(A) Generally.
The purpose of this section is to provide general overall guidelines for the establishment of individual lots within subdivisions designed to accommodate various types of residential housing schemes without resorting to more specific and detailed standards strictly associated with a particular housing type or market label which may be associated with a subdivision of land containing lots designed to be offered for sale to the general public.
(B) General lot design; arrangement layout.
The general lot design within any subdivision should be based upon the concept that the lots are created and established as undivided tracts of land and that purchasers of the lots can be assured that these tracts of land meet the following basic criteria.
(1) The lot is of sufficient size and shape to allow the construction of a residential dwelling unit which can meet the requirements of established building or construction codes, housing and public health codes, and ordinances and accepted family living standards.
(2) The lot is of sufficient size and shape to accommodate easement for all public and private utility services and facilities to adequately serve any residential dwelling unit constructed thereon.
(3) The lot is of sufficient size and shape and is so located that direct vehicular access is provided from a public street or through an approved permanent access easement and that the required number of vehicles can be parked on the lot without encroachment within any adjacent public street or alley rights-of-way.
(C) Lot shapes.
Lots should be designed, so far as possible, with side lot lines being at right angles or radial to any adjacent street right-of-way line. Where all lots are either perpendicular and at right angles or radial to adjacent street rights-of-way, a suitable notation may be placed upon the plat in lieu of lot line bearings.
(D) Key or flag lots.
Key or flag lots may be permitted under unusual circumstances; however, the narrowest part of such a lot, being the staff portion of the flag lot, must not be less than 20 feet in width or have a length of more than 200 feet. The lot must also be restricted to prevent the construction of any building, structure, wall, or fence within the staff portion of the lot and that the staff portion of the lot will be restricted for access to such lot only. The restrictions must be shown on the face of the subdivision plat in the form of a notation or a part of the dedicatory language on the plat.
(E) Double-front lots.
Double-front lots will not be approved except in those instances where lots are restricted for residential use and back up on an adjacent designated major thoroughfare or where special circumstances would warrant a variance to this regulation.
(F) Street access limitations.
Rear and side vehicular driveway access from lots, restricted for the construction of residential dwelling units, to adjacent streets designated as major thoroughfare, freeway, highway or any other public street which carries a traffic volume where additional vehicular driveways would create a traffic hazard or impede the flow of traffic, will not be approved and the access restriction must be noted directly upon the plat and adjacent to the lots in question.
(G) Lot and block identification.
All blocks established in any subdivision shall be designated by number with the numbers being consecutive within the whole subdivision plat. Lots established within the blocks shall also be numbered with the numbers being consecutive within the block. Lot numbering may be cumulative throughout the subdivision if the numbering system continues from block to block in a uniform manner.
(H) Minimum lot sizes; general provisions.
(1) Non-residential uses.
Lots to be established in any subdivision plat which are designed or intended for nonresidential uses or are intended to be unrestricted, must have a minimum lot area of not less than 5,000 square feet and must have frontage along and adjacent to at least one public street having a right-of-way width of not less than 60 feet. If the lots or tracts proposed to be established and designated as lots, but must be established and designated as reserves and subject to those provisions of this chapter pertaining to reserves in § 154.36.
(2) Residential uses.
(a) Radial lots, being those lots adjacent to curved streets or circular cul-de-sacs, must have a width at the front property line equal to the minimum width for lots specified herein.
(b) Corner lots must be ten feet wider than the average interior lots within the block and where the corner lots are located at the intersection of a local street and designated major thoroughfares must be 20 feet wider than the average interior lot within the block.
(c) When lots are backing on a natural drainage way (bayou, creek, gully, and the like) an open drainage facility or other encumbrances, the lots must have a depth sufficient to provide at least 80 feet from the drainage easement line or encumbrances boundary to the front building setback line or front property line if no building setback restriction is required.
(d) When lots are facing or backing on a designated major thoroughfare the lots must have a depth at least ten feet deeper than the average depth of lots within the interior of the subdivision having frontage on local streets.
(e) The minimum lot area for lots must not be less than 60 feet wide and 100 feet deep or have less than 7,000 square feet area. Under special conditions, provided for herein, the lot area and street accessibility conditions herein provided may be modified if specifically approved by the City Council. (See division (I) below.) Two off-street parking spaces must be provided on or adjacent to each lot with the width of the spaces being not less than eight and one-half feet each and that the spaces cannot be in tandem.
(I) Minimum lot sizes; special conditions.
To accommodate various types of unique and innovative housing forms which are usually based upon a concept of reducing the area of individually owned lots and grouping the lots together to more efficiently utilize the total space within the subdivision by creating common open spaces, scenic and recreational areas, and other spaces which would compensate for the reduction of land area contained within the individually owned lot, the following standards have been developed and applied to a variety of the housing forms including, but not limited to townhouses, town homes, patio homes, courtyard homes, planned unit developments, cluster homes, or any other designation of whatever nature. All other provisions contained in this manual are applicable to these types of housing forms unless specifically noted herein.
(1) Street access.
In general, all lots shall have frontage and be adjacent to at least one public street having a right-of-way of not less than 60 feet. Lots containing an area less than 3,500 square feet may have frontage on a public street, may have frontage upon an approved common courtyard or common open space having frontage on a public street or may have frontage upon a private street which connects with a public street. In these instances where the special lot is to be established without direct frontage along an adjacent public street, the lots must be part of a unified development scheme where the owners' association, corporation, or other organization as one of its purposes the continued care and maintenance of all commonly owned properties within the subdivision, particularly the areas established as private streets. Proof of establishment of the legally binding restrictions and obligations must be provided to the city prior to the recording of any plat containing any lots not having frontage along an adjacent public street.
(2) Reduced lot area; width.
Lots proposed to be established under these special conditions must be sanitary sewered lots and may have a gross area of not less than 1,400 square feet with a minimum width not less than 18 feet. Two off-street parking spaces must be provided on or adjacent to each lot with the width of the spaces being not less than eight and one-half feet each and that the spaces cannot be in tandem.
(3) Compensating common open space required.
(a) In those instances where the proposed lot has a gross area of less than 7,000 square feet, compensating common open space must be established and provided within the plat boundary and based upon the following schedule:
Compensating Opening Space Requirements (Lots Less Than 5,000 Square Feet in Area) | |
Average Area of Lots (Square Feet) | Compensating Open Space Required Per Lot (Square Feet) |
Compensating Opening Space Requirements (Lots Less Than 5,000 Square Feet in Area) | |
Average Area of Lots (Square Feet) | Compensating Open Space Required Per Lot (Square Feet) |
1,400 to 2,000 | 720 |
2,001 to 2,500 | 600 |
2,501 to 3,000 | 500 |
3,001 to 3,500 | 400 |
3,501 to 4,000 | 300 |
4,001 to 4,500 | 200 |
4,501 to less than 7,000 | 100
|
(b) In no instance, however, will the compensating open space contained within any subdivision having special lots be less than 21,780 square feet (one-half acre) or shall the compensating open space required be in excess of 25% of the gross area of the property within the plat boundary exclusive of any public street rights-of-way involved. This does not apply to subdivisions having special lots and containing less than ten acres. Subdivisions having special lots and containing less than ten acres must, however, provide compensating open space in accordance with the schedule. If a plat containing lots requiring compensating open spaces is less than ten acres, but is a part of a larger tract, being planned and developed as an overall design, the city may take in consideration the overall development scheme in the determination of compensating open space requirements provided for herein.
(Ord. 96-0220, passed 2-20-1996; Ord. 19-1022A, passed 10-22-2019) Penalty, see § 154.99