§ 136-102.6. Compliance of subdivision streets with minimum standards of the Board of Transportation required of developers.
§136‑102.6. Compliance of subdivision streets with minimum standards ofthe Board of Transportation required of developers.
(a) The owner of atract or parcel of land which is subdivided from and after October 1, 1975,into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for sale or buildingdevelopment for residential purposes, where such subdivision includes a newstreet or the changing of an existing street, shall record a map or plat of thesubdivision with the register of deeds of the county in which the land islocated. The map or plat shall be recorded prior to any conveyance of a portionof said land, by reference to said map or plat.
(b) The right‑of‑wayof any new street or change in an existing street shall be delineated upon themap or plat with particularity and such streets shall be designated to beeither public or private. Any street designated on the plat or map as publicshall be conclusively presumed to be an offer of dedication to the public ofsuch street.
(c) The right‑of‑wayand design of streets designated as public shall be in accordance with theminimum right‑of‑way and construction standards established by theBoard of Transportation for acceptance on the State highway system. If amunicipal or county subdivision control ordinance is in effect in the areaproposed for subdivision, the map or plat required by this section shall not berecorded by the register of deeds until after it has received final platapproval by the municipality or county, and until after it has received acertificate of approval by the Division of Highways as herein provided as tothose streets regulated in subsection (g). The certificate of approval may beissued by a district engineer of the Division of Highways of the Department ofTransportation.
(d) The right‑of‑wayand construction plans for such public streets in residential subdivisions,including plans for street drainage, shall be submitted to the Division ofHighways for review and approval, prior to the recording of the subdivisionplat in the office of the register of deeds. The plat or map required by thissection shall not be recorded by the register of deeds without a certificationpursuant to G.S. 47‑30.2 and, if determined to be necessary by the ReviewOfficer, a certificate of approval by the Division of Highways of the plans forthe public street as being in accordance with the minimum standards of theBoard of Transportation for acceptance of the subdivision street on the Statehighway system for maintenance. The Review Officer shall not certify a map orplat subject to this section unless the new streets or changes in existingstreets are designated either public or private. The certificate of approvalshall not be deemed an acceptance of the dedication of the streets on thesubdivision plat or map. Final acceptance by the Division of Highways of thepublic streets and placing them on the State highway system for maintenanceshall be conclusive proof that the streets have been constructed according tothe minimum standards of the Board of Transportation.
(e) No person or firmshall place or erect any utility in, over, or upon the existing or proposedright‑of‑way of any street in a subdivision to which this sectionapplies, except in accordance with the Division of Highway's policies and proceduresfor accommodating utilities on highway rights‑of‑way, until theDivision of Highways has given written approval of the location of suchutilities. Written approval may be in the form of exchange of correspondenceuntil such times as it is requested to add the street or streets to the Statesystem, at which time an encroachment agreement furnished by the Division ofHighways must be executed between the owner of the utility and the Division ofHighways. The right of any utility placed or located on a proposed or existingsubdivision public street right‑of‑way shall be subordinate to thestreet right‑of‑way, and the utility shall be subject to regulationby the Department of Transportation. Utilities are defined as electric power,telephone, television, telegraph, water, sewage, gas, oil, petroleum products,steam, chemicals, drainage, irrigation, and similar lines. Any utilityinstalled in a subdivision street not in accordance with the Division ofHighways accommodation policy, and without prior approval by the Division ofHighways, shall be removed or relocated at no expense to the Division ofHighways.
(f) Prior to enteringany agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer, the developer andseller shall prepare and sign, and the buyer of the subject real estate shallreceive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a separate instrument known asthe subdivision streets disclosure statement (hereinafter referred to asdisclosure statement). Said disclosure statement shall fully and completelydisclose the status (whether public or private) of the street upon which thehouse or lot fronts. If the street is designated by the developer and seller asa public street, the developer and seller shall certify that the right‑of‑wayand design of the street has been approved by the Division of Highways, andthat the street has been or will be constructed by the developer and seller inaccordance with the standards for subdivision streets adopted by the Board ofTransportation for acceptance on the highway system. If the street isdesignated by the developer and seller as a private street, the developer andseller shall include in the disclosure statement an explanation of theconsequences and responsibility as to maintenance of a private street, and shallfully and accurately disclose the party or parties upon whom responsibility forconstruction and maintenance of such street or streets shall rest, and shallfurther disclose that the street or streets will not be constructed to minimumstandards, sufficient to allow their inclusion on the State highway system formaintenance. The disclosure statement shall contain a duplicate original whichshall be given to the buyer. Written acknowledgment of receipt of thedisclosure statement by the buyer shall be conclusive proof of the deliverythereof.
(g) The provisions ofthis section shall apply to all subdivisions located outside municipalcorporate limits. As to subdivisions inside municipalities, this section shallapply to all proposed streets or changes in existing streets on the Statehighway system as shown on the comprehensive plan for the future development ofthe street system made pursuant to G.S. 136‑66.2, and in effect at thedate of approval of the map or plat.
(h) The provisions ofthis section shall not apply to any subdivision that consists only of lotslocated on Lakes Hickory, Norman, Mountain Island and Wylie which are lakesformed by the Catawba River which lots are leased upon October 1, 1975. Noroads in any such subdivision shall be added to the State maintained roadsystem without first having been brought up to standards established by theBoard of Transportation for inclusion of roads in the system, without expenseto the State. Prior to entering any agreement or any conveyance with any prospectivebuyer of a lot in any such subdivision, the seller shall prepare and sign, andthe buyer shall receive and sign an acknowledgment of receipt of a statementfully and completely disclosing the status of and the responsibility forconstruction and maintenance of the road upon which such lot is located.
(i) The purpose ofthis section is to insure that new subdivision streets described herein to bededicated to the public will comply with the State standards for placingsubdivision streets on the State highway system for maintenance, or that fulland accurate disclosure of the responsibility for construction and maintenanceof private streets be made. This section shall be construed and applied in amanner which shall not inhibit the ability of public utilities to satisfyservice requirements of subdivisions to which this section applies.
(j) The Division ofHighways and district engineers of the Division of Highways of the Departmentof Transportation shall issue a certificate of approval for any subdivisionaffected by a transportation corridor official map established by the Board ofTransportation only if the subdivision conforms to Article 2E of this Chapteror conforms to any variance issued in accordance with that Article.
(k) A willful violationof any of the provisions of this section shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1975,c. 488, s. 1; 1977, c. 464, ss. 7.1, 8; 1987, c. 747, s. 21; 1993, c. 539, s.996; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1997‑309, s. 4; 1998‑184, s.3.)