. Jurisdiction and penalties: a. An owner of any land located in a subdivision who transfers or sells any land in that subdivision before a plat of the subdivision has been approved and recorded violates this chapter for each lot or parcel transferred or sold. b. The description by metes and bounds in an instrument of transfer or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring does not exempt the transaction from being a violation of Subsection (5)(a) or from the penalties or remedies provided in this chapter. c. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the recording of an instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transferring real property that violates this part: i. does not affect the validity of the instrument or other document; and ii. does not affect whether the property that is the subject of the instrument or other document complies with applicable City ordinances on land use and development. d. The City may bring an action against an owner to require the property to conform to the provisions of this chapter. e. An action under this Subsection (2) may include an injunction, abatement, merger of title, or any other appropriate action or proceeding to prevent, enjoin, or abate the violation. f. The City need only establish the violation to obtain the injunction. (Ref UCA §10-9a- 611) 6. Creation of substandard lots prohibited: No lot shall be created that does not conform to the requirements of this code and the zoning district in which it is located. 7. Protection of land in an agriculture protection area: For any subdivision located in whole or in part within 300 feet of the boundary of an agriculture protection area, the owner of the subdivision shall provide notice on any plat filed with the county recorder the following notice: a. Agriculture Protection Area: This property is located in the vicinity of an established agriculture protection area in which normal agricultural uses and activities have been afforded the highest priority use status. It can be anticipated that such agricultural uses and activities may now or in the future be conducted on property included in the agriculture protection area. The use and enjoyment of this property is expressly conditioned on acceptance of any annoyance or inconvenience which may result from such normal agricultural uses and activities. (Ref UCA §17-41-403) 8. Notice of shooting range area: For any new subdivision development located in whole or in part within 1,000 feet of the boundary of any shooting range that was established, constructed or operated prior to the development of the subdivision, the owner of the development shall provide on any plat filed with the county recorder the following notice: a. Shooting Range Area: This property is located in the vicinity of an established shooting range. It can be anticipated that customary uses and activities at this shooting range will be conducted now and in the future. The use and enjoyment of this property is expressly conditioned on acceptance of any annoyance or inconvenience which may result from these uses and activities. (Reference UCA §47-3-3) 9. Definitions: (as used in this chapter) a. Culinary water authority: means the department, agency, or public entity with responsibility to review and approve the feasibility of the culinary water system and sources for the subject property. b. Lot line adjustment: means the relocation of the property boundary line in a subdivision between two adjoining lots with the consent of the owners of record. c. Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, organization, association, trust, governmental agency, or any other legal entity. d. Plat: means a map or other graphical representation of lands being laid out and prepared in accordance with U.C.A. Sections 10-9a-603, 17-23-17, or 57-8-13. e. Record of survey map: means a map of a survey of land prepared in accordance with U.C.A. Section 17-23-17. f. Sanitary sewer authority: means the department, agency, or public entity with responsibility to review and approve the feasibility of sanitary sewer services or onsite wastewater systems. g. Special district: means an entity established under the authority of U.C.A. Title 17A, Special Districts, and any other governmental or quasi-governmental entity that is not a county, municipality, school district, or unit of the state. h. Specified public utility: means an electrical corporation, Gas Corporation, Telephone Corporation, franchise or other quasi-public utility as those terms are defined in Section 54-2-1. i. Street: means a public right-of-way, including a highway, avenue, boulevard, parkway, road, lane, walk, alley, viaduct, subway, tunnel, bridge, public easement, or other way. j. Subdivision: means any land that is divided, resubdivided or proposed to be divided into two or more lots, parcels, sites, units, plots, or other division of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, for offer, sale, lease, or development either on the installment plan or upon any and all other plans, terms, and conditions. Subdivision includes: i. the division or development of land whether by deed, metes and bounds description, devise and testacy, map, plat, or other recorded instrument; and ii. except as provided for in the following definition, divisions of land for residential and nonresidential uses, including land used or to be used for commercial, agricultural, and industrial purposes. Subdivision does not include: i. a bona fide division or partition of agricultural land for the purpose of joining one of the resulting separate parcels to a contiguous parcel of unsubdivided agricultural land, if neither the resulting combined parcel nor the parcel remaining from the division or partition violates an applicable land use ordinance; ii. a recorded agreement between owners of adjoining unsubdivided properties adjusting their mutual boundary if: a. no new lot is created; and b. the adjustment does not violate applicable land use ordinances; or iii. a recorded document, executed by the owner of record: a. revising the legal description of more than one contiguous unsubdivided parcel of property into one legal description encompassing all such parcels of property; or b. joining a subdivided parcel of property to another parcel of property that has not been subdivided, if the joiner does not violate applicable land use ordinances. iv. The joining of a subdivided parcel of property to another parcel of property that has not been subdivided does not constitute a subdivision under this Subsection as to the unsubdivided parcel of property or subject the unsubdivided parcel to the municipality's subdivision ordinance. k. Unincorporated: means the area outside of the incorporated area of the City of Wendover. l. Zoning map: means a map, adopted as part of a land use ordinance, that depicts land use zones, overlays, or districts. 10. Plats required: a. Unless exempt or not included in the definition of a subdivision, whenever any lands are divided, the owner of those lands shall have an accurate plat made of them that sets forth and describes: i. all the parcels of ground divided, by their boundaries, course, and extent, and whether they are intended for streets or other public uses, together with any areas that are reserved for public purposes; and ii. the lot or unit reference, the block or building reference, the road or site address, the road name or coordinate address, the acreage or square footage for all parcels, units, or lots, and the length and width of the blocks and lots intended for sale. b. i. The owner of the land shall acknowledge the plat before an officer authorized by law to take the acknowledgment of conveyances of real estate. ii. The surveyor making the plat shall certify it. iii. The Planning Commission shall approve the plat as provided in this code. Before final approval of a plat, the owner of the land shall provide the Planning Commission with a tax clearance indicating that all taxes, interest, and penalties owing on the land have been paid. c. After the plat has been acknowledged, certified, and approved, the plat shall be kept by the City until the owner of the land shall file and record it in the county recorder’s office. (Reference UCA §10-9a-603) 11. Exemptions from plat requirements: a. A lot or parcel resulting from a division of agricultural land is exempt from the plat requirements of this code if the lot or parcel: i. qualifies as land in agricultural use under U.C.A. Title 59, Chapter 2, Part 5, Farmland Assessment Act; ii. meets the minimum size requirement of applicable land use ordinances; and iii. is not used and will not be used for any nonagricultural purpose. b. The boundaries of each lot or parcel exempted under Subsection (1) shall be graphically illustrated on a record of survey map that, after receiving the same approvals as are required for a plat under this code, shall be recorded with the county recorder. c. If a lot or parcel exempted under Subsection (1) is used for a nonagricultural purpose, the lot or parcel shall comply with the requirements of the subdivision plat provisions of this code. (Reference UCA §10-9a-603) d. A plat is not required for a recorded agreement between owners of adjoining subdivided properties adjusting their mutual boundary if no new dwelling lot or housing unit will result from the adjustment and the adjustment will not violate any applicable land use regulation. (Reference UCA §10-9a-605) 12. Site analysis map: a. Concurrent with the submission of a concept plan, the applicant shall prepare and submit a site analysis map. The purpose of the site analysis map is to ensure that the important site features have been adequately identified prior to the creation of the site design, and that the proposed open space will meet the requirements of this chapter. 13. Definition of open space: a. Open space is the portion of the subdivision that has been set aside for permanent protection. Activities within the open space shall be restricted in perpetuity through the use of an approved legal instrument. b. Any required open space areas shall be protected in perpetuity from further development or unauthorized use by a conservation easement or permanent restrictive covenant per U.C.A. Annotated 57-18-4. The City of Wendover reserves the right to enforce all restrictive covenants and conservation easements per U.C.A. 57-18-6. Uses of open space may include the following: i. conservation of natural, archeological or historical resources; ii. meadows, woodlands, wetlands, wildlife corridors, game preserves, or similar conservation-oriented areas; iii. walking, equestrian, off-highway vehicle or bicycle trails; iv. passive recreation areas, such as open fields; v. active recreation areas which include 9% or less of the total open space area in impervious surfaces; vi. agriculture, horticulture, silviculture or pasture uses, provided that all applicable best management practices are used to minimize environmental impacts; vii. landscaped stormwater management facilities, community wastewater disposal systems and individual wastewater disposal systems located on soils particularly suited to such uses; viii. easements for drainage, access, and underground utility lines; and ix. other conservation-oriented uses compatible with the purposes of this chapter. 14. Open space requirements: a. Each subdivision shall provide a minimum of 20% of its total acreage as open space. The open space shall be designated on the conceptual plan and recorded on the final plat. The minimum restricted open space shall comprise at least 20% of the gross tract area. b. The open space shall be directly accessible to the largest practicable number of lots within the subdivision. Non-adjoining lots shall be provided with safe, convenient access to the open space. 15. Open space networks configuration: The minimum standards for open space networks are as follows: a. The minimum width of any open space area is 25 feet. b. All paths shall be a minimum of 20 feet from any property line except where interparcel access may be provided. c. All open space networks shall provide connectivity to any common areas within the development and to any adjacent public places and rights-of-way. d. Paths located in primary conservation areas shall be constructed of pervious materials. e. Where path networks cross internal subdivision streets or public streets, access points shall be directly across from each other or as approved by the City engineer. f. Crossings and access points shall be clearly identified to pedestrians and motorists and may include traffic control devices, bridges and tunnels as approved by the City engineer. 16. Open space and conservation areas: Open space shall be designated as either primary conservation areas or secondary conservation areas and shall be configured to create or maintain a network of open space. 17. Ownership and management of open space: a. A homeowners association representing residents of the conservation subdivision may own the open space in fee title. If owned by a homeowners association, membership in the association shall be mandatory and automatic for all homeowners of the subdivision and their successors. The homeowners' association shall have lien authority to ensure the collection of dues from all members. b. The responsibility for maintaining the open space and any facilities located thereon shall be borne by the owner. c. The applicant shall submit a plan for management of open space and common facilities that: i. allocates responsibility and guidelines for the maintenance and operation of the open space and any facilities located thereon, including provisions for ongoing maintenance and for long-term capital improvements; ii. estimates the costs and staffing requirements needed for maintenance and operation of, and insurance for, the open space and outlines the means by which such funding will be obtained or provided; iii. provides that any changes to the plan be approved by the City of Wendover council; and iv. provides for enforcement of the plan. d. In the event the party responsible for maintenance of the open space fails to maintain all or any portion in reasonable order and condition, the City of Wendover may assume responsibility for its maintenance and may enter the premises and take corrective action, including the provision of extended maintenance. The costs of such maintenance may be charged to the homeowners association or to the individual property owners and may include administrative costs and penalties. Such costs shall become a lien on all subdivision properties or the open space property. 18. Prohibited uses of open space: a. Uses of open space shall not include the following: i. roads ii. parking lots that occupy more than 9% of the open space; iii. dwellings; iv. commercial uses; or v. land set aside for use that solely benefits any one person or entity. b. The instrument for permanent protection shall include clear restrictions on the use of the open space. These restrictions shall include all restrictions contained in this chapter, as well as any further restrictions the applicant or City chooses to place on the use of the open space. 19. Requirements for conservation easements: A conservation easement shall: a. clearly delineate primary and secondary conservation areas; b. describe the features of the subject property that should be permanently protected in accordance with the Land Conservation Easement Act, U.C.A., Section 57 Chapter 18; c. clearly identify the boundaries of the property by survey and a metes and bounds legal description; d. clearly list restrictions; e. protect the open space in perpetuity by a binding legal instrument that is recorded, which the instrument shall be: i. a permanent conservation easement in favor of either: 1. a land trust or similar conservation-oriented non-profit organization with legal authority to accept such easements. The organization shall be bona fide and in perpetual existence and the conveyance instruments shall contain an appropriate provision for retransfer in the event the organization becomes unable to carry out its functions; or 2. a governmental entity with an interest in pursuing goals compatible with the purposes of this chapter. ii. a permanent restrictive covenant for conservation purposes in favor of a governmental entity; or iii. an equivalent legal tool that provides permanent protection, if approved by the City of Wendover. f. If the entity accepting the easement is not the City of Wendover, then a third right of enforcement favoring the City of Wendover shall be included in the easement. g. The permanent restrictive covenant(s) shall: i. clearly delineate primary and secondary conservation areas; ii. describe the features of the subject property that should be permanently protected; ii. clearly identify the boundaries of the property by survey and a metes and bounds legal description; iv. clearly list restrictions; v. provide for inspections of the property by the City of Wendover; vi. provide for maintenance of the property; vii. be shown on the final plat and duly recorded with the office of the county recorder; and viii. provide for amendments only with the express written permission of the property owners and the City of Wendover. Amendments to the covenant shall be recorded in office of the county recorder. h. show the area and a notation as to the conservation easement on the final plat and be duly recorded with the office of the county recorder; and i. provide for amendments only with the express written permission of the property owners, the holder of the easement, and the City of Wendover. 20. Notice of disclosure: Before the City of Wendover receives a conservation easement, it shall be disclosed to the easement's grantor, at least three days prior to the granting of the easement, the types of conservation easements available, the legal effect of each easement, and that the grantor should contact an attorney concerning any possible legal and tax implications of granting a conservation easement.