For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESS DRIVE. A strip of land not less than 50 feet in width designed to connect one, two or three lots with a street, thereby providing equal access to each lot. (See SUBDIVISION.)
ALLEY. A permanent public service way or right-of-way, dedicated to public use, other than a street, place, road, crosswalk or easement, designed to provide a secondary means of access for the special accommodation of abutting property.
BLOCK. A unit of property entirely surrounded by public highways, streets, railroad rights-of-way, waterways or other barriers, or a combination thereof.
BLOCK FRONTAGE. Property abutting on one side of a street, and lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or between the nearest intersecting or intercepting street and railroad right-of-way, waterway or other definite barrier.
BOARD. The Board of Commissioners of the county.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE - BUILDING LINE. The line nearest the front or side of and across a lot establishing the minimum yard to be provided between the principal building or structure and the lot line.
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. A certificate signed by the Building Inspector and the Executive Director if an application therefore has been granted for an improvement location permit, stating that the occupancy and use of land or a building or structure referred to therein complies with the provisions of this code, if the structure or use is located within the unincorporated territory of the county; or in the case of the Towns of Holton, Milan, Napoleon, Osgood, Sunman and Versailles.
COMMISSION or PLAN COMMISSION. The County Area Plan Commission.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. A composite of all materials prepared and approved under the 500 series of I.C. 36-7-4 or under prior law. It includes a master plan adopted under any prior law.
COUNTY. Ripley County, Indiana.
CUL-DE-SAC (COURT OF DEAD END STREET). A short residential street having one end open to traffic and being permanently terminated by a vehicle turn-around.
EASEMENT. A grant by the property owner of the use of a strip of land by the public or a person for specified purposes.
EXISTING TRACT. Any tract of land that has been described as a single tract of land meeting County Subdivision and Zone Code requirements at the time of platting as has been transferred and recorded by deed or land contract for over one year (365 days).
HEALTH OFFICER. The County Sanitarian.
JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION. The jurisdiction of the County Area Plan Commission, which includes all of the area over which this chapter of the code is effective; specifically, the Towns of Napoleon, Osgood, Sunman, Holton, Milan and Versailles, Indiana, and all of the unincorporated territory in the county.
LOT. A portion of a subdivision, or other parcel of land intended as a unit for transfer of ownership or development.
PARENT PARCEL. Any tract of land that has been in existence, by recorded deed or recorded land contract for over one year (365 days).
PERSON. A corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization or any other group acting as a unit, as well as a natural person.
PLACE. An open, unoccupied, officially designated space, other than a street or alley, permanently reserved for use as the principal means of access to abutting property.
PLAN COMMISSION STAFF. The staff of the County Area Plan Commission, specifically, the Executive Director, Building Inspector and any other persons employed by the Area Plan Commission, under the supervision of the Executive Director who have regular duties in the Area Plan Commission office.
PLAT. A map or chart indicating the subdivision or re-subdivision of land intended to be filed for record. Also PLAT OF A SUBDIVISION or PLAT OF THE SUBDIVISION.
PRIMARY APPROVAL. An approval that may be granted by the Plan Commission and signed and certified by the President of the Plan Commission on a plat of a subdivision in which the procedures, standards of improvement and conditions have been met by the applicant as required by this chapter. A PRIMARY APPROVAL is a final decision of the Plan Commission inasmuch as it may be reviewed by the courts.
RE-PLAT. A subdivision or plat, the site of which has heretofore been platted or subdivided with lots or parcels of land, previous subdivision or plat.
SECONDARY APPROVAL. An approval that may be granted by the Plan Commission and signed and certified by the President of the Plan Commission on a plat of a subdivision which the Plan Commission has already given its primary approval before it can be filed with the County Auditor and recorded by the County Recorder, and the improvements and installation have been completed as required by this chapter; or, if the improvements and installations have not been completed as required, the applicant therefore has provided a bond or other proof of financial responsibility in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
STREET. A right-of-way, other than an alley, dedicated or otherwise legally established to the public use, usually affording the principal means of access to abutting property, thoroughfare, parkway, boulevard, road, avenue, lane, drive or other appropriate name.
STREET, ARTERIAL. A street (or road) designated for large volumes of traffic movement. Certain ARTERIAL STREETS may be classed as limited access highways to which entrances and exits are provided only at controlled intersections and access is denied to abutting properties. Also MAJOR STREET.
STREET, FEEDER. A street (or road) planned to facilitate the collection of traffic from residential streets and to provide circulation within neighborhood areas and convenient ways for traffic to reach arterial streets.
STREET, RESIDENTIAL. A street designated primarily to provide access to abutting properties, usually residential. Certain RESIDENTIAL STREETS may be marginal access streets parallel to arterial streets, which provide access to abutting property and ways for traffic to reach access points on arterial streets. Also LOCAL STREET.
SUBDIVIDER. Any person responsibly engaged in developing or improving a tract of land, which complies, with the definition of a subdivision as defined in this chapter.
SUBDIVISION.
(1) The division of any parcel of land, separately described in a deed on record in the office of the County Recorder, into two or more contiguous parcels, sites or lots fronting on an existing street and each of which comprises less than acres in an area, for the purpose of immediate or future transfer of ownership;
(2) Whenever a new street or streets are included to provide access to lots which are laid out for the purpose of immediate or future transfer of ownership, but which do not front on an existing street, such interior lots shall be considered as parts of the subdivision, even though they may equal ten or more acres in area;
(3) The improvement of one or more parcels of land for residential, commercial or industrial structures or groups of structures involving the subdivision and allocation of land as streets or other open spaces for common use by owners, occupants or lease holders or as easements for the extension and maintenance of public sewer, water, storm drainage or other public utilities and facilities; or
(4) In an agriculture district shown on the Zone Map, the improvement of one, two or three parcels of land not adjoining another subdivision and each having not less than three acres in area with a rectangular or near rectangular configuration with a depth of not more than three times the minimum lot width of 300 feet for lots of less than ten acres in area, and four times the minimum lot width of 300 feet for lots having an area of ten acres or more, and an access strip of at least 50 feet in uniform width, except where topographical features, drainage ways or structures necessitate additional width (in which case additional curvature may be required), and extending from a street to each of the parcels; provided that, the owner of each lot shall have one-third, one-half or full interest, as the case may be, in fee simple of the entire access strip; and, provided further that, none of the area contained in the access strip shall be counted toward the minimum three acres area requirement for the parcel(s). The subdivider may add one or two additional lots (complying with the area, width and yard requirements of Ch. 156 of this code of ordinances) to the above described subdivision, with one lot on either side of the access strip at its intersection with the street, or with two lots to the right of the access strip or with two lots to the left of the access strip; thereby creating a subdivision with a maximum of five lots, as long as not more than three of the lots share an interest in or use the access strip. If the subdivider proposes an rural subdivision plat that leaves one or two parcels of land less than ten acres in area, each, adjoining the rural subdivision, with road frontage for each parcel, the subdivider must draft the subdivision plat showing the one or two lots that adjoin the rural subdivision and incorporate said lots into the rural subdivision. All standards, covenants and certificates are required for this type of subdivision. The primary purpose of this division (4) is to provide for limited subdivision of land in areas which may be distant from the existing frontal street or which are unsuitable for farming because they contain woods, ridges or unusual topography, but which are suitable for residential development.
*NOTE 1: See Figure 3 (§ 155.006 of this chapter) for typical subdivision of land for one, two and three lot subdivisions.
*NOTE 2: Subdivisions defined in divisions (1) and (2) above may be permitted in the A-1 Prime Agriculture District and the A-2 Agriculture District.
(5) Exempted divisions set forth below.
(a) These divisions are exempt from most of the requirements of this code:
1. A division of land into two or more tracts of which all tracts are least ten acres in area;
2. A division of land for the transfer of a tract or tracts to correct errors in an existing legal description, provided that no additional building sites other than for accessory buildings are created by the division;
3. A division of land pursuant to an allocation of land in the settlement of decedent’s estate or a court decree for the distribution or property;
4. A division of land for federal, state or local government to acquire street right-of-way;
5. A division of land for the transfer of a tract or tracts between adjoining lots; provided that, no additional principal building sites are created by the division. The lots so created hereunder shall have only one principal building site each. (See § 156.007 of this code of ordinances.);
6. A division of land into cemetery plots for the sole purpose of burial of corpses; and
7. A division of land less than ten acres in size that is not contiguous to another parcel of land less than ten acres divided from the same parent parcel, regardless of the size of other adjoining existing tracts of land.
(b) Exempted divisions listed herein are subject only to the provisions of § 155.007 of this chapter and shall be exempt from other provisions of this code not specified or referred to in that section.
SUBDIVISION, RURAL. Has the same requirements and procedures as a subdivision set forth in divisions (1), (2) and (3) above of the definition of “subdivision”, except as follows:
(1) All or any part of the tract of land contained within the area to be subdivided shall be located in the unincorporated territory at least one mile distance from the corporate limit of any town or a city; and
(2) The minimum lot area per dwelling unit minimum lot width shall be one acre and 150 feet, respectively.
TECHNICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE. A committee of persons designated to review applications and plats consisting of the following members:
(1) Plan Commission President;
(2) County Surveyor;
(3) A.N.R. Educator;
(4) Plan Commission Attorney; and
(5) Executive Director.
THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The part of the Comprehensive Plan, now or hereafter adopted, which includes a thoroughfare plan and sets forth the location, alignment, dimensions, identification and classification of existing and proposed streets, highways and other thoroughfares. Also MAJOR STREET AND HIGHWAY PLAN or THOROUGHFARE PLAN CODE.
TOWN. The incorporated towns of Osgood, Versailles, Holton, Napoleon, Milan or Sunman, Indiana.
TOWN COUNCIL. The Town Councils of Napoleon, Milan, Osgood, Holton, Versailles or Sunman.
ZONING ORDINANCE.
An ordinance now or hereafter adopted under the 600 Series of I.C. 36-7-4, including a zone map which divides the jurisdiction of the Commission into districts, with regulations and requirements and procedures for the establishment of land use controls, and which indicates where subdivision of land may occur. Also
AREA ZONING CODE OF RIPLEY COUNTY, INDIANA 1991
or
CHAPTER 156 OF THIS CODE OF ORDINANCES.
(Ord. passed 6-5-1991; Ord. 2006-08, passed 3-13-2006; Ord. 2007-12, passed 11-19-2007; Ord. 2015-01, passed 3-16-2015)