A partition is required for any land division that creates two or three parcels in a calendar year. The parcels shall meet the Development Standards for Land Division of Chapter 17.88, other applicable development standards and the following additional requirements:

A. Each parcel shall satisfy the dimensional standards of the applicable zoning district, unless a variance from these standards is approved.

B. Adequate public facilities shall be available to serve the existing and newly created parcels.

(Ord. 619, 2003)

A. Partition approval is valid in perpetuity, upon recording of the final surveyed plat.

B. No parcel within an approved partition may be redivided within the same calendar year in which it was recorded, except through the subdivision process.

C. A master plan for development is required for any application that leaves a portion of the subject property capable of replatting. (Ord. 619, 2003)

Preliminary plats for partitions shall be reviewed in accordance with the Type II review procedures.

(Ord. 619, 2003)

A. Applications for partitions shall be submitted on forms provided by the city to the city recorder and accompanied by the appropriate fee. It shall be the applicant’s responsibility to submit a complete application that addresses the review criteria of this chapter.

B. The applicant shall submit ten (10) clear and legible copies of the preliminary plan on sheets not less than eleven (11) inches by seventeen (17) inches and no more than twenty-four (24) inches by thirty-six (36) inches in size. Preliminary plans shall be drawn to a scale of one-inch equals fifty (50) feet or larger.

1. General Information. The following general information shall be shown on the tentative plan:

a. Vicinity map extending eight hundred (800) feet in each direction showing all streets, property lines, streams, and other pertinent data to locate the proposal;

b. North arrow, scale of drawing and date pf preparation;

c. Tax map and tax lot number or tax account of the subject property;

d. Dimensions and size in square feet or acres of the subject property;

e. The names and addresses of the property owner, partitioner and engineer, surveyor, or other individual responsible for laying out the partition.

2. Existing Conditions.

a. Location of all existing easements within the property;

b. Location of city utilities (water, sanitary sewer, storm drainage) within or adjacent to the property proposed for use to serve the development;

c. The location and direction of watercourses or drainage swales. The location and disposition of any wells, wetlands identified on the State Wetland Inventory, septic tanks, and drain fields in the partition;

d. Existing uses of the property, including location of existing structures on the property. It should be noted whether the existing structures are to be removed or to remain on the property.

3. Proposed Plan. A detailed plan of the propose partition clearly showing the following:

a. Locations, approximate dimensions and area in square feet of all proposed parcels. All parcels shall be numbered consecutively;

b. Location, width and purpose of any proposed easements.

4. Supplemental Information. Proposed deed restrictions, if any, in outline form.

(Ord. 619, 2003)

A. Within one year of the final decision approving a preliminary plat, a final survey of the approved plat shall be recorded. If the final survey is not submitted within one year, the preliminary approval shall lapse. Final plats shall conform to the requirements and shall be reviewed in accordance with Section 17.176.050.

B. The city manager shall upon written request by the applicant and payment of the required fee, grant an extension of the approval for a period not to exceed six months provided that:

1. No changes are made to the approved preliminary plat; and

2. There have been no changes in existing conditions, facts, or applicable policies or ordinance provisions on which the original approval was based. (Ord. 619, 2003)

A. Definition. An expedited land division:

1. Is an action of the city that:

a. Includes land that is zoned for residential uses and is within an urban growth boundary;

b. Is solely for the purposes of residential use, including recreational or open space uses accessory to residential use;

c. Does not provide for dwellings or accessory buildings to be located on land that is specifically mapped and designated in the comprehensive plan and land use regulations for full or partial protection of natural features under the statewide planning goals that protect open spaces, scenic historic areas, natural resources, and estuarine resources;

d. Satisfies minimum street or other right-of-way connectivity standards established by acknowledged land use regulations or, if such standards are not contained in the applicable regulations, as required by statewide planning goals or rules;

e. Creates enough lots or parcels to allow building residential units at eighty (80) percent or more of the maximum net density permitted by the zoning designation of the site.

2. Is a land division that:

a. Will create three or fewer parcels; and

b. Meets the criteria set forth for an action under Section 17.172.060(A)(1)(a) through (e).

B. Exclusion.

1. Property and process exclusions include properties specifically mapped and designated in the comprehensive plan or development ordinance for full or partial protection of natural features under the statewide planning goals that protect open space, scenic and historic areas and natural features and not eligible for the construction of dwelling units or accessory buildings;

2. The expedited land division process is not a land use or limited land use decision and is not subject to the permit requirements of city enabling legislation. Decisions are not subject to the comprehensive plan and not eligible for appeal to the land use board of appeals (LUBA).

C. Complete Application. The city shall review an application and makes a decision on its completeness within twenty-one (21) days of submittal. Upon determination of an incomplete application, the applicant has one hundred eighty (180) days to submit the missing information.

D. Public Notice. Upon submittal of a complete application, the city shall send written notice to affected governmental agencies and property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the site proposed for the land division. The notice shall include the following:

1. A fourteen (14)-day deadline for submission of written comments;

2. The time and place where all copies of evidence submitted by the applicant will be available for review;

3. The name, address, and telephone number of the city’s staff person available to comment on the application;

4. Summary of the local decision making process for such a decision;

5. Applicable decision criteria;

6. Notification that participants must raise all issues during the written comment period.

E. Initial Decision. The planning commission shall allow at least fourteen (14) days for written comments and shall render a decision within sixty-three (63) days of a complete application. No public hearing may be held during the initial decision making phase.

F. Notice of Final Decision. A notice of decision must be given to the applicant and other participants of the decision. The notice of decision shall state the appeal process.

G. Time Extension.

1. Applicant. If a decision is not made within sixty-three (63) days, the applicant may seek review by writ of mandamus;

2. City. The city may extend the sixty-three (63) day period up to one hundred twenty (120) days based on the determination that an unexpected or extraordinary increase in applications makes the sixty-three (63)-day period impracticable. Following a seven-day notice to the applicant, consideration of an extension is considered at a regularly scheduled city council meeting. That determination is specifically declared not to be a land use decision or limited land use decision.

H. Decision Criteria. Criteria for approving the partition shall be as follows:

1. The criteria established in Section 17.172.010;

2. Density. The application must be able to establish at least eighty (80) percent of the allowable density of the applicable residential zone;

3. Street Standards. The application must comply with the most recent transportation plan or provide evidence of meeting the city’s minimum street connectivity standards.

I. Appeal of Initial Decision. A decision may be appealed to a local hearings officer within fourteen (14) days of filing the notice of decision by the applicant or any person or organization that filed comments on the initial decision.

J. Appeal Fee. Filing an appeal requires a deposit of three hundred dollars ($300.00) to cover costs. An appellant faces the possibility of an assessment of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the total costs of local proceedings if the appellant does not prevail. If an appellant materially improves its position, the deposit and appeal fee shall be refunded.

K. Basis of an Appeal of the Initial Decision. The local appeal shall be based on the following:

1. The failure to meet local substantive and procedural requirements;

2. Unconstitutionality;

3. The decision was not within the expedited land division category; or

4. A party’s substantive rights have been substantially prejudiced by an error in procedure of the local government.

L. Hearings Officer. A city designated hearings officer shall hear the appeal of the initial expedited land use decision. The hearings officer may not be a city officer or city employee.

M. Hearings Officer Notification. Within seven days of the hearings officer’s appointment, the city shall notify the appellant, the applicant (if not the appellant), and the persons or organizations entitled to notice and which provided written comments, of the hearing date before the hearings officer. If a person submitting comments did not appeal, the issues presented by that person are limited to those in their submitted comments.

N. Appeal Hearing. The hearings officer conducts a hearing that:

1. Follows the commission proceeding requirements;

2. Allows the local government’s explanation of its decision; and

3. May consider evidence not previously considered.

O. Hearings Officer Decision. In all cases, not involving a procedural issue, the hearings officer shall seek to identify means by which the application can satisfy the applicable requirements. The hearings officer may not reduce the density of the application or remand the application to the city, but shall make a written decision on the appeal within forty-two (42) days of the filing of the appeal. Unless the local government determines that exigent circumstances exist, a hearings officer who fails to decide a case within the forty-two (42)-day period shall receive no compensation for services as the hearings officer. If the decision was not an expedited land division, the hearings officer must remand the decision for proper procedural determination.

P. Appeal of Hearings Officer Decision. Appeals of the hearings officer decision are to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Q. Basis of an Appeal of the Hearings Officer Decision. The grounds for review of a hearings officer’s decision are limited to:

1. Whether the decision followed the process for an expedited land division and appellant raised that issue;

2. Unconstitutionality; and

3. Certain bias or interest on the part of the hearings officer or local government.

R. Process for Final Plat Approval. Final plats for expedite land divisions shall be reviewed consistent with the requirements in Section 17.172.050. (Ord. 619, 2003)