Source: https://ecode360.com/6647177
Timestamp: 2018-03-17 18:08:24
Document Index: 18114574

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 164', '§ 45', '§ 45', '§ 164', '§ 45']

Town of Coventry, RI Official Map
§ 164-1 Establishment; title; purpose.
§ 164-2 Contents; street boundaries established as shown on map.
§ 164-3 Certified copy.
§ 164-4 Additions; changes.
§ 164-5 Building in bed of mapped street.
§ 164-6 Buildings not abutting on improved street shown on map.
§ 164-7 Appeal from denial.
Chapter 164: Official Map
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Coventry 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 9-91-0181 as Ch. 15, Art. III, of the 1991 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Chapter 164 : Official Map
In accordance with R.I.G.L. § 45-23.1-1 et seq., there is hereby established an official map of the Town entitled "Coventry Official Map." Such map is established for the purpose of serving and promoting the public health, safety, morals, convenience, economy, orderliness and general welfare of the community; to further the orderly layout and use of land; to stabilize the location of real property boundary lines; to ensure proper legal descriptions; to facilitate adequate provision for transportation; and to facilitate the further subdivision of larger tracts into smaller parcels of land.
The Official Town Map shall show the location of the streets of the Town existing and established by law as public streets, and the boundaries of such streets are hereby established as shown on such map. Such map shall also show the location of the lines of streets on plats of subdivisions which have been approved by the Planning Commission.
A certificate shall be recorded with the Town Clerk showing that the Town Council has established an Official Map. There shall be a certified copy of the Official Map recorded and kept in the office of the Town Clerk. The copy shall be available for inspection by any interested person during regular office hours. The certified copy shall bear on its face a certification that it is a true copy of the Official Map described in and accompanying the ordinance from which this chapter is derived and shall show the date of the adoption of such ordinance and shall be signed by the President of the Town Council and countersigned by the Town Clerk. Thereafter, no change or addition to such Official Map shall become effective until it has been indicated by the appropriate insertion on the certified copy and a certificate placed thereon or attached thereto bearing the number and date of adoption of the amending ordinance. The certificate shall be signed by the President of the Town Council and countersigned by the Town Clerk.
The Town Council is authorized and empowered to make, from time to time, additions to or modifications of the Official Map, by placing thereon the exterior lines of planned new streets or street extensions, widenings, narrowings or vacations. No such changes shall become effective until after a public hearing in relation thereto, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least 10 days' notice of such a public hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. Before making such additions or changes, the Town Council shall refer the matter to the Planning Commission for report thereon, but if the Planning Commission does not make its report within 45 days of such reference, the necessity for such report may be deemed to be waived. The locating, widening or closing, or the approval of the locating, widening or closing, of streets by the Town under provisions of law other than those contained in this chapter shall be deemed to be a change or addition to the Official Map and shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter, except provisions relating to public hearing and referral to the Planning Commission. The placing of any street or street line upon the Official Map shall not in and of itself constitute or be deemed to constitute the opening or establishment of any street or the taking or acceptance of any land for street purposes.
For the purpose of preserving the integrity of the Official Map, no building permit shall be issued for any building in the bed of any street shown on the Official Map except as provided in this section. Whenever one or more parcels of land upon which is located the bed of such a mapped street cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a building permit is granted, the Zoning Board of Review may, in a specific case, grant a permit for a building in the bed of such mapped street which will increase the cost of opening such street as little as practicable or tend to cause a minimum change of the Official Map. No such permit shall be granted until after a public hearing for which reasonable notice shall have been given to all interested parties and at which parties in interest and others shall have an opportunity to be heard. The Zoning Board of Review may impose reasonable requirements as a condition of granting the permit so as to promote the health, safety, morals, convenience, economy, orderliness and general welfare of the community. The Board shall refer the application to the Planning Commission for report and recommendation before taking action, and shall refuse a permit where the applicant will not be substantially damaged by placing his building outside the mapped street.
No building permit for the erection of any building shall be issued unless the building lot abuts a street which has been placed on the Official Map giving access to the proposed structure. Before a permit shall be issued, such street shall have been certified to be suitably improved according to the standards of this section by the Director of Public Works. If such a street is not suitably improved, such improvement shall be ensured by means of a performance guarantee in accordance with rules and regulations adopted in the same manner as rules and regulations for subdivisions as provided in R.I.G.L. § 45-23-25 et seq. The Planning Commission shall determine which standard shall apply for each case. The Planning Commission shall advise the Director of Public Works of the applicable standard so that he may review the conditions of a road prior to the issuance of a building permit and certify the road's conditions.[1]
The standards for a suitably improved road are:
Gravel road. A twenty-four-foot-wide driving area that shall be stripped of all rocks, stumps and loam to a depth of 12 inches and replaced with 10 inches of bank run gravel and two inches of processed gravel.
Oiled road. A twenty-four-foot-wide driving area that shall be stripped of all rocks, stumps and loam to a depth of 12 inches and replaced with 10 inches of bank run gravel and two inches of processed gravel, which shall be coated with a double seal.
Subdivision road. A road that shall meet the standards of the Subdivision Regulations of the Town.
In determining which standard shall apply, the Planning Commission shall review the condition of suitably improved Town roads within a one-thousand-foot radius of the property and shall choose that standard which most closely enforces the existing conditions. Where right-of-way width or other conditions affect the standards of this section, the Planning Commission may adjust the standards to fit the particular situation.
Where the enforcement of this section would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, or where the circumstances of the case do not require the structure to be related to a street, the Zoning Board of Review may, in a specific case, make reasonable exceptions and direct the Building Inspector to issue a permit subject to conditions that will ensure adequate access for fire-fighting equipment, ambulances and other emergency vehicles necessary for the protection of health and safety, and that will protect any future street layout shown on the Official Map. This action can only be made after the Planning Commission and Director of Public Works have had the opportunity to respond in writing to the request and after a public hearing for which reasonable notice has been given to all interested parties, for which notice was published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at least 10 days before the hearing, and at which interested parties and others shall have the opportunity to respond.
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Zoning Board of Review under § 164-5 or 164-6 may present to the Supreme Court a petition, duly verified, setting forth that such decision is illegal in whole or in part and specifying the grounds of illegality. Such petition shall be presented in accordance with R.I.G.L. § 45-23.1-5.