Words in the present tense include the past and future tenses; the singular includes the plural, the plural includes the singular; the word “shall” is mandatory; the word “may” is permissive. In the event of conflicting provisions in the text of these regulations, the more restrictive shall apply.
The following words, terms, and phrases when used in this Chapter shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this Section except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ALLEY: Any dedicated public right of way providing a minor secondary means of access to the side or rear of two (2) or more properties.
ATTORNEY: The attorney employed by the community, unless otherwise stated.
BLOCKS: The enclosed area within the perimeter of roads, property lines or boundaries of a subdivision.
BOULEVARD: The portion of the public street right of way between the back curb line and the property line for uses such as snow storage, sidewalk, utilities, street light and traffic or other signage and potential widening of roadways.
CITY: The City of Cottage Grove.
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT: A subdivision development planned and constructed to group housing units into relatively tight patterns, while providing a unified network of open space, and meeting the overall density regulations of this Title and Title 11 of this Code.
COLLECTOR STREET: A street which carries traffic from local streets to minor arterials or from collector street to collector street, including the principal entrance streets of a residential development for circulation within such a development. Direct access may be limited or restricted to a collector street. “Collector streets” are identified on the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL STREET: A street designed for the primary purpose of serving industrial or commercial property which, because of the nature and type of vehicular traffic, may require different standards of design or construction.
COMMUNITY: See definition of City.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: A Comprehensive Plan prepared and adopted by the community, including a compilation of policy statements, goals, text and maps indicating the general locations recommended for the various functional classes of land use, transportation network, utility infrastructures, places and structures and for the general physical development of the community, including any unit or part of such plan separately adopted and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof.
CONTOUR MAP: A map on which irregularities of land surface are shown by lines connecting points of equal elevations; contour interval being the vertical dimension between contour lines.
COPY: A print or reproduction made from a tracing or other reproducible medium.
CORNER LOT: A lot bordered on at least two (2) adjacent sides by streets or street rights of way.
COUNTY: Washington County, Minnesota.
COUNTY BOARD: The County Board of Commissioners.
CUL-DE-SAC: A local street with only one (1) outlet and having a vehicular turnaround.
DEVELOPMENT: The building of structures and the installation of site improvements.
DOUBLE-FRONTAGE LOTS: Lots which have a front line abutting on one (1) street and a back or rear line abutting on another street.
DRAINAGE COURSE: A natural or human-made watercourse or indenture for the drainage of surface water.
EASEMENT: A grant by an owner of land for a specific use by persons other than the owner.
ENGINEER: The registered engineer employed by the community, unless otherwise stated.
FRONTAGE ROAD: A local street, parallel and adjacent to higher volume streets and highways, which provides access to abutting properties and protection of through traffic.
GOVERNING BODY: The City Council.
HOLD DOWN ELEVATION: The elevation of preliminary site grading before building construction that causes earthwork balance with below grade building excavations (basements and footings).
INTERMEDIATE ARTERIAL: Minnesota Trunk Highway 61/10.
KEY MAP: A map drawn to comparatively small scale which shows the area proposed to be platted in relation to known geographical features, such as City parks, the Mississippi River, wetlands and road systems.
LAND USE: Categories of how land is occupied or utilized either through the efforts of people or in a natural setting. Land uses are generally referenced in broad categories such as residential, commercial or industrial, but can be reduced to specific categories i.e., single-family vs. townhouses or apartments.
LAND USES (INCOMPATIBLE): Characteristics of uses of land that may not be consistent or harmonious with one (1) another due to such items as height, bulk, noxious odors, noise, unsightliness, traffic generation, exterior storage or other nuisances inherent to one (1) land use but not to another.
LOCAL STREET: A street of limited continuity used primarily for access to abutting properties and for local needs of a neighborhood.
LOT: A parcel or portion of land in a subdivision or plat of land, separated from other parcels or portions by description, as on a subdivision or record of survey map, for the purpose of sale or lease or separate use thereof. Public right of way and land under the normal high water mark will not be included in computing the required minimum size of any parcel in the City.
METES AND BOUNDS DESCRIPTION: A description of real property which is not described by reference to a lot or block on a plat, but is described by starting at a known point and describing the bearings and distances of the lines forming the boundaries of the property or delineating a fractional portion of a section, lot or area by described lines or portions thereof.
MINIMUM SUBDIVISION DESIGN STANDARDS: The guides, principles and specifications for the preparation of subdivision plans indicating, among other things, the minimum and maximum dimensions of the various elements set forth in this Title.
MINOR ARTERIAL STREETS: Streets designated on the Comprehensive Plan and used primarily by faster moving traffic at heavy volumes as traffic arteries for vehicular movement between and among neighborhoods and other large areas.
NATURAL WATERWAY: A natural passageway in the surface of the earth, so situated and having such a topographical nature that the surface water flows through it from other areas before reaching a final ponding area. The term also includes all drainage structures which have been constructed or placed for the purpose of conducting water from one (1) place to another.
OWNER: An individual, firm, association, syndicate, copartnership, corporation, trust or other legal entity having sufficient proprietary interest in the land sought to be subdivided to commence and maintain proceedings to subdivide such land under these regulations.
PEDESTRIANWAY: A public right of way across or within a block for pedestrians.
PERSON: Any individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or other legal entity.
PLANNING COMMISSION: The Planning Commission of the City.
PLAT: A map or drawing which graphically delineates the boundaries of land parcels for the purposes of identification and record of title. The “plat” is a recorded legal document and must conform to all State laws.
PRELIMINARY PLAT: The map or drawing showing the layout of a proposed subdivision which will be legally described by lot and block descriptions, with required supporting data.
PROTECTIVE COVENANTS: Contracts entered into between private parties, constituting a restriction on the use of private property within a subdivision for the mutual benefit of the property owners, to provide protection against undesirable aspects of development which may tend to impair the stability of values.
RESERVE STRIPS: A strip of land placed between lot lines and street to control access into public lands or leading to public facilities or major destination points within the community.
RIGHT OF WAY: Land covered by a public road or dedicated for public use or for certain private use. The shortest distance between two (2) right-of-way descriptions shall determine its width.
SKETCH PLAN: A drawing showing the proposed subdivision of property or adjacent property not necessarily drawn to scale, and exact accuracy not being a requirement to illustrate feasibility of the street system or lotting pattern.
STREET (PRIVATE): A street, serving as vehicular access to two (2) or more parcels of land, which is not dedicated to the public but is owned by one (1) or more private parties.
STREET (PUBLIC): A way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as street, collector highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place, drive, court or otherwise which is dedicated to the public.
STREET WIDTH: The shortest distance between the lines delineating the right of way of a street.
SUBDIVIDER: The owner, agent or person having control of a subdivision, as the term is used in this Title.
SUBDIVISION: The division of an area, parcel or tract of land into two (2) or more parcels, tract lots, or long-term leasehold interests where the creation of the leasehold interest necessitates the creation of streets, roads or alleys, for residential, commercial, industrial, or other use or any combination thereof, except those divisions when a new street is being created by a governmental agency which results in a division of a parcel of land. The term includes resubdivision and when appropriate to the context, shall relate to the process of subdividing or to the land subdivided or for adjustments in boundary lines except those separations:
1. Where all the resulting parcels, tracts, lots or interests will be twenty (20) acres or larger in size and five hundred feet (500') in width for residential uses and five (5) acres or larger in size for commercial and industrial uses.
2. Creating cemetery lots.
3. Resulting from court orders.
SURVEYOR: A land surveyor registered under State laws.
THOROUGHFARE: A street primarily designed to carry higher volumes of vehicular traffic than a collector street and providing for vehicular movement between and among larger areas, designated in the Comprehensive Plan as “minor arterials” or “arterials”.
TRACING: A plat or map drawn on transparent material which can be reproduced by using regular reproduction procedures.
ZONING ORDINANCE: The zoning ordinance or resolution controlling the use of land as adopted by the City and as set forth in City Code Title 11.