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2007-096ORDINANCE NO. 2DO7-D%(O AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AMENDING PORTIONS OF SUBCHAPTER 35.16 OF THE DENTON DEVELOPMENT CODE, PERTAINING TO STANDARDS AND PROCESSES FOR ALLOWING GATED RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES AND PRNATE STREETS; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY CLAUSE WITH THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF $2,000.00 FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (DCA06-0015) WHEREAS, pursuant to Ordinance No. 2002-040, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas adopted the Denton Development Code (the "Development Code"); and WHEREAS, after providing notice and after conducting public hearings as required by law, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of certain changes to Subchapter 35.16 of the Development Code, pertaining to standards and processes for allowing gated residential communities and private streets; and WHEREAS, after providing notice and after conducting a public hearing as required by law, the City Council finds that the changes to the Development Code are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and are in the public interest. NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS: SECTION 1. The findings and recitations contained in the preamble of this ordinance are incorporated herein by reference as true. SECTION 2. Subchapter 35.16 of the Development Code are hereby amended in part, as particularly described in Exhibit A, attached hereto and made part hereof by reference. All other provisions of Subchapter 35.16 not specifically changed by this amendment shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 3. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not exceeding $2,000.00. Each day that a provision of this ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. SECTION 4. 1f any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, phrase or word in this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and.the City of Denton, Texas hereby declares it would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days from the date of its passage, and the City Secretary~is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be published twice in the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily newspaper published in the City of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the date of its passage. PASSED AND APPROVED this the ~~ day of ~ , 2007. . ~ . ~/~ PE McNEILL, MAYOR ATTEST: JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY EDWIN M. SNYDER, CITY ATTORNEY Exhibit A Exhibit 1. Amendments to Subchapters 13, 16, 20, 23 of the Denton Development Code to Allow Gated Communities I. SUBCHAPTER 16 OF THE DENTON DEVELOPMENT CODE IS AMENDED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING: 35.16.21. Gated Community Requirements: The following sections set forth the requirements for gated communities in the City of Denton. A. Streets 1. All streets and alleys in a gated community will be private streets. 2. All gated communities must have 'one or more points of access to public streets surrounding the development, and an alternative emergency access for emergency service vehicles if only one public access point is provided. 3. Private streets shall meet all requirements and standards of the City of Denton for public streets. 4. Notwithstanding any contrary provision in the Denton Development Code or City of Denton Criteria Manuals, the following requirements apply to private streets within the gated community: a. Turnouts or turn-arounds for the public shall be provided outside the gated perimeter, pursuant to the guidelines of the Transportation Design Criteria Manual. Areas shall be dedicated by the developer as public access easements, or as part of the public right of way, and shall be maintained by the developer where they are easements. b. Gated communities shall not be allowed to obstruct any existing arterial street or proposed arterial street as shown on the City of Denton Mobility Plan. Streets shown on the Mobility Plan of the Denton Plan shall not be gated or private streets. The Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend the denial of the creation of any other private street if, in the Commission's judgment, the private street would negatively affect vehicular or pedestrian traffic circulation.on public streets, or impair access to property (either on-site or off-site), to the subdivision, access to or from public facilities (including schools, parks and libraries), or the response time of emergency vehicles. ' c. Private Street Lot -Private streets and alleys must be constructed within a separate lot owned by the property owners association. This lot must conform to all of the City's standards for a public street and/or alley right-of--way. An easement covering the street lot shall be granted to the city and franchised utilities, providing unrestricted use of the property for utilities and maintenance. The easement shall also provide the city with the right of access for any purpose related to the exercise of a governmental service or function. The easement shall permit the city to remove any vehicle or obstacle within the street lot that impairs emergency access. d. Construction and Maintenance Cost. The city shall not pay for any portion of the cost of constructing or maintaining a private street. B. Water and Sewer 1. All water and sewer mains that serve inside the gated community and are located within public utility easements shall be dedicated to the City prior to approval of the final plat, and shall be publicly owned and maintained. 2. All water and sewer mains and associated appurtenances shall be designed and built according to City standards. a. A Public Utility Easement or other adequate water and sewer easements shall be dedicated to the City of Denton for all water and sewer mains. 3. Public water and sewer facilities must be located within a public utility easement or other adequate water and sewer easement dedicated to the City of Denton. The City is not responsible for reconstruction or full depth repair to the private street. The City will follow customary practices in backfilling and repaving repaired sections of private streets after a utility repair, utilizing the least cost solution, with no further obligation of future maintenance for the repair, and no obligation to rebuild or repair pavements to any preexisting design or appearance, if different from the City's ordinary repair standards for public streets. Alternatively, the HOA may elect to privately undertake one or more aspects of the backfilling and pavement repair, and the City may participate in the funding of such private repairs, but only to the extent of any repair costs avoided by such private repairs. a. Water meters and sanitary sewer cleanouts must be located within a public utility easement and outside.of the paved portion of the private street. C. Street Lighting 1. Street lighting on private streets is required to meet the design standards of the City of Denton, and shall be installed and maintained by the HOA at no cost to the City. 2. Luminaries, fixtures, poles, foundations, conduit, wiring, appurtenances, and any other ancillary items associated with street lighting shall be owned, operated, and maintained by the HOA. All energy costs will be metered and invoiced to the HOA under the appropriate rate schedule. The HOA shall be solely responsible to obtain and pay for power needed to illuminate street lighting. D. Electric Utility Infrastructure 1. All electric facilities that serve inside the gated community shall be owned and maintained by the utility provider. . 2. All electric facilities shall be designed, built, and operated according to the standards of the utility provider. 3. Public Utility Easements shall be dedicated to the public use for all electric utility infrastructure. 4. Electric Utility lnfrastmcture must.be located within a public utility easement or other adequate easement dedicated to the City of Denton. The City is not responsible for reconstruction or full depth repair to the private street. The City will follow customary practices in backfilling and repaving repaired sections of private streets after a utility repair, utilizing the least cost solution, with no further obligation of future maintenance for the repair, and no obligation to rebuild or repair pavements to any preexisting design or appearance, if different from the City's ordinary repair standards for public streets. Alternatively, the HOA may elect to privately undertake one or more aspects of the backfilling and pavement repair, and the City may participate in the funding of such private repairs, but only to the extent of any repair costs avoided by such private repairs. E. Public Safety and Other Access Requirements 1. The fire chief, or his designated representative shall approve the installation of access gates, which shall meet Fire Code requirements for emergency operation, and shall be maintained at all times by the HOA. 2. The HOA shall provide keypads and codes, as well as a receiver and mechanism designed to open gates automatically in response to a remote traffic signal preemption device meeting the specifications of emergency service providers, at all gates into the community. 3. In the event that at any time any gate does not promptly and automatically open for an emergency vehicle utilizing a traffic signal preemption device, the emergency responders shall be privileged to remove, disable or destroy any locking device, gate or piece of a gate in order to gain access. The deed restrictions shall recognize and incorporate this requirement, and further hold the City and its emergency providers harmless from any and all claims or damages arising from the HOA's:failure to maintain the gate to this standard or for the removal or destruction of such gates or devices. 4. The HOA will provide non-emergency access codes to solid waste providers, the electric utility, the water utility and wastewater utility maintenance department franchised utilities, and the US Postal Service. 5. Access Restricted Entrance Design Standards -Any private street that has an access control gate or cross arm must have a minimum uninterrupted pavement width of 22 feet at the location of the access control device. If an overhead barrier is used, it must be a minimum of 14 feet in height above the road surface. All gates and cross arms must be of a breakaway design. On lots adjacent to entry gates, fences may exceed 40 inches in height, up to a maximum of eight feet within the side yard setback. .Such fences must be constructed of wrought iron with brick columns. No solid fencing panels will be allowed. F. Solid Waste Requirements Residential solid waste collection service will be provided from the front of the property at the curbside of the private streets. For residential dwellings with rear entry garages, the solid waste collection service maybe provided from the alley, if the alley is designed to provide adequate turning radii for all solid waste collection trucks. The house address number must be visible from the alley. All residential refuse collection criteria, as listed within the City's ordinances, shall apply to gated communities. In the event that at any time any vehicular access gate is not operable, and access is not available for solid waste collection vehicles, the Solid Waste Department will continue on with Che normal progression of their daily route, and report the inaccessibility of the area to Customer Service. G. Drainage Requirements The Developer is responsible for the installation of the storm water system to city standards, and the HOA is responsible for maintenance of the storm water system. 1. Minor Drainage System: The minor drainage system includes the entire storm drainage collection systems within the streets, ditches and channels within the gated community that collect surface drainage originating from within the spatial boundaries of the gated community. The minor drainage system also includes all drainage systems within the gated community that collect drainage from offsite areas up to 3-acres. Drainage easements for the Minor Drainage System shall be consistent with the Development Code standards and design criteria, and shall be dedicated on the final plat. The Minor Drainage System will be maintained by the HOA, and the City of Denton has no obligation for the inspection or maintenance of this system. Physical connection points shall be established between the Minor and Major Drainage Systems as described herein, that will be used to establish the physical limits for maintenance responsibilities. 2. Major Drainage System: They Major Drainage System provides for the conveyance of storm water runoff through the gated community, originating from any area outside of the gated community greater than 3-acres. To provide for the Major Drainage System, green space or open space areas and floodplain areas shall be reserved for storm water detention, retention, or conveyance of drainage. These areas shall be dedicated by simple deed as separate lots, with ownership to be retained by the HOA. The entire lot or a portion thereof shall be dedicated on the final plat as a Drainage Easement or as a Drainage and Detention Easement, as appropriate,. The Plat shall include dedication language stating that the Drainage Easement, or Drainage and Detention Easement, will be reserved for the conveyance of drainage or floodwaters, and shall remain open at all times and maintained by the HOA in a safe and sanitary condition. The City will not be responsible for the maintenance and operation of said lots or easements, or for any damage to private property or person that results from conditions in the lots or easements, or for the control of erosion. No obstructions to the natural flow of storm water run-off shall be permitted by construction of any type of building, fence or any other structure within the Drainage Easement or Drainage and Detention Easement, as herein above defined, unless approved by the City. The HOA shall keep the Drainage Easement or Drainage and Detention Easement clear and free of debris, silt, and ;any substance that would result in unsanitary conditions or obstruct the flow of water. Additionally, the City shall have the right of ingress and egress to inspect and supervise maintenance by the HOA, or to optionally alleviate any undesirable conditions that may occur. Furthermore, the City shall have the right, but not the obligation, to enter upon the lot or drainage or drainage and detention easement to remove any obstruction to the flow of water, after giving the HOA written notice of such obstruction, upon failure of the HOA to remove such obstruction. The City of Denton shall be reimbursed by the HOA for reasonable costs for labor, materials, and equipment in each such instance. H. Homeowners Association Required A homeowners association (HOA) is required to be established. Documents establishing the HOA must be submitted as part of the final plat application, providing for the maintenance, repair and/or replacement obligations of the HOA for private roads, alleys, gates, fences, street lighting, drainage items and/or other like held facilities and/or common areas, their appurtenances and/or other associated ancillary items and improvements, shall be incorporated into the final plat. a. The HOA must provide for the power to file a lien, to foreclose, or to otherwise secure payment from homeowners for the maintenance, repair and replacement, in part or in whole, of all privately held common areas, including but not limited to, drainage items, street lighting, and other appurtenances or associated ancillary items. b. The Association documents must be submitted to, reviewed by and approved by the City Attorney prior to final plat approval. c. The covenants and restrictions documents shall indicate that the streets in the subdivision are private and are maintained by a homeowners association, that they are not public and that the City of Denton has no obligation to maintain them. The covenants and restrictions shall also state that the City of Denton has no obligation to inspect the streets or drainage in the gated community. d. The covenants and restrictions documents shall indicate that the subdivision final plat, property deeds and home owner association restrictive covenants that certain city services shall not be provided on private streets. Among the'services that will not be provided are: routine police patrols, enforcement of traffic and parking ordinances and preparation of accident reports. All private traffic regulatory signs shall conform to the Texas Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Depending on the characteristics of the proposed development, other services may not be provided. e. The covenants and restrictions shall also state that the City of Denton has no obligation to inspect the streets in the gated community. f. The home owners' association may not be dissolved, nor may deed restrictions and covenants providing for maintenance of common areas be de]eted or amended, without the prior written consent of the City Council of the City of Denton, by way of plat amendment. g. The final plat and restrictive covenants shall contain language whereby the Homeowners' Association,. as owner of various private improvements within a private street, lot or easement, agrees to release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless 'the City from claims and suits for property damage or bodily injury (including death) arising from the condition, use or operation of any privately-owned streets or facilities. II. Amendment to Chapter 23. Updated definition of Gated Community: "Gated community" means a subdivision or .housing development with two or more dwellings with private streets controlled through the use of a vehicular or pedestrian gate.