153.06 Requirements for Improvements, Dedications and Design
153.06 REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPROVEMENTS, DEDICATIONS, AND DESIGN
(a) General improvements
(1) Conformance to Applicable Rules and Regulations. In addition to the requirements established herein, all subdivision plats shall comply with the following laws, rules, and regulations.
(A) All applicable statutory provisions.
(B) The City’s Zoning Ordinance, Building and Housing Codes, and all other applicable laws.
(C) The Public Development Plan of the City of Richmond, Indiana.
(D) The special requirements of this Ordinance and any rules of the Wayne County Health Department and/or appropriate state agencies.
(E) The rules of the Indiana State Highway Commission if the subdivision or any lot contained therein abuts a state highway or connecting street.
(F) The City of Richmond’s Construction Standards and Specifications and the standards and regulations adopted by all boards, commissions, and agencies, of the City of Richmond.
(G) Plat approval may be withheld if a subdivision is not in conformity with the above guides or policy and purposes of this Ordinance established in 153.02(d).
(2) Self-imposed restrictions
If the owner places restrictions on any of the land contained in the subdivision greater than those required by the Zoning Ordinance or this Ordinance, such restrictions or reference thereto may be required to be indicated on the subdivision plat or the Plan Commission or Plat Committee shall require that restrictive covenants be recorded with the Wayne County Recorder in form to be approved by the City Attorney.
(3) Monuments
The owner shall place permanent reference monuments in the subdivision as required herein and as approved by a Registered Land Surveyor.
(A) Monuments shall be located on street right-of-way lines, at street intersections, angle points of curve and block corners. They shall be spaced so as to be within sight of each other, the sight lines being contained wholly within the street limits.
(B) The external boundaries of a subdivision shall be monumented in the field by monuments of stone or concrete, not less than thirty (30) inches in length, not less than four (4) inches square or five (5) inches in diameter, and marked on top with a cross, brass plug, iron rod, or other durable material securely embedded; or by iron rods or iron pipes at least thirty (30) inches long and one (1) inch in diameter. These monuments shall be placed not more than 400 feet apart in any straight line and at all corners, at each end of all curves, at the point where a curve changes its radius, at all angle points along the meander line, said points to be not less than twenty (20) feet back from the bank of any river or stream, except that when such corners or points fall within a street, or proposed future street, the monuments shall be placed in the side line of the street.
(C) All internal boundaries and those corners and points not referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be monumented in the field by iron rods at least five-eighths (5/8) inch in diameter and at least thirty (30) inches long or iron pipes at least one (1) inch in diameter and at least thirty (30) inches long. These monuments shall be placed at all block corners, at each end of all curves, at a point where a river changes its radius, and at all angle points in any line.
(D) The lines of lots that extend to rivers or streams shall be monumented in the field by iron rods at least thirty (30) inches long and five-eighths (5/8) inch in diameter, or iron pipes at least one (1) inch in diameter and at least thirty (30) inches long. These monuments shall be placed at the point of intersection of the river or stream lot line, with a meander line established not less than twenty (20) feet back from the bank of the river or stream.
(E) All such monuments shall be set flush with the ground and planted in such a manner that they will not be removed by frost.
(F) All monuments shall be properly set in the ground and approved by a Registered Land Surveyor. Monuments that are not set prior to secondary approval being granted shall be included in the performance bond for the subdivision.
(4) Character of the land
Land which the Plan Commission or Plat Committee finds to be unsuitable for subdivision or development due to flooding, improper drainage, steep slopes, rock formations, adverse earth formations or topography, utility easements, or other features which will reasonably be harmful to the safety, health, and general welfare of the present or future inhabitants of the subdivision and/or its surrounding areas, shall not be subdivided or developed unless adequate methods are formulated by the developer and approved by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee, to solve the problems created by the unsuitable land conditions. Such land shall be set aside for uses as shall not involve such a danger.
(5) Subdivision name
The proposed name of the subdivision shall not duplicate, or too closely approximate phonetically, the name of any other subdivision in the area covered by this Ordinance. The Plan Commission or Plat Committee shall have final authority to designate the name of the subdivision.
(b) Lot improvements
(1) Lot arrangement
The lot arrangement shall be such that there will be no foreseeable difficulties, for reasons of topography or other conditions, in securing Improvement Location Permits to build on all lots in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance and Health Regulations and in providing driveway access to buildings on such lots from an approved street.
(2) Lot dimensions
Lot dimensions shall comply with the minimum standards of the Zoning Ordinance. In general, side lot lines shall be at right angles to street lines (or radial to curving street lines) unless a variation from this rule will give a better street or lot plan. Dimensions or corner lots shall be large enough to allow for erection of buildings, observing the minimum yard setbacks from both streets as required in the Zoning Ordinance. Depth and width of properties reserved or laid out for business, commercial, or industrial purposes shall be adequate to provide for the off-street parking and loading facilities required for the type of use and development contemplated, as established in the Zoning Ordinance.
(3) Double frontage lots and access to lots
(A) Double frontage lots
Double frontage lots and reversed frontage lots shall be avoided except where necessary to provide separation of residential development from traffic thoroughfares or to overcome specific disadvantages of topography and orientation.
(B) Access from primary and secondary thoroughfares
(i) Lots shall not, in general, derive access exclusively from a primary or secondary thoroughfare.
(ii) Where driveway access from a primary or secondary thoroughfare may be necessary for several adjoining lots, the Plan Commission or Plat Committee may require that such lots be served by a combined access drive in order to limit possible traffic hazard on such street. Where possible, driveways should be designed and arranged so as to avoid requiring vehicles to back into traffic on primary or secondary thoroughfares.
(4) Lot drainage
Lots shall be laid out so as to provide positive drainage away from all buildings and individual lot drainage shall be coordinated with the general storm drainage pattern for the area. Drainage shall be designed so as to avoid concentration of storm drainage water from each lot to adjacent lots. However, drainage swales at rear lot lines will be considered.
(c) Roads
(1) General requirements
(A) Frontage on improved roads
(i) No subdivisions shall be approved unless the area to be subdivided shall have frontage on and access from an existing street or, a street shown upon a plat approved by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee and recorded in the Wayne County Recorder’s Office. Such street or highway must be suitably improved as required by the City of Richmond’s Construction Standards and Specifications, or be secured by a performance bond required under this Subdivision Ordinance, with the width and right-of-way required by this Subdivision Ordinance.
(ii) Wherever the area to be subdivided is to utilize existing road frontage, such road shall be suitably improved as provided below.
(B) Grading and improvement plans
Roads shall be graded and improved and conform to the City of Richmond’s Construction Standards and Specifications and shall be approved as to design and specifications by the City Engineer and in the case of a subdivision located in the unincorporated territorial jurisdictional area, concurrent approval by the County Engineer.
(C) Topography and arrangement
(i) Roads shall be related appropriately to the topography. All streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at, or above, the grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided.
(ii) All streets shall be properly integrated with the existing and proposed system of thoroughfares and dedicated rights-of-way as established in the Public Development Plan.
(iii) All thoroughfares shall be properly related to special traffic generators such as industries, business districts, schools, churches and shopping centers; to population densities; and to the pattern of existing and proposed land uses.
(iv) Minor local streets shall be laid out to conform as much as possible to the topography, to discourage use by through traffic, to permit efficient drainage and utility systems, and to require the minimum number of streets necessary to provide convenient and safe access to property.
(v) The rigid rectangular gridiron street pattern need not necessarily be adhered to, and the use of curvilinear streets, cul-de-sacs, or U-shaped streets may be encouraged where such use will result in a more desirable layout.
(vi) Proposed streets shall be extended to the boundary lines of the tract to be subdivided, unless prevented by topography or other physical conditions, or if, in the opinion of the Plan Commission or Plat Committee, such extension is not necessary or desirable for the coordination of the layout of the subdivision with the existing layout or the most advantageous future development of adjacent tracts.
(vii) In business and industrial developments, the streets and other accessways shall be planned in connection with the grouping of buildings, location of rail facilities, and the provision of alley, truck loading and maneuvering areas, and parking areas so as to minimize conflict of movement between the various types of traffic including pedestrian.
(D) Blocks
(i) Blocks shall have sufficient width to provide for two (2) tiers of lots of appropriate depths. Exceptions to this prescribed block width shall be permitted in blocks adjacent to major streets, railroads, or waterways.
(ii) The lengths, widths, and shapes of blocks shall be such as are appropriate for the locality and the type of development contemplated, but block lengths in residential areas shall not exceed one thousand two hundred (1,200) feet or twelve (12) times the minimum lot width required in the zoning district, nor be less than four hundred (400) feet in length. Wherever practicable, blocks along major thoroughfares should be not less than one thousand (1000) feet in length.
(E) Access to thoroughfares
Where a subdivision borders on or contains an existing or proposed thoroughfare, the Plan Commission or Plat Committee may require that access to such streets be limited by one of the following means:
(i) The subdivision of lots so as to back onto the thoroughfare and front onto a parallel minor street; no access shall be provided from the thoroughfare, and screening shall be provided in a strip of land along the rear property line of such lots.
(ii) A series of cul-de-sacs, U-shaped streets, or short loops entered from and designed generally at right angles to such a parallel street, with rear lines of their terminal lots backing onto the thoroughfare.
(iii) A marginal access or service road (separated from the thoroughfare by a planting or grass strip and having access thereto at suitable points).
(F) Road names
The Plan Commission or Plat Committee shall approve or change the names of all roads at the time of primary approval. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and spelling from other road names so as not to cause confusion. A road which is or is planned as a continuation of an existing road shall bear the same name.
(G) Addresses
The Plan Commission or Plat Committee shall assign addresses for all lots within the subdivision plat at the time of primary approval.
(H) Road regulatory signs
The developer shall install street name signs at all intersections within or abutting the subdivision, the type and location of which is to be approved by the City Engineer or CountyEngineer as appropriate.
(I) Street lights
When a subdivision is located within the jurisdiction of Richmond Power and Light, the owner shall:
(i) Incorporate easements, as required by street lighting facilities, into the plan of the subdivision.
(ii) Notify Richmond Power and light four (4) days in advance of the starting date of construction of any street.
(iii) Notify Richmond Power and Light two (2) days in advance of the starting date of construction of any concrete driveways.
The above steps will facilitate installation of street lighting facilities.
(J) Reserve strips
The creation of reserve strips shall not be permitted adjacent to a proposed street in such a manner as to deny access from adjacent property to such street.
(K) Construction of roads and dead-end roads
(i) The arrangement of streets shall provide for the continuation of principal streets between adjacent properties when such continuation is necessary for convenient movement of traffic, effective fire protection, for efficient provision of utilities, and where such continuation is in accordance with the Public Development Plan. If the adjacent property is undeveloped and the street must be a dead-end street temporarily, the right-of-way shall be extended to the property line. A temporary T- or L-shaped turnabout may be required on all temporary dead-end streets, with the notation on the subdivision plat that land outside the normal street right-of-way shall revert to abuttors whenever the street is continued. The Plan Commission or Plat Committee may limit the time or use or the length of temporary dead-end streets in accordance with the design standards of this Ordinance.
(ii) Dead-end roads (Permanent)
Where a road does not extend to the boundary of the subdivision and its continuation is not required by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee for access to adjoining property, its terminus shall normally not be nearer to such boundary than fifty (50) feet. However, the Plan Commission or Plat Committee may require the reservation of an appropriate easement to accommodate drainage facilities, pedestrian traffic, or utilities. A cul-de-sac turnabout shall be provided at the end of a permanent dead-end street in accordance with this Ordinance. For greater convenience to traffic and more effective police and fire protection, permanent dead-end streets shall, in general, be limited in length in accordance with the design standards of this Ordinance.
(2) Design standards
(A) General
In order to provide for roads of suitable location, width, and improvement to accommodate prospective traffic and afford satisfactory access to police, fire-fighting, snow removal, sanitation, and road-maintenance equipment, and to coordinate roads so as to compose a convenient system and avoid undue hardship to adjoining properties, the following design standards for roads are hereby required. (Road classification may be indicated on the Public Development Plan map; otherwise it shall be determined by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee.)
TABLE 1. DESIGN STANDARDS FOR ROADS
Improvement
Minimum Width Right-of-Way (in Feet)
Minor Street 50
Collector Street 60
Thoroughfare 90
Minimum Width Traveled Route (in Feet)
Minor Street 30
Collector Street 40
Thoroughfare 48
*Curb to curb face
Maximum Grade (Percent)
Minor Street 8
Collector Street 6
Thoroughfare 4
Minimum Grade 0.5
Minimum Radius of Curve (in Feet)
Minor Street 150
Collector Street 200
Thoroughfare 500
Minimum Length of Vertical Curves
Minor Street 100 feet, but not less than 40 feet for each algebraic difference in grade percent
Thoroughfare and
Collector Street 300 feet, but not less than 50 feet for each algebraic difference in grade percent
Minimum Length of Tangents Between Reverse Curves (in Feet)
Minor Street 100
Collector Street 100
Thoroughfare 300
Minimum Cul-de-Sac (in Feet)
Right-of-Way Diameter 100
Pavement 80
Maximum Length of Cul-de-Sac
Permanent 600
Temporary 1,000
Minimum Radius (in Feet)
At Pavement
Minor Street 25
Collector Street 30
Thoroughfare 50
Cul-de-Sac 40
(B) Excess right-of-way
Right-of-way width in excess of the standards designated in this Ordinance shall be required whenever, due to topography, additional width is necessary to provide adequate earth slopes. Such slopes shall not be in excess of three to one.
(C) Railroads and limited access highways
Railroad right-of-way and limited access highways where so located as to affect the subdivision of adjoining lands shall be treated as follows:
(i) In residential districts a buffer strip at least 25 feet in depth addition to the normal depth of the lot required in the district shall be provided adjacent to the railroad right-of-way or limited access highway. This strip shall be part of the platted lots and shall be designated on the plat: “This strip is reserved for screening. The placement of structures hereon is prohibited.”
(ii) In districts zoned for business, commercial, or industrial uses, the nearest street extending parallel or approximately parallel to the railroad shall, whenever practicable be at a sufficient distance therefrom to ensure suitable depth for commercial or industrial sites.
(iii) Streets parallel to the railroad when intersecting a street which crosses the railroad at grade shall, to the extent practicable, be at a distance of at least 150 feet from the railroad right-of-way. Such distance shall be determined with due consideration of the minimum distance required for future separation of grades by means of appropriate approach gradients.
(D) Intersections
(i) Streets shall be laid out so as to intersect as nearly as possible at right angles. A proposed intersection of two (2) new streets at an angle of less than seventy-five (75) degrees shall not be acceptable. An oblique street should be curved approaching an intersection and should be approximately at right angles for at least one hundred feet therefrom. Not more than two (2) streets shall intersect at any one point unless specifically approved by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee.
(ii) Proposed new intersections along one side of an existing street shall, wherever practicable, coincide with any existing intersection on the opposite side of such street. Street jogs with centerline offsets of less than 125 shall not be permitted, except where the intersected street has separated dual drives without median breaks at either intersection. Where streets intersect collector streets and thoroughfares, their alignment shall be contiguous. Intersection of thoroughfares shall be at least 800 feet apart.
(iii) Minimum curb radius at the intersection of two (2) minor streets shall be at least twenty-five (25) feet; and minimum curb radius at an intersection involving a collector street shall be at least thirty (30) feet. Alley intersections and abrupt changes in alignment within a block shall have the corners cut off in accordance with standard engineering practice to permit safe vehicular movement.
(iv) Intersections shall be designed with a flat grade wherever practical. In hilly or rolling areas, at the approach to an intersection, a leveling area shall be provided having not greater than a two percent (2%) rate at a distance of sixty (60) feet, measured from the nearest right-of-way line of the intersecting street.
(v) Where any street intersection will involve earth banks or existing vegetation inside any lot corner that would create a traffic hazard by limiting visibility, the developer shall cut such ground and/or vegetation (including trees) in connection with the grading of the public right-of-way to the extent deemed necessary to provide an adequate sight distance.
(vi) The cross-slopes on all streets, including intersections, shall be two percent (2%).
(E) Bridges
Bridges of primary benefit to the applicant as determined by the Plan Commission or Plat Committee, shall be constructed at the full expense of the applicant without reimbursement from the City of Richmond or WayneCounty.
(F) Road dedications
(i) New perimeter streets
Street systems in new subdivisions shall be laid out so as to eliminate or avoid new perimeter half-streets. Where an existing half-street is adjacent to a new subdivision, the other half of the street shall be improved and dedicated by the sub-divider. The Plan Commission or Plat Committee may authorize a new perimeter street where the sub-divider improves and dedicates the entire required street right-of-way width within his own subdivision boundaries.
(ii) Widening and realignment of existing roads
Where a subdivision borders an existing narrow road or when the Public Development Plan indicates plans for the realignment or widening of a road that would require use of some of the land in the subdivision, the applicant may be required to improve and dedicate at his expense such areas for widening or realignment of such roads. Such frontage roads and streets shall be improved and dedicated by the applicant at his own expense to the full width as required by this Subdivision Ordinance at the discretion of the Plan Commission or Plat Committee. Land dedicated for any road purposes may not be counted in satisfying yard or area requirements of the Zoning Ordinance whether the land is to be dedicated to the municipality in fee simple or an easement is granted.
(G) Inspections
The interest of the City is to secure adequately constructed and good quality streets for their future administration and maintenance; the sub-divider and/or any of his agents shall permit and cooperate in the inspection of any part of t
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