I submitted a simple plat for recording that was a small section of a larger approved master plan. The submittal is being reviewed by several agencies, on of them a quasi-governmental utility authority. This agency has had my plat for 2 weeks and is claiming there is a problem with the watermeters on site and they will not sign my plat until the meters are fixed. What does this have to do with approving a plat?
perhaps file a writ of mandamus?
It's called .....
leverage (polite) or blackmail (crass).
“What does this have to do with approving a plat?”
Probably nothing as far as you are concerned.
This is a good example of how a municipality can hold a developer “hostage” until they get what they want, in this case water meters repositioned. If a plat is not approved, for whatever reason, it can hold up financing which holds up construction etc.
Just my 0.04’
Have a great week! B-)
Why are water meters on a plat in the first place? That's an engineering thing, that you might expect to see on a Development Plan or other construction plans, but should not be on a land survey plat.
It's called .....
Dang you! ya beat me to it!
Have a great week! B-)
Good question except: I don't know if water meters are shown on the plat by the post. But if they are, it might not be your 'land survey plat' but some other kind of plat that requires showing all improvements; and/or at least showing improvements within so many feet of the property lines. I don't know requirements in N.C.
But I would be curious as well if they are shown on the plat.
water meters are not shown on the plat.
Good question. I didn't think they were on the plat, just on the land.
It's called "...killing snakes where you find them..." by some and extortion by others (I am one of the latter).
It's called .....
Therein lies the rub, there is no authority for any of this in the subdivision filing law.
Well, that answers that then. It sounds like we're back to the "leverage"/"blackmail" thing to me.
I think those 'quasi-public' agencies are worse than government agencies. They seem to like to flex their muscles more and work toward their own agendas and interests more than anyone else (to me).
So what do you mean by "Plat"...?
I typically take that to be a Land Survey Plat or variant thereof (such as an ALTA/ACSM Land Titile Survey), which typically just shows ownership lines and found/set monuments. How do water meters even come into this equation? What exactly is your "plat"? You might expect to see water meters on an ALTA/ACSM survey, but is that what you're doing?
> I submitted a simple plat for recording that was a small section of a larger approved master plan. The submittal is being reviewed by several agencies, on of them a quasi-governmental utility authority. This agency has had my plat for 2 weeks and is claiming there is a problem with the watermeters on site and they will not sign my plat until the meters are fixed. What does this have to do with approving a plat?
Not sure what you mean by 'plat' as it seems to have a different meaning than what I am accustomed to in the NW. Why is an agency that has no authority even reviewing it? If they have no authority than there is no issue. If the plat was part of a subdivision and the reviewing agency controls the 'water' and must sign off on the plat as part of some oveall engineering plan then they may have a case...
Maybe a subdivision plat? That might explain, all the checks...and utility easements...etc. Someone might be saying "we won't approve the utility easement locations until the utility meters problem is resolved. ?
They usually justify it by the last catchall statement in the regulations - "or any other information as required by the planning department"
That's not what happens around here...
Subdivision plats often include easements, but no locations of things like meters.
Guess it all depends on the local regulations and requirements... This whole thing would be considered absurd around here. But I know local regulations can vary by quite a lot.
in this case it a subdivision plat. These are generally the only plats that are required to be filed in NC, with a few exceptions.
the issue is that they do not seem to have any authority, however if they do not sign off on the plat, the review officer will not sign it and the map will not get filed.
That is exactly how it's done here. Everyone gets to review the thing and everyone has to sign off before the county will even look at it.
This includes all the utilities that can be imagined, mortgage holders and (the worst one) the state engineer has to sign off on a new water distrubution plan-and that's usually 6 months.
I'm cringing waiting until they figure out that mineral estate owners have a say about what goes on at the surface.
I'm very confused.
Are you showing the water meters on the plat? If not, then what's the problem? If you're showing them, then why...? If you aren't, then how can the "reviewing authority" reject your filings...?
Something sounds very wrong.
"and (the worst one) the state engineer has to sign off on a new water distrubution plan-and that's usually 6 months."
That looks like the holdup to me. I know around here, with the drought and all, water rights are incredibly important. Of course, most of them have been held by (now) hydro-fracking companies since the 1950's, and they have senior rights to everyone else down-streem, so the Colorado River might soon be dry by the time it hits the Colorado/Utah border, which will kill places like Lave Havasu and Las Vegas, but I guess that's the direction our country is headed... We seem to care more about that than the environment.
