The following improvements are necessary to
assure that all lots in subdivisions are adequately served with utilities,
are accessible to pedestrians and to vehicles, are safeguarded against
physical dangers, such as flooding and erosion, and have sanitation
features, which provide a healthy and safe environment. Improvements
are required to preserve the natural features of the land and to make
the subdivision an attractive and desirable place to live.
[Amended 12-1-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
The size, shape and orientation of nonresidential
lots shall be such as the body with final approval authority, either
the Town Board or Planning Board, deems appropriate or as stated herein
for the type of development and use contemplated. Residential lots
shall comply with the following requirements:
A. Lot dimensions and area shall not be less than the requirements of Chapter
229, Zoning, unless a variance has been granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Lot area shall include only usable lands as defined in Chapter
229 of the Code of the Town of Clarence and Article
VI of this chapter.
B. Side lot lines shall be substantially at right angles
or radial to street lines.
C. All lots shall abut their full frontage on a publicly
dedicated street or a street that has received the legal status as
such or on an approved private road as approved by the Town Board
in an open space design development or open development area.
D. Lots in a floodway or floodplain or within 100 feet
of a designated wetland, whether incorporated as a part of the subdivision
or not, are subject to the following provisions:
(1) Flood damage prevention as provided for in Chapter
107 of the Code of the Town of Clarence.
(2) Article 24 of the New York State Environmental Conservation
Law.
(3) Wetlands falling under federal jurisdiction will be
subject to a site-specific buffer zone, the width of which is to be
as designated by the Town Board, unless appropriate fill permits are
obtained from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Under no
other circumstances shall the Town approve any project or issue permits
for a project that includes plans to build a structure or place fill
within the designated buffer zone.
E. A lot of less than 300 feet frontage fronting on a
county or state highway shall be designed so as to share a common
curb cut with an adjacent lot if either adjacent lot has not been
previously granted a curb cut permit. When more than three lots are
proposed to be subdivided from a parcel with frontage on a county
or state highway, access for all such lots shall be on internal streets,
not on a county or state highway. Each lot permitted to front on a
county or state highway shall provide for an approved on-site turnaround
so as to obviate the necessity of any vehicle from backing onto such
highway.
F. Any such common curb cut and/or common driveway shall
be subject to reciprocal easements and suitable maintenance agreements
which shall be noted by reference on the subdivision plat, reviewed
and approved by the body with final approval authority, either the
Town Board or Planning Board, and recorded in the Erie County Clerk's
office. Any such common driveway shall be further subject to criteria
that may be promulgated by the Town Board for the design, construction
and approval of common driveways.
G. Access from private streets. Access from privately
owned and maintained streets, as may be specifically authorized by
the body with final approval authority, either the Town Board or Planning
Board, in accordance with § 280-a of the Town Law, shall
be deemed acceptable only if such streets are designed and improved
in accordance with this section and means satisfactory to the said
body are provided for the long-term ownership and maintenance of said
privately owned and maintained streets. The subdividing of land shall
be such as to provide each lot with satisfactory access for routine
and emergency purposes from the community's system of public streets
and roadways.
Utility and other easements shall be provided
as follows:
A. Utility easements. An easement shall be provided for
all utility lines wherever those utility lines do not fall within
a dedicated right-of-way. All utility easements shall be plotted on
both the preliminary and final subdivision plat. The developer must
identify all easements in deeds for each lot affected. Utility easements
shall have a minimum width of 15 feet. All utility lines that are
primarily intended to provide service to the lots within the subdivision
shall be installed underground at a depth and at such locations as
will minimize risk of interruption of services.
B. Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse,
drainageway, channel or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater
easement or drainage right-of-way conforming substantially with the
lines of such watercourse and such further width or construction,
or both, as will be adequate for the purpose.
C. Lakes, ponds, creeks and similar areas may be accepted
for maintenance by the Town only if sufficient land is dedicated as
a public recreation area or park. Such areas must be approved by the
Town Board before approval of the final plat. Where such area constitutes
a necessary part of the drainage control system, such area must be
approved by the Town Engineer.
D. Drainage easements. Drainage easements shall be provided
for all natural and man-made drainageways that do not fall within
a dedicated right-of-way. All drainage easements shall be plotted
on the preliminary and final plats. The Town shall be provided with
a metes and bounds description of all proposed easements prior to
final plat approval. These descriptions will be used by the Town Engineer
in creating or extending special districts.
E. The body with final approval authority, either the
Town Board or Planning Board, reserves the right to require additional
cross-access easements when the purposes of the easements are found
to be in the public interest.
[Amended 12-1-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
[Amended 12-1-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
When residential districts directly abut major
arterials and/or commercial and industrial development or other areas
as determined by the body with final approval authority, either Town
Board or Planning Board, a buffer strip consisting of at least 45
feet shall be provided along the line where such land uses abut. For
purposes of title, these buffer strips shall be part of the platted
lots but shall have the following restriction set forth on the final
plat: "This buffer strip is reserved for the planting of trees or
shrubs by the owner or the preservation of natural features; the building
of structures and other impervious surfaces hereon is prohibited."
No rear yard drainage or utility easements shall be placed in this
buffer area unless approval of the Town Board is otherwise granted.
These improvements are required to ensure that
the ecology of the subdivision is not disturbed adversely, that the
subdivision presents an attractive appearance, that is properly paved
and monumented, and that all improvements are recorded on the final
plat for approval by the Town of Clarence.
A. Erosion control. The subdivider shall preserve unique
physical features, such as historic landmarks and sites, rock outcroppings,
hilltop lookouts, stands of trees, desirable natural contours and
similar natural features in designing a project.
(1) Erosion and sedimentation control shall conform to
local and regulatory agency requirements.
[Amended 12-1-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
(2) During the development process, the developer shall
expose the smallest practical area of land at any one time. Proper
erosion control measures shall be in place prior to any area being
disturbed. Examples of normal erosion control are straw baling, silt
dams made of synthetic materials and siltation collection depressions.
B. Topsoil.
(1) Topsoil moved during the course of construction should
be stored in such a manner as to allow for minimum volume to be stacked
or stored at any one time. The stacking or storage period should be
kept as short as possible.
(2) Storage and redistribution of topsoil should be consistent
with the phasing of construction for the purpose of reducing the need
for the storage of large volumes of topsoil. Topsoil shall be redistributed
so as to cover all areas of the subdivision adequately to a minimum
depth of eight inches for each lot and shall be stabilized by seeding
or planting. Topsoil piles shall be stabilized by seeding. Permanent
removal of topsoil from areas of proposed road and utility construction
requires prior permission of the Town Board as part of the permit
required by this chapter. Prior to said removal authorization, the
applicant shall demonstrate that sufficient topsoil will remain. A
minimum of eight inches of topsoil must remain for portions of the
site not covered by structures, sidewalks, parking areas, roadways
or driveways.
(3) Temporary vegetation and/or mulching should be provided
to prevent potential erosion problems during construction.
(4) Upon completion of the project, the subdivider shall
not be permitted to leave any hills or mounds of dirt around the tract.
All surfaces should be restored within six months of the time of the
completion of the section of the subdivision.
(5) Upon completion of the project, the subdivider shall
not be permitted to leave any surface depressions that will collect
pools of water, except as may be required for retention of stormwater
runoff.
(6) All fill introduced to the project site to meet grading
requirements as approved by the Town Engineer shall be preapproved
as to quality and source.
C. Landscaping. Landscaping is the improvement of land
by contouring and decorative planting, which includes vegetative ground
cover.
(1) All lots which are disturbed during the course of
construction and which are not covered by structures or paving shall
have a minimum vegetative ground cover to prevent erosion.
(2) Additional landscaping may be recommended by the Planning
Board to screen or buffer the subdivision from a visually noncompatible
use.
(3) All subdivisions must be in conformance with Chapter
131 of the Code of the Town of Clarence (Landscape Law), and any other local laws regulating trees.
[Amended 12-1-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
D. Fill. To achieve required grades within the subdivision,
any fill introduced to the property must have written verification
as to the source of the fill, and such fill must be approved by the
Town Engineer. Designs should be developed so as to discourage the
introduction of fill to a property so as to utilize the natural setting
of the property and to encourage the preservation of mature vegetation.
E. Street signs. Permanent street signs of the same type
and design in general use throughout the Town, showing the names of
intersecting streets, shall be erected at each intersection.
F. Monuments. Permanent reference monuments shall be
set at critical corners and angle points of the boundaries within
the subdivision. Generally, critical corners and angle points shall
be deemed to mean boundary corners and angle points in the boundaries
of the parcel being subdivided and in street right-of-way boundaries
at all street intersections. Variations to this general rule shall
be permitted with Town Board approval. Requests for deviations shall
be made prior to preliminary plat approval. Agreements on monumentation
shall be incorporated into the subdivision plan of the final plat.
G. Accessways. All roads and streets shall be constructed
in conformance with the Manual of Standards/Design and Construction
Standards for Land Development in the Town of Clarence.
H. Planting. Adequate tree planting shall be completed.
Street trees shall be approximately 35 feet apart. Tentative tree
species will be indicated on the preliminary plat. Trees shall not
be less than 2 1/2 inches DBH at the time of planting. They may
be planted on either side of the sidewalk, unless the planting strip
is less than eight feet, in which case they should be planted in the
lawn area. Trees must be adequately supported by guy wires until firmly
rooted. All tree planting/landscape plans shall be reviewed and approved
by the Town Highway Superintendent and the Town Landscape Review Committee.
Driveway grades between the street pavement
and the minimum building setback line shall not exceed 10%, with a
suitable negative grade provided within 20 feet of the intersecting
street pavement. The remainder of the driveway shall be designed and
built to afford suitable access to the building site in accordance
with the provisions of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code and to prevent adverse impacts from either stormwater
drainage or erosion on the public street or roadway.
[Added 6-27-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007]
Any subdivision that proposes five or more additional lots and that is situated, in whole or in part, within the Adequate Educational Facilities Overlay District, described in Article
XIVA of the Zoning Law, shall comply with the terms of Article
XIVA of the Town Zoning Law.