All subdivisions shall abut upon or have an approved access to a public street. In addition, the following standards shall apply:
1. Each lot or unit within the subdivision shall have approved direct access to a public or private street;
2. Street layout shall be designed to provide for future access to, and not impose undue hardship upon, property adjoining the subdivision;
3. No new direct driveway access from individual residential lots onto divided major arterials, major arterials or minor arterials shall be permitted, unless approved by the Director and City Engineer;
4. In the case of private streets, the subdivider shall provide an appropriate method for permanent maintenance subject to approval of the City Engineer and the City Attorney;
5. Reserve strips, or non-access at the end of any street or at the exterior boundary of the subdivision, shall be dedicated unconditionally to the City, when required; and
6. A tentative tract or parcel map shall provide for at least 2 different standard routes for ingress and egress, except as provided below. A standard route is a road which is dedicated to the City and has a minimum paved width of 24 feet. The different standard routes shall be designed to utilize separate roadways or streets, or a common street that provides access from opposite directions, provided that the access from each direction utilizes an independent street system. The purpose of these routes is to permit accessibility to fire fighting and other public equipment and to permit orderly evacuation in the event of flood, fire or other emergency. Prior to recordation of the final map, adequate security shall be provided to ensure construction of the required improvements before any certificate of occupancy is issued.
Exemptions. A tentative tract or parcel map may be exempted from providing 2 different standard routes of ingress and egress and provide only 1 standard route only if all of the following circumstances exist:
A. General
(1) The Fire Chief, the Director, and the City Engineer determine that there is no feasible alternative to providing 2 different standard routes of access for the tentative subdivision map.
(2) The determination is made by the City Traffic Engineer that a second standard route is not necessary for circulation purposes (this determination may require the submittal of a traffic study addressing the issue).
(3) The Fire Chief specifically finds that the public health, safety, and welfare in the event of flood, fire, or other emergency do not require both such routes, under the circumstances of that particular tentative map, development agreement or specific plan application. The Fire Chief shall provide written documentation of this finding to the Planning Commission and may recommend approval or denial of the request. The Planning Commission shall make its recommendation to the Mayor and Common Council for final decision of the tentative map with only 1 standard access route, based on the determination of the City Traffic Engineer and the findings and recommendation of the Fire Chief.
B. Tentative Maps Located within the Foothill Fire Zones
Where the subject property is located within a Foothill Fire Zone, as defined in Chapter 19.15, the Planning Commission, upon the recommendation of the Director, the Fire Chief and the City Engineer, may approve a tentative map with 1 standard and 1 non-standard access route. A non-standard access route is a road which is not constructed in full conformance with the requirements for a standard route set forth above. In no event may a tentative map be approved within a Foothill Fire Zone unless 2 access routes are provided, of which 1 shall be standard. One standard and 1 non-standard access route may be approved where it is found that with respect to the non-standard access route when all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The public health, safety and welfare do not require that the secondary access be a standard route;
(2) That such route shall be designed and maintained to support the imposed load of fire apparatus and shall have a surface sufficient to provide all- weather driving capabilities;
(3) That such route is at least 20 feet in width to accommodate emergency vehicles, in accordance with Article 10 of the Uniform Fire Code;
(4) A City-approved traffic analysis has been completed which documents that a second standard access is not needed for general traffic circulation.
C. Conditions for 1 Standard Access Route
Any tentative tract or parcel map approved with less than 2 standard routes of access shall be subject to all of the following:
(1) All structures shall be provided with interior automatic sprinklers in order to help decrease the spread of fire. The design and installation shall be approved by the City Fire Department.
(For the purposes of this Development Code, a cul-de-sac is defined as a street or connection system of streets having only one outlet for vehicular traffic and ending in a turnaround. The length of the cul-de-sac is measured along its centerline from the centerpoint of the turnaround to the intersection of the centerlines of the cul-de-sac and the first street that has at least two outlets to a street system outside of the project boundaries; in situations where no secondary access route is provided, the access route is the cul-de-sac outlet.)
(3) The Water Department General Manager shall determine if a looped system or similar mechanism shall be installed at the time of development to ensure adequate water service.
(4) Any other recommended requirements the Fire Chief deems necessary to ensure public health, safety, and welfare, including, but not limited to structural design, and number and location of fire hydrants.
D. Conditions for a Non-Standard Access Route
(1) Requirement of dedication and perpetual maintenance. Any non-standard access route shall be over a dedicated right-of-way or irrevocable easement; such route may be over an easement granted to any public entity when such easement includes provisions for the perpetual maintenance of the access routes in the manner approved by the City at the time of its approval of the tentative map.
(2) Improvement of access route upon further development. At such time as further development occurs which would provide an access route to a subdivision over a non-standard route previously approved by the Mayor and Common Council pursuant to the provisions of this section, that route shall be dedicated and fully improved to a standard width for a street of its type, with curbs, gutters, sidewalks and such other street improvements as may be required under this code or any other ordinances or policy.
(3) Fuel modification. A fire model of the site shall be developed for the purpose of determining the extent of the fuel modification zone, and if the minimum standards for a fuel modification plan as set forth in Section 19.15.020(6)(J) are adequate with a non-standard secondary access route.
(4) Controlled access. The use of gates, or other forms of controlled access to and from the non-standard access route, shall be subject to approval of the Director, Fire Chief and City Engineer, and shall utilize a design subject to Fire Department approval.
E. Procedures for Exemption
A Variance application shall be submitted pursuant to Chapter 19.72 concurrently with any tentative map, development agreement or specific plan application under which an exemption from the requirement for a second standard access route is proposed.
(Ord. MC-902, 4-19-94)