(A) Purpose. The public health, safety, economy, good order, appearance, convenience, and general welfare require the harmonious, orderly, and progressive development of land within the town. In furtherance of this general intent, the subdivision regulations are authorized for the following purposes, among others:
(1) To implement the goals, objective, and policies of the town’s Comprehensive Plan;
(2) To facilitate the adequate provision or availability of transportation, police and fire protection, water, sewage, schools, parks and other recreational facilities, affordable housing, disaster evacuation, and other public services and requirements;
(3) To ensure the provisions of needed public open spaces and building sites in new land developments through the dedication or reservation of land for recreational, educational, environmental, transportation, and other public purposes;
(4) To ensure, in general, the wise and timely development of new areas and redevelopment of previously developed areas in harmony with the adopted or amended Comprehensive Plan for the town and any adopted or amended municipal comprehensive plan within or adjacent to the town;
(5) To implement land use policies that will preserve agricultural uses of land and the rural character of the town;
(6) To identify, protect, and preserve scenic, historic, and ecologically sensitive areas;
(7) To prevent overcrowding of land, avoiding undue concentration of population and lessening congestion in the streets;
(8) To regulate the density and distribution of populations and the uses of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, recreation, agriculture, forestry, conservation, airports and approaches thereto, water supply, sanitation, individual onsite wastewater systems or offsite sewer lateral connection provided to each lot, protection against floods, public activities, and other purposes; and
(9) To ensure protection from fire, flood, and other dangers, and furthering the public welfare in any other regard specified by a local governing body.
(B) Applicability. Unless expressly exempted, no subdivision shall be made, platted, or recorded for any purpose nor shall parcels resulting from such subdivisions be sold, unless such subdivision meet all applicable standards of this chapter and has been approved in accordance with the procedures of this chapter.
(1) All lots shown on plats, whether subdivided or not, shall have the Planning Commission stamp of either approval or exemption on said plat; the Register of Mesne Conveyance shall not record any plat without such stamp. The plat for an individual lot exempted by virtue of pre-existence must be accompanied by a surveyor’s statement on the plat that the lot is a single, individual lot, and not newly created.
(2) Parcels that were recorded by deed or plat prior to the adoption of the county’s original subdivision regulations on January 1, 1955, will receive automatic approval under a grandfather clause, provided the parcel involved is still the same size and shape as when recorded prior to 1955 and is properly platted in accordance with present standards. The recorded information must be provided and attested to by the surveyor or attorney involved.
(3) Preliminary plats submitted for approval shall expire two years from the date of preliminary approval if all conditions for preliminary plat approval have not been met. The Zoning Administrator shall be authorized to grant a one-time extension of this time frame if a written request is submitted by the applicant prior to the expiration date. The time period of the extension shall not exceed one year.
(4) Upon submission of a subdivision application, no additional subdivision applications shall be accepted for the subject property until the original application has been withdrawn or the decision-making body has rendered its final decision and all applicable time limits on refiling have expired.
(C) Exemptions.
(1) Procedures. The following shall be exempt from the subdivision plat procedures, if the Zoning Administrator determines that all engineering and survey standards of this chapter have been met:
(a) The combination or re-combination of portions of previously platted lots where the total number of lots is not increased. When the plat is finalized, it shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator for recording. Deeds and plats shall be recorded simultaneously.
(b) The public acquisition of land for right-of-way or drainage easements or any lot or parcel created therein.
(c) Contiguous properties that are to be divided for the purpose of exchanging or trading parcels of land. When the plat is finalized, it shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator for recording. Deed and plats shall be recorded simultaneously.
(d) A parcel of land that is proposed to be used as the site for a utility substation, power line easements or right-of-way, pumping station, pressure regulating station, electricity regulating substation, gas pressure control station, or similar facilities.
(e) The combination or re-combination of entire lots of record when no new street or change in existing streets is involved.
(f) The division of land into parcels of five acres or more, where no new street or easement is involved. Plats of these exceptions must be received as information by the Zoning Administrator, which fact shall be indicated on the plats.
(2) Standards. Lots created and recorded prior to August 15, 1971 shall be exempt from compliance with the standards of this chapter, provided that the subject property:
(a) Was or is surveyed and platted in accordance with prescribed standards;
(b) Has the approval of the State Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC); and/or the Public Service District.
(c) Contains no drainage ways or easements needed to drain surrounding properties, as determined by the Public Works Director.
(D) Town road construction standards.
(1) The regulations and standards of this chapter are intended to supplement the town’s road construction standards, as amended, in Appendix A of the chapter, which shall be considered the minimum design standards for roads and drainage systems in the town.
(2) Note: C Funds cannot be used to construct a ROW or drainage easement. Approved constructed ROW or constructed easements can be maintained by C Funds.
(F) Survey compliance. All land surveys in the town shall be in accord with the land use designated for the proposed subdivision of property and the criteria specified in urban land surveys as promulgated by the S.C. Code of Regulations, 1991, Chapter 49, Article 3, R. 400-490, as amended, and described as the “Minimum Standards Manual for the Practice of Land Surveying in South Carolina.”
(Ord. 2012-06, § 8.1, passed 10-18-2012; Ord. 2013-06, passed 10-17-2013)