A. Purpose:
1. The purpose of this section and the intent of the City in its adoption is to promote the health, safety, convenience, and general welfare of the present and future inhabitants of the City.
2. This section will accomplish this purpose by:
a. Providing policies, standards, requirements and procedures to regulate and control the design and improvements of all developments.
b. Assisting in the implementation of the City's goals, objectives, policies and programs by ensuring that all proposed developments, together with provisions for their design and improvements, are consistent with the General Plan and other applicable plans.
c. Preserving and protecting, to the maximum extent possible, unique and valuable natural resources and amenities, including topographic and geologic features, natural watercourses, wildlife habitats, historical and cultural places, and scenic vistas and attractions; and improving the public access to and enjoyment of such resources and amenities through the dedication or continuance of appropriate public easements thereto.
d. Preserving and protecting the special environmental quality and aesthetic character of any hillside and mountainous area; preventing detrimental impacts on the soil mantle, vegetative cover and other environmental factors; reducing the hazards of life and property from fire, flood, erosion, sedimentation and soil slippage; and relating the amount of grading within a development to the slope of the natural terrain.
e. Encouraging the clustering of housing and building developments where subdivisions or other developments are permitted in hillside and mountainous areas, minimizing grading, preserving the natural terrain and enlarging open spaces.
f. Regulating land use intensity and population density, street capacity and traffic access, the slope of the natural terrain, the availability and capacity of public facilities and utilities, and open spaces.
g. Providing lots of sufficient size and appropriate design for the purposes for which they are to be used.
h. Providing streets of adequate capacity and design for the traffic that will utilize them and ensuring maximum safety for pedestrians and users of vehicles.
i. Ensuring adequate access to each building site.
j. Providing sidewalks, pedestrian ways, bike paths, and equestrian and hiking trails for the safety, convenience and enjoyment of residents of new developments.
k. Providing adequate systems of water supply, sanitary sewage disposal, storm drainage, street lighting and other utilities needed for public health, safety and convenience.
l. Providing adequate sites for public facilities needed to serve residents of new developments.
m. Ensuring that costs of providing land for streets, alleys, pedestrian ways, bike paths, easements and other rights of way and for the improvements therein needed to serve new developments are borne by the developer.
n. Preventing land which is actually or potentially dangerous by reason of flood hazard, inundation, inadequate access, inadequate water supply or fire protection, insufficient sewerage facilities or hazardous geological conditions from being developed for any use or in any manner tending to create an increased detriment to the public health, safety or general welfare.
o. Ensuring that, insofar as possible, land is developed in a manner that will promote the public health, safety, convenience and general welfare and the physical, social and economic development of the area in conformance with the General Plan, and provide access for solar and other renewable energy sources to the maximum extent possible, and encourage energy conservation through design, layout, "siting" and other techniques.
p. Preserving and protecting to the maximum extent possible, solar access to structures and encouraging, promoting or requiring energy conservation and the use of renewable energy sources.
q. Providing space for off street parking, as needed.
r. Providing space for bike paths and trails.
B. Intent: This Title is designed to inform the developer and public of the requirements and conditions necessary to obtain approval of a subdivision as specifically provided. (Ord. 2024-01, 1-16-2024)