[Ord. 1988-2, 3/7/1988, § 11.3; as amended by Ord.
91-2, 11/4/1991; by Ord. 2004-1, 5/3/2004, § 1; by Ord.
2016-1, 4/4/2016; and by Ord. No.
2021-04, 3/16/2021]
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings herein indicated. Words expressed in the plural include their singular meanings; the present tense shall include the future; words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and the neuter; the words "shall" and "will" are mandatory; the words "should" and "may" are permissive. If a term is not defined in this Chapter 22, but is defined in the Zoning Chapter (Chapter 27), the definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply to this chapter. The following terms shall have the following definitions:
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for the subdivision or development of a tract
of land, including his heirs, successors, and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final,
required to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or
development, including, but not limited to, an application for a building
permit, for the approval of a subdivision plat, or a land development
plan.
An area bounded by streets.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Londonderry.
A line parallel to the front, side or rear line, set so as
to provide the required yard.
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any structure, including, but not limited to, enclosed
structures, porches, patios, roof overhangs, carports and chimneys,
and the adjacent right-of-way, and the line defining side and rear
yards, where required.
The portion of a street or alley which is improved, designated,
or intended for vehicular use.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections. It
is defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from
the intersection of the street center lines.
A municipal code official, Construction Code official or
third-party agency acting on behalf of the Township. The term includes
a Code Enforcement Officer or an individual certified to perform plan
review of construction documents or administer and enforce codes and
regulations.
The duly approved Londonderry Township Planning Commission.
Includes:
The land on which the building is located and portions of the
building which are not included in a unit.
The foundation, structural parts, supports, main walls, roofs,
basements, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairways and entrances and
exits of the building.
The yards, parking area and driveways.
Portions of the land and building used exclusively for the management,
operation or maintenance of the common elements.
Installations of all central services and utilities.
All other elements of the building necessary or convenient to
its existence, management, operation, maintenance and safety or normally
in common use.
Such other facilities as are designated as common elements.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water, within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public
facilities.
A parking area that serves as overflow or visitor parking
for two or more dwellings or uses or that serves common facilities
such as a recreation area.
Ownership in common with others of a parcel of land and certain
parts of a building thereon which could normally be used by all the
occupants, together with individual ownership in fee of a particular
unit or apartment in such building or on such parcel of land, and
may include dwellings, offices and other types of space in commercial
buildings or on property.
Ownership in common with others of a parcel of land and of
a building or buildings thereon which would normally be used by all
the occupants, together with individual rights of occupancy of a particular
unit or apartment in such building or buildings or on such parcel
of land, and may include dwellings, offices and other types of space
in commercial buildings or on property, and where the lease, sale
or exchange of a unit is subject to the agreement of the group of
persons having common ownership.
The County of Dauphin, Pennsylvania.
A right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, intended to
furnish access for pedestrians.
A drain, ditch or conduit not incorporated in a closed system,
that carries drainage water under a driveway, roadway, railroad, pedestrian
walk or public way.
A stone or concrete boundary usually marking the edge of
the roadway or paved area.
The opening along the curbline at which point vehicles may
enter or leave the roadway.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with permission
of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of
land or land development.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, the
placement of mobile homes, streets and other paving, utilities, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, excavation, or drilling operations and
the subdivision of land or land development.
The provisions for development, including a planned residential
development, a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use,
location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of
use or density of development, streets, ways and parking facilities,
common open space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of
a development plan," when used in this chapter, shall mean the written
and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
Surface water runoff;
The removal of surface water or groundwater from land by drains,
grading or other means which include runoff controls to minimize erosion
and sedimentation during and after construction or development, the
means for preserving the water supply and the prevention or alleviation
of flooding.
Any ditch, gutter, culvert, storm sewer, or other structure
designed, intended, or constructed for the purpose of diverting surface
waters from or carrying surface waters off streets, public rights-of-way,
parks, recreational areas, or any part of any subdivision or contiguous
land areas.
Pipes, swales, natural features and man-made improvements
designed to carry drainage.
A minor vehicular right-of-way providing access between a
street and a parking area or garage within a lot or property.
A building designed for residential purposes and use as living
quarters for one or more persons or families.
One or more rooms used for living and sleeping purposes and
having a kitchen with fixed cooking facilities, arranged for occupancy
by one family or a single person.
A right-of-way granted for the limited use of land for public
or quasi-public purposes.
A registered professional engineer, as defined herein, designated
by the Township to perform the duties of Engineer as specified by
this chapter.
An individual licensed and registered under the laws of the
commonwealth to engage in the practice of engineering. A professional
engineer may not practice land surveying unless licensed as set forth
in P.L. 534, No. 230; however, a professional engineer may perform
engineering land surveys.
Surveys for:
The development of any tract of land, including the incidental
design of related improvements, such as line and grade extension of
roads, sewers, and grading but not requiring independent engineering
judgment; providing, however, that tract perimeter surveys shall be
the functions of the professional land surveyor;
The determination of the configuration or contour of the earth's
surface or the position of fixed objects thereon or related thereto
by means of measuring lines and angles and applying the principles
of mathematics, photogrammetry or other measurement methods;
Geodetic or cadastral survey, underground surveys and hydrographic
surveys;
Sedimentation and erosion control surveys;
The determination of the quantities of materials;
Tests for water percolation in soils; and
The preparation of plans and specifications and estimates of
proposed work as described in this subsection.
The engineering specifications of the Township regulating
the installation of any required improvement or for any facility installed
by any owner, subject to public use.
The application of the mathematical and physical sciences
for the design of public or private buildings, structures, machines,
equipment, processes, works or engineering systems, and the consultation,
investigation, evaluation, engineering surveys, planning and inspection
in connection therewith, the performance of the foregoing acts and
services being prohibited to persons who are not licensed under the
laws of the commonwealth as professional engineers unless exempt under
other provisions of the laws of the commonwealth.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed. It shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
The vertical location of the ground surface prior to excavation
or filling.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material
is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new location
above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped
surface. It shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
The difference in elevation between a point on the original
ground and a designated point of higher elevation of the final grade.
The material used to make fill.
The proposed location of the land surface of a site after
completion of all site preparation work.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway.
An official floodplain map of a community, issued by the
Federal Insurance Administration.
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year,
although the flood may occur in any year).
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes, or adjustments to proposed or existing structures which reduce
or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property,
water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and
discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this
chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of
the one-hundred-year magnitude.
The Board of Supervisors of Londonderry Township, Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania.
A street, generally parallel with and adjacent to a property
line, having a lesser right-of-way width than required for improvement
and used as a street in accordance with this chapter.
Those floodplain areas specifically designated in the Londonderry Township Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] as being inundated by the one-hundred-year flood. Included would be areas identified as the Floodway (FW) and the Flood-Fringe (FF).
Any street for which Londonderry Township or the commonwealth
has maintenance responsibility and which is paved with an approved
hardtop surface.
Those physical additions, installations, and changes required
to render land suitable for the use intended, including, but not limited
to, grading, paving, curbing, streetlights and signs, fire hydrants,
water mains, electric service, gas service, sanitary sewers, storm
drains, sidewalks, crosswalks, driveways, culverts, street shade trees,
and improvements to existing watercourses.
A right-of-way for pedestrian use extending from a street
into a block or across a block to another street.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
"Land development" does not include development which involves:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling
or single-family semidetached dwelling into not more than three residential
units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium;
The addition of an accessory building, including farm building,
on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building; or
The addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the
confines of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park.
For the purposes of this subsection, an "amusement park" is defined
as a tract or area used principally as a location for permanent amusement
structures or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly acquired
acreage by an amusement park until initial plans for the expanded
area have been approved by the proper authorities.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option on contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any conditions), a lessee having
a remaining term of not less than 40 years, or other person having
a proprietary interest in the land, shall be deemed to be a landowner
for the purpose of this chapter.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit.
A plan which proposes to alter the location of the lot lines
between existing lots of separate ownership for the sole purpose of
changing the lot size or lot configuration of existing lots.
The area contained within the property lines of a lot as
shown on a subdivision plan, excluding space within any street, but
including the area of any easement.
A lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial
street and a minor street and with vehicular access solely from the
latter.
A lot with front and rear street frontage.
A transportable single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two units designed to be joined
into one integral unit capable of and ready for occupancy except for
minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed
upon a chassis so that it may be used without necessarily needing
a permanent perimeter foundation. The term shall not be deemed to
include a recreational vehicle, a "tiny home" that meets manufactured
housing codes, or a modular home that meets the Uniform Construction
Code.
A land area in a manufactured/mobile home park containing
a manufactured/mobile home stand and any additional or accessory structure,
including but not limited to porches, sheds, decks or additional rooms.
A lot of record that is occupied by two or more manufactured/mobile
homes.
A land development and/or subdivision plan for the development
or alteration of a manufactured/mobile home park that meets all requirements
of this chapter and the information required in this Part.
An improved area within a manufactured/mobile home lot containing
the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances for the
erection thereon of a single- or double-wide manufactured/mobile home.
The subdivision of a single lot, tract, or parcel of land
into six or fewer lots, tracts, or parcels of land, for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership or of building
development; providing all the lots, tracts, or parcels of land thereby
created have frontage on an improved public street or streets, and
providing further that there is not created by the subdivision any
new street, street easement, easements of access or need therefor.
A prefabricated home, usually designed and built in sections,
which is transported to the building site and erected with the sections
being joined together as one permanently attached self-contained unit.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[1]
Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Open space owned by a public agency and maintained by it
for the use and enjoyment of the general public.
A person having any title or interest whatsoever in any land
development or subdivision as defined in this chapter.
A street intended primarily to serve as a means of vehicular
movement into and within a manufactured/mobile home park.
Any individual or group of individuals, firm, trust, partnership,
public or private association or corporation. This term shall also
include the landowner, a lessee, licensee or tenant in possession
or control of the property or an executor, administrator, trustee,
receiver or other entity having responsibility over property according
to law.
An official document adopted by the Board of Supervisors
setting forth its policies regarding the long-term development of
the Township, the preparation of which is based on careful studies
of existing conditions and prospects for future growth of the Township
of Londonderry. The plan shall include, but need not be limited to,
plans for the use of land, transportation of goods and people, community
facilities and services, and a map and statement indicating the relationship
of the Township and its proposed development to adjacent municipalities.
A plan, prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor, showing
the construction details of streets, drains, sewers, bridges, culverts,
and other improvements as required by this chapter.
An informal plan indicating salient existing features of
a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of a proposed
subdivision or land development.
The Londonderry Township Planning Commission.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan,
prepared for official recording as required by statute, to define
property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
A tentative subdivision or land development plan, in lesser
detail than a final plan, showing approximate proposed street and
lot layout as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of a
final plan.
The basic purpose for which a building or land area is occupied
or intended to be occupied, as opposed to accessory or incidental
uses; usually classifiable as residential, commercial, manufacturing
or public in nature.
A legally established right-of-way, other than a public street,
which provides the primary pedestrian and vehicular access to one
or more lots and is constructed to the design standards contained
in this chapter.
The profile of the center line of the finished surface of
the street, which shall be midway between the side lines of the street.
Owned, operated or controlled by a government agency, whether
federal, state or local, and including any corporation created by
law for the performance of certain specialized governmental functions,
and any public school district.
Includes:
A formal meeting, held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Supervisors or Planning Commission, intended to inform and obtain
public comment prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act," 53 P.S. § 271
et seq.
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township of Londonderry.
Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the
particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The
first publication shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication
shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
A vehicular-type unit primarily designed as temporary living
quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, which has its own
motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle (including
camping trailer, motor home, travel trailer and truck camper), and
a body width of no more than eight feet and a body length of not more
than 35 feet when factory-equipped for the road, and licensed as such
by the commonwealth.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of recreational vehicles or camping
equipment for temporary living quarters, for recreational, camping
or travel use, on recreational vehicle or campground lots rented for
such use, thereby constituting a "land development."
A parcel of land abutting a street or private road occupied
by one recreational vehicle or camping equipment for temporary living
quarters, for recreational, camping or travel use.
The one-hundred-year flood elevation plus a freeboard safety
factor of 1Â 1/2 feet.
A public thoroughfare for vehicular traffic and/or pedestrian
traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway,
road, avenue, boulevard, lane, alley, or however designated.
The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil
but runs off the surface of the land.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving wind, water, or gravity. Once this matter is
deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as "sediment."
An underground system with a septic tank used for the decomposition
of domestic wastes.
A sanitary sewage collection method in which sewage is carried
from the site by a system of pipes to a central pumping station or
treatment and disposal plant.
That portion of the sewer lateral which extends vertically
above ground elevation and terminates at each manufactured/mobile
home stand.
The Derry Township Municipal Authority or the Middletown
Borough/Middletown Borough Authority (or any other potential provider
of public sewer service to an applicant's project authorized by the
Township to provide public sewer service).
The length of roadway visible to the driver of a passenger
vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view is unobstructed
by traffic.
The face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
Chemical or structural treatment designed to increase or
maintain the stability of a mass of soil or otherwise to improve its
engineering properties.
Any storm drainage technique that retards or detains runoff,
such as detention or retention basins, parking lot storage, rooftop
storage, porous pavement, dry wells, or any combination thereof.
Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway,
parkway, lane, alley, viaduct or any other ways used or intended to
be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private.
The officially established grade of the street upon which
a lot fronts or, in its absence, the established grade of the other
streets upon which the lot abuts, at the midpoint of the frontage
of the lot thereon. If there is no officially established grade, the
existing grade of the street at such midpoint shall be taken as the
street grade.
The dividing line between the street or road and the lot;
also known as the "right-of-way line."
The portion of the street, contiguous to the cartway, for
the accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency parking, and
for lateral support of base and surface courses of the pavement.
A street intersecting another street at one end and terminating
at the other in a vehicular turnaround.
ARTERIAL STREETA major street or highway with fast or heavy traffic of considerable continuity and used primarily as a traffic artery for intercommunications among large areas.
COLLECTOR STREETA major street or highway which carries traffic from minor streets to arterial streets, including the principal entrance streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within such a development.
LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAYA major street or highway which carries large volumes of traffic at comparatively high speed with access at designated points and not from abutting properties.
A minor street which is parallel and adjacent to a limited
access highway or arterial street, which provides access to abutting
properties and protection from through traffic.
A street used primarily for access to abutting properties.
The distance between street right-of-way lines measured at
right angles to the center line of the street.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
The owner or authorized agent of the owner of a lot, tract,
or parcel of land to be subdivided for sale or land development under
the terms of this chapter.
The division or revision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for
distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building
or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease
of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres,
not involving any new streets or easement of access or residential
dwellings, shall be exempted.
Where, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, at least
90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted pursuant to the requirements of this chapter)
of those improvements required as a condition for final approval have
been completed in accordance with the approved plan, so that the project
will be able to be used, occupied or operated for its intended use.
A plan showing all present and proposed grades and facilities
for stormwater drainage.
The practice of that branch of the profession of engineering
which involves the location, relocation, establishment, reestablishment
or retracement of any property line or boundary of any parcel of land
or any road right-of-way, easement or alignment; the use of principles
of land surveying in determination of the position of any monument
or reference point which marks a property line boundary, or corner
setting, resetting or replacing any such monument or individual point,
including the writing of deed descriptions; procuring or offering
to procure land surveying work for himself or others; managing or
conducting as managers, proprietors or agents any place of business
from which land surveying work is solicited, performed, or practiced;
the performance of the foregoing acts and services being prohibited
to persons who are not granted certificates of registration under
the laws of the commonwealth as a professional land surveyor, unless
exempt under other provisions of the laws of the commonwealth.
An individual licensed and registered under the laws of this
commonwealth to engage in the practice of land surveying. A professional
land surveyor may perform engineering land surveys but may not practice
any other branch of engineering.
A low-lying stretch of land, characterized as a depression,
used to carry surface water runoff.
Surface soils and subsurface soils which presumably are fertile
soils and soil material, ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus
debris. Topsoil is usually found in the uppermost soil layer called
the "A" horizon.
The Township of Londonderry, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania,
the Board of Supervisors, it agents or authorized representatives.
Any lot, tract or parcel of land which has not been graded
or in any other manner prepared for the construction of a building.
A part of the property, structure or building designed or
intended for any type of independent use, which has direct exit to
a public street or way, or to a common element or common elements
leading to a public street or way or to an easement or right-of-way
leading to a public street or way, and includes a proportionate undivided
interest in the common elements, which is assigned to the property,
structure or building.
Any agency which, under public franchise or ownership, or under
certificate of convenience and necessity, provides the public with
electricity, gas, heat, steam, communication, rail transportation,
water, sewage collection or other similar service;
A closely regulated private enterprise with an exclusive franchise
for providing a public service.
Any water works, water supply works, water distribution system,
or part thereof designed, intended or constructed to provide or distribute
potable water.
That portion of the water system pipe which extends vertically
above ground elevation and terminates at each manufactured/mobile
home stand.
An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater
and surface water resources within the Township of Londonderry.
A stream of water, river, brook, creek, or a channel or ditch
for water, whether natural or man-made.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.
