McMinnville Sub. Regs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Suggested Steps for a Developer .................................................................................. v

ARTICLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS ........................................................................ 1

A. Purpose ................................................................................................................. 1

B. Authority ................................................................................................................. 1

C. Jurisdiction ............................................................................................................ 1

D. Definitions ............................................................................................................. 2

E. Variances .............................................................................................................. 5

F. Relationship to Zoning Code and other Regulations......................................... 5

G. Separability............................................................................................................ 6

H. Repeal of Previous Regulations.......................................................................... 6

I. Amendments.......................................................................................................... 6

ARTICLE II PROCEDURE FOR PLAT APPROVAL ............................................... 7

A. General .................................................................................................................. 7

B. Filing Fee............................................................................................................... 8

C. Plat Standards....................................................................................................... 8

D. Preliminary Plat Requirements ........................................................................... 9

E. Procedure for Preliminary Plat Review............................................................. 10

F. Final Plat Requirements .................................................................................... 12

G. Procedure for Final Plat Review........................................................................ 13

Financial Guarantees in Lieu of Improvements ............................................ 15

Certifications .................................................................................................... 15

H. Inspections Procedures ..................................................................................... 17

I. Warranty of Improvements.................................................................................. 18

J. Recording of Final Plat....................................................................................... 18

K. Grounds for Denying Plat Approval................................................................... 18

ARTICLE III DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................ 19

A. Suitability of the Land ......................................................................................... 19

B. Special Requirements for Floodable Areas .................................................... 19

C. Monuments .......................................................................................................... 21

D. Streets - Design Standards............................................................................... 21

General Standards of Design ........................................................................ 21

Minimum Street Right-of-Way Widths............................................................ 22

Minimum Street Surfacing Widths ................................................................. 23

Additional Right-of-Way on Existing Streets ................................................ 23

Substandard Existing Streets......................................................................... 23

Street Grades .................................................................................................. 24

Curves .............................................................................................................. 24

Intersections ..................................................................................................... 25

Dead-End Streets (Cul-de-sacs).................................................................... 25

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Private Streets or Permanent Vehicular Easements................................... 26

Reserve Strips.................................................................................................. 26

Special Treatment ........................................................................................... 26

Sidewalks ......................................................................................................... 26

Streets in Commercial Developments .......................................................... 27

Street Names ................................................................................................... 27

Warning and Regulatory Signs....................................................................... 28

E. Streets - Construction Procedures and Specifications .................................. 28

Street Construction Cross-Sections.............................................................. 28

Subgrade Preparation..................................................................................... 28

Street Drainage................................................................................................ 29

Pavement Base Preparation.......................................................................... 30

Prime Coat........................................................................................................ 31

Foundation/Binder Course.............................................................................. 31

Final Pavement/Wearing Surface.................................................................. 31

Curb and Gutter................................................................................................ 32

Road Bank Seeding and Erosion Control..................................................... 32

Inspections, Testing and Material Certifications........................................... 32

F. Utilities - General Standards ............................................................................. 33

Easements ....................................................................................................... 33

Installation ......................................................................................................... 33

G. Water Distribution System................................................................................. 33

General Standards of Design......................................................................... 33

Accessibility...................................................................................................... 34

Construction Standards................................................................................... 34

Minimum Pipe Sizes........................................................................................ 34

Service Connections........................................................................................ 34

Fire Protection ................................................................................................. 35

Inspections, Testing and Material Certifications........................................... 35

As-Built Drawings............................................................................................. 36

H. Waste Water Systems ....................................................................................... 36

General Standards of Design......................................................................... 36

Accessibility...................................................................................................... 36

Design Period.................................................................................................. 36

Minimum Size and Construction Standards.................................................. 36

Service Connections........................................................................................ 36

Protection of Water Supplies.......................................................................... 37

Inspections, Testing and Material Certifications........................................... 37

As-Built Drawings............................................................................................. 37

Subsurface Sewerage Disposal Systems.................................................... 37

I. Other Utilities ...................................................................................................... 38

J. Lots ...................................................................................................................... 38

To be Buildable ............................................................................................... 38

Lot Lines ........................................................................................................... 38

Minimum Lot Size ............................................................................................ 38

Building Setback Lines ................................................................................... 39

Minimum Street Frontage................................................................................ 39

Off-Street Parking ........................................................................................... 39

K. Drainage ............................................................................................................. 40

Drainage Plan Required.................................................................................. 40

Removal of Spring and Surface Water.......................................................... 40

Other Watercourses......................................................................................... 40

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Storm Drainage Under Streets....................................................................... 40

Accommodation of Potential Upstream Development ................................ 41

Responsibility for Downstream Drainage...................................................... 41

Storm Water Retention.................................................................................... 41

Erosion Reduction............................................................................................ 41

L. Preservation of Natural Features....................................................................... 42

ARTICLE IV SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTS................................................................ 43

A. Planned Unit Development Subdivision Standards ....................................... 43

B. Large-Scale Developments .............................................................................. 43

C. Condominium Developments ........................................................................... 44

ARTICLE V ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION .................... 45

ARTICLE VI ADOPTION ............................................................................................. 47

APPENDIX A ILLUSTRATIONS................................................................................... 48

1. Standard Plat Format

2. Standard Title Blocks

3. Curve Radii

4. Angle of Intersection

5. Minimum Spacing of Street Jogs

6. Cul-de-sac Designs

7. Minimum Local Street Widths

8. Minimum Collector Streets Widths

9. Local and Minor-Collector Streets Thickness Cross-Sections

10. Major-Collector Street Thickness Cross-Section

11. Curb and Gutter Details

APPENDIX B FINAL PLAT CERTIFICATIONS......................................................... 60

APPENDIX C CHECKLIST FOR PRELIMINARY PLAT .......................................... 64

APPENDIX D CHECKLIST FOR FINAL PLAT ......................................................... 68

APPENDIX E SUBDIVISION INSPECTION FORM.................................................. 71

APPENDIX F ADDRESSES OF PERTINENT AGENCIES.................................... 73

SUGGESTED STEPS FOR A DEVELOPER OF A SUBDIVISION

Throughout the following process, the owner/developer is strongly encouraged to personally participate in consultations and meetings regarding the development.

1. Confer with the Planning Commission and its Staff Planner to become thoroughly familiar with the subdivision requirements, the major road plan and other public improvements which might affect the area to be subdivided.

2. Have preliminary sketch plat prepared by a reputable state-licensed surveyor.

3. Discuss preliminary plat with staff representative. This pre application review by a trained land planner may save the subdivider time and costly revisions as well as possible savings through better design.

4. If development will use individual septic tanks, submit plat to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, which may place restrictions on number, size, and use of lots. The timing of approval by the McMinnville Regional Planning Commission is dependent on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation results.

5. Submit required copies of the preliminary plat to the Planning Commission in advance of its regular monthly meeting.

6. See city engineer or designated approving agent(s) for street and utility specifications. Obtain Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation approval of water and sewer plans and submit signed plans to the McMinnville Regional Planning Commission.

7. After preliminary plat approval has been granted, develop subdivision according to preliminary plat and the required modifications, if any. Install improvements.

8. Prepare final plat.

9. Obtain signatures on certificates from street and utility officials certifying that improvements have been made (or that a financial guarantee has been established).

10. Submit final plat to the Planning Commission for approval. When approved, the Planning Commission secretary will sign the certificate of approval for recording.

11. The subdivider records the plat with the county Register of Deeds' office and is now ready to sell the lots.

SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS

The McMinnville Regional Planning Commission

McMinnville, Tennessee

ARTICLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS

A. Purpose

Land subdivision is the first step in the process of community development. Once land has been cut up into streets, lots, and blocks and publicly recorded, the correction of defects is costly and difficult. Subdivision of land sooner or later becomes a public responsibility, in that roads and streets must be maintained and various public services customary to urban areas must be provided. The welfare of the entire community is thereby affected in many important respects. It is therefore in the interest of the public, the developer, and the future owners that subdivisions be conceived, designed and developed in accordance with sound rules and proper minimum standards.

The following subdivision regulations guiding the McMinnville, Tennessee, Regional Planning Commission (hereafter referred to as the Planning Commission) are designed to provide for the harmonious development of the regional area; to secure a coordinated layout and adequate provision for traffic, light, air, recreation, transportation, water, drainage, sewer, and other sanitary facilities.

B. Authority

These subdivision regulations are adopted under the authority granted by Section 13-3-401 through Section 13-3-411 and Section 13-4-301 through Section 13-4-309 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. The Planning Commission has fulfilled the requirements set forth in these statutes as a prerequisite to the adoption of such regulations, having filed on June 28, 1995 a certified copy of the Major Road Plan in Note Book 18, Page 388 and Cabinet B, Slide 134-A in the office of the Register of Deeds of Warren County, Tennessee.

C. Jurisdiction

These regulations shall govern all subdivisions of land within the corporate limits of McMinnville, Tennessee, and its planning region, as now or hereafter established.

Any owner of land within the City of McMinnville or within its planning region wishing to subdivide land shall submit to the Planning Commission a plat of the subdivision according to the procedures outlined in Article II, which plat shall conform to the minimum requirements set forth in Article III. Improvements shall be installed as required by Article III.

D. Definitions

Except as specifically defined herein, all words used in these regulations have their customary dictionary definitions where not inconsistent with the context. For the purpose of these regulations, certain words or terms are defined as follows:

The term "shall" or "will" is mandatory. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the singular number shall include the plural and those used in the plural number include the singular. Words used in the present tense include the future.

1. Building permit: A written permit issued by the McMinnville Office of Codes Enforcement authorizing construction, renovation, or repairs to a structure.

2. Building setback line: A line, as required by the McMinnville Zoning Code, beyond which a building cannot extend. Said Code establishes front, side and rear setback lines.

3. Dedication: The setting aside of land by the owner for acceptance by the public for some public use.

4. Developer: An individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity or agent thereof which undertakes the activities covered by these regulations. The term "developer" includes "subdivider", "owner", or "builder".

5. Easement: The right to use another person's property, but only for a limited and specifically named purpose; the owner generally continues to make use of such land since he has given up only certain, and not all, ownership rights.

6. Engineer: A qualified Civil Engineer registered and currently licensed to practice engineering in the State of Tennessee.

7. Financial guarantee for improvements: A guarantee in the form of an escrow account, letter of credit, certified check, or other method approved by the Planning Commission to ensure completion of required subdivision improvements.

8. Improvements: Physical changes made to raw land and structures on or under the land surface in order to make the land more usable for the activities of man. Typical improvements in these regulations would include but not be limited to grading, street construction, drainage, and utilities.

9. Inspection: A physical examination of an improvement, or phase of an improvement, required under the provisions of these regulations by an appropriate official to ensure that said improvement meets the required standards. Inspections must be completed on all street, drainage and utility (water and sewer) improvements.

10. Lot: A tract, plot or portion of a subdivision or other parcel of land intended as a unit for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership or for building development.

a. Lot area: The computed ground area inside the lot lines.

b. Lot frontage: The side of the lot nearest the public street. All sides of a lot adjacent to streets shall be considered frontage.

c. Lot lines: Boundaries of a lot; includes front, rear, and side lot lines.

d. Lot width: The distance between side lot lines measured at the building setback line.

11. Major Road Plan: The official map, as adopted by the McMinnville Regional Planning Commission, on which the planned locations of present and future municipal arterial and collector streets are indicated.

12. Permanent vehicular easement: A right-of-way for vehicular traffic which is not intended to be dedicated to the local government. All permanent vehicular easements shall meet all construction requirements of a public street.

13. Planning Commission: The McMinnville Regional Planning Commission, its commissioners, officers, and staff.

14. Plat: The map, drawing, or chart on which the subdivider's plan of subdivision is presented and which he submits for approval and intends in final form to record; it includes plat, plan, plot and replot.

15. Right-of-way: A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by any or all of the following: a street, road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, or for another special use. The usage of the term "right-of-way" for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a final plat is to be separate and distinct from the lots or parcels adjoining such right-of-way and not included within the dimensions or areas of such lots or parcels. Right-of-way intended for streets, crosswalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains, or any other use involving maintenance by a public agency shall be dedicated to public use by the preparer of the plat on which such right-of-way is established and shall be covered by any necessary easements.

16. Staff Planner: The representative of the Local Planning Assistance Office serving as technical advisor for the Planning Commission.

17. Street: A public way, provided for the accommodation of vehicular traffic, or as a means of access to property, and includes streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, lanes, alleys, or other public ways. Streets shall be classified as follows:

a. Arterial: Street and highways used primarily for movement of fast or heavy traffic within and through the municipality; a secondary function is land access. These are usually shown on the Major Road Plan.

b. Collector: Streets which carry traffic from minor streets to the arterial streets and highways. This usually includes the principal entrance street(s) or streets of major circulation of a residential development. Collectors serve the internal traffic movement within a section of the municipality and connect this section with the arterial system.

c. Cul-de-sac: Permanent dead-end streets or courts with a paved turnaround designed so that they cannot be extended in the future.

d. Local: A street designated to accommodate local traffic, the major portion of which originates along the street itself. The major function of a local street is land access. May also be called minor residential or minor commercial streets.

e. Marginal access: Minor streets which are parallel and adjacent to arterial streets and highways, and which provide access to the abutting properties and protection from the through traffic.

18. Subdivision: The division of a tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, sites, or other division requiring new street or utility construction, or any division of less than five (5) acres for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale or building development, and includes resubdivision and when appropriate to the context, relates to the process of resubdividing or to the land or area subdivided. Section 13-4-301 and 13-3-401 of Tennessee Code Annotated.

19. Surveyor: A qualified surveyor registered and currently licensed to practice surveying in the State of Tennessee.

20. Utility: A service to the public; including, but not limited to, sanitary and storm sewers. water, electric power, gas, telephone and other communication means, police and fire protection, garbage collection, mail, and street lighting.

21. Warranty of Improvements: A surety in the form of an escrow account, letter of credit, certified check, or other method approved by the Planning Commission to warranty improvements made under the provisions of these regulations for a specified period of time.

22. Zoning Code: The zoning regulations adopted by the City of McMinnville, Tennessee.

E. Variances

1. General: Where the Planning Commission finds that extraordinary hardships or practical difficulties may result from strict compliance with these regulations and/or the purposes of these regulations may be served to a greater extent by an alternative proposal, it may approve variances to these Subdivision Regulations so that substantial justice may be done and the public interest secured, provided that such variance shall not have the effect of nullifying the intent and purpose of these regulations; and further provided the Planning Commission shall not approve variances unless it shall make findings based upon the evidence presented to it in each specific case that:

a. The granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public safety, health, or welfare or injurious to other property;

b. The conditions upon which the request for a variance is based are unique to the property for which the variance is sought and are not applicable generally to other property;

c. Because of the particular physical surroundings, shape or topographical conditions of the specific property involved, a particular hardship to the owner would result, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience, if the strict letter of these regulations are carried out;

d. The variances will not in any manner vary the provisions of the Zoning Code.

2. Conditions: In approving variances, the Planning Commission may require such conditions as will, in its judgment, secure substantially the objectives of the standards or requirements of these regulations.

3. Procedures: A petition for any variance shall be submitted in writing by the subdivider at the time when the preliminary plat is filed for consideration by the Planning Commission. Said petition shall state fully the grounds for the application. Each request for a variance shall be specifically applied for in the numerical order of the subdivision regulations.

F. Relationship to Zoning Code and other Regulations

1. No final plat of land within the force and effect of the McMinnville Zoning Code shall be approved unless it conforms to such code.

2. Whenever there is a discrepancy between minimum standards or dimensions noted herein and those contained in the zoning regulations, building code, or other official regulations, the highest standard shall apply.