A. 
The purpose of this article is to ensure that the highest standards of site, building and landscape design are conscientiously met through the use of qualified technical and aesthetic judgment compatible with the Comprehensive Plan. In acting upon plats, the Planning Board shall require, among other conditions in the public interest, that the tract shall be adequately drained and the streets shall be of sufficient width and suitable grade and suitably located to accommodate the prospective traffic and to provide access for firefighting equipment to buildings. The Planning Board shall further require that all lots shown on the plats shall be adaptable for the intended purpose without danger to health or peril from flood, fire, erosion or other menace. Required improvements shall be designed and constructed to conform to specifications established by the Town. In considering applications for subdivision approval, the Planning Board shall be guided by the standards set forth herein. These standards shall be considered to be minimum requirements and may be waived by the Planning Board only under the circumstances set forth in § 267-24 of this chapter.
B. 
Specifications for required improvements. All required improvements shall be constructed or installed to conform to municipal specifications.
C. 
Existing features which would add value to the development, such as large trees, watercourses, historic sites and similar irreplaceable assets, should be preserved, insofar as possible, through harmonious design of the subdivision.
D. 
The Planning Board, in considering an application for the subdivision of land, shall be guided by the policy considerations specified in § 267-5 of this chapter. In addition, the Planning Board, in its deliberations on any discretionary actions under this chapter, shall ensure that the goals and policies of the Town Comprehensive Plan are implemented as far as practicable through this chapter.
E. 
Additional considerations. In addition to the requirements and standards cited herein, the Planning Board in rendering its decision on a subdivision application shall also consider the planning recommendations as set forth in § 160-4, Chapter 160, Farming.
A. 
Relation to topography. Streets shall be logically related and conform, insofar as possible, to the original topography. They shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at or above the grades of the streets. A combination of steep grades and sharp curves shall be avoided.
B. 
Streets. Streets shall be graded and improved with pavement, street signs, sidewalks, streetlighting, curbs, gutters, trees, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains and fire hydrants in accordance with the State Highway Law, as amended. The Planning Board may waive, subject to appropriate conditions and upon the recommendation of the Town Highway Department and the Town Engineer, such improvements as it considers are not requisite in the interest of public health, safety and general welfare.
C. 
Utilities. Underground utilities shall be placed between the paved roadway and street line to facilitate location and repair of the lines. The applicant shall install underground connections, where required, to the property line of each lot before the street is paved.
D. 
Grading and stormwater improvements. Site grading and improvements related to management of stormwater quality and quantity shall conform to Town specifications and shall be approved as to design and specifications by the Town's duly authorized representative. In addition, development of the parcel shall conform with the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Phase II stormwater requirements.
E. 
Intersections. Intersections of major streets by other streets shall generally be at least 600 feet apart where practicable. Cross (four-cornered) street intersections shall be avoided, except at important intersections. A distance of at least 150 feet shall be maintained between offset intersections. Within 50 feet of an intersection, streets shall be approximately at right angles and grades shall be limited to 1.5. All street intersection corners shall be rounded by curves of at least 25 feet in radius at the property line.
F. 
Trees. A conscious effort shall be made to preserve all worthwhile trees and shrubs which exist on the site. Such features may well be suggested for park or playground areas. On individual lots or parcels, care should be taken to preserve selected trees to enhance the landscape treatment of the development.
G. 
Sight lines and visibility at intersections. Within the triangular area formed at corners by the intersection of street center lines, for a distance of 75 feet from their intersection and the diagonal connecting the end points of these lines, visibility for traffic safety shall be provided. Fences, walls, hedges or other landscaping shall not be permitted or placed so as to obstruct such visibility.
H. 
Continuation of streets into adjacent property. Streets shall be arranged to provide for their continuation between adjacent properties where such continuation is necessary for convenient movement of traffic, effective fire protection, and efficient provision for utilities and particularly where such continuation is in accordance with the Town Plan. If the adjacent property is undeveloped and the streets must dead end temporarily, the right-of-way and the improvements must run to the property line. A temporary T turnaround, meeting Town specifications, shall be provided at the terminus of all dead-end streets together with a notation on the plat that the land outside the street right-of-way shall revert to abutters whenever the street is continued.
I. 
Permanent dead-end streets (culs-de-sac). A circular turnaround in accordance with the standards set forth in the Town specifications shall be provided at the end of the dead-end street for greater convenience to traffic and effective police and fire protection. Permanent dead-end streets shall, in general, be limited in length to 900 feet.
J. 
Street names. All streets shall be named, and such names shall be subject to the approval of the Town Board. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and spelling from other street names in the Town so as not to cause confusion. A street which is a continuation of an existing street shall bear the same name.
K. 
Future street system. Where the plat covers only a part of the applicant's tract, a sketch of the prospective future street system of the unsubmitted part shall be furnished and the street system of the part submitted shall be considered along with the potential future street system.
L. 
Arrangement of lots. The arrangements of lots shall be such that there will be no foreseeable difficulties, for reasons of topography or other conditions, in locating a building on each lot and in providing access to buildings on such lots from an approved street.
A. 
Realignment or widening of existing streets. Where the subdivision borders an existing street and the Official Map or Town Plan indicates plans for realignment or widening of the street that would require reservation of some land of the subdivision, the Planning Board may require that such areas be shown in the plat as "Reserved for Street Purposes."
B. 
Utility and drainage easements. Where topography or other conditions are such as to make impractical the inclusion of utilities or drainage facilities within a street right-of-way, perpetual unobstructed easements shall be provided to the Town for such utilities or drainage facilities located outside of the street right-of-way. Said easements shall be a minimum 20 feet in width unless otherwise recommended by the Town of Collins and approved by the Planning Board.
C. 
Easements for pedestrian access. The Planning Board may require, in order to facilitate pedestrian access from streets to schools, parks, playgrounds or other nearby streets, perpetual unobstructed easements at least 10 feet in width along the street right-of-way or at such other locations as the Board deems appropriate.
D. 
Ownership of reservations. Ownership shall be clearly indicated on all reservations and easements.
A. 
Lot monumentation. The property corners of all lots created pursuant to this chapter shall be permanently marked in the field by installation of iron pipe, rods or other suitable monumentation approved by the Town Engineer. Monumentation for each individual lot shall be located and installed by a licensed land surveyor and be in place prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy.