WSP01829

• File Number: 8030
• Description: Section D General Compact Issues - US Water Resources Council
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 8/1/1971
• Author: US Water Resources C
• Title: Regulation of Flood Hazard Areas to Reduce Flood Losses - Draft - Volume II Part V - With Appendices
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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P~DUCING FLOOD LOSSES

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5-120

encourage dedication or reservation qf flood areas as subdivi- ~t~i
sian parks, recreation areas, or wildlife areas.

120. SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS, IN GENERAL

Subdivision of land involves the orderly division of land

into parcels for building or sale. Land subdivision regulation

means "the guidance of the development of land subdivision in

order that the development may be carried out in a proper man-

nero "1

Subdivision may involve the division of a small parcel of

land into two lots, although it commonly involves the fragmenta-

tion of large tracts into hundreds or thousands of. lots. In
the past, subdivision lots were often sold as building sites;

today i. lotR a,nd- buildings are of-ten sole tC'1.:-:th~1-:', Trt? ph_:,:7_~_l.~.:.:=",

social, anq economic impact of a ~ing1e large-scale development
upon a community may ~e great. ,If 'subdivision lands are subject
to flooding, a single subdivision may create a serious community
"flood problem. "
Both ~ubdivision controls and zoning are important tools

in implementing municipal plans for community growth. vlliile

t~aditional zoning has been concerned primarily with the separa-

.tion of incompatible USES of land, subdivision regulations have
been used to guide the PROCESS and MANNER OF LAND DIVISION to
.assure that lots'meet buyer 'needs without putting a dispro-
portionate burden upon the co~unity. As one court noted,
"zoning covers the immediate use of land, while planning re-
stricts transferability and future use."2

Subdivision controls are "imposed through statutes and or-

dinances whioh prohibit the filing or recording of a plat