(a) General Suitability of Land for Development. If the Planning Commission and the City Council find that land proposed to be subdivided is unsuitable for subdivision development due to flooding, poor drainage, topography or inadequate water supply, wastewater treatment facilities, transportation facilities, or such other conditions as may endanger health, life or property, and if, from investigations conducted by the public agencies concerned, it is determined that, in the best interest of the public, the land should not be developed for the subdivision proposed, the Planning Commission and the City Council shall not approve the land for the purpose unless adequate methods are advanced by the subdivider for solving the problems that will be created by the development of the land.
(b) Topography, Floodplain Areas, Wetlands, and Natural Areas.
(1) Natural amenities (including views, creeks, riparian corridors, and similar features) shall be preserved and incorporated into proposed development to the greatest extent feasible.
(2) All subdivisions of land and installation of public improvements involving areas subject to flooding, as defined by National Flood Insurance Program Maps and Data, shall conform to all applicable floodplain regulations and the requirements of adopted regulations involving the City's participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.
(3) Land which is determined by the Planning Commission to be unsuitable for subdivision or development due to flooding, the presence of Federal Jurisdiction Wetlands, or other features which will reasonably be harmful to the safety, health and general welfare of the present or future inhabitants of the subdivision and/or its surrounding areas shall not be subdivided or developed unless methods adequate to resolve the problems are formulated by the developer and approved by Council, upon recommendation by the Planning Commission and upon advice of the Director of Community Development.
(4) The natural topography shall be retained wherever possible in order to reduce excessive runoff onto adjoining property and to avoid extensive regrading of the site.
(5) Floor elevations of all buildings shall be carefully studied in relation to existing topography, proposed street grades, existing trees and other pertinent site features.
(c) Subdivision Names. The proposed name of the subdivision shall not duplicate or too closely approximate phonetically, the name of any other subdivision in the City, Butler County, or Hamilton County. The City shall have final authority to designate the name of the subdivision.
(d) Shade Trees. The Planning Commission is hereby authorized to require, restrict or regulate the planting of trees within a public way, street or alley in any new subdivision, prior to acceptance thereof by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission may require any and all such restrictions or regulations to be made a part of the recorded plat for any and all new subdivision plats presented for approval to such Planning Commission.
(e) Traffic Control Devices. The subdivider shall provide all traffic control devices for the proposed development, including, but not limited to, traffic signals, signs, pavement markings and the like. Refer to the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (OMUTC) for details of the devices to be used, and, in some cases, warrants for their use.
(f) Debris and Waste. No cut trees, diseased trees, timber, debris, earth, rocks, stones, soil, junk, rubbish or other waste materials of any kind shall be buried in any land, or left or deposited on any lot or street at the time of the zoning compliance inspection. No items and materials as described in the preceding sentence shall be left or deposited in any area of the subdivision at the time of dedication of public improvements.
(g) Cornerstones, Monuments, Markers and Pins.
(1) For the purpose of this section, the term "corner" shall be considered any change in direction of a property line. Curved property lines may be exempt from placement of permanent markers at all corners as determined by the Planning Commission.
(2) At the time of surveying and laying out a subdivision, the subdivider of a subdivision shall direct the surveyor to place and set at least four permanent markers, one such marker to be located at each corner along the perimeter of the subdivision. Additionally, one such marker shall be placed at all corners of each interior lot. All permanent markers shall be placed in a manner so that the line of sight between such markers can be observed from one marker to the other.
(3) If the location for a permanent marker is originally determined to be in an area of solid rock, it may be relocated and offset from its original position. Such relocation must be noted on the plat.
(4) All permanent markers shall be made of either stone or concrete at least four (4) inches in diameter, or four (4) inches square, and properly marked. The markings on such markers shall consist of a crosscut with the legs of the cross at least three inches long and at least one-eighth (1/8) inch deep. All stone and concrete markers shall be at least thirty (30) inches long and the bottom of such markers shall be set at least thirty (30) inches below finished grade.
(5) All permanent markers shall be clearly designated on the plat before it is presented to the Planning Commission for approval.
(6) Improvements shall not be accepted until the City Engineer has verified in the field, that monuments, shown on the plat and certified by the surveyor and/or engineer, have been placed.
(Ord. 2022-22. Passed 5-10-22.)