In order to provide for the proper location and preservation of adequate open spaces and sites for public uses, to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public by providing safe places for children to play and for adequate recreational areas within new subdivisions and developments in the City; and to most equitably apportion the cost of providing the public school, park, and recreational sites and facilities necessary to serve the additional number of people brought into the community by subdivision development on the basis of the additional need created by such developments, the following provisions are established.
A. Consideration shall be given in the design of a residential subdivision plat to the provision of adequate and suitable open space and recreation areas for use by the inhabitants of the subdivision. The owner or subdivider of the land to be subdivided, at the time of filing a preliminary plat with the City Clerk for consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission, shall indicate whether they desire to dedicate or reserve property for open space and recreational purposes, or whether they desire to pay a fee in lieu thereof. If the owner or subdivider desires to dedicate or reserve land for this purpose, they shall designate the area thereof on the preliminary plat as submitted.
B. The Commission and Council shall review such plat, and where the Commission and Council determine pursuant to subsection 4 of this section that open space and recreational areas are necessary and required and are feasible and compatible with the comprehensive plan for development of the City, the subdivider shall provide and dedicate to the public adequate land to provide for said open space and recreational needs of the subdivision.
C. Where such dedication is not feasible or compatible with the Comprehensive Plan as determined by the City Council upon recommendation by the Commission, the subdivider shall, in lieu thereof, pay to the City a fee or combination of fee and land, equivalent to the value of the required dedication as provided by paragraph 2(B) of this section.
D. Such dedication or payment of fees in lieu thereof shall be made as condition of final plat approval and shall be accomplished prior to endorsement of the final plat and recording of same. Where dedication is required, it shall be accomplished by providing abstract of title to the dedicated property to the City Attorney for examination, and if, upon examination of the abstract and finding of marketable title by the City Attorney, free of all liens and encumbrances, the developer shall provide to the City Council a properly executed warranty deed dedicating the required land to the City without cost to the City. Where fees in lieu of dedication are required, the same shall be deposited with the City Clerk for deposit in a special fund as provided by paragraph 2(B) of this section.
2. Amount of Dedication. Dedication of land or payment of fees in lieu thereof for public open space and recreational facilities shall be required for all residential subdivision, but shall not be required for any agricultural, commercial, or industrial subdivision. The provisions of the section are minimum standards and shall not be construed as prohibiting a developer from dedicating or reserving other land for recreational or open space purposes in addition to these requirements.
A. The amount of land to be dedicated by the subdivider for public open space and recreation facilities as provided by this section shall not be less than 700 square feet per dwelling unit.
B. Where the City Council determines that a suitable park or parks cannot be properly located in the area covered by any such plat, or if the application of the standard for dedication of lands would result in open space sites too small to be used, or if the Comprehensive Plan calls for such neighborhood open space to be located elsewhere, the subdivider shall in lieu thereof pay to the City a fee, the amount of such to be based upon the fair market value of the amount of land which would otherwise be required to be dedicated. “Fair market value” shall be determined as of the time of filing the final plat in accordance with the following: (i) the fair market value as determined by the City Council based on current appraisals; or (ii) if the subdivider objects to such amount of evaluation, the subdivider may, at the subdivider’s own expense, obtain an appraisal of property by a qualified real estate appraiser approved by the City, which appraisal may be accepted by the City Council if found reasonable; or (iii) the City and subdivider may agree as to the fair market value. All funds so levied, assessed, and collected by the City shall be deposited in a non-lapsing special fund to be known and designated as the “Open Space and Recreational Facilities Improvement Fund.” Said funds shall be used only for the purpose of providing open space and recreational facilities that will be available to and benefit the future inhabitants of the subdivision for which they were collected. Any and all interest accumulated upon such funds shall be added to the Open Space and Recreational Facilities Improvement Fund and shall be used only for acquisition and development of open space and recreational facilities.
C. Where private open space for park and recreational purposes is provided in a proposed subdivision or planned unit development, and such space is to be privately owned and maintained by the future residents of the subdivision, such areas shall be credited against the requirement of dedication for park and recreation purposes, as set forth in paragraph B above, provided the City Council finds it is in the public interest to do so, and that the following standards are met:
(1) Yards, court areas, setbacks, and other open areas required to be maintained by the Zoning and Building Regulations shall not be included in the computation of such private open space; and
(2) The private ownership and maintenance of the open space is adequately provided for by written agreement; and
(3) The use of the private open space is restricted for park and recreational purposes by recorded covenants which run with the land in favor of the future owners of property within the tract and which cannot be defeated or eliminated without the consent of the City Council; and
(4) The proposed private open space is reasonably adaptable for use for park and recreational purposes, taking into consideration such factors as size, shape, topography, geology, access, and location of the private open space land; and
(5) Facilities proposed for the open space are in substantial accordance with the provisions of the recreational element of the Comprehensive Plan, and are approved by the City Council.
3. Reservation of Open Space, Recreational Facilities and School Sites. If the Comprehensive Plan requires public open space and or recreation facilities larger than that area required to be dedicated, or a proposed school site is located within the area to be subdivided, the City Council may require the subdivider to reserve additional area in excess of the dedication requirements of this Article for purchase within two (2) years of the recording date of the subdivision. School sites shall be reserved for four (4) years, giving the PCM School District or its successor in interest, the option of purchase. The purchase price in all cases shall be at the appraised raw land value prior to subdivision plus one-half of the cost of grading and paving, including curb, of that portion of any street contiguous to the site. Should the park or school sites not be purchased within the time limits specified above, the subdivider may then sell them for an alternate purpose as shown on the approved subdivision plat.
4. Location and Design Criteria. The City Council shall determine whether dedication, reservation, or payment of fees in lieu of dedication or a combination of cash, dedication, and reservation shall be required. In making such decisions, the Council shall consider the following:
A. Recreation element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
B. The size and shape of the land available for dedication. The dedicated land shall form a single parcel of land except where the Council determines that two or more parcels would be in the public interest, in which case the Council may require that the parcels be connected by a path or strip of land not less than 15 feet wide. In general, no parcel less than two acres should be reserved for recreational purposes if it will be impractical or impossible to secure additional lands to increase its area. The shape of the dedicated parcel should accommodate development of recreational facilities suitable to the subdivision said parcel is intended to serve.
C. The dedicated land shall be located so as to be reasonably accessible to all inhabitants of the subdivision it is intended to serve. Public access to the dedicated land shall be provided either by adjoining street frontage or public easements to the dedicated parcel. The easements shall be sufficiently wide so that maintenance equipment will have reasonable convenient access to the land.
D. A minimum of sixty percent of the parcel to be dedicated shall be suitable for dry ground recreational use. Fifty percent of the area suitable for dry ground recreational use should not exceed three percent grade, and the remainder of such area should not exceed five percent grade. Exceptions to the preceding may be given in cases of exceptional topography or natural amenities.
E. Existing or proposed open space and recreational facilities in adjoining lands which may serve in whole or in part the open space and recreational needs of the development.
F. Any and all other relevant information.
The determination of the City Council as to whether land shall be dedicated or reserved or a fee paid, or combination thereof, shall be final and conclusive.
5. Development and Maintenance. It shall be the duty of the City to properly develop and maintain the dedicated area for open space and recreational facilities, and the subdivider shall in no way be responsible for development, maintenance, or liability thereof except that said subdivider shall not develop the surrounding area in a manner which would unduly depreciate the purpose, use, or value of the dedicated property. Where the land required for open space and recreational purposes and facilities is retained in private ownership, it shall be the owners’ responsibility to properly develop and maintain said area.
6. Time of Commencement. At the time the final plat is approved and requirements of this section met, the City Council shall establish a reasonable timetable for the development of the park and recreational facilities.
