§ 14.1 GENERAL.

   14.1.1   Design. All proposed subdivisions, including group developments, shall comply with this article and shall be designed to promote beneficial development of the community, and shall bear a reasonable relationship to the approved plans of the town.

   14.1.2   Reasonable relationship. All required improvements, easements, and rights-of-way (other than required reservations) shall substantially benefit the development or bear a reasonable relationship to the need for public facilities attributable to the new development.

   14.1.3   Off-site connections. When, in the opinion of the approving body, it is necessary to connect streets and/or utilities off-site to adjoining streets and/or utilities, said improvements may be required in accordance with town policy.

   14.1.4   Land suitability. Land which has been determined, on the basis of an engineering assessment or other expert survey, to pose an ascertainable danger to life or property by reason of its unsuitability for the use proposed shall not be platted for that purpose until the subdivider has taken the necessary measures to correct said conditions and to eliminate said dangers. Areas that have been used for disposal of solid waste shall not be subdivided unless tests by the Granville-Vance District Health Department, a structural engineer, and a soils expert determine that the land is suitable for the purpose proposed.

   14.1.5   Placement of monuments. The Standards of Practice for Land Surveying in the state, as adopted by the state’s Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, shall apply when installing permanent monuments.

   14.1.6   Sites for public use. In subdividing property, due consideration shall be given by the subdivider to the reservation of suitable sites for schools and other public uses in accordance with G.S. § 160A-372.

   14.1.7   Property owners’ associations.

   (A)   Creation. An owners’ association shall be established to fulfill requirements of the state’s Condominium Act, being G.S. §§ 47C-1-101 et seq., state’s Planned Community Act, being G.S. 47F-1-101 et seq., or to accept conveyance and maintenance of all common elements (common areas) within a development. The owners’ association shall be in legal existence prior to the conveyance, lease-option, or other long-term transfer of control of any unit or lot in the development.

   (B)   Conveyance. Where developments have common elements serving more than one dwelling unit, these areas shall be conveyed to the owners’ association, in which all owners of lots in the development shall be members. All areas other than public street rights-of-way, other areas dedicated to the town, and lots shall be designated as common elements. In a condominium development the common elements shall be platted in accordance with the state’s Condominium Act. In other developments, the fee-simple title shall be conveyed by the subdivider or developer to the owners’ association prior to the sale of the first lot.

   (C)   Subdivision or conveyance of common elements. Common elements shall not subsequently be subdivided or conveyed by the owners’ association unless a revised preliminary plat and a revised final plat showing such subdivision or conveyance have been submitted and approved.

   (D)   Minimize number of associations. Developments, whether including different land uses, different types of housing, or simply different sections, shall hold the number of owners’ associations to a minimum. An association may establish different categories of membership, different budgets for the categories, and different rates of assessment when different kinds of services are provided to different categories. Smaller associations under an umbrella (master) association are permitted.

   (E)   Exemption from owners’ association requirement. A development involving only two units attached by a party wall (or two separate walls back-to-back) shall not be required to have common elements or an owners’ association. Such developments without an owners’ association shall establish a binding agreement between owners to govern any party walls and to ensure reciprocal easement rights needed for maintenance.

   14.1.8   Cluster box units (CBUs). All major subdivisions shall include cluster box units (CBUs) meeting the latest specifications of the United States Postal Service to provide for mail delivery to residents.

(Ord. A.21.01, passed 6-3-2021)