The following requirements are applicable to all subdivisions within the city.
(A) The subdivision shall be so designed as to be in harmony with adjacent subdivisions and provide for the continuation of existing streets and bicycle and pedestrian paths. Provisions shall be made for streets and bicycle and pedestrian paths through the subdivision for the platting of contiguous property. No strip of unplatted land or portion of street or artifice shall be used or retained by the subdivider to impede the platting of adjacent parcels.
(B) The street layout shall provide access adequate for emergency and public service vehicles to all lots and parcels of land within the subdivision.
(C) Where appropriate to the design, streets shall be established to avoid jogs at intersections and to promote continuity of local streets and those of higher classifications. Street jogs with centerline offsets of less than 125 feet shall be discouraged.
(D) Streets shall be established to take advantage of the contour of the land so as to produce usable lots, cause a minimum of cutting and filling, and to produce streets with reasonable grades as defined in § 153.076 of this chapter.
(E) Certain proposed streets, where appropriate, shall be extended to the boundary line of the tract to provide for adequate circulation of traffic within the vicinity.
(F) Streets shall intersect other streets as near to a 90-degree angle as topography and other factors permit. Intersections of streets and arterial or collector streets shall be limited to a minimum angle of 70 degrees unless specifically approved by the Planning Commission.
(G) Whenever there exists a dedicated or platted portion of a street, alley or bicycle and pedestrian path adjacent to the proposed subdivision which conforms to the official map, the remainder of the street or alley shall be platted to the prescribed width within the proposed subdivision.
(H) Half-width streets shall be prohibited except where essential to the reasonable development of the subdivision in conformity with the other requirements of these regulations. Where an existing half-width street adjoins a portion of the boundary of a proposed subdivision, street dedication in a width needed to make this a full-width street may be required.
(I) Street and right-of-way widths shall conform to those indicated in the Transportation Plan. Where these widths are not prescribed therein, the widths shall not be less than the minimum stated in § 153.074 of this chapter.
(J) Alleys shall be platted in the rear of all lots to be used for commercial or industrial purposes. Alleys will not be approved in a residential area, unless required by unusual topography or other exceptional conditions.
(K) Lands abutting arterial or collector streets shall be platted with the view of making the lots, if for residential use, desirable for that use by cushioning the impact of heavy traffic on those traffic ways; and with the view also of minimizing interference with traffic on those traffic ways as well as the accident hazard. This may be accomplished in several ways:
(1) By not fronting the lots on the highway or thoroughfare but on a parallel local street at a distance of a generous lot depth, in which case private driveways shall connect with the local street; or
(2) By a collector street platted more or less parallel with the highway or thoroughfare, 600 to 1,000 feet distance therefrom, from which loop streets or dead end streets would extend toward the highway, the ends of which provide access to the lots abutting the highway to their rear.
(L) Dead end streets will be approved if limited to 500 feet long; provided, a permanently designed turnaround area, having a minimum radius to the edge of the finished street or curb line of not less than 53 feet and a minimum right-of-way radius of 60 feet, is constructed.
(M) Closed subdivisions (with one exit) shall not be permitted.
(N) Blocks shall have sufficient width to provide for two tiers of lots of appropriate depth, unless, in the opinion of the Planning Commission, prevented by unusual topography or other physical conditions.
(O) The lengths, widths and shapes of blocks, and lots with blocks, shall be determined with due regard to:
(1) Provision of adequate building sites suitable to the special needs of the principal and all required accessory uses;
(2) Zoning requirements as to lot sizes and dimensions, and provisions regulating off-street parking and loading spaces;
(3) Needs for convenient access, circulation, control and safety of street traffic;
(4) Limitations and opportunities of topography; and
(5) Generally, blocks shall not exceed 1,320 feet nor be less than 500 feet in length measured along the greatest dimension of the block.
(P) Residential blocks shall normally be of sufficient width for two tiers of lots. Block lengths shall be determined by circulation and other needs. Where residential blocks with lots deeper than 200 feet are proposed, a reservation for a future street through the middle of the block, longitudinally, may be required.
(Q) Pedestrian crosswalks, not less than ten feet wide, shall be required where deemed essential to provide circulation, or access to schools, playgrounds, shopping centers, transportation and other community facilities.
(R) Bicycle and pedestrian paths shall be designed in accordance with the FinnRa Standards and laid out in accordance with the Bicycle/Pedestrian Comprehensive Plan, and shall be dedicated by easement.
(S) The number of intersecting streets along arterial and collector streets shall be held to a minimum, and where practicable, blocks along those traffic ways shall not be less than 800 feet in length.
(2004 Code, § 153.73) (Ord. 466, passed 7-15-1995; Ord. 96-185, passed 12-10-1996) Penalty, see § 10.99