(a) "Subdivision" means:
(1) The division of any parcel of land shown as a unit or as contiguous units on the last preceding tax roll, into two or more parcels, sites or lots, any one of which is less than five acres for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership, provided, however, that the division or partition of land into parcels of more than five acres not involving any new streets or easements of access, and the sale or exchange of parcels between adjoining lot owners, where such sale or exchange does not create additional building sites, shall be exempted; or
(2) The improvement of one or more parcels of land for residential, commercial or industrial structures or groups of structures involving the division or allocation of land for the opening, widening or extension of any street or streets, except private streets serving industrial structures; the division or allocation of land as 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 facilities.
(b) "Subdivider" means the owner, or authorized agent of the owner, of the subdivision.
(c) "Streets and alleys" means a way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place or however otherwise designated.
(1) Arterial streets and highways are those which are used primarily for fast or heavy traffic.
(2) Collector streets are those which carry traffic from minor streets to the major system of arterial streets and highways, including the principal entrance streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within such a development.
(3) Minor streets are those which are used primarily for access to the abutting properties.
(4) Marginal access streets are minor streets which are parallel to and adjacent to arterial streets and highways; and which provide access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
(5) Alleys are minor ways which are used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or the side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.
(d) "Clear sight triangles" means an area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of street and center lines.
(e) "Commission" means the City Planning Commission.
(f) "Cul-de-sac" means a minor street with one end open for public vehicular and pedestrian access and the other end terminating in a vehicular turnaround.
(g) "Easement" means a grant by a property owner of the use, for a specific purpose or purposes, of a strip of land by the general public, a corporation or a certain person or persons.
(h) "Improvements" means those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable and desirable lots from raw acreage including, but not limited to grading, pavement, curb, gutter, storm sewers and drains, and betterments to existing watercourses, sidewalks, street signs, crosswalks, shade trees, sodding or seeding, monuments, water supply facilities and sewage disposal facilities.
(i) "Lot" means a tract or parcel of land intended for transfer of ownership, use or improvement, whether immediate or future.
(j) "City" or "village". A city means a municipal corporation which, at the last Federal census, had a population of 5,000 registered resident electors and resident voters. All other municipal corporations are villages.
(k) "Preapplication procedure" means the opportunity for the subdivider to gain the advice and assistance of the Planning Commission before preparation of the preliminary plat and before formal application for its approval, in order to save time and money in complying with the requirements of subdivision acceptance.
(l) "Conditional approval" means a tentative subdivision plan, in lesser detail than a final plan; a prerequisite step to submission for final approval.
(m) "Final plat" means a complete and exact subdivision plan, prepared for official recording as required by statute, to define property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
(n) "Reverse frontage lot" means a lot extending between and having frontage on a major traffic street and a minor street and with vehicular access solely from the latter.
(o) "Right-of-way" means land reserved for use as a street, alley, interior walk, or for other public purpose.
(p) "Set-back or building line" means the line within a property defining the required minimum distance between any enclosed structure and the adjacent right of way.
(q) "Sight distance" means the maximum extent of unobstructed vision in horizontal or vertical plane along a street from a vehicle located at any given point on the street.
(r) "Plat" means a map of a tract or parcel of land.
(Ord. 731120-127. Passed 1-15-74.)