For the purpose of this title certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows: words used in the present tense include the future tense. The term "shall" is always mandatory:

    "Adjacent property owners" means the owners of property contiguous to the subject property, excluding those who are also the owners of the subject property, ignoring all intervening streams, street and railroad rights-of-way.

    "Administrative subdivision" means and includes one or more of the following:

    1.    A resubdivision which involves only the removal of interior lot lines, with the outside perimeter of the property remaining unchanged, resulting in fewer parcels than were contained in the original parcel;

    2.    A resubdivision which involves only the removal or relocation of easements on the property;

    3.    A resubdivision which involves only the changing of notations written on the plat or correction of errors thereon;

    4.    A division of land pursuant to an allocation of land by court decree;

    5.    The division of land into cemetery plots;

    6.    A resubdivision to correct errors in an existing legal description, provided that no additional building lots are created;

    7.    A division of land for the sale or exchange of tracts between adjoining land owners, provided that no additional building sites are created;

    8.    A division or resubdivision of land for the acquisition by the public or by a utility for street right-of-way or easement;

    9.    A division of a building site containing an existing dwelling which has been located on the site for at least three years from an agricultural parent tract.

    "Agricultural purpose" means the use of a tract of land for agricultural purposes only, including farming, dairying, pasturing, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, and animal and poultry husbandry.

    "Agricultural subdivision" means a subdivision of land into two or more parcels which meets the following criteria:

    1.  All parcels, including the parent tract have legal access; and

    2.    The land is being divided for agricultural purpose and not for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of use, building development, or other improvement for residential, commercial, industrial, recreational or other nonagricultural purposes; and

    3.    Is at least twenty acres in size; and

    4.    Contains at least seventy-five percent Class I or Class II soils as shown in and defined by the Soil Survey of Bartholomew County; or

    5.    At least seventy-five percent of the land is planted with fruit-or-nut-bearing trees, vines, bushes or crops which have a nonbearing period of less than five years; or

    6.    At least seventy-five percent of the land is planted with ornamental plants or trees for sale for use in landscaping; or

    7.    Has at least seventy-five percent of its area planted with trees of the species, Pinus, Picea, or Abies (pine, spruce or fir) grown for the purpose of sale as Christmas trees; or

    8.    Which has been used in three of the last five years for the cultivation and harvesting of crops, grazing by livestock, production of dairy products, the raising of poultry and production of eggs, or the raising of livestock.

    "Applicant" means the owner(s) of land proposed to be subdivided or his representative.

    Benchmark. See "subdivision benchmark."

    "Block" means property abutting on one side of a street, and lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or between the nearest intersection of an intercepting street and railroad right-of-way, waterway or other definite barrier.

    "Board" means the board of public works and safety of Columbus, Indiana.

    "Board of health" means the Indiana State Board of Health.

    "Building setback line" means the line nearest the front of and across a lot establishing the minimum open space to be provided between the front line of buildings and structures and the front lot line.

    "City" means the city of Columbus, Indiana.

    "Columbus city utilities" means the Columbus city utilities of the city. Officers of the city utilities are the director, who is the chief administrative officer, and such other officers as shall, from time to time, be appointed by the Columbus city utilities.

    "Commission" means the Columbus plan commission.

    "Comprehensive plan" means the complete plan or any of its parts for the development of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdictional area adopted in accordance with the 500 Series of the Indiana Code as is now or may hereafter be in effect.

    "County surveyor" means the Bartholomew County surveyor.

    "Covenant" means a written promise or pledge.

    "Department" means the Columbus planning department of the city. Officers of the department are the plan director, who is the chief administrative officer, and such other officers as shall, from time to time, be appointed by the department.

    "Developer" means any individual subdivider, firm, association syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity commencing proceedings under these regulations to effect a subdivision of land hereunder for himself or for another.

    "Drainage swale" means a natural or constructed waterway, usually broad and shallow, covered with erosion-resistant grasses, used to conduct surface water from a field, diversion or other site feature.

    "Drainage system" means any combination of surface and/or subsurface drainage components fulfilling the drainage requirements of this title.

    "Easement" means a grant by the property owner of the use of a strip of land by the public, a corporation or persons, for specified purposes.

    "Engineering department" means the engineering department of the city. Officers of the department are the city engineer, who is the chief administrative officer, and such other officers as shall, from time to time, be appointed by the engineering department.

    "Erosion" means the wearing away of the land surface by the action of wind, water or gravity.

    "Fire department" means the fire department of the city. Officers of department are the fire chief, who is the chief administrative officer, and such other officers as shall, from time to time, be appointed by the fire department.

    "Floodway" means that area covered by floodwaters in significant downstream motion during the occurrence of the one-hundred-year flood; or areas which are covered by significant volumes of stored flood waters.

    "Floodway fringe" means that area within the flood hazard area yet outside of the floodway. High quality data on flood profiles are available for these areas.

    "Flood hazard area" means any floodplain, floodway, floodway fringe district or any combination thereof as illustrated on the flood boundary and floodway map prepared by the Federal Insurance Agency. This is the area covered by floodwater during a "one-hundred-year flood."

    "Floodplain" means a flood prone area for which floodway data is unavailable.

    "Grading" means any stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling or any combination thereof and shall include the land in its cut or filled condition.

    "Improvement plans or drawings" means the maps, drawings and text accompanying a subdivision plat and showing the specific location and design of improvements to be installed in the subdivision in accordance with the requirements of this chapter as a condition of the approval of the plat.

    "Jurisdiction of the commission" means the area within the corporate limits of the city and any other territory within two miles of the corporate boundary over which the commission has assumed jurisdiction in accordance with Indiana law.

    "Landscape screen" means any combination of fences, walls, hedges, shrubs, trees and other landscape materials which effectively provide a solid, dense and opaque mass, to prohibit view, absorb sound and provide site delineation. Such screen shall provide total opacity throughout the year. Landscape screens shall comply with the definition of a "Type A buffer" contained in Section 17.43.030 of the Columbus City Code.

    "Limited access R.O.W." means a right-of-way which has restrictions on access to and from the adjacent properties.

    "Lot," for the purpose of these regulations, is a parcel of land of sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage and area, and to provide such yards and other open spaces as are herein required. Such lot shall have frontage on an improved street, or on an approved place.

    "Lot frontage" means the linear distance of a lot measured at and along the front lot line where the lot abuts a street or place.

    "Lot width" means the distance between side lot lines as measured at and along the front setback line.

    "Major plat" means a major subdivision.

    "Major subdivision" means any subdivisions other than those subdivisions meeting the applicability requirements set forth in Section 16.12.020 (minor plat applicability) or the definition of "administrative subdivision" or "agricultural subdivision."

    "Minor plat" means a division of land fronting an existing public right-of-way, not requiring any new streets, alleys, roads or opening of a new public right-of-way, not requiring the extension of utilities and which complies in all other respects with this subdivision control ordinance and the zoning ordinance of the city.

    "Minor subdivision" means a minor plat.

    "Mulching" means the application of plant or other suitable materials on the soil surface to conserve moisture, hold soil in place, and aid in establishing plant cover.

    "No access notation" means a notation placed on a plat or subdivision drawing indicating an area in which property access to a public right-of-way is not permitted.

    "Owner (legal title)" means the person(s) listed in the most recent official records of the township or county assessor.

    "Parent tract or property" means the land from which the new lot or tract of land is being taken, as recorded in the recorder's office at the time of adoption of this chapter or appropriate previous ordinance or amendment.

    "Person" includes an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization or any other unit or legal entity.

    "Petitioner" means the owner(s) of land proposed to be subdivided or his/her representative.

    "Plat" means a map indicating the subdivision or resubdivision of land, and intended to be recorded in the Bartholomew County recorder's plat books.

    "Plat committee" means a committee appointed by the commission to review and act upon minor plats.

    Plat, Final. "Final plat" means a drawing prepared in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, submitted for secondary approval and intended for recording.

    Plat, Minor. See "minor plat (subdivision)."

    Plat, Preliminary. "Preliminary plat" means a drawing indicating the proposed manner or layout of a subdivision submitted to the commission for primary approval in accordance with this chapter.

    Plan, Sketch. "Sketch plan" means an informal sketch developed prior to the preparation of the preliminary plat.

    "Primary approval" means approval granted by the plan commission to a preliminary plat. The primary approval shall include all conditions needed to bring the plat into conformance with this chapter.

    "Primary plat approval" means primary approval.

    "Regulated drain" means any drainage system over which the county drainage board has legal control.

    "Resubdivision or replat" means any change in a map of a recorded subdivision plat affecting any street layout, easement, area reserved for public use, lot line, or affecting any map or plan legally recorded prior to the adoption of any regulations controlling subdivision. A replat shall be considered a minor plat, provided, that no new streets or roads or utility extensions are required. If streets or utility extensions are required then the plat shall be considered a major subdivision of land.

    "Secondary approval" means the final approval granted to a subdivision by the commission or a designated representative. This approval authorizes the owner or agent to record the plat.

    "Street" means a right-of-way dedicated or otherwise legally established for public use, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. A street may be designated as a highway, thoroughfare, parkway, boulevard, road, avenue, lane, drive or other appropriate name. A street may also be classified according to function as follows:

    1.    "Freeways/expressways" are limited-access highways which carry large volumes of traffic and have more importance regionally than locally. They often contain four or more moving lanes and permit a continuous high-speed traffic flow. These highways have a high order or design and construction requirements.

    2.    "Arterials" are high capacity/high volume thoroughfares. They provide access to and through the city. The main function of these roads is mobility, not access to property. Three different types of arterials are classified for the purposes of this title. They are: primary arterials, secondary arterials and one-way arterials.

    3.    "Collector roads" function as a collection and distribution system. These medium-volume and capacity roads collect and distribute traffic to and from neighborhood areas to arterial roads and/or activity centers. Mobility has a much higher priority than access to property on these roads.

    4.    "Local roads" are low capacity and low speed roads whose function is to provide access to homes and property. Through traffic and heavy use of these roads should be discouraged. To the extent possible, residential driveways and ingress and egress points to other uses or structures should be oriented to the local roads rather than to arterials or collectors.

    5.    "Marginal access streets" are local roads which are parallel to, and separated by a limited access landscape buffer strip from arterial streets and highways. These roads provide for access to abutting property on one side only.

    6.    "Cul-de-sac street" is a local road with only one outlet, having a paved, circular turn-around area at the closed end.

    7.    "Alley" is a minor way which is used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.

    Subdivider. See "Developer."

    "Subdivision" means the division of land by deed or other recorded instrument. A subdivision shall be deemed to have occurred on any land, vacant or improved, which is divided into two or more lots, parcels, sites, units, plots or interests for the purpose of offer, sale, lease, mortgage or development, either on the installment plan or upon any and all other plans, terms and conditions, including resubdivision and the granting of access easements. However, this regulation shall not apply to the following:

    1.    An allocation of land by a court decree for the distribution of property;

    2.    The unwilling sale of land as a result of legal condemnations as defined and allowed in the Indiana State Law.

    "Subdivision benchmark" means a permanent monument of known elevation, tied to the U.S.G.S. Benchmark System, installed at ground level.

    "Subdivision improvement agreement" means a document which establishes the contractual relationship between the developer of a subdivision and the city for the installation of improvements in accordance with the standards and specifications set forth in this title.

    "Subdivision review committee" means a committee established by the commission to assist with the technical evaluation of subdivisions and to make appropriate technical recommendations to the commission, plat committee and department.

    "Subsurface drainage" means a system of pipes, tile, conduit or tubing installed beneath the ground surface used to collect ground water from individual parcels, lots or building footings.

    "Surface drainage" means a system by which the stormwater runoff is conducted to an outlet. This would include the proper grading of parking lots, streets, driveways, yards, etc., so that the stormwater runoff is removed without ponding and flows to a drainage swale, open ditch or a storm sewer.

    "Thoroughfare ordinance" means an ordinance established by the common council of the city, showing the location of roads, functional classification and the design standards for such roads.

    "Thoroughfare plan (official)" means the part of the comprehensive plan, now or hereafter adopted which includes a major street and highway plan and sets the location, alignment, identification, and classification of existing and proposed public streets, highways and other thoroughfares.

    "Vicinity map" means a map showing the location of a subdivision in relation to a larger area. This may include major thoroughfares related to the subdivision, nearby community facilities such as parks, schools, fire stations, etc., zoning on the site and adjoining property. This may also show the parent tract.

    "Zone A" means floodplain.

    "Zoning ordinance" means an ordinance and maps, which divide the area within the territorial zoning jurisdiction of the city, into zoning districts. The zoning ordinance prescribes and establishes regulations and procedures for the establishment of land use controls. (Ord. 99-24 § 3 (part), 1999; Ord. 98-10 § 3 (part), 1998; Ord. 95-50 § 3, 1995; Ord. 94-5 § 3 (part), 1994; Ord. 89-60 § 3 (part), 1989; prior code § 28-8)