COM 0603.002 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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health of the community; and should any such conditions exist, the Director shall notify the subdivider, and the subdivider shall, in consultation with the Director, revised the preliminary plat map and supplemental materials to mitigate those conditions indicated by the Planning Director. That was a mouthful, I know, but what it basically—let me give you a brief preface of what occurs during the subdivision process. A subdivider or land owner or their consultant prepares a preliminary plat map which is a subdivision map that shows how a given piece of property would be carved out. That map is then submitted to the Planning Department. The Department reviews the map for minimum requirements as required by the Subdivision Code. The map is then distributed to the various reviewing agencies which include Department of Transportation, Public Works, Department of Water Supply, and Department of Health. And there could be other agencies if we determine that certain information is necessary to be reviewed by the reviewing agencies. When the information and comments from the various agencies are received by the Planning Department, we then envelope that into what we called a tentative subdivision approval, which lists all of the requirements that the subdivider needs to comply with before we can grant them final subdivision approval. I should note that the final subdivision approval requires the submittal of a final plat map which is the final layout, and that must be prepared by a licensed engineer or surveyor. What Bill 182 is attempting to do is mandate to the Planning Department site visits to each and every parcel that is subject to a subdivision application. We simply don't have the resources available to conduct a site inspection of each and every single property subject to a subdivision application. We rely on the applicant and/or their consultants to provide the information, the site conditions, the location of easements, the location of utilities, to be shown accurately on the map, and that map is then presented to the Planning Department for review. We do not have the expertise; we do not have the resources to go out to each and every single one of these properties, some of which could cover hundreds of acres to verify each and every bit of information that is shown on a preliminary plat map. That is why the final plat map is required to be prepared by a licensed engineer and surveyor. That is where the burden lies. That is where the responsibility lies. It should lie with the subdivider and their consultant. We simply do a check to verify that their information as shown is at least represented, and that's where the responsibilities and the requirements lie so with that,that is why we're recommending unfavorable consideration of this Bill 182. However, as part of your recommendation, we also note that, we offer a suggestion to the County Council as well. Along with an unfavorable recommendation that maybe the Council should consider an amendment to the Subdivision Code to require that the preliminary plat map also be prepared by a licensed engineer or surveyor. Right now, the way the Code is constructed, the preliminary plat map does not have to be prepared by those professionals. So, as a reasonable compromise, we are offering that to the Council as well, as well for your consideration. So with that, I stand ready to answer any questions you may have. GONZALES: Any questions for staff from the Commissioners? Mr. Henkel. HENKEL: Has the, has this been brought before the Leeward Planning Commission yet? 2