The subdivider shall observe the following general requirements and principles of land subdivision:
(A) Suitability of land. Land subject to flooding, improper drainage, erosion or that is for topographical or other reasons unsuitable for residential use as determined by the Planning Board, shall not be platted for residential use nor for any other uses that will continue or increase the danger to health, safety or property unless the hazards can be and are corrected.
(1) Prevention of flood damage. Lands known to be within a flood plain or any area known to be subject to flooding shall be so identified on the preliminary plat. Appropriate deed restrictions shall be filed for those lands subject to flooding, prohibiting their development for dwellings or other uses unless the sites are flood-protected as follows:
(a) No structures or fill shall be placed in the floodway which would interfere with the natural watercourse;
(b) Streets and utilities lines and structures may be placed within the flood plain only if their elevation is raised above maximum flood heights or if they are otherwise flood-protected;
(c) Dwellings and self-contained sewage disposal units (if used) shall be built at an elevation above maximum flood heights; and
(d) The subdivision drainage system shall be designed to prevent increased flood flows due to newly developed impervious surfaces and other factors.
(2) Fill areas. Areas that have been used for the disposal of solid waste shall not be subdivided into commercial or residential building sites. This shall include those areas that have been used for the disposal of trash, demolition waste and other waste materials.
(B) Historic properties and natural assets. In any subdivision, due consideration will be given to safeguard the heritage of the Town of Fairmont by preserving any archaeological site or any property therein, or located on adjacent property thereto, that embodies important elements of its cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history and likewise all due consideration should be given to promoting the use and conservation of property for the education, pleasure and enrichment of the residents of the Town of Fairmont and the State of North Carolina as a whole.
(1) It is a requirement of this chapter that the name and location of all historic properties, located within the proposed subdivision or within any contiguous property, be clearly identified on both the preliminary and final plats. If any historic property that is listed on the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places; likewise any property that has been designated by local ordinance as a “historic property” pursuant to G.S. § 160A-400.4; likewise any property that has been designated by local ordinance as a “historic district” pursuant to G.S. § 160A-400.5; the Planning Board may provide that the following agencies be given an opportunity to make recommendations concerning an individual subdivision plat before the plat is approved:
(a) The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History;
(b) Any local Historic Properties Commission appointed under the provisions of G.S. § 160A-400.7.
(2) Furthermore, in any subdivision, due consideration will be given to preserving natural features, such as trees, ponds, streams, rivers, lakes which are of value not only to the subdivision but to the Town of Fairmont as a whole.
(C) Sedimentation pollution control. In order to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation pollution of streams, springs, flat water bodies or other drainage networks, the subdivider shall comply with all requirements of the North Carolina Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 and any locally adopted sediment control ordinances.
(D) Conformity to existing plans. All proposed subdivisions shall conform to any adopted plans for the town and to any applicable regulations of the adopted municipal zoning chapter. Whenever a tract to be subdivided embraces any part of a primary arterial, major arterial or collector street so designated on any officially adopted plan, that part of the public right-of-way shall be platted by the subdivider in the location and at the width indicated by the plan and provisions of this chapter.
(E) Perimeter land reservation. Any reservation of land at the perimeter of the subdivided tract so as to prevent access to adjacent property shall be prohibited.
(F) Relation to railroad right-of-way. When a subdivision adjoins a railroad right-of-way, the subdivider may be required to arrange the road pattern to provide for future grade separation of road and railroad crossings.
(G) School sites. Where a tract of land that has been approved by the School Board as a proposed school site lies wholly or partially within an area proposed to be subdivided, and provided the School Board has notified the Planning Board and the property owner of its approval of the school site prior to or within 10 days after the review of a preliminary subdivision plat by the Planning Board, the subdivider shall reserve the proposed school site for a period of not more than 60 days from the date of the preliminary plat approval.
(H) Sidewalks. Sidewalks, if required, shall be constructed to a minimum width of 4 feet, and shall consist of a minimum thickness of 4 inches of reinforced concrete. All sidewalks shall be placed in the right-of-way, unless the development is platted as a planned unit or group development.
(I) Name of subdivision. The name of a subdivision shall not duplicate nor closely approximate the name of an existing subdivision within the Town of Fairmont.
(Ord. passed 5-31-1977)