(A) The owner of a tract of land located within the city limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction who wishes to create a subdivision, shall prepare and submit an application and plat to the city for approval according to the procedures and requirements of this chapter. No owner or agent of the owner of any land located within a subdivision shall sell or convey any land by reference to, exhibition of or by the use of a plan or plat of a subdivision, nor shall a building permit be issued for or utility service be provided to any development on a tract of land requiring a recordable plat, before the plat is approved and recorded with the County Clerk. The conveyance of real property included within the subdivision shall be by lot and block.
(B) A subdivision plat is not required for the division or assembly of tracts of land into parts greater than five acres within the city limits, or greater than ten acres in the extraterritorial jurisdiction, where each part has access and no public improvement is being dedicated. For the purposes of this section, the term ACCESS means that each part of the land after division or assembly will have frontage on an existing paved public road or street, and the phrase NO PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT IS BEING DEDICATED means that no construction or dedication of any public improvement, such as a street, utility, easement, sidewalk, drainageway or any other public facility, is required by this chapter or applicable county regulations in connection with the division or assembly.
(C) A formal subdivision plat is not required for family land partitions in the extraterritorial jurisdiction in which the owner of a tract of land divides the tract so that a portion of the tract can be sold, given, or otherwise transferred to a person or persons that are related to the owner within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Tex. Loc. Gov't Code, Chapter 573. This exemption requires compliance with all of the following:
(1) The owner of the land must submit a completed application to the city for approval of a family land partition. The application must include a signed affidavit identifying one or more persons related to the owner within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Tex. Loc. Gov't Code, Chapter 573, to whom one or more of the proposed tracts will be conveyed. The application must be accompanied by a survey plat showing the parent tract of land and all tracts proposed to be created by the partition.
(2) The proposed partition must result in the creation of four or fewer tracts of land, including the remainder of the parent tract after the partition.
(3) All tracts of land resulting from the partition must be at least one-half acre in size, and must otherwise comply with the requirements for lots in § 154.044.
(4) After the proposed partition, each tract must have frontage on an existing public road or street.
(5) If the application indicates compliance with all provisions of this division, the City Planner will approve it. If an application does not comply with any provision of this division, the City Planner will deny it. and the applicant can proceed with the land division only by complying with the requirements in this chapter for a subdivision plat.
(6) For a period of ten years from the date of approval of a family land partition application, it is unlawful for a person to execute a deed or contract to convey a tract of land resulting from a family land partition unless the deed or contract includes a restrictive covenant stating as follows:
For a period of ten years from [date of city approval of application], no subdivision of this property can occur without approval of a subdivision plat by the City of Martindale, and no transfer or sale of this property can occur to a person who is not related to [name of original owner] within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Tex. Loc. Gov't Code, Chapter 573.
(Ord. 08-358, passed 11-18-2008; Ord. 2015-12-15, passed 12-15-2015)