Applications

• Major Subdivision Application
• Minor Subdivision Application
• Site Plan Application

The process begins when a completed application and seventeen copies of the one-page site plan are submitted for review. Site plans are required to be reviewed in accordance with the City Code of Ordinances for all property located within a C1P zoning district, for group developments, and/or if there is a subdivision of property, unless expressly exempted by the ordinance. These conditions for exemption and a detailed definition of subdivisions is listed in the next section. A nominal fee is charged for the application/review process.

After a site plan has been received, it is then distributed to many of the different City agencies that could potentially be affected by this project. Those include, but are not limited to: City Inspections, Engineering, Traffic Services, Parks and Recreation, North Carolina Department of Transportation, PWC, and various other departments.

The City ordinance provides that applications must have formal action within thirty days of submission. The City, however, strives to process all applications within ten days of receipt. Applications received by Wednesday of each week, are normally reviewed by the City staff the following Wednesday at their weekly staff meeting. After all input is received from the departments, the City Planning Department Staff prepares “Conditions of Approval”. A copy of the condition sheet and conditionally approved site plan is then mailed to the applicant, surveyor, engineer, and/or architect of the project.

If the applicant has questions regarding any of the conditions of approval, they may contact the City Planning Department Staff for clarification or negotiation of the condition(s) in question. The applicant may request a variance or waiver from any condition.

The approval is valid for two years from the date stamped. After 2 years the approval is invalid and an application must be resubmitted to proceed with the project.

After the conditions of approval have been met, a final plat may be submitted, under the guidelines as outlined in the City Code of Ordinances, to the City Planning Department. The appropriate stamps from Planning, Engineering and Inspections (Watershed) will be acquired after submission.

When the final plat has been approved and stamped with the City Seal by the Planning Staff, the plat then has to be approved by the County Plans Review Officer. The plat may then be recorded in the Register of Deeds office located in the Courthouse. The plat must be recorded within thirty days of the approval by the City.

This application/approval process does not imply any other approval for applications that must be made to the appropriate agencies prior to construction, such as NCDOT for driveway permits, or City Inspections for building permits.

THE FOLLOWING CLASSES ARE EXEMPTED FROM SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS:

1. The combination or recombination of portions of previously platted lots where the total number of lots is not increased and the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the municipality as shown in its subdivision regulations.
2. The division of land into parcels greater than five acres where no street right-of-way dedication is involved.
3. The public acquisition by purchase of strips of land for the widening or opening of streets.
4. The division of a tract, under single ownership, whose entire area is no greater than two acres, into not more than three lots, where no street right-of-way dedication is involved, and where the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the municipality, as shown in its subdivision regulations.

Provided however, that the plats of these four exempted classes shall have the Planning Department’s stamp of “NO APPROVAL REQUIRED” before recording in the Register of Deeds Office.

SUBDIVISION DEFINITION

A subdivision shall include all divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, buildings sites, or other division for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, or building development, and shall include all divisions of land involving the dedication of a new street or a change in existing streets; provided, however, that the exceptions listed above shall not be subject to the regulations authorized in Chapter 25, Subdivision, of the City Code of Ordinances.

INFILL PROJECTS

A subdivision or group development project may require an infill public hearing before the Planning Commission if the project meets the following criteria.

1. The property is in a residential zoning district;
2. The project is five acres or less in size;
3. An area extending 300 feet from the exterior of the development in all directions having at least 50 percent of the properties in that 300-foot area consisting of single-family detached dwelling units;
4. The proposed recombination or subdivision contains any lot which is less than 80 percent of the median lot size of the single-family units contained within the three hundred foot buffer; or
5. The development includes attached units of two or more units.

If a proposed project meets the above-mentioned criteria a public hearing shall be scheduled before the planning commission. The planning commission shall approve, deny, or amend the infill project based upon the impact of other properties, to include, but not limited to storm water, traffic, property values, appearance and interference with air, light, and privacy of surrounding properties. Any aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the planning commission within 10 days from the decision rendered by the planning commission. Such appeals will be heard by the city council as a public hearing.

For more information, contact us at the following:

Planning Department
433 Hay Street
Fayetteville, NC 28301
(910) 433-1612
FAX (910) 433-1776