(A) Private Streets Discouraged: Private streets are discouraged, and cause must be shown for their approval. The commission and council will decide in every case which streets, if any, are to be private. Normally, these will only be emergency access streets, cul-de-sac streets and streets to serve a maximum of ten (10) residential dwelling units, in which case the street is essentially an extended two-way driveway.
(B) Cul-De-Sac Streets: Cul-de-sac streets shall be allowed only if connectivity is not possible due to surrounding topography or existing platted development. A street right of way extended into unplatted areas shall not be considered a dead end or cul-de-sac street.
(C) Dedication: Private streets shall be dedicated to the public, devoted to public use, but the question of opening it as a public street or for public maintenance rests in the sound discretion of the council with respect to lands at the time inside the city limits, and the board with respect to lands at the time in the impact area.
(D) Construction:
1. Private streets shall be built to city standards or better with respect to structural material and section.
2. Private streets shall be built with an all weather and all season surface not less than twenty feet (20') wide.
3. Private streets shall be built in accordance with the international fire code, and along alignment and grades approved to handle the largest and heaviest equipment available to the city and McCall Fire Protection District.
4. Private streets shall have adequate and unencumbered ten foot (10') wide snow storage easements on both sides of the street, or an accessible dedicated snow storage easement representing not less than twenty five percent (25%) of the improved area of the private street.
5. Private streets, wherever possible, shall provide interconnection with other streets, subdivisions or other developments. (Ord. 822, 2-23-2006, eff. 3-16-2006)
6. In no case shall a gate be placed across private or public streets, except in:
(a) Those cases where the street serves no more than two (2) residential units, or where, under the current zoning designation for the property, it could be developed or subdivided for no more than two (2) residential units; or
(b) Those cases where a perimeter fence is approved for an industrial, business park or commercial development (see subsection 9.6.02(T) of this chapter). (Ord. 885, 3-24-2011)
(E) Responsibility, Enforcement, Penalty: Development documentation, including at least both a plat and covenants, shall make plain that:
1. Police, fire, ambulance, and other emergency services and public or private utilities have full access to private streets exactly as if they were public.
2. The owners' association shall maintain a full roadway width free of accumulation of snow and free of parked vehicles.
3. In the event of the failure of the association to comply in a timely manner with subsection (E)2 of this section, the city may clear snow and tow parked vehicles either with its own crews and equipment, or with specially hired crews and equipment.
4. In the event of either or both such city actions, the association shall be liable to the city in the amount of the cost to the city of doing the work, plus a civil penalty of the greater of:
(a) One thousand dollars ($1,000.00); or
(b) Twenty percent (20%) of the total cost for doing the work.
5. The area designated for private streets shall be platted as a separate, unbuildable, parcel or as a dedicated access easement. When a private street is platted as an easement, a building envelope may be required in order to provide for adequate building setback.
(F) Access And Maintenance Requirements: Provisions shall be made for the future maintenance of and access to private streets as follows:
1. A plan and schedule for the future repair and maintenance of the private street and drainage facilities for the period of the expected lifetime thereof and a cost estimate therefor prepared by a licensed engineer in the state, together with a proposed method for funding the same, including, but not limited to, the creation and maintenance of a reserve fund for that purpose, shall be submitted to the city for review and approval prior to execution of the final plat by the city. The reserve fund is to be held and disbursed by the owners’ association for the express purpose of street maintenance within the subdivision.
2. The location of the private street shall be clearly depicted on the face of the plat which shall:
(a) Act to convey to each lot owner within the subdivision to be served by the private street the perpetual right of ingress and egress over the described private street;
(b) Provide that such perpetual easement shall run with the land; and
(c) Provide that the restrictive covenant for maintenance of the private street cannot be modified and the owners’ association or other entity cannot be dissolved without the express consent of the city.
3. Private street names shall not end with the word “Road”, “Boulevard”, “Avenue” or “Street”.
(G) Council Order To Repair And Maintain Roads: The council may, in the reasonable exercise of its discretion, order the owners or the entity responsible for the maintenance of any private street approved in accordance with the provisions of this section to undertake such repair and maintenance activities as it may determine is necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare and make such expenditures from the funds reserved therefor. In the event that such owners or entities have exhausted a reserve fund for maintenance and the city determines that repairs are required, then the city may proceed with such repairs and debit the owners or entities for the entire costs involved. The owners or responsible entities shall, as a condition of approval of any such private street, be deemed to have agreed to comply with any such order and to reimburse the city all of its costs, including attorney fees, incurred in obtaining or enforcing any such order. Any order entered by the council pursuant to this subsection may be enforced by a court of competent jurisdiction, and the city shall be entitled to recover its costs and attorney fees incurred in connection herewith. (Ord. 822, 2-23-2006, eff. 3-16-2006; amd. Ord. 1009, 10-6-2022)