For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESS EASEMENT. A private way which provides access to lots, tracts or parcels of land and which meets the minimum standards set forth in these regulations.
ADT. Average Daily Traffic.
ALLEY. A minor public way, primarily for secondary vehicular access to the rear or side of properties otherwise abutting on a street, and not over 20 feet in width.
BLOCK. Property abutting on one side of a street and lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets or between the nearest intersecting or intercepting street and a railroad right-of-way, waterway or other definite area.
BORROW. Borrow shall consist of approved material required for the construction of embankments or for other portions of the work and shall be obtained from approved locations and sources outside the right-of-way.
BUILDING. A structure built for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind, and which is permanently affixed to the land.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE. A line on a plat between which line and the street line of a lot or block buildings may not be erected.
CITY. City of Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana.
COMMISSION. The Aurora City Plan Commission.
COMMON COUNCIL. The Common Council of the City of Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana.
CONSTRUCTION BOND. A financial guarantee from an institution licensed by the Secretary of State as a financial guarantor provided to cover the construction cost of public improvements in the case of default by the subdivider. Sometimes referred to as a PERFORMANCE BOND or INSURANCE BOND.
COUNTY. Dearborn County, Indiana.
EASEMENT. A grant by the property owner of the use of a strip of land by the public, a corporation or persons for specified uses.
ENGINEER. The City Engineer or County Engineer, whichever applies. The City Engineer is that engineer so designated by the Common Council for the purpose of this chapter.
FEASIBILITY REPORT. A written report prepared by a registered professional engineer or a registered land surveyor pertaining to the suitability of the site for various types of water and sewage disposal systems, for drainage retention or detention; and the subsoil conditions for various methods of street construction.
FLOOD-CREST ELEVATION. An elevation of 486 feet above mean sea level.
FLOOD PLAIN AREA. That continuous area adjacent to a stream, stream bed or other natural drainage channel or basin whose elevation is equal to or lower than the flood-crest elevation, including also any land of higher elevation having an area of less than ten acres which is completely surrounded by land having an elevation equal to or lower than the flood-crest elevation, but not including any lands of over ten acres completely protected against flooding by a levee whose top shall be at least three feet above the designated flood-crest elevation and which shall be assessed as satisfactory for the purpose it was intended by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
FRONTAGE. That side of a lot abutting on a street watercourse or lake and ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot. Lots shall not be considered to front on stub ends of streets and in the case of corner and through lots will be considered to front on both intersecting streets. Multiple frontage lots will be considered to front on each street, watercourse or lake.
HEALTH OFFICER. The County Health Officer or County Sanitarian.
HEIGHT, BUILDING. The vertical distance from the average grade level adjoining the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs; to the deck line of mansard roofs; and to the average height between the eaves and the ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
IMPROVEMENT PLAN. The engineering plans showing grading, types of materials and construction details for the physical structures and facilities to be installed in, or in conjunction with, the proposed subdivision.
INTERESTED PARTIES. Those persons who are to be notified by mail of a public hearing, or other action, on a proposed subdivision of land. Namely, the applicant or developer of the property to be subdivided and the fee simple owners of those properties that share a common boundary line or point with the property to be subdivided or that would share a common boundary line or point with the property to be subdivided but for the existence of a public or private street. If an abutting property consists of common areas that are owned and/or maintained by a subdivision/condominium property owners' association, the association, rather than the individual subdivision lot/condominium owner(s) shall be deemed the interested party for purposes of notice.
IRREVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT. A financial commitment provided by a lending institution, on behalf of a subdivider, which cannot be revoked except as expressly stated in the terms of the agreement within the letter of credit.
LAND DISTURBING ACTIVITY. Any man-made change of the land surface including the removal of vegetative cover, the removal of trees and filling or grading, but not including agricultural land uses such as planting, growing, cultivating and harvesting crops, growing and tending gardens and minor landscaping modifications.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION. A description recognized by law, which definitely describes real property by reference to government surveys, coordinate systems or recorded maps; a description, which is sufficient to locate property without oral testimony.
LOT. A portion of a subdivision or other parcel or land intended as a unit for transfer of ownership or for development.
LOT DEPTH. The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line along the street right-of-way and the rear lot line measured within the lot boundaries.
MAINTENANCE BOND. A financial guarantee from an institution licensed by the Secretary of State as a financial guarantor provided to insure the performance of a public improvement for a specified period of time and to cover the cost of any unfinished improvements in the case of default by the subdivider. Sometimes referred to as a PERFORMANCE BOND or INSURANCE BOND.
MASTER PLAN or COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. The complete plan, or any of its parts, for the development of the city prepared by the Plan Commission, and adopted in accordance with IC 36-7-4-500 et seq., and all acts amendatory thereto, as is now or may hereafter be in effect.
NON-BUILDABLE PARCEL. A parcel of land that is created on which a principally permitted use, as defined and permitted by the City of Aurora Zoning Ordinance, is not permitted to be constructed. This parcel will be labeled on the plat and within the deed as non-buildable.
PARENT TRACT. An existing lot, parcel, or tract of land as established and referenced by deed and plat in the Dearborn County Recorder's Office.
PERFORMANCE BOND. A financial guarantee from an institution licensed by the Secretary of State as a financial guarantor provided to insure the performance of a public improvement for a specified period of time and to cover the cost of any unfinished improvements in the case of default by the subdivider. Sometimes referred to as a MAINTENANCE BOND or INSURANCE BOND.
PLAT. A map or drawing on which the subdivider's plan of a subdivision is presented and which is presented for approval. The final plat is the map or drawing which is intended for recordation and which meets the requirements of § 151.17.
PLAT COMMITTEE. A Plan Commission-appointed committee consisting of three persons, with at least one of the members being a member of the Commission, established to hold hearings on and to provide primary plat approval for subdivisions of land that do not involve the opening of new public ways and complies with all other respects with this chapter and the zoning ordinance. Each appointment of a member of the Plat Committee is for a term of one year, but the Commission may remove a member from the Committee in accordance with IC 36-7-4-701.
PRIMARY APPROVAL. An approval (or approval with conditions imposed) granted to a subdivision by the Commission after having determined in a public hearing that the primary plat of the subdivision complies with the standards prescribed in this chapter.
PRIMARY PLAT. The preliminary drawing or drawings described in these regulations, indicating the proposed manner or layout of the subdivision to be submitted to the Commission for approval.
PUBLIC HEARING. A hearing after proper publication of notice as required herein at which the public can comment upon the matter at issue and which complies with Indiana law.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT. Any drainage facility, street, thoroughfare, highway, parkway, sidewalk, pedestrian or bike-way, tree, lawn, off-street parking area, lot improvement, or other facility for which the local government may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation, or which may affect an improvement for which local government responsibility is established.
RE-PLAT. A change in a map of an approved or recorded subdivision plat which affects any street layout on such map or area reserved thereon for public use, or any lot line, or setback; or if it affects any map or plan legally recorded prior to the adoption of any regulations controlling subdivisions.
REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS. The public improvements, lot improvements and/or landscaping features required by these regulations, by primary approval and by the subdivision improvement agreement.
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS. Private limitations of various kinds on the usage of lots or parcels of land within a subdivision which are proposed by the subdivider that are recorded with the plat and run with the land. These covenants are not enforceable by the Plan Commission and have no bearing upon decisions made by the Plan Commission.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. A strip of land (other than an easement) occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, pedestrian-way, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, special landscaping, drainage swale or for another special use. The usage of the term RIGHT-OF-WAY for land platting and zoning purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a secondary 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. Rights-of-way intended for streets, crosswalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains, screening or special landscaping, or any other use involving maintenance by a public agency shall be dedicated to public use by the subdivider on whose plat such right-of-way is established.
SECONDARY PLAT. The map, drawing, or plan, described in this chapter, of a subdivision (including any accompanying material) submitted to the Commission for final approval which, if approved and signed by the designated officials, may be submitted to the County Recorder for recording.
SECONDARY PLAT APPROVAL or SECONDARY APPROVAL. Commission approval of a secondary plat of a subdivision the construction of which has been completed or secured by a performance bond and financial guaranty.
SECRETARY. The Secretary of the Plan Commission or any person designated by the Plan Commission as its Assistant Secretary and authorized to act in the place and instead of the Secretary.
SECTIONALIZING or PHASING. A process whereby an applicant seeks secondary plat approval on only a portion of a plat which has been granted primary approval.
SECTION CORNER. A corner established as part of the United States Public Land Survey System used for horizontal control in describing land.
SOIL SURVEY. The National Cooperative Soil Survey Project by the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service) in cooperation with Purdue University.
STREET. A right-of-way dedicated to the public use which forms the principal means of access to abutting property. A street may be designated as a highway, thoroughfare, parkway, boulevard, road, avenue, lane, drive, place, cul-de-sac or other appropriate name. A street may also be identified according to type of use, as follows:
(1) MINOR STREETS are streets not designated as primary or secondary arterial streets on the thoroughfare plan and whose main purpose is to serve as access to abutting property.
(2) PRIMARY ARTERIAL STREETS are those designated in the thoroughfare plan for large volumes of traffic movement. They may be limited access in which case entrance and exit is provided only at certain designated, controlled points.
(3) SECONDARY ARTERIAL STREETS are designated in the thoroughfare plan as important streets to facilitate the collection of traffic from minor residential streets, to permit circulation within neighborhood areas and to provide convenient ways for traffic to reach arterial streets.
STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY WIDTH. The width of the street right-of-way measured at right angles to the centerline of the street.
SUBDIVISION. The division of any parcel(s) of land shown as a unit, part of a unit or as contiguous units on the last preceding transfer of property into a net increase of three or more parcels, sites or lots in any one year period of time for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership. The following shall be used to classify all land divisions:
(1) ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION OF LAND. Also known as certified survey review, the division by conveyance of a single lot or lots, tract or tracts, or parcel of land or a part thereof, shown as a unit on the last preceding transfer of ownership record, into a net of three or less independent building lots, tracts, or parcels of land in any one year period of time. Administrative divisions may not result in or require the creation of a public easement or the installation of public improvements.
(2) MINOR DIVISION OF LAND. A division of land not meeting the definition of an administrative division of land nor resulting in a net increase of eight independent building lots, nor requiring the creation of a public easement or the installation of a public improvement.
(3) MAJOR DIVISION OF LAND. A division of land not meeting the definition of an administrative division of land or a minor division of land including divisions which result in a net of nine or more independent building lots and/or require the creation of a public easement or installation of a public improvement.
(4) EXEMPT DIVISION OF LAND. A division of land, of a tract, or tracts, to correct errors in an existing legal description, provided that no additional building sites other than for accessory buildings are created by the division; a division of land for federal, state or local government to acquire street right-of-way; a division of land for the direct use of utilities to meet the public's needs for sewer, water, gas, or electrical service; or a combination or retracement of an existing parcel(s) of record in which either a survey plat does not exist, a survey error is being corrected, or an error associated with an existing legal description is being resolved.
SUBDIVISION IMPROVEMENT AGREEMENT. A document which establishes the contractual relationship between the developer of a subdivision and the city for the completion and maintenance of the required improvements in accordance with these regulations.
SURVEYOR. The City or the County Surveyor, whichever applies. If there is no Engineer, the Surveyor shall fulfill all functions of the Engineer as designated in this chapter.
TECHNICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE. A committee created by this chapter to review plans submitted for action by the Plan Commission for a technical evaluation of the plan's compliance with the regulations governing its approval. This Committee will provide a report to the Plan Commission indicating its compliance with the regulations. The members of the Committee will include the Dearborn County Technical Review Committee and other members as needed for the given request or as determined by the Planning Commission.
TEMPORARY IMPROVEMENT. Improvements built and maintained by a subdivider during construction of the subdivision and intended to be replaced by a permanent improvement prior to release of the performance bond, or turnaround improvements at the ends of stub streets intended to be replaced when the adjoining area is developed and the through street connection made.
THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The part of the master plan, now or hereafter adopted, which sets forth the location, alignment, dimensions, identification and classification of existing and proposed public streets, highways or other thoroughfares.
TOPOGRAPHIC PLAT. A plat drawing with contour lines (delineating elevation) superimposed over the subdivision lot and street layout that indicates existing and proposed contours and other site features, such as structures, drainage ways, proposed changes in drainage features, etc.
VARIANCE. A variance is an exception granted from the literal enforcement of this chapter where, by reason of exceptional topographic conditions, or some other extraordinary situation or condition of that site that would deprive the applicant of reasonable capacity to make use of the land in a manner equivalent to those permitted to other landowners in the same zone district. It is a departure from dimensional terms of this chapter.
('74 Code, § 14-1) (Ord. passed 11-25-67; Am. Ord. 2019-008, passed 5-13-19)