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HomeMy WebLinkAbout182 - 10/20/1998 - AMENDING CHAPTER 24 OF THE CITY CODE BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 24-97 AND AMENDING THE 'DESIGN ORDINANCE NO. 182, 1998 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CHAPTER 24 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 24-97 AND AMENDING THE "DESIGN CONSTRUCTION CRITERIA, STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR STREETS, SIDEWALKS, ALLEYS, AND OTHER PUBLIC WAYS"BY ADDING A NEW SECTION 1.03 AND BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW APPENDIX"A", ALL OF WHICH ADDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS PERTAIN TO POLICIES AND STANDARDS FOR MAINTENANCE TO AND IMPROVEMENTS OF ANNEXED STREETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE WHEREAS,the City Engineer has prepared and presented to the Council a program known as the "Choice Streets System"which program is intended to improve the technical standards and regulatory authorities governing the construction and maintenance of streets and related infrastructure in the City; and WHEREAS,the City Engineer has proposed as a part of the program that the Council enact an ordinance which will establish formal criteria and standards governing the conditions upon which the City will agree to undertake the maintenance of substandard streets that are annexed into the City; and WHEREAS,the standards established through this ordinance essentially formalize the past policy of the City that,except for minor maintenance needed to keep the streets in a safe condition, the City will not maintain substandard annexed streets until such time as the streets have been upgraded to comply with City standards; WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Board and the Transportation Board have recommended the adoption of the program; and WHEREAS, the Council has determined that the passage of this ordinance is in the best interest of the City. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Chapter 24 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be amended by the addition of a new Section 24-97,to read as follows: Sec. 24-97 Annexed streets. Streets annexed into the city that were not designed and constructed to comply with city standards shall be maintained and upgraded in accordance with the"Design and Construction Criteria,Standards and Specifications for Streets,Sidewalks,Alleys and Other Public Ways" as adopted by the City Council by ordinance or resolution. Section 2. That the"Design and Construction Criteria,Standards and Specifications for Streets, Sidewalks,Alleys and Other Public Ways", dated July 1996, is hereby amended by adding a section, to be numbered 1.03, which section shall read as follows: 1.03 ANNEXED STREETS Annexed streets shall be maintained and improved in accordance with the "Policy and Standards for Maintenance and Improvement of Annexed Infrastructure" (see Appendix"A"). Section 3. That the"Design and Construction Criteria,Standards and Specifications for Streets, Sidewalks, Alleys and Other Public Ways," dated July 1996, is hereby amended by the addition of a new Appendix "A" to be entitled "Policies and Standards for Maintenance and Improvement of Annexed Infrastructure," a copy of which Appendix "A" is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference. Section 4. That all changes to the Code of the City of Fort Collins and the "Design Construction Criteria,Standards and Specifications for Streets,Sidewalks,Alleys,and Other Public Ways," dated July 1996, caused by reason of this ordinance shall take effect on January 1, 1999. Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 6th day of October, A.D. 1998, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th da ctober, A.D. 19 G r ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 20th day of Octob D. 998. r- ayor ATTEST: 4 L City Clerk 2 Appendix "A" POLICY & STANDARDS for MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT of ANNEXED INFRASTRUCTURE A.01 GENERAL POLICY City of Fort Collins Policy GM-2 . 1 "Annexation Policy" of the City Plan Principles and Policies, includes the following general statement for the handling of existing infrastructure constructed in Larimer County and subsequently annexed into the City: Infrastructure standards. Developed land, or areas seeking voluntary annexation, must have their infrastructure improved (e .g. , streets, utilities and storm drainage systems) to City standards, or must have a mechanism (e . g. a special improvement district, capital improvements program or other type project) in place to upgrade such services and facilities to City standards before the City will assume full responsibility for future maintenance . This statement requires further clarification for application to infrastructure already meeting City standards as well as infrastructure that does not meet City standards . Therefore, this Appendix is established in order to ( 1 ) set the level of maintenance that the City will initially provide on annexed infrastructure and (2) present criteria for determining what improvements have to be done to upgrade the infrastructure to meet City Standards before the City assumes full responsibility for maintenance. A.02 MAINTENANCE CRITERIA A. 02 . 01 INITIAL MAINTENANCE A. 02 . 01 . 01 STREETS BUILT TO CITY STANDARDS - In August 1989 the Larimer County Commissioners adopted "Urban Area Road Standards" (County Urban Standards) for streets built in the urban growth areas of the cities of Loveland and Fort Collins . These standards were modeled after, and are equal to or better than, the City of Fort Collins street standards in effect at that time. Streets developed in the County that were designed and constructed to those standards would be considered "meeting current City standards . " As long as those streets have been maintained and not allowed to deteriorate, the City would take on "full responsibility for future maintenance" to the level that all City streets built to City standards have been maintained. If the streets had not been maintained properly and repairs were necessary, the City would only provide minor maintenance to a level to keep the streets from becoming unsafe . With the improvements in a deteriorated state, the property owners adjacent to these streets would be required to rehabilitate the streets to meet acceptable maintenance standards of the City, at their expense, prior to the City taking on full responsibility for maintenance. A. 02 . 01 . 02 STREETS NOT BUILT TO CITY STANDARDS - All other streets and roads that have been annexed into the City and not constructed to County Urban Standard nor to City standards, shall be handled in the following way: (a) The City shall provide only minor maintenance to the pavement surfaces to keep them from becoming unsafe. Minor maintenance may consist of periodic grading of gravel surfaces and filling potholes in asphalt surfaces. In addition the City will maintain all culverts and storm drainage pipes that pass under an annexed street. (b) The property owners adjacent to annexed county streets will be responsible for maintenance of curb and gutter and/or borrow ditches and culverts that cross under driveways . A . 02 . 01 . 03 UTILITIES are generally owned by the City or by publicly regulated utility companies and/or districts . The City or the utility companies/districts shall maintain all utility lines and facilities owned by them. Private utility systems shall be the responsibility of the utility owners and not the City. A. 02 . 01 . 04 STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEMS - The level of maintenance of storm drainage facilities dedicated to the public, to be assumed by the City, shall be determined by the City. The property owners must first have a study made (at their expense) of the existing drainage system, including everything that contributes runoff to the system, how it functions, and how it conforms or fails to conform to City standards . The study must be performed by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Colorado . The study results must then be submitted to the City for evaluation. The City will evaluate the system for its adequacy as a functioning system and determine whether it meets city standards . If the system functions adequately, meets City standards and is located in the public right-of-way or located on land owned by the City, the City will accept responsibility for maintenance . If the system does not function or has certain non-functioning parts or does not meet City standards, the City shall evaluate the seriousness of the deficiencies for the health, safety or welfare of the public and cause appropriate action to be taken, at the expense of the property owners . A.02 . 02 FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTENANCE When infrastructure meets or has been upgraded to an acceptable level to meet City standards for the City to accept "full responsibility for maintenance," the City shall maintain such infrastructure to the same level that maintenance is performed on all other public infrastructure in the City. A.03 IMPROVEMENTS TO CITY STANDARDS CRITERIA At such time that the City determines that minor maintenance is no longer adequate to protect public safety, the annexed infrastructure must be upgraded to City standards at no expense to the City. Improvements may be done voluntarily by the adjacent property owners, or the City Council may impose the improvements through the adoption of a Special Improvement District (SID) . The SID is also an option available to the property owners on a voluntary basis . The required improvements will be determined by the City specifically for each subdivision depending upon the existing problems that need to be corrected and constraints that may prevent certain improvements from being built. Required improvements to meet City standards at the expense of the property owners may include, but need not be limited to, the following : A.03.01 STREETS : (a) Improve all streets to standard widths (b) Pavement (upgraded to 20 year design life) (c) Curb and gutter required (if borrow ditches must remain, other measures may be considered to allow runoff to the ditch, such as using a concrete edge to protect the pavement and borrow ditch) (d) Sidewalk - detached from the curb or roadway surface (e) Bridges and box culverts - Upgrade for HS20 design loading and 50 year design life (f) Retaining walls - Not allowed in the public right-of-way (g) Grades - Must meet minimum and maximum criteria (h) Street lights - must be paid for by the property owners and installed by the City (I) Borrow ditches and driveway culverts - If necessary to remain, must be maintained by the adjacent property owners A.03.02 UTILITIES : (a) Water lines ( 1 ) City or district owned lines, no improvements required (2) Private lines will need to be upgraded to City or District standards for City or district acceptance (b) Sewer lines ( 1 ) City or district owned lines, no improvements required (2) Private lines will need to be upgraded to City or District standards for City or district acceptance (3 ) In areas with no existing sewers (septic systems), sewer lines must be installed in the streets prior to upgrading the street. (c) Manholes and valve boxes - Adjust to grade of finished street surface (d) Other utilities - Upgrade to acceptable standards of the utility prior to paving A. 03 . 03 STORM DRAINAGE : (a) The drainage system must be upgraded to a functioning system (b) Borrow ditches - Remove and replace with concrete curb and gutter ( if borrow ditches must remain, the minimum thalweg slope is 2% or if <2%, ditch must be paved with a concrete valley pan to prevent standing water) (c) Borrow ditch side slopes - Must be 4 : 1 or flatter (d) Driveway culverts - Replace with acceptable City standard pipe (e) Borrow ditches and driveway culverts - If necessary to remain, must be maintained by the adjacent property owners (f) Detention Ponds - Must be certified by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Colorado that it functions in accordance with City standards (g) Culverts under the streets - Corrugated metal, plastic or other material culverts must be resized and replaced with Reinforce Concrete Pipe that meets City standards . (h) Inlets - May need to be replaced or remodeled if they are undersized or do not meet City standards A. 03 . 04 OTHER IMPROVEMENTS : (a) Other improvements unique to the location - The City shall be the determining authority on what must be done with unique circumstances not covered in the above criteria. A.04 ARTERIAL AND COLLECTOR STREETS These Criteria shall apply to all annexed streets, including arterial and collector streets, which have been developed in the County. Since arterial and collector streets generally carry more traffic for the public at large than for adjacent properties, they may be maintained by the City to a higher standard until such time as upgrades are constructed. The adjoining property owners shall then be responsible only for the cost to upgrade the equivalent of their local street frontage.