Chapter 294
2008 -- H 7945
SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/05/08
A N A C T
RELATING
TO TOWNS AND CITIES - SUBDIVISION OF LAND
Introduced
By: Representative Kenneth Carter
Date
Introduced: February 26, 2008
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section
45-23-40, 45-23-41 and 45-23-43 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-23 entitled "Subdivision of Land"
are hereby amended to read as follows:
45-23-40.
General provisions -- Major land development and major subdivision --
Master plan. -- (a) Submission
requirements.
(1) The applicant
shall first submit to the administrative officer the items required by the
local regulations for master plans.
(2) Requirements for
the master plan and supporting material for this phase of review
include, but are not limited to: information on
the natural and built features of the surrounding
neighborhood, existing natural and man-made
conditions of the development site, including
topographic features, the freshwater wetland and
coastal zone boundaries, the floodplains, as well
as the proposed design concept, proposed public
improvements and dedications, tentative
construction phasing, and potential neighborhood
impacts.
(3) Initial
comments will be solicited from (i) local agencies including, but not limited
to, the planning department, the department of
public works, fire and police departments, the
conservation and recreation commissions; (ii)
adjacent communities; (iii) state agencies, as
appropriate, including the departments of
environmental management and transportation, and the
coastal resources management council; and (iv)
federal agencies, as appropriate. The
administrative officer shall coordinate review and
comments by local officials, adjacent
communities, and state and federal agencies.
(b)
Certification. - The application must be certified complete or incomplete by
the
administrative officer within sixty (60) days,
according to the provisions of section 45-23-36(b).
The running of the time period set forth herein
will be deemed stopped upon the issuance of a
certificate of incompleteness of the application
by the administrative officer and will recommence
upon the resubmission of a corrected application
by the applicant. However, in no event will the
administrative officer be required to certify a
corrected submission as complete or incomplete less
than fourteen (14) days after its resubmission.
(c) Technical
review committee. - The technical review committee, if established, shall
review the application and shall comment and
make recommendations to the planning board.
(d) Informational
meeting.
(1) A public
informational meeting will be held prior to the planning board decision on
the master plan, unless the master plan and
preliminary plan approvals are being combined, in
which case the public informational meeting is
optional, based upon planning board
determination.
(2) Public notice
for the informational meeting is required and must be given at least
seven (7) days prior to the date of the meeting
in a newspaper of general circulation within the
municipality. Postcard notice must be mailed to
the applicant and to all property owners within
the notice area, as specified by local
regulations.
(3) At the public
informational meeting the applicant will present the proposed
development project. The planning board must
allow oral and written comments from the general
public. All public comments are to be made part
of the public record of the project application.
(e) Decision. -
The planning board shall, within one hundred and twenty (120) days of
certification of completeness, or within a
further amount of time that may be consented to by the
applicant, approve of the master plan as
submitted, approve with changes and/or conditions, or
deny the application, according to the
requirements of section 45-23-63.
(f) Failure to
act. - Failure of the planning board to act within the prescribed period
constitutes approval of the master plan, and a
certificate of the administrative officer as to the
failure of the planning board to act within the
required time and the resulting approval will be
issued on request of the applicant.
(g) Vesting.
(1) The approved
master plan is vested for a period of one year two (2) years,
with a the
right to extend for two (2) one year extension
extensions upon written request by the applicant,
who must appear before the planning board for
the annual review. Vesting Thereafter, vesting
may be extended for a longer period, for good
cause shown, if requested by the applicant, in
writing, and approved by the planning board.
Master plan vesting includes the zoning
requirements, conceptual layout and all conditions
shown on the approved master plan drawings
and supporting materials.
(2) The initial two
(2) four (4) year vesting for the approved master plan constitutes
the
vested rights for the development as required in
section 45-24-44.
45-23-41. General
provisions -- Major land development and major subdivision --
Preliminary plan. -- (a) Submission
requirements.
(1) The applicant
shall first submit to the administrative officer the items required by the
local regulations for preliminary plans.
(2) Requirements
for the preliminary plan and supporting materials for this phase of the
review include, but are not limited to:
engineering plans depicting the existing site conditions,
engineering plans depicting the proposed
development project, a perimeter survey, all permits
required by state or federal agencies prior to
commencement of construction, including permits
related to freshwater wetlands, the coastal
zone, floodplains, preliminary suitability for individual
septic disposal systems, public water systems,
and connections to state roads.
(3) At the
preliminary plan review phase, the administrative officer shall solicit final
written comments and/or approvals of the
department of public works, the city or town engineer,
the city or town solicitor, other local
government departments, commissions, or authorities as
appropriate.
(4) Prior to
approval of the preliminary plan, copies of all legal documents describing the
property, proposed easements and rights-of-way.
(b)
Certification. - The application will be certified as complete or incomplete by
the
administrative officer within sixty (60) days,
according to the provisions of section 45-23-36(b).
The running of the time period set forth herein
will be deemed stopped upon the issuance of a
certificate of incompleteness of the application
by the administrative officer and will recommence
upon the resubmission of a corrected application
by the applicant. However, in no event shall the
administrative officer be required to certify a
corrected submission as complete or incomplete less
than fourteen (14) days after its resubmission.
(c) Technical
review committee. - The technical review committee, if established, shall
review the application and shall comment and
make recommendations to the planning board.
(d) Public
hearing. - Prior to a planning board decision on the preliminary plan, a public
hearing, which adheres to the requirements for
notice described in section 45-23-42, must be
held.
(e) Public
improvement guarantees. - Proposed arrangements for completion of the
required public improvements, including
construction schedule and/or financial guarantees shall
be reviewed and approved by the planning board
at preliminary plan approval.
(f) Decision. - A
complete application for a major subdivision or development plan shall
be approved, approved with conditions or denied
within one hundred and twenty (120) days of
the date when it is certified complete, or
within a further amount of time that may be consented to
by the developer.
(g) Failure to
act. - Failure of the planning board to act within the prescribed period
constitutes approval of the preliminary plan and
a certificate of the administrative officer as to the
failure of the planning board to act within the
required time and the resulting approval shall be
issued on request of the applicant.
(h) Vesting. -
The approved preliminary plan is vested for a period of one year and two
(2) years with the right to extend for two (2)
one year extensions upon written request by the
applicant, who must appear before the planning
board for each annual review and provide proof
of valid state or federal permits as applicable.
Thereafter,
vesting may be extended for a longer
period, for good cause shown, if requested, in
writing by the applicant, and approved by the
planning board. The vesting for the preliminary
plan approval includes all general and specific
conditions shown on the approved preliminary plan
drawings and supporting material.
45-23-43.
General provisions -- Major land development and major subdivision --
Final plan. -- (a) Submission
requirements.
(1) The applicant
shall submit to the administrative officer the items required by the
local regulations for the final plan, as well as
all material required by the planning board when the
application was given preliminary approval.
(2) Arrangements
for completion of the required public improvements, including
construction schedule and/or financial
guarantees.
(3) Certification
by the tax collector that all property taxes are current.
(4) For phased
projects, the final plan for phases following the first phase, shall be
accompanied by copies of as-built drawings not
previously submitted of all existing public
improvements for prior phases.
(b)
Certification. - The application for final plan approval shall be certified
complete or
incomplete by the administrative officer within
twenty-five (25) days, according to the provisions
of section 45-23-36(b). This time period may be
extended to forty-five (45) days by written notice
from the administrative officer to the applicant
where the final plans contain changes to or
elements not included in the preliminary plan
approval. The running of the time period set forth
herein shall be deemed stopped upon the issuance
of a certificate of incompleteness of the
application by the administrative officer and
shall recommence upon the resubmission of a
corrected application by the applicant. However,
in no event shall the administrative officer be
required to certify a corrected submission as
complete or incomplete less than fourteen (14) days
after its resubmission. If the administrative
officer certifies the application as complete and does
not require submission to the planning board as
per subsection (c) below, the final plan shall be
considered approved.
(c) Referral to
the planning board. - If the administrative officer determines that an
application for final approval does not meet the
requirements set by local regulations or by the
planning board at preliminary approval, the
administrative officer shall refer the final plans to the
planning board for review. The planning board
shall, within forty-five (45) days after the
certification of completeness, or within a
further amount of time that may be consented to by the
applicant, approve or deny the final plan as
submitted.
(d) Failure to act.
- Failure of the planning board to act within the prescribed period
constitutes approval of the final plan and a
certificate of the administrative officer as to the failure
of the planning board to act within the required
time and the resulting approval shall be issued on
request of the applicant.
(e) Expiration of
approval. - The final approval of a major subdivision or land
development project expires one year from the
date of approval with the right to extend for one
year upon written request by the applicant, who
must appear before the planning board for the
annual review, unless, within that period, the plat or
plan has been submitted for signature and
recording as specified in section 45-23-64. The
Thereafter, the planning board may, for good
cause shown, extend the period for recording for
an additional period.
(f) Acceptance of
public improvements. - Signature and recording as specified in section
45-23-64 constitute the acceptance by the
municipality of any street or other public improvement
or other land intended for dedication. Final
plan approval shall not impose any duty upon the
municipality to maintain or improve those
dedicated areas until the governing body of the
municipality accepts the completed public
improvements as constructed in compliance with the
final plans.
(g) Validity of
recorded plans. - The approved final plan, once recorded, remains valid as
the approved plan for the site unless and until
an amendment to the plan is approved under the
procedure stated in section 45-23-65, or a new
plan is approved by the planning board.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02179/SUB A
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