(A) Policy. It is the policy of the of the Town of Swansboro that the citizens of the town and its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction area should be afforded reasonable facilities to promote recreation and other leisure time activities and that of new residential areas should share in the expense of providing such facilities.
(B) Applicability. This subchapter shall apply to all subdivisions of property within the Town of Swansboro or its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction area.
(C)
or payment in lieu of
required. Whenever any subdivides any property for residential purposes, the shall:
(1) Dedicate to the Town of Swansboro a portion of said property or other land considered by the Town to be suitable for the purposes of
and recreation; or
(2) Make a cash payment in lieu of such
in accordance with the provisions in this subchapter.
(D) Acceptance of
or payments in lieu of
. Unless a cash payment is required in lieu of land , the decision of the as to whether it will accept a of property or a cash payment in lieu of shall be in the sole discretion of the . The shall consider any recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Board of the Town of Swansboro before making its decision, provided that the
shall not be bound by the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Board.
(E) Size and nature of the
.
(1) The area required to be dedicated pursuant to this chapter shall be computed as follows: the total number of
or units in the subdivisions shall be multiplied by 0.025 acres. That product shall then be multiplied by the appropriate “density multiplier” as set out in the table below. That product shall then be expressed in acres and shall be the “area required” to be dedicated. Thus the formula can be summarized as:
Total number of
/units | x | 0.025 acres | x | Density Multiplier | = | Area Required |
(2) The “density multiplier” to be used in any case shall be the figure from the tables set out below which corresponds to the average acreage per
or unit in the , rounded to the nearest one-hundredth of an acre.
Average Acreage Per
/Unit | Density Multiplier |
0.00-0.15 | 1.4 |
0.16-0.24 | 1.2 |
0.25-0.49 | 1.0 |
0.50-0.99 | 0.9 |
1.01+ | 0.8 |
(F) Exception. If the computation set out above produces a product of less than two acres, then the shall make a cash payment in lieu of .
(G)
to town exclusive. All required by this Ordinance shall be to the Town of Swansboro and not to a private homeowners’ association or similar entity.
(H) Location of dedicated property. The property dedicated need not be in the
but, if not located with the
, the property dedicated shall be reasonably usable by residents of the
.
(I) Access. The property dedicated shall abut or have adequate access to a .
(J) Features of dedicated property. The property dedicated shall consist substantially of usable space with no more than one-fourth of said property consisting of floodplains, wetlands, or any area the topography of which renders it substantially unusable for typical recreation activities.
(K) Board’s discretion concerning time and nature of
. The shall have the right to accept, develop, and maintain the dedicated property in accordance with its of public needs.
(L) Amount of payment in lieu of
.
(1) When a cash payment is required in lieu of dedication, such payment shall be paid by the subdivider to the Town of Swansboro, shall be placed by the Town of Swansboro in a parks and recreation capital reserve fund, and may be used only for the acquisition or development of recreation, park, or open space sites to serve the subdivision being developed or subdivisions or development within the immediate area.
(2) The amount of the payment in lieu of
shall be based, in part, on the tax value of the as of the time of
approval, after removal of any exemptions allowed for agricultural, woodlands, or other non-urban use. The required payment shall be the product obtained by multiplying the tax value of the (as defined above) by a fraction, the numerator of which is the “Area Required” pursuant to the computations prescribed above, and the denominator of which is the total area of the
or .
Tax Value | x | Area Required | / | Total Area of | = | Payment Required |
(3) All sums payable pursuant to this section shall be paid in full prior to
approval and shall be reported to the
at the time of
approval.
(M) Alternative payment in lieu of
. When a cash payment is required in lieu of , a shall have the option to pay, at his or her option, a fixed amount per based on a schedule of fees adopted by the from time to time.
(N) Credit for private recreation facilities. The may, with respect to the land area to be dedicated or the cash payment to be made in lieu of , elect to give partial credit, in the satisfaction of these requirements, to private, on-site recreation facilities. In order to give credit for private recreation facilities, the Board shall find (a) that the private facilities are appropriate and are significantly usable for the type of
being developed and (b) that the facilities are likely to reduce the need for residents of the
to use public recreational facilities. The amount of credit that may be given is solely within the discretion of the , provided that it may not exceed 50% of the land or cash payment required.
(O)
of space for
facilities. Whenever the to be subdivided includes property included in any official Land Use Plan, Comprehensive Long-term Plan, or other similar official plan, or when the scale of indicates the need for such facilities (for example, but not by way of limitation, , fire stations, sewer lift stations, or other public facilities), the
shall reserve such sites for a period of 24 months after preliminary plan approval. If neither the Town of Swansboro, the County of Onslow, nor any other entity having the power of eminent domain has undertaken negotiations to purchase such areas or begun eminent domain proceedings with respect to such sites within said 24 month period, then the shall be deemed to have been rejected and the property subject to such shall be released therefrom.
(P) . When situations exist such that compliance with the letter of this Ordinance would cause an unusual, unavoidable and unnecessary hardship on the , the may vary the
set forth herein in accordance with the provisions of § 152.329.
(Q)
and density increase. If, following the initial approval of a
, the number of in the
is later increased by Town-approved or exempt
actions, the amount of land and/or fees due under this section shall be re-calculated, based on the new numbers and density, and any additional amounts of land or fees due under the provisions of this section shall be remitted within 30 days.
(Ord. 2005-O3, passed 3-15-2005; Am. Ord. 2008-O28, passed 10-21-2008; Am. Ord. 2008-32, passed 11-18-2008; Am. Ord. 2021-O3, passed 5-24-2021)