HOUSE BILL No. 4481 March 12, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Wetters and LaForge and referred to the Committee on Agriculture. A bill to amend 1967 PA 288, entitled "Land division act," by amending the title and sections 101, 102, 103, and 105 (MCL 560.101, 560.102, 560.103, and 560.105), as amended by 1996 PA 591; and to repeal acts and parts of acts. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 TITLE 2 An act to regulate thedivisionSUBDIVISION of land; to 3 promote the public health, safety, and general welfare; to fur- 4 ther the orderly layout and use of land; to require that the land 5 be suitable for building sites and public improvements and that 6 there be adequate drainage of the land; to provide for proper 7 ingress and egress to lots;and parcels;to promote proper 8 surveying and monumenting of land subdivided and conveyed by 9 accurate legal descriptions; to provide for the approvals to be 02430'97 TMV 2 1 obtained prior to the recording and filing of plats;and other2land divisions;to provide for the establishment of special 3 assessment districts and for the imposition of special assess- 4 ments to defray the cost of the operation and maintenance of 5 retention basins for land within a final plat; to establish the 6 procedure for vacating, correcting, and revising plats; to con- 7 trol residential building development within floodplain areas; to 8 provide for reserving easements for utilities in vacated streets 9 and alleys; to provide for the filing of amended plats; to pro- 10 vide for the making of assessors plats; to provide penalties for 11 the violation of the provisions of this act; to repeal certain 12 parts of this act on specific dates; and to repeal acts and parts 13 of acts. 14 Sec. 101. This act shall be known and may be cited as the 15"land division act""SUBDIVISION CONTROL ACT OF 1967". 16 Sec. 102. As used in this act: 17 (a) "Plat" means a map or chart of a subdivision of land. 18 (b) "Land" means all land areas occupied by real property. 19 (c) "Preliminary plat" means a map showing the salient fea- 20 tures of a proposed subdivision submitted to an approving author- 21 ity for purposes of preliminary consideration. 22(d) "Division" means the partitioning or splitting of a23parcel or tract of land by the proprietor thereof or by his or24her heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, suc-25cessors, or assigns for the purpose of sale, or lease of more26than 1 year, or of building development that results in 1 or more27parcels of less than 40 acres or the equivalent, and that02430'97 3 1satisfies the requirements of sections 108 and 109. Division2does not include a property transfer between 2 or more adjacent3parcels, if the property taken from 1 parcel is added to an adja-4cent parcel; and any resulting parcel shall not be considered a5building site unless the parcel conforms to the requirements of6this act or the requirements of an applicable local ordinance.7(e) "Exempt split" means the partitioning or splitting of a8parcel or tract of land by the proprietor thereof or by his or9her heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, suc-10cessors, or assigns that does not result in 1 or more parcels of11less than 40 acres or the equivalent. For a property transfer12between 2 or more adjacent parcels, if the property taken from 113parcel is added to an adjacent parcel, any resulting parcel shall14not be considered a building site unless the parcel conforms to15the requirements of this act or the requirements of an applicable16local ordinance.17 (D)(f)"Subdivide" or "subdivision" means the partition- 18 ing orsplittingDIVIDING of a parcel or tract of land by the 19 proprietor thereof or by his or her heirs, executors, administra- 20 tors, legal representatives, successors, or assigns for the pur- 21 pose of sale, or lease of more than 1 year, or of building devel- 22 opment,that results in 1 or more parcels of less than 40 acres23or the equivalent, and that is not exempted from the platting24requirements of this act by sections 108 and 109WHERE THE ACT 25 OF DIVISION CREATES 5 OR MORE PARCELS OF LAND EACH OF WHICH IS 10 26 ACRES OR LESS IN AREA; OR 5 OR MORE PARCELS OF LAND EACH OF WHICH 27 IS 10 ACRES OR LESS IN AREA ARE CREATED BY SUCCESSIVE DIVISIONS 02430'97 4 1 WITHIN A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS. "Subdivide" or "subdivision" does 2 not include a property transfer between 2 or more adjacent par- 3 cels, if the property taken from 1 parcel is added to an adjacent 4 parcel; and any resulting parcel shall not be considered a build- 5 ing site unless the parcel conforms to the requirements of this 6 act or the requirements of an applicable local ordinance. 7 (E)(g)"Parcel" means a continuous area or acreage of 8 land which can be described as provided for in this act. 9 (F)(h)"Tract" means 2 or more parcels that share a 10 common property line and are under the same ownership. 11(i) "Parent parcel" or "parent tract" means a parcel or12tract, respectively, lawfully in existence on the effective date13of the amendatory act that added this subdivision.14(j) "Accessible", in reference to a parcel, means that the15parcel meets 1 or both of the following requirements:16(i) Has an area where a driveway provides vehicular access17to an existing road or street and meets all applicable location18standards of the state transportation department or county road19commission under Act No. 200 of the Public Acts of 1969, being20sections 247.321 to 247.329 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and of21the city or village, or has an area where a driveway can provide22vehicular access to an existing road or street and meet all such23applicable location standards.24(ii) Is served by an existing easement that provides vehicu-25lar access to an existing road or street and that meets all26applicable location standards of the state transportation27department or county road commission under Act No. 200 of the02430'97 5 1Public Acts of 1969 and of the city or village, or can be served2by a proposed easement that will provide vehicular access to an3existing road or street and that will meet all such applicable4location standards.5(k) "Development site" means any parcel or lot on which6exists or which is intended for building development other than7the following:8(i) Agricultural use involving the production of plants and9animals useful to humans, including forages and sod crops;10grains, feed crops, and field crops; dairy and dairy products;11poultry and poultry products; livestock, including breeding and12grazing of cattle, swine, and similar animals; berries; herbs;13flowers; seeds; grasses; nursery stock; fruits; vegetables;14Christmas trees; and other similar uses and activities.15(ii) Forestry use involving the planting, management, or16harvesting of timber.17(l) "Forty acres or the equivalent" means 40 acres, a18quarter-quarter section containing not less than 30 acres, or a19government lot containing not less than 30 acres.20 (G)(m)"Lot" means a measured portion of a parcel or 21 tract of land, which is described and fixed in a recorded plat. 22 (H)(n)"Outlot", when included within the boundary of a 23 recorded plat, means a lot set aside for purposes other than a 24developmentBUILDING site, park, or other land dedicated to 25 public use or reserved to private use. 26 (I)(o)"Proprietor" means a natural person, firm, 27 association, partnership, corporation, or combination of any of 02430'97 6 1 them that holds an ownership interest in land whether recorded or 2 not. 3 (J)(p)"Governing body" means the legislative body of a 4 city or village or the township board of a township. 5 (K)(q)"Municipality" means a township, city, or 6 village. 7 (l)(r)"County plat board" means the register of deeds, 8 who shall act as chairperson, the county clerk, who shall act as 9 secretary, and the county treasurer. If the offices of county 10 clerk and register of deeds have been combined, the chairperson 11 of the COUNTY board ofsupervisorsCOMMISSIONERS shall be a 12 member of the plat board and shall act as chairperson. In a 13 county where a board of auditors is authorized by law,such14boardTHE BOARD OF AUDITORS may elect to serve on the county 15 plat board by adopting a resolution so ordering. A copy of the 16 recorded resolution shall be sent to the state treasurer. 17 (M)(s)"Public utility" means all persons, firms, corpo- 18 rations, copartnerships, or municipal or other public authority 19 providing gas, electricity, water, steam, telephone, sewer, or 20 other services of a similar nature. 21 (N)(t)"Caption" means the name by which the plat is 22 legally and commonly known. 23 (O)(u)"Replat" means the process of changing, or the map 24 or plat which changes, the boundaries of a recorded subdivision 25 plat or part thereof. The legal dividing of an outlot within a 26 recorded subdivision plat without changing the exterior 27 boundaries of the outlot is not a replat. 02430'97 7 1 (P)(v)"Surveyor" means a professional surveyor licensed 2 under article 20 of the occupational code,Act No. 299 of the3Public Acts of 1980, being sections 339.2001 to 339.2014 of the4Michigan Compiled Laws1980 PA 299, MCL 339.2001 TO 339.2014. 5 (Q)(w)"Engineer" means a civil engineer who is a profes- 6 sional engineer licensed under article 20 of the occupational 7 code,Act No. 299 of the Public Acts of 1980, being8sections 339.2001 to 339.2014 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1980 9 PA 299, MCL 339.2001 TO 339.2014. 10 (R)(x)"Government survey" means the land surveyed, sub- 11 divided and monumented by the United States public land survey. 12 (S)(y)"Michigan coordinate system" means the system 13 defined inAct No. 9 of the Public Acts of 1964, being sections1454.231 to 54.239 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1964 PA 9, MCL 15 54.231 TO 54.239. 16 (T)(z)"Alley" means a public or private right of way 17 shown on a plat which provides secondary access to a lot, block, 18 or parcel of land. 19 (U)(aa)"Health department" means the department of envi- 20 ronmental quality, a city health department, a county health 21 department, or a district health department, whichever has 22 jurisdiction. 23 (V)(bb)"Public sewer" means a sewerage system as defined 24 in section 4101 of part 41 (sewerage systems) of the natural 25 resources and environmental protection act,Act No. 451 of the26Public Acts of 1994, being section 324.4101 of the Michigan27Compiled Laws1994 PA 451, MCL 324.4101. 02430'97 8 1 (W)(cc)"Public water" means a system of pipes and 2 structures through which water is obtained and distributed to the 3 public, including wells and well structures, intakes, and cribs, 4 pumping stations, treatment plants, reservoirs, storage tanks and 5 appurtenances, collectively or severally, actually used or 6 intended for use for the purpose of furnishing water to the 7 public for household or drinking purposes. 8 (X)(dd)"Topographical map" means a map showing existing 9 physical characteristics, with contour lines at sufficient inter- 10 vals to permit determination of proposed grades and drainage. 11 (Y)(ee)"Flood plain" means that area of land adjoining 12 the channel of a river, stream, water course, lake, or other sim- 13 ilar body of water which will be inundated by a flood which can 14 reasonably be expected for that region. 15 Sec. 103. (1)An exempt split is not subject to approval16under this act so long as the resulting parcels are accessible.17A division is not subject to the platting requirements of this18act but subject to the requirements of sections 108 and 109. A19subdivision is subject to the platting requirements of this act.20 ANY DIVISION OF LAND THAT RESULTS IN A SUBDIVISION AS DEFINED IN 21 SECTION 102 SHALL BE SURVEYED AND A PLAT THEREOF SUBMITTED, 22 APPROVED, AND RECORDED AS REQUIRED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT. 23 (2) Plats of retracement or boundary surveys made by a 24 department or agency of the United States or of state-owned lands 25 made by a department or agency of the state for the retracement 26 and division of public lands according to the survey instructions 27 issued by the United States department of the interior may be 02430'97 9 1 recorded with the register of deeds of the county in which the 2 lands represented on the plats are situated and need not other- 3 wise comply with this act, except that plat size shall be as pro- 4 vided in section 132. 5 (3) A survey and plat shall be made when any amendment, cor- 6 rection, alteration, or revision of a recorded plat is ordered by 7 a circuit court. 8 (4) Urban renewal plats authorized by the governing body of 9 a municipality as provided inAct No. 344 of the Public Acts of101945, being sections 125.71 to 125.84 of the Michigan Compiled11Laws1945 PA 344, MCL 125.71 TO 125.84, shall conform to this 12 act. 13 Sec. 105. Approval of a preliminary plat, or final plat 14 shall be conditioned upon compliance with all of the following: 15 (a) The provisions of this act. 16 (b) Any ordinance or published rules of a municipality or 17 county adopted to carry out the provisions of this act. 18 (c) Any published rules of a county drain commissioner, 19 county road commission, or county plat board adopted to carry out 20 the provisions of this act. 21 (d) The rules of the state transportation department relat- 22 ing to provisions for the safety of entrance upon and departure 23 from the abutting state trunk line highways or connecting streets 24 and relating to the provisions of drainage as required by the 25 department's then currently published standards and 26 specifications. 02430'97 10 1 (e) The rules of the department of consumer and industry 2 services for the approval of plats, including forms, certificates 3 of approval, and other required certificates, captioning of 4 plats, and numbering of lots. 5 (f) The rules of the department of environmental quality for 6 the determination and establishment of floodplain areas of 7 rivers, streams, creeks, or lakes, as provided in this act, as 8 published in the state administrative code. 9 (g) The rules of the department of environmental quality 10 relating to suitability of groundwater for on-site water supply 11 for subdivisionsor development sitesnot served by public 12 water or to suitability of soils for subdivisionsor development13sitesnot served by public sewers. The department of environ- 14 mental quality may authorize a city, county, or district health 15 department to carry out the provisions of this act and rules 16 promulgated under this act relating to suitability of groundwater 17 for subdivisionsor development sitesnot served by public 18 water or relating to suitability of soils for subdivisionsor19development sitesnot served by public sewers. The department 20 of environmental quality may require percolation tests and boring 21 tests to determine suitability of soils. When such tests are 22 required, they shall be conducted under the supervision ofa23registeredAN engineer,registered landsurveyor, or regis- 24 tered sanitarian in accordance with uniform procedures estab- 25 lished by the department of environmental quality. 02430'97 11 1 Enacting section 1. Sections 108 and 109 of the subdivision 2 control act of 1967, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.108 and 560.109, are 3 repealed. 02430'97 Final page. TMV