(a) Minimum residential lot widths.
(1) Within zoning districts. No residential lot shall be of less width, at the building line, nor less total lot area than required by the zoning district regulations governing the plat.
(2) Within ETJ areas. Where no zoning regulations apply, lots less than 10,000 square feet in area shall not be less than 50 feet in width; nor less than 100 feet in width when greater than 10,000 square feet in area, unless a waiver is granted for a panhandle or flag type lot. No waiver will be granted for a lot less than 40 feet in width, measured at the lot access connection with the adjacent street right-of- way.
a. Lots 150 feet in width or more, fronting onto an arterial street, shall have a front building setback line of not less than 30 feet and shall be provided with a circular drive if accessing such street.
b. Lots 100 feet in width or more, not fronting onto or accessing an arterial street, shall have a front building set-back line of not less than 30 feet.
(b) Residential lot arrangements.
(1) Lot configuration. No residential lot shall be configured in such a manner that it does not meet the minimum standards of zoning ordinance.
(2) Lot lines. Lot lines shall be perpendicular with street centerline or street centerline radii.
(3) Lot platting arrangement. Residential subdivisions shall be platted to provide two-tiers of residential lots between opposite parallel public or private residential streets. All single-family and two-family residential lots shall be platted with a front and a rear yard, with the front yard designed to face a residential street. The rear yards of such lots may abut another adjacent rear or side yard, open space, institutional lot or un-platted property.
(4) Alternative lot platting arrangements: double frontage residential lots (a.k.a. reverse frontage lots). Double frontage residential lots may only be platted providing such lots have their primary frontage onto a residential street or collector street and their opposite (secondary non-access) frontage abutting an arterial street. Such lots shall be platted, screened and landscaped in accordance with the following requirements.
a. Collector street (secondary) lot frontage. Lots that are less than 100 feet in width at the front building line and face a residential street with the opposite end of the lots backing onto a collector street, shall have the collector street of the lot also considered as a “front yard” for zoning purposes. The collector street frontage shall be subject to the provisions of the front yard setback and fencing restrictions, designated in § 6.101 of the zoning ordinance for the type of zoning district in which the lots are located, except where the following conditions are present:
1. Where residential lots back onto both sides of the collector street for a distance not to exceed 250 feet; or
2. The lot on the opposite side of the collector street forms the rear or side yard of a nonresidential use or dedicated public or private open space use.
b. Arterial street (secondary) lot frontage. Subdivisions with three lots or more, having less than 100 feet in width at the front building line and facing a residential street with the opposite end of the lots backing onto an arterial street, shall have the arterial street frontage considered as the rear of the lots. See § 6.101 of the zoning ordinance. Such lots shall have:
1. A minimum six-foot high solid masonry screen wall or solid wood cedar fence with brick masonry columns at intervals not greater than ten feet on center in accordance with § 5.305, Fences, of the comprehensive zoning ordinance;
2. Street trees, not less than three-inch diameter caliper and of a type and species acceptable to the city forester, shall be provided along or within the arterial parkway at a minimum ratio of one tree per 50 lineal feet of parallel parkway. Required trees may be clustered as necessary to avoid obstructions to safe traffic visibility, pedestrian access and circulation, drainage or utility service lines and facilities or to provide enhancement to related aesthetic landscape features; and
3. Failure to comply with these requirements will cause withholding of building permits on the lots affected.
c. Arterial street (primary) lot frontage. Direct residential driveway access to individual one-family and two-family dwellings shall not be allowed on any arterial. The city plan commission may grant a waiver if such lots are a minimum of 150 feet in width or greater at the building setback line and contain a circular access drive with approval by the city traffic engineer and egress per TPW design requirements.
(5) Residential corner lots. Residential corner lots adjacent to arterials shall obtain access from the collector or local street, and access shall be placed as far from the arterial intersection as possible to achieve the maximum available corner clearance.
(c) Flag lots (“panhandle lots”).
(1) Flag lots, known as “panhandle lots,” are defined as lot configurations where the perimeter lot geometry reflects the shape of a “flag” or “panhandle” where the narrow or elongated part of the lot abuts a public or private street and widens at the building setback line to accommodate a buildable development site.
(2) Flag lots are expressly prohibited, unless:
a. The proposed lot configuration is needed to abate an unusual property accessibility constraint, not created by the applicant;
b. The property has acute topographical conditions and constraints; or
c. The unusual adjacent property boundary configuration constrains the arrangement of an otherwise standard lot configuration.
(3) Where any of the above items are present, the commission may grant a waiver to allow such configuration, provided the following conditions are met:
a. The waiver does not circumvent the normal platting of streets for public and emergency access;
b. The waiver does not prevent the extensions of streets to adjacent un-subdivided property;
c. The lot width is not less than 40 feet in width at its frontage connection with the adjacent public or approved private street; and
d. The narrow or elongated part of the lot “panhandle” does not exceed 100 feet in length, measured from the connecting street frontage to where the lot widens into a “flag” shape to receive a suitable building area where a building setback line shall be established; nor shall more than two adjacent panhandle/neck lots be connected.
(d) Lots served by conventional septic or aerobic sanitary disposal systems.
(1) Lots served by on-site wastewater septic disposal systems shall have a contiguous land area not less than one acre (net) in size, exclusive of 100-year floodplain, drainage easements and features, access easements and street right-of-way. Contiguous gross and net lot area calculations shall be shown on and for each lot on the plat.
(2) Developments to be served by a public wastewater system but having individual water wells shall have a “dry line” public water system, conforming to city standards, to allow future connections to the public water supply system for domestic use and fire protection purposes. See the Installation Policy and Design Criteria for Water, Wastewater, and Reclaimed Water Infrastructure Manual for standards.
(e) Pedestrian access way lots or easements.
(1) When a school, park, or open space recreation site has only one point of street access, a mid-block public pedestrian access easement or lot shall be provided. Where adjacent to a single-family neighborhood, such access ways shall not be less than 16 feet wide for pedestrian restricted walkways, bicycle paths, and hiking/jogging paths.
(2) a. All access ways shall be paved to city sidewalk standards, shall contain city approved lighting illumination arranged so as not to shine directly on adjacent residential properties, and shall be contained within a designated lot or easement of common ownership. An all-weather paved hard access way surface shall be provided therein, as follows:
1. Five-foot paved surface for eight-foot wide public use easement or lot for access to lots less than 50 feet in width;
2. Eight-foot paved surface for ten-foot wide public use easement, or 12-foot wide public pedestrian access easement or lot; and
3. Twelve-foot paved surface for 16-foot wide public pedestrian access easement or lot.
b. Access ways may be platted as an easement, adjacent to a lot line, or as a separate designated lot owned and maintained by a property owner's association within the subdivision.
(3) Developments/subdivisions shall be designed to connect to adjacent existing or platted sidewalk stub outs as provided on an approved preliminary or final plat.
(Ord. 17851, § 1 (App. C, Ch. 6, Art. III), passed 10-30-2007; Ord. 18705-07-2009, § 1, passed 7-14-2009; Ord. 20382-09-2012, § 6, passed 9-11-2012; Ord. 22051-01-2016, § 6, passed 1-12-2016; Ord. 23225-06-2018, § 4, passed 6-5-2018, eff. 8-1-2018; Ord. 23679-06-2019, § 4, passed 6-4-2019)