Act No. 525

Public Acts of 2012

Approved by the Governor

December 27, 2012

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 28, 2012

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 28, 2012

STATE OF MICHIGAN

96TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2012

Introduced by Reps. Zorn and Somerville

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5404

AN ACT to amend 1967 PA 288, entitled “An act to regulate the division of land; to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare; to further the orderly layout and use of land; to require that the land be suitable for building sites and public improvements and that there be adequate drainage of the land; to provide for proper ingress and egress to lots and parcels; to promote proper surveying and monumenting of land subdivided and conveyed by accurate legal descriptions; to provide for the approvals to be obtained prior to the recording and filing of plats and other land divisions; to provide for the establishment of special assessment districts and for the imposition of special assessments to defray the cost of the operation and maintenance of retention basins for land within a final plat; to establish the procedure for vacating, correcting, and revising plats; to control residential building development within floodplain areas; to provide for reserving easements for utilities in vacated streets and alleys; to provide for the filing of amended plats; to provide for the making of assessors plats; to provide penalties for the violation of the provisions of this act; to repeal certain parts of this act on specific dates; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,” by amending sections 109 and 182 (MCL 560.109 and 560.182), section 109 as amended by 1997 PA 87.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 109. (1) A municipality shall approve or disapprove a proposed division within 45 days after the filing of a complete application for the proposed division with the assessor or other municipally designated official. However, a municipality with a population of 2,500 or less may enter into an agreement with a county to transfer to the county authority to approve or disapprove a division. An application is complete if it contains information necessary to ascertain whether the requirements of section 108 and this section are met. The assessor or other municipally designated official, or the county official, having authority to approve or disapprove a proposed division, shall provide the person who filed the application written notice whether the application is approved or disapproved and, if disapproved, all the reasons for disapproval. A complete application for a proposed division shall be approved if, in addition to the requirements of section 108, all of the following requirements are met:

(a) Each resulting parcel has an adequate and accurate legal description and is included in a tentative parcel map showing area, parcel lines, public utility easements, accessibility, and other requirements of this section and section 108. The tentative parcel map shall be a scale drawing showing the approximate dimensions of the parcels.

(b) Each resulting parcel has a depth of not more than 4 times the width or, if an ordinance referred to in subsection (5) requires a smaller depth to width ratio, a depth to width ratio as required by the ordinance. The municipality or county having authority to review proposed divisions may allow a greater depth to width ratio than that otherwise required by this subdivision or an ordinance referred to in subsection (5). The greater depth to width ratio shall be based on standards set forth in the ordinance referred to in subsection (5). The standards may include, but are not required to include and need not be limited to, exceptional topographic or physical conditions with respect to the parcel and compatibility with surrounding lands. The depth to width ratio requirements of this subdivision do not apply to a parcel larger than 10 acres, unless an ordinance referred to in subsection (5) provides otherwise, and do not apply to the remainder of the parent parcel or parent tract retained by the proprietor.

(d) Each resulting parcel has an area not less than that required by an ordinance referred to in subsection (5).

(e) Each resulting parcel is accessible.

(f) The division meets all of the requirements of section 108.

(g) Each resulting parcel that is a development site has adequate easements for public utilities from the parcel to existing public utility facilities.

(h) The division does not isolate a cemetery so that it does not meet the requirements of either section 102(j)(i) or (ii).

(2) The right to make divisions exempt from the platting requirements of this act under section 108 and this section can be transferred, but only from a parent parcel or parent tract to a parcel created from that parent parcel or parent tract. A proprietor transferring the right to make a division pursuant to this subsection shall within 45 days give written notice of the transfer to the assessor of the city or township where the property is located on a form prescribed by the state tax commission. The form shall include substantially the following questions in the mandatory information portion of the form:

(a) “Did the parent parcel or parent tract have any unallocated divisions under the land division act, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.101 to 560.293? If so, how many?”

(b) “Were any unallocated divisions transferred to the newly created parcel? If so, how many?”

(3) A person shall not sell a parcel of unplatted land unless the deed contains a statement as to whether the right to make further divisions exempt from the platting requirements of this act under this section and section 108 is proposed to be conveyed. The statement shall be in substantially the following form: “The grantor grants to the grantee the right to make [insert number] division(s) under section 108 of the land division act, Act No. 288 of the Public Acts of 1967.” In the absence of a statement conforming to the requirements of this subsection, the right to make divisions under section 108(2), (3), and (4) stays with the remainder of the parent tract or parent parcel retained by the grantor.

(4) All deeds for parcels of unplatted land within the state of Michigan after the effective date of this act shall contain the following statement: “This property may be located within the vicinity of farm land or a farm operation. Generally accepted agricultural and management practices which may generate noise, dust, odors, and other associated conditions may be used and are protected by the Michigan right to farm act.”.

(5) The governing body of a municipality or the county board of commissioners of a county having authority to approve or disapprove a division may adopt an ordinance setting forth the standards authorized in subsection (1)(b), (c), and (d). The ordinance may establish a fee for reviews under this section and section 108. The fee shall not exceed the reasonable costs of providing the services for which the fee is charged.

(6) Approval of a division is not a determination that the resulting parcels comply with other ordinances or regulations.

Sec. 182. (1) The governing body of a municipality in which the subdivision is situated may require the following as a condition of approval of a final plat, for all public and private streets, alleys, and roads in its jurisdiction:

(a) Conformance to the general plan, conformance to width and location requirements that it may have adopted and published, or greater width than shown on a county or state plan. However, the governing body shall not require conformance to a municipal plan that conflicts with a general plan adopted by the county or state for the location and width of certain streets, roads, and highways.

(b) Proper drainage, grading, and construction of approved materials of a thickness and width provided in its current published construction standards.

(d) Submission of complete plans for grading, drainage, and construction to be prepared and sealed by a civil engineer registered in the state.

(e) Completion of all required improvements relative to streets, alleys, and roads or a deposit by the proprietor with the clerk of the municipality in the form of cash, a certified check, or irrevocable bank letter of credit, whichever the proprietor selects, or a surety bond acceptable to the governing body, in an amount sufficient to insure completion within the time specified.

(2) As a condition of approval of the plat, the governing body may require a deposit to be made in the same manner as provided in subsection (1)(e), to insure performance of any of the obligations of the proprietor to make required improvements.

(3) The governing body shall rebate to the proprietor, as the work progresses, amounts of any cash deposits equal to the ratio of the work completed to the entire project.

(4) The governing body shall reject a plat in any of the following circumstances:

(a) The plat is isolated from or isolates other lands from existing public streets, unless suitable access is provided.

(b) The plat shows a street or road name duplicating one already in use in the municipality, except in continuing a street or road.

(c) The plat shows the name of a new street, alley, or road that is so similar to the one already in existence in the municipality that permitting that use in the subdivision may be confusing for purposes of assessing, mail delivery, and locating by the public.

(d) The plat isolates a cemetery so that it does not meet the requirements of either section 102(j)(i) or (ii).

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor