SECTION 1301.01 PURPOSE:
All subdivisions of land hereafter submitted shall fully comply in all respects with the regulations to:
A. Provide for and guide the orderly, economic and safe development of land, urban services and facilities.
B. Encourage well-planned, efficient and attractive subdivisions by establishing adequate and impartial standards for design and construction.
C. Provide for the health, safety and welfare of residents by requiring the necessary services such as properly designed streets and adequate sewage and water service.
D. Place the cost of improvements against those benefiting from their construction.
E. Secure the rights of the public with respect to public lands and waters.
F. Set the minimum requirements necessary to protect the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.
SECTION 1301.02 SCOPE OF LEGAL AUTHORITY:
A. The rules and regulations governing plats and subdivision of land contained herein shall apply within the boundaries of the City of Sunfish Lake. This Chapter is not intended to repeal, annul or in any way impair or interfere with existing provisions of other laws, ordinances or with restrictive covenants running with the land except those specifically repealed by or in conflict with this Chapter.
B. The City shall have the power and authority to review, amend and approve subdivisions of land already recorded and on file with Dakota County if such plats are entirely or partially undeveloped.
SECTION 1301.03 ADMINISTRATION:
This Chapter shall be administered by the City Planner who is retained or employed by the City.
SECTION 1301.04 AMENDMENTS:
The provisions of this Chapter shall be amended by the City following a legally advertised public hearing before the Planning Commission and in accordance with the law, including the rules and regulations of any applicable state or federal agency.
SECTION 1301.05 APPROVALS NECESSARY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF SUBDIVISION PLATS:
Before any plat or subdivision of land shall be recorded or be of any validity, it shall be referred to the City Planning Commission and approved by the City Council of Sunfish Lake as having fulfilled the requirements of this Chapter.
SECTION 1301.06 CONDITIONS FOR RECORDING:
No plat or subdivision shall be entitled to be recorded in the Dakota County Recorder's Office or have any validity until the plat thereof has been prepared, approved, and acknowledged in the manner prescribed by this Chapter.
SECTION 1301.07 BUILDING PERMITS:
No building permits shall be issued for any construction enlargement, alteration, repair, demolition or moving of any building or structure on any lot or parcel until all the requirements of these regulations have been fully met, including site and building plan review procedures as outlined in Section 1208 of the Sunfish Lake Zoning Ordinance, or exceptions from this requirement have been formally established by a development contract.
SECTION 1301.08 SEPARABILITY:
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Chapter is for any reason found to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter.
SECTION 1301.09 INTERPRETATION:
The language set forth in the text of this Chapter shall be interpreted in accordance with the following rules of construction:
A. The singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular.
B. The present tense includes the past and the future tenses, and the future the present.
C. The word "shall" is mandatory while the word "may" is permissive.
D. Where the conditions imposed by any provisions of this Chapter are either more restrictive or less restrictive than comparable conditions imposed by any other law, ordinance, code, statute, resolution or regulation, the regulations which are more restrictive or impose higher standards or requirements shall prevail.
E. All measured distances shall be expressed in feet and decimals of feet.
SECTION 1301.10 DEFINITIONS:
The following words and terms, wherever they occur in this Ordinance, shall be interpreted as herein defined:
Applicant: The owner, their agent, or other person having legal control, ownership and/or interest in the land proposed to be subdivided.
Block: An area of land within a subdivision that is entirely bounded by streets, or by streets and the entire boundary or boundaries of the subdivision, or a combination of the above with a river or lake.
Boulevard: The portion of the street right-of-way between the roadway shoulder or curb line and the property line.
Buffer: The use of land, topography (difference in elevation), space, fences or landscape plantings to screen or partially screen a use or property from another use or property.
Building: Any structure built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattel or movable property of any kind, and includes any structure.
Certificate of Survey: A document prepared by a Registered Engineer or Registered Land Surveyor which precisely describes area, dimensions and location of a parcel or parcels of land.
City: The City of Sunfish Lake.
City Attorney: The attorney employed or retained by the City, unless otherwise stated.
City Building Official: The person designated by the City Council to be the City Building Official for the City of Sunfish Lake.
City Council: The governing body for the City of Sunfish Lake.
City Engineer: The person designated by the City Council to be the City Engineer for the City of Sunfish Lake.
City Planner: The person designated by the City Council to be the City Planner for the City of Sunfish Lake.
Clerk: The Sunfish Lake City Clerk.
Comprehensive Plan: A comprehensive plan prepared and approved by the City, including a compilation of policy statements, goals, standards, fiscal guidelines, and maps indicating the general locations recommended for the various functional classes of land use, places and structures, and for the general physical development of the City, including any unit or part of such plan separately adopted and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof.
Contour Map: A map on which irregularities of land surface are shown by lines connecting points of equal elevations. "Contour interval" shall mean the vertical height between contour lines.
Copy: A print or reproduction made from a tracing.
County: Dakota County, Minnesota.
Design Standards: The specifications to landowners or those proposing to subdivide land for the preparation of plats, both preliminary and final, indicating among other things, the optimum, minimum or maximum dimensions of such items as rights-of-way, blocks, easements and lots.
Development: Acts relating to subdividing land, platting land, building structures and installing lot improvements.
Drainage Course: A water course or surface area for the drainage or conveyance of surface water.
Easement: A grant by an owner of land for a specific use by persons other than the owner.
Final Plat: A drawing or map of a subdivision, meeting all of the requirements of the City and in such form as required by Dakota County for the purpose of recording.
Governing Body: The Sunfish Lake City Council.
Key Map: A small scale map which definitively shows the area proposed to be platted in relation to known geographical features (e.g., regional feature, community centers, lakes and streets).
Lot: A parcel or portion of land in a subdivision or plat of land separated from other parcels or portions by description, as on a subdivision or record of survey map, for the purpose of sale or lease or separate use thereof.
Lot, Corner: A lot situated at the intersection of two (2) streets, the interior angle of such intersection not exceeding one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.
Lot, Double Frontage: An interior lot having frontage on two streets.
Lot Improvement: Any building, structure, work of art, or other object, or improvement including grading of the land on which they are situated constituting a physical betterment of real property, or any part of such betterment.
Metes and Bounds Description: A description of real property which is not described by reference to a lot or block shown on a map, but is described by starting at a known point and describing the bearings and distances of the lines forming the boundaries of the property or delineating a fractional portion of a section, lot or area by described lines or portions thereof.
Natural Water Way: A natural passageway on the surface of the earth, so situated and having such a topographical nature that surface water flows through it from other areas before reaching a final ponding area. The term also shall include all drainage structures that have been constructed or placed for the purpose of conducting water from one place to another.
Outlot: A lot remnant or parcel of land left over after platting, which is intended as open space or other future use, for which no building permit shall be issued.
Owner: An individual, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity holding an equitable or legal ownership interest in the land sought to be subdivided.
Parcel: An individual lot or tract of land.
Parks and Playgrounds: Public land and open space in the City dedicated or reserved for recreational purposes.
Percentage of Grade: Along a center line of a street, the change in vertical elevation in feet and tenths of a foot for each one hundred feet (100') of horizontal distance, expressed as a percentage.
Person: Any individual or legal entity.
Planning Commission: The Sunfish Lake Planning Commission.
Preliminary Plat: A detailed drawing or map of a proposed subdivision meeting the requirements herein enumerated submitted to the Planning Commission and governing body for their consideration, in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, along with the required supporting data.
Protective Covenants: Contracts entered into between all owners and holders of mortgage constituting a restriction on the use of property within a subdivision for the benefit of the property owners.
Public Improvement: Any drainage ditch, roadway, parkway, street, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water system, sidewalk, tree, lawn, off-street parking area, lot improvement or other facility for which the City may ultimately assume ownership, responsibility for maintenance and operation, or which may affect an improvement, for which local government responsibility is or may be established.
Reserve Strips: A narrow strip of land placed between lot lines and streets to control access.
Right-of-Way: Land acquired by reservation or dedication intended for public use, and intended to be occupied or which is occupied by a street, trail, utility lines, oil or gas pipeline, storm sewer or other similar uses.
Roadway: The portion of street right-of-way improved for vehicular travel.
Setback: The distance between a building and the property line nearest thereto.
Single Family Detached Dwelling: A dwelling which is designed and constructed for and occupied by not more than one family and surrounded by open space or yards and which is not attached to any other dwelling by any means.
Sketch Plan: A drawing showing the proposed subdivision of property. This plan shall be drawn to scale and dimensioned, however, exact accuracy is not a requirement.
Street, Public: A public right-of-way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as a highway, thoroughfare, arterial, parkway, collector, through-way, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place, drive, court or otherwise designated, which has been or is proposed to be dedicated or deeded to the public for public use and which affords principal means of access to abutting property.
Streets, Arterial: Those streets carrying larger volumes of traffic and serving as links between various sub-areas of the City. Arterial streets are intended to provide for collection and distribution of traffic between highways and collector streets; hence regulation of direct access to property is critical.
Streets, Collector: Those streets which carry traffic from local streets to the major system of arterials and highways. Collector streets primarily provide principal access to residential neighborhoods, including, to a lesser degree direct land access.
Streets, Cul-De-Sac: A local street with only one outlet and having an appropriate terminal for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic movement.
Streets, Local: A street whose primary function is to provide direct access to abutting property containing single-family dwellings and which, by design, is usually a two-lane road with parking permitted within the roadway.
Streets, Marginal Access (Frontage Road): Those local streets which are parallel and adjacent to high volume arterial street and highways; and which provide access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
Street, Private: A street serving as vehicular access to two (2) or more parcels of land which is not dedicated to the public and is owned by one or more private parties.
Street, Right-of-Way Width: The shortest distance between the lines delineating the right-of-way of a street.
Structure: Anything which is built, constructed or erected; an edifice or building of any kind; or any piece of work artificially built up and/or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner whether temporary or permanent in character. Among other things, structures including but not limited to buildings, gazebos, decks, retaining walls, fences, and swimming pools.
Subdividing: The process of effecting subdivision.
Subdivision: The separation of an area, parcel or tract of land under single ownership into two (2) or more parcels, tracts, lots or long-term leasehold interests where the creation of the leasehold interest necessitates the creation of streets or roads for residential or other use. This term includes resubdivision and, where appropriate to the context, shall relate to the process of subdividing or to the land subdivided.
Surveyor: A land surveyor registered under Minnesota State laws.
Tracing: A plat or map drawn on transparent paper, film, or cloth which can be reproduced by using regular reproduction procedure.
Tree Preservation Related:
Diameter: The measurement of a tree’s trunk measured 4.5 feet above the ground.
Drip-line: The farthest distance away from the trunk of a tree that rain or dew will fall directly to the ground from the leaves or branches of the trees.
Significant Tree: Any tree measuring six (6) inches or more in diameter measured at a point four and one-half (4.5) feet above the ground, and which is not diseased, dead, or dying.
Tree Protection: Snow fencing or polyethylene laminar safety netting placed at the drip-line of the significant trees to be preserved. The tree protection measures shall remain in place until all grading and construction activity is terminated.
Variance: A variance is a relaxation of the terms of this Ordinance where such deviation will not be contrary to the spirit and intent of the Comprehensive Plan and this Chapter, the public interest and where, owing to physical conditions unique to the individual property under consideration and not the result of the actions of the applicant, a literal enforcement of the ordinance would result in unnecessary and undue hardship.
Zoning Ordinance: The Zoning Ordinance or resolution controlling the use of land as adopted by the City.