Chapter 17.05
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
17.05.100 Violation and penalties.
17.05.010 Title.
These regulations shall hereafter be known, cited and referred to as the subdivision regulations of the city of Pilot Rock. [Ord. 515 § 1.1, 2005].
17.05.020 Purposes.
The purpose of this title is to provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of the people of the city by establishing uniform procedures and standards for the partitioning and subdividing of land within the city. These regulations are necessary to:
(1) Guide the future development of the city in accordance with the comprehensive plan;
(2) Ensure that public facilities, including but not limited to sanitation systems, water supply systems, streets and fire protection, are adequate to serve the subdivided or partitioned area; and
(3) Protect and conserve land throughout the city by providing for its most beneficial use and enhancement of the quality of the environment. [Ord. 515 § 1.2, 2005].
17.05.030 Authority.
By authority of ordinance of the council of the city adopted pursuant to the powers and jurisdiction vested by ORS Chapter 92, and other applicable laws of the state of Oregon, the city shall review, approve and disapprove plans, plats, and maps for the subdivision and partitioning of land within the corporate limits of the city. [Ord. 515 § 1.3, 2005].
17.05.040 Jurisdiction.
(1) These subdivision regulations shall apply to all subdivisions and partitions of lands, as defined herein, located within the corporate limits of the municipality.
(2) The city shall review and comment on plans, plats, or maps for subdivisions or partitions beyond the corporate limits of the city and within the urban growth boundary.
(3) These regulations shall also apply to the construction of new or undeveloped streets within the city and urban growth boundary. [Ord. 515 § 1.4, 2005].
17.05.050 Enactment.
In order that land may be subdivided and partitioned in accordance with these purposes and policies, these regulations are hereby adopted. [Ord. 515 § 1.5, 2005].
17.05.060 Severability.
Where any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section, or other part of these regulations is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, this judgment shall affect only that part held invalid, and shall not impair the validity of the remainder of these regulations. [Ord. 515 § 1.6, 2005].
17.05.070 Amendments.
An amendment to this title may be initiated by the city council, planning commission, an affected governmental unit, or by application of a property owner or resident in the city or urban growth area. The procedure to be followed for adoption of the proposed amendment shall be that prescribed by ORS 92.048. [Ord. 515 § 1.7, 2005].
17.05.080 Variances.
(1) The city council may authorize variances, with conditions, to the requirements of this title. Application for a variance shall be made by a petition of the land divider, stating fully the grounds of the application and the facts relied upon by the petitioner. The petition shall be filed with the tentative plan or map. A variance may be granted only in the event that all of the following circumstances exist:
(a) Exceptional or extraordinary circumstances apply to the property which do not apply generally to other properties in the same vicinity, and result from tract size or shape, topography or other circumstances over which the owners of property have no control.
(b) The variance is necessary for the preservation of a property right of the applicant substantially the same as possessed by owners of other property in the same vicinity.
(c) The variance would not be materially detrimental to the purposes of this title, or to property in the same vicinity in which the property is located or otherwise conflict with the comprehensive plan.
(d) The granting of a variance shall not be considered until every feasible option for meeting access standards is explored.
(e) Applicants for a variance from these standards must provide proof of unique or special conditions that make strict application of the provisions impractical. Applicants shall include proof that:
(i) Indirect or restricted access cannot be obtained.
(ii) No engineering of construction solutions can be applied to mitigate the situation.
(iii) No alternative access is available from a street with a lower functional classification than the primary roadway.
(f) No variance shall be granted where such hardship is self-created.
(2) In granting or denying a variance, the city council shall make a written record of its findings and the facts in connection therewith, and shall describe the variance granted and the conditions designated. The city shall keep the findings on file as a matter of public record. [Ord. 515 § 1.8, 2005].
17.05.090 Appeal.
A person may appeal to the city council from any decision or requirement made by the planning commission or the city engineer pursuant to this title. Written notice of the appeal must be filed with the city within 15 days after the decision or requirement is made. [Ord. 515 § 1.10, 2005].
17.05.100 Violation and penalties.
(1) Every final subdivision plat and partition map shall be approved pursuant to this title and the provisions of ORS Chapter 92, before title to the subdivided land can be sold or transferred in any manner. If land is transferred or sold contrary to the provisions of this title, the city attorney shall commence action to enjoin further sales or transfers and to compel compliance with its provisions. The cost of maintaining this suit shall be imposed against the person transferring or selling the property to be subdivided or partitioned. This section shall not prohibit the ability of a person to negotiate to sell a lot in a subdivision that has tentative approval.
(2) In addition to penalties provided by state law, any person violating or failing to comply with a provision of this title shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00. Every sale or transfer of a parcel of land in violation of this title shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense. In addition, the city will not give zoning approval on any application for a building permit to be issued by the state of Oregon as to any piece of property owned by a person in violation of the provisions of this title. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 515 § 1.11, 2005].
17.05.110 Schedule of fees.
(1) Any application or submission required by this title shall be accompanied by a filing fee based on the fee schedule adopted by the city council.
(2) No application required by this title shall be accepted unless accompanied by all applicable fees. [Ord. 515 § 1.12, 2005].
17.05.120 Definitions.
As used in this title, the following words and phrases shall mean:
“Access” means the right to cross between public and private property allowing pedestrians and vehicles to enter and leave property.
“Access classification” means a ranking system for roadways used to determine the appropriate degree of access management. Factors considered include functional classification, the appropriate local government’s adopted plan for the roadway, subdivision of abutting properties, and existing level of access control.
“Access connection” means any driveway, street, turnout or other means of providing for the movement of vehicles to or from the public roadway system.
“Access management” means the process of providing and managing access to land development while preserving the regional flow of traffic in terms of safety, capacity, and speed.
“Accessway” means a walkway that provides pedestrian and bicycle passage either between streets or from a street to a building or other destination such as a school, park, or transit stop. Accessways generally include a walkway and additional land on either side of the walkway, often in the form of an easement or right-of-way, to provide clearance and separation between the walkway and adjacent uses. Accessways through parking lots are generally physically separated from adjacent vehicle parking or parallel vehicle traffic by curbs or similar devices and include landscaping, trees, and lighting. Where accessways cross driveways, they are generally raised, paved, or marked in a manner that provides convenient access for pedestrians.
Approval.
(a) “Tentative approval” means the official action taken by the city council after a public hearing on the proposed subdivision or partition.
(b) “Final approval” means the final official action taken by the city council on the proposed subdivision or partition which had previously received tentative approval.
“Bicycle” means a vehicle designed to operate on the ground on wheels, propelled solely by human power, upon which any person or persons may ride, and with two tandem wheels at least 14 inches in diameter. An adult tricycle is considered a bicycle.
“Bicycle facilities” is a general term denoting improvements and provisions made to accommodate or encourage bicycling, including parking facilities and all bikeways.
“Bikeway” means any road, path, or way that is in some manner specifically open to bicycle travel, regardless of whether such facilities are designated for the exclusive use of bicycles or are shared with other transportation modes. The five types of bikeways are:
(a) “Multi-use path” means a paved 10- to 12-foot-wide way that is physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic; typically shared with pedestrians, skaters, and other nonmotorized users.
(b) “Bike lane” means a four- to six-foot-wide portion of the roadway that has been designated by permanent striping and pavement markings for the exclusive use of bicycles.
(c) “Shoulder bikeway” means the paved shoulder of a roadway that is four feet or wider; typically shared with pedestrians in rural areas.
(d) “Shared roadway” means a travel lane that is shared by bicyclists and motor vehicles.
(e) “Multi-use trail” means an unpaved path that accommodates all-terrain bicycles; typically shared with pedestrians.
“Building line” means a line on a plat or map indicating the limit beyond which buildings or structures may not be erected subject to setback requirements in PRMC Title 18, Zoning.
“City” means the city of Pilot Rock, Oregon.
“City engineer” means a registered professional engineer as defined by ORS 672.002(2), who is legally contracted to represent the city.
“Comprehensive plan” means a generalized, coordinated land use map and policy statement of the city that interrelates all functional and natural systems and activities relating to the use of land, and adopted pursuant to ORS Chapter 197.
“Corner clearance” means the distance from an intersection of a public or private road to the nearest access connection, measured from the closest edge of the pavement of the intersecting road to the closest edge of the pavement of the connection along the traveled way.
“Cross access” means a service drive providing vehicular access between two or more contiguous sites so the driver need not enter the public street system.
“Dedication” means a deliberate appropriation of land by its owner for some public use and accepted for such use by or on behalf of the public.
“Easement” means a grant of one or more property rights by a property owner to or for use by the public, or another person or entity.
“Frontage road” means a public or private drive which generally parallels a public street between the right-of-way and the front building setback line. The frontage road provides access to private properties while separating them from the arterial street.
“Functional area (intersection)” means that area beyond the physical intersection of two roads that comprises decision and maneuver distance, plus any required vehicle storage length.
“Functional classification” means a system used to group public roadways into classes according to their purpose in moving vehicles and providing access.
“Joint access” or “shared access” means a driveway connecting two or more contiguous sites to the public street system.
“Lot” means a unit of land that is created by a subdivision of land. A parcel, tract, or area of land whose boundaries have been established by some legal instrument, which is recognized as a separate legal entity for purposes of transfer of title, has frontage upon a public or private street, and complies with the dimensional requirements of this code.
(a) “Corner lot” means a lot situated at the intersection of two streets, provided the interior angle of such intersections does not exceed 135 degrees.
(b) “Lot depth” means the average distance measured from the front lot line to the rear lot line.
(c) “Flag lot” means a lot not meeting minimum frontage requirements and where access to the public road is by a narrow, private right-of-way line.
(d) “Lot frontage” means that portion of a lot extending along a street right-of-way line.
(e) “Reversed corner lot” means a corner lot, the side street line of which is substantially a continuation of the front line of the first lot to its rear.
(f) “Through lot” means a lot having frontage on two parallel streets or that fronts upon two streets that do not intersect at the boundaries of the lots.
Lot Line.
(a) “Lot front line” means the line abutting a street. For corner lots the front line is that with the narrowest street frontage. For double frontage lots, the lot front line is that having frontage on a street which is so designated by the developer and approved as part of a final plat or map as provided for in this title.
(b) “Lot rear line” means the lot line that is opposite to and most distant from the front lot line.
(c) “Lot side line” means any lot line that is not a lot front or rear line.
“Map, partition” means a final diagram, drawing or other writing containing all the descriptions, locations, specifications, dedications, provisions and information required by this title concerning a partition.
“Neighborhood activity center” means an attractor or destination for residents of surrounding residential areas. Includes, but is not limited to, existing or planned schools, parks, shopping areas, transit stops, and employment areas.
“Nonconforming access features” means features of the property access that existed prior to the date of adopting the ordinance codified in this title and do not conform with the requirements of this title.
“Parcel” means a division of land comprised of one or more lots in contiguous ownership.
“Partition” means either an act of partitioning land or an area or tract of land partitioned.
(a) “Major partition” means a partition which includes the creation of a street.
(b) “Minor partition” means a partition that does not include the creation of a street, but which is subject to approval of the city under this title.
“Partition land” means to divide an area or tract of land into two or three parcels within a calendar year when such area or tract of land exists as a unit or contiguous units of land under a single ownership at the beginning of that year. “Partition land” does not include:
(a) Divisions of land resulting from lien foreclosures;
(b) Divisions of land resulting from the creation of cemetery lots;
(c) Any adjustment of a lot line by the relocation of a common boundary where an additional parcel is not created and where the existing parcel reduced in size by the adjustment is not reduced below the minimum lot standards of PRMC Title 18, Zoning.
“Pedestrian facilities” is a general term denoting improvements and provisions made to accommodate or encourage walking, including sidewalks, accessways, crosswalks, ramps, paths, and trails.
“Pedestrian way” means a right-of-way for pedestrian traffic.
“Person” means a natural person, firm, partnership, association, social or fraternal organization, corporation, trust, estate, receiver, syndicate, branch of government, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
“Planning commission” means the planning commission of the city of Pilot Rock, Oregon.
“Plat, subdivision” means an exact and detailed map of the subdivision of land.
“Private road” means any roadway for vehicular travel which is privately owned and maintained and which provides the principal means of access to abutting properties.
“Public road” means a road under the jurisdiction of a public body that provides the principal means of access to an abutting property.
“Reasonable access” means the minimum number of access connections, direct or indirect, necessary to provide safe access to and from the roadway, as consistent with the purpose and intent of this title and any applicable plans and policies of the city.
“Reasonably direct” means a route that does not deviate unnecessarily from a straight line or a route that does not involve a significant amount of out-of-direction travel for likely users.
“Right-of-way” means land reserved, used, or to be used for a highway, street, alley, walkway, drainage facility, or other public purpose.
“Roadway” means the portion of a street right-of-way developed for vehicular traffic.
“Safe and convenient” means bicycle and pedestrian routes that:
(a) Are reasonably free from hazards; and
(b) Provide a reasonably direct route of travel between destinations, considering that the optimum travel distance is one-half mile for pedestrians and three miles for bicyclists.
“Sale” or “sell” means any disposition or transfer of land in a subdivision or partition or an interest or estate therein.
“Sidewalk” means a pedestrian walkway with permanent surfacing.
“Significant change in trip generation” means a change in the use of the property, including land, structures or facilities, or an expansion of the size of the structures or facilities causing an increase in the trip generation of the property exceeding:
(a) Local. Ten percent more trip generation (either peak or daily) and 100 vehicles per day more than the existing use for all roads under local jurisdiction; or
(b) State. Exceeding 25 percent more trip generation (either peak or daily) and 100 vehicles per day more than the existing use for all roads under state jurisdiction.
“Sketch plan” means a sketch preparatory to the preparation of the tentative subdivision plan to enable the subdivider to save time and expense in reaching general agreement with the city as to the form of the plan and the objectives of these regulations.
“Street” means a public or private right-of-way for the use of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, including the terms “road,” “highway,” “lane,” “avenue,” “alley” or similar designations.
(a) “Alley” means a narrow street through a block primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of properties otherwise abutting on another street.
(b) “Arterial” means a street of considerable continuity which is primarily a traffic artery for travel between large areas.
(c) “Collector” means a street supplementary to the arterial street system and a means of travel between this system and smaller areas, used to some extent for through traffic and to some extent for access to abutting properties.
(d) “Cul-de-sac” means a short street having one end to traffic and being terminated by a vehicle turnaround.
(e) “Half street” means a portion of the width of a street, usually along the edge of a subdivision, where the remaining portion of the street could be provided in another subdivision.
(f) “Local street” means a street intended primarily for access to abutting properties.
(g) “Marginal access street” means a local street parallel and adjacent to an arterial street providing access to abutting properties, but protected from through traffic.
(h) “Stub-out (stub-street)” means a portion of a street or cross access drive used as an extension to an abutting property that may be developed in the future.
“Subdivide land” means to divide an area or tract of land into four or more lots within a calendar year when this area or tract of land exists as a unit or contiguous units of land under a single ownership at the beginning of that year.
“Subdivision” means an area or tract of land divided into four or more lots within a calendar year when this area or tract of land exists as a unit or contiguous units of land under a single ownership at the beginning of that year.
“Substantial enlargements or improvements” means a 10 percent increase in existing square footage or 50 percent increase in assessed valuation of the structure.
“Tentative plan” means a preliminary map, drawing or chart of the subdivision, dedication, or portion thereof, containing the elements and requirements set forth within this title and which the subdivider submits for tentative approval at a public hearing.
“Urban growth area” means land between the corporate limits of the city and the urban growth boundary.
“Urban growth boundary” means the boundary designated in the city’s comprehensive plan identifying and separating urbanizable land from rural land.
“Walkway” means a hard-surfaced area intended and suitable for pedestrians, including sidewalks and the surfaced portions of accessways. [Amended during 2011 codification; Ord. 515 § 1.13, 2005].