(A) General requirements.
(1) Arrangement and character.
(a) The arrangement, character, extent, width, grade and location of all streets shall conform to the Comprehensive Plan and shall be considered in their relation to existing and planned streets, topographical conditions and public convenience and safety, and in their appropriate relation to the proposed uses of the land to be served by such streets. Roadway design shall meet the minimum Florida Department of Transportation design criteria.
(b) Where no applicable location standards are shown in the Comprehensive Plan, the arrangement of streets in a subdivision shall either:
1. Provide the continuation or appropriate projection of existing principal streets in surrounding areas; or
2. Conform to a plan for the neighborhood, adopted by the City Council to meet a particular situation where topographical or other conditions make continuance or conformance to existing streets impracticable.
(2) Street names. No street names shall be used which will duplicate or be confused with the names of existing streets. Street names shall be subject to the approval of the Land Development Division and submitted to the County E-911 office.
(B) Design standards.
(1) Street improvements. In order to provide for roads of suitable location, width and improvement to accommodate prospective traffic and afford satisfactory access to police, firefighting, sanitation and road maintenance equipment, and to coordinate roads so as to compose a convenient system and avoid undue hardships to adjoining properties, the following road standards are hereby required:
(a) Street improvements shall be provided in each new subdivision in accordance with the Public Works Manual and the requirements described in the following schedules.
(b) The standards and specifications for each general type of development shall be as follows:
1. For apartment, townhouse and similar multifamily residential types; one-family detached dwellings; and low density rural residential dwellings; roads shall contain fifty (50) feet of right-of-way with twenty-two (22) feet of paving for Local Streets, with a closed drainage system; and sixty (60) feet of right-of- way with twenty-two (22) feet of paving, for Local Streets with an open drainage system.
2. For commercial, industrial and other types, the standards will be as determined by the Public Works Director.
3. Arterial streets and cross sections in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and as determined by the Public Works Director.
4. For streets along development boundaries and streets connecting the development with an existing improved system.
5. For streets, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, etc., the city hereby adopts the public works manual and is made a part hereof by reference. All subdivision improvements shall comply with these standards insofar as they are applicable.
(2) Layout of local street. Local streets shall be so laid out that their use by through traffic will be discouraged.
(3) Subdivision abuts arterial or major collector street. Where a subdivision abuts an existing or proposed arterial or major collector street, the City Council may require frontage access streets, reverse frontage with screening consisting of a six-foot wall, fence or berm with landscaping contained in a nonaccess reservation along the rear property line, or such other treatment as may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to afford separation of through and local traffic.
(4) Subdivision borders on railroad or limited access highway. When a subdivision borders on or contains a railroad right-of-way or limited access highway right- of-way, the City Council may require a street or alley approximately parallel to and on each side of such right-of-way.
(5) Reserve strips prohibited; exception. Reserve strips controlling access to streets shall be prohibited except where their control is definitely placed in the city under conditions approved by the City Council.
(6) Street jogs. Street jogs with center line offsets of less than one hundred twenty-five (125) feet shall be avoided.
(7) Sight distance for curves. A minimum sight distance will meet current FDOT standards.
(8) Street intersections.
(a) Street intersections shall be laid out so as to intersect as nearly as possible at right angles, and no street shall intersect any other street at less than sixty (60) degrees.
(b) Property lines at street intersections shall be rounded with a radius of twenty-five (25) feet, or with a greater radius where the City Engineer may deem it necessary. The City Engineer may permit comparable cutoffs or chords in place of rounded corners.
(9) Right-of-way widths. Public road right-of-way widths shall be as shown in the Palm Bay Comprehensive Plan, and shall not be less than as follows, unless otherwise determined by the Public Works Director:
Street Type Right-of-way Width (feet)
Arterial 160
Collector 100
Local (open drainage) 60
Local (closed drainage) 50
(10) Half streets; cul-de-sacs. Half streets shall be prohibited. If a half street is in existence and adjacent to a tract to be subdivided, the other half of the street shall be platted within such tract. Cul- de-sacs will be required if determined necessary by the Planning and Zoning Board.
(11) Dead-end streets. Dead-end streets, designed to be so permanently, shall not be longer than one thousand (1000) feet and shall be provided at the closed end with a turnaround having an outside roadway diameter of at least eighty (80) feet, and a street property line diameter of at least one hundred (100) feet.
(12) Street grades. No street grade shall be less than three-tenths of one (0.30 of 1%) percent.
(13) Drainage grades. No drainage grade, including swales, and curbs and gutters, shall be less than two-tenths of one (0.2 of 1%) percent. Swales shall be a minimum of one-tenth of one (.01 of 1%) percent.
(14) Alleys. The minimum width of any alley right- of-way shall be twenty (20) feet. Alley intersections and sharp changes in alignment shall be avoided, but where necessary, corners shall be cut off sufficiently to permit safe vehicular movement. Dead-end alleys shall be avoided, but if unavoidable, shall be provided with adequate turnaround facilities at the dead end, as determined by the City Engineer.
(15) Traffic studies. Residential subdivisions shall be required to submit a traffic study prepared by a licensed transportation engineering firm in accordance with the City of Palm Bay Standardized Traffic Impact Study Guidance Manual.
(Ord. 96-05, passed 2-15-96; Am. Ord. 2016-32, passed 5-19-16; Am. Ord. 2018-06, passed 2-15-18)