HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 22051-01-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 22051-01-2016
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING, THE SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE OF
THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, ORDINANCE NO. 17154 AS CODIFIED AS
CHAPTER 31 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, BY
AMENDING SECTION 31-81, "GENERALLY" OF ARTICLE V,
"SUBDIVISION GENERAL STANDARDS" TO REQUIRE APPROPRIATE SIZE
SITES,ACCESS, ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE;
AMENDING SECTION 31-101, "ACCESS" OF ARTICLE VI, "SUBDIVISION
DESIGN STANDARDS" TO ADDRESS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
CONNECTIVITY, PROVIDE SECONDARY INGRESS AND EGRESS FOR
CERTAIN SINGLE-FAMILY AND MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS, TO
PROVIDE A MEANS TO MEASURE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL NETWORK
CONNECTIVITY FOR SUBDIVISIONS; AMENDING SECTION 31-103, "LOT
TYPES AND DESIGN" OF ARTICLE VI, "SUBDIVISION DESIGN
STANDARDS" TO SPECIFY MID-BLOCK ACCESS WAYS FOR SCHOOLS,
PARKS AND OPEN SPACE RECREATION; AMENDING SECTION 31-106,
"STREET DESIGN STANDARDS" OF ARTICLE VI, "SUBDIVISION DESIGN
STANDARDS" TO ADJUST THE RIGHT-OF-WAY AND ROADWAY DESIGN
STANDARDS FOR INDUSTRIAL STREETS, UTILIZE COLLECTOR STREETS
AS A DISTRIBUTION MECHANISM BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOODS AND
ARTERIALS, ADJUST STREET CENTERLINE OFFSETS AND ADD THE
URBAN RESIDENTIAL "UR" DISTRICT TO THE BLOCK FACE LENGTH
REGULATIONS; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE
CUMULATIVE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A
PENALTY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR
PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, on September 12, 2006, the City Council of Fort Worth adopted
Ordinance Number 17154 which combined the Subdivision Regulations of Chapter 31 of
the City Code and the Plan Commission Rules and Regulations into one revised
subdivision ordinance adopted by the City Council as Appendix C, "Subdivision
Ordinance" to the City Code; and
WHEREAS, on October 30, 2007, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number
17851 which repealed the contents of Chapter 31 "Subdivision Regulations", replaced
with the contents of Appendix C, "Subdivision Ordinance" and repealed Appendix C;
and
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WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth has adopted five strategic
goals; and
WHEREAS, amongst the City Council's adopted strategic goals is a desire to
improve mobility and air quality and to promote orderly and sustainable development;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council has made a strong commitment to the health of our
community through the promotion of FitWorth and the adoption of the Sustainability
Action Plan, the Bike FortWorth and Walk Fort Worth plans, Blue Zones initiatives and
the Context Sensitive Solutions Policy for Street Design; and
WHEREAS, the Subdivision Ordinance can establish mobility and circulation
standards that provide choice for residents to travel using modes in addition to motor
vehicles ; and
WHEREAS, said changes to the Subdivision Ordinance will apply to new
applications; and
WHEREAS, the City Plan Commission has reviewed the above proposed
amendments and recommends amending the Subdivision Ordinance as proposed.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS
SECTION 1.
Article V, "Subdivision General Standards"; Section 31-81, "Generally" of
Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to revise
(1) Sites and Access and (2) Adequate Public Facilities and Infrastructure to read as
follows:
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(1) Site and Access
Appropriately sized sites per the comprehensive zoning ordinance and access to
public schools, parks, playgrounds, and other community facilities shall be
provided in conformance with rules and regulations of the city. Subdivisions shall
provide an adequate system of streets with multiple routes and connections
serving the same origins and destinations.
(2)Adequate Public Facilities and Infrastructure
Each subdivision of land shall provide adequate public facilities including water,
wastewater collection and disposal, drainage facilities, parks and recreation
facilities, and transportation facilities necessary to properly serve the proposed
development, including related off-site facilities.
SECTION 2.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-101, "Access" of Chapter
31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to add the
following sentence to (a) Roadway network, addressing internal as well as external
connectivity:
(a) Roadway network. Prior to plat approval the city shall determine whether
the roadway network serving the development to be platted has adequate
capacity to accommodate existing traffic, traffic reasonably anticipated from the
development, and traffic reasonably anticipated from other developments
approved or for which a formal application has been submitted. Adequate
connectivity will address internal connectivity as well as external connectivity.
This determination shall be based on information provided by the developer in
the plat application and supporting studies, unless the study is waived.
SECTION 3.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-101, "Access" of
Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to ensure
ingress and egress for single-family and multi-family developments by amending
(c) Secondary entrances to subdivisions, as follows:
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(c) Secondary Ingress and Egress to Subdivisions. Subdivisions containing
more than thirty (30) one-family or two-family dwelling units shall have a platted
and constructed secondary ingress and egress to a public street. Multi-family
developments of 100 dwelling units or more shall have a platted and constructed
secondary ingress and egress to a public street.
SECTION 4.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-101, "Access" of Chapter 31,
"the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to add a subsection,
(d) Internal Roadway Network Connectivity, for the purpose of measuring internal
network connectivity as follows:
(d) Internal Roadway Network Connectivity. All proposed developments shall
have a connectivity index of 1.4 or greater. The connectivity index shall be
calculated by dividing the total number of links (streets including stub-out streets)
by the total number of nodes (intersections, culs-de-sac, no-outlets, dead-ends).
Stub outs to adjacent property are worth ''/z credit each toward the number of links.
Residential road connections to collector streets and larger are worth one full
credit each. Standard public access easements count as links. Culs-de-sac count as
links.
Street elbows do not count as nodes. Standard alley intersections do not count as
nodes. Intersections on collector streets and larger do not count as nodes. The
termination of culs-de-sac count as nodes.
Link-to-Node Connectivity Index
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Plan A Plan B
A A
r000
B B
Ratio=7/8 = 0.88 Ratio = 13/9 = 1.44
The City Plan Commission may grant waivers to these requirements only upon
finding that the development is constrained by topographic features, existing
development or other impassible features.
SECTION 5.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-101, "Access" of Chapter
31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to add
(e) External Roadway Network Connectivity and (f) Secondary ingress and egress, to
provide external roadway network connectivity for subdivisions as follows:
(e) External Roadway Network Connectivity. Subdivisions shall be phased in
such a way to ensure effective traffic management. Applications for subdivisions
including five (5) or more lots shall include a traffic management plan, which
shall include at a minimum: the estimated number of phases; the necessary
improvements to ensure adequate access; the trigger point(s) for providing the
improvements; and the number of lots that will be included in the corresponding
phases.
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(f) Secondary ingress and egress shall be in conformance with Section 31-101(c).
Above the second access point, the accumulated estimated peak hour traffic
volumes for each public street connection shall not exceed the following:
Street Classification Peak Hour Traffic Volumes
Local 350 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl)
(each direction)
Collector 750 v h 1 each direction
Industrial 750 vph pl (each direction
SECTION 6.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-103, "Lot Types and
Design" of Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is
amended to revise subsection E, Pedestrian Access Way Lots or Easements, to specify
mid-block access ways for schools, parks and open space recreation as follows:
(E)Pedestrian Access Way Lots or Easements
When a school, park, or open space recreation site has only one (1) point of street
access, a mid-block access way shall be provided. Such access ways shall not be
less than fifteen (15) feet wide for pedestrian restricted walkways, bicycle paths,
and hiking/jogging paths.
SECTION 7.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-106, "Street Design
Standards" of Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is
amended to revise subsection A. Street Classification and Function, (5) Industrial Street,
to adjust the right-of-way and roadway design standards for industrial streets as follows:
(5) Industrial Street(14D-15U)
a. Service. Industrial streets are established for industrial areas to recognize
different types of vehicles, i.e. with larger turning radii, heavier industrial type
traffic, and wheel loads. These streets are minor arterials that route industrial
traffic to and from the arterial system with industrial districts.
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c. Right-of-way and roadway design standards. ROW and paving widths shall
conform to those identified in the current Master Thoroughfare Plan. Sidewalks
are required on each side of the street.
SECTION 8.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-106, "Street Design
Standards" of Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is
amended to revise subsection A. Street Classification and Function, (6) Collector Street
(C) to utilize a system of collector streets as a distribution mechanism between
neighborhoods and arterials as follows:
(6) Collector Street (C)
a. Service. The collector street system differs from the arterial systems in that
facilities on the collector system may penetrate neighborhoods, distributing trips
from the arterials through the neighborhood area to the ultimate destination such
as a park, elementary, or middle school, which may be on a residential street or a
collector street. Conversely, the collector street also collects traffic from
residential streets in the neighborhood and channels it into the arterial systems. In
some cases, due to the design of the overall street system, a minor amount of
through traffic may be carried on some collector streets.
The collector provides for both land access service and local traffic movements
within residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, and industrial areas.
Street layout shall provide for collector streets in areas between arterial streets.
Where collectors are more than one-half (1/2) mile in length, variation shall be
provided by roundabout(s), street curvature, and/or street centerline offset(s) in
compliance with this ordinance. Such facilities may contain the collector portion
of some bus routes.
SECTION 9.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-106, "Street Design Standards"
of Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to
revise subsection C. General Street Design Standards, (10) Street Centerline Offsets to
adjust street centerline offsets as follows:
(10) Street Centerline Offsets
Centerline offsets for all types of local public and private streets shall be at least
one hundred thirty-five (135) feet. Collector street off-set centerlines shall not be
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less than two hundred fifty (250) feet. Greater centerline offsets, as may be
required by TPW, shall be provided when necessary for traffic safety.
SECTION 10.
Article VI, "Subdivision Design Standards"; Section 31-106, "Street Design Standards"
of Chapter 31, "the Subdivision Ordinance" of the City of Fort Worth, is amended to
revise subsection D. Street and Block Face Design Standards, (2) Block Face Length to
add the Urban Residential "UR" District to the block length regulations as follows:
b. Regulations for Areas Zoned UR, MU or H. Areas zoned for "UR" Urban
Residential District, "MU-1", "MU-2", "MU-1G", and "MU-2G" Mixed-Use
Districts, or, "H" Central Business District shall conform to the following block
restrictions. To ensure efficient circulation, the maximum distance between
publicly accessible streets shall be one thousand (1,000) feet. No block may have
a perimeter greater than one thousand six hundred (1,600) feet, with a maximum
block face of five hundred (500) feet. Private streets with adjacent sidewalks that
are accessible through a public use easement, or a private walkway, which is
accessible thru such public use easement, may serve as a block boundary.
SECTION 11.
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the
Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions
of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such
Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby
repealed.
SECTION 12.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections,
paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any
phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared
unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction,
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such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences,
paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the
City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional
phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section.
SECTION 13.
All rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to
any and all violations of the provisions of Code of the City of Fort Worth which have
accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and, as to such accrued
violations and all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or
not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be
prosecuted until final disposition by the courts.
SECTION 14.
Any person, firm, or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or
refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this
ordinance shall be fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2000.00) for each
offense. Each day that a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense.
SECTION 15.
The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby directed to publish
the caption, penalty clause and effective date of this ordinance for two (2) days in the
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official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 52.013,
Texas Local Government Code.
SECTION 16.
This ordinance shall take effect after adoption and publication as required by law.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
Sarah J.F enwider Mary Kays
Ci rney City Secretary
ADOPTED:_
EFFECTIVE: .3anuaGA ��, IV I C�
Ordinance No. 22051-01-2016
Page 10 of 10
City of Fort Worth, Texas
Mayor and Council Communication
COUNCIL ACTION: Approved on 1/12/2016 - Ordinance No. 22051-01-2016
DATE: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 REFERENCE NO.: L-15852
LOG NAME: 06065030 TA-15-001 SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
SUBJECT:
Adopt Ordinance Amending Chapter 31, Articles V and VI of the Subdivision Ordinance Addressing Street
Connectivity (ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS)
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending the Subdivision
Ordinance to address street connectivity.
DISCUSSION:
The City Plan Commission held a public hearing on a proposed Subdivision Ordinance Amendment
relating to street connectivity on November 20, 2015 and recommended approval. The goals of
connectivity include reduced traffic congestion, reduced emergency response times and costs, increased
mobility and route choices, improved infrastructure network and water quality, safer access for pedestrians
and bicyclists and a healthier community.
In late 2014, the commission expressed concern about the traffic and safety impacts of having only two
ways in or out of large subdivisions and asked Staff to investigate methods to improve connectivity. Staff
from Planning and Development and Transportation and Public Works researched best practices and
ordinances in comparable cities. The proposed text amendment will do the following:
1. Require connectivity to the external roadway network based on the traffic management plan and
development phasing for the preliminary plat;
2. Require two constructed points of access, rather than one, for multifamily development with 100
or more dwelling units;
3. Provide an objective measure for internal connectivity, with which the vast majority of subdivisions
already comply (link-to-node ratio);
4. Allow collector streets to be more than a half mile in length under certain conditions;
5. Specify a 15-foot width for mid-block pedestrian/bicycle access ways used in lieu of 50-foot street
connections;
6. Add Urban Residential (UR) zoning to the section on block perimeter and block length for mixed-
use and central business district zoning; and,
7. Reduce the minimum street width for industrial streets from 100 to 80 feet.
Staff has briefed the Development Advisory Committee, the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors,
Logname: 06065030 TA-15-001 SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Page I of 2
the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association, the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth and the Blue
Zones Project Built Environment Committee. The City Council received an Informal Report on this
amendment on December 15, 2015.
The attached staff-recommended amendment is generally consistent with the amendment recommended
by the City Plan Commission, with minor clarifications as requested by the Real Estate Council and other
stakeholders.
The amendment will apply to ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity.
FISCAL INFORMATION / CERTIFICATION:
The Financial Management Services Director certifies that this action will have no material effect on the
City' s funds.
FUND IDENTIFIERS (FIDs):
TO
Fund Department ccoun Project Program ctivity Budget Reference # moun
ID ID Year Chartfield 2
FROM
Fund Department ccoun Project Program ctivity Budget Reference # jAmoun
ID ID Year kC1101t11e1d 2)
CERTIFICATIONS:
Submitted for City Manager's Office by: Fernando Costa (6122)
Originating Department Head: Randle Harwood (6101)
Additional Information Contact: Mary Elliott (7844)
Logname: 06065030 TA-15-001 SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE AMENDMENT Page 2 of 2