(A) General provisions.
(1) No person, firm or corporation proposing to make or have made a subdivision within the territorial limits of these Regulations shall enter into any contract for the sale of or offer to sell such subdivision or any part thereof, or proceed with any construction work on the proposed subdivision, including grading, until he has obtained the approval of the preliminary plat of the proposed subdivision by the Planning Commission and the approval of construction drawings, sedimentation plans and drainage plans by the Planning Commission, Public Works Director, and the City Engineer. The Planning Commission may delegate final approval of construction drawings to the Development Director.
(2) The approval of the final plat by the Planning Commission shall not constitute or effect an acceptance by the public of the responsibility for construction or maintenance of any street, other proposed public way, space shown on such plat, or any other improvements.
(3) Approval of the final plat by the Planning Commission shall not authorize a waiver of any officially adopted design and construction requirements which may have been inadvertently omitted during the technical review of the final plat.
(B) Procedure. In planning and developing a subdivision, the subdivider and his agent shall comply with the general principles of design and minimum requirements for the layout of subdivisions set forth herein and in the "Design, Construction and Material Specification Handbook" and in every case shall pursue the following procedures.
(1) Before preparing the preliminary plat of a subdivision and while the plat is still in sketch form, the subdivider, his engineer, surveyor, or other agent shall confer with the Development Director to ascertain the location of existing and proposed highways, thoroughfares, parks, playgrounds and other proposed public facilities, which may affect and need to be taken into account in designing the layout and developing the subdivision, and to inform himself of the requirements in these Regulations and others applying to the design and development of his subdivision.
(2) The subdivider shall prepare and file a preliminary plat of the proposed subdivision which shall conform with the requirements set forth in § 153.04 and shall file with the Planning Commission an application in writing for the approval of the plat.
It is requested that this information be submitted at least 30 days prior to the consideration of the Planning Commission.
(3) The preliminary plat shall be checked by the Development Director on behalf of the Planning Commission for compliance with other applicable sections of the official Comprehensive Plan and the principles, standards and requirements hereinafter set forth. The Development Director shall submit technical checks after conferring with appropriate departments concerning matters within their respective jurisdiction.
(4) Concerning matters covered in subsection (B)(3) hereof, the Planning Commission shall approve or disapprove the preliminary plat, or approve it with modification, as agreed to by the subdivider, noting any such changes that shall be required. One copy shall be returned to the subdivider with the date of the approval or disapproval endorsed thereon.
(5) The approval of the preliminary plat by the Planning Commission is to be considered only as an approval of the layout with the understanding that the Development Director, or other officials having jurisdiction, may modify any engineering or construction details proposed by the subdivider, whenever required for the protection of the public interest. The approval or disapproval of the preliminary plat will be made within thirty days of the official submission of the plat, which shall be the date on which the Planning Commission first considers the plat at a meeting. The approval shall be effective for one year. If the developer submits a final plat or plats for part of the subdivision within one year after the preliminary plat approval, the approval of the preliminary plat shall be extended for one year from the date of the last such plat submission. The Planning Commission in its discretion may extend its approval of a preliminary plat, which has expired.
(4) Following the approval of the preliminary plat, the developer may submit for approval any portion of the subdivision for final plat approval in accordance with § 153.05. It is suggested that the final plat be submitted to the Development Director at least two weeks prior to the meeting of the Planning Commission at which consideration of the plat is desired. The Development Director is not an agent of the Planning Commission but provides a service to the subdivider in submitting plats to the Planning Commission. The official submission of the plat to the Planning Commission is the date on which the Planning Commission first considers the plat at a meeting.
(7) After a copy of the final plat and any technical reports from the City's Engineer have been received by the Planning Commission and provided that the final plat is found to conform with the preliminary plat as approved, the Commission shall approve or disapprove the final plat within thirty days after official submission to the Commission, which is the date on which the Planning Commission first considers the plat at a regular meeting. If the Planning Commission fails to act within such time, the applicant, at its option, may deem the plat to have been rejected and proceed to appeal the decision of the Planning Commission to the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. The Commission shall enter such approval or disapproval of any plat submitted, by the signature of the Chairman on the plat. The minutes of the Planning Commission shall include a citation or reference to the rules or regulations violated by the plat, if the plat is disapproved.
(8) The City's Engineer shall establish the amount of the performance bond at the time of the approval of the final plat. This performance bond must be submitted and approved before the plat can be recorded.
(9) After approval of the final plat by the Planning Commission and after receipt and acceptance by the city of the performance bond in accordance with § 156.0207, the plat shall be submitted by the Development Director to the County Recorder.
(C) Public notice and hearing. Any procedure to approve a subdivision plat shall be subject to the same administrative procedure requirements for development plan review as outlined in Chapter 150.14.