(A) No person, firm, or corporation shall transfer or sell any real property located within the town within the limits in any direction of the planning limits of the town, nor within any area beyond the town limits where city utilities are reasonably accessible, by reference to a plat showing a subdivision of the property until the plat has been approved by the Town Administrator and/or Public Works Director, and recorded in the office of the County Register of Deeds.
(B) Notwithstanding, the provisions of this chapter shall not prohibit any owner or its agent from entering into contracts to sell or lease by reference to an approved preliminary plat for which a final plat has not yet been properly approved or recorded with the Register of Deeds; provided the contract does all of the following:
(1) Incorporates as an attachment a copy of the preliminary plat referenced in the contract, and obligates the owner to deliver to the buyer a copy of the recorded plat prior to closing and conveyance;
(2) Plainly and conspicuously notifies the prospective buyer or lessee that a final subdivision plat has not been approved or recorded at the time of the contract, that no governmental body will incur any obligation to the prospective buyer or lessee with respect to the approval of the final subdivision plat, that changes between the preliminary and final plats are possible, and that the contract or lease may be terminated without breach by the buyer or lessee if the final recorded plat differs in any material respect from the preliminary plat;
(3) Provides that if the approved and recorded final plat does not differ in any material respect from the plat referred to in the contract, the buyer or lessee may not be required by the seller or lessor to close any earlier than five days after the delivery of a copy of the final recorded plat; and
(4) Provides that if the approved and recorded final plat differs in any material respect from the preliminary plat referred to in the contract, the buyer or lessee may not be required by the seller or lessor to close any earlier than 15 days after the delivery of the final recorded plat, during which 15-day period the buyer or lessee may terminate the contract without breach or any further obligation, and may receive a refund of all earnest money or prepaid purchase price.
(C) The provisions of this chapter shall not prohibit any owner or its agent from entering into contracts to sell or lease land by reference to an approved preliminary plat, for which a final plat has not been properly approved or recorded with the Register of Deeds, where the buyer or lessee is any person who has contracted to acquire or lease the land for the purpose of engaging in the business of construction of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings on the land, or for the purpose of resale or lease of the land to persons engaged in that kind of business; provided, that no conveyance of that land may occur, and no contract to lease it may become effective, until after the final plat has been properly approved under this chapter and recorded with the Register of Deeds.
(D) No person, firm, or corporation shall lay, erect, or construct or authorize the laying, erecting, or constructing, of any water or sewer line in any street of a subdivision opened or laid out without approval of the Town Administrator and/or Public Works Director; nor shall any water or sewer service be furnished by the town to any owner or occupant of any land abutting upon any street opened, laid out or constructed without prior permission of the Town Administrator and/or Public Works Director; nor shall any connection with the water or sewer system of the town, or with any other water or sewer system which connects with the town system, be allowed or be made within any real estate subdivision or other area laid out and subdivided prior to the date of this chapter.
(E) No street or proposed street within the town limits, which is sought to be dedicated by the owner or owners, shall be accepted by the Town Administrator and/or Public Works Director until and unless the street shall be platted, laid out, graded, and improved in accordance with the type street required by the Board of Commissioners.
(F) Where a proposed subdivision includes any part of a thoroughfare which has been designated as such upon the officially adopted thoroughfare plan of the Gaston Urban Area, such part of such thoroughfare shall be platted by the subdivider in the location shown on the plan and at the width specified in this chapter.
(G) (1) Similarly, proposed subdivisions must comply in all respects with the requirements of Chapter 154 in effect in the area to be subdivided, and any other officially adopted plans.
(2) All development plats shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Gaston Urban Area Transportation Planning Office prior to official action by the governing board.
(Prior Code, § 9-3011) (Ord. passed - -, Ord. passed 6- -2006)