For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABBREVIATED SUBDIVISION. (See MINOR SUBDIVISION).
ACCESSORY BUILDING. A subordinate structure, the use of which is incidental to that of the dominant use of the primary building or land.
ALL SOIL TYPES. Location of the predominant soil types, which may be determined by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Lake County Soil Survey in the sketch plan and as determined by a certified professional soil scientist in the primary subdivision plat.
ALLEY. A public or private vehicular right-of-way primarily designed to serve as secondary access to the side or rear of those properties whose principal frontage is on some other street.
APPLICANT. The owner of land proposed to be subdivided, or his or her agent, or his or her legal representative.
BLOCK. A tract of land bounded on all sides by streets, or by a combination of streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines of water ways, or boundary lines of municipalities, or other types of definite boundaries.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. Referred to herein as the county.
BOND. Any form of security including a cash deposit, certificate of deposit, surety bond, letter of credit or instrument of credit.
BUFFER LANDSCAPING. Any trees, shrubs, walls, fences, berms, or related landscaping features required under this chapter or other applicable chapter on private lots and privately maintained for buffering lots from adjacent properties or public rights-of-way for the purpose of increasing privacy and/or otherwise minimizing detrimental environmental effects (i.e., noise, water runoff, etc.).
BUILDING. Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattel. When any portion thereof is completely separated from every other portion thereof by a division wall without openings, then each such portion shall be deemed to be a separate building.
CHECKPOINT AGENCY. A public agency or organization called upon by the Commission to provide expert counsel with regard to a specific aspect of community development; also known as PARTICIPATING JURISDICTION.
COMMISSION. The County Plan Commission of the County of Lake, State of Indiana.
COMMISSION ATTORNEY. The Attorney representing the Lake County Plan Commission.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. An overall plan for the physical, social, and economic development of the county (and the constituent communities within its planning jurisdiction), prepared and adopted by the Commission pursuant to the state acts, and including any part of such plan and/or policies separately adopted and any amendment to such plan and/or policies, or parts thereof; MASTER PLAN.
CORNER LOT. (See LOT, CORNER).
COUNTY ENGINEER (COUNTY HIGHWAY ENGINEER). The duly appointed engineer of the Lake County Highway Department.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT. The governmental body of the county empowered to adopt planning and public policy ordinances; the Lake County Council, herein referred to only as the COUNTY.
COUNTY INSPECTION OFFICIALS. The County Surveyor, the County Highway Superintendent, and the Plat Officer.
CUL-DE-SAC. A minor street having one open end and being permanently terminated by a vehicle turnaround.
DENSITY. The number of dwelling units per gross acre computed by dividing the gross acreage of the subdivision into the total number of dwelling units.
DIRECTOR. The Executive Director of the Lake County Plan Commission.
EASEMENT. A grant by a property owner for the use by another, for a specific purpose, of any designated part of his or her property.
EROSION CONTROL PLAN. A written description and site plan of pertinent information concerning erosion control measures to be installed under 327 I.A.C. 15-5-5.
ESCROW. A deposit of cash with the County Board of Commissioners in lieu of an amount required and still in force on a performance or maintenance bond. The escrow funds shall be held by the county.
EXEMPT DIVISION. (See SUBDIVISION).
FRONTAGE. That side of a lot abutting on a street and ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot, except as provided for on a corner lot.
FRONTAGE STREET. Any street to be constructed by the developer or any existing street in which development shall take place on both sides.
GRADE. The slope of a road, street, or other public way.
GROSS LAND AREA (GROSS ACREAGE). The entire area of a subdivision including lots, streets, and alleys, measured to the center line of any bounding streets.
HOBBY FARMS. A farm for personal enjoyment and not for commercial gain; in subdivisions, according to the provisions of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance, the farms are permitted only when 80% or more of the platted lots are five acres or more in size (see § 154.038).
LOT. A parcel of land defined by metes and bounds or boundary lines in a recorded deed or on a recorded plat, fronting on a street. In determining lot area and boundary lines, no part thereof within the limits of the street shall be included.
LOT, CORNER. A lot situated at the intersection of two streets, the interior angle of the intersection not exceeding 135 degrees.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE (THROUGH LOT). A lot which has a pair of opposite lot lines along two substantially parallel streets, and which is not a corner lot.
LOT IMPROVEMENT. Any building, place, or other object, constituting a physical betterment of real property, or any part of such betterment, which required an improvement.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION. Any subdivision not classified as a minor subdivision, including but not limited to subdivisions of six, or more lots, or any size subdivision requiring any new street or extension of the local governmental facilities or the creation of any public improvements.
MASTER PLAN. (See COMPREHENSIVE PLAN).
MINOR SUBDIVISION. Any subdivision of not more than five lots, all with frontage on a perimeter street, or any farther subdivision or resubdivision of a non-residential development whose lots may or may not have frontage on a perimeter street which does not include any improvement to a public road, provided such subdivision activity involves neither the construction of any new street or road, nor the imposition of any adverse effect upon the use of the remainder of the land or adjoining property as determined by the Commission, and provided such activity conflicts with neither any provisions or portion of the comprehensive plan, the Zoning Ordinance, nor any of the regulations set forth herein.
MODEL HOME. A dwelling unit used initially for display purposes which exemplifies the type of dwelling units that will be constructed within the subdivision. The dwelling units may be utilized for the sole purpose of real estate offices as set forth in the provisions of this chapter.
PARCEL. A part or portion of land having a legal description formally set forth in a conveyance, together with the boundaries thereof, in order to make possible its easy identification.
PARENT PARCEL. The original lot, tract, or parcel of land as it existed upon the adoption of the Subdivision Regulations #2 on 10-28-1963. The parent parcel is ascertained by the tax key numbers on record in the Office of the Lake County Auditor.
PARKWAY. A route intended to be used primarily by passenger vehicles and whose right-of-way is, or is intended to be, developed in a park-like character.
PERIMETER STREET. Any existing street to which the parcel of land to be subdivided abuts on only one side.
PLAN COMMISSION. The words PLAN COMMISSION or COMMISSION, as used in this chapter, refer to the Plan Commission of the County of Lake, Indiana.
PLAT. A plan, map, drawing, or chart on which the subdivider's plan for the subdivision of land is presented and which he or she submits for approval and intends to record in final form.
PLAT COMMITTEE. A duly appointed committee created by the Plan Commission pursuant to I.C. 36-7-4-701 for the sole purpose of minor subdivision review.
PLAT, FINAL (See SECONDARY PLAT).
PLAT OF CORRECTION. A replat proposal which proposes to replat any reasonable number of lots and lot lines to increase lot size. Reasonable number of lots shall be determined by the Plat Officer.
PLAT, PRELIMINARY. (See PRIMARY PLAT).
PLAT, PRIMARY. The drawings and documents presented for primary approval and as described in this chapter.
PLAT, TENTATIVE. (See SKETCH PLAN).
PLAT, VACATION. The drawings and documents presented for a vacation of any existing subdivision plat.
PRIMARY APPROVAL. An approval (or approval with conditions imposed) granted to a subdivision by the Commission after having determined in a public hearing that the subdivision complies with the standards prescribed in this chapter (pursuant to I.C. 36-4-700 et seq., subdivision control.)
PRINCIPAL USE BUILDING. A building in which the principal use of the lot or parcel is conducted. Standards recognized by the Indiana Administrative Building Council shall be used to determine whether a given structure constitutes one or more buildings in cases where ambiguities exist.
REAR YARD. A yard as defined herein, encompassing the horizontal space between the nearest foundation of a building to a rear lot line and that rear lot line, extending to the side lines of the lot and measure as the shortest distance from that foundation to the rear lot line. The rear yard of a corner lot shall be that yard at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.
RESUBDIVISION. A change in a map of a plat having secondary approval or a recorded subdivision plat if the change affects any street layout on such map or area reserved thereon for public use, or any lot line, except as otherwise exempted in this chapter.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, pedestrian-way, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, special landscaping, or for another special use. The usage of the term right-of-way for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a secondary plat is to be separate and distinct from the lots or parcels adjoining the right-of-way and not included within the dimensions or areas of the lots or parcels. RIGHTS-OF-WAY intended for streets, other use involving maintenance by a public agency shall be dedicated to public use by the subdivider on whose plat such right-of-way is established.
ROADWAY. The paved area within a street right-of-way intended for vehicular traffic, including all curb and gutter facilities.
SECONDARY APPROVAL. The stage of application for formal Plan Commission approval of a secondary plat of a subdivision, the construction of which has been completely or substantially completed, which if approved and signed by the designated officials may be submitted to the County Recorder for filing.
SECONDARY PLAT. The drawings and documents presented for secondary approval and described in this chapter.
SKETCH PLAN. The initially submitted graphic representation of a proposed major subdivision used for sketch plan review and drawn to the specifications of § 153.091.
STAFF. The staff of the Lake County Plan Commission.
STREET. A public way established by or maintained under public authority, a private way open for public uses, and a private way, plotted or laid out for ultimate public use, whether or not constructed.
STREET, APPROVED. Any street meeting standards and specifications of Lake County, Indiana.
STREET, COLLECTOR. A street which carries traffic from minor streets to a thoroughfare, including the principal entrance streets of residential development and the principal circulating streets within such a development.
STREET, IMPROVED. Any public street with a minimum right-of-way of 40 feet, with a minimum 18-foot blacktop roadway surface and drained properly.
STREET, MARGINAL ACCESS. A minor street which is parallel and adjacent to highways and primary thoroughfares and which provides access to abutting properties and protection to local traffic from fast, through-moving traffic on the highways and primary thoroughfares.
STREET, MINOR. A street intended primarily as access to properties.
STREET, OBLIQUE. A street that is not at a right angle to an intersecting street.
STREET, PRIMARY ARTERIAL. A street intended to move through traffic to and from such major attractors as central business districts, regional shopping centers, colleges and/or universities, military installations, major industrial areas, and similar traffic generators within the county; a major thoroughfare.
STREET, PRIVATE. Any street which is under the jurisdiction of an individual, corporation, or trustee, or any street which is privately owned or established.
STREET, SECONDARY ARTERIAL. A street intended to collect and distribute traffic in a manner similar to primary arterials, except that these streets service minor traffic generating areas such as community-commercial areas, primary and secondary educational plants hospitals, major recreational areas, churches, and offices, and/or designed to carry traffic from collector streets to the system of primary arterials.
SUBDIVIDER. Any person having a proprietary interest in land, who causes it to be divided into a subdivision.
SUBDIVISION.
(1) The division of a parcel of land into lots, parcels, sites, units, plats, or interests for the purpose of offer, sale, lease, or development, either on the installment plan or upon any and all other plans, terms and conditions, including resubdivision.
SUBDIVISION includes the division of development of land zoned for residential and non-residential uses, whether by deed, metes and bounds description, devise, intestacy, lease, map, plat, or other recorded instrument.
(2) The following kinds of divisions are not subdivisions and are classified as exempt divisions and are exempt from the rules of this chapter unless indicated otherwise.
(a) Any division of land into 20-acre parcels or more; such a division must meet the three critical requirements of adequate lot frontage, approved soil type, and conformance with the subdivision ordinance as detailed in § 153.039.
(b) Parcels of land recorded prior to 10-28-1963; such a division must meet the three critical requirements of adequate lot frontage, approved soil type, and conformance with the subdivision ordinance as detailed in § 153.039.
(c) Parcels of land between ten and 20 acres that existed between 10-28-1963 and 1-31-1980; such a division must meet the three critical requirements of adequate lot frontage, approved soil type, and conformance with the subdivision ordinance as detailed in § 153.039.
(d) Any single division of land of any size with at least one of the two parcels to be dedicated for a use so as to serve and benefit the general public for the purpose defined within this paragraph. These
PUBLIC USES as defined for this paragraph are strictly limited to either parks or parkway functions, memorials, or land to serve for bikeway or trail routes. The parcel dedicated must be deeded to a non-profit and or government entity for the above purposes, and must maintain a tax-exempt status. The parcel which will not be dedicated must meet the three critical requirements of adequate lot frontage, approved soil type, and conformance with this chapter, however, the dedicated parcel does not need to meet these requirements.
SUBDIVISION AGENT. Any person who represents, or acts for or on behalf of, a subdivider or developer, in selling, leasing, or developing, or offering to sell, lease, or develop any interest, lot, parcel, unit, site, or plat in a subdivision.
TEMPORARY IMPROVEMENT. Improvements built and maintained by a subdivider during construction of the subdivision and intended to be replaced by a permanent improvement prior to release of the performance bond or turnaround improvements at the ends of stub street intended to be replaced when the adjoining area is developed and the through street connection made.
URBANIZED AREA. The area so mapped and defined by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
ZONING ORDINANCE. The County ordinance setting forth the regulations controlling the rise of land in the unincorporated areas. Also referred to as the Unincorporated Lake County, Indiana Zoning Ordinance.
(Prior Code, § 153.020) (Ord. 1670, passed 6-11-1996; Ord. 1758, passed 8-11-1998)