Spokane Municipal Code

Title 17G Administration and Procedures

Chapter 17G.080 Subdivisions

Section 17G.080.020 General Provisions

1. Expiration of Approval.

A final plat, final short plat or final binding site plan meeting all requirements of Chapter 17G.080 Subdivisions shall be submitted to the director within the timelines of RCW 58.17.140.  A time extension may be requested for a preliminary plat, preliminary short plat or preliminary binding site plan, as provided in subsection (J) of this section.

2. Alteration, Vacation and Redivision of Final Plat, Short Plat or Binding Site Plan.

1. 1. Alteration.

The alteration of any plat, short plat or binding site plan or portion thereof, except as provided in 17G.080.000(D), is subject to the procedures set forth in RCW 58.17.215. The hearing examiner pursuant to chapter 17G.050 SMC shall conduct the public hearing required under this statute. When the application is for an alteration that substitutes private streets for City street/right-of-way the applicant shall:

1. 1. 1. obtain approval from the director of engineering services prior to application for alteration;

1. 1. 2. if the director of engineering services denies the request for private streets, the applicant may apply for a street vacation as set forth in chapter 35.79 RCW. The approval of the street vacation is required prior to a decision on the alteration by the hearing examiner.

1. 2. Vacation.

1. When the application is for the vacation of the City street/right-of-way, the procedures for street vacation set forth in chapter 35.79 RCW shall be utilized. The city council shall conduct the public hearing required under this statute.

2. When the application is for the vacation of the plat together with the City streets/right-of-way the procedure for vacation set forth in RCW 58.17.212 shall be utilized. The hearing examiner pursuant to chapter 17G.050 SMC shall conduct the public hearing required under this statute.

1. 3. Redivision of Platted Lots.

1. The division of a lot located in a recorded plat, binding site plan or short plat shall be processed as a new application in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Lot lines within an existing subdivision may be adjusted in accordance with the procedures for SMC 17G.080.030, Boundary line adjustment, without redivision providing that no new or substandard lots are created.

2. When the application is for a redivision which replaces private streets with City street/right-of-way, the applicant shall:

1. 1. 1. 1. obtain approval from the director of engineering services prior to application for redivision;

1. 1. 1. 2. if the director of engineering services denies the request for private streets, the applicant may apply for a street vacation as set forth in chapter 35.79 RCW. The approval of the street vacation is required prior to a decision on the redivision by the hearing examiner.

3. Names of Plats, Short Plats and Binding Site Plans.

The name of a plat, short plat or binding site plan shall be approved by the director prior to the submittal of the final plat, short plat or binding site plan. A name that is similar to or the same as an existing recorded plat, short plat or binding site plan on file with the Spokane county auditor is not permitted. The following format shall be followed for naming plats, short plats and binding site plans:

1. 1. Short plats: "_______ City Short Plat, File No.____."

1. 2. Plats:

1. 1. 1. City View Addition.

1. 1. 2. City View 1st Addition.

1. 1. 3. City View 2nd Addition.

1. 1. 4. City View 3rd Addition.

1. 3. Binding site plans: “______ BSP, File No. _______.”

4. Street Names.

The names of all public and private streets shall be approved by the director of engineering services prior to recording of the plat, short plat or binding site plan and shall meet the requirements of chapter 17D.050 SMC.

5. Modification to a Preliminary Plat, Short Plat or Binding Site Plan.

A request to modify a preliminary plat, short plat or binding site plan that has received preliminary approval shall be submitted to the director.

1. 1. Substantial Modifications.

Revisions that result in a substantial change, as determined by the director, shall be treated as a new application for purposes of vesting and concurrency and shall be reviewed and approved under the same process required for a preliminary subdivision, short subdivision or binding site plan. For the purpose of this section, substantial change includes:

1. 1. 1. the creation of additional lots or the inclusion of additional area; or

1. 1. 2. a significant change in the proposal, including changes in points of ingress or egress; or alteration of conditions of approval that leads to significant built or natural environmental impacts that were not addressed in the original approval; or

1. 1. 3. change of use; or

1. 1. 4. modification of types or locations of Middle Housing that results in an increase in dwelling units on a lot.

1. 2. Minor Modifications.

The following modifications are considered minor and may be approved administratively by the director:

1. 1. Engineering design that does not alter or eliminate features specifically required as a condition of preliminary subdivision approval;

1. 2. Changes in lot dimensions that are consistent with the underlying zone;

1. 3. A decrease in the number of lots to be created so long as the minimum lot size and minimum density of the underlying zone is maintained; or

1. 4. Changes in phasing plans that do not significantly impact the plat and are acceptable to the director of engineering services and non-City service providers.

6. Monument/Survey Data Requirements for Plats, Short Plats and Binding Site Plans.

1. 1. All final plats, short plats and binding site plans shall be surveyed and monuments installed.

1. 2. Every final plat, short plat and binding site plan shall show the following:

1. 1. 1. All monuments found, set, reset, replaced or removed, describing their kind, size and location and giving other data relating thereto.

1. 1. 2. Bearing trees, corner accessories or witness monuments, bearing and length of lines.

1. 1. 3. Any other data necessary for the intelligent interpretation of the various items and locations of the points, lines and areas shown.

1. 1. 4. Ties to adjoining surveys of recor

1. 3. Every final plat, short plat and binding site plan shall conform to the following standards:

1. The allowable error of mathematical closure for the final plat map shall not exceed one foot in eighty thousand feet or 0.04 feet, whichever is greater.

2. Bearings and lengths are to be shown for all lines; no ditto marks are to be used.

3. Arrows shall be used to show limits of bearings and distances whenever any chance of misinterpretation could exist.

4. Plat boundary and street monument lines having curves shall show radius, arc, central angle and tangent for each curve and radial bearings where curve is intersected by a non-tangent line. Spiral curves shall show chord bearing and length.

5. Lots along curves shall show arc length and include angle (delta) along curve and radial bearings at lot corners were the lot line is non-radial. If a curve table is provided, it shall show the included angle (delta), radius, and arc length for each segment of the curve along each lot. Radial bearings on non-radial lot lines are still required. Redial bearings shall be provided for all non-tangent curves.

1. 4. All dimensions shall be shown in feet and hundredths of a foot. All bearings and angles shall be shown in degrees, minutes and seconds.

1. 5. When elevations are required on the final plat, permanent bench mark(s) shall be shown on the final plat in a location and on a datum plane approved by the director of engineering services.

1. 6. The final plat shall indicate the actual net area for each platted lot exclusive of the right-of-way. Lots one acre and over shall be shown to the closest hundredth of an acre, and all other lots shall be shown in square feet.

7. Fees.

All applications shall include the fees set forth in chapter 8.02 SMC.

8. Enforcement and Penalties.

Any person, firm, corporation or association or any agent of any person, firm, corporation or association who violates any provision of this chapter or chapter 58.17 RCW relating to the sale, offer for sale, lease or transfer of any lot, tract or parcel of land, shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor and each sale, offer for sale, lease or transfer of each separate lot, tract or parcel of land in violation of any provision of this chapter or any local regulation adopted pursuant thereto, shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.

9. Appeals.

Appeals of this chapter shall be governed by chapters 17G.050 and 17G.061 SMC.

10. Extensions of Time.

An approved preliminary subdivision, short plat and binding site plan may receive a one-time, one-year time extension. 

1. 1. The applicant shall comply with all of the following:

1. 1. 1. The extension request shall be filed with the director at least thirty days prior to the expiration of the approval.

1. 1. 2. The applicant must have finalized at least one phase.

1. 1. 3. The application shall demonstrate that construction plans have been submitted and are under review for acceptance by the City prior to submission for extension or that the applicant is in the process of installing infrastructure for the development.

1. 1. 4. The project shall be consistent with the comprehensive plan.

1. 1. 5. The applicant shall demonstrate that there are no significant changes in conditions that would render approval of the extension contrary to the public health, safety or general welfare; and

1. 1. 6. Valid concurrency certificate.

1. 2. The director shall take one of the following actions upon receipt of a timely extension request:

1. Approve the extension request if no significant issues are presented under the criteria set forth in this section.

2. Conditionally approve the application if any significant issues presented are substantially mitigated by minor revisions to the original approval; or

3. Deny the extension request if any significant issues presented cannot be substantially mitigated by minor revisions to the approved plan.

1. 3. A request for extension approval shall be processed as a Type I action under chapter 17G.061 SMC.

11. Sunset Provision.

1. 1. For subdivision applications with preliminary approval on or before the effective date of this ordinance, the time remaining to complete final plat approval for all lots is the remainder of the five years allowed by chapter 58.17 RCW. In this case, the applicant may receive a one-time extension of one year under the provisions of subsection (J) of this section.

1. 2. For subdivision applications with final plat approval for one or more phases on or before the effective date of this ordinance, the time remaining to complete final plat approval for all lots is the greater of either the remainder of the five years allowed by chapter 58.17 RCW or three years from the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

1. 3. Extensions of the Sunset Provision.

The director may grant five-year extensions to the time period under subsection (J)(2) of this section for preliminary subdivisions upon the following:

1. 1. 1. An application with supporting data for a time extension request must be submitted to the director no less than thirty days prior to the expiration of the preliminary subdivision.

1. 1. 2. The preliminary subdivision has a minimum of one hundred lots or dwelling units remaining to be finalized as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

1. 1. 3. The applicant must have finalized at least one phase including the installation of infrastructure and recording of lots, by the end of the three years granted under subsection (J)(2) of this section or since the last time extension.

1. 1. 4. The application shall demonstrate compliance with all of the following:

1. 1. 1. 1. The project is consistent with the comprehensive plan.

1. 1. 1. 2. The project is consistent with current development standards; and

1. 1. 1. 3. The project has a valid concurrency certificate. This certificate may be based on a new review of the project or extension of an existing concurrency certificate.

1. 1. 5. Provided all of the conditions in subsections (M)(3)(a) through (d) of this section are met, the director may include additional or altered conditions and requirements to the preliminary plat approval. A time extension granted as a result of administration delays are not subject to additional or altered conditions.

6. The director shall issue a written decision approving or denying the time extension request and provide copies to affected agencies, the applicant and those parties requesting a copy of the decision. Appeals of the time extension shall be filed consistent with the provisions of chapter 17G.050 SMC.

Date Passed: Monday, November 20, 2023

Effective Date: Monday, January 1, 2024

ORD C36459 Section 40