The following minimum design standards shall apply to all site improvements on real estate for which a development plan is required. Individual zoning districts may also supplement the following standards with more detailed standards pertinent to individual districts.
(A) Environmental design.
(1) It is the intention of the Plan Commission to encourage the preservation of natural site amenities and to minimize the disturbance to the natural environment.
(2) Existing trees and other natural features shall be preserved whenever possible. The location of these features must be considered when planning common open space, location of buildings, underground services, walks, paved areas, and finished grade levels. The Commission may inquire into the means whereby natural features will be protected during construction.
(B) Building separation. In reviewing the location of all structures within the development plan boundaries, the Commission shall determine that the structures are located so as to allow adequate light, air, ease of entry and access by emergency vehicles. For those districts without specified yard requirements, the Commission shall be guided by the following:
(1) That the open areas provided around the building be sufficient to provide occupants of the structure with adequate light and air from all outside walls which contain windows or doors.
(2) That sufficient space is provided for access and entry to buildings from all streets, parking lots and other buildings.
(3) That in the event lots for one-family or two-family dwellings are to be sold prior to construction and the applicant cannot indicate structures on the development plan, those structures shall be subject to the yard provisions of the zoning and subdivision ordinances for the R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts or other Commission-approved minimums, unless specifically waived.
(C) Vehicular circulation facilities. All present and future dedicated right-of-way widths and street improvements shall meet the requirements of the subdivision control ordinance as now or hereafter amended.
(D) Pedestrian circulation facilities. Pedestrian walkways shall be constructed in a location and to specifications approved by the Commission. These walkways shall provide for pedestrian circulation throughout the development and shall be separated from vehicular traffic. Where distance separation cannot be achieved, physical separation may be required in cases which the Commission deems it necessary.
(E) Sanitary sewage disposal and water supply systems. All water supply and sanitary sewage disposal systems, whether private or public in nature, shall be subject to compliance with local, and where appropriate, state agency requirements. Plans must be submitted to and approved by the appropriate agencies.
(F) Storm drainage.
(1) Adequate surface and subsurface drainage ways for the removal of storm water shall be provided by the developer. The extent to which storm drainage facilities shall be required shall be based upon an analysis of need prepared for the developer by a registered professional engineer and/or registered land surveyor. The computations shall show that the peak runoff rate after development for the 100-year return period storm of 24-hour duration shall not exceed the 10-year return period pre-development peak runoff rate. Times of concentration, soil infiltration rates, and other variable actors to be used in the analysis shall be discussed with and approved by the County Surveyor during the preliminary consideration of the subdivision. The engineer (or his agent) preparing the analysis shall provide the County Surveyor with a copy of the computations used in the completion of the analysis.
(2) A storm water sewer system, which shall be separate and independent of the sanitary sewer system, with surface inlets, shall be provided by the developer in all cases where curb and gutter is to be installed and whenever the available evidence indicates that such a system is necessary due to the inadequacy of the natural surface drainage.
(3) Any person proposing to locate a structure or a use within 100 feet of any stream or main drainage channel in any zoning district shall include with the application for an improvement location permit and/or a certificate of occupancy, a statement from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, based on a study of the watershed area and the probable runoff, that the structure or use in the proposed location will leave adequate space for the flow of flood water, provided, however, that no building shall be permitted within 75 feet of the top of the bank of any stream or main drainage channel unless permitted by the County Drainage Board.
(4) The developer shall furnish the Commission a complete set of plans and profiles as approved by the various authorities.
(5) All plans and workmanship shall be in compliance with the Indiana Drainage Code, I.C. 36-9-27 and all acts supplemental and amendatory to it.
(G) Recreation space requirements.
(1) Recreational space requirements and the criteria for approval in the development plan and/or platting of applicable subdivisions are contained in § 152.110. The following standards are to be utilized in the evaluation of all required recreation space in a Commission-approved development plan:
(a) Commission-approved recreation space shall be provided in all residential zones as defined in § 152.121. The purpose of providing this space shall be to meet the immediate and future recreational needs of the development's residents in a neighborhood setting. Recreation space may be provided in a centrally located site, in distinctly separated sites, as connecting links between separated activity areas, or adjacent to other existing or proposed recreation spaces. The Commission shall determine if the proposed recreation space is suitable for the intended use. This requirement may be waived when, in the opinion of the Commission, the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that he has provided alternative methods for meeting the recreational needs of his development's residents.
(b) All developments with recreation space must contain acceptable covenants which, in the opinion of the Commission, insure adequate maintenance of those recreation spaces.
(2) Physical improvements. The term recreation space shall be interpreted to mean void of non-recreational structures, street rights-of-way, open parking areas and driveways for dwellings.
(3) Use of recreation space. Space intended for limited recreational or other uses, such as a golf course, to which all residents of the development may not be permitted free access because of the payment of a fee or a charge, shall have a maximum of three-fourths of the space utilized in meeting the recreation space requirements of the total development.
(H) Paving. All access drives and off-street parking facilities shall either be paved with concrete or with other approved surfacing material to adequately provide a durable and dust-free surface.
(I) Parking standards.
(1) Parking areas may be required to be arranged so as to prevent through traffic to other parking areas.
(2) Parking areas shall be screened from adjacent non-related structures, roads and traffic arteries with plantings, earth berms, walls or changes in grade, when deemed necessary by the Commission.
(3) All parking areas shall be marked so as to provide for orderly and safe parking, storage and movement.
(4) When it is in the interest of safety and better vehicle and pedestrian circulation, the Plan Commission may require the use of landscape elements to provide physical separation of use areas.
(5) All parking areas shall be adequately lighted. All lighting shall be so arranged as to direct the light away from adjoining real estate.
(6) All parking areas and off-street loading areas shall be graded and drained to remove all surface water without erosion and flooding.
(J) Street lighting. Street lighting shall be provided in all residential developments. Alternative street lighting proposals will be considered by the Commission if found to be appropriate in scale and intensity. Where pedestrian facilities are separated from streets to the extent that they are not adequately lighted from the street light facilities, separate lighting facilities shall be provided on pedestrian facilities.
(Ord. 466, § 2-13-10, passed 5-11-98) Penalty, see § 152.999