Chapter 16.40
PARK AND PUBLIC LAND DEDICATIONS
Sections:
16.40.010 General park and public land dedication requirements.
16.40.030 Reservation of additional land.
16.40.040 Development of park areas.
16.40.050 Street rights-of-way.
16.40.010 General park and public land dedication requirements.
(a) Dedication Requirement. In order that adequate open spaces and sites for public uses may be properly located and reserved and in order that the cost of providing public areas, such as but not limited to parks, recreation areas and public schools may be equitably apportioned on the basis of additional need created by the land division development, each land divider of a major subdivision shall be required to dedicate land or fees in lieu of land for park or other public uses.
(b) General Design. In the design of a land division, planned unit development or other development project, provision shall be made for suitable sites of adequate area for schools, parks, playgrounds, open spaces, drainageways and other public purposes. Such sites are to be shown on the preliminary plat and final plat, and shall comply with the village of Arena master plan, comprehensive plan or component of said plan. Consideration shall be given to the preservation of scenic and historic sites, stands of trees, marshes, lakes, ponds, streams, watercourses, watersheds, ravines and woodlands, prairie and wetlands, and plant and animal communities. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-8.01].
16.40.020 Land dedication.
(a) Dedication Calculation. When land within the village of Arena is divided, a parkland dedication of 1,450 square feet of land per dwelling unit (land parcel) will be required for parkland. Whenever a proposed playground, park, or other public area, other than streets or drainageways, designated in the land use plan of the village of Arena is embraced, all or in part, in the tract of land to be divided, these lands shall be made part of the required land dedication. The village board and parks and recreation committee shall have joint authority to determine the suitability and adequacy of parklands proposed for dedication. Drainageways, wetlands, public or private easements, or areas reserved for streets shall not be considered as satisfying land dedication requirements.
(b) Shoreland.
(1) Lake and Stream Shore Plats. All land divisions abutting on a navigable lake or stream shall provide public access at least 60 feet wide providing access to the low watermark so that there will be public access, which is connected to existing public roads, at not more than one-half-mile intervals as measured along the lake or stream shore except where greater intervals and wider access are agreed upon by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, and excluding shore areas where public parks or open-space streets or roads on either side of a stream are provided. No public access established under this title may be vacated except by circuit court action. This subsection does not require the village or town to improve land provided for public access.
(2) Lake and Stream Shore Plats. The lands lying between the meander line, established in accordance with Section 236.20(2)(g), Wis. Stats., and the water’s edge, and any otherwise unplattable lands which lie between a proposed land division and the water’s edge shall be included as part of lots, outlots or public dedications in any plat abutting a lake or stream. This subsection applies not only to lands proposed to be divided but also to all lands under option to the land divider or in which the land divider holds any interest and which are contiguous to the lands proposed to be divided and which abut a lake or stream.
(c) Unknown Number of Dwelling Units. Where the land division does not specify the number of dwelling units to be constructed, the land dedication shall be based upon the maximum number of units permitted by the village of Arena and ET zoning ordinance.
(d) Deeded to the Village. Land dedicated for public purposes within the corporate limits of the village of Arena shall be deeded to the village at the time the final plat is approved.
(e) Access to Dedicated Land. All dedicated land shall have frontage on a public street and shall have unrestricted public access.
(f) Utility Extensions. The land divider shall install or provide for installation of water and sanitary sewer lines to the property line of all dedicated land, where such services are to be provided to the adjacent properties.
(g) Fee in Lieu of Land. Where the dedication of land under subsection (a) of this section would result in lands which would not be useful or appropriate to the village, the village may stipulate to the owner an equitable means for making a cash payment in lieu thereof. The amount of such payments shall be determined as follows: the number of proposed dwelling units in the subdivision shall be multiplied by 1,450; the resulting product shall be divided by 43,500; the resulting quotients shall be multiplied by the most recent equalized value of a buildable acre of land within the proposed development. The requirements of this chapter may be satisfied by a combination of land dedication and fee payments with the approval of the village board. Fees paid to the village under this requirement shall be used exclusively for the acquisition and the development of public park and recreation facilities anywhere within the village. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-8.02].
16.40.030 Reservation of additional land.
When public parks and sites for other public areas as shown on the master plan, comprehensive plan or a plan component lie within the proposed area for development and are greater in area than required by AMC 16.40.020(a), the owner shall reserve for acquisition by the village, through agreement, purchase or condemnation, the remaining greater public area for a period of one year following final plat approval unless extended by mutual agreement. [Ord. dated 3/6/12 § 132; Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-8.03].
16.40.040 Development of park areas.
(a) When parklands are dedicated, the land divider is required to:
(1) Properly grade and contour for proper drainage;
(2) Provide surface contour suitable for anticipated use of area; and
(3) Cover areas to be seeded with a minimum of four inches of quality topsoil, seed as specified by the village, fertilized with 16-6-6 at a rate of seven pounds per 1,000 square feet, and mulched. The topsoil furnished for the park site shall consist of the natural loam, sandy loam, silt loam, silty clay loam or clay loam humus-bearing soils adapted to the sustenance of plant life, and such topsoil shall be neither excessively acid nor excessively alkaline.
(b) The village board may require certification of compliance by the village engineer. The cost of such report shall be paid by the land divider.
(c) If the land divider fails to satisfy the requirements of this section, the village board may contract said completion and bill such costs to the land divider, following a public hearing and written notice to the land divider of noncompliance. Failure to pay such costs may result in the immediate withholding of all building permits until such costs are paid. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-8.04].
16.40.050 Street rights-of-way.
All street rights-of-way within each land division shall be dedicated to the village. [Res. 00-04. Prior code § 10-5-8.05].