(A) Frontage on improved streets. No subdivision shall be approved unless the area to be subdivided shall have frontage on and access from an existing street on the official map, or if there is not an official map, unless such a street is:
(1) An existing state, county, or township highway; or
(2) A street shown upon a plat approved by the Commission and recorded in the office of the County Recorder. Such street or highway must be suitably improved as required by the highway rules, regulation specifications, or orders, or be secured by a performance bond required under these regulations, with the width and right-of-way required by these regulations or as indicated on the official map or thoroughfare plan. Whenever the area to be subdivided is to use an existing street frontage, such street shall be suitably improved as provided hereinabove.
(B) Grading and improvement plan. Streets shall be graded and improved and conform to the city construction standards and specifications and shall be approved as to design and specifications by the City Engineer, in accordance with the construction plans required to be submitted prior to secondary approval.
(C) Topography and arrangement.
(1) Streets shall be related appropriately to the topography. All streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at, or above, the grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades and sharp curves shall be avoided. Specific standards are contained in the design standards of these regulations.
(2) All streets shall be properly integrated with the existing and proposed system of thoroughfares and dedicated rights-of-way as established on the official map or thoroughfare plan, and/or Comprehensive Plan.
(3) All arterials and collector streets shall be properly related to special traffic generators such as industries, business districts, schools, churches, and shopping centers, to population densities, and to the pattern of existing and proposed land uses.
(4) Minor or local streets shall be laid out to conform as much as possible to the topography, to discourage use by through traffic, to permit efficient drainage and utility systems, and to require the minimum number of streets necessary to provide convenient and safe access to the property.
(5) Rigid, rectangular “gridiron” street patterns are generally to be avoided, and the use of casually curvilinear streets, cul-de-sacs, or loop streets shall be encouraged where such use will result in a more desirable layout and relate better to the existing topography. On flat land, innovative, varying geometrical street patterns shall be encouraged where they are likely to enhance visual interest and a sense of order for those using them (e.g., non-grid rectilinear, trapezoidal, polygonal, or other geometric patterns).
(6) Proposed streets shall, where appropriate, be extended to the boundary lines of the tract to be subdivided unless this is prevented by topography or other physical conditions, or unless, in the opinion of the Commission, such extension(s) is/are not necessary or desirable for the coordination of the layout of the subdivision under consideration with the existing street layout or for the most advantageous future development of adjacent tracts (see § 150.061(A)).
(7) In business and industrial developments, the streets and other accessways shall be planned in connection with the grouping of buildings, location of rail facilities, and the provision of alleys, truck loading and maneuvering areas, walkways, bikeways, and parking areas so as to minimize conflict of movement between the various types of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
(D) Blocks.
(1) Blocks shall have sufficient width to provide for two tiers of lots of appropriate depths. Exceptions to this prescribed block width shall be permitted in blocks adjacent to arterial streets, railroads, and waterways.
(2) The lengths, widths, and shapes of blocks shall be such as are appropriate for the locality and the type of development contemplated, but block lengths in residential areas shall not exceed 2,600 feet nor be less than 400 feet in length. Blocks along arterial and collector streets shall not be less than 1,000 feet in length.
(3) In long blocks, the Commission may require the reservation of easements through the block to accommodate utilities, drainage facilities, or pedestrian traffic. Pedestrianways or crosswalks not less than ten feet wide may be required by the Commission through the center of blocks more than 800 feet long or at other appropriate locations and at the ends of the cul-de-sacs where deemed essential to provide for circulation or access to schools, playgrounds, shopping centers, transportation, or other community facilities. Blocks designed for industrial uses shall be of such length and width as may be determined to be suitable by the Commission for the intended use.
(E) Access to collector streets. Where possible, lots in single family residential subdivisions fronting on collector streets shall be avoided and lots at the corners of intersections between local and collector streets shall front on the local street and have driveway access to it only and not to the collector street. In multiple-family residential areas entrances to group parking lots shall have access only to collector streets (where possible), and such entrances shall be widely spaced.
(F) Access to primary arterials. Where a subdivision borders on or contains an existing or proposed primary arterial, the Commission may require that access to it be limited by one of the following means:
(1) The subdivision of the lots so as to back onto the primary arterial and front onto a parallel local street; no access shall be provided for the primary arterial, and screening shall be provided within a strip of land along the rear property line of such lots;
(2) The series of cul-de-sacs, or loop streets entered from, and designed generally to be at right angles to an access street that is at some distance from and parallel to the arterial street, with the rear lines of their terminal lots backing onto the arterial; and
(3) A marginal access or service road (separated from the primary arterial by a landscaped and/or decoratively fenced grass trip and having access thereto at widely spaced suitable points).
(G) Street names. The sketch plan, as submitted, shall indicate names of proposed streets. As part of his or her review, the Administrator shall refer proposed street names to the local postmaster for his or her comments regarding duplication of names and possible confusion. After reviewing them, the Administrator shall inform the subdivider of his or her recommendations for their possible revision during the sketch plan review. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and in spelling from other street names in the county or other nearby areas so as to avoid confusion. A street which is, or is planned as, a continuation of an existing street shall bear the same name.
(H) Street regulatory signs. The applicant shall provide and install a street sign at every street intersection within his or her subdivision as required by the City Engineer. The city shall inspect and approve all street signs before issuance of certificates of occupancy for any residence on the approved streets.
(I) Street lights. Installation of street lights shall be required in accordance with design and specification standards approved by the City Engineer. Street light standards and fixtures shall also be in accordance with the visual design standards of the City Engineer.
(J) Reserve strips. The creation of reserve strips shall not be permitted adjacent to a proposed street in such a manner as to deny access to it from adjacent property if such street is a local service street rather than a collector or arterial street. (See divisions (E) and (F) above).
(Ord. 5-1992, passed 7-21-1992)