Subdivision 2005-03, Article 07-Article 11 VarianceARTICLE 7 VARIANCE
SECTION 701 GRANTING OF VARIANCES; CONDITIONS
The Planning Commission may recommend and the City Council may grant variances from the
provisions of these regulations, but only after determining that:
1. There are unique circumstances or conditions affecting the property.
2. The variance is necessary for the reasonable and acceptable development of the property
in question.
3. The granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to
adjacent property.
SECTION 702 RECORDING OF PLAT
In no case shall the requirement of filing and recording a plat for subdivision be waived.
SECTION 703 PLAN DEVELOPMENT
The Planning Commission may recommend and City Council may also grant reasonable
variances to these Regulations if the subdivider concurrently submits an application for, and obtains
approval of, a Planned Development District. The subdivider shall indicate where his/her plans vary
from these regulations and shall present sufficient evidence to support his/her request, indicating why
his/her request will not be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare.
SECTION 704 WAIVER FOR SMALL SUBDIVISIONS
The subdivider may make application for and the Planning Commission may grant a waiver of
some or all of the requirements provided in Article 5 and Article 6 of these regulations for small
residential, commercial and industrial subdivisions where the following conditions exist:
1. The subdivision contains no more than five (5) lots.
2. All lots of the proposed subdivision shall be platted on existing streets.
3. Street surfaces of all streets serving the subdivision shall meet or exceed street surface
standards of the City.
4. Public water, sanitary sewer, and facilities are available to all lots in the subdivision.
5. The development of the subdivision will not increase erosion or flooding potential.
A subdivision requesting a waiver under the provisions of Section 704 of these Regulations
shall submit said request in writing to the Planning Commission prior to submission of the Preliminary
Plat. The request for a waiver shall include a list of all requirements for which a waiver is sought by
City of Blair Subdivision Regulations Article 7 – 11, page 1
reference to the Section numbers and the descriptive catch-heads which appear in these Regulations.
SECTION 705 LOT SPLIT OF TAX LOTS OR PARCELS
An existing tax lot or parcel of land shown as a unit or as contiguous units on the January 1,
1979 Tax Rolls, of sufficient size, may be divided into no more than two (2) tax lots, upon
recommendation of the Planning Commission and approval of the City Council. In AGG a lot split is
allowed where a tax lot, tract or parcel of land is divided into one tax lot that is at least three (3) acres
and a second tax lot that is greater than ten (10) acres. The subdivider, developer or owner shall file
with the City an application upon forms prescribed therefor and shall comply with these minimum lot
requirements. Requests for lot split approval shall be made by the owner of the land to the City
Administrator.
The subdivider shall submit four (4) full-size paper originals and one (1) reproducible copy not
more than eleven (11) inches x seventeen (17) inches of a survey of the lots, certified by a surveyor,
showing the location of the structure(s) thereon, together with the precise nature, location and
dimensions of the split. Such drawings shall include a scale drawing of the entire tract being divided.
An electronic version of the survey maps capable of being imported into the City’s GIS system must
also be submitted. The application shall be accompanied by a list of names and addresses of all
owners of land within three hundred (300) feet of the property who shall receive notices.
The submitted drawing shall also contain the following:
(1) Date, title (such as “Lot Split of Tax Lot ..”), and location map of the tax lot being split.
(2) Names and locations of abutting streets and lots, identifying street names and tax lot or lot
and block numbers.
(3) Identification of the new tax lot and set back lines.
(4) Graphic scale, true north point and full legend depicting all map symbology.
(5) Monuments.
(6) Dimensions, angles and bearings and complete legal description of the property.
(7) Sufficient engineering data to reproduce any line on the ground.
(8) Location, dimensions, and purposes of any existing easements.
(9) Certification by surveyor or engineer certifying to the accuracy of the survey and drawing.
(10) Certification signed and acknowledged by all parties holding title or having any title interest in
the land subdivided and consenting to the preparation and recording of the drawing as
submitted.
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(11) Certification by the County Treasurer all assessed taxes for the current year have been paid in
full.
(12) Square footage of each tax lot.
(13) If applicable, utility easements signed by the owner or owners to permit all tax lots created
access to all utilities available, including but not limited to, sanitary sewer, storm sewer,
water, electrical, telephone, and cable television.
(14) Location of all existing buildings, structures, fences and retaining walls.
Written notices shall be mailed to all owners of land within three hundred (300) feet of the
property. Adjacent land owners shall have ten days from the date of notification to notify the City
Administrator of any protests which they may have concerning the application.
The applicant shall pay and the application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable
application fee. Said fee shall be set and determined from time to time as deemed necessary by the
Mayor and City Council by resolution, and shall be appended to the Municipal Code as part of an
appendix for permit, license, and application fees.
A “Lot Split Action Pending” sign will be posted on the front yard of the property under
consideration for a lot split at least ten (10) days prior to the public hearings of the Planning
Commission and City Council.
1. Approval or disapproval of tax lot splits shall be made based on the following guidelines in
which:
A. No tax lot split shall be approved if:
(1) A new street or alley is needed or proposed.
(2) A vacation of streets, alleys, setback lines, access control of easements is needed or
proposed.
(3) Such action will result in significant increases in service requirements, utilities,
schools, traffic control, streets, etc.; or will interfere with maintaining existing service
levels, additional repaving etc.
(4) There is less street right-of-way than required by these Regulations or the
comprehensive plan, unless such dedication can be made by separate instrument.
(5) All easement requirements have not been dedicated.
(6) The tax lot split results in a tract which does not border on and provide direct access
for ingress and egress to a public right-of-way. Said direct access shall not be less than
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thirty (30) feet in width. An easement shall not be considered as providing direct access.
(7) A substandard tax lot or parcel would be created, as determined by the existing
zoning.
(8) Any assessed, current year taxes are not paid.
(9) Approval has not been granted by the Public Works Director for access to proposed
lots in corporate limits or County Roads Superintendent for access to proposed lots in
the two-mile jurisdiction.
B.Additional requirements or provisions pertaining to tax lot split applications are as
follows:
(1) Tax lot splits platted along existing streets shall include dedication to the public of
right-of-way pursuant to the provisions of Section 502.03 of these Subdivision
Regulations.
(2) The Planning Commission may make such additional requirements deemed necessary
to carry out the intent and policy of existing land development regulations and governing
body policy which may include, but not be limited to, installation of public facilities and
submission of covenants for the protection of other landowners in the original subdivision.
(3) The City Council, after recommendation of the Planning Commission, may waive any
of the restrictions herein prohibiting the approval of a tax lot split upon the following
conditions:
(a) Lot split to be appended to an existing tax lot: If the tax lot split application
includes a letter from the County Surveyor indicating that upon granting of the tax
lot split any resulting substandard size tax lot will be combined with an existing tax
lot or tract and redesignated as one tax lot or tract, the tax lot split may be approved
if such redesignated tax lot or tract meets all of the requirements for the granting of
tax lot splits herein; or
(b) Lot split to be appended to an existing platted lot: If the tax lot split application
includes an agreement of the owners thereof and owners of adjacent platted lot(s) to
which any part of the split lot is to be appended, binding the transferees, grantees,
and the assignees of the owners, requiring the resulting split tax lot(s) will be
permanently appended to the contiguous platted lot(s) with common ownership.
Permanently appended shall mean that the resulting partial tax lot or the contiguous
platted lot may not be conveyed without the other in a simultaneous transaction to
the same grantee, pursuant to the terms of a contiguous parcel agreement in form
satisfactory to the Planning Commission and City Council.
C. The Planning Commission shall consider the tax lot split within thirty (60) days of
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application. The chairman of the Planning Commission shall sign and furnish a certificate of
approval or disapproval to be affixed to the lot split survey.
D. The tax lot split application shall then be submitted to the City Council for appropriate
action.
E. Following approval by the City Council, an original survey bearing the land surveyor's
certificate, the signatures of the chairman of the Planning Commission and Mayor, indicating
City Council approval, shall be filed by the City Clerk in the office of the Washington County
Register of Deeds.
2. The Zoning Administrator may approve an Administrative Tax Lot Line Adjustment without
further approval by the Planning Commission or City Council which involves a transaction
between owners of adjoining tax lots, which involves only a change in the boundary between
the tax lots owned by such persons, which does not create an additional tax lot, and which
does not result in the creation of a substandard tax lot.
Following the mailing of the written notices required in Section 705, if a protest or protests
against such tax lot split be filed in the office of the City Clerk within ten (10) days of the
notice of such split, which are duly signed by the owners of twenty percent (20%) of the total
area, excepting public streets and ways, located within three hundred feet of the boundaries of
the property proposed to be split, approval of such tax lot split shall not be made by the
Zoning Administrator under this section, and the approval of such tax lot split shall be made
by the procedure as set forth hereinabove by hearing before the Planning Commission and
City Council.
3. Conveyances or transfers of real estate otherwise subject to the provisions of this section shall
be exempt in the following instances:
A. A conveyance of land or interest therein for use as right-of-way by railroad or other public
utilities subject to state or federal regulation, where no new street or easement of access is
created.
B. Any transfer by operation of law.
C. A conveyance of land to any governing body for right-of-way or other public use when
such acceptance is in the public interest and not for the purpose of circumventing these
regulations.
ARTICLE 9 REPEALS
All Ordinances of the City inconsistent herewith to the extent of such inconsistency, and no
further, are hereby repealed.
City of Blair Subdivision Regulations Article 7 – 11, page 5
The repeal of any of the above-mentioned does not revive any other Ordinances or portions
thereof repealed by said Ordinances.
Such repeals shall not affect or prevent the prosecution or punishment of any person for the
violation of any Ordinance repealed hereby, for any offense committed prior to the repeal.
ARTICLE 10 SEVERABILITY
It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that the several provisions of this Ordinance
shall be severable, in accordance with the provisions set forth below.
If any provision of this Ordinance is declared to be invalid by a decision of any court of
competent jurisdiction, it is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that:
1. The effect of such decision shall be limited to that lot, building, other structure or tract of
land immediately involved in the controversy, action or proceeding in which the
judgement or decree of invalidity was rendered.
2. Such decision shall not affect, impair or nullify this Ordinance as a whole or the
application of any provisions thereof, to any other lot, building, other structure, or tract
of land.
ARTICLE 11 EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication in
pamphlet form as provided by law.
th
Passed and Approved this 8 day of March, 2005.
James E. Realph, Mayor
ATTEST:
Brenda Wheeler, City Clerk
(END OF SECTION)
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