(A) General requirements; frontage on improved streets. No subdivision shall be approved unless the area to be subdivided shall have frontage on and access from an existing street on the official map, or if there is not an official map, unless the street is:
(1) An existing state, county or township highway, or
(2) A street shown upon a plat approved by the Commission and recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Deeds. The street or highway must be suitably improved as required by the highway rules, regulations, specifications or orders, or be secured by a performance bond required under these regulations, with the width and right-of-way required by these regulations or as indicated on the official map or Thoroughfare Plan. Whenever the area to be subdivided is to use an existing street frontage, the street shall be suitably improved as provided herein above.
(B) Grading and improvement plan. Streets shall be graded and improved and conform to the city construction standards and specifications and shall be approved as to design and specifications by the County or City Engineer, in accordance with the construction plans required to be submitted prior to secondary approval.
(C) Topography and arrangement.
(1) Streets shall be related appropriately to the topography. All streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at, or above, the grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades and sharp curves shall be avoided. Specific standards are contained in the design standards of these regulations.
(2) All streets shall be properly integrated with the existing and proposed system of thoroughfares and dedicated rights-of-way as established on the official map or Comprehensive Plan.
(3) All arterials and collector streets shall be properly related to special traffic generators such as industries, business districts, schools, churches and shopping centers; to population densities; and to the pattern of existing and proposed land uses.
(4) Minor or local streets shall be laid out to conform as much as possible to the topography, to discourage use by through traffic, to permit efficient drainage and utility systems, and to require the minimum number of streets necessary to provide convenient and safe access to the property.
(5) Rigid, rectangular "gridiron" street patterns are generally to be avoided, and the use of casually curvilinear streets, cul-de-sacs or loop streets shall be encouraged where the use will result in a more desirable lay-out and relate better to the existing topography. On flat land, innovative, varying geometrical street patterns shall be encouraged where they are likely to enhance visual interest and a sense of order for those using them (e.g., non-grid rectilinear, trapezoidal, polygonal or other geometric patterns).
(6) Proposed streets shall, where appropriate, be extended to the boundary lines of the tract to be subdivided unless this is prevented by topography or other physical conditions, or unless in the opinion of the Plan Commission the extension(s) is/are not necessary or desirable for the coordination of the layout of the subdivision under consideration with the existing street layout or for the most advantageous future development of adjacent tracts (see division (K)(1) below).
(7) In business and industrial developments, the streets and other access-ways shall be planned in connection with the grouping of buildings, location of rail facilities, and the provision of alleys, truck loading and maneuvering areas, walkways, bikeways and parking areas so as to minimize conflict of movement between the various types of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
(D) Blocks.
(1) Block width shall be determined by the condition of the layout and shall be suited to the intended layout.
(2) Block lengths shall not exceed 660 feet in length, except where in the opinion of the Commission conditions may justify a greater distance.
(3) The Commission may require the reservation of easements through the block to accommodate utilities, drainage facilities or pedestrian traffic. Pedestrian ways or crosswalks not less than six feet wide with a pavement width of not less than five feet may be required by the Commission through the center of blocks more than 800 feet long or at other appropriate locations and at the ends of the cul-de-sacs where deemed essential to provide for circulation or access to schools, playgrounds, shopping centers, transportation or other community facilities. Blocks designed for industrial uses shall be of a length and width as may be determined to be suitable by the Commission for the intended use.
(E) Access to collector streets. Where possible, lots in single-family residential subdivisions, fronting on collector streets shall be avoided and lots at the corners of intersections between local and collector streets shall front on the local street and have driveway access to it only and not to the collector street. In multiple-family residential areas, entrances to group parking lots shall have access only to collector streets (where possible) and the entrances shall be widely spaced.
(F) Access to primary arterials. Where a subdivision borders on or contains an existing or proposed primary arterial, the Commission may require that access to it be limited by one of the following means:
(1) The subdivision of the lots so as to back onto the primary arterial and front onto a parallel local street; no access shall be provided from the primary arterial and screening shall be provided within a strip of land along the rear property line of the lots;
(2) A series of cul-de-sacs, or loop streets entered from, and designed generally to be at right angles to an access street that is at some distance from and parallel to the arterial street, with the rear lines of their terminal lots backing onto the arterial; and
(3) A private marginal access or service road (separated from the arterial by a landscaped and/or decoratively fenced grass strip and having access thereto at widely spaced suitable points).
(G) Street names. The sketch plan, as submitted, shall indicate names of proposed streets. As part of his or her review, the Administrator shall refer proposed street names to the local postmaster for his or her comments regarding duplication of names and possible confusion. After reviewing them, the Administrator shall inform the subdivider of his or her recommendations for their possible revision during the sketch plan review. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and in spelling from other street names in the city, county or other nearby areas so as to avoid confusion. A street which is, or is planned as, a continuation of an existing street shall bear the same name. Street name signs shall be installed at every intersection and shall comply with current city or county standards.
(H) Street regulatory signs. The applicant shall provide and install a street sign at every street intersection within his or her subdivision as required by the City and/or County Engineer. All street signs shall be inspected and approved before issuance of certificates of occupancy for any residence on the approved streets. Signs must comply with requirements in the most recent edition of the Uniform Traffic Control Manual.
(I) Street lights. Installation of street lights shall be required in accordance with design and specification standards approved by the City and/or County Engineer. Street light standards and fixtures shall also be in accordance with the visual design standards of the Design Review Committee. If special decorative lighting is used, the additional cost over that of standard lighting shall be paid through a homeowners' association.
(J) Reserve strips. The creation of reserve strips shall not be permitted adjacent to a proposed street in such a manner as to deny access to it from adjacent property if the street is a local service street rather than a collector or arterial street. (See divisions (E) and (F) above.)
(K) Construction of streets.
(1) Construction of streets other than cul-de-sacs. The arrangement of streets shall provide for the continuation of streets between adjacent subdivisions or other properties when the continuation is necessary for the convenient movement of traffic, for effective fire protection, for efficient provision of utilities, and where the continuation is in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan, if the adjacent property is undeveloped and the street must be a dead-end (stub) street temporarily, the right-of-way for all the temporary dead-end streets, with the notation on the subdivision plat that land outside the normal street right-of-way shall revert to abutters whenever the street is continued. Temporary turnarounds must be provided at the ends of the stub streets. The Commission may limit the length of temporary dead-end streets in accordance with the design standards in these regulations.
(2) Cul-de-sacs (permanent dead-end streets). Where a street does not extend beyond the boundary of the subdivision and its continuation is not required by the Commission for access to adjoining property, its terminus shall normally not be nearer to the boundary than 50 feet. However, the Commission may require the reservation of an appropriate easement to accommodate drainage facilities, pedestrian traffic or utilities. A cul-de-sac turnaround shall be provided at the end of a permanent dead-end street in accordance with city and/or county construction standards and specifications available from the City and/or County Engineer's office. For greater convenience to traffic and more effective police and fire protection, residential cul-de-sacs streets shall generally be limited to 600 feet in length. Maximum length for industrial and other cul-de-sac streets may exceed 600 feet subject to the approval of the Commission.
(3) Underground utilities shall not be placed under a dedicated roadway, nor a roadway built over underground utility lines. Where it is necessary for underground utility lines to cross under a roadway, the crossing shall be perpendicular to the roadway.
(L) Design standards.
(1) General. In order to provide for streets of suitable location, width and improvement to accommodate prospective traffic and afford satisfactory access for police, firefighting, snow removal, sanitation and street maintenance equipment, and to coordinate street location in order to achieve a convenient system and avoid undue hardships to adjoining properties, the following design standards for streets are hereby required. (Street classifications may be indicated in the Comprehensive Plan, Thoroughfare Plan or on the official map; otherwise, they shall be determined by the Commission.)
(2) Street surfacing and improvements. After sewer and water utilities have been installed by the developer, the applicant shall construct curbs and gutters and shall surface or cause the roadways to be surfaced to the widths prescribed in these regulations. The surfacing shall be of a character as is suitable for the expected traffic and in harmony with similar improvements in the surrounding areas. Types of pavement shall be as determined by the City and/or County Engineer. Adequate provision shall be made for culverts, drains and bridges. All street pavement, shoulders, drainage improvements and structures, curbs, turn-arounds and sidewalks shall conform to all construction standards and specifications adopted by the Commission, City and/or County Engineer and shall be incorporated into the construction plans required to be submitted by the developer for plat approval. The surface layer of asphalt on a street in a new development does not have to be completed until 70% buildout of the project, or one year after the start of the project, whichever is sooner.
(3) Excess right-of-way. Right-of-way widths in excess of the standards designed in these regulations shall be required whenever, due to topography, additional width is necessary to provide for adequate and stable earth slopes. The slopes shall not be in excess of three to one.
(4) Railroads and limited access highways. Railroad rights-of-way and limited access highways where so located as to affect the subdivision of adjoining lands shall be treated as follows.
(a) In residential districts, a buffer strip at least 25 feet in depth in addition to the normal depth of the lot required in the district shall be provided adjacent to the railroad right-of-way or limited access highway. This strip shall be part of the platted lots and shall be designated on the plat: "This strip is reserved for screening. The placement of structures hereon other than earth berms, walls, fences and other landscape screening devices approved by the Commission is prohibited."
(b) In districts zoned for business, commercial or industrial uses, the nearest street extending parallel or approximately parallel to a railroad shall, wherever practical, be at a sufficient distance therefrom to ensure a suitable depth for commercial or industrial sites.
(c) Streets parallel to a railroad when intersecting a street which crosses the railroad at grade shall, to the extent practicable, be at a distance of at least 150 feet from the railroad right-of-way. The distance shall be determined with due consideration of the minimum distance required for future separation of grades by means of appropriate approach gradients.
(5) Intersections.
(a) Streets shall be laid out so as to intersect as nearly as possible at right angles. No street shall intersect a major street at an angle of less than 70 degrees. An oblique street should be approximately at right angles for at least 100 feet from an intersection. Not more than two streets shall intersect at any one point.
(b) Proposed new intersections along one side of an existing street shall, wherever practicable, coincide with any existing intersection on the opposite side of the street. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 150 feet shall not be permitted except where the intersected street has separated, dual drives, without median breaks at either intersection. Where local streets intersect with arterials, their alignment shall be continuous. Intersections of arterials shall be at least 800 feet apart.
(c) Minimum curb radius at the intersection of two streets shall be at least 20 feet. Alley intersections and abrupt changes in alignment within a block shall have the corners cut off in accordance with standard engineering practice to permit safe vehicular movement.
(d) Intersections shall be designed with a flat grade wherever practical. In hilly or rolling areas, at the approach to an intersection a leveling area shall be provided having not greater than a 2% grade at a distance of 60 feet, measured from the nearest right-of-way line of the intersecting street.
(e) Where any street intersection will involve earth banks or existing vegetation inside any lot corner that would create a traffic hazard by limiting visibility, the developer shall cut the ground and/or vegetation (including trimming trees) in connection with the grading of the public right-of-way to the extent deemed necessary by the City and/or County Engineer to provide an adequate sight distance.
(f) The cross-slopes on all streets, including intersections, shall be 3% maximum and 2% minimum.
(6) Bridges. Bridges of primary benefit to the applicant, as determined by the Commission, shall be constructed at the full expense of the applicant without reimbursement from the city and/or county. The sharing of expense for the construction of bridges not of primary benefit to the applicant as determined by the Commission, will be fixed by special agreement between the city and/or county and the applicant. The cost shall be charged to the applicant pro-rata as the percentage of his or her land developed and so served.
(7) Residential driveways. Residential driveways shall have a minimum throat width of 12 feet and a maximum of 24 feet at the right-of-way. The drive approach shall have a five foot flare or regular five-foot radius. All driveways must be paved and shall conform to the city's design standards and the portion of the driveway in the right-of-way must have a minimum six-inch pavement depth.
(8) Commercial and industrial driveways. Commercial and industrial driveways shall have a minimum throat width of 12 feet and a maximum of 24 feet, for entrance or exit only driveways. For two-way driveways, the minimum throat width is 24 feet and the maximum is 36 feet at the right-of-way. The drive approach shall have a minimum ten-foot radius. All driveways must be paved and shall conform to the city's design standards, and the portion of the driveway in the right-of-way must have a minimum six-inch pavement depth.
(M) Street dedications and reservations.
(1) New perimeter streets. Street systems in new subdivisions shall be laid out so as to eliminate or avoid new perimeter half-streets. Where an existing half-street is adjacent to a new subdivision, the other half of the street shall be improved and dedicated by the subdivider. The Commission may authorize a new perimeter street where the subdivider improves and dedicates the entire required right-of-way width within his or her own subdivision's boundaries.
(2) Widening and realignment of existing streets.
(a) Where a subdivision borders an existing narrow street or when the Comprehensive Plan, official map, Thoroughfare Plan or zoning setback regulations indicate plans for realignment or widening of a street that would require use of some of the land in the subdivision, the applicant shall be required to improve and dedicate the streets at his or her own expense.
(b) The frontage streets and other streets on which subdivision lots front shall be improved and dedicated by the applicant at his or her own expense to the full width required by these subdivision regulations. Land reserved for any street purposes may not be counted in satisfying the yard or area requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.
Design Standards for Streets* | |||||||||
Street Type
|
Min. Width ROW | Min. Pavement Width | Max. Grade | Min. Radius Curve | Min. Length of Tangent | Min. Sight Distance | Min. Corner Radius | Min. Turn- Around | |
Design Standards for Streets* | |||||||||
Street Type
|
Min. Width ROW | Min. Pavement Width | Max. Grade | Min. Radius Curve | Min. Length of Tangent | Min. Sight Distance | Min. Corner Radius | Min. Turn- Around | |
Residential | Arterial | 60 feet | 36 feet | 7.5% | 100 feet | 150 feet | 240 feet | 25 feet | N/A |
Local street | 50 feet | 24-36 feet** | 7.5% | 100 feet | 100 feet | 200 feet | 25 feet | 100/80 feet | |
Collector | 50 feet | 30 feet | 7.0% | 100 feet | 150 feet | 200 feet | 25 feet | 100/80 feet | |
Commercial and Industrial | Arterial | 80 feet | 43 feet | 6.0% | 200 feet | 200 feet | 240 feet | 40 feet | N/A |
Local street | 60 feet | 30 feet | 6.0% | 200 feet | 200 feet | 200 feet | 40 feet | 160/140 feet | |
Collector | 70 feet | 36 feet | 6.0% | 200 feet | 200 feet | 240 feet | 40 feet | 160/140 feet | |
*Subject to review and approval of local government engineer and/or State Highway Commission. | |||||||||
**24 feet width if on-street parking is prohibited; 30 feet if one lane of on-street parking allowed; 36 feet if two lanes of on-street parking allowed | |||||||||
Standards Applied to All Streets
| |
Minimum grade | 0.5% |
Maximum grade | 6.0% |
Maximum block length | 660 feet |
Maximum cul-de-sac length | 600 feet |
Maximum length of temporary dead-end street | 1,000 feet |
Maximum length of vertical curves | 100 feet, but not less than 20 feet for each % of algebraic difference in grade |
Street Paving Thicknesses
| |||
Local | Collector | Arterial | |
Street Paving Thicknesses
| |||
Local | Collector | Arterial | |
Portland cement | As required by city design standards | ||
Concrete | 6 inches | 7.5 inches | |
Hot mix asphalt | |||
Surface | 1.5 inches | 1.5 inches | |
Intermediate | 2 inches | 2 inches | |
Base | 4 inches | 4 inches | |
Subbase compacted aggregate | 10 inches | 10 inches | |
(Ord. 615, passed 2-22-1999)