Town of
Subdivision Ordinance
ARTICLE 1 –
PURPOSES
The purposes of this Ordinance are:
1.1 To provide for an
expeditious and efficient process for the review of proposed subdivisions;
1.2
To clarify the approval criteria of
the state Subdivision Law, found in Title 30-A M.R.S.A., Section 4404;
1.3
To assure that new development in the
Town of
1.4
To assure the comfort, convenience,
safety, health and welfare of the people of the Town of
1.5
To protect the environment and
conserve the natural and cultural resources identified in the Bradley
Comprehensive Plan as important to the community;
1.6 To assure that a minimal level of services
and facilities are available to the residents of new subdivisions and that lots
in subdivisions are capable of supporting the proposed uses and structures;
1.7 To minimize the potential impacts from new
subdivisions on neighboring properties and on the municipality;
1.8
To promote the orderly development of
an economically sound and stable community; and
1.9 To assure that within the watersheds of all
lakes and ponds development shall not degrade the water quality of the lake or
pond, thereby retaining its suitability for water supply and for recreational
purposes.
ARTICLE 2 – AUTHORITY AND
ADMINISTRATION
2.1 Authority.
A. This Subdivision Ordinance has been prepared
in accordance with the provisions of Title 30-A M.R.S.A., §4403.
B. This
Subdivision Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as “Subdivision Ordinance
of the Town of
C.
Adoption of this Subdivision Ordinance hereby repeals the Town of
2.2 Administration.
A. The Planning Board of the Town of
B. The provisions of this Ordinance shall
pertain to all land and buildings proposed for subdivision within the
boundaries of the Town of
2.3 Amendments.
A.
This Ordinance may be amended by the Town
Council of the Town of Bradley, in accordance with Chapter 1, General
Provisions of the Town of Bradley Charter.
B. A public hearing shall be held prior to
the adoption of any amendment. Notice of the hearing shall be provided at least
seven days in advance of the hearing.
ARTICLE 3 – DEFINITIONS
In general, words and terms used in this
ordinance shall have their customary dictionary meanings. More specifically,
any word or term defined in the Land Use Ordinance of the Town of
Applicant: The person applying
for subdivision approval under this ordinance.
Average Daily Traffic (ADT): The average number of vehicles per day that enter and exit
the premises or travel over a specific section of road.
BFE:
Base
Flood Elevation, 100-Year Flood, q.v.
Buffer Area: A part of a property or an entire property,
which is not built upon and is specifically intended to separate and thus
minimize the effects of a land use activity (e.g. noise, dust, visibility,
glare, etc.) on adjacent properties or on sensitive natural resources.
Capital Improvements Program
(CIP): The municipality’s proposed schedule of
future projects listed in order of construction priority together with cost
estimates and the anticipated means of financing each project.
Capital Investment Plan: The portion of the comprehensive plan that
identifies the projects for consideration for inclusion within the capital
improvements program, together with an estimate of the order of magnitude for
the cost of each project.
Cluster Developments:
Clustered Residential Development: A subdivision or development in which the lot
sizes are reduced below those normally required in return for the provision of
permanent open space owned in common by lot and/or unit owners, the Town or a
land conservation organization.
Common Open Space:
Land within or related to a subdivision, not individually owned or
within an individual lot, which is designed and intended for the common use or
enjoyment of the residents of the development or the general public. It may
include complementary structures and improvements, typically used for
maintenance and operation of the open space, such as for outdoor recreation.
Complete Application:
An application shall be considered complete upon submission of the
required fee and all information required by this ordinance. The Board may vote
to waive the submission of some of the required information pursuant to Article
14.
Comprehensive Plan:
A document or interrelated documents adopted by the Legislative Body,
containing an inventory and analysis of existing conditions, a compilation of
goals for the development of the community, an expression of policies for
achieving these goals, and a strategy for implementation of the policies.
Conservation Easement:
A nonpossessory interest in real property imposing limitations or
affirmative obligations, the purposes of which include retaining or protecting
natural, scenic or open space values of real property; assuring its
availability for agricultural, forest,
recreational or open space use; protecting natural resources; or
maintaining air or water quality.
Cul-de-sac:
A circular area at the end of a dead-end road, for the reversal of
traffic.
Density:
The number of dwelling units per acre of land.
Developed Area:
Any area on which site improvements are made, including buildings, landscaping,
parking areas, and streets.
Direct Watershed of a Great Pond:
That portion of the watershed that drains directly to the great pond
without first passing through an upstream great pond. For the purposes of these
regulations, the watershed boundaries shall be as delineated in the
comprehensive plan.
Due to the scale of the map in the comprehensive plan there may be small inaccuracies in the delineation of the watershed boundary. Where there is a dispute as to exact location of a watershed boundary, the Board or its designee and the applicant shall conduct an on-site investigation to determine where the drainage divide lies. If the Board and the applicant can not agree on the location of the drainage divide based on the on-site investigation, the burden of proof shall lie with the applicant to provide the Board with information from a professional land surveyor showing where the drainage divide lies.
Driveway:
A vehicular access way serving one dwelling unit or less.
Dwelling Unit:
A room or group of rooms designed and equipped exclusively for use as
living quarters for only one family, including provisions for living, sleeping,
cooking, bathing and eating. The term shall include mobile homes but not travel
trailers or motor homes. Guest quarters that meet this definition shall be
considered a separate dwelling unit and must meet all applicable requirements.
Engineered Subsurface Waste Water
Disposal System: A subsurface wastewater disposal system
designed, installed, and operated as a single unit to treat 2,000 gallons per
day or more; or any system designed to treat wastewater with characteristics
significantly different from domestic wastewater.
Final Plan:
The final drawings, on which the applicant’s plan of subdivision is
presented to the Board for approval.
Freshwater Wetland:
Areas which are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a
frequency and for a duration sufficient to support, and which under normal
circumstances do support, a prevalence of wetland vegetation typically adapted
for life in saturated soils; and are not part of a great pond, coastal wetland,
river, stream or brook. Freshwater wetlands may contain small stream channels
or inclusions of land that do not conform to the above criteria. See Shoreland Zoning Ordinance for a more
complete and specific definition.
Great
Pond: Any inland body of water
which in a natural state has a surface area in excess of ten acres, and any
inland body of water artificially formed or increased which has surface area in
excess of thirty acres, except for the purposes of these regulations, where the
artificially formed or increased inland body of water is completely surrounded
by land held by a single owner.
Hammer-head:
A turn-around area, normally at the end of a dead-end road. An alternative, in some instances, to a
cul-de-sac.
High Intensity Soil Survey:
A map prepared by a Soil Scientist certified in the State of
100-Year Flood: The highest level of flood that, on the average, has a one
percent chance of occurring in any given year.
High Water Mark (Inland Waters):
That line, apparent from visible markings, at which changes in the
character of soils due to prolonged action of the water or changes in
vegetation take place, and which distinguishes between predominantly aquatic
and predominantly terrestrial land. In the case of wetlands adjacent to rivers,
streams, brooks, or ponds, the normal high-water mark is the upland edge of the
wetland, and not the edge of the open water.
Level of Service:
A description of the operating conditions a driver will experience while
traveling on a particular street or highway calculated in accordance with the
provisions of the Highway Capacity Manual, current edition, published by the
National Academy of Sciences, Transportation Research Board. There are six
levels of service ranging from Level of Service A, with free traffic flow and
no delays to Level of Service F, with forced flow and congestion resulting in
complete failure of the roadway.
Multifamily Development:
A subdivision that contains three or more dwelling units on land in
common ownership, such as apartment buildings, condominiums or mobile home
parks.
Municipal
Engineer: Any registered
professional engineer hired or retained by the Town of
Municipal Planner: Any professional planner hired by or
retained by the Town of
Net Residential Acreage: The total acreage available for the
subdivision, as shown on the proposed subdivision plan,
Net Residential Density:
The average number of dwelling units per net residential acre.
New Structure or Structures:
Includes any structure for which construction begins on or after
NGVD: National Geodetic Vertical Datum.
Previously referred to as U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Mean Sea Level Datum
(US.C.&GS)
Nonpossessory Interest: An interest that
gives the holder some right of entry or use of the land of another.
Person:
An individual, corporation, governmental agency, town, trust, estate,
partnership, association, two or more individuals having a joint or common
interest, or other legal entity.
Planning
Board: The Planning Board of the
Town of
Preliminary
Plan: The preliminary drawings
indicating the proposed layout of the subdivision to be submitted to the
Planning Board for its consideration.
Principal Structure: Any building or structure in which the main use of the premises takes place.
Public
Water System: A water supply system
that provides water to at least 15 service connections or services water to at
least 25 individuals daily for at least 30 days a year ( Or current definition
per Health Human Services standards)
Recording
Plan: An original of the Final
Plan, suitable for recording at the Registry of Deeds and which need show only
information relevant to the transfer of an interest in the property, and which
does not show other information presented on the plan such as sewer and water
line locations and sizes, culverts, and building lines.
Sight
Distance: The length of an
unobstructed view from a particular access point to the farthest visible point
of reference on a roadway: used in this Ordinance as a reference for
unobstructed road visibility according to current Maine Department of
Transportation Standards.
Sketch Plan:
Conceptual maps, renderings, and supportive data describing the project
proposed by the applicant for initial review prior to submitting an application
for subdivision approval.
Spring:
A natural point of noticeable
ground water discharge.
Street:
A public or private way which affords the principal means of access to
abutting properties and which has been duly recorded as such in the Registry of
Deeds.
Street Classification:
Arterial Street: A major thoroughfare that serves as a
major traffic way for travel between and through the municipality.
Collector
Street:
Dead-End:
Industrial
or
Minor
Private
Way: A privately owned road, driveway for vehicle access to structures or
uses on lots.
Subdivision:
The definition of “subdivision” contained in the Maine Revised Statutes
at 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4401 (4), as it may be amended from time to time.
Subdivision, Major:
Any subdivision containing more than four lots or dwelling units, or any
subdivision containing a proposed street.
Subdivision, Minor: Any subdivision containing four lots or dwelling units or
less, and not containing a proposed street.
Substantial Start: The completion of a portion of the improvements that represents
no less than thirty percent of the costs of the proposed improvements within a
subdivision. If the subdivision is to consist of individual lots to be sold or
leased by the subdivider, the cost of construction of buildings on those lots
shall not be included. If the subdivision is a multifamily development, or if
the applicant proposes to construct the buildings within the subdivision, the
cost of building construction shall be included in the total costs of proposed
improvements.
Tract
or Parcel of Land: All contiguous
land in the same ownership, provided that lands located on opposite sides of a
public or private road are considered each a separate tract or parcel of land
unless such road was established by the owner of land on both sides after
Usable Open Space: That portion of the common open space that due to its slope,
drainage characteristics and soil conditions can be used for active recreation,
horticulture or agriculture. In order to be considered usable open space, the
land must not be poorly drained or very poorly drained, have ledge
outcroppings, or areas with slopes exceeding 10%.
ARTICLE 4 –
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
4.1 Procedure
In order to
establish an orderly, equitable and expeditious procedure for reviewing
subdivisions and to avoid unnecessary delays in processing applications for
subdivision review, the Board shall:
Prepare a written
agenda for each regularly scheduled meeting. The agenda shall be prepared no
less than one week in advance of the meeting, distributed to the Board members
and any applicants appearing on the agenda, and posted at the municipal
offices. Applicants shall request to be placed on the Board’s agenda at least
fifteen days in advance of a regularly
scheduled meeting by contacting the Code Enforcement Officer and complying with
the submission requirements.
4.2 Ineligible Applicant
No plan may be considered by the Board as long
as the applicant or principals of any such applicant shall be in default or
shall have failed to complete improvements on any previously approved
subdivision plan in the Town, in accordance with the terms of the approval.
Such default or failure to complete shall constitute conclusive evidence of the
inability of such applicant to comply with the terms of this Ordinance or to
complete work required by a Final Plan.
ARTICLE 5 –
PRE-APPLICATION MEETING,
5.1 Purpose.
The purpose of the pre-application meeting and
on-site inspection is for the applicant to present general information
regarding the proposed subdivision to the Board and receive the Board’s
comments prior to the expenditure of substantial sums of money on surveying,
soils identification, and engineering by the applicant.
5.2 Procedure.
A. The applicant shall present the
Pre-application Sketch Plan and make a verbal presentation regarding the site
and the proposed subdivision.
B. Following the applicant’s presentation, the
Board may ask questions and make suggestions to be incorporated by the
applicant into the application. In addition the following determinations shall
be made by the Board:
1. Classification of the Subdivision.
2. Classification of Streets within the
proposed Subdivision as appropriate
(minor or collector)
C. The date of the on-site inspection is selected.
5.3 Submission.
The
Pre-application Sketch Plan shall show in simple sketch form the proposed
layout of streets, lots, buildings and other features in relation to existing
conditions. The Sketch Plan, which does not have to be engineered and may be a
free-hand penciled sketch, should be supplemented with general information to
describe or outline the existing conditions of the site and the proposed
development. It will be most helpful to both the applicant and the Board for
site conditions such as steep slopes, wet areas and vegetative cover to be
identified in a general manner. It is recommended that the sketch plan be
superimposed on or accompanied by a copy of the assessor’s map(s) on which the
land is located. The Sketch Plan shall be accompanied by:
A. A copy of a portion of the U.S.G.S.
topographic map of the area showing the outline of the proposed subdivision
unless the proposed subdivision is less than ten acres in size.
B. A copy of that portion of the Soil Survey of Penobscot County Maine
covering the proposed subdivision, showing the outline of the proposed
subdivision.
5.4 On-Site Inspection.
In preparation for
preliminary review, the Board may hold an on-site inspection of the property.
The applicant shall place “flagging” at the centerline of any proposed streets,
and at the approximate intersections of the street centerlines and lot corners,
prior to the on-site inspection. The Board shall not conduct on-site
inspections when there is more than one foot of snow on the ground.
5.5 Rights Not Vested.
The
pre-application meeting, the submittal or review of the sketch plan or the
on-site inspection shall not be considered the initiation of the review process
for the purposes of bringing the plan under the protection of Title 1 M.R.S.A.
§302.
5.6 Establishment of File.
Following the
pre-application meeting with the Planning Board, the Code Enforcement Officer
shall establish a file for the proposed subdivision. All correspondence and
submissions regarding the pre-application meeting and application shall be
maintained in the file.
5.7 Caution.
Developers are
cautioned that the following activities are prohibited (after the Sketch Plan
presentation), until a proposed subdivision has been reviewed and approved by
the Board: Construction of streets; cutting of trees (other than thinning);
grading of land or lots; offering or advertising lots for sale.
ARTICLE 6 – MINOR
SUBDIVISION
6.1 General.
The Board may
require, where it deems necessary to make a determination regarding the
criteria for approval from Title 30-A M.R.S.A. §4404, or the standards from
Article 11 of these regulations, that a Minor Subdivision comply with some or
all of the submission requirements for a Major Subdivision.
6.2 Procedure.
A. Within six months after the Sketch Plan
Meeting, the Board, the applicant shall submit an application for approval of a
final plan at least fifteen days prior to a scheduled meeting of the Board.
Applications shall be submitted to the Code Enforcement Officer in care of the
Planning Board. Failure to submit the
application within six months shall require resubmission of the Sketch Plan to
the Board. The final plan shall approximate the layout shown on the Sketch
Plan, plus any recommendations made by the Board. An additional copy of all application
material shall be provided to the Town Clerk at time of submission.
B. All applications for final plan approval of a
Minor Subdivision shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee per
lot or dwelling unit, as determined by the Town Council, payable by check to
the Town of
C. Prior to the meeting at which an application
for final plan approval of a minor subdivision is initially presented, the
Planning Board shall:
1.
Issue a dated receipt to the applicant.
2.
Notify in writing all owners of abutting
property that an application for subdivision approval has been submitted,
specifying the location of the proposed subdivision and including a general
description of the project. The costs of
notification to be reimbursed to the town by the applicant.
3.
Notify the Town Clerk and the review
authority of the neighboring municipalities if any portion of the subdivision
abuts or crosses the municipal boundary.
D. Within thirty days of the receipt of the final
plan application, the Board shall determine whether the application is
complete. If the application is not complete, the Board shall notify the
applicant of the specific additional material needed to complete the
application.
E. A public hearing shall be held within thirty
days of the Board’s determination that it has received a completed plan
application. The Board shall cause notice of the date, time and place of such
hearing to be given to the applicant and be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in Bradley, at least one time, the date of publication to be at
least seven days prior to the hearing, and posted in the Town Office. For any proposed subdivision lying wholly or
partly within the watershed of a public water supply, water district or its
successors shall be notified of the date, time and place of the hearing.
F.
Within thirty days from the public
hearing or within another time limit as may be otherwise mutually agreed to by
the Board and the applicant, the Board shall make findings of fact and
conclusions relative to the criteria contained in Title 30-A M.R.S.A., §4404
and the standards of Article 11. If the Board finds that all the criteria of
the Statute and the standards of Article 11 have been met, they shall approve
the final plan. If the Board finds that any of the criteria of the statute or
the standards of Article 11 has not been met, the Board shall either deny the
application or approve the application with conditions to ensure all of the
criteria and standards will be met by the subdivision. The Board shall issue a
written notice of its decision to the applicant, including its findings,
conclusions and any reasons for denial or conditions of approval. In issuing
its decision, the Board shall state, in writing, the conditions of such
approval, if any, with respect to:
1. The specific changes it will require in
the Final Plan;
2.
The character and extent of the required improvements for which waivers
may have been requested and which in its opinion may be waived without jeopardy
to the public health, safety and general welfare; and
3. The
amount of improvements or the amount of all bonds therefore which it will
require as prerequisite to the approval of the Final Plan.
6.3 Submissions.
The final plan
application shall consist of the following items.
A. Application Form.
B. Location Map. The location map shall be drawn
at a size adequate to show the relationship of the proposed subdivision to the
adjacent properties, and to allow the Board to locate the subdivision within
the municipality. The location map shall show:
1.
Existing subdivisions in the proximity
of the proposed subdivision.