For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ALLEY. A public way used primarily as a service access to the rear or side of a property which abuts on a street.
BLOCK. The distance measured along a street between intersecting streets from center line to center line; and where the context requires, it also means the enclosed area within the perimeter of the streets or property lines enclosing it.
BUILDING LINE. A line on a plat between which line and a street no building or structure may be erected.
CITY. The City of Raton, New Mexico.
CITY CLERK/TREASURER. The City Clerk/Treasurer of the City of Raton, New Mexico.
CITY COMMISSION. The City Commission of the City of Raton, New Mexico.
CITY ENGINEER. The City Engineer of the City of Raton, New Mexico, or his or her duly authorized representative.
CITY MANAGER. The City Manager of the City of Raton, New Mexico.
COUNTY CLERK. The County Clerk of Colfax County, New Mexico.
CUL-DE-SAC. A minor street with only 1 outlet and culminated by a turnaround.
DRAINAGE COURSE. A natural watercourse or indenture for the drainage of surface waters.
EASEMENT. A grant by the property owner of the use for a specific purpose of a strip of land by the general public, a corporation, or a certain person or persons.
EXPRESSWAY. Wide, direct highways with limited access. They move large volumes of traffic with 4 or 6 moving lanes, grade separations at intersections with major streets and a right-of-way width of 300 feet and more at interchanges.
GROUP DEVELOPMENT. A development comprising 2 or more buildings, such as a group of apartments, and the land is not subdivided into the customary streets, blocks, and lots.
LAND DIVISION. Any division of land.
LOT. A portion of a subdivision or other parcel of land intended for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership or for building development.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE. A continuous (through) lot of the same depth as the width of a block and which is accessible from both of the streets upon which it fronts.
LOT, SINGLE-TIER. A lot which backs upon a limited access highway, a railroad, a physical barrier, or a nonresidential use and to which vehicular access from the rear is usually prohibited.
MAJOR THOROUGHFARE. An arterial street of considerable length that carries, or that planning evidence indicates will carry, a large volume of traffic.
PARKWAYS. The primary functions of parkways are the same as major streets, but with large medians for landscaping and a somewhat slower flow of traffic. They frequently serve as buffers between different types of land uses.
PLANNING COMMISSION. The officially appointed Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Raton, New Mexico.
PLAT. A map, chart, survey, plan, or replat certified by a licensed, registered land surveyor containing a description of the subdivided land with ties to permanent monuments.
PLAT, FINAL. A final plat means a map of a land subdivision prepared in a form suitable for filing of record with necessary affidavits, dedications, and acceptances; and with complete bearings and dimensions of all lines defining lots and blocks, streets and alleys, public areas, and other dimensions.
PLAT, PRELIMINARY. A preliminary plat means a map of a proposed land subdivision showing the character and proposed layout of the tract in sufficient detail to indicate the suitability of the proposed subdivision of land.
ROADWAY. The portion of the street available for vehicular traffic and, where curbs are laid, the portion from back-to-back curbs.
STREET. All property dedicated or intended for public use for access to abutting lands or subject to public easements, therefor, and whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, expressway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place, circle, or however otherwise designated.
STREET, COLLECTOR. A street of relatively short length that serves as a connection between several minor streets and a major street.
STREET, MARGINAL ACCESS. A local or minor (service) street which parallels and is immediately adjacent to a major street or highway, and which provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic and control of intersections with major traffic streets.
STREET, MINOR. A street of relatively short length that provides direct access to a limited number of abutting properties.
SUBDIVIDE or SUBDIVISION.
(1) Every person who desires to subdivide or divide land shall comply with the requirements of this chapter and shall, as required herein, furnish a plat of the proposed subdivision, prepared by a registered, licensed surveyor of New Mexico, except that the division of tracts, which meets all the criteria, for certificates of survey, shall not require the furnishing of a plat of the proposed division provided that this document, certificate of survey plat, setting forth the legal description of tracts resulting from the division shall be filed in the Zoning Department and the County Clerk’s office and the County Assessor’s office, and the filing shall be considered a rededication in all respects.
(2) SUBDIVIDE or SUBDIVISION, for the purpose of approval by a municipal planning authority, means that, for the land within the corporate boundaries of the municipality, and the land outside of the municipality, known as territorial jurisdiction, the territory lying within 3 miles of the city’s corporate limits, for which the municipality has planning and platting jurisdiction and application, the division of land into 2 or more parts, not less than the minimum standard required by the zoning district regulations, by platting or by metes and bounds description into tracts for the purpose of:
(a) Placement of structures;
(b) Laying out a municipality, or any part thereof;
(c) Adding to a municipality;
(d) Laying out suburban lots; and/or
(e) Any division of land.
(3) Subdivision plats are not required for:
(a) Sale or lease of apartments, offices, stores, or similar space within a building;
(b) Division of land in which only gas, oil, mineral, or water rights are severed from the surface ownership of the land;
(c) Division of land resulting only in the alteration of parcel boundaries where parcels are altered for the purpose of increasing or reducing the size of contiguous parcels and where the number of parcels is not increased;
(d) Division of land to create burial plots in a cemetery; or
(e) Certificates of survey, to include all sub items. Those divisions of land, needing only a certificate of survey and corresponding administrative review and approval by the Zoning Department, City Engineering Department, and City Manager, may be used where:
1. The dedication of additional public right-of-way is not necessary to provide the required 60 feet of contiguous right-of-way frontage on the new additional tract;
2. If the necessary utilities are in place; and
3. No more than 3 additional lots are created.
(4) The certificate of survey plat shall:
(a) Reference a permanent monument where the survey was begun (P.O.B.);
(b) Accurately describe each lot by metes and bounds description and indicate the bearings and distances (dimensions) of the lots and dimensions of all land dedicated for public use or for the use of the owners of lots fronting or adjacent to the land;
(c) Indicate the name of the streets, roads, or other publicly dedicated rights-of-way and denote the width of each;
(d) Reference the lot and/or tract numbers, numbering each lot in progression;
(e) Include a title placed at the top of the certificate of survey plat map stating “certificate of survey”;
(f) Name of the property owner, below the title;
(g) Reference the deed book and page of the deed that was filed prior to the subdivision or resubdivision of the property;
(h) Provide signature and date lines for the zoning official, City Engineer, and City Manager to sign and date indicating that the certificate of survey plat is in compliance with only the city’s subdivision regulations; and
(i) Any other standards established by the New Mexico Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors and as amended periodically.
(5) Property divided, subdivided, or resubdivided within 3 miles of the city limits shall additionally be submitted for review to the Colfax County Subdivision Review Board prior to recording.
(6) The subdivider shall furnish the City of Raton City Engineer with 1 black line or blue line print and a digital copy or file format, as specified by the City Engineer’s office, of the subdivision plat or the certificate of survey plat to be filed in the Zoning Department. Descriptions of the lots by number and plat designation are valid in conveyances and for the purpose of taxation.
SUBDIVIDER. Any person, individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, estate, trust, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, dividing, or proposing to divide, land so as to constitute a subdivision as defined in this section and includes any agent of the subdivider.
(1981 Code, § 25-5) (Am. Ord. 866, passed 4-8-1997; Am. Ord. 888, passed 2-23-1999; Am. Ord. 897, passed 1-25-2000)
Statutory reference:
Similar definitions, see NMSA § 3-20-1