(A) An application in writing for tentative approval of a preliminary plat shall be submitted to the Planning Director as set forth in § 158.03(D).
(B) The preliminary plat shall be submitted on standard 24-inch by 36-inch paper at a scale of one inch equals 100 feet by the subdivider or his or her agent prior to the sale, offering for sale of any lots, tract or building site and prior to completion of final surveys of streets or lots prior to the grading or construction work on any streets and before any map of the subdivision is prepared in form for recording.
(C) Every application for plat approval shall be subject to a determination of completeness by the city staff.
(D) No application shall be accepted for filing or processing unless the request is accompanied by the following in accordance with the manual of standard design, manual of water distribution, and manual of street and drainage.
(1) Location map.
(a) A vicinity sketch or key map at scale of not more than 400 feet to the inch for all subdivisions exceeding five acres in size or containing ten or more lots.
(b) The sketch or map shall show existing subdivision, streets, property lines and recorded names of the owners of the adjoining parcels.
(c) It shall also show how the streets and alleys of the proposed subdivisions or undeveloped property and the relationship of the development to existing or proposed major and secondary thoroughfares.
(2) Names of owner and the like. The preliminary plat shall show the name or names of the owner and/or subdivider and the name of the engineer, land planner or surveyor responsible for the preparation of the plat.
(3) Identification. The proposed name of the subdivision (which must not be so similar to that of an existing subdivision as to cause confusion) and names of adjacent subdivisions and landowners shall be shown on the plat.
(4) Boundary lines and the like.
(a) Location of boundary lines and width and location of platted streets and alleys within, or adjacent to, the property; physical features of the property, including location of any existing utilities with the size of sewer and water mains.
(b) The outlines of wooded areas or the location of important individual trees is required. For all plats, the boundaries and acreage of the protected floodplain must be shown.
(c) Additionally, contours must be shown at intervals of two feet. All elevations shown shall be referred to sea-level datum. The acreage of the property is to be indicated.
(5) Location and width of proposed streets and other features.
(a) The location and width of the proposed streets, roads, lots, alleys, easements, widening of existing thoroughfares, and other features, and their location in relation to platted streets, alleys and easements in adjacent subdivisions shall be shown.
(b) The street layout shall be in conformity with a plan for the most advantageous development of the entire neighborhood areas.
(c) Whenever the proposed subdivision contains or is adjacent, or parallel to a railroad right-of-way or a major thoroughfare or freeway or expressway standards, provision shall be made for a street approximately parallel to and on each side of the right-of-way to provide reasonable use of the intervening land.
(d) Proposed streets shall be adjusted to the contour of the land so as to produce useable lots and streets of reasonable gradient.
(6) Plat contents. The horizontal scale of the preliminary plat shall not be less than 100 feet to the inch and the plat shall also show:
(a) North point, scale and date;
(b) The boundary line, accurate in scale, of the tract to be submitted;
(c) The names of all proposed streets;
(d) The layout, number and approximate dimension of all proposed lots or building tracts and the square feet of each;
(e) All parcels of land intended to be dedicated to public use or reserved for the common use of owners of lots or sites in the subdivision, and the acreage; and
(f) Any and all arrangement of lots, building lines or streets proposed.
(7) Profiles and cross sections. Profiles and cross sections may be required sufficient to ascertain that the preliminary plat proposals will function in accordance with the standard of the city.
(8) Zoning information.
(a) A designation shall be shown of the proposed uses of land within the subdivision; that is, the classified type of residential use by zoning ordinance, location of retail classification of industrial sites by zoning ordinance classification, and sites for churches, schools, parks or other special uses, and their acreage.
(b) A master plan may be required to show the proposed development and densities.
(9) Certificates. The following certificates shall be placed on the preliminary plat.
(a) Reviewed for preliminary approval.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chairperson Date
(b) Approved for preparation of final plat.
Mayor, City of Heath Date
(10) Subdivider’s statement. A preliminary plat application shall be accompanied by a written statement, signed by the subdivider stating that the developer will comply with all the city requirements in the proposed subdivision and all the proposals shall conform to or exceed the standards for the improvements prescribed by the city. The statement shall also acknowledge that a final plat must be filed within one year of preliminary plat approval, unless extension is granted by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
(11) Application processed. The processing of an application by any city official or employee prior to the time the application is determined to be complete shall not be binding on the city as the official acceptance of the application for filing, and the incompleteness of the application shall be grounds for denial or revocation of the application. A determination of completeness shall not constitute a determination of compliance with the substantive requirements of these subdivision regulations.
(12) Submission. Following submission of a plan of development or plat application, the director shall make a determination in writing whether the plan or application constitutes a complete application for a master plat, preliminary plat or final plat not later than the tenth business day after the date the application is submitted. The determination shall specify the documents or other information needed to complete the application and shall state the date the application will expire if the documents or other information is not provided.
(13) Filing. An application for approval of a master or a preliminary plat that is filed on or after April 27, 2005, or any subsequent preliminary or final plat application filed after approval of such master plat or preliminary plat, shall be deemed complete on the eleventh business day after the application has been received, if the applicant has not otherwise been notified that the application is incomplete.
(14) Completion. If an application for plat approval is not completed on or before the forty-fifth day after the application is submitted to the director for processing the application in accordance with his or her written notification, the application will be deemed to have expired, and it will be returned to the applicant together with any accompanying documents. Thereafter, a new application for approval of the master plat, preliminary plat or final plat must be submitted. The city may retain any fee paid for reviewing the application for completeness.
(15) Time period. The time period established by state law or subdivision regulations for processing or deciding an application shall commence on the date that a complete application has been accepted for filing, which date shall be deemed the official filing date.
(16) Decision.
(a) All plat applications shall be decided within 30 days from the official filing date.
(b) An applicant may request in writing a waiver of the decision time.
(c) The waiver request shall contain a statement of the reasons for the waiver and the time for which a waiver is sought.
(d) No waiver shall be granted for a period less than the Planning and Zoning Commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting.
(e) Waiver requests which have not been received by the director on or before the Friday prior to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at which action is to be taken on the plat application shall be deemed denied and action shall be taken on the plat application at the meeting as scheduled.
(17) Subject to interlocal agreement. Where the land to be platted lies within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city and is subject to an interlocal agreement under Tex. Local Gov’t. Code, Ch. 242, no plat application shall be accepted as complete for filing by the city staff unless the application is accompanied by verification that a copy has been delivered to the county, in which the land subject to the application is located. In the absence of a waiver request, if the city has not received a decision form the county on matters which are to be determined by the county under the interlocal agreement, the application for plat approval shall be denied.
(18) Land inside city limits.
(a) For land inside city limits, no plat application shall be determined to be complete where the intended use or intensity of use of the land is not authorized in the zoning district in which the property is located, unless the application is accompanied by a copy of the zoning ordinance or other certification verifying that the proposed use for which the application is submitted is authorized by the zoning district in which the property is located.
(b) If a request to change the zoning for the land to be platted to allow the development proposed in the plat is pending, the zoning application shall be decided before a determination is made whether the plat application is complete.
(c) If the zoning application is denied, the plat application shall be deemed incomplete. For newly annexed land, no plat application will be accepted for any use or intensity of use not authorized in the Agricultural Zoning District until the property has been permanently classified on the zoning district map.
(19) For purposes of determining a vested rights petition pursuant to § 158.23 below, no vested rights accrue solely from the filing of an application that has expired pursuant to this section, or from the filing of a complete application that is subsequently denied.
(2005 Code, § 13-1-6) (Ord. 040701D, passed - -; Ord. 041021E, passed 10-21-2004; Ord. passed 4-21-2005; Ord. 050818, passed - -2005; Ord. 230110C, passed 1-10-2023)