Source: https://ecode360.com/12635342
Timestamp: 2020-07-08 23:14:29
Document Index: 366276313

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154', '§ 154']

Town of Athens, NY General Requirements and Design Standards
Ch 154 Art III General Requirements and Design Standards
§ 154-12 Minimum requirements.
§ 154-13 General provisions.
§ 154-14 Street layout.
§ 154-15 Street design.
§ 154-16 Street names.
§ 154-17 Lots.
§ 154-18 Drainage improvements.
§ 154-19 Parks, open spaces and natural features.
In considering applications for subdivision of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standards set forth hereinafter. Said standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article V herein.
Conformity to Official Map and zoning regulations. Subdivisions shall conform to the Official Map of the Town and Chapter 180, Zoning.
Reasonable and necessary costs incurred by the Planning Board for professional review of an application shall be charged to the applicant pursuant to Chapter 153 of the Athens Town Code.
[Added 2-24-2003 by L.L. No. 3-2003]
Width, location and construction. Streets shall be of sufficient width, suitably located and adequately constructed to conform to the Comprehensive Plan, if such exists, and to accommodate the prospective traffic and afford access for fire fighting, snow removal and other road maintenance equipment. The arrangement of streets shall be such as to cause no undue hardship to adjoining properties and shall be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system.
Special treatment along major streets. When a subdivision abuts or contains an existing or proposed major street, the Board may require marginal access streets, reverse frontage with screen planting contained in a non-access reservation along the rear property line, deep lots with rear service alleys or such other treatment as may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to afford separation of through and local traffic.
Dead-end streets. The creation of dead-end or loop residential streets will be encouraged wherever the Board finds that such type of development will not interfere with normal traffic circulation in the area. In the case of dead-end streets, where needed or desirable, the Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide easement to provide for continuation of pedestrian traffic and utilities to the next street. Subdivisions containing 20 lots or more shall have at least two street connections with existing public streets or streets shown on the Official Map, if such exists, or streets on an approved subdivision plat for which a bond has been filed.
Intersections with collector or major streets. Local or secondary street openings into collector or major streets shall, in general, be at least 500 feet apart.
Other required streets. When a subdivision borders on or contains a railroad right-of-way or limited access highway right-of-way, the Planning Board may require a street approximately parallel to and on each side of such right-of-way at a distance suitable for the appropriate use of the intervening land (as for park purposes in residential districts or for commercial or industrial purposes in appropriate districts). Such distances shall also be determined with due regard for the requirements of approach grades and future grade separations.
Widths of rights-of-way. Streets shall have the following widths. (When not indicated on the Comprehensive Plan or Official Map, if such exists, the classification of streets shall be determined by the Board.)
30; five-foot shoulder
25; five-foot shoulder
20; five-foot shoulder
22; six-foot shoulder
Improvements. Streets shall be graded and improved with pavements, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, storm draining facilities, water mains, sewers, streetlights and signs, street trees and fire hydrants, except where waivers may be requested, and the Planning Board may waive, subject to appropriate conditions, such improvements as it considers may be omitted without jeopardy to the public health, safety and general welfare. Pedestrian easements shall be improved as required by the Town Engineer. Such grading and improvements shall be approved as to design and specifications by the Town Engineer or Superintendent of Highways.
Fire hydrants shall not exceed a distance of 600 feet along streets when a public or private water system is installed and shall conform to current American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards.
Grades. Grades of all streets shall conform in general to the terrain and shall not be less than 1/2% nor more than 6% for major or collector streets or 10% for local streets in residential districts, but in no case more than 3% within 50 feet of any intersection.
Curve radii at street intersections. All street pavement lines at intersections shall be rounded by curves of at least 15 feet radius and curbs shall be adjusted accordingly.
Steep grades and curves; visibility of intersections. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided. In order to provide visibility for traffic safety, that portion of any corner lot (whether at an intersection entirely within the subdivision or of annex street with an existing street) which is shown shaded on Sketch A shall be cleared of all growth (except isolated trees) and obstructions above the level three feet higher than the center line of the street. If directed, ground shall be excavated to achieve visibility.
Dead-end streets (culs-de-sac). Where dead-end streets are designed to be so permanently, they should, in general, not exceed 1,000 feet in length and shall terminate in a circular turnaround having a minimum right-of-way radius of 50 feet and pavement radius of 40 feet. At the end of temporary dead-end streets a temporary turnaround with a pavement radius of 40 feet shall be provided, unless the Planning Board approves an alternate arrangement.
Watercourses. Where a watercourse separates a proposed street from abutting property, provision shall be made for access to all lots by means of culverts or other structures of design approved by the Town Engineer. Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, drainageway, channel or stream, there shall be provided a storm easement or drainage right-of-way as required by the Town Engineer and in no case less than 20 feet in width.
Curve radii. In general, street lines within a block deflecting from each other at any one point by more than 10° shall be connected with a curve, the radius of which for the center line of the street shall not be less than 400 feet on major streets, 200 feet on collector streets and 100 feet on local streets.
Service streets or loading space in commercial development. Paved rear service streets of not less than 20 feet in width or, in lieu thereof, adequate off-street loading space, suitably surfaced, shall be provided in connection with lots designed for commercial use.
Lots to be buildable. The lot size, width, shape and arrangement shall be such that in constructing a building there will be no foreseeable difficulty for reasons of topography or other natural conditions in securing building permits to build on all lots in compliance with these regulations, the New York State Health Department regulations, the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the Town zoning regulations, if such may exist. Lots should not be of depth as to encourage the later creation of a second building lot at the front or rear.
Drainage structure to accommodate potential development upstream. A culvert or other drainage facility shall, in each case, be large enough to accommodate potential runoff from its entire upstream drainage area, whether inside or outside the subdivision. The Town Engineer shall approve the design and size of the facility based on anticipated runoff from a ten-year storm under conditions of total potential development permitted by Chapter 180, Zoning, in the watershed.
Responsibility for drainage downstream. The subdivider's engineer shall also study the effect of each subdivision on the existing downstream drainage facilities outside the area of the subdivision. This study shall be reviewed by the Town Engineer. Where it is anticipated that the additional runoff incident to the development of the subdivision will overload an existing downstream drainage facility during a five-year storm, the Planning Board shall notify the Town Board of such potential condition. In such case, the Planning Board shall not approve the subdivision until provision has been made for the improvement of said condition.
Land subject to flooding. Land subject to flooding or land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable shall not be platted for residential occupancy nor for such other uses as may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate the flood hazard, but such land within the plat shall be set aside for such uses as shall not be endangered by periodic or occasional inundation or improved in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board to remedy said hazardous conditions.
Recreation areas shown on Comprehensive Plan. Where a proposed park, playground or open space shown on the Comprehensive Plan is located in whole or in part in a subdivision, the Board shall require that such area or areas may be dedicated to the Town or county by the subdivider if the Town Board approves such dedication.
Parks and playgrounds not shown on Comprehensive Plan.
The Planning Board shall require that the plat show sites of a character, extent and location suitable for the development of a park, playground or other recreation purpose. The Planning Board may require that the developer satisfactorily grade any such recreation areas shown on the plat.
The Board shall require that not less than three acres of recreation space be provided per 100 dwelling units shown on the plat. However, in no case shall the amount be more than 10% of the total area of the subdivision. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the Town or county by the subdivider if the Town Board approves such dedication.
Information to be submitted. In the event that an area to be used for a park or playground is required to be so shown, the subdivider shall submit, prior to final approval, to the Planning Board, three prints (one on permanent reproducible material) drawn in ink showing, at a scale of not less than 30 feet to the inch, such area and the following features thereof:
Existing features, such as brooks, ponds, clusters of trees, rock outcrops and structures.
Existing and, if applicable, proposed changes in grade and contours of said area and of the area immediately adjacent.
Waiver of play designation or area for parks and playgrounds.
In cases where the Planning Board finds that due to the size, topography or location of the subdivision, land for park, playground or other recreation purpose cannot be properly located therein or if in the opinion of the Board it is not desirable, the Board may waive the requirement that the plat show land for such purposes. The Board shall then require as a condition to approval of the plat payment to the Town of an amount per gross acre as specified in the Town's current rate schedule which otherwise would have been acceptable as a recreation site. The amount of land which otherwise would have been acceptable as a recreation site shall be determined in accordance with the standards set forth in Subsection B.
Such amount shall be paid to the Town Board at the time of final plat approval, and no plat shall be signed by the authorized officer of the Planning Board until such payment is made. All such payments shall be held by the Town Board in a special Town Recreation Site Acquisition and Improvement Fund to be used for the acquisition of land that is suitable for permanent park, playground or other recreational purposes and is located so that it will serve primarily the general neighborhood in which the land covered by the plat lies and shall be used only for park, playground or other recreational land acquisition or improvements. Such money may also be used for the physical improvement of existing parks or recreation areas serving the general neighborhood in which the land shown on the plat is situated, provided that the Planning Board finds there is a need for such improvements.
Reserve strips prohibited. Reserve strips of land which might be used to control access from the proposed subdivision to any neighboring property or to any land within the subdivision itself shall be prohibited.
Preservation of natural features. The Planning Board shall, wherever possible, establish the preservation of all natural features which add value to residential developments and to the community, such as large trees or groves, watercourses and falls, beaches, historic spots, vistas and similar irreplaceable assets. No tree with a diameter of eight inches or more as measured three feet above the base of the trunk shall be removed unless such tree is within the right-of-way of a street as shown on the final subdivision plat. Removal of additional trees shall be subject to the approval of the Planning Board. When lakes are a part of a proposed development, stumps which are under water shall be cut to ground level or removed completely at the discretion of the Planning Board.