A.

Streets.

1.

Layout and Alignment. While it is the intent of this section to provide ample flexibility in the layout of streets in subdivision/developments, and most design standards are not specifically required herein, the Staff Review Committee will review the street system as to its design, safety, and convenience of users as well as adjacent property owners; provided that such review shall be conducted in accordance with reasonable standards and with generally accepted engineering and development practices. Emphasis shall be placed on safety at curves and intersections.

a.

All streets shall comply with the standards in this ordinance.

b.

Proposed streets should be coordinated with the street system in the surrounding area and where possible shall provide for the continuation of existing streets abutting the subdivision/development. Proposed streets shall stub to adjacent properties for continuation wherever possible.

c.

Upon determination by the Staff Review Committee that reasonable access to adjoining property(s) would be seriously affected by a proposed subdivision/development design, the Staff Review Committee will notify the adjacent property owner(s) by registered mail of its findings and recommend that he take whatever action deemed necessary based on that finding. This provision is merely for the purpose of notifying an adjacent property owner and in no way obviates existing laws regarding access to property(s) by right of necessity.

d.

Where a subdivision/development abuts or contains an existing or proposed major street, the Staff Review Committee may require minor access or frontage streets or other such treatment as may be necessary for adequate protection of residential properties and to afford separation of through and local traffic. All public streets shall have curbs, gutters and sidewalks on both sides of the street, and must be accepted by either the State of South Carolina, Jasper County, City of Hardeeville or dedicated to a Property Owner's Association/Home Owner's Association that will assume the responsibility of maintenance. A letter of commitment is required along with appropriate deeds as legally recorded. The recording of a final plat or plan subdividing a portion of the Property shall not constitute an offer to deed or dedicate any or all streets and rights of ways shown thereon to the City, or any other person or entity, nor as acceptance by the City of the dedication absent an express written agreement to do so.

2.

Street Names. Proposed streets that are obviously in alignment with other existing and named streets shall bear the assigned name of the existing street. Proposed street names shall not be phonetically similar to existing street names, irrespective of the use of suffixes such as street, avenue, boulevard, drive, place, court, etc. In no case shall a name be used which will duplicate or be confused with other existing streets in the County. A house or lot numbering (address) system shall be designed utilizing an extension of the existing system in the area.

3.

Right-of-Way and Pavement Widths:

Additional ROW (right-of-way) width and pavement width should be added where turn lanes, additional through lanes, on-street parking, grass strips, medians, and sidewalks are used.

4.

Planned Unit Developments and/or Private Roads. Private roads, when approved for a project, are not to become City's responsibility; and are to be so indicated on any plat(s) of the subdivision/development and to be so noted in covenants and agreements which control or follow the property. Private roads shall comply with the private road standards in this ordinance. The recording of a final plat or plan subdividing a portion of the Property shall not constitute an offer to deed or dedicate any or all streets and rights of ways shown thereon to the City, or any other person or entity, nor as acceptance by the City of the dedication absent an express written agreement to do so.

5.

Tree Root Systems. The existing tree root systems within the right-of-way shall be trimmed and cut back to eliminate and reduce intrusion or presence within the road sub-grade, including the twenty-four-inch compact sub-grade. No existing standing trees which are adversely impacted by the root pruning shall be left standing such that they would present a dangerous or hazardous condition within the right-of-way. The developer or its contractor shall use the services of a Certified Arborist in determining the impact and survivability of individual trees.

B.

Pedestrian Ways.

1.

Pedestrian ways shall be required on both sides of all streets. The SRC requires sidewalks on both sides of streets having a fifty-foot right-of-way and on cul-de-sac streets or any other street if needed to provide through pedestrian access. Sidewalks shall be placed within the right-of-way when so specified. The subdivider shall construct all sidewalks according to one of the following placement alternatives:

a.

Sidewalks shall be placed against the back of the curb if the curb is vertical and non-mountable and have a minimum paved width of five feet; or

b.

Sidewalks shall be placed such that a minimum six-foot buffer/green space is maintained between the back of curb and the inside edge of the sidewalk. Sidewalk paved width shall be a minimum of five feet; and

c.

The subdivider shall assure that these minimums are sufficient to meet the anticipated pedestrian demand in the area.

d.

Sidewalk construction may be deferred until house construction is completed, but an adequate bond will be required to assure that the funds are available for sidewalk construction.

2.

Given that a combination or variation from the two placement methods as described above is necessary or desired or that an obstruction is located within the paved area, the following criteria must be satisfied:

a.

All radii in the transitional section must be a minimum of ten (10) feet.

b.

All transitional sections must be approved by the City Engineer.

3.

In order to provide safe and adequate access on City sidewalks, all sidewalks shall meet minimum clear width requirements around all obstructions, natural or manmade, as described herein. Clear width shall mean the distance as measured from the outside edge of the obstruction to the outside edge of the sidewalk or from the inside edge of the obstruction to the inside edge of the sidewalk. If the clear width is to be obtained between the inside edge of the sidewalk and the obstruction, given that the sidewalk is placed against the back of the curb, the clear with shall be a minimum of five (5) feet.

4.

All sidewalks must be constructed concurrently with the thoroughfare or, if the thoroughfare is already constructed, prior to acceptance of any improvements except as bonded for completion as construction along the thoroughfare is completed.

5.

Exceptions to or partial waiver of the requirements of this Section may be granted by the Planning Commission when alternative pedestrian ways or pedestrian/bikeways have been or will be provided outside the normal right-of-way; or that unique circumstances or unusual topographic, vegetative, or other natural conditions prevail to the extent that strict adherence to said requirements would be unreasonable and not consistent with the purposes and goals of this Ordinance or Comprehensive Plan.

C.

Other Utilities.

1.

General. A proposed utility sketch plan for other utilities such as electrical, telephone, and gas service to and throughout the subdivision/development shall be submitted by the subdivider. The proposed design shall be shown in conjunction with any proposed water and sewer systems. The Staff Review Committee shall forward copies of the proposed utility design to the various utility agencies affected. The various utility companies will review the proposed layout as to alignment, easements, proper relationship of utilities to streets, property lines and other utilities and shall notify the Staff Review Committee of its findings and approved design.

2.

Utility Easements. Adequate areas of suitable size and location shall be allocated for utility easements. The location and size of such easements shall be worked out with and approved by the public and/or private utility agencies involved.

3.

Maintenance. It shall be the responsibility of the developer, or Homeowner's or Property Owner's Association as provided for by restrictive covenants, to provide for maintenance. The City Council shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, only those easements specifically accepted for public maintenance in accordance with established procedures.

D.

Lots. Residential lots (or commercial lots in the case of a commercial subdivision/development) shall meet the lot width, depth, area, and setback requirements of Table 4.2 of this Ordinance.

E.

Flood Hazard Areas.

1.

It is the intent of this Section to establish minimum criteria for application to subdivision/developments which are to be located in what is defined as a "flood hazard area" as designated on official City floodplain maps. The County has a long history of damaging hurricanes, some of which have been accompanied by rising tidal waters resulting in property damage and danger to life and health.

2.

Today's early warning systems afford communities an early enough opportunity to take necessary steps to protect individual lives and some properties from the effects of hurricane winds and waters; however, the damaging effects to property and health hazards associated with rising tidal waters, swollen and driven by hurricane winds, can only be dealt with through proper development of the flood hazard areas in a given community.

3.

Much of the developable land area of the county lies at elevations which make it susceptible to potential flooding. Past hurricane data substantiates this probability. Thorough study of this data and geographic features of the County by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have resulted in a determination of the flood hazard areas of County. It is believed that by proper planning of development in these flood hazard areas and concerned adherence to minimum development criteria, the economic losses, hazards to life and health and the miseries associated with such, as a result of these probable flooding conditions, can be reduced significantly.

4.

To this end, the following criteria shall apply to the subdivision/development of land within the designated flood hazard areas of the City:

a.

Clear Delineation. Plats of subdivision/developments lying in a flood hazard area shall have such areas clearly delineated on the plat by indication to the topographic contour line corresponding to the 100-year flood elevation shown on official City floodplain maps.

b.

Plans and Specifications. Engineering plans and specifications shall be submitted showing that adequate design has been incorporated to assure to the extent possible that all design meets the requirements of the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, Section 8, City of Hardeeville Code of Ordinances.

c.

Covenant Restrictions. Covenant restrictions shall be placed in the deeds to all lots of a subdivision/development lying within a flood hazard area stipulating to the lot owner that all construction meets the requirements of the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, Section 8, City of Hardeeville Code of Ordinances.

d.

Disclosure Statement Required. On all plats of development for which lots, sites, or structures are to be sold or leased, the following statement shall be clearly affixed to the plat(s) and readily visible:

"The areas indicated on this plat as flood hazard areas have been identified as having at least a one percent chance of being flooded in any given year by rising tidal waters associated with possible hurricanes. Local regulations require that certain flood hazard protective measures be incorporated in the design and construction of structures in these designated areas. Reference shall be made to the development covenants and restrictions of this development and requirements of the City of Hardeeville Building Inspection Department and the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, Chapter 9, City of Hardeeville Code of Ordinances. In addition, federal law may require mandatory purchase of flood insurance as a prerequisite to mortgage financing in these designated flood hazard areas."

F.

Engineering Certification. All design, grading, drainage, and construction plans for roads, bridges, stormwater and sewer systems and water systems shall be prepared and certified by a civil engineer registered for practice in the State, and such certification, shown on all such plans.

A.

Water Systems.

1.

In accordance with the Agreement of Consolidation and Transfer between the City and Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA), unless otherwise exempted by BJWSA, all proposed subdivision/developments shall connect to the public water service system of BJWSA. A written agreement between the subdivider and BJWSA indicating the arrangements made for provision of the service shall be submitted with the final application. Such agreement shall clearly state the responsibilities of both parties as they relate to installation and maintenance of the facility(s).

2.

Water supply systems shall be installed according to plans approved by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority and the City of Hardeeville and subject to specifications set forth by those agencies.

B.

Sewage Disposal Systems.

1.

In accordance with the Agreement of Consolidation and Transfer between the City and Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA), unless otherwise exempted by BJWSA, all proposed subdivision/developments shall connect to the public sewer service system of BJWSA. A written agreement between the subdivider and BJWSA indicating the arrangements made for provision of the service shall be submitted with the final.

2.

The sanitary waste disposal systems shall be installed according to plans approved by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority and the City of Hardeeville and subject to specifications set forth by those agencies.

C.

Drainage Systems. A drainage system shall be designed and constructed by the subdivision/development consistent with the design principles and standards contained in Section 4.9 of this Ordinance and adequate to provide proper drainage of the surface water of the subdivision/development and the drainage area of which it is a part. Drainage systems shall be installed according to plans approved by the City Engineer.

D.

Monuments and Markers. Permanent reference points shall be placed in accordance with the following requirements:

1.

Control Monuments. Control monuments shall be placed in the pavements of subdivision/development streets so that no lot is more than two thousand (2,000) feet from a control monument. The control monuments shall be placed in the streets, offset from the centerline approximately half-way between the centerline and the pavement edge in a cast iron "water main valve" type box with cover flush to the pavement. The control monument may be poured on the job or be a concrete marker of the type commonly used in the area. (Refer to diagram "Design Guide for Control Monuments"). Control monuments shall be referenced to elevations based on NGVD 88 as well as South Carolina State Plane Coordinates. Control monuments shall be depicted on Final Plats with state plane coordinates called out. Control monuments shall also be located at the corners of the subdivision or as directed by the City Engineer.

As an alternative to the above requirements, control monuments may be placed in open space areas, park areas, or the like and may be of a type commonly used in the area and installed according to common practice.

2.

Property Markers. At all lot corners there shall be placed a concrete or five-eighths-inch-diameter galvanized steel pipe permanent marker.

E.

Other Utilities.

1.

All other utilities such as electrical, telephone and gas service in the proposed subdivision/development shall be installed according to the plans and installation schedule properly reviewed and approved by the respective utility companies.

2.

All utilities shall be installed underground, except those portions of the system which must necessarily be above ground (i.e., transformers, switch gears, connection pedestals), or upon determination that a variance to allow for overhead facilities is warranted due to exigencies of construction, undue and unreasonable hardship or other conditions particular to the development. Request and justification for the variance must be presented to the SRC by the respective utility provider to final plan approval.

F.

Installation of Required Improvements. Installation of required improvements may not begin until after development plan approval is given by the Staff Review Committee. Installation shall be made according to the approved design on the final plat.

G.

Changes in the Approved Plans and Specifications. If exigencies of construction necessitate changes in the approved plans and specifications, the subdivider shall request approval of such changes by the Staff Review Committee, who may delegate the responsibility for reviewing and approving said changes to a qualified agent of the governing authority. The subdivider shall not proceed with construction involving any changes prior to obtaining approval.

H.

Maintenance of Improvements. The City Council shall not be responsible for the installation or maintenance of any improvement, unless City Council accepts an offer to dedicate and accepts responsibility by resolution duly passed by Council. The recording of a final plat or plan subdividing a portion of the Property shall not constitute an offer to deed or dedicate any improvement shown thereon to the City, or any other person or entity, nor as acceptance by the City of the dedication absent an express written agreement to do so. The subdivider shall maintain the required improvements or provide satisfactory guarantee to the City Council of the maintenance of required improvements for those improvements where public dedication and public acceptance for maintenance have not been made.