§ 11-46-104. Public improvements and plats of land - Regional planning commission review - Rural land not served by municipal water and sewer facilities - Punishment for violation.

Section 46-104.  A.  Before final action shall be taken by any municipal or county government or department thereof on the location and design of any public buildings, statue, memorial, park, parkway, boulevard, playground, public grounds, or bridge, within such regional district, the question shall be submitted to the regional planning commission for investigation and report.

B.  All plans, plats, or replats of land laid out in lots or blocks, and the streets, alleys, or other portions of the same intended to be dedicated to public or private use, within such regional district, shall first be submitted to the regional planning commission and approved by it before it shall be entitled to record in the office of the county clerk.  It shall be unlawful to receive or record any such plat, plan or replat in any public office unless the same shall bear thereon, by endorsement or otherwise, the approval of the regional planning commission.  The disapproval of any such plan, plat or replat by the regional planning commission shall be deemed a refusal of the proposed dedication shown thereon.

C.  In any regional district which contains large areas of rural land not served by water and sewer facilities by any governmental entity, the use of private roadways in either platted or unplatted areas shall be recognized and authorized and building permits to property owners abutting upon the private roadways shall be issued without complying with standards as provided for dedicated streets under the following conditions:

1.  The private roadway easement shall be at least fifty (50) feet in width;

2.  The property abutting the private roadway shall contain not less than two (2) acres;

3.  The property shall be more than one-fourth (1/4) mile from sewer and water facilities furnished by the governmental entity;

4.  The private roadway shall not be dedicated to the public but reserved for future dedication and, until such future dedication, be the private roadway of the abutting property owners;

5.  The private roadway shall be maintained by the owners of the property within the subdivision;

6.  No municipality or county shall have responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the private roadway;

7.  If the property is platted, there shall be emblemized on the face of the plat, clearly conspicuous, a notice that the streets and drives have not been dedicated to the public, and that the streets shall be maintained by the private property owners within the subdivision, but that the streets shall always be open to police, fire, and other official vehicles of all state, federal, county and municipal agencies;

8.  Every deed shall clearly acknowledge that the roadway is private and not maintained by any municipality or county;

9.  Prior to the sale of any parcel in the subdivision, a conspicuous sign shall be posted at the entrance to the subdivision: "Private roadway not maintained by __________ (the municipality or county)."  At any time after use of such private roadway is recognized and authorized pursuant to law, a petition of at least sixty percent (60%) of the owners, in area, to improve and dedicate the street shall bind all of the owners thereby to permanently improve the street or roadway in compliance with the applicable requirements of the municipality or county.  All other ordinances and planning commission regulations pursuant to the provisions of this article relating to subdivisions not in conflict herewith shall be applicable in such cases.  The provisions of any ordinance, planning commission regulation or statute relating to subdivisions which are in conflict with this section are hereby superseded; and

10.  The planning commission may require the developer of such property to reserve appropriate utility easements for water, sewer and any other utility installations as may be required for present and future development.

D.  Any person, partnership or corporation violating any of the provisions of Sections 46-101 through 46-104 of this title, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisoned in the county jail for a term not less than thirty (30) days, nor more than six (6) months, or may be subjected to both such fine and imprisonment.

Laws 1977, c. 256, § 46-104, eff. July 1, 1978; Laws 1978, c. 126, § 2, eff. July 1, 1978.