HomeMy WebLinkAbout2269 Boundary Line Adjustments Procedures and RequirementsORDINANCE NO. 2269
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURE AND THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF
BOUNDARY LINE ADJUSTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY;
ADDING A NEW CHAPTER TO TITLE 18 OF THE PORT
TOWNSEND MUNICIPAL CODE; AND ESTABLISHING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE
Following study and investigation, and public hearings
conducted by the Planning Commission and by the City Council of
~ the City of Port Townsend, the city Council makes the following
findings:
1) RCW 58-17.040(6) provides for the alteration and
adjustment of boundary lines, without the requirement of a
subdivision.
2) Section 18.38.021(B) (7), as hereafter amended, of the
Port Townsend Municipal Code (PTMC) exempts from the requirements
of short subdivisions the division of land for the purpose of
minor line adjustments.
3) To assure that State law and City Ordinance are complied
with, the city Council deems it in the public interest to
establish an application, review and approval process of proposed
boundary line adjustments by the city's Planning and Building
Department, and that certain criteria and requirements should be
satisfied prior to approval of boundary line adjustments. Now
therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND DO ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS'.
1.1 The purpose of this ordinance is to establish a
procedure for the application, review and approval, or denial, of
proposed boundary line adjustments, and to establish criteria and
requirements for the same, consistent with the provisions of RCW
58-17.040(6) as now or hereafter amended.
1.2 The boundary lines separating two or more lots of
record may be adjusted under the provisions of this Chapter,
provided that such adjustment:
1.2.1 Will not result in the creation of any
additional lot, tract, parcel, site or division.
1.2.2 Will not create any lot, tract, parcel,
site or division which contains insufficient area and dimensions
to meet the requirements of the Port Townsend Municipal Code and
applicable conditions, covenants and restrictions pertaining to
the property.
1.2.3 Will not adversely affect access, easements
or drainfields.
1.2.4 Will be in conformance with any applicable
health, building, zoning or similar regulations.
1.2.5 Will not increase the nonconforming aspects
of an existing nonconforming lot.
1.2.6 Will not violate either restrictive
covenants contained on the face of a final plat nor conditions of
preliminary plat approval.
1.2.7 Will not create an unreasonably hazardous
approach to or from the property for access or egress purposes,
nor increase the number of lots accessing to or from an arterial
or collector street within the City.
1.2.8 Will be minor in nature and will not be
contrary to the purpose of RCW 58.17 and PTMC Title 18.
Section 2 Definitions.
2.1 Lot shall mean a fractional part of a
subdivided area having fixed boundaries and being of sufficient
area and dimensions to meet minimum zoning requirements, and also
means any identifiable parcel of unsubdivided land with
established boundaries set forth in a Deed or other form of
conveyance. The term shall include tracts or parcels.
2.2 Boundary line adjustment means a division
made for the purpose of alteration by adjusting boundary lines,
between platted or unplatted lots or both, which does not create
any additional lot, tract, parcel, site or division, nor create
any lot, tract, parcel, site or division which contains
insufficient area and dimensions to meet minimum requirements for
width and area for a building site. All boundary line
adjustments shall conform to the criteria set forth in subsection
1.2.1 through and including 1.2.7 of this Ordinance, and the
other provisions of this Ordinance.
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2.3 ~erson means any natural person, partnership,
corporation, association or other entity, and any governmental
body.
Section 3 Approval Required. No person shall do or take any
action which would cause or result in a boundary line adjustment
as defined in this ordinance, without first complying with the
terms of this Ordinance and having the proposed boundary line
adjustment approved as required herein.
Section 4 Application Requirements.
4.1 Application for boundary line adjustment
shall be made on forms to be provided by the Planning and
Building Department, and shall be submitted to the same with the
applicable fee. The application will include the following:
4.1.1 The signatures of the owners of the
property or their representative, involved in the adjustment,
indicating approval of the proposal;
4.1.2 The existing legal descriptions and
proposed legal descriptions, bearing the signature and seal of a
registered professional land surveyor, attesting to the accuracy
of the legal descriptions;
4.1.3 Description of any restrictive
covenants or conditions on the subject property;
4.1.4 A nonrefundable fee as set forth by
Section 3.36.015 of the Port Townsend Municipal Code.
4.2 In addition to the application, the applicant
must also submit three copies of a plan, drawn to scale and
accurately dimensioned, clearly showing the following
information:
4.2.1 The existing and proposed boundary
lines and identification by lot and parcel number for all
affected lots;
4.2.2 North Arrow;
4.2.3 The area and dimensions of each 10t
existing and proposed;
4.2.4 The location of all structures
existing upon the affected lots accurately showing the distance
of each such structure from all existing and proposed lot lines
and from each other structure;
4.2.5 The location of all generally
observable natural features, such as slopes, bluffs and wetlands
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on the affected lots;
4.2.6 The location and dimensions of any
drainfield or easement within, or right-of-way or street within
or adjacent to any affected lot: existing within or adjacent to
any affected lot; and
4.2.7 The existing public utilities and, if
applicable, a statement regarding proposed future method of
sewage disposal for each affected lot;
4.2.8 Where any lot affected by a proposed
boundary line adjustment is served or likely to be served in the
future by an on-site sewage disposal system, a report provided by
a registered sanitarian, civil engineer septic designer, or
similarly qualified professional providing an analysis of the
soil types, percolation and/or application rates, and a
recommendation as to the ability of the proposed site or sites to
meet all of then-existing standards for an on-site septic
disposal system for each such lot; or an actual design for an on-
site septic system or a method of approved sewage disposal for
each site approved by the Jefferson County Health Department or
its successor agency, shall be required by the City Engineer if
the City Engineer finds that the proposed adjustment could
adversely affect the ability of such lot or lots to be adequately
served by such on-site system.
4.3 The Planning Director may require a survey to
be prepared by a licensed land surveyor in order to ensure the
accuracy of the new legal description and drawings.
Section 5 Administrative Review. A complete application
for a boundary line adjustment shall be approved, approved with
conditions, or returned to the applicant for modification, or
denied within 20 business days of its receipt by the Department.
The Department shall not be considered to be in receipt of a
complete application unless and until such time as the
application meets the requirement of Section 4.
5.1 The Planning Director may forward one copy of
the proposed boundary line adjustment plan to the Public Works
Director for review if deemed necessary. In such case, the
Public Works Director shall respond within 10 business days of
receipt.
5.2 Public notice shall be mailed to each
immediately adjacent property owner to the subject properties
describing the proposed boundary line adjustment, and setting
forth a comment period of 10 days.
5.3 At the closing of the comment period but no
later than 20 business days following receipt of a complete
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application, the Planning Director shall after reviewing comments
received approve, approve with conditions, return to the
applicant for modification, or deny the request. In approving or
denying the application, the Director shall make appropriate
findings of fact and conclusions in writing and notify the
applicant.
5.4 Any conditions of approval may be required to
be contained in and executed as a restrictive covenant against
and running with the land, in form and substance approved by the
Director.
5.5 The decision of the Planning Director may be
appealed as contained in Section of the Municipal Code
(appeal of administrative decisions).
Section 6 Recording.
6.1 Upon approval of the application, the
Director shall notify the applicant. The applicant shall then
record the certificate or document issued by the Planning
Director indicating approval of the boundary line adjustment,
together with the legal document transferring title, any
applicable restrictive covenants, and the survey, if one was
required and has not yet been recorded, all with the Jefferson
County Auditor. If the documents are not recorded within 90 days
of approval, the boundary line adjustment shall automatically
become null and void.
6.2 A boundary line adjustment does not become
effective until the documents required for recording in
subsection 6.1 have been recorded or filed for record with the
Jefferson County Auditor. Two copies of each recorded document
shall be returned to the City by the applicant. One copy will be
held on file with the Planning and Building Department, and the
other will be forwarded to the Public Works Department for
records and map updates.
Section 7 Restrictions
7.1 No property which has been the subject of a
boundary line adjustment pursuant to the terms of this Chapter
shall be short subdivided for a period of five years from the
date of approval of the boundary line adjustment, in a manner
that would create more lots than could have been achieved without
the boundary line adjustment.
7.2 Ail boundary line adjustments shall comply
with the provisions of subsection 1.2.1 through 1.2.7, inclusive,
of this Ordinance.
Section 8 ViolatiOns/Penalties.
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8.1 Any person who makes any transfer or
conveyance or enters into any contract for the transfer or
conveyance of any property which would constitute a boundary line
adjustment as defined by this Ordinance, and who fails to comply
with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to a
fine in a sum not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment in the City
jail for a period not to exceed 90 days, or by both such fine and
imprisonment. However, it shall not be a violation to contract
for the transfer or conveyance of property so long as the
transfer or conveyance is expressly conditioned upon boundary
line adjustment approval.
8.2 In addition, any such transfer or conveyance
shall be null and void, and the City may record any appropriate
document to nullify or may initiate any appropriate action to
enjoin or set aside such transfer, conveyance or any sale or
agreement in the appropriate Court with jurisdiction, and may
recover, together with any other amounts, its attorney's fees and
costs incurred in bringing such action.
Section 9 Section 18.38.021 of the Port Townsend Municipal
Code is hereby amended as follows:
18.38.021 Exemptions. A. The following are exempt
from the provisions of this chapter:
1. Cemeteries and other burial plots while used for
that purpose;
2. Division made by testamentary provisions, or the
laws of descent.
B. The following are exempt from the provisions of
this chapter, except that each and every tract, parcel lot or
division so created, be surveyed and marked on the ground by
a land surveyor, registered with the state of Washington, in
accordance with the Survey Recording Act of 1973 and applicable
current Washington Administrative Code and the revised code of
Washington:
1. Divisions made by gift among members of an
immediate family, provided:
a. The grantor has fee simple title to the gift
parcel,
b. The parcel so granted is not a resubdivision
of a lot within a short plat within five years of the date of
recording the subject short plat,
c. Residential divisions shall meet Jefferson
County Health Department standards as related to sewage disposal
and water supply,
d. Such subdivisions shall be restricted from
resale for a period of five years from the effective date of the
gift transaction,
e. Such divisions provide a sixty-foot legal
access easement or right-of-way for ingress, egress and utilities
to all resulting parcels, and
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f. Members of an immediate family shall mean
father, mother, daughter, son, brother, sister, grandparent,
grandchild;
2. Divisions relating to the acquisition of land by
public agencies, including, but not limited to, divisions made
for road widening purposes;
3. Divisions by private parties for land restricted
solely for the use as a means of ingress and egress;
4. Divisions for lease where such land is to be
used for the sole purpose of agriculture;
5. Division of land into lots or tracts one one-
hundred twenty-eighth of a section of land or larger, or five
acres or larger if the land is not capable of description as a
fraction of a section of land; provided:
a. That the purposes of computing the size of any
lot under this item which borders on a street or road, the lot
size shall be expanded to include that area which would be
bounded by the centerline of the road or street and side lot
lines running perpendicular to such centerlines,
b. Such divisions provide a sixty-foot legal
access easement or right-of-way for ingress, egress, and
utilities serving all tracts so divided,
c. The nature of the access, or lack thereof,
shall be made a part of the legal description of the property,
and
d. Land so divided shall not be resubdivided
within five years without the approval of a final long plat,
unless each and every tract within the resubdivision is also five
acres or larger;
6. Division of land into lots or tracts where the
overall density of the entire parcel being divided does not
exceed one unit per five acres or larger if the land is not
capable of description as a fraction of a section of land,
provided:
a. That for the purposes of computing the size of
any lot under this item which borders on a street or road, the
lot size shall be expanded to include that area which would be
bounded by the centerline of the road or street and the side lot
lines running perpendicular to such centerlines,
b. Such divisions provide a sixty-foot legal
access easement or right-of'way for ingress, egress, and
utilities serving all tracts so divided,
c. Legal access of no specified width, from a
public road to the entire tract of land being divided, shall be
secured,
d. Residential lots or tracts meet standards of
the Jefferson County Health Department as related to water supply
and sewage disposal,
e. Each lot or tract so created has a combination
of divided and undivided (or common) interest in five acres or
greater,
f. Undivided or common interest tracts be
adjacent to, or contiguous with, or functionally related to,
residential lots so created,
g. Restrictive covenants or other means shall be
employed to maintain the prescribed density and common area,
h. Land so divided shall not be resubdivided
within three years without the approval of the final long plat,
unless each and every tract within the resubdivision is also five
acres or larger;
7. ~he-e~m~~-~-~e~s-~-~e~s~Y-~a~e~
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8= Land divided solely for the purpose of minor line
adjustment?-~e~eae as set forth in ordinance 2269.
a~---~he-~e~-m~mbe~-e~-~e~s-a~e-~e~-~me~ease~
bv---~he-~es~m~-~a~ee~s-mee~-s~a~aa~s-e~-~he
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9~8. A single parcel deed release for home mortgage
purposes, provided such parcel meets standards of the Jefferson
County Health Department for lot area as related to water supply
and sewage disposal. (Ord. 2049 ssl2, 13, 1986)
Section 10 Section 3.36.015 is here and hereby amended as
follows.
3.36.015 Fees--Building and land use. Application and
service fees for the various building and land use applications,
permits and agreements shall be as follows:
1. For rezones, the sum of two hundred fifty dollars;
2. For application for amendment, supplementatation or
modification to the text of the zoning code (Title 17), seventy-
five dollars;
3. For variances, the sum of one hundred seventy-five
dollars for single-family residences; three hundred dollars for
other uses;
4. For street vacations, the sum of two hundred fifty
dollars;
5. For conditional use permits, the sum of two hundred
fifty dollars;
6. For short subdivision approval, the sum of three
hundred dollars;
7. For subdivision, condominium, binding site plan or
planned unit development approval, the sum of four hundred
dollars, plus an additional five dollars for each lot or dwelling
unit proposed;
8. For building permits, the fees and charges set forth in
the Uniform Building Code, as currently adopted by the city;
9. For home occupation permits, the sum of forty dollars;
10. For sign permits, twenty-five dollars, plus an
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additional five dollars for each additional sign included in the
permit;
11. Preparation of legal agreements, forty dollars.
12. For Boundarv l,~ne Adjustments, forty dollars.
Section 11 Severabilit¥. If any term or provision of this
Ordinance or any part thereof is held to be invalid or
unenforceable by any Court with jurisdiction, then the remainder
of this Ordinance or of such term or provision not affected by
such holding shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 12 Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become
effective upon its passage, approval and publication in the form
and manner provided by law.
Read for the first, second and third times, passed by the
City Council for the city of Port Townsend and signed by the
Mayor of the City of Port Townsend this 19th day of November,
1991.
David A. Grove, City Clerk
Approved as to form:
Keith C. Harper, City Attorney
Approved by city Council:
Signed by mayor:
Published:
Effective date:
, 1991
, 1991
, 1991
, 1991