Chapter 17.04
GENERAL PROVISIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
Sections:
17.04.010 Authority.
17.04.020 Interpretation and purpose.
17.04.025 Notice.
17.04.030 Applicability.
17.04.040 Conformance required.
17.04.045 Definitions.
17.04.050 Development phasing districts.
17.04.060 Existing lots.
17.04.065 Application of new requirements.
17.04.067 Subdivision agreements.
17.04.070 Control and maintenance of dedicated and constructed facilities.
17.04.090 Conflicting provisions.
17.04.010 Authority.
Subdivision and platting powers and authority are vested in the planning commission, acting as the platting board, and referred to in this title as the “planning commission.” [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.020 Interpretation and purpose.
It is the purpose of this title to promote and protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the people of the city; to provide for the proper arrangement of streets in relation to existing or proposed streets; to provide for adequate and convenient open spaces; to provide for efficient movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic; to assure adequate and properly placed utilities; to ensure that subdivision and development occur in a logical pattern in coordination with infrastructure availability; to provide access for firefighting apparatus, sewage collection and water delivery vehicles; to secure safety from flood and other dangers; to assure adequate drainage of land; to assure the reservation of adequate open space; to facilitate the further subdivision of larger tracts into smaller parcels of land; and to ensure proper legal descriptions and monumenting of subdivided land. These regulations provide a mechanism for the planning commission to develop and apply new or more restrictive requirements when a new, unusual, or unanticipated circumstance comes to its attention and it appears to the commission that the provisions of this title are not adequate to deal with the circumstance. In addition, these regulations provide for the accurate surveying of land; for equitable processing of all plats by providing uniform procedures and standards for observance by both the city and the subdivider; and for the proper preparation and recording of plats. The provisions of this chapter set out minimum requirements and shall be interpreted in the manner to accomplish the purposes set out in this section. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.025 Notice.
A. Unless otherwise specifically provided in this title, notice of hearings required under this title shall be given as provided in subsections B through E of this section. When a hearing is required under Chapter 17.20 BMC, notice of that hearing shall be given as provided BMC 17.20.050.
B. Notice shall contain the following:
1. The date the complete application or petition was filed;
2. The name of the owner of the parcel that is the subject of the application or petition or the name of the person who made the filing;
3. The purpose of the application or petition;
4. A description of the location and a legal description of the parcel;
5. The date, time and place of the hearing;
6. The notice may contain any other information the platting officer believes to be appropriate or that the planning commission may require.
C. Notice shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least six (6) days before the hearing.
D. Notice shall be mailed to the owners of each parcel of property any part of which is within six hundred (600) feet of the exterior boundary of the parcel that is the subject of the application or petition.
1. The name and address of the owner of each parcel that is to receive mailed notice and that receives sewer or water service from the city shall be provided to the platting officer by the public works department. The name and address of each other owner that is to receive mailed notice shall be provided to the platting officer by the applicant. An application is not complete until the applicant has submitted the list of the names and addresses of all such other owners. The applicant, its agents and successors, shall save, hold harmless and defend the city, its officers and employees, from and against all claims and suits based in whole or in part on the failure of the city to provide mailed notice to a person to whom mailed notice was required to be sent under this subsection if the applicant provided an incorrect address or no address for a person whose address it was the applicant’s responsibility to provide. The name and address of the person shown in the records of the Bethel district recorder’s office as the owner of the relevant parcel shall be presumed to be correct;
2. Mailed notice shall be deposited in the U.S. Mail, postage paid, at least five (5) days before the hearing;
3. Mailed notice may include maps or other additional material that is not included in the published or posted notice.
E. Notice shall be posted on the public bulletin board at city hall and at three (3) other public places where other notices are regularly posted. Notice shall be posted at least five (5) days before the hearing.
F. The failure of the city to fully meet each requirement of this section or of any other notice requirement of this title shall not be the basis for invalidating an action taken under this title if there was substantial compliance with the requirements of this or the otherwise applicable section. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.030 Applicability.
This title shall apply to the subdivision of all land located within the corporate limits of the city of Bethel, except as provided by law. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.040 Conformance required.
A. A recorded plat of land within the city shall not be altered or replatted except pursuant to this chapter, on petition of the state, the city, a public utility, or the owners of a majority of the land affected by the alteration or replat.
B. No land shall be subdivided, sold or conveyed until the subdivider or his agent has submitted and obtained all approvals required by this title of both a preliminary and final plat of the land in accordance with this title, has obtained all signatures and seals required on the final plat, and the final plat has been recorded with the district recorder. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.045 Definitions.
Words and terms used in this title are defined in Chapter 16.12 BMC. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.050 Development phasing districts.
For the purpose of designating the areas of the city in which certain types of public improvements must exist, be provided by the subdivider, or be planned and funded by the city, as a condition of subdivision plat approval, there is adopted the area or district designations shown on Figure 11, revised September 2000, entitled “Development Phasing” in the 1997 Comprehensive Plan of the City of Bethel. A question or a dispute as to the relationship of a parcel with respect to the boundary of a development phasing district shall be resolved in the manner provided in BMC 18.08.050 for the interpretation of boundaries on the official land use map. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.060 Existing lots.
The provisions of this title and amendments thereto do not apply to any lot or lots forming a part of a subdivision legally created and recorded with the district recorder prior to the effective date of the amendment thereto, except in the case of further subdivision or resubdivision of existing lots or tracts. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.065 Application of new requirements.
A. Except as provided in an agreement that meets the requirements of BMC 17.04.067 or as provided in an ordinance amending this title, an amendment to the standards or requirements of this title, including standards and requirements established by the city engineer, shall be applied by the planning commission to the subdivision of land that has not received unconditional preliminary plat approval by the planning commission and may be applied to the subdivision of land that has received unconditional preliminary plat approval but has not received unconditional final plat approval.
B. If the planning commission believes the current provisions of this title are inadequate to properly deal with an actual or possible circumstance for which it becomes aware, the commission shall recommend such standards and requirements as it believes to be appropriate. The platting officer shall prepare an ordinance for city council action that would amend this title to incorporate the commission recommendations. Unless the commission requests that the ordinance first (1st) be reviewed by the commission, the ordinance shall be forwarded to the manager for introduction and action by the city council.
C. Except as provided in an agreement that meets the requirements of BMC 17.04.067, new or more restrictive standards and requirements recommended by the planning commission pursuant to subsection B of this section shall be applied by the planning commission to the subdivision of land that has not received unconditional preliminary plat approval by the planning commission and may be applied to the subdivision of land that has received unconditional preliminary plat approval but has not received unconditional final plat approval.
D. As used in this section, unconditional plat approval means approval of a plat without a condition that it be returned to the commission or the platting officer for further review or for approval of a change required by the commission or platting officer. Approval of a preliminary plat for phased development under BMC 17.12.100 shall be treated as a conditional preliminary plat approval. When the platting officer is authorized under this title to approve a preliminary or final plat, the term “planning commission” as used in this section includes the platting officer for purposes of applying standards recommended by the planning commission under subsection B of this section. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.067 Subdivision agreements.
A. In order to assure a subdivider that the subdivider may proceed with the subdivision of a parcel in accordance with existing standards and requirements under this title and not be subject to changes in such standards and requirements before the subdivider receives unconditional approval of the final plat of the parcel, the subdivider and the city may enter into a subdivision agreement pursuant to the provisions of this section. The rejection and the approval and execution of a requested subdivision agreement are within the absolute discretion of the city. A subdivision agreement is enforceable by each party to the agreement, but is effective only if approved by the planning commission by resolution and approved by the city council by a noncode ordinance.
B. A subdivider, upon payment of the required subdivision agreement application fee and the submission of such documents as the platting officer or planning commission may require, may submit to the planning commission a request that the city enter into a subdivision agreement with respect to the subdivision of a parcel for which a complete preliminary plat application has been submitted. The submission of a request for a subdivision agreement, whether or not the request is complete, suspends the running of the time within which a pending or subsequently submitted plat must be approved until the request is withdrawn, or is rejected by the planning commission or the city council, or receives the required approvals and the agreement is executed.
C. The planning commission shall consider the request for the subdivision agreement after reviewing the preliminary plat. If the commission determines that the existing standards and requirements of this title are adequate to deal with the likely impact of the subdivision as proposed or that they would be adequate if supplemented with additional requirements to which the subdivider agrees, the commission may, in its discretion, proceed to negotiate with the subdivider for a subdivision agreement containing such additional requirements, if any, as the commission believes are appropriate. The agreement may impose additional standards, requirements and exactions not otherwise applicable to the subdivision, without regard to whether such standards, requirements or exactions could be lawfully imposed as a subdivision or other city regulation.
D. A subdivision agreement may not reduce or eliminate the application of any standard or requirement of this title or of any other provision of this code, nor of any standard or requirement issued by the city engineer. An agreement may limit the application of proposed standards and requirements to the pending plat, but may not limit or reduce any other discretion of the planning commission, require any particular decision or approval by the commission, or in any way lessen, affect or control the plat approval procedures in effect when the agreement is executed after city council approval. An agreement may not be inconsistent with applicable provisions of the comprehensive plan and shall, when possible, further the goals of the plan.
E. A subdivision agreement may not limit the application of any amendment of any title other than this title whether such amendment was recommended, proposed or adopted before of after execution of the agreement. The provision of any agreement that would have an effect prohibited by this subsection is void and unenforceable.
F. The provisions of an agreement that protect the subdivider from changes to the standards and requirements applicable to the subdivision of the parcel remain effective for so long as no party other than the city is in default under the agreement and there is timely performance by the subdivider of the construction of required subdivision improvements. The city may terminate the agreement if the final plat of the subdivision has not been approved within eighteen (18) months of the date the agreement is approved by the city council by ordinance or by the earlier of such other date as is set out in the agreement or is set out in the ordinance approving the agreement. Upon the termination of the agreement by the city for a default of the subdivider under the agreement or the failure of the subdivider to comply with a requirement of this subsection, the city may require the subdivider to bring the subdivision into compliance with all standards and requirements it avoided by virtue of the agreement and with all standards and requirements the planning commission may recommend within sixty (60) days of the date the agreement is terminated.
G. A subdivision agreement does not have effect beyond the plat to which it applies and any resubdivision of any part of the same parcel shall be subject to all changes to the standards and requirements of this title except to the extent such resubdivision is subject to a new subdivision agreement. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.070 Control and maintenance of dedicated and constructed facilities.
A. Acceptance of a plat dedication of a right-of-way, easement, park, way, square, place, open space, or any other public area shown on a plat gives the city control of the area and the obligation only to hold and manage the area in the public interest. The city has no duty to open, improve or maintain any way or other place upon its dedication by plat. The exercise of control over a dedicated area creates no duty for the city to open, improve or maintain the area.
B. The placement of utility facilities in a dedicated street or utility right-of-way or easement (“city property”) may occur only under a permit issued by the city authorizing the placement. The director of the public works department or such other person as the manager may designate shall issue utility permits. The permit may be conditioned on the payment of either or both one (1) time or annual fees established by the council by resolution. The rights of the public or the city to the use of a dedicated way or easement is superior to that of a private utility or other private person.
If, incidental to the construction of public facility or public road, the city determines in writing that a utility facility located across, along, over, under, or within city property must be changed, relocated, or removed, the utility owning or maintaining the utility facility shall change, relocate, or remove it in accordance with the written determination, within a reasonable time set by city in the written determination.
If the utility facility is not changed, relocated, or removed in accordance with the written determination, any permit authorizing the facility issued by the city under the Bethel Municipal Code becomes invalid and the facility will be considered an unauthorized encroachment.
The cost of change, relocation, or removal, as set out in the written determination is to be paid as follows:
1. By the city as a cost of public facility or public road construction, if the utility facility is installed or authorized after June 11, 1986, under a utility permit or a regulation and is installed in the location specified in the permit;
2. By the city as a cost of the public facility or public road construction, if the facility was installed before June 11, 1986, under a utility permit or utility easement and is in the location specified in the permit or easement;
3. By the city as a cost of public facility or public road construction, if the utility facility was installed before the location became a part of city property or before permits were required;
4. By the city as a cost of public facility or public road construction, if the utility permit that requires the utility to pay the relocation cost was issued more than five (5) years before the contract for the public facility or public road construction was first (1st) advertised;
5. By the utility in all other cases unless the city finds it is in the public interest for the cost to be paid by the city.
C. The duty and liability for the condition of and for the maintenance, operation and repair of streets, boardwalks and other pedestrian ways, street lights, street signs, sewer and water facilities, drainage improvements and other improvements constructed by a subdivider as a condition of receiving final plat approval remain with the subdivider until the improvement meets the applicable standards of the city, is free and clear of liens and claims of any nature, and has been formally accepted by the city. Upon acceptance of such improvement by the city, title to the improvement vests in the city and the city assumes the duty of maintenance, operation and repair of the improvement, except as provided in this section.
D. The following improvements continue to be the responsibility of the subdivider after the city has determined that their construction meets the applicable city standards:
1. Community water systems that are required to be operated by the subdivider or a property owners’ association;
2. Community sewage collection and disposal or treatment systems that are required to be operated by the subdivider or a property owners’ association;
3. Open and recreational space that is required to be maintained and operated by the subdivider or a property owners’ association;
4. Streets and other ways that are required to be maintained and repaired by the subdivider or a property owners’ association;
5. Any other improvement or dedication required by the planning commission to be provided and that the commission requires be operated, maintained, repaired or controlled by the subdivider or a property owners’ association.
E. Community water and sewer systems shall be designed and constructed to city standards and in such a manner that the system may be connected to the city system when city mains or laterals are extended to the area. The cost of connecting the community system to the city systems and the cost of any modifications or repairs to the community system that are necessary to bring the community system up to city standards or to make the community system compatible with the city system shall be paid by the property owners or customers of the community system. Payment shall be in a lump sum prorated on a property owner or customer basis unless a different proration or payment method is provided for in the applicable utility tariff. Upon connection of a community system to the city system, title to all the facilities of the community system vest in the city, free of all claims and liens, unless otherwise provided in an agreement between the city and owner of the community system entered into at the time the systems are constructed.
F. Streets for which the city will not immediately assume maintenance responsibility shall, nevertheless, be designed and constructed to applicable city standards and shall be constructed to the place where the subdivision street connects to the easement or right-of-way that provides access to the subdivision. [Ord. 05-18 § 3; Ord. 01-05 § 7.]
17.04.090 Conflicting provisions.
It is not the intent of this title to repeal, alter or annul, or in any way impair or interfere with, existing provisions of other laws or ordinances or with private restrictions placed upon property by deed, covenant or other private agreement, or with restrictive covenants or easements running with the land to which the city is a party. Where this chapter or the planning commission imposes a greater restriction upon the land than is imposed or required by such existing provisions of law, ordinance, contract, covenant or deed, the restrictions of the planning commission and this chapter shall govern. [Ord. 01-05 § 7.]