(A) Interpretation of terms or words. For the purpose of these regulations, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows.
(1) The word “person” includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company or corporation as well as an individual.
(2) The present tense includes the future tense, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular.
(3) The word “shall” is a mandatory requirement, the work “may” is a permissive requirement, and the word “should” is a preferred requirement.
(4) The words “used” or “occupied” include the words “intended, designed or arranged to be used or occupied”.
(5) The word “lot” includes the words “plot, parcel and/or tract”.
(6) The word “village” where used shall mean the Village of Bluffton.
(7) The word “Council” where used shall mean the Village Council of the Village of Bluffton.
(8) The words “Planning Commission” where used shall mean the Planning Commission of the Village of Bluffton.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN. A roadway design plan, which designates access locations and their design for the purpose of bringing those portions of roadway included in the access management plan into conformance with their access category to the extent feasible.
ALLEY. See STREET or ROAD.
BUILDING. A structure designed to be used as a place of occupancy, storage or shelter.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE. The line set at uniform distance from the front lot line or centerline of the dedicated or acquired right-of-way beyond which no building is allowed to be built.
CONDOMINIUM. Condominium means and includes the land, together with all buildings, improvements, and structures thereon, all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, and all articles of personal property that have been submitted to the provisions of R.C. Chapter 5311 and subject to R.C. Chapter 5311.
CORNER LOTS. See LOT TYPES.
COVENANT. A written promise or pledge.
CUL-DE-SAC. See STREET or ROAD.
CULVERT. A transverse drain that channels surface water under a bridge, street or driveway.
DEAD-END STREET. See STREET or ROAD.
DENSITY. A unit of measurement, e.g., the number of dwelling units per acre of land.
(a) GROSS DENSITY. The number of dwelling units per acre of land to be developed.
(b) NET DENSITY. The number of dwelling units per acre of land when including only the acreage devoted to residential uses and exempting such uses as streets and the like.
DEVELOPER. Any individual, subdivider, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity commencing proceedings under these regulations to effect a subdivision of land hereunder for himself, herself or for another.
DRAWINGS.
(a) OVERALL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (PRELIMINARY PLAT). Drawings provided to the Planning Commission in order to evaluate the developers overall intent for the project in question. The first step of the major subdivision approval process.
(b) CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS. Drawings provided to the Planning Commission providing sufficient detail for local agencies to evaluate compliance with existing regulations and construction standards. The second step of the major subdivision approval process.
(c) AS-BUILT CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS. Drawings provided upon completion of the infrastructure portion of a development that reflect project completion, including but not limited to required changes due to field conditions.
(d) FINAL PLAT. A revised version of the overall development plan showing exact locations of lot lines, rights-of-way, easements and dedicated areas. The final plat is to be recorded in the office of the County Recorder. The third step of the major subdivision approval process.
DRIVEWAY. A vehicular travelway used to provide access from a street to dwelling units or commercial or industrial activities. DRIVEWAYS are designed for low travel speeds and are often used as, or are integral with, parking areas for vehicles.
DWELLING UNIT. Space within a building comprising living, dining, sleeping room or rooms, storage closets, as well as space and equipment for cooking, bathing and toilet facilities, all used by one family and its household employees.
EASEMENT. Authorization by a property owner for the use by another, and for a specified purpose, of any designated part of his or her property.
EXEMPTED LAND DIVISION. Those land divisions having inherent restrictions associated with their status under R.C. Chapter 711 and include the following:
(a) LAND TRANSFER. A conveyance of land between adjoining property owners.
(b) LARGE LOT EXEMPTION. The creation of a new buildable lot greater than five acres in size, either directly by the division or indirectly by the division of another parcel and which does not involve the opening, widening, or extension of a public street or road.
FLOOD. An overflowing of water, from watercourses, onto land, which is normally dry.
FLOODPLAIN. Any area documented as having a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any one year identified. The term refers to that area designated as subject to flooding from the base flood (100-year flood) on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) prepared by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as being areas of special flood hazards subject to local floodplain management regulations.
FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION. A classification system that defines a public roadway according to its purposes and hierarchy in the local or statewide highway system.
GRADE. The amount of rise or descent of a sloping land surface, usually measured as a percent where the numbered percent represents the amount of vertical rise or fall, in feet, for every 100 feet horizontally. For example, a one-foot vertical rise over 100 horizontal feet represents a 1% slope.
HIGHWAY DIRECTOR. The Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
HOME OWNER’S ASSOCIATION. A group of homeowners organized to provide financial and legislative decisions over a group of lots for the maintenance and upkeep of common areas and related facilities.
IMPROVEMENTS. Roadway pavement or resurfacing, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, water lines, sewer lines, storm drains, street lights, flood control and drainage facilities, street signs, utility lines, landscaping, and other related matters normally associated with the development of land into building sites.
LAND CONTRACT. A legal agreement between a landowner and another person or persons interested in purchasing real property owned by the landowner, wherein the landowner agrees to receive regular payments, at specified intervals for a specified period of time, from the purchaser and at the end of the specified time period agrees to transfer ownership of the property to the purchaser.
LANDSCAPING. The act of changing the natural features of a plot of ground so as to make it more attractive, as by adding lawns, trees, bushes and/or ponds.
LETTER OF CREDIT. A written statement from a bank or loan company, written against the good standing of a developer, guaranteeing necessary funds, the amount to equal a professional engineer’s cost estimate for subdivision improvements, to complete such improvements should the developer fail to complete them within the time frame and conditions as specified in the subdivision approval agreements (see also PERFORMANCE BOND, MAINTENANCE BOND or SURETY BOND).
LOCATION MAP, VICINITY MAP. A map to the minimum scale of 1:24,000 which portrays the subdivision to its surrounding area in relation to the existing road network, major public activity centers, drainage courses, and other natural features in order to better locate and orientate the subdivision under review.
LOT.
(a) For purposes of these regulations, a LOT is a parcel of land of sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage and area, and to provide yards and other open spaces as are herein required.
(b) Such LOT shall have frontage on an improved public street, or on an approved private street, and may consist of:
1. A single lot of record;
2. A portion of a lot of record; or
3. A combination of complete lots of record, of complete lots of record and portions of lots of record, or of portions of lots of record.
LOT FRONTAGE. The front of a lot shall be construed to be the property line along the lot abutting the street. For the purpose of determining yard requirements on corner lots and reverse frontage lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to streets shall be considered frontage, and yards shall be provided in appropriate zoning resolutions.
LOT MEASUREMENTS. A lot shall be measured as follows.
(a) AVERAGE DEPTH OF A LOT IN A PLATTED SUBDIVISION shall be considered to be the straight line distance between the mid-point of the front lot line or street right-of-way line and the mid-point of the rear lot line.
(b) AVERAGE DEPTH OF A SECTION GROUND PARCEL shall be considered to be the straight-line distance between the mid-point of the street centerline and the mid-point of the rear lot line.
(c) AVERAGE WIDTH OF A LOT shall be considered to be the straight line distance between the mid-points of the side lot lines.
LOT OF RECORD. Any parcel shown as current on the most recent tax maps.
LOT SPLIT. See MINOR LAND DIVISION.
LOT TYPES. Terminology used in these regulations with reference to corner lots, interior lots and through lots is as follows.
(a) A CORNER LOT is defined as a lot located at the intersection of two or more streets. A lot abutting on a curved street or streets shall be considered a CORNER LOT if the extension of the side lot lines meet at an interior angle of less than 135 degrees.
(b) FLAG LOT is a lot whose only frontage on a public street is through a narrow strip of land which is generally wide enough to accommodate a driveway, but too narrow to accommodate any structures.
(c) An INTERIOR LOT is a lot other than a corner lot with only one frontage on a street.
(d) A REVERSE FRONTAGE LOT is a lot on which frontage is at right angles to the general pattern in the area. A REVERSE FRONTAGE LOT may also be a corner lot. A lot having its rear lot line abutting the right-of-way of a street or a highway that prohibits access; its access is from a local or marginal access street.
(e) A THROUGH LOT is a lot other than a corner lot with frontage on more than one street. THROUGH LOTS abutting two streets may be referred to as double frontage lots and each frontage shall have a front yard.
MAINTENANCE BOND. An agreement by a subdivider or developer with the village guaranteeing the maintenance of physical improvements for a period of two years from the release of the performance bond.
MAJOR PUBLIC ACTIVITY CENTER. A facility or grouping of facilities that generate independently/collectively significant pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic volumes/trips including but not limited to churches, schools, shopping centers, strip malls, senior centers, skating rinks and related.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION. Defined pursuant to R.C. Chapter 711 as the creation of more than five parcels or which involve the opening, widening or extension of a street or road or easement of access.
MAJOR THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The Comprehensive Long Range Transportation Plan adopted by the Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission and accepted by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
MINOR LAND DIVISION. A division of a parcel of land that does not require a plat to be approved by the Planning Commission according to R.C. § 711.131. A MINOR LAND DIVISION, also known as a lot split, is the creation of a buildable lot of less than five acres in size. The proposed minor land division shall be located along an existing public roadway and shall not involve the opening, widening, or extension of any street or road.
OPEN SPACE. The open space area may include, along with natural environment features, such as agriculture, floodplains, areas of natural vegetation, parks and recreation facilities and the like, parking lots and any other recreational facilities that the Planning Commission deems permissive. Streets, structure for habitation and the like, shall not be included. Utilized primarily in PUD developments.
PERFORMANCE BOND, SURETY BOND or IRREVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT. A guarantee by a subdivider or developer with the village for the amount of the unfinished infrastructure improvements.
PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE. Any security that may be accepted by the village as a guarantee that the improvements required as part of an application for development that are satisfactorily completed.
PERSON. An individual, trustee, executor, other fiduciary, corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization or other entity acting as a unit.
PHASE. Those individual stages of an approved overall development plan.
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD). An area of land, in which a variety of housing types and/or related commercial and industrial facilities are accommodated in a pre-planned environment under more flexible standards, such as lot size and setbacks, than those restrictions that would normally apply under these regulations. The procedure for approval of such development contains requirements in addition to those of the standard subdivision, such as building design principles and landscaping plans.
PLAT. A map or representation of a piece of land subdivided into lots with streets, alleys and the like, drawn to scale and subject to recording.
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER. Any person registered to practice professional engineering by the State Board of Registration as specified in R.C. § 4733.14.
PROFESSIONAL SURVEYOR. Any person registered to practice surveying by the State Board of Registration in accordance with R.C. § 4733.14.
PUBLIC WAY. An alley, avenue, boulevard, bridge, channel, ditch easement, expressway, freeway, highway, lane, parkway, street, subway, tunnel, viaduct, walk or other ways in which the general public or public entity have a right, or which are dedicated whether improved or not.
REMAINDER PARCEL. The parcel of land left after a minor subdivision or exempted land division has taken place.
REPLAT. The process by which existing lots in a platted subdivision are reconfigured and renumbered to represent changes from the original subdivision plat. It may include all or portions of a previous subdivision or plat.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. A strip of land taken or dedicated for use as a public way.
SETBACK LINE. A line established by the zoning regulations generally of uniform width, parallel with and measured from the lot line, defining the limits of a yard in which no building or structure, other than an accessory building, may be located above ground.
SEWERS, CENTRAL OR GROUP. An approved sewage disposal system, which provides a collection network and disposal system and central sewage treatment facility for a single development, community or region.
SEWERS, ON-SITE. A septic tank and secondary treatment system on an individual lot which utilizes an aerobic bacteriological process, or an equally satisfactory process, for the elimination of sewage, and provides for the proper and safe disposal of the effluent, subject to the approval of health and sanitation officials having jurisdiction.
SIGHT DISTANCE TRIANGLE, CLEAR. An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections, bounded by a line of sight (eye of the driver at three and three-quarters feet above the road at the centerline to an object six inches in height) at the centerline of the intersecting street; distances along the centerline of the street by classification will determine the size of the triangle. No vegetation, structures or ground shall project vertically into this area to restrict the view.
SIDEWALK. The portion of the road right-of-way, which is improved for the use of pedestrian traffic.
STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCE. The distance down a roadway for which a motorist is able to have an unobstructed sight. STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCE is reduced by vertical and horizontal road curvature, fixed objects on the side of the road, and overhanging vegetation.
STREET or ROAD. A PUBLIC ROAD is one which has been dedicated to the pubic use by the owner of the property and accepted by the local government for public use and maintenance. All STREETS or ROADS shall be built to the design and construction standards of the village as herein described. PRIVATE DRIVES are simply easements of access and egress granted by the owner of the land to others maintained under private ownership typically a homeowner’s association. Such easements of access/egress are permitted only in condominium and apartment complexes or industrial developments and do not provide required frontage for any further land division and are exempt from roadway design and construction standards as described herein.
(a) ALLEY. A public right-of-way primarily for secondary access by vehicles to the rear or side of a property abutting on another street. ALLEYS shall not be approved in residential subdivisions, except where justified by extreme conditions. ALLEYS may be required in commercial and industrial districts if other provisions cannot be made for adequate service access. The minimum width for ALLEYS shall be 20 feet for the right-of-way and 18 feet for the pavement width.
(b) ARTERIAL STREET. Major thoroughfares designed to carry traffic between municipalities and other activity centers and to provide connections with major state and interstate roadways. No on-street parking shall be permitted.
(c) COLLECTOR STREET. Collectors distribute traffic between lower order local roadways and higher order arterials. Their purpose is primarily to promote free traffic flow and direct access for adjoining lots should be limited where possible. Collectors shall not be used for on-street parking and may provide linkages to adjoining developments to improve circulation.
(d) CUL-DE-SAC. A local street that has a single means of access and that terminates in a circular vehicular turnaround. CUL-DE-SACS should be encouraged where feasible to the extent that they provide low traffic volumes and neighborhood identity. The Planning Commission may disapprove an overall development plan containing more than three cul-de-sac streets and no through streets.
(e) DEAD-END STREET. A street having only one inlet/outlet for vehicular traffic. PERMANENT DEAD-END STREETS shall not be permitted except as cul-de-sacs. TEMPORARY DEAD-END STREETS shall be permitted only as part of an approved overall development plan.
(f) LOCAL STREET/ROADWAY. Provide access to residential, open space, commercial, industrial or other abutting property. LOCAL ROADWAYS include subcollector streets, residential streets and cul-de-sac streets. Other local roadways are classified as special street types.
(g) LOOP STREET. A type of local street, each end of which terminates at an intersection with the same street from which it originated.
(h) MARGINAL ACCESS STREET, FRONTAGE STREET or SERVICE ROAD. A local or collector street, parallel and adjacent to an arterial or collector street, providing access to abutting properties and protection from arterial or collector streets.
(i) RESIDENTIAL STREET. Has a length of 1,000 feet or less, connect to only two other streets and are the lowest order streets providing access to residential lots and carrying only the traffic generated by adjoining residential land uses. Residential subdivisions should be developed so that the maximum number of housing units have frontage on local residential and cul-de-sac streets rather than on higher order roads.
(j) STUB STREET. A temporary dead-end street having only one lot fronting on each side of the street.
(k) SUBCOLLECTOR. Local streets designed to provide access to adjoining property and carry traffic between local residential streets or cul-de-sacs and higher order collectors and arterials. SUBCOLLECTORS shall be provided when residential subdivisions exceed 100 single-family dwellings, or the subdivision has only one entrance from a collector or arterial street.
STREET PLAN. The comprehensive plan by the village indicating the general location recommended for arterial, collector and local streets.
SUBDIVIDER. Any individual, developer, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust, or any other legal entity commencing proceedings under these regulations to effect a subdivision of land hereunder for himself, herself or for another.
THROUGH LOT. See LOT TYPES.
TRACT. The term is used interchangeably with the term lot, particularly in the context of subdivisions, where one TRACT is subdivided into several lots.
TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY (TIS). A study, which is required to be completed before an access permit can be approved and issued for any development or land use which, generates or has the potential to generated traffic volumes exceeding the threshold value specified. The purpose and need for the TIS is to determine more precisely the impacts of the access usage, to mitigate these impacts through the proper location, design, and construction of the access connection(s), and to ensure the continued functional and operational integrity of the roadway.
TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR. The Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
VARIANCE. A modification of the strict terms of the relevant regulations where such modification will not be contrary to the public interest and where owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not resulting in unnecessary hardship.
VICINITY MAP. See LOCATION MAP.
VILLAGE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. A plan, or any portion thereof, adopted by the village showing the general location and extent of present and proposed physical facilities including residential, industrial, and commercial uses, major streets, parks, schools, and other community facilities. This plan establishes the goals, objectives and policies of the community.
WATERSHED. The drainage basin in which the subdivision drains or that land whose drainage is affected by the subdivision.
WETLAND. An area of land inundated by water for a portion of each year resulting in the land possessing unique soil and vegetative types.
(Ord. 20-04, passed 12-27-2004)