Division I. Subdivisions
Chapter 16.04
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
16.04.010 Short title.
16.04.020 Purpose.
16.04.030 Applicability.
16.04.040 Regulations mandatory.
16.04.050 Interpretation.
16.04.010 Short title.
The ordinance codified in this title shall be known as and may be cited as the “Kelso Subdivision Ordinance.” (Ord. 3699 § 1 (Att. A), 2009; Ord. 2857 Art. 1 § 1, 1981)
16.04.020 Purpose.
The purposes of this title are as follows:
A. To protect the public health, safety and general welfare;
B. To prevent the overcrowding of land and the overcongestion of streets while allowing for appropriate density of development and use of the land;
C. To provide for adequate light and air;
D. To ensure adequate provision of water, sewerage, park and recreation areas, streets, sidewalks and other public requirements;
E. To provide for proper ingress and egress;
F. To require uniform monumenting of subdivisions and conveyance of land by accurate legal description;
G. To provide for conservation of valuable resources and to direct development to areas suitable for development;
H. To adopt uniform and comprehensive standards and procedures applicable throughout the city relating to the subdivision of land;
I. To provide for the orderly growth of the city in conformance with the Kelso Comprehensive Plan and applicable ordinances;
J. To encourage energy conservation and the use of alternative resources, especially solar energy, in subdivision design and development;
K. To provide incentives for and flexibility in subdivision design to encourage imaginative, energy efficient but functional developments within specific guidelines;
L. To reduce public service costs and energy demands of development. (Ord. 3699 § 1 (Att. A), 2009; Ord. 2955 § 1, 1984; Ord. 2857 Art. 1 § 2, 1981)
16.04.030 Applicability.
A. The regulations contained in this title shall apply to:
1. The division or redivision of land within the city, except those listed in subsection B of this section, for the purpose of sale, lease or transfer of ownership, whether immediate or future;
2. Every division of land where there is a dedication;
3. Certain subdivision exemptions as described in subsection C of this section.
B. The regulations in this title shall not apply to:
1. Cemeteries and other burial plots, while used for that purpose;
2. Division of land made by testamentary provisions or the laws of descent;
3. Division of land into lots, tracts or parcels where each lot is twenty acres or larger, except when there is a dedication as specified in subsection A2 of this section. For the purpose of computing the area of any lot that borders on a street or road, the lot size may be expanded to include that area that would be bounded by the centerline of the street or road and the side lot lines of the lot running perpendicular to the centerline;
4. Division for the purpose of lease when no residential structure other than mobile homes or travel trailers are permitted to be placed upon the land;
5. Division for the purpose of creating residential condominiums.
C. The administrative official may exempt the following actions from the requirements of this title as not constituting a division of land into lots, tracts, parcels, sites or divisions for the purpose of sale or lease. This exemption is available only for those actions which do not contravene the spirit of this title or of state law. In determining whether specific actions may be exempt, the administrative official may require pertinent instruments, court orders, affidavits and the like to be maintained in a permanent file of all qualified exemption applications. Exemption applications shall be notarized and accompanied by an application fee as may be specified.
1. A division of land by simultaneous merger of a fractional part of land into land contiguous on more than a single point so long as no lot, tract, parcel, site or division is rendered nonconforming with applicable zoning ordinance provisions.
a. “By simultaneous merger,” for purposes of this section, means a specific declaration of merger with the new description of said lands contained within the correction deed or instrument of sale, lease or transfer. The deed or instrument shall be filed for record by the applicant in the county auditor’s office. No such merged fractional part may thereafter be sold, leased, transferred or developed through building permit or other development permit as a division separate or distinct from the land into which it is merged without prior short plat approval.
b. Said exemption shall become null and void if the filing of the deed or instrument is not accomplished within one hundred eighty days from the grant of the exemption.
2. A court-ordered division provided for by law not for the purpose of sale or lease including, in the absence of the administrator finding circumstances to the contrary, the division by court order limited to the following and not including voluntary transfers of land in lieu of compliance with the applicable judicial procedures governing them; divisions made by testamentary provisions or the laws of descent, and property distributions between spouses pursuant to separation of dissolution proceedings.
D. Requests for a short subdivision exemption as described above shall be processed in the manner prescribed for short subdivision exemptions under Chapter 16.46. (Ord. 3699 § 1 (Att. A), 2009; Ord. 2857 Art. 1 § 3, 1981)
16.04.040 Regulations mandatory.
No person shall sell, lease or transfer the ownership of or offer for sale, lease or transfer of ownership any real property that is subject to this title without full compliance with this title. Any plat, replat, plan or map hereafter made of any subdivision or part thereof lying within the city limits shall be presented for approval, reviewed, and, if approved, recorded as prescribed by this title. No subdivision plat, replat, plan or map hereafter made shall have any validity until it shall have the approval of the city council and otherwise be found by the city to comply with this title. (Ord. 3699 § 1 (Att. A), 2009; Ord. 2857 Art. 1 § 4, 1981)
16.04.050 Interpretation.
In the interpretation and application of the provisions of this title, the provisions shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the protection of the public health, safety and general welfare. Therefore, when this title imposes a greater restriction or requirement upon the development and use of land than are imposed by other laws, ordinances, resolutions, rules or regulations, the provisions of this title shall control. (Ord. 3699 § 1 (Att. A), 2009; Ord. 2857 Art. 10 § 1, 1981)