21.050 Design Standards.
In the subdividing of a lot, parcel or tract of land for the purpose of sale or of building development, the owner or his/her authorized agent shall observe the following design standards:
(1) Street Layout.
(a) As far as practicable, all proposed streets shall be continuous and in alignment with existing planned or platted streets with which they are to connect.
(b) All proposed streets shall be extended to the boundaries of the tract to be subdivided, unless prevented by topography or other physical conditions or unless such extension is not necessary or desirable for coordination with the surrounding street pattern. Dead-end streets or cul-de-sacs of reasonable length will be approved where necessitated by topography, or where they are appropriate for the type of development contemplated.
(c) Streets shall intersect, as nearly as possible, at right angles, taking into consideration topography, ownership lines, or other natural barriers.
(d) Alleys may be provided in commercial or industrial districts where good design requires them to properly service local and through traffic requirements, but shall not be provided in residential districts unless required by unusual topography or other exceptional conditions, such as the need to provide limited access onto arterial streets.
(e) Whenever part of a dedicated, platted or recorded street, alley or other public way exists immediately adjacent to the tract to be subdivided, the balance of such street, alley or other public way shall be dedicated by the subdivider.
(f) Minor streets shall be designed so as to discourage their use for through traffic.
(g) Street jogs with centerline off-sets of less than 125 feet shall not be approved.
(h) Vehicular access to arterial streets or parkways shall be held to a minimum, if possible only at street intersections. Vehicular access to lots adjoining or adjacent to arterial streets or a parkway shall be minimized by proper subdivision design.
(i) Whenever the proposed subdivision contains or is adjacent to a railroad right-of-way, provision shall be made on each side of such right-of-way for streets approximately parallel to and at a distance suitable for appropriate use of the land between such streets and the railroad right-of-way, but not less than 150 feet.
(2) Block Design.
(a) The lengths, widths and shapes of blocks shall be such as are appropriate for the locality and type of development contemplated and conform to the Official Map, but shall not exceed 1,320 feet in length, unless waived by the Common Council nor shall they be less than 400 feet in length.
(b) Blocks shall have sufficient width to provide for two tiers of lots except in blocks adjacent to major streets, railroads, or waterways.
(c) In blocks over 900 feet in length, a crosswalk or pedestrian way, not less than 20 feet wide, may be required near the center and entirely across such block where deemed essential to provide circulation or access to schools, playgrounds, shopping centers, transportation, other community facilities, or pedestrian traffic. Where pedestrian ways are deemed necessary by the Common Council the subdivider shall fully improve the pedestrian way at his/her own cost prior to approval of the final plat by the Common Council.
(d) The number of intersecting streets along arterial streets shall be held to a minimum, and wherever practicable said intersecting streets shall be at least 660 feet apart. When a subdivision abuts a State Trunk Highway (STH), the intersecting streets shall be in general at least 1,000 feet apart. Whenever existing streets can provide adequate access to a STH, then no new streets shall open onto the highway. Temporary street connections to arterial streets or STH shall be permitted when the subdivision is only part of the overall neighborhood development as shown on the Official Map.
(3) Street Standards.
(a) All street rights-of-way, as measured from lot line to lot line, shall be of the width as specified and shown on the Official Map of the City, or, if not specified, they shall not be less than the width as specified for the following types of streets:
|
Street Type |
Minimum Width in Feet |
|
Principal Arterial |
100 |
|
Minor Arterial |
90 |
|
Collector Street |
80 |
|
Minor Street |
60, except that all future streets, not reserved, dedicated or identified on the City’s Official Map or identified on a fully executed CSM on or before November 16, 1998, shall be at a minimum right-of-way width of 66 feet. |
(b) Minor streets, and cul-de-sac streets not over 650 feet in length, may be a minimum of 60 feet in width.
(c) Cul-de-sacs shall not exceed 650 feet in length unless authorized by the City’s Fire Department, and shall provide a turn-around with a minimum right-of-way radius of 60 feet with a reverse curve having a minimum 90-foot radius connecting the right-of-way tangent.
(d) All alleys and pedestrian ways shall be a minimum of 20 feet in width.
(e) The minimum street widths as stated herein may be varied where topography or other special conditions require the same, but in no event will half streets or a portion of a street be permitted.
(f) Alley shall not be dead-ended, but may be developed as either “I,” or “L” or “T,” with each end terminating in a public way.
(g) Clear visibility or minimum sight distances, measured along the centerline of a public right-of-way, shall not be less than specified as follows:
|
Street Type |
Minimum Sight Distance in Feet |
|
Arterial Street |
600 |
|
Collector Street |
200 |
|
Minor Street |
200 |
(h) When streets deflect more than five degrees from a straight line or where determined by the City Plan Commission, a horizontal curve shall be used to connect the tangents. The minimum centerline radii for such horizontal curves shall be as specified below. Exceptions from this requirement may be permitted by the City Engineer when topography or other considerations make observance of these standards impractical.
|
Street Type |
Minimum Radius in Feet |
|
Principal and Minor Arterials |
400 |
|
Collector Street |
300 |
|
Minor Street |
100 |
(i) A tangent of at least 100 feet in length shall be provided between reversed curves.
(j) Street grades shall conform to the following maximum specifications:
|
Street Type |
Maximum Grade |
|
Arterial Streets |
5 percent |
|
Collector Streets |
6 percent |
|
Minor Streets |
7 percent |
|
Streets less than 500 feet in length |
10 percent |
(k) The minimum grade to be used in all cases shall not be less than one-half percent, except on curves with a radius of less than 100 feet shall be no less than one percent.
(l) Pedestrian ways or crosswalks shall have a maximum grade of 12 percent, unless steps of an acceptable design are to be constructed.
(m) All street grades shall be determined by the developer’s engineer and approved by the City Engineer.
(n) No street shall intersect any other street at an angle less than 68 degrees.
(o) At street and alley intersections, property line corners shall be rounded by an arc, the minimum radius of which shall be 15 and 10 feet, respectively. Chords shall be substituted for such arcs. The above minimum radii shall be increased when the smallest angle of the intersection is less than 68 degrees.
(p) Street curb intersections shall be rounded by radii of at least 20 feet except that minimum radii may be larger on collector and arterial streets.
(q) The City Plan Commission shall approve the naming of all new streets.
(4) Lot Design.
(a) The size, shape and orientation of lots shall be appropriate for the proposed subdivision, and for the type of development contemplated; provided, however, that lots shall meet the minimum requirements specified in the district regulations of the zoning district underlying the proposed subdivision, or as required pursuant to the provisions of Wis. Stat. § 236.12(2)(a), where public sewers are not available.
(b) Every lot shall front or abut on a public right-of-way other than an alley or a pedestrian way.
(c) Double frontage lots shall be avoided.
(d) Reversed frontage lots at street intersections shall be avoided.
(e) Corner lots shall be platted 10 percent wider and 10 percent greater in area than required for minimum width interior lots in order to provide proper setbacks on both streets.
(f) In all quadrangular lots and so far as possible all other lots, the side lot line shall be at right angles to straight street lines or radial to curved street lines.
(g) In tracts subdivided into parcels containing one or more acres, parcels shall be so arranged as to allow the resubdivision of any such parcels into normal lots in accordance with the provisions of these subdivision regulations.
(h) Where not controlled by zoning regulations, minimum building lines appropriate for the location and type of development contemplated shall be established all in accordance with applicable Manitowoc County regulations.
(i) Lots shall not be platted so as to cross over municipal boundaries unless the areas involved will be annexed into the City.
(j) Double lotting will be approved, if it is part of a comprehensively designed subdivision in accordance with these subdivision regulations, and if they are incorporated with a frontage access to a public street having a minimum width of 25 feet.
(k) When a subdivision is not served with a public sewer, then all the provisions of Wis. Stat. § 236.12(2)(a) governing lot size and lot elevation shall be applicable.
(5) Easements and Restrictions.
(a) Easements across lots or centered on rear or side lot lines shall be provided for the extension of any existing or planned utilities. These easements shall be at least six feet wide on each side of the lot line and/or a total minimum width of 12 feet. Where situations warrant a larger or smaller easement width, such shall be provided as requested by the utility involved.
(b) Land subject to flooding and land deemed to be uninhabitable or inappropriate shall not be platted for residential use, unless adequate methods are formulated by the developer and approved by the Director of Building Inspection and the City Plan Commission.
(c) Where a subdivision is traversed by a water course, drainageway, channel, or stream having constant or intermittent flow there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way conforming substantially with the lines of such water course, and such further width for construction and maintenance as will be adequate in the opinion of the City Engineer.
(d) All easements identified on subdivisions and CSMs are subject to “Standard Utility Easement Conditions” as recorded at the Manitowoc County Register of Deeds in Volume 1252, Page 498 of Records, as document number 798738, as may be amended from time to time, and shall be referenced on the approved plat or CSM.
(6) Underground Facilities.
(a) All new electric distribution lines (excluding lines of 12,000 volts or more), all new telephone lines from which lots are individually served, community antenna television cables and services installed within a newly platted area, manufactured home park or planned development shall be underground unless the City Plan Commission shall specifically find after study that:
1. The placing of such facilities underground would not be compatible with the planned development.
2. Location, topography, soil, stands of trees or other physical conditions would make underground installation unreasonable or impracticable.
3. The lots to be served by such facilities can be served directly from existing overhead facilities.
(b) Associated equipment and facilities which are appurtenant to underground electric and communications systems, such as, but not limited to, substations, pad-mounted transformers, pad-mounted sectionalizing switches and above-grade pedestal-mounted terminal boxes, may be located above ground.
(c) Adequate easements as required in subsection (5)(a) of this section shall be provided and dedicated on each side of all rear lot lines and on side lot lines, across lots or along front lot lines where necessary for the installation of electric and communications facilities. Such easements shall be noted as “utility easements” on the final plat or CSM. Prior to approval of the final plat or the CSM, concurrence of the electric and communications companies serving the area as to the location and width of the utility easements shall be noted on the final plat or CSM.
1. Where the electric and communications facilities are to be installed underground the utility easements shall be graded to within six inches of final grade by the subdivider prior to the installation of such facilities and earth fill, piles or mounds or dirt shall not be stored on such easement areas.
2. Where the electric and/or communication facilities are to be installed underground, a note shall be placed on the final plat or CSM stating that the final grade established by the subdivider on the utility easements shall not be altered by more than six inches by the subdivider, his/her agent or by other subsequent owner of the lots on which such utility easements are located, except with written consent of the Manitowoc Public Utilities or other utilities involved.
[Ord. 11-429 §§ 15 – 19, 2011; Ord. 08-490 §§ 42 – 45, 2008. Prior code § 21.05]