The following general provisions shall apply to streets in subdivisions designed in accordance with this article:
A. No subdivision shall be approved unless the area to be subdivided shall have frontage on, and access from, an existing street, unless such street is:
1. An existing State or County highway; or
2. A street shown upon a plat approved by the Planning Commission and recorded in the County Clerk's office. Such street or highway must be suitably improved as required by the highway regulations and specifications or must be secured by a performance bond required under these subdivision regulations with the width and right-of-way required by these subdivision regulations.
B. Wherever the area to be subdivided is to utilize existing road frontage, such road shall be suitably improved as provided herein.
C. The arrangement, character, extent, width, grade, and location of all streets shall conform to all of the elements of the comprehensive plan and be designed in accordance with the provisions of these and other applicable regulations.
D. Roads shall be related appropriately to the topography. Local roads shall be curved wherever possible to provide topographic compatibility. All streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at or above the grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided.
E. All thoroughfares shall be properly related to special traffic generators such as industries, business districts, schools, churches, and shopping centers, to population densities, and to the pattern of existing and proposed land uses.
F. In business and industrial developments, the streets and other access ways shall be planned in connection with the grouping of buildings, location of rail facilities, and the provision of alleys, truck loading and maneuvering areas, and walks, and parking areas so as to minimize conflict of movement between the various types of traffic, including pedestrian.
G. Proposed streets shall be extended to the boundary lines of the tract to be subdivided, unless prevented by topography or other physical conditions, unless, in the opinion of the Planning Commission, such extension is not necessary or desirable for the coordination of the layout of the subdivision with the existing layout or the most advantageous future development of adjacent tracks.
H. Where the plat to be submitted includes only part of the tract owned or intended for development by the subdivider, a tentative plan of the proposed future street system for the un-subdivided portion shall be prepared and submitted by the subdivider.
I. No street name 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 Planning Commission and the City Council.
J. Major streets in the subdivision shall be planned to conform with the major street plan adopted by the City, and provision shall be made for the extension of major and secondary thoroughfares. Except for courts, places, or cul-de-sacs, streets normally shall connect with streets already dedicated in the adjoining or adjacent subdivisions, provide for future connections to adjoining un-subdivided tracts, be a reasonable projection of streets in the nearest subdivided tracts, or conform to a neighborhood plan approved or adopted by the Planning Commission.
K. Whenever a subdivision abuts or contains an existing or proposed major street, the Planning Commission may require service streets, reverse frontage with screen planting contained in a non-access reservation along the rear property line, deep lots or such other treatment as may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to afford separation of through and local traffic.
L. Minor streets shall be laid out so that their use by through traffic will be discouraged.
M. Railroad rights-of-way and limited access highways, where so located as to affect the subdivision of adjoining lands, shall be treated as follows:
1. In residential districts, a buffer strip at least twenty-five (25) feet in depth in addition to the normal depth of the lot required in the district shall be provided adjacent to the railroad right-of-way or limited access highway. This strip shall be part of the platted lots and shall be designated on the plat: "This strip is reserved for screening. The placement of structures hereon is prohibited";
2. In districts zoned for business, commercial, or industrial uses, the nearest street extending parallel or approximately parallel to the railroad shall, wherever practicable, be at a sufficient distance therefrom to ensure suitable depth for commercial or industrial sites; and
3. Streets parallel to the railroad when intersecting a street which crosses the railroad at grade shall, to the extent practicable, be at a distance of at least one hundred fifty (150) feet from the railroad right-of-way. Such distance shall be determined with due consideration of the minimum distance required for future separation of grades by means of appropriate approach gradients.
N. Reserve strips controlling access to minor streets by parties or persons other than public agencies shall be prohibited.
O. Half-streets shall be prohibited, except where essential to the reasonable development of the subdivision in conformity with the other requirements of these regulations, and provided that the Planning Commission finds it will be practical to obtain the dedication of the other half of the street easement when the adjoining property is subdivided. Whenever a half street is adjacent to a tract to be subdivided, the other half of the street shall be platted within the tract which is being subdivided.
P. Whenever the major or minor street is located wholly within the proposed subdivision, the total width of the right-of-way shall be dedicated; whenever the major or minor street is located adjacent to the outer edge of the subdivision, one-half (½) of the right-of-way shall be dedicated, if it is determined by the Planning Commission that it is equitable and feasible from an engineering design standpoint for the other half of the right-of-way to be dedicated from adjacent property.
Q. The finished elevation of proposed streets within the designated floodplain shall be no more than two (2) feet below the level of the one hundred (100) year flood.
R. The criteria established in the table below shall be followed in the layout and design of all major and minor streets:
Street Design Standards | ||||
Design Element | Major Streets | Minor Streets | ||
Primary Thoroughfare | Secondary Thoroughfare | Collector | Local | |
Street Design Standards | ||||
Design Element | Major Streets | Minor Streets | ||
Primary Thoroughfare | Secondary Thoroughfare | Collector | Local | |
Design speed | 40 mph | 30 mph | 30 mph | 25 mph |
Grade: | ||||
Maximum | 5% | 7% | 10% | 10% |
Minimum | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
Stopping sight distance | 350 ft | 200 ft | 200 ft | 200 ft |
Number of traffic lanes | 4 (min.) | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Minimum paving thickness | Asphalt section | Structurally designed | 6 in. | 6 in.* |
Concrete section | Structurally designed | 6 in. | 6 in. | |
Residential estates section | --- | --- | Bituminous surface | |
Minimum r-o-w width | 100 ft | 80 ft | 60 ft | 50 ft |
Minimum roadway width | 50 ft | 50 ft | 32 ft | 26 ft |
Traffic lane effective width | 12 ft | 12 ft | 12 ft | |
Shoulder or parking lane width | 10 ft | 10 ft | 6 ft | 6 ft |
* Minor commercial streets shall have a minimum paving thickness of six (6) inches. | ||||
1. No curbing is required if the subdivision is zoned R-l (residential estates) and all lots contain one and one-half (1 1/2) acres or more with a minimum of two hundred ten (210) feet of road frontage per lot. Subdivisions shall also contain a minimum of twenty (20) acres and one thousand five hundred (1,500) linear feet of streets within subdivisions.
2. Street widths shall be measured from edge of asphalt to edge of asphalt.
3. Street shall slope from the centerline to the edge of the shoulder at one- fourth (¼) inch fall per one (1) foot;
4. Base shall vary in accordance with local conditions, including soil tests, and shall be approved by a specified engineer. Base rock shall be as per section 703.1, "Aggregate for aggregate base type A" of the State Standard Specification for Highway Construction.
(Code 1991, § 12-451; Ord. No. 99-06, § 1, 3-1-1999; Ord. No. 16-04, § II, 8-1-2016)
Cross reference- Streets, sidewalks, and other public places, Ch. 90.