HOUSE BILL No. 5802

 

 

April 12, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Lower and Crawford and referred to the Committee on Tax Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1967 PA 288, entitled

 

"Land division act,"

 

by amending section 109 (MCL 560.109), as amended by 2012 PA 525.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 109. (1) A municipality shall approve or disapprove a

 

proposed division within 45 days after the filing of a complete

 

application for the proposed division with the assessor or other

 

municipally designated official. However, a municipality with a

 

population of 2,500 or less may enter into an agreement with a

 

county to transfer to the county authority to approve or disapprove

 

a division. An application is complete if it contains information

 

necessary to ascertain whether the requirements of section 108 and

 

this section are met. The assessor or other municipally designated

 

official, or the county official, having authority to approve or

 

disapprove a proposed division, shall provide the person who filed

the application written notice whether the application is approved

 

or disapproved and, if disapproved, all the reasons for

 

disapproval. A complete application for a proposed division shall

 

be approved if, in addition to the requirements of section 108,

 

all of the following requirements are met:

 

     (a) Each resulting parcel has an adequate and accurate legal

 

description and is included in a tentative parcel map showing area,

 

parcel lines, public utility easements, accessibility, and other

 

requirements of this section and section 108. The tentative parcel

 

map shall be a scale drawing showing the approximate dimensions of

 

the parcels.

 

     (b) Each resulting parcel has a depth of not more than 4 times

 

the width or, if an ordinance referred to in subsection (5)

 

requires a smaller depth to width ratio, a depth to width ratio as

 

required by the ordinance. The municipality or county having

 

authority to review proposed divisions may allow a greater depth to

 

width ratio than that otherwise required by this subdivision or an

 

ordinance referred to in subsection (5). The greater depth to width

 

ratio shall be based on standards set forth in the ordinance

 

referred to in subsection (5). The standards may include, but are

 

not required to include and need not be limited to, exceptional

 

topographic or physical conditions with respect to the parcel and

 

compatibility with surrounding lands. The depth to width ratio

 

requirements of this subdivision do not apply to a parcel larger

 

than 10 acres, unless an ordinance referred to in subsection (5)

 

provides otherwise, and do not apply to the remainder of the parent

 

parcel or parent tract retained by the proprietor.

     (c) Each resulting parcel has a width not less than that

 

required by an ordinance referred to in subsection (5).

 

     (d) Each resulting parcel has an area not less than that

 

required by an ordinance referred to in subsection (5).

 

     (e) Each resulting parcel is accessible.

 

     (f) The division meets all of the requirements of section 108.

 

     (g) Each resulting parcel that is a development site has

 

adequate easements for public utilities from the parcel to existing

 

public utility facilities.

 

     (h) The division does not isolate a cemetery so that it does

 

not meet the requirements of either section 102(j)(i) or (ii).

 

     (i) All property taxes due on the parcel or tract subject to

 

the proposed division for the 5 years preceding the date of the

 

application have been paid, as established by a certificate from

 

the county treasurer of the county in which the parcel or tract is

 

located. If the date of the application is on or after March 1 and

 

before the local treasurer of the local tax collecting unit in

 

which the parcel or tract is located has made his or her return of

 

current delinquent taxes, the county treasurer shall include with

 

his or her certification a notation that the return of current

 

delinquent taxes was not available for examination.The official

 

having authority to approve or disapprove the application shall not

 

disapprove the application because the county treasurer's

 

certification includes such a notation. The county treasurer shall

 

collect a fee for a certification under this subdivision in an

 

amount equal to the fee payable under section 1(2) of 1895 PA 161,

 

MCL 48.101, for a certificate relating to the payment of taxes

under section 135 of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL

 

211.135.

 

     (2) The right to make divisions exempt from the platting

 

requirements of this act under section 108 and this section can be

 

transferred, but only from a parent parcel or parent tract to a

 

parcel created from that parent parcel or parent tract. A

 

proprietor transferring the right to make a division pursuant to

 

this subsection shall within 45 days give written notice of the

 

transfer to the assessor of the city or township where the property

 

is located on a form prescribed by the state tax commission. The

 

form shall include substantially the following questions in the

 

mandatory information portion of the form:

 

     (a) "Did the parent parcel or parent tract have any

 

unallocated divisions under the land division act, 1967 PA 288, MCL

 

560.101 to 560.293? If so, how many?"

 

     (b) "Were any unallocated divisions transferred to the newly

 

created parcel? If so, how many?"

 

     (3) A person shall not sell a parcel of unplatted land unless

 

the deed contains a statement as to whether the right to make

 

further divisions exempt from the platting requirements of this act

 

under this section and section 108 is proposed to be conveyed. The

 

statement shall be in substantially the following form: "The

 

grantor grants to the grantee the right to make [insert number]

 

division(s) under section 108 of the land division act, Act No. 288

 

of the Public Acts of 1967." 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.108." In the

 

absence of a statement conforming to the requirements of this

 

subsection, the right to make divisions under section 108(2), (3),

and (4) stays with the remainder of the parent tract or parent

 

parcel retained by the grantor.

 

     (4) All deeds for parcels of unplatted land within the state

 

of Michigan after the effective date of this act this state

 

executed after March 31, 1997 shall contain the following

 

statement: "This property may be located within the vicinity of

 

farm land or a farm operation. Generally accepted agricultural and

 

management practices which may generate noise, dust, odors, and

 

other associated conditions may be used and are protected by the

 

Michigan right to farm act.".

 

     (5) The governing body of a municipality or the county board

 

of commissioners of a county having authority to approve or

 

disapprove a division may adopt an ordinance setting forth the

 

standards authorized in subsection (1)(b), (c), and (d). The

 

ordinance may establish a fee for reviews a review of an

 

application under this section and section 108. The fee shall not

 

exceed the reasonable costs of providing the services for which the

 

fee is charged.

 

     (6) Approval of a division is not a determination that the

 

resulting parcels comply with other ordinances or regulations.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.