450.070 Land Partitions.
A. Approval Required: A tract of land or contiguous tracts under a single ownership shall not be partitioned into two (2) or more parcels until a partition application has been approved by the City.
B. Partitioning Procedures: A partition shall be submitted under the following procedure:
(1) There shall be submitted to the City a tracing of a tentative plan 18 by 24 inches in size with the following information:
(a) The date, north point, scale and sufficient description to define the location and boundaries of the tract to be partitioned and its location.
(b) Name and address of the record owner and of the person who prepared the tentative plan.
(c) Approximate acreage of the land under a single ownership or, if more than one ownership is involved, the total contiguous acreage of the landowners directly involved in the partitioning.
(d) For land adjacent to and within the tract to be partitioned, the locations, names and existing widths of streets; location, width and purpose of other existing easements; and location and size of sewer and water lines and drainage ways and the location of power poles.
(e) Outline and location of existing buildings to remain in place.
(f) Parcel layout, showing size and relationship to existing or proposed streets and utility easements.
(g) Such additional information as required by the Planning Commission.
(2) The Planning Commission may define the circumstances under which an application for partitioning may be given routine administrative review and approval. Under this procedure, the City Administrator shall check the proposal against the development plan and may approve the proposal without submitting it to the Planning Commission.
(3) If the location or type of land is not such as has been defined for routine administrative approval or if the proposed partitioning does not appear to comply with the requirements for routine administrative approval, the tentative plan shall be submitted for Planning Commission review and determination that the proposal will comply with this Code. The Planning Commission may require dedication of land and easements and may specify conditions or modifications in the tentative plan as necessary. In no event, however, shall the Planning Commission require greater dedications or conditions than could be required if the tract were subdivided.
(4) When a tentative plan has been approved, all copies shall be marked with the date and conditions, if any, of approval. When compliance with conditions has been assured, the plan shall be marked approved and then becomes the partition map.
(5) In the event that the tentative plan and partition is not approved by the Planning Commission, the same shall be returned to the City Recorder for appropriate action in conformance therewith.
B. Flag Lot Partitions in Residential Zones – Partitions involving the creation of flag lots in residential zones shall be approved by the Planning Commission in accordance with the partition approval procedure if the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) Findings for Partition Approval have been met.
(2) The partition does not cause undue harm to adjacent property owners.
(3)
(a) The access for flag lots shall comply with Section 460.030 B. of this Code and shall have a minimum of 15 foot width paved driving surface. For drives serving two lots, there shall be a minimum of 15 feet width of driving surface to the back of the first lot, and 12 feet width respectively, for the rear lot. Drives shared by adjacent properties shall have a 15 foot width paved driving surface.
(b) Flag drives shall be constructed so as to prevent surface drainage from flowing over sidewalks or other public ways. Flag drives shall be in the same ownership as the flag lots served. If a drive is shared between owners, there shall be provided a joint driveway access easement and maintenance agreement to ensure legal access and adequate maintenance of the drive.
(c) Flag drives shall not exceed a minimum grade of 15 %.
(d) Flag drives greater than 250 feet in length shall provide an adequate turnaround for emergency vehicles.
(4) A site plan of the flag lot partition shall be submitted illustrating the following:
(a) The location of all proposed structures in the partition.
(b) The location of driveways, turnarounds and parking spaces.
(c) Landscaping or screening adjoining the drive.
(5) No more than two (2) lots are to be served by the flag drive.
(6) For the purpose of meeting the lot area requirement, the lot area, exclusive of the flag drive area, must meet the minimum square footage requirements of the zoning district.