(a) No Lot, tract or parcel of land within the City of Martinsburg shall be subdivided and no such land may be developed, and no Street, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water main, or associated facility may be laid out, constructed, opened, or dedicated for public use or travel, or for the use of occupants of Buildings abutting or to abut on them, except in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance and other applicable City ordinances.
(b) Subdivision or Development of land in the City shall be commenced unless and until:
(1) The Planning Commission (or where such authority has been delegated to the City Engineer/Planning Director or designee) has approved, and so stamped and signed, a Final Record Plat for the subject Subdivision or Land Development; and
(2) The approved Final Record Plat has been duly recorded in the Office of the Clerk of the Berkeley County Commission. It shall be unlawful for any Person that owns or controls any land subject to the provisions of this Ordinance to sell, otherwise transfer, agree to sell or otherwise transfer (except when such agreement is expressly contingent upon approval and recordation of a Final Record Plat), or advertise for sale (except when the pending status of Final Record Plat approval is disclosed), any Lot, tract, or parcel of such land within a Subdivision or Land Development, or to be created by Subdivision or Development activities by such Person, until the Final Record Plat of such Subdivision or Land Development shall have been so approved and recorded.
(c) No Subdivision or Development of land in the City shall be commenced, undertaken, developed, constructed, or otherwise undertaken except in accordance with the provisions, Plans, drawings and other content of this Ordinance and wherein with reference to the Zoning Ordinance.
(d) The scope of this Ordinance shall include all matters over which, by law, the City of Martinsburg is authorized to exercise control by enactment and enforcement of this Ordinance, including, but not limited to:
(1) All Improvements within any tract undergoing Subdivision or Land Development;
(2) The improvement of public facilities adjacent to any tract undergoing Subdivision or Land Development, including Streets and Drainage Facilities which border upon any such tract; and
(3) The installation or enhancement of off-site Improvements needed to adequately serve the Subdivision or Land Development, provided that the extent of required off-site Improvements shall be economically feasible in relation to the size and scope of the proposed Subdivision or Land Development.
(e) Once a Subdivision or Land Development Application, whether for a Minor Subdivision or Major Subdivision and/or Land Development, is duly filed as provided in this Ordinance, the Applicant shall be entitled to a decision in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance as they existed at the time the application was duly filed. However, if a Subdivision or Land Development Application is properly and finally denied, any subsequent re-application shall be subject to the provisions of the Ordinance in effect at the time of re-application.
(f) Nothing in this Ordinance shall be deemed or construed to void, nullify, abrogate, modify, limit or otherwise adversely affect any right vested under applicable law at the time of enactment of this Ordinance, whether such right arose under a Subdivision or Land Development Plan or Plat, proffer, condition of annexation, or Development agreement proposed by a Person and accepted or approved by the City or any of its departments or commissions or any other source. This Ordinance is not intended to interfere with or abrogate or annul any more restrictive Easements, covenants, Building restrictions, or other agreements between parties relating to use or Development of land.
(g) The terms of this Ordinance shall be applied to support the intent set forth in the Martinsburg Comprehensive Plan.
(h) Exclusions. The sale or other transfer of one or more parcels or Lots from a Subdivision for which Plats or deeds were recorded with the Clerk of the Berkeley County Commission prior to the effective date of this Ordinance shall not constitute a Subdivision or Land Development, or otherwise be, subject to the requirements of this Ordinance, but only if such previously recorded Plats or deeds are of sufficient survey accuracy to permit the clear conveyance of the subject Lots by direct Plat or deed reference without modification or addition; provided that, any resurvey or amended, modified, or corrective Plat shall be subject to the requirements of this Ordinance. (Ord. 2022-13. Passed 11-10-22.)