Subdividing and Platting

• · Property owners determine whether the property is capable of being subdivided or recombined to form larger lot(s).
• · Property owner(s) file a complete application to the Planning Department at least 15 working days before the next planning commission meeting. That person is now called the petitioner.
• · Public hearing notices for platting applications are sent out by the Planning department to agencies and to residents adjacent to the petitioner’s property.
• · Notice of the Planning Commission’s public hearing is posted around the community in at least 3 places and in the newspaper.
• · Comments on plats from the public and other City departments and agencies are returned to the Planning Director who makes recommendations and sends the application to the Planning Commission.
• · The Planning Commission holds a public hearing and accepts the plat with conditions, rejects the plat, or returns the plat for redesign and modification to address specific concerns of the commission.
• · Any adversely affected party may appeal the commission’s decision within 30 days of the date of the Commission or Planning Director’s decision or enforcement.
• · The petitioner has one year to finalize the plat, but may request annual extensions not to exceed a total of 3 years after the preliminary plat was approved to submit the final plat.
• · The final plat is submitted and the staff checks to ensure that conditions of approval have been met. The plat is routed to Public Works for checking, then returned to the planning Department for further processing, including receipt of a report from a registered, licensed engineer that the subdivision meets Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation regulations concerning safe and adequate water and sewage treatment, tax certificate, current certificate to plat (land title report) and the signatures of various officials. Then completed, the plat is recorded at the State of Alaska District Recorder’s Office.
• · By state law and municipal code, lots may be sold only after the subdivision is complete and the final plat recorded.

A final plat is the map of a subdivision of land based on a preliminary plat which has been approved by the Planning Commission, or in the case of an abbreviated plat, by the Planning Director, for recording.

A Preliminary Plat is a map showing a proposed subdivision which has been submitted to the Platting Authority. Information required on the preliminary plat includes:

• · A Preliminary Plat Application 
• · Scale appropriate to the size of the lots to be created
• · Proposed subdivision name
• · Legal description of property and approximate acreage of the property proposed for subdivision
• · Names and addresses of owner, surveyor, and neighboring landowners and subsurface landowners
• · Date, scale, graphic scale, and north arrow
• · Basis of bearing for subdivision
• · Platted streets, public or private rights-of-way that may affect this subdivision
• · Proposed and existing streets and all easements within the subdivision
• · Flood Zone designation
• · Approximate dimensions and area of each lot in the proposed subdivision
• · Location of all buildings, power facilities, trails, sewer facilities and other improvements
• · Location of streams, lakes, swamps, drainage courses, wetlands
• · Location of proposed parks, trails, playgrounds, school sites, and other public use areas.
• · A vicinity sketch or map showing the relative location of the proposed subdivision, principal road systems, access routes, and section lines.
• · Location and details of improvements such as roads, culverts, drainages, soil stabilization structures
• · If subdivision is in phases, the sequence of development must be shown on the preliminary plat
• · A reference datum to mean sea level if flood elevation data is available
• · Spot elevations for each lot or contour mapping at two-foot intervals for all portions within the subdivision

A plat is a map drawn to scale of a surveyed division of land. The platting, or subdivision, process is the process of creating different lot(s) or tract(s) out of existing lot(s) or tract(s).