8-5-1: GENERALLY:

   A.   Purpose: The purpose of this Chapter is to provide uniform standards for the subdivision of property, to protect property, and to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Ada County:

      1.   To guide the future growth and development of the County in accordance with this Code, Comprehensive Plan, and all other County development related ordinances.

      2.   To promote safety from fire, flood, and other danger.

      3.   To ensure that public and private development are served by adequate public facilities and services with sufficient capacity for efficient transportation, water, sewer, drainage, and other public requirements and facilities, and that the development bears its fair share of the cost of providing the facilities and services.

      4.   To provide for the circulation of pedestrians required for the beneficial use of land and buildings throughout the County.

      5.   Working with partner transportation entities to ensure that traffic generated from the proposed development can be adequately and safely served by the existing and future street system.

      6.   To establish reasonable standards of design and procedures for platting to further the orderly layout and use of land and to promote proper legal descriptions and documenting of platted land.

      7.   To minimize the pollution of streams and ponds; to provide for the adequacy of drainage facilities; to control stormwater runoff; to minimize erosion and siltation problems; to safeguard the water table; to encourage the wise use and management of natural resources; and enhance the stability and beauty of the community and the value of the land.

      8.   To assure that sufficient parks and/or open spaces are provided to meet the recreational demands resulting from new residential development and to encourage measures for nonstructural flood control that will reduce the risk of flood damage for surrounding development.

      9.   To remedy the problems associated with illegally subdivided lands and/or previously platted lands, including premature subdivision, incomplete subdivision, or scattered subdivision of land.

   B.   Applicability:

      1.   Subdivision In Unincorporated Areas: This Chapter shall apply to the subdivision of all property within the unincorporated area of Ada County except by modification of Title 9 of this code.

      2.   Unlawful:

         a.   It is unlawful to make a subdivision of property until the requirements of this Chapter are satisfied.

         b.   No plat or any instrument passing title to any portion of a plat shall be offered for recording unless approved in accord with the regulations of this Title.

         c.   No building permit shall be issued on any property being considered in the subdivision process until:

            (1)   The final plat has been recorded;

            (2)   Assessor's parcel numbers have been assigned; and

            (3)   All required public improvements have been constructed and approved by the appropriate authority or a surety agreement has been submitted to and approved by the Director.

         d.   It is unlawful to reduce a property containing an approved distributed power facility containing a wind freestanding tower below the forty (40) acre minimum property size as of the effective date of this subsection. None of the exceptions listed in subsection 8-5-1B3 below apply to those properties, except a "property reduced by governmental action" in accord with subsection 8-3-2M.

      3.   Exceptions: The following divisions of property do not constitute a subdivision:

         a.   A "property boundary adjustment" (see Section 8-6-23) and as defined in Chapter 8-10, Definitions.

         b.   An approved "one time division" (see Section 8-6-21).

         c.   The division of property because of condemnation, as defined and allowed in the Idaho Code.

         d.   The expansion or acquisition of street rights of way by a public highway agency.

         e.   An approved farm development right in accord with Section 8-2-5 of this Title.

         f.   Abutting parcels that qualify as an exception to the contiguous parcel regulation as set forth in subsection 8-3-2D.

         g.   A "property reduced by governmental action" in accord with Section 8-3-2M.

   C.   Subdivision Types: The three (3) subdivision types - preliminary plat, final plat, and combined preliminary and final plat - shall comply with this Chapter and follow the specifications, processes, and requirements established in Chapter 6.

(Ord. 1002, 10-28-2025)