A. Statement Required: The approved Final Plat shall contain the following statement:
"No Building Permits shall be issued for building sites within this plat until all required fees have been paid and all required public and private improvements have been installed as specified by the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Utilities, and the Stormwater Enterprise or alternatively until acceptable assurances including but not limited to letters of credit, cash subdivision bonds or combinations thereof guaranteeing the completion of all required public improvements including but not limited to drainage, Permanent Control Measures, channels, streets, and erosion control have been placed on file with the City of Colorado Springs."
B. Specific Requirements Prior to Building Permit Issuance:
1. Street Improvements:
a. Whenever the tract of land to be platted includes or is adjacent to a major street (street with right-of-way width greater than sixty (60) feet) or a major street is necessary to serve the land to be platted, such major street shall be completed prior to the issuance of Building Permit or acceptable assurance guaranteeing the completion of the major streets shall be filed with the City.
b. The City Engineer may authorize the issuance of Building Permits before public street improvements are installed or completed, or before public street improvements are accepted by the City, provided that the permit applicant provides acceptable assurance guaranteeing the completion of the street improvements and agrees simultaneously to construct the street improvements with the buildings for which the permits are issued and acceptable assurances are on file with the City. No buildings constructed shall be occupied, unless otherwise approved by the City Engineer, until the City has issued Probationary Acceptance for the public street improvements.
2. Utilities:
a. No Building Permits within any plat shall be issued for sites requiring utility extensions and/or service connections until all required utility plans, coordination efforts, agreements, or other specific requirements, as specified by Colorado Springs Utilities, are completed and on file with Colorado Springs Utilities.
b. The payment of all utility development charges, recovery agreement charges, and all other Utilities charges associated with the Building Permit process shall be payable in full at the time the Building Permit is issued or as directed by City Council. Such charges shall not be waived for governmental, quasi-governmental, or any other user wishing to connect to a City utility service.
3. Stormwater Improvements:
a. For the purposes of this Subsection 3, "stormwater improvements" refers to drainage, channel, Permanent Control Measure, and erosion control improvements.
b. Whenever the tract of land to be platted includes or is adjacent to a major stormwater improvement (stormwater improvements identified in the City's Drainage Basin Planning Studies and stormwater improvement plans), or a major stormwater improvement is necessary to serve the land to be platted, such major stormwater improvement shall be completed prior to the issuance of Building Permit or acceptable assurance guaranteeing the completion of the major stormwater improvements shall be filed with the City.
c. All other public or private stormwater improvements necessary to convey and control the quality of stormwater runoff from or through the land to be platted to protect the building sites for which the Building Permit is requested, or to protect downstream property owners, shall be installed and completed, and public stormwater improvements shall be accepted by the City, before the first Building Permit for the platted land is issued. The Stormwater Enterprise Manager may authorize the issuance of Building Permits before public or private stormwater improvements are installed or completed, or before public stormwater improvements are accepted by the City, provided that the permit applicant provides acceptable assurance guaranteeing the completion of the stormwater improvements and agrees simultaneously to construct the stormwater improvements with the buildings for which the permits are issued and acceptable assurances are on file with the City. No buildings constructed shall be occupied, unless otherwise approved by the Stormwater Enterprise Manager, until the City has issued Probationary Acceptance for the public stormwater improvements and all private stormwater improvements are installed or completed, based on documentation satisfactory to the Stormwater Enterprise Manager.
4. Obligations of Landowners: The obligation to provide, construct, or install public improvements as set forth in this Code shall be the obligation of the landowner, and shall run with the land and shall be the obligation of future landowners, successors in interest, assignees, or any other persons who take title to the property or any lot or part of the property.
5. Return of Fees and Release of Assurance:
a. If it becomes impossible to proceed with a development for which a Final Plat has been approved, under an order of any court or other public authority having jurisdiction, including the City, or as a result of an act of government, including but not limited to a declaration of national emergency making materials unavailable through no act or fault of the subdivider or a natural catastrophe such as flood or earthquake or similar act or occurrence over which the subdivider has no control, the subdivider may apply to the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, for return of fees paid for facilities and release of acceptable assurance on file with the City. No such fee or payment paid shall be refunded or acceptable assurance released unless the recorded plat for which the fees were paid or for which acceptable assurance was filed is vacated.
b. Upon receipt of such application, the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, shall investigate the circumstances set forth in the letter of application to verify those circumstances. If the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, finds no sales of land in a subdivision with reference to the final recorded plat, the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, may relieve the subdivider from the requirement of filing acceptable assurance and may release the assurance previously filed with the City and refund the fees paid upon vacation of the plat. If the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, finds that lands have been sold or developed, the City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, shall require the installation of all required improvements from the nearest improved street or from the nearest utility main or line of adequate capacity to such point as shall be necessary to serve the land so sold or developed. The City Engineer, with concurrence from the Stormwater Enterprise Manager as appropriate, may release the assurance as to unsold and undeveloped land beyond that point, provided, however, that the existing stormwater facilities are adequate to protect existing development. No fee or payment for unsold and undeveloped land shall be refunded or acceptable assurance released unless the portions of the recorded plat covering the unsold and undeveloped land for which the fees were paid or for which acceptable assurance was filed is vacated.
c. No Building Permit shall be issued for the construction of any improvement on the land for which a fee or acceptable assurance would otherwise be required under this Section 7.4.306 while such release is in effect.
C. Renewal and Update of Acceptable Assurance:
1. Responsibility of Subdivider: If assurances filed with the City expire, no Building Permits for a building site shall be issued after the date on which they expire. It shall be the responsibility of the subdivider to keep current all assurances filed with the City. The City shall have the right at any time to increase or decrease the amount of assurance in accord with the current estimates of public improvements or utilities, it being the intent of this provision that the subdivider shall pay the entire cost of all improvements, and the subdivider shall limit the subdivider's liability for those entire costs by filing assurances based upon estimates.
2. Release of Assurances for Streets and Ancillary Public Improvements: Except as provided in this Section 7.4.306, assurances for streets and ancillary public improvements shall be released upon inspection and acceptance by the City in accord with the Engineering Criteria. If upon inspection of the public improvement deficiencies are found, then only that portion of the public improvements that are found to be acceptable shall be released from assurance. An acceptable amount of assurance as determined by the City shall be maintained to cover the cost of repair or correction. Upon completion of the repair or correction to the satisfaction of the City, the balance of the assurance shall be released. In order to obtain a release of reduction of assurance filed with the City, the request must be made in writing to the City Engineer for an inspection of the improvements covered by the assurance.
3. Release of Assurance for Channel, Permanent Control Measure, and Erosion Control Assurance: Except as provided in this Section 7.4.306, assurances for channel, Permanent Control Measure, and erosion control improvements shall be released upon inspection and acceptance by the Stormwater Enterprise in accord with the Engineering Criteria.
4. Subdivision Assurance:
a. Assurances Provided:
(1) Assurances for construction shall be provided by subdividers and other developers responsible for constructing public street and stormwater infrastructure for the City. An assurance in and on a form approved by the City Attorney and issued by a surety approved by the City Attorney, must be posted for public improvements according to the following table:
Assurances | |
Total Assurance Obligation | Assurance Required |
Minor Streets and Drainage | |
$200,000.00 or less | 90 percent |
$200,000.01 - $400,000.00 | 80 percent |
$400,000.01 - $600,000.00 | 70 percent |
$600,000.01 - $800,000.00 | 60 percent |
$800,000.01 or greater | 50 percent |
Minor Streets, Channel, Permanent Control Measure, and Erosion Control Assurance | |
Any amount | 100 percent |
Notes: "Total assurance obligation" means the sum total dollar amount of each individual construction assurance due to the City from the subdivider or developer. The assurance percentage referred to in the above table means that percentage of the total assurance obligation which is due to the City from the subdivider or developer to satisfy the subdivider's or developer's assurance obligation. By way of example, in subdivision A, a subdivider or developer has a street assurance obligation of $100,000.00 and a separate channel assurance obligation of $300,000.00. The subdivider's or developer's assurance percentage required to be posted would be 90 percent for the street and 100 percent for the channel. | |
(2) Subdivider's Responsibility to Retain Required Amounts of Assurances: In the event the City draws upon a subdivider's or developer's assurance percentage so that the dollar sum of assurance available to the City drops below the assurance percentage required, the subdivider or developer shall within fourteen (14) days increase dollar sum of the assurance to not less than the minimum level shown in the table above.
(3) When an assurance for the construction of public infrastructure or private improvements is required pursuant to this UDC, the Manager or City Engineer may approve a single assurance applicable to multiple projects managed by the same subdivider or affiliated subdividers, if the following criteria are met:
(a) The subdivider has three or more active projects requiring public or private improvements for which assurances are required;
(b) The initial combined total value of public infrastructure and private improvements for active projects is $2,000,000 or fifty (50) percent of the initial total value, whichever is greater; and
(c) No funds have ever been drawn by the City of Colorado Springs or any other city or county from an assurance placed on file by the subdivider or any affiliate, nor has any surety that has issued any such assurance been required by the City of Colorado Springs or any other city or county to cause the completion of infrastructure on behalf of the subdivider or any affiliated entity.
(4) When the Manager or City Engineer approves a single assurance applicable to multiple projects:
(a) The blanket assurance shall be the type and form of assurance as defined in this UDC;
(b) The minimum amount of the assurance shall be $2,000,000;
(c) The letter of credit or surety bond shall refer to a separate agreement or list that identifies, on an on-going basis, the projects covered by the blanket assurance and lists the City as the beneficiary eligible to draw on the funds immediately upon demand and without in-person presentation in the event the improvements are not completed as required by the approved plans; and
(d) If the City determines at any time that the subdivider is not meeting the criteria listed above, the City may cancel the blanket assurance with the subdivider and the subdivider shall submit assurances for individual projects or phases pursuant to this UDC.
b. Obligation: Nothing in this Section 7.4.306 shall be deemed to relieve any subdivider or developer of the obligation to complete construction and maintenance obligations for all improvements required by this Part 7.4.3. Forfeiture of assurances under this Section 7.4.306 shall be penal and punitive, and the City shall retain all rights to use forfeited funds in a manner that it deems appropriate.
c. Certification of Compliance: All improvements required by this Part 7.4.3 shall be certified in compliance with the approved construction plans and specifications by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Colorado, prior to any acceptance of that infrastructure by the City and prior to commencement of any warranty period. (Ord. 23-03)