(A) Applicability. Preliminary plats shall be required for all major subdivisions.
(B) Application; requirements. The following shall be submitted.
(1) Submission. Completed applications for preliminary plat approval shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator on forms available in the Planning/Zoning Department. Ten copies of the Preliminary Plat shall be filed with the application.
(2) Scale. Preliminary plats shall be drawn to engineer’s scale no smaller than one inch equals 200 feet. Where large areas are being platted, they may be drawn on one or more sheets, 22 inches by 34 inches in size. For small areas being platted, a scale of one inch equals 100 feet shall be used.
(3) Layout. Even if the applicant intends to subdivide only a portion of a parcel or tract of land initially, the preliminary plat shall show a proposed street and lot layout, drainage plan, and other requirements for the entire parcel or tract of land in which such portion is contained; except that the Zoning Administrator, with the recommendation of the Public Works Director, may waive this requirement on a finding that such a complete layout is not necessary to carry out the purposes of these regulations.
(4) Required information. The following information shall be required on each plat.
(a) The courses and distances of the perimeter of the land involved shall be indicated on the plat shown with all courses marked to show which actual field observations are and which are computed.
(b) References to a known point or points such as street intersections and railroad crossings shall be shown.
(c) The total acreage of the land involved in the subdivision and the acreage of high land above the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management critical line. Date of critical line certification shall be indicated. (Aerial photography may not be used to determine OCRM critical line location.)
(d) The names of adjacent landowners and streets where known or available shall be given (with the tax parcel numbers), and all intersecting boundaries or property lines shall be shown.
(e) Proposed divisions to be created shall be shown, including building envelopes for each lot, right-of-way widths, roadway widths, road surface types, sidewalks (if applicable), proposed drainage easements and names of streets; the locations of proposed utility installations and utility easements; lot lines, dimensions, and angles; sites reserved or dedicated for public uses and sites for apartments, civic/institutional, commercial, and industrial uses. The status of the existing lot access and the concept of the type of road construction being proposed shall be indicated (e.g., ingress/egress easement, private road constructed or unconstructed, public secondary or primary rural road, public secondary or primary town road, and other details as appropriate; i.e., curb and gutter, asphalt swales, inverted crown, roadside open ditch, and the like).
(f) The title, scale (including graphic scale), north arrow (magnetic, grid, or true), date, name of applicant, and the name and seal of the engineer or surveyor with state registration number shall be shown.
(g) All existing structures and physical features of the land, including contours (contours not required on proposed private subdivisions and only within the rights-of-way of proposed rural public streets), drainage ditches, roads, and wooded areas shall be shown. The contour interval shall be one foot unless otherwise approved in advance of submission by the Public Works Director. All contour information shall be based on mean sea level datum and shall be accurate within one-half foot. The benchmark, with its description and the data used for the survey, shall be clearly noted on the plat.
(h) General drainage features, including proposed drainage easements and detention/ retention basins. Also the proposed direction of drainage on each street, ditch, and lot shall be indicated by the use of arrows and proposed street names.
(j) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jurisdictional wetlands must be delineated with the date of certification, on lots of five acres or less in size and within all publicly dedicated rights-of-way and easements. Include Army Corps of Engineers SAC number.
(k) A notation shall be made on the plat clearly indicating the applicable OCRM critical line buffers and setbacks.
(l) Tree surveys on lots of one acre or less are to include grand trees on the entire lot. Tree surveys of grand trees may be requested upon site inspection if lots greater than one acre appear to be unbuildable due to the presence of grand trees.
(m) Tree surveys of all grand trees are required within access easements, drainage easements, and rights-of-way.
(n) A signature block on the plat signed by the owner(s) of the property and notarized indicating that the proposed preliminary plat being put forth is an action of the owner(s), heirs thereto, or assigns.
(o) A vacant block shall be provided on each page of the plat that is three inches by eight inches in dimension for town approval stamps and notation.
(p) A statement that any easements for utilities or other encroachments in the area to be dedicated for streets, highways, drainage, or other public or private use are subject to binding provision that the costs of future relocation of any such encroachments due to the construction or maintenance of public improvements shall be borne by the holder of the easement and/or utility company.
(5) Accompanying data.
(a) The preliminary plat shall be accompanied by a statement as to the availability of and specific indication of the distance to and location of the nearest public water supply and public sanitary sewers.
(b) The preliminary plat shall be accompanied by a statement indicating what provisions are to be made for water supply and sewage disposal.
(c) Proposed subdivisions encom passing 100 or more acres of land area shall provide a master plan showing the general layout of future development of the entire tract and on adjacent lands that are under common ownership or control. This master plan shall provide a generalized description and plan that addresses the following future development considerations: traffic circulation, drainage, environmental preservation, utility placement, land use, density, and any areas that are to remain undeveloped.
(d) The engineer and/or surveyor who prepared the preliminary plat shall affix their seal(s), name(s) and state registration number(s). Only engineers or surveyors registered in the State of South Carolina shall attest and fix their seal on the preliminary plat.
COMMENTARY: For the purpose of preliminary plat applications, a complete application means one that includes all required information and fees and that addresses the findings of the inspection report and has received all approvals from other agencies that are a prerequisite to preliminary plat approval. |
(C) Zoning Administrator; review and report. Upon receipt of a complete application for preliminary plat approval, the Zoning Administrator shall have 30 calendar days to:
(1) Review the proposed preliminary plat;
(2) Compile a staff report on the proposed plat, which includes the comments and recommendations of the Public Works Director and other affected agencies; and
(3) Forward the report and any recommendations to the Planning Commission.
(D) Planning Commission; review and report. Within 30 calendar days of receipt of a report from the Zoning Administrator, the Planning Commission shall review the proposed preliminary plat and act to approve, approve with conditions or deny the preliminary plat based on whether it complies with all applicable requirements of this chapter and the adopted Town Comprehensive Plan.
(E) Effect of preliminary plat approval. Approval of a preliminary plat shall constitute general acceptance of the overall planning concepts for the proposed subdivision and is a prerequisite for the filing of a final plat application.
COMMENTARY: Appeals of Zoning Administrator and other subdivisions-related administrative decisions, including decisions to reject applications as incomplete, shall be processed in accordance with § 153.053 described in this chapter. |
(F) Lapse of preliminary plat approval. An approved preliminary plat shall lapse and be of no further force and effect if a final plat for the subdivision (or a phase of the subdivision) has not been approved within two years of the date of approval of the preliminary plat. If the subdivision is to be developed in phases, a phasing plan, including a timetable for development of the entire subdivisions, shall be approved as part of the preliminary plat approval. No final plats shall be accepted and no construction shall be allowed for any phase not approved as part of the preliminary plat.
(G) Appeals of Zoning Administrator’s preliminary plat decision. Any party in interest in a preliminary plat decision of the Zoning Administrator regarding a complete or incomplete application may appeal the decision of the Planning Commission by filing an appeal with the Zoning Administrator within 30 calendar days of the date of the decision.
(1) Appeal powers. In exercising its appeal power, the Planning Commission may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision on appeal. In acting upon the appeal, the Planning Commission shall be authorized only to determine whether the decision of the Zoning Administrator was made in error. The Planning Commission shall not be authorized to approve modifications or waivers of chapter standards through the appeal process. If the Planning Commission determines that it is necessary to obtain additional evidence in order to resolve the matter, it may remand the matter to the Zoning Administrator with directions to obtain such evidence and to reconsider the decision in light of such evidence.
(2) Consideration of evidence. The decision of the Planning Commission shall be a matter of record; it shall consider only the same application, plans, and related project materials that were the subject of the original decision and only the issues raised by the appeal.
(3) Burden of persuasion of error. In acting on the appeal, the Planning Commission shall grant to the decision of the Zoning Administrator a presumption of correctness, placing the burden of persuasion of error on the appellant.
(4) Approval criteria. An appeal shall be sustained only if the Planning Commission finds that the decision of the Zoning Administrator was in error.
(5) Vote required. A quorum of the Planning Commission shall be achieved when the number of members in attendance equals more than one-half of its total membership. At least two-thirds of the members present and voting shall be required to reverse a final plat decision of the Zoning Administrator.
(H) Appeals of Planning Commission preliminary plat decision. Any party in interest in a preliminary plat decision of the Planning Commission or any officer, board, or bureau of the town may appeal the Planning Commission decision to the Circuit Court. Appellants shall file with the Court Clerk a written petition plainly and fully setting forth how such decision is contrary to law. Such appeal shall be filed within 30 calendar days after actual written notice of the Planning Commission’s decision.
(I) Construction plans. After approval of a preliminary plat and before commencing any work within the proposed subdivision, including land clearing and grading, road and drainage plans prepared by an engineer registered in the state shall be submitted to the Public Works Director for review and approval in accordance with the town road construction standards in Appendix A of Ordinance 2012-06, as amended.
(J) Inspections.
(1) Subdivision plats that are submitted for review are field inspected by Planning and Public Works staff to ensure compliance with any applicable ordinance requirements and town standards.
(2) Prior to submitting a preliminary plat where no public sewer is provided to any proposed lot, the applicant shall contact a representative of the State Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and arrange for a test of the soil on any proposed lot. DHEC staff will inspect the proposed lot(s) in order to identify areas that meet minimum septic system requirements required by the state. The results of this test shall be submitted by the applicant at the same time of the preliminary plat application.
(3) Where subdivision streets and/or drainageways are being constructed, the Public Works Director or the authorized representative will make periodic visits to the site as indicated in the town road construction standards, Appendix A of Ordinance 2012-06, as amended, to ensure construction compliance with the town-approved road and drainage plans. The Public Works Director’s or the authorized representative’s certification that all roads and drainage systems have been constructed in compliance with the plans is required prior to final approval of the development. This approval is only necessary for public subdivisions.
(Ord. 2012-06, § 8.4, passed 10-18-2012; Ord. 2013-06, passed 10-17-2013)