GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter 18.04 BMC

The state regulations in RCW 58.17.010, .030, and .033, establish broad objectives the subdivision regulations are to achieve and the local municipality's responsibility to implement these objectives. RCW 58.17.040 provides a list of activities that are exempt from meeting subdivision regulations.

The city's subdivision ordinance has these provisions in the introductory chapter of the subdivision ordinance, Chapter 18.04 BMC. This chapter currently includes the following sections:

  1. Title.
  2. Purpose of provisions.
  3. Administrative officer.
  4. Scope.
  5. Compliance – Subdivisions generally.
  6. Compliance.
  7. Sale restriction.
  8. Building permit issuance restrictions.
  9. Exceptions.
  10. Expiration of application.

Staff is proposing to incorporate many of the same sections, with title modifications,expanding the list of exemptions, and adding new sections addressing the consent to access a site where there is a pending subdivision application and allowance for model homes/units.

18.04.010Title

18.04.020Purpose

18.04.030Authority

18.04.040Regulations supplementary to state law

18.04.050Applicability

18.04.060Compliance

18.04.070Concurrency for public infrastructure

18.04.080Administrative officer

18.04.090Exemptions

18.04.100Resubdivision restriction

18.04.110Consent to access

18.04.120Model homes/units

18.04.130Fees

EXEMPTIONS

The following is a proposed list of activities that are recommended to be exempt from compliance with the subdivision ordinance. The highlighted exemptions are either new or modified from those currently found in the subdivision ordinance.

  1. Cemeteries. Existing cemeteries and other burial plots, while used for that purpose.
  2. Testamentary Divisions. Existing divisions made by testamentary provisions or the laws of descent; provided that a map is recorded with Whatcom County Auditor's office at the time the land is divided and that all lots created must meet all requirements of this chapter.
  3. Legal Lots. Lots determined to be legal lots by BMC Title 20.
  4. Innocent Purchaser. Lots created by innocent purchaser status pursuant to RCW 58.17.210***.
  5. Public Land Acquisition.Any division(s) of land for the sole purpose of enabling a municipal corporation to acquire land, either by outright purchase or exchange, for right-of-way purposes, port purposes, boat moorage or launching sites, or for park, viewpoint, recreational, educational, or other public purposes; provided, however, that any remaining lot or lots are consistent with applicable land use regulations.
  6. Utility Facilities-Public or Private. Any division(s) of land for the sole purpose of the installation of electric power, telephone, water supply, sewer service or other utility facilities of a similar or related nature; provided, however, that any remaining lot or lots are consistent with applicable land use regulations.
  7. Condemnation. Division of land due to condemnation or sale under threat thereof by an agency or division of government vested with the power of condemnation; if sale is made under threat of condemnation, such threat must be evidenced by the government agency filing an affidavit so stating with the Whatcom County Auditor.
  8. Personal Wireless Services. A division(s)of land for the purpose of lease when establishing facilities providingpersonal wireless servicesprovided that the proposed personal wireless service is subject to the provisions of Chapter 20.13. BMC.
  9. Mobile Home/Recreational Vehicle Park. A division of land for the purpose of sale or lease when no residential structures other than mobile homes or travel trailers are permitted to be placed upon the land when the city approves a planned development permit in accordance with the Bellingham zoning code, for a mobile home park or recreational vehicle park.
  10. Twenty Acres.Any division of land, not containing a dedication, in which the smallest lot created by the division equals or exceeds twenty acres or one-thirty-second of a section by standard sectional subdivision.
  11. Deed Releases. Deed releases, for the purpose of obtaining building financing; provided, that a subdivision or short subdivision is required if the parcel is separately sold or if all land specified by the contract is not acquired.
  12. Divisions made by court order. This exemption shall not apply to land divided pursuant to dissolution or partition proceedings of a corporation, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, or trust, unless the city is made a party to the proceedings and has advised the court with respect to the division.
  13. Contiguous lots. The transfer of ownership of contiguous platted or unplatted lots when the residual lots conform to all provisions of the BMC and any previous land use approval.
  14. Lot line adjustments. The adjustment of existing property lines that does not result in the creation of any additional lots.
  15. Lot consolidation.

CONSENT TO ACCESS

The subdivision ordinance does not specifically address the city's right to access a site while under review by the city. Unlike construction permits, land use permits typically do not have required inspections that assume the city will access the site for compliance review of a specific condition.

To fully review an application, the city believes that a site visit is essential. While the city has had only a few objections in the past for full access, a provision should be added to address these situations. For consistency purposes, it is being recommended that the subdivision ordinance use the same right of entry as the critical area ordinance as follows:

A. Rights of Entry.

1. For Permitting or Inspection of Work Conducted Under Permit. Whenever a person applies for a permit or approval under any section of this title, the director’s designee shall have a limited right of entry during the city’s normal business hours to conduct site inspections necessary to determine whether to approve the proposal or to inspect work being conducted under the preliminary subdivision approval. The property owner’s failure to grant permission for the designee to enter the property shall be grounds for denial of the permit or issuance of a stop work order.

2. To Investigate Violations and Corrections. The director’s designee is authorized to enter upon the property to determine whether the provisions of this chapter are being obeyed and to make any examinations, surveys, or studies that are necessary in the performance of his or her duties. The designee shall obtain the property owner’s permission prior to entry. If the property owner declines to give permission or cannot be located, the designee shall enter upon the property only in a manner consistent with the constitutions and laws of the United States and the state of Washington. If so required by the constitutions and laws of the United States and the state of Washington, the designee shall apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for a search warrant authorizing access to such property for such purpose.

3. Search Warrants. Both Bellingham municipal court and Whatcom County superior court are authorized to issue search warrants under this chapter.

MODEL HOMES/UNITS

A key issue identified during the initial conversations with the technical groups was to consider allowing construction of model homes/units prior to final plat approval.

The city is interested in further discussing model homes to consider what provisions are necessary to ensure that these model home/units are not sold, leased or rented prior to required final approvals. The following code provision is offered for discussion purposes with a covenant being the mechanism to prevent premature sales and leases.

Up to four model homes/units may be established on a single tract of land without an approved subdivision provided the city has approved a preliminary platand approved engineering drawings for all public infrastructure necessary to serve the home/units, which includes the specific lots upon which the model homes/units are to be located; provided further, that the land is covenanted to require ownership of those model homes/units to remain with the property owner and that the units are not occupied for habitable purposes until a final plat has been approved and recorded. Building and related permits shall be issued only to the property owner or a licensed contractor acting on the owner’s behalf.

LOT LINE ADJUSTMENTS

CHAPTER 18.10 BMC

Lot line adjustments are exempt from meeting requirements of RCW 58.17, giving local municipalities the authority to adopt regulations to adjust property lines of existing lots. Since 1971, the city has imposed regulations for lot line adjustments.

Staff is proposing minor modifications to the lot line adjustment regulations. These modifications include:

  1. Definition of Lot Line Adjustment - Refine the existing definition of lot line adjustment to include only minor degree of modifications.
  2. Approval criteria - Establish criteria that is prescriptive and predicable, and
  3. Final approval process - Streamline the approval process to reduce application review and overall resources.

LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT - DEFINED

Title 18 defines a lot line adjustment as:

A revision made for the purpose of adjusting boundary lines which does not create any additional lot, tract, parcel, site or division nor create any lot, tract, parcel, site or division which contains insufficient area and dimension to meet minimum requirements for width and area for a building site.

This definition sufficiently addresses the bulk and dimensional requirements for a lot, but lacks the unintended circumstances when an adjustment of the lot boundaries actually create new lots, or stated differently, buildable lots.

The existing lot line adjustment definition is too broad and arguably has be interpreted as a mechanism to establish new lots. This broad definition allows for interpretation that exceeds the underlining intent of establishing a process for minor modifications of existing lots.

The following definitions are offered for discussion:

A lot line adjustment is a minor or insignificant change(s) of property lines associated between two or more lots with each lot containing a buildable area.

“Buildable area” means that portion of the land that remains after the required yards, rights-of-way, critical areas and their buffers, and similar required land uses have been excluded from each lot.

APPROVAL CRITERIA

The current approval criteria for lot line adjustment are:

  1. No new lots are created;
  2. Each parcel as proposed meets minimum lot standards as specified in Chapter 18.36 BMC, or that each parcel if already less than the required minimum is not further reduced as a result of the proposed lot line adjustment;
  3. The lot line adjustment does not further infringe on any applicable section of the city land use development ordinance; and
  4. The lot line adjustment improves the overall function and utility of the existing lots.

Criteria 4 requires demonstration that a lot line adjustment proposal 'improve' the overall function and utility of the lots included in the proposal. This terminology is vague and at time does not offer clear direction when evaluating proposals.

The remaining criteria are clear and prescriptive, providing the applicant and staff with sufficient guidance to evaluate a proposal.

Staff is proposing to revise the approval criteria that will establish clear guidance and address the necessary bulk and dimensional standards as well as access to public infrastructure. The following proposed approval criteria includes the general intent of criteria 1, 2, and 3 above, proposes to delete criteria 4 and add three new criteria as follows:

  1. The lot line adjustment does not create any additional lots and will not result in an increase in the potential number of dwelling units on lots, tracts, parcels or building sites permitted by BMC;
  2. All resulting lots meet the minimum design standards as specified in Chapter 18.32 BMC (Design Standards) or if already nonconforming to a design standard, the adjustment does not unreasonably further the nonconforming standard;
  3. All resulting lots are compliant with applicable sections of the BMC and do not violate conditions of a valid land use action on any portion of a lot contained in the application, including but not limited to building permit, variance, conditional use permit, planned approval, and/or subdivision;
  4. All resulting lots have legal access to an improved right of way and abutment on public infrastructure or, if already nonconforming to either of these provisions, the adjustment may not further the nonconforming standard;
  5. The lot line adjustment would not evade public improvements requirements that would be associated with a division or redivision of the subject site or issuance of a building permit; and
  6. The proposed lot line adjustment shall not allow the adjustment of boundary lines which will result in directional changes in the orientation of the lot(s), tract(s), parcel(s), or building sites, such as the changing of front yards into side or rear yards or vice versa.

The proposed criteria establishes a clear basis for evaluating lot line adjustment proposals, which will prohibit the creation of lots, address bulk and dimensional standards, and ensure access to public infrastructure. Each proposed criteria is measurable, void of any ambiguities, and easily determined whether it is met or not.

PROCEDURE - REVIEW AND APPROVAL

The existing procedural steps for lot line adjustment applications are as follows:

  1. Application review - Application submitted and distributed for city department review and recommendation.
  2. Preliminary approval - Within 30 days, a decision to grant preliminary approval, with or without conditions, or a denial is issued.
  3. Final approval -
  1. Checkprints are submitted to the city and distributed to applicable city departments for review and recommendation.
  2. Mylars are requested after city approves the checkprints.
  3. Mylars are submitted for final city approval.
  4. Mylars are recorded at the Whatcom County auditor's office.

The application review and preliminary approval procedures are proposed to remain unchanged. Staff is consistently processing application reviews within the 30 days review time limits.

Staff therefore is proposing to only change to the final approval portion of the process. In lieu of engaging in a checkprint review process that leads to the filing of a mylar document, the following final approval process is offered for discussion:

The applicant would submit the following information for approval by the city:

  1. A plat certificate updated not more than 30 days prior to recording of the adjustment, which includes all parcels within the adjustment,
  2. A final recording document signed by all persons having an ownership interest within the lot line adjustment boundaries,
  3. A final lot line adjustment map based upon a survey, prepared and signed by a licensed surveyor prepared in accordance with this title,
  4. Legal descriptions, prepared and signed by a licensed land surveyor, of all of the lots as they appear after the lot line adjustment, and
  5. Conveyance document(s)/deed(s) and language clearly binding the property which is conveyed to the remainder portion of the property prepared by a title company.

After the above information is reviewed for compliance with the preliminary approval and this title, the Director shall sign a final recording document as an acknowledgement of final approval and order the lot line adjustment to be filed.

Lot line adjustments are intended to be minor land use actions with minimum review necessary. The existing approval process for lot line adjustments is identical to that of a short plat, which is a land use process that typically requires a more detailed level of review to determine compliance with applicable regulations.

The nature of a lot line adjustment often results in the conveyance of fee title of portions of existing lots. The city has been made aware that conveyance documents are not always recorded with the final lot line adjustment approval; therefore, it is the city's opinion that the filing of a mylar document is not necessary to adequately show and describe the lot line adjustment. As proposed, the conveyance documents together with the required exhibits showing and describing the adjusted property, is sufficient, and will ensure that fee title is being transferred with the filing of the approved lot line adjustment.

Modifying the final approval process will reduce the total application review time, ensure conveyance documents are recorded to establish a clear chain of title, and reduce the overall need for resources for preparing and filing a lot line adjustment.

SHORT PLATS AND SHORT CLUSTER PLATS

Chapter 18.12 BMC

The state regulations in RCW 58.17.060 establish the minimum requirements municipalities are required to provide in a subdivision ordinance for short plats. These regulations require municipalities to:

  • Adopt regulations and procedures, appoint personnel for summary approval of short plats, short subdivisions, alterations, and vacations.
  • Process alterations and vacations involving a public dedication pursuant to RCW 58.17.212 and 58.17.215.
  • Prepare written findings for summary approval.
  • Determine if a survey is required.
  • Ensure short plats and the alterations and vacations of short plats are filed for record at the county auditor.
  • Impose a requirement restricting the process for short subdividing land that creates more than 4 lots within a 5 years period of time.
  • Include regulations and procedures for considering sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions to and from school.

The city's subdivision ordinance does not include regulations or procedures for the alterations and vacations of short subdivisions. In addition to the inclusion of procedures and regulations for alterations and vacations, staff is proposing minor substantive modifications to the short subdivision regulations. The complete list of modifications to BMC 20.12 - Short Subdivisions include:

  1. Short cluster subdivisions - Inclusion of this subdivision type to this chapter.
  2. Approval criteria - Establish criteria that is prescriptive and predicable for preliminary approval, modifications of an approved short subdivision, and final approval.
  3. Alteration / Vacation - Establish regulations and procedures for the alteration and vacation of a short plat.
  4. Infrastructure requirements - Consolidate all infrastructure requirements to one chapter of the subdivision ordinance. Include provision for consideration when sidewalks are needed ensure to safe routes to schools.

SHORT CLUSTER SUBDIVISIONS