ARTICLE I

SHORT TITLE

 This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the Subdivision Regulations of the Town of Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

ARTICLE II

AUTHORITY AND ENACTMENT CLAUSE

 The Board of Aldermen of the Town of Maggie Valley, pursuant to the authority conferred by an act of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina (General Statutes, Chapter 160A, Article 19) does hereby ordain and enact into law these articles and sections.

ARTICLE III

PURPOSE

 The purpose of these regulations is to establish procedures and standards for the development and subdivision of real estate within the corporate limits of the Town of Maggie Valley in an effort to, among other things, ensure proper legal description, identification, monumentation and recordation of real estate boundaries; further the orderly layout and appropriate use of the land; provide safe, convenient and economic circulation of vehicular traffic; provide suitable building sites which are readily accessible to emergency vehicles; assure the proper installation of streets and utilities; promote the eventual elimination of unsafe or unsanitary conditions arising from undue concentration of population; and help conserve and protect the physical and economic resources and generally creating conditions essential to the public health, safety and welfare of the Town of Maggie Valley.

ARTICLE IV

COMPLIANCE

Section 400. Approval of Plats.

 A plat shall be prepared, approved, and recorded pursuant to this Ordinance whenever any subdivision of land occurs within the defined jurisdiction of this Ordinance. All plats for the subdivision of land shall conform to the requirements of these regulations, and shall be submitted in accordance with the procedures and specifications established herein. No plat of a subdivision of land within the Town of Maggie Valley shall be filed or recorded by the Haywood County Register of Deeds until it has been submitted and given final approval as provided herein, and until such approval is entered on the face of the final plat.

Section 401. Permits.

 No building permits shall be issued for any construction in any subdivision for which a plat is required to be approved until the final plat has been approved as provided herein.

Section 402. Selling of Lots

 No lot referenced to or exhibited on any subdivision plat required herein shall be sold or transferred until the final plat for such subdivision has been recorded by the Haywood County Register of Deeds.

 ARTICLE V

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 500. Definitions.

 For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain words or terms used herein shall be defined as follows:

Building Setback Line: A line delineating the minimum allowable distance between the property line and a building on a lot, within which no building or other structure shall be placed except as otherwise provided. Whenever the front, side or rear portion of a lot abuts a street right-of-way or other publicly dedicated area, setback lines shall be measured from said right-of-way or publicly dedicated area.

Corner Lot: A lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection.

Cul-de-sac: A street permanently terminated by a turn around.

Dedication: A gift, by the owner, or a right to use land for a specified purpose or purposes.

Double Frontage Lot: A continuous lot of the same depth as the width of a block containing two tiers of lots and which is accessible from both of the streets upon which it fronts.

Easement: A grant by the property owner for use, by the public, a corporation, or person(s) of a strip of land for specified reasons.

Family Subdivision: A subdivision of land into two or more parcels or lots for the purpose of conveying the resulting parcels or lots to a grantee or grantees who are in any degree of lineal kinship to the grantor, or to a grantee or grantees who are within three (3) degrees of collateral kinship to the grantor. Degrees of kinship shall be computed in accordance with G.S. 104A-1.

Individual Sewer System: Any septic tank, privy, or other facility serving a single source or connection and approved by the County Sanitariam.

Individual Water System: Any well, spring, stream, or other source used to supply a single connection.

Lot: A portion of a subdivision or any other parcel of land intended as a unit for transfer of ownership or for development or both. The word "lot" includes the words "plot" or "parcel."

Major Subdivision: A subdivision of land involving more than four (4) lots or requiring new street construction or right-of-way dedication or requiring utility extension or utility easement dedication.

Minor Subdivision: A subdivision of land involving no new street construction, or no right-of-way dedication, or no utility extension or utility easement dedication, where four (4) or fewer lots result after the subdivision is completed.

Official Maps or Plans: Any maps or plans officially adopted by the Board of Aldermen as a guide for the development of the Town.

Perennial Stream: Any stream indicated as a blue line on the most recent version of U.S.G.S. 1:24,000 (7.5 minute) scale topographic maps.

Planning Board : The Maggie Valley Planning Board.

Private Drive: A private access serving no more than one (1) lot and not intended to be a public ingress or egress. Private drives are intended to provide direct access from one lot or building site to a publicly dedicated and maintained street.

Shall: The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.

Single Tier Lot: A lot which backs upon a limited access highway, a railroad, a physical barrier, or a nonresidential use and to which access from the rear of the lot is usually prohibited.

Street : In this Ordinance, a street shall be a right-of-way intended for vehicular traffic, which affords the principal means of access to abutting properties.

Subdivider: Any person, firm, or corporation who subdivides or develops any land deemed to be a subdivision as herein defined.

Subdivision: A "subdivision" shall mean all divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, building sites, or other divisions, for the purpose of sale or building development, whether immediate or future, and shall include all divisions of land involving the dedication of a new street or a change in existing streets; but the following shall not be included within this definition nor be subject to the regulations of this Ordinance:

 (1) The combination or recombination of portions of previously subdivided and recorded lots where the total number of lots is not increased and the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the Town as required by this Ordinance.

 (2) The division of land into parcels greater than ten (10) acres where no street right-of-way dedication is involved.

 (3) The public acquisition by purchase of strips of land for the widening or opening of streets.

 (4) The division of a tract of land in single ownership whose entire area is no greater than two (2) acres into not more than three (3) lots, where no street right-of-way dedication is involved, and where the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the Town as required by this Ordinance.

Board of Aldermen: The Governing Board of the Town of Maggie Valley.

ARTICLE VI

PROCEDURE FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF SUBDIVISION PLATS

Section 600. General.

 No final plat of a subdivision within the Town of Maggie Valley shall be recorded by the Register of Deeds of Haywood County until it has been approved as provided herein. To secure such approval, the subdivider shall follow the procedure established in this Article. Furthermore, no street shall be maintained by the Town nor street dedication accepted for ownership and maintenance, nor shall water, sewer or other public facilities or services be extended to or connected with any subdivision for which a final plat is required to be approved unless and until such approval has occurred as provided herein.

Section 601. Family Subdivisions

 The division of land into two or more parcels or lots for the purpose of conveying the resulting parcels or lots to the grantee or grantees who are in any degree of lineal kinship to the grantor, or to a grantee or grantees who are within three (3) degrees of collateral kinship to the grantor, such to be referred to herein as a "family subdivision". Degrees of kinship shall be computed in accordance with G.S. 104A-1 (as written in the Haywood County Land Ordinance.) The grantor must prove lineage within three (3) degrees of the grantee by proof of birth certificates by both the grantor and the grantee and/or grantee will sign affidavit of proof that the subdivision is strictly a family subdivision and not for commercial sale or use.

 Review process for family subdivisions will be handled at the staff level. The Code Enforcement Officer will be responsible for signing off on the final plat. If the Code Enforcement Officer determines that the proposed subdivision does not meet the standards of a "family subdivision," the Code Enforcement Officer will send the disputed complaint to the Planning Board who will then make a final determination.

Section 602. Pre-Application Procedure.

Every subdivision applicant, except for family subdivisions, is required to meet the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee in a pre-application conference prior to the submittal of a subdivision plat. The purpose of this conference is to provide clarification and assistance in the preparation and submission of plats for approval.

Section 603. Sketch Plan.

 (1) General. A sketch plan is requested but not required for staff review for all proposed subdivisions except family subdivisions. The sketch plan may be presented to the Code Enforcement Officer at the pre-application conference required in Section 602. The Code Enforcement Officer shall discuss with the applicant any problems found from review of the sketch plan that would need to be addressed prior to submittal of a subdivision plat. The Code Enforcement Officer shall also determine whether the proposed subdivision qualifies as a minor or major subdivision.

 (2) Contents Required. The sketch plan, if submitted, should contain the following information:

 (a) A sketch vicinity map showing the location of the proposed subdivision in relation to neighboring tracts, subdivisions, roads and waterways;

 (b) The boundaries of the tract and the portion of the tract to be subdivided;

 (c) The total acreage to be subdivided;

 (d) The existing and proposed uses of land within the proposed subdivision and adjoining it;

 (e) The proposed street and lot layout;

 (f) The name, address, and telephone number of the owner;

 (g) Streets and lots of adjacent developed or platted properties; and

 (h) The zoning classification(s) of the tract.

Section 604. Minor Subdivisions and Family Subdivisions.

 (1) General. For all minor subdivisions and family subdivisions, the subdivider shall submit four (4) copies of the plat containing all required information to the Code Enforcement Officer. At the time of submission, the subdivider shall pay such fee as established by the Town.

 (2) Contents Required. The plat shall contain all information required for a final plat as found in Section 607 of this Ordinance.

 (3) Town Staff Review Procedure. The Code Enforcement Officer shall review for compliance with this Ordinance and other ordinances and regulations of the Town, to assure that adequate public utilities and services are available, and shall complete such review within fourteen (14) days. If all applicable provisions of this and other Town ordinances and regulations are met, the Code Enforcement Officer shall approve the plat as a final plat. If all applicable provisions are not met, the plat shall be returned to the applicant with deficiencies noted.

 (4) Disposition of Copies. If the final plat is approved, the original tracing and one (1) print shall be retained by the subdivider and one (1) print shall be filed with the Town Clerk.

 After approval, the following certificate shall be lettered or rubber-stamped on the final plat in such a manner as to ensure that said certificate will be legible on any prints made therefrom:

Certificate of Approval

 I certify that the final plat shown hereon complies with the Maggie Valley Subdivision Regulations and is approved for recording in the Haywood County Register of Deeds Office.

 _________________________

 Code Enforcement Officer

 Town of Maggie Valley

Section 605. Preliminary Plat.

 (1) General. For all major subdivisions, the subdivider shall submit four (4) copies of a preliminary plat containing all required information to the Code Enforcement Officer. At the time of submission of the preliminary plat, the subdivider shall pay such fee as established by the Town.

 (2) Contents Required. The preliminary plat shall be clearly and legibly drawn at a scale of one hundred (100) feet to one (1) inch or at another scale acceptable to the Code Enforcement Officer. The preliminary plat shall be prepared by a registered land surveyor currently licensed and registered in the State of North Carolina by the N.C. Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and shall contain the following information:

 (a) Boundaries of tract shown with bearings, distances, and closures.

 (b) Proposed streets, street names, and rights-of-way.

 (c) Location of storm drainage channels.

 (d) Easements shall be provided for all utilities. Access to open or piped storm drainage channels shall be guaranteed to the Town by granting an easement no less than twenty (20) feet wide (to be shown on plat).

 (e) Proposed lot lines, lot and block numbers, and dimensions.

 (f) Proposed minimum building setback lines.

 (g) Title, date, name and location of subdivision, North point, and graphic scale.

 (h) Name of subdivider, registered surveyor, and seal.

 (i) No person shall initiate any land disturbing activity which uncovers more than one contiguous acre within the proposed subdivision without having an erosion control plan approved by the Land Quality Section of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Written documentation of such approval shall accompany the preliminary plat.

 (j) Site data:

 -1) acreage in total tract

 -2) total number of lots

 -3) lineal feet in streets

 -4) smallest lot size

 (k) Plans for public water and sewer utilities shall be submitted with the preliminary plat. For water and sewer utilities, approval by the appropriate utility shall be indicated on the plans.

 (l) Plans for streets shall be submitted with the preliminary plat and shall indicate conformity to the Town of Maggie Valley Street Standards by a certified surveyor or registered engineer.

1. Designation of any identified flood hazard area.
4. There shall be a twenty (20) feet buffer zone adjacent to Jonathan Creek, Campbell Creek, and any tributary with year around flow. The buffer strip shall be composed of grasses and similar vegetative materials and shall be measured from the top of the creek bank.

(O) A description of proposed means for reseeding and soil stabilization of any disturbed area.

 (3) Town Staff Review Procedure. The Code Enforcement Officer shall review for compliance with this Ordinance and other ordinances of the Town to assure that adequate public utilities and services are available. The Code Enforcement Officer shall meet with any agency or officials deemed necessary to adequately review the plat and shall complete such review within fourteen (14) days after submittal. If all applicable provisions of this and other Town ordinances and regulations are met, the Code Enforcement Officer shall submit the plat to the Planning Board. If all applicable provisions are not met the plat shall be returned to the applicant with deficiencies noted.

 (4) Planning Board Review Procedure. First consideration of the preliminary plat shall be at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Board that follows at least seven (7) days after the Chairman or his designee has received notification of submittal from the Code Enforcement Officer. The Planning Board shall take action within thirty-five (35) days of receiving the preliminary plat.

 Before taking final action on the preliminary plat, the Planning Board may refer copies of the plat and any accompanying material to those public agencies concerned with new development, provided that the Planning Board may extend the thirty-five (35) day review period if within said time period it has not received information it deems necessary for a thorough review of the plat.

Approval of the preliminary plat shall be valid for one year unless a written extension is granted by the Planning Board on or before the one-year anniversary of said approval. If the final plat is not submitted for approval within said one-year period or any period of extension, then said approval of the preliminary plat shall be void.

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