Source: https://www.ecode360.com/10670197
Timestamp: 2019-12-07 00:02:21
Document Index: 449929284

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 188', '§ 188', '§ 188', '§ 188', '§ 188', '§ 188', '§ 188', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Town of Schodack, NY General Requirements
Ch 188 Pt 1 Art IV General Requirements
§ 188-12 Requirements to be minimum standards.
§ 188-13 General provisions.
§ 188-14 Layout of streets.
§ 188-15 Street names.
§ 188-16 Lots.
§ 188-17 Drainage improvements.
§ 188-18 Parks, open spaces and natural features.
Article IV General Requirements
In considering applications for the subdivision of land, the Planning Board shall be guided by the general subdivision requirements set forth hereinafter. Said general subdivision requirements shall be considered to be minimum requirements and shall be waived by the Board only under circumstances set forth in Article VI herein.
Character of land. Land to be subdivided shall be of such character that it can be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from fire, flood or other menace.
Conformity to Official Map and Master Plan. Subdivisions shall conform to the Official Map of the town and shall be in harmony with the Master Plan, if such exists.
Specifications for required improvements. All required improvements shall be constructed or installed to conform to Part 2, Design and Construction Standards.
Width, location and construction. Streets shall be of sufficient width, suitably located and adequately constructed to conform to the Master Plan, if such exists, and to accommodate the prospective traffic and afford access for fire-fighting, snowremoval 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.
Arrangement. The arrangement of streets in the subdivision shall provide for the continuation of principal streets of adjoining subdivisions and for proper projection of principal streets into adjoining properties which are not yet subdivided, in order to make possible necessary fire protection, movement of traffic and the construction or extension, presently or when later required, of needed utilities and public services such as sewers and water and drainage facilities. Where, in the opinion of the Planning Board, topographic or other conditions make such continuance undesirable or impracticable, the above conditions may be modified.
Minor streets. Minor streets shall be so laid out that their use by through traffic will be discouraged.
Special treatment along major arterial streets. When a subdivision abuts or contains an existing or proposed major arterial street, the Board may require marginal access streets, reverse frontage with screen planting contained in a nonaccess 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, although generally limited to 600 feet or 1,200 feet with a boulevard, 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 an extension of the right-of-way 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. Water distribution mains shall be looped to avoid dead-end conditions.
Block size. Blocks generally shall not be less than 400 feet nor more than 1,200 feet in length. In general, no block width shall be less than twice the normal lot in depth. In blocks exceeding 800 feet in length, the Planning Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot wide easement through the block to provide for the crossing of underground utilities and pedestrian traffic, where needed or desirable, and may further specify, at its discretion, that a four-foot-wide paved footpath be included.
Intersections with collector or major arterial roads. Minor or secondary street openings into such roads shall, in general, be at least 500 feet apart.
Street jogs. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 125 feet shall be avoided.
Angle of intersection. In general, all streets shall join each other so that, for a distance of at least 100 feet, the street is approximately at right angles to the street it joins.
Relation to topography. The street plan of a proposed subdivision shall bear a logical relationship to the topography of the property, and all streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many of the building sites as possible at or above the grade of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography.
Other required streets. Where a subdivision borders on or contains a railroad 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 (such 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.
Utilities in streets. All utilities shall be placed underground unless a waiver is granted by the Planning Board. The Planning Board shall, wherever possible, require that underground utilities be placed in the street right-of-way between the paved roadway and street line to simplify location and repair of lines when they require attention. The subdivider shall install underground service connections to the property line of each lot within the subdivision for each required utility before the street is paved.
Utility easements. Where topography is such as to make impractical the inclusion of utilities within the street rights-of-way, perpetual unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width shall be otherwise provided with satisfactory access to the street. Wherever possible, easements shall be continuous from block to block and shall present as few irregularities as possible. Such easements shall be cleared and graded where required.
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.
Free flow of vehicular traffic abutting commercial developments. In front of areas zoned and designed for commercial use or where a change of zoning to a zone which permits commercial use is contemplated, the street width shall be increased by such amount on each side as may be deemed necessary by the Planning Board to assure the free flow of through traffic without interference by parked or parking vehicles and to provide adequate and safe parking space for such commercial or business district.
Sidewalks. Unless determined not to be appropriate by the Planning Board, provision shall be made for sidewalks.
Type of name. All street names shown on a preliminary plat or subdivision plat shall be approved by the Planning Board. In general, streets shall have names and not numbers or letters.
Names to be substantially different. Proposed street names shall be substantially different so as not to be confused in sound or spelling with present names, except that streets that join or are in alignment with streets of an abutting or neighboring property shall bear the same name. Generally, no street should change direction by more than 90° without a change in street name.
Lots to be buildable. The lot arrangement shall be such that, in constructing a building in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance,[1] there will be no foreseeable difficulties for reasons of topography or other natural conditions. Lots should not be of such depth as to encourage the later creation of a second building lot at the front or rear.
Corner lots. In general, corner lots should be larger than interior lots to provide for proper building setback from each street and provide a desirable building site.
Driveway access. Driveway access and grades shall conform to specifications contained in Part 2, Design and Construction Standards.
Access from private roads/driveways. Access from private roads/driveways shall be deemed acceptable only if such roads/driveways are designed and improved in accordance with these regulations.
Monuments and lot corner markers. Permanent monuments meeting specifications approved by the Town Engineer as to size, type and installation shall be set at such block corners, angle points, points of curves in streets and other points as the Town Engineer may require, and their location shall be shown on the subdivision plat.
Removal of spring- and surface water. The subdivider may be required by the Planning Board to carry away by pipe or open ditch any spring- or surface water that may exist either previous to or as a result of the subdivision. Such drainage facilities shall be located in the street right-of-way where feasible or in perpetual unobstructed easements of appropriate width.
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 facility under conditions of total potential development permitted by the Zoning Ordinance in the watershed.[1]
Editor's: Note See Ch. 219, Zoning.
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, and 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, 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 be improved in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board to remedy said hazardous conditions.
Recreation areas shown on the plan. Where a proposed park, playground or open space shown on the Town Plan is located in whole or in part in a subdivision, the Board shall require that such area or areas be shown on the plat in accordance with the requirements specified in Subsection B below. 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 Town Plan.
For subdivisions of 50 or more lots, 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 and make required improvements of any such recreation areas shown on the plat.
The Board shall require that no less than three acres of recreation space be provided per 50 dwelling units shown on the plat. However, in no case shall the amount be less than 5% or more than 10% of the total area of the subdivision. To further the goal of establishing three acres of recreation space per 50 dwelling units, the Planning Board shall have the discretion to require a proportionate amount of recreation space for subdivisions of fewer than 50 dwelling units. Such area or areas may be dedicated to the town by the subdivider if the Town Board approves such dedication. Appropriate legal conditions will be attached to ensure that such land can never be developed for other than recreational purposes.
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 Board three prints [one on Mylar] drawn in ink showing, at a scale of not less than 30 feet to the inch, such area and the following features thereof:
The boundaries of said area, giving lengths and bearings of all straight lines and radii, lengths, central angles and tangent distances of all curves.
Existing features such as brooks, ponds, clusters of trees, rock outcrops and structures.
Existing and, if applicable, proposed changes in the grade and contours of said area and of areas immediately adjacent.
Park fees. The Board shall require as a condition to approval of the plat a payment of parkland fees as established from time to time by resolution of the Town Board and filed in the offices of the Town Clerk and Director of the Planning Board. Such amount shall be paid to the town 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 so located that it will serve the general neighborhood in which the land covered by the plat lies and which shall be used only for park, playground or other recreational land acquisition or improvements. Such money may also be used for serving the general neighborhood in which the land shown on the plat is situated, provided that the Planning Board finds that there is a need for such improvements. For purposes of determining the number of lots in a subdivision in order to compute the amount due the town for payment, the number of lots subdivided by a single owner on one tract or parcel within a five-year period shall be added together to determine said amount due.
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 or grading limit line as shown on the final subdivision plat. Removal of additional trees shall be subject to the approval of the Planning Board. In no case, however, shall a tree with a diameter of eight inches or more, as measured three feet above the base of the trunk, be removed without prior approval of the Planning Board.