Chapter 17.02
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
17.02.060 Conformance with other regulations.
17.02.070 Concurrency for public facilities and utilities.
17.02.080 Subdivisions adjacent to resource lands.
17.02.010 Short title.
The ordinance codified in this title shall be known and may be cited as the “Leavenworth Subdivision Ordinance.” [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.020 General authority.
The ordinance codified in this title is adopted under the authority of Chapters 35A.58 and 58.17 RCW. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.030 Purpose.
This title is adopted to regulate the division of land and to promote the public health, safety and general welfare in accordance with the standards established by the city of Leavenworth and the state of Washington to:
A. Prevent the overcrowding of land;
B. Lessen congestion on the streets and highways;
C. Provide adequate light and air;
D. Promote the proper arrangement of streets, lots, easements, pathways and other private or public ways;
E. Provide for adequate and convenient open spaces, utilities, recreation, and access for service and emergency vehicles;
F. Provide for adequate water, drainage, sewer and other public facilities;
G. Promote the coordination of development as land develops;
H. Conserve natural beauty and other natural resources;
I. Maintain and perpetuate environmental quality;
J. Provide for expeditious review and approval of proposed subdivisions which conform to zoning standards, the comprehensive plan, and other local plans and policies;
K. Adequately provide for the housing and commercial needs of the citizens of Leavenworth; and
L. Require uniform monumenting of land subdivisions and conveyance by accurate legal description. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.040 Scope.
This title shall apply to the division or redivision of land for sale, lease, transfer, or building development into two or more lots, tracts, or parcels by the means specifically provided for herein. It shall also apply to boundary line adjustments, binding site plans, plat alterations, plat vacations, and any other lot line alterations and/or redivisions of land. As part of the Leavenworth development code, this title recognizes and incorporates the standards, provisions, and regulations contained in other parts of this code, as it exists now or as it may hereafter be amended. As such, approvals granted pursuant to this title shall only occur in compliance with these other regulatory provisions, as well as with the comprehensive plan and any other applicable laws and regulations. Where provisions of other official controls and regulations overlap or conflict with the provisions of this title, the more restrictive provisions shall govern. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.050 Exemptions.
The provisions of this title do not apply to the following, pursuant to RCW 58.17.040:
A. Cemeteries and other burial plots while used for that purpose;
B. Any division of land not containing a dedication in which the smallest lot created by the division exceeds 20 acres or 1/32 of a section (as divided by Bureau of Land Management manuals); provided, that for purposes of computing the size of any lot under this item which borders on a street or road, the size shall be expanded to include that area which would be bounded by the center line of the road or street and the side lot lines of the lot running perpendicular to such center line;
C. Divisions made by testamentary provisions or the laws of descent (note: lots formed in this fashion must meet the requirements of all other ordinances including access, lot size, etc., in effect at the time of probate);
D. Divisions of land into lots or tracts classified for industrial or commercial use when the city has approved a binding site plan in accordance with Chapter 17.10 LMC;
E. A division made for the purpose of lease when no residential structure other than manufactured homes or travel trailers are permitted to be placed upon the land when the city has approved a binding site plan for the use of the land in accordance with Chapter 17.10 LMC;
F. A division made for the purpose of alteration by adjusting boundary lines, between platted or unplatted lots or both, which does not create any additional lot, tract, parcel, site, or division which contains insufficient area and dimension to meet minimum requirements for width and area for a building site and is in conformance with Chapter 17.04 LMC;
G. A division made pursuant to Chapter 64.32 RCW, the Horizontal Property Regimes Act, or Chapter 64.34 RCW, Condominium Act, or a condominium or cooperative division made pursuant to Chapter 64.90 RCW, Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, provided a binding site plan, in accordance with Chapter 17.10 LMC (excluding minimum lot size or density restrictions) and the stated provisions contained in RCW 58.17.040(7), has been approved;
H. A division for the purpose of leasing land for facilities providing personal wireless services while used for that purpose. “Personal wireless services” means any federally licensed personal wireless service. “Facilities” means unstaffed facilities that are used for the transmission or reception or both of wireless communication services including, but not necessarily limited to, antenna arrays, transmission cables, equipment shelters, and support structures. [Ord. 1695 § 1 (Att. A), 2024; Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.060 Conformance with other regulations.
A. No subdivision, short subdivision, or binding site plan shall be approved unless found to be in conformance with all adopted and applicable city ordinances, plans and policies. The comprehensive plan shall also guide the use of all land within the city’s urban growth area boundary. The type and intensity of land use as shown in the comprehensive plan shall be used as a guide to determine the character of land division, including lot size and arrangement, type and extent of streets and roads, highways, dedications, improvements, services, and other utilities and public facilities.
B. All records of surveys in connection with any plat, short plat or binding site plan shall be in conformance with Chapter 58.09 RCW. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.070 Concurrency for public facilities and utilities.
Those public facilities and utilities required to be provided as a condition of approval shall be fully operational or bonded, pursuant to Chapter 14.50 LMC, for concurrency with the use and occupancy of the development, except that concurrency for transportation facilities may be within six years of project approval at the discretion of the community development director and public works director; and, except highways of statewide significance which are exempt from concurrency requirements, pursuant to RCW 36.70A.070(6)(a)(iii)(C). [Ord. 1694 § 1 (Att. A-1), 2024; Ord. 1596 § 1 (Att. A), 2019; Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.080 Subdivisions adjacent to resource lands.
Subdivisions within 500 feet of designated resource lands shall contain a notice that a variety of commercial or operational activities may occur that are not compatible with residential development for certain periods of limited duration. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.090 Definitions.
For the purposes of administering this title, definitions of terms used in this title are found in Chapter 21.90 LMC. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]
17.02.100 Severability.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this title is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this title. [Ord. 1223 § 1, 2004.]