Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/05/1991

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plat. Within one (1) year following approval of the preliminary plat, the subdivider shall file six (6) copies of the final plat with the Zoning Officer. Thereafter, the Council may extend the period upon written application by the subdivider and subject to all applicable performance conditions and requirements, or the Council may require submission of a new application unless the Council finds that substantial activity and investment has occurred in reasonable reliance on the approved application and the subdivider will suffer substantial financial damage as a consequence of a requirement to submit a new application. The final plat shall incorporate all changes required by the City Council. This says the Council may extend preliminary plat upon written application. But Ordinance does note state when such written application may be made. Must the written application be made prior to preliminary plat expiration, or can it be made at any time? It is Staff's opinion that the Planning and Zoning Commission should determine the intent of the time limitation for final platting. To assist the Commission in deciding this issue, the following excerpt from a planning text is offered: Most regulations require final plans to be submitted and approved within a certain time (often a year or two) after the preliminary plat is approved. Approval of the preliminary plat generally implies approval of a final plat conforming substantially to the preliminary version, even if subdivision and zoning standards change during the intervening period. In a large, multiphased development, however, the final plats for some of the latter phases of the development may be submitted some years after the approval of the preliminary plat or master plan. An alternative is for the board to approve a flexible staging plan at the time thc preliminary plat is submitted that allows final plats to be submitted over a much longer period. Approval of a staging plan also links the recording of final plats to the installation of the improvements necessary to serve the development phases. For this reason alone, approval of staging plans for larger subdivisions can be highly desirable. Required Public Hearing During Preliminary_ Plat Review Of all requirements for preliminary plat approval, one of the most significant and time consuming is a required public hearing. In researching the rationale for having public heatings on subdivision plats, we offer the following excerpt from the planning text: Although some jurisdictions have delegated plat approval authority to staff, typically the preliminary plat is approved by the planning or governing board. State law and local regulations in a number of states require the plat approving board to hold a public heating on the application before granting approval. In a few states (e.g., California and New Jersey) the board holding such a hearing functions in a quasi-judicial capacity, which requires it to hear evidence and make formal findings of fact; in many other jurisdictions the purpose of the public hearing is less clear. The risk of public hearings is that the planning or governing board will be tempted to base its decision on political factors extraneous to the regulations, thereby exceeding it power, and that the public will develop false expectations about the board's power to deny plat approval. Staff Review Costs Although staff review at this point should be relatively minor, final plat review procedure will involve some amount of staff time. Under the platting procedure outlined in the ordinances, the cost of such time is normally provided for by the developer's escrow deposit made at the time of sketch plan application. The escrow deposit for this preliminary subdivision plat no longer exist. Will review time in this instance be charged to the taxpayers? Review Checklist: City Administrator Zoning Administrator City Engineer PZ:2-5-91