CHAPTER 198
REGIONAL PLANNING--NEW CASTLE COUNTY
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 168 OF THE REVISED CODE
OF DELAWARE, 1935, ENTITLED "REGIONAL PLAN NING", AS AMENDED, BY PROVIDING FOR THE PREP PREPARATION OF A MASTER PLAN FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY AND THE FILING AND RECORDING OF PLATS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICIAL MAP FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY AND PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN PENALTIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That 5787. Section 1 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended, by Chapter 266 Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5787. Sec. 1. Words and Phrases Construed:--The words and phrases used in this Chapter, unless the same shall be inconsistent with the context, shall be construed as follows: (1) "Commission" shall refer to and mean "Regional Planning Commission of New Castle County" created by this Chapter; (2) "District" shall refer to and mean "Regional Planning District of New Castle County" created by this Chapter; (3) "Highway Department" shall refer to and mean "State Highway Department of the State of Delaware"; (4) "Levy Court" shall refer to and mean "Levy Court of New Castle County"; (5) "Recorder's Office" shall refer to and mean "Recorder of Deeds in and for New Castle County"; (6) "Council" shall refer to and mean "The Council of The Mayor and Council of Wilmington" ; (7) "County Engineer" shall refer to and mean "County Road Engineer of New Castle County" ; (8) "Road" shall include any "road", "street", "highway", "freeway", "parkway" or other
Section 2. That 5788. Section 2 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5788. Sec. 2. Purposes: Portions of New Castle County Affected: Regional Planning Commission of New Castle County: --That for the purpose of promoting health, safety, prosperity and general welfare, as well as for the purpose of securing coordinated plans for roads, airways, railways, public buildings, parks, playgrounds, civic centers, airports, water supplies, sewers and sewage disposal, drainage and other improvements and utilities (excepting, however, privately owned public utilities engaged in furnishing light, heat, power, transportation or communication by telephone or by telegraph or otherwise, as to which the provisions of this act shall not apply) in that portion of New Castle County which is not included within the corporate limits of any City or Town, unless any territory within such corporate limits is included upon request made by the governing body or authority of any such City or Town, and as well as for the purpose of preventing the unnecessary duplication of such improvements or utilities, a department to be known as the Regional Planning Commission of New Castle County is hereby created and the said area shall be known as Regional Planning District of New Castle County.
Section 3. That 5791. Section 5 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5791. Sec. 5. Master Plan: Amendment of Plan: Official Map: Approval:--It shall be the duty of the Commission to prepare a Master plan of the District showing existing and proposed roads included in or likely to be incorporated in the road system, together with the indication of their existing and proposed widths; existing and proposed county parks, play grounds, parkways, and other recreation places; existing and proposed county
airways, aviation fields and other county open places ; existing and proposed sites for county buildings; and such other features as may come wholly or partially within county jurisdiction ; and, in addition, similar elements of the plan existing and proposed within City or Town as have or are likely to bear an important relation to the above county features. Such master plan shall be a public record, but its purpose and effect shall be solely as an aid to the Commission in the performance of its duties. The said Commission may, from time to time, amend, extend or add to said Master Plan.
There is hereby established an Official Map of the District. The Commission shall be the maker and custodian of said map. Said map shall show the location and lines of the roads within the District existing and established by law as public roads at the time of the preparation and setting up of the Map by the Commission ; also the location of the lines of the roads on plats which shall have been approved by the Commission at or previous to said time.
Whenever the said Commission shall have adopted an Official Map or any amendment, extension or addition thereto, it shall submit the said Official Map or such amendment, extension or addition thereto, to the said Levy Court for its approval and if said Official Map or amendment, extension or addition thereto shall pertain to the road system of or any road in New Castle County, said Official Map or any amendment, extension or addition thereto shall also be submitted to the Highway Department for its approval and upon approval of said Official Map or such amendment, extension or addition thereto, the said Commission shall cause the said Official Map or such amendment, extension or addition thereto to be recorded in the said Recorder's Office within thirty (30) days after such approval. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to affect any Official Map now duly recorded in the Recorder's Office but shall apply to any amendment, extension or addition made thereto after the effective date of this Act.
Said Commission may, from time to time, amend, extend, add to or remove from said Official Map all roads established or vacated by law.
Section 4. That 5793. Section 7 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 5. That 5794. Section 8 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5794. Sec. 8. Plats: Recording: Fees: Regulations:--On and after the effective date of this Act the location, proposed grades and drainage of all roads intended to be dedicated by the owner thereof to the public use or for the use of owners of property abutting thereon or adjacent thereto within the limits of the said District, shall be submitted to said Commission for its adoption and the approval of the said Levy Court and it shall be unlawful on and after the effective date of this Act, to record any plan or map showing the location of any new or proposed road, in any public office in New Castle County unless such plan or map shall show thereon by endorsement its adoption by said Commission and its approval by the said Levy Court. The adoption of such plan or map by the said Commission and the approval thereof by the said Levy Court endorsed upon such plan or map shall, when recorded, be deemed and taken as an acceptance of the in: tended dedication of the roads appearing thereon, but shall not .impose any duty upon the said Levy Court or upon the said Highway Department respecting the maintenance or improvement thereof. Such plan or map shall, when recorded, become a part of said Official Map.
No plat of land within the District shall be received or recorded by the Recorder of Deeds in and for New Castle County or filed for recording in the said Recorder's Office until the said plat shall have been submitted to and approved by the Commission and the Levy Court and such approvals be endorsed in writing on the plat by the Chairman or Secretary of the Commission and the President of the Levy Court. The filing or recording of a plat without the approval of the Commission and the Levy
Court shall, upon application of the Commission or the Levy Court, to the Superior Court in and for New Castle County, Delaware, be expunged from the records.
On the basis of the estimated cost of the services to be rendered by it in connection with the consideration of such plats and the work incident thereto, the Commission may fix the scale of fees to be paid to it and may from time to time amend such scale. In the case of each plat submitted to the Commission, the fee thus fixed shall be paid before said plat is approved or disapproved, but such fees shall not exceed the actual cost to the Commission of the services and shall be paid by the person requesting the Commission's approval.
Every such plat shall be prepared upon cloth of such size and character, with such notations, information and markings, and accompanied by such date and information as the Commission may, by regulation prescribe, and shall have such permanent markers, boundary stones or stations as the Commission shall prescribe, which shall be shown and designated on the plat thereof. The Commission shall prescribe the procedure for the submission of such plats and action in respect thereto.
Section 6. That 5795. Section 9 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 7. That 5796. Section 10 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware, (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows :-
5796. Sec. 10. Approval or Disapproval of Plat by Commission; Hearing:--The Commission shall approve or disapprove a plat within forty days after the submission thereof; otherwise such plat shall be deemed to have been approved and a certificate to that effect shall be issued by the Commission upon demand ;
provided, however, that such period may be extended by mutual agreement between the Commission and the applicant for the Commission's approval. The grounds of disapproval of any plat shall be stated upon the records of the Commission and a copy of such statement shall be furnished to the applicant. No plat shall be acted upon by the Commission without affording a hearing thereon, notice of the time and place of which shall be sent by registered mail to said applicant not less than five days before the date fixed therefor ; provided, however, that in his application applicant may waive the requirement of such hearing and notice.
Section 8. That 5797. Section 11 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware, (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 9. That 5798. Section 12 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 10. That 5799. Section 13 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5799. Section 13. It Shall be Unlawful to Record Unapproved Plats:--Any recorder who receives for filing or recording any plan or map contrary to the provisions of this Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) in the discretion of the Court.
Section 11. That 5800. Section 14 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 12. That 5801. Section 15 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of
Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof to read as follows:
5801. Sec. 15. Authority to Go Upon Land: Access to Records: Surveys:--In the performance of the functions and duties of the Commission any member thereof or any employee or agent thereof shall have the right to enter and go upon, at reasonable times (Sundays and holidays excluded) between the hours of 8 A. M. and 5 P. M. any lands in the District, either public or private, and to make surveys and to place and maintain necessary monuments and markers thereon, but such entry shall be made with due care and regard for the protection and preservation of property. In the performance of the functions and duties of the Commission, any member thereof, or any employee or agent thereof shall have free access, without expense, to all State, County, Municipal and other public records.
The Commission is empowered in pursuance of the development and carrying out of its master plan, to make from time to time surveys for the exact location of the lines of future roads, road relocations, road extensions, road widenings or narrowings in the District or any portion thereof, and to make plats of the areas thus surveyed, showing the Commission's recommendations for the exact locations of such future road lines.
Section 13. That 5802. Section 16 of Chapter 168 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 266 of Volume 43 Laws of Delaware (1941) be and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 14. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistencies.
Section 15. This act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor.