(a) General Procedure. Major subdivisions shall be approved in seven stages:
(1) Stage I. The submitter shall review the submittal with the Service Director who shall attach comments relative to maintenance problems encountered in the proximity of the development, and shall make distribution of preliminary discussion material to the Planning Commission, Safety Department, Fire Department, Park Board, City Engineer, and the appropriate sewer district sanitary engineer. He shall notify the Mayor and Council of the submittal through the regular Service Director's report. The City Engineer and Planning Commission shall review the material with the developer at a work session and coordinate the comments of City agencies and advise the developer of the salient provisions of the master sewer, water, highway and park plans expected by the development.
(2) Stage II. Preliminary plan shall be first presented to the Service Director in quantities necessary for distribution as indicated in subsection (a)(l) hereof. The preliminary plan shall include details as defined under Section 1179.03 hereinafter. The City Engineer shall have a minimum of ten working days to prepare comments for the Planning Commission formal session of preliminary plan review.
(3) Stage III. Construction documents shall be presented to the City Engineer and District Sanitary Engineer, in two copies including plans, profiles and specifications as further described in subsection (d) hereof. The City Engineer shall coordinate the comments of the City agencies relative to the plans and advise the Planning Commission of any conflicts between or among City agencies with recommendations, and the decision of the Planning Commission shall be final in mediating such disputes. The submittals shall be in the hands of the City Engineer ten working days prior to the scheduled Planning Commission regular session. The Planning Commission shall notify the school board of the plan approval.
(4) Stage IV. A construction agreement shall be negotiated with the City through the Office of the Mayor, coordinating financial assurances of improvements, traffic maintenance, safety precautions, delivery routing, load limits, road cleaning, inspection costs/services, interruption of plan modifications due to unforeseen hardship and other matters at the City's discretion.
(5) Stage V. Construction Phase. During the construction phase the City Engineer shall file the dedication plat and supervise his construction resident inspector who shall maintain a log of working conditions and as built locations for plan corrections by the owner's engineer. The City Engineer may stop work if safety precautions, quality control, payment schedules, improvements or procedures differ significantly from the stipulations of the construction agreement. As built corrected original tracings shall be turned over to the City Engineer. At the conclusion of the construction phase the City Engineer, by joint inspection with the Service Director, shall issue a Certificate of Substantial Completion which shall allow limited use of the improvements while maintaining capital maintenance by the owner.
(6) Stage VI. Initial Occupancy. During the first eighteen months after the issuance of the Certificate of Substantial Completion, the Service Director shall assume responsibility for snow removal as required for citizen residents. The City Engineer shall notify postal authorities, safety, fire protection and school bus services of the public use of the improvements. The owner shall make timely corrections to capital improvement deficiencies as may become evident during initial occupancy. No occupancy permit shall be issued without the Certificate of Substantial Completion.
(7) Stage VII. Formal acceptance of the improvement for all maintenance, capital and public use shall be initiated by the submittal of the approved improvements by the Service Director and the City Engineer to Council and their acceptance of same for the City. In the event of a conflict between the recommendations by the Engineer and the Service Director, the Mayor shall mediate the dispute and make recommendation to Council. No improvement financial assurances may be released to the developer until improvements have been accepted by Council. A minimum of eighteen consecutive months must transpire between the Certificate of Substantial Completion and the formal acceptance of the improvements by Council. Capital repair items effected by the developer during this period shall restart the eighteen consecutive months for those items.
(b) Preliminary Conference. Before submitting an application for preliminary plat, the applicant shall consult with the Planning Director and the City Engineer. The applicant shall submit a preliminary discussion map including all items required by Section 1179.02, and shall also obtain a preliminary steps certification form (see Appendix C) from the Service Director, which shall be signed by the agencies listed on the form. The purpose of the conference shall be to exchange preliminary information that may affect the design of the subdivision, including, but not limited to, the need for an environmental assessment report under Section 1152.05.
(c) Preliminary Plat Procedure.
(1) Submission of Preliminary Plat. An applicant shall make application to the Planning Director for approval of a preliminary plat. All information required by Section 1179.03 shall be submitted to the Planning Director at least ten (10) working days before the meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission at which the plat is to be considered. When the application is complete (as determined by the Planning Director), the application shall be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission and placed on the agenda for the next regularly-scheduled meeting, with the following information:
A. Two (2) copies of application. (See Appendix B.)
B. One (1) copy of the preliminary steps certification form. (See Appendix C.)
C. At least ten (10) copies of the preliminary plat including a vicinity map. (See Appendix D.)
D. Any other data that the Planning Director or City Engineer deems necessary.
(2) Review of Preliminary Plat by City Staff and Agencies. The Planning Director shall transmit a copy of the preliminary plat to the following officials and agencies for their review and recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
A. The City Engineer.
B. The Chairpersons of the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council.
C. The Director of Water Resources.
D. The School Board.
E. The Fire Department.
F. The Safety/Police Department.
G. The Service Director.
H. Such other persons or agencies the Planning Director deems appropriate.
The applicant may transmit copies of the preliminary plat to utility companies and others as deemed necessary. The officials and agencies shall make their review and submit their recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission at least three (3) working days before the meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission at which the plat is to be considered.
(3) Official Filing of Preliminary Plat. Upon determination by the Planning Director that the preliminary plat application has been properly submitted, the preliminary plat and application shall be accepted as being officially filed.
(4) Planning and Zoning Commission Action. The Planning and Zoning Commission, within one hundred eighty days (180) of the date of official filing, shall approve, approve conditionally, or disapprove the preliminary plat. The action shall be noted on both the preliminary plat and application and a copy of each returned to the applicant. The action shall also be entered on the official records of the Planning and Zoning Commission and a copy of the preliminary plat and application with action noted kept on file.
In reviewing the preliminary plat, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall consider the recommendations and comments from the City Staff and Agencies and, where appropriate, require submission of an environmental assessment report or other data needed to assure compliance with these Regulations.
(5) Effect of Approval. Approval of a preliminary plat by the Planning and Zoning Commission is not an acceptance of the subdivision for record. It is an approval of a general plan as a guide for the preparation of improvement plans and a subdivision plat for approval and recording upon fulfillment of all requirements of these Regulations. Approval of a preliminary plat shall be effective for a period of one (1) year following the date of approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission unless an extension of time is granted. Upon expiration of a preliminary plat approval, no approval of a plat shall be given until the preliminary plat and application has been resubmitted and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Construction of improvements shall not begin until action on the Construction Agreement has been taken by Council. (See Section 1177.04(e)(3)).
(d) Improvement Plan Procedure. The applicant-developer’s engineer shall prepare improvement plans that include all phases of the work to be performed to make the land suitable for development into the use proposed. These plans shall be complete and precise in all details, conform with the approved preliminary plat, and be submitted to and approved by the City Engineer before any improvements are constructed.
(e) Final Plat Procedure.
(1) Submission of the Final Plat. The applicant shall make application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval of a final plat. The final plat submitted shall conform to the approved preliminary plat. Subdivisions may be submitted for approval in consecutive sections provided that preliminary plat and improvement plan approval has been given for the entire subdivision.
A. Two (2) copies of the application for final plat approval. (See Appendix E.)
B. Original tracing and two (2) copies of plat and vicinity map. (See Appendix F.)
C. Original tracing and four (4) copies of approved improvement plans.
E. One (1) copy of financial assurances approved by City’s Law Director in an amount stated by the City Engineer.
F. The City Engineer may request additional copies of any of the above items and any other additional information deemed necessary.
Within five (5) working days of the date of submission, the City Engineer shall determine if all the items as required by Section 1179.04 have been submitted. If all the required items have not been submitted, the City Engineer shall notify the applicant of such omissions.
(2) Official Filing of Plat. The City Engineer shall present to the Planning and Zoning Commission the final plat documents, which meet the requirements of Section 1179.04 at the next regularly-scheduled Planning and Zoning Commission meeting after all required documents have been submitted. Upon determination by the Planning and Zoning Commission that the plat has been properly submitted, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall accept the plat as being officially filed and shall certify on the copies the date of acceptance.
(3) Planning and Zoning Commission Action. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall approve or disapprove the final plat within sixty (60) days from the date of official filing or within a mutually agreed upon time extension; otherwise, the plat shall be deemed to have been approved.
One of the following actions shall be taken by the Planning and Zoning Commission:
A. Approval. The Planning and Zoning Commission may give approval before all required improvements are installed, authorizing its chairman to sign the plat at such time as a construction agreement and financial assurance, acceptable to the City’s Law Director and City Engineer, are provided for the purpose of assuring installation of such improvements. The amount of such financial assurance shall be sufficient to cover the cost of all improvements, based upon an estimate by the City Engineer. For the purpose of satisfying the financial assurance requirement of this Section 1177.04(e)(3), it shall be sufficient for the applicant to submit the guarantee of a solvent bank or other financial institution that funds in the amount of the financial assurance requirement have been committed to the installation of such improvements, in accordance with Ohio R.C. 1151.293 and that such funds shall not be disbursed by the bank or financial institution without the prior approval of the City Engineer. Upon receipt of the City Engineer’s certification and determination that all the requirements of these Regulations have been met, the Planning and Zoning Commission may give approval and shall indicate such approval and date on the tracing of the plat.
B. Disapproval. Should the Planning and Zoning Commission determine to disapprove the plat, written notice of such action, including reference to the regulations or regulation violated by the plat, shall be mailed to the applicant. The action shall also be entered on the official records of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
C. Approval Without Board Action. In the event the Planning and Zoning Commission shall fail to approve or disapprove the plat within sixty (60) days from the date of its official filing, or within a mutually agreed upon time extension, the final plat shall be deemed to have been approved.
D. Power to Review. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the power to review, recommend, and regulate additional or a modification of improvements under Section 1183.01, shade trees, street trees, shrubbery, and other vegetative plantings, including buffer zones and setbacks and wetland and riparian setbacks in residential subdivisions, commercial developments, and the development of industrial parks or parcels as required by Chapters 1151 and 1152.
(4) Effect of Approval. Approval of a final plat by the Planning and Zoning Commission shall not be an acceptance by the public of the offer of dedication of any street, highway, or other public ways or open space upon the plat unless such acceptance is also endorsed by Council upon the tracing of the plat or upon ordinance of Council specifically accepting such streets as public streets.
(5) Recording of Plat. After approval of a final plat by the Planning and Zoning Commission, the applicant shall return the tracing to the City Engineer who, after rechecking, shall secure approval of the Tax Map Department. The City Engineer shall then present the plat to the County Auditor for transfer and to the County Recorder for recording. All fees required in connection with the above process as well as costs of reproductions of the plat shall be paid by the applicant.
(Ord. 2004-183. Passed 11-22-04.)