(A) The public health, safety, comfort, and welfare require that the development of land be conducted in a harmonious, orderly, and progressive fashion within the corporate limits of the city. Once land has been developed, the correction of defects is costly and difficult. Substantial public responsibility is created by each new development, involving the maintenance of streets and drainage facilities, and the provision of additional public services. As the general welfare, health, safety, and convenience of the community are thereby directly affected by the use of land, it is in the direct interest of the public that developments be conceived, designed, and developed in accordance with sound rules and proper minimum standards. Consideration shall be given to the character of an area and the availability of public facilities to ensure the compatibility and coordination of land uses and facilities within a given geographic unit.
(B) The purpose and intent, therefore, of this chapter is to ensure that the following objectives shall be attained:
(1) To assure that the planned project is in conformity with the goals and objectives of the city's comprehensive plan;
(2) To assure that the planned project is compatible with the surrounding area and that it will serve to enhance the general character of that area and the city;
(3) To assure that adequate provisions are made for vehicular traffic access, ingress, egress, internal circulation and parking, traffic control, pedestrian movement and safety, emergency vehicle access, and trailered equipment storage;
(4) To assure that adequate screening and buffering will be provided between the planned project and contiguous properties;
(5) To assure that adequate provisions are planned for utilities, drainage, pollution control, and all public services, including garbage/refuse collection, delivery service, postal service, maintenance service, school bus loading and unloading, utility and exterior lighting, and other services necessary to the maintenance of the health and welfare of the residents of the project;
(6) To assure that adequate provisions have been made for light, air, access, and privacy in the arrangement of buildings as they relate to other improvements, to public roads/streets, to internal roads, to parking areas, to recreation areas, to sidewalks, and to contiguous properties;
(7) To assure that the natural qualities and characteristics of the land will be preserved, and that the project site will be appropriately landscaped and provisions established for the maintenance of the same;
(8) To assure that adequate recreation space will be provided within the planned project and that provisions are made for the supervision and maintenance thereof;
(9) To assure that the aesthetic and architectural details of the planned project are compatible with the surrounding area and serve to enhance the character of that area;
(10) To assure the installation to prescribed standards by the land developer of those required improvements which ought not become a charge on the citizens and taxpayers of already existing areas;
(11) To assure the prevention of haphazard, premature, or scattered land development;
(12) To assure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers, and to promote health and the general welfare;
(13) To assure protection from flooding hazards and ensure proper water management; and
(14) To assure the protection of the natural and scenic resources of the city, including surface waters and groundwater recharge areas.
(Ord. 241, passed 11-27-85)