(A) 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 division or subdivision, prepared by a registered, licensed surveyor of New Mexico. 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.
(B) Subdivision plats are not required for:
(1) Sale or lease of apartments, condominiums or town homes, offices, stores, or similar space within a building;
(2) Division of land in which only gas, oil, mineral, or water rights are severed from the surface ownership of the land;
(3) Division of land to create burial plots in a cemetery;
(4) Division of land created to provide security for mortgages, liens, or deeds of trust, provided that the division of land is not sold to another party;
(5) The sale or other conveyance of land that creates no parcel smaller than 35 acres;
(Am. Ord. 904, passed 9-12-2000)
(6) If the division of land results 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. This is referred to as a lot line adjustment not requiring a plat, however a review, by the city engineering and zoning offices must be completed at the time of proposal to review that required frontage is in compliance as well as the zoning district lot areas. The deed(s) conveying the tract(s) to those being enlarged shall contain a covenant that the addition may not be sold independently of the tract it is added to; and/or
(7) A land division, for the purpose of approval by a municipal planning authority, is any division of land whose property meets the criteria specified below. A “land division sketch plan” of the proposed division shall be submitted. Corresponding administrative review and approval by the Zoning Department, City Engineering Department, and City Manager is required of those divisions where:
(a) 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;
(b) If the necessary utilities, street and drainage improvements are in place, unless waived by the City Engineer in writing stating the reasons why; and
(c) No more than 1 additional lot is created in a calendar year.
(C) The land division sketch plan shall:
(1) Be drawn to scale on an 8½ inch by 11 inch sheet of paper, vellum, Mylar, or other durable material suitable for reproducing copies to the County of Colfax after complection of all requirements to file with the deed. This original shall be the sketch plan to be administratively reviewed and the required city personnel signatures shall be signed in ink. The land divider shall submit 1 paper copy of the land division sketch plan and accompanying information for filing purposes to the City of Raton, after all required approval signatures of city personnel and county, if applicable under dual approval, and recording information is on the sketch plan. The drawing shall be filed with the deed(s) of the new tract(s). Descriptions of the lots by number and plat designation are valid in conveyances and for the purpose of taxation;
(2) Title the sketch plan “land division.” Illustrate scale, north arrow, subdivision boundary lines, easement and right-of-way lines, names of any public dedicated roads and property lines of all lots, with accurate dimensions, acreage measurements, and identification numbers for each lot; location, dimensions, and purpose of all easements; and legal description indicating the range, township, and section. Write date and name of property owner(s);
(3) Reference the deed book and page of the deed that was filed prior to the division, subdivision, or resubdivision of the property;
(4) Reference the zoning district in which the properties lie within;
(5) Provide signature and date lines for the:
(a) Zoning official;
(b) City Engineer; and
(c) City Manager, indicating that the land division plat is in compliance with the city’s subdivision regulations.
(6) Any other standards established by the New Mexico Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors and as amended periodically; and
(7) 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.
(1981 Code, § 25-6) (Am. Ord. 888, passed 2-23-1999; Am. Ord. 897, passed 1-25-2000)
Statutory reference:
Similar provisions, see NMSA § 3-20-2