The purpose of the preapplication meeting or sketch plan review is to
afford the applicant the opportunity to receive the advice and assistance
of the Borough staff. Such meeting and/or review shall be considered as confidential
between the applicant and staff.
A. The purpose of the preapplication meeting or sketch plan
review is to afford the applicant the opportunity to receive the advice and
assistance of the Borough staff prior to formal application for approval.
Such meeting and/or review shall be considered as confidential between the
applicant, staff, and the Borough.
B. Applicants for proposals which require a preliminary
plan approval, plans which involve the creation of new streets or community
stormwater detention or retention facilities, and plans for the development
of nonresidential structures are strongly urged to discuss such proposals
with the staff of the Borough of Denver and to prepare and submit sketch plans
for review prior to submission of the application for approval. Submission
of a sketch plan, even though strongly recommended, is not mandatory and shall
not constitute formal filing of a plan with the Borough.
C. Sketch plan reviews are not required to be consistent
with procedures of Section 508 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code, as amended. Sketch plans prepared for review and discussion should include those items listed in §
170-17 of this chapter.
D. Applicants for proposals other than those described in Subsection
A are still encouraged to discuss such proposals and submit sketch plans for review.
E. The applicant may request that the Borough staff provide written comments on submitted sketch plans as a follow-up to any meetings held to discuss the plan. As stated in Subsection
B, submission of a sketch plan, even though strongly recommended, is not mandatory and shall not constitute formal filing of a plan with the Borough.
With the exceptions specifically noted in this chapter, a preliminary plan is required for applications which propose new streets, all land development, as defined in §
170-6, and subdivision plans of 10 or more lots. All other plans may be submitted as final plans in accordance with §
170-9. Preliminary plans may be filed with the Borough on any business day. The Borough Planning Commission and Borough Council will officially review a plan at particular meetings in accordance with a schedule that shall be published as a public notice.
A. Application requirements. In addition to the submission
requirements of the Borough, it is required that a full submission as specified
be made to the appropriate officials of the Lancaster County Planning Commission.
All preliminary plan applications shall include the following:
(1) Fifteen copies of the preliminary plan. All plans shall
be either black-on-white or blue-on-white paper prints.
(2) Three copies of all reports, notifications, and certifications
which are not provided on the preliminary plan, including stormwater management
plans and calculations.
(3) Three application forms (see
Appendix 24) completely and correctly executed, with all information legible,
and bearing all required signatures.
(4) Filing fee (see fee schedule available at the Borough).
Note: A separate filing fee shall accompany the preliminary plan, consisting
of a check or money order drawn to Denver Borough, and shall be submitted
for each application. If one check is issued for multiple plans, a detailed
breakdown of the individual fee assessments must accompany the payment.
(5) When connection to an existing sanitary sewer system
is proposed, written notice from the Borough indicating that sufficient capacity
to service the proposed development is available shall be provided. Such notice
shall:
(a) Be dated within six months of the plan application;
(b) Identify the term of reservation; and
(c) Provide capacity for the entire development (partial
capacity based on phases of development will not be acceptable).
(6) Incomplete applications. A preliminary plan application shall be accompanied by all required plans and documents and the required filing fee. The Borough Manager/Secretary shall have seven days from the date of submission of an application to check the plans and documents to determine if on their face they are in proper form and contain all the information required by this chapter. If defective, the application may be returned to the applicant with a statement that the application is incomplete within the seven-day period; otherwise the application shall be deemed accepted for filing as of the date of submission. Acceptance shall not, however, constitute a waiver of any deficiencies or irregularities. The applicant may appeal a decision by the Borough Manager/Secretary under this section to the Borough Council in accordance with §
170-50 of this chapter.
B. Plan requirements. All preliminary plans shall be prepared in conformance with the provisions of §
170-18 of this chapter and any other applicable requirement of law.
C. Distribution. The applicant shall distribute copies of
the preliminary plan to each of the following individuals:
(2) Shade Tree Commission (when required by the Borough).
(3) Historical Society (when required by the Borough).
(4) Fire company or protection district (when required by
the Borough).
(5) Lancaster County Planning Commission (two copies).
D. Borough Council action.
(1) Borough Council shall render its decision in accordance
with applicable MPC requirements. Borough Council may approve the preliminary
plan, in whole or in part, or may approve the preliminary plan subject to
conditions, or may disapprove the preliminary plan.
(2) If Borough Council approves the preliminary plan subject
to conditions, the applicant shall either personally at a public meeting or
in writing approve or reject such conditions within five days of, either personally
or in writing, receiving notice of such conditions. For purposes of this subsection,
notice to a person presenting the plan on behalf of the applicant whether
such person is the applicant himself, a relative of the applicant, an officer
of the applicant, an attorney, a surveyor, an engineer or otherwise, shall
be notice to the applicant; and such person presenting the plan on behalf
of the applicant shall be deemed to have authority to, on behalf of applicant,
accept or reject such conditions. The applicant's failure to accept or
reject such conditions within the five-day period shall be considered to be
a rejection of the same and conditional approval by Borough Council shall
be automatically revoked. The applicant shall be notified in writing within
10 days following the expiration of the five-day period of the plan rejection;
provided, however, that failure to notify the applicant of such plan rejection
shall not constitute a deemed approval.
E. Notification of Borough Council's action.
(1) Within 15 consecutive days after the meeting at which
the preliminary plan is reviewed by the Borough Council, the Borough Manager/Secretary
shall send written notice of the Borough's action to the following individuals:
(c) Firm that prepared the plan.
(d) Borough Planning Commission Secretary.
(g) Lancaster County Planning Commission.
(2) If the application is disapproved, the Borough Manager/Secretary
will notify the above individuals, in writing, of the defects in the application
and will identify the requirements that have not been met, citing the provisions
of the statute or ordinance relied upon.
F. Compliance with Borough Council action. If the Borough
Council conditions its preliminary plan approval upon receipt of additional
information, changes, and/or notifications, such data shall be submitted and/or
alterations noted on two copies of the plan to be submitted to Borough Council
for approval. All correspondence and copies of the plan shall reference the
DB file number.
G. Borough Council approval and certification.
(1) The Borough Council will acknowledge the satisfactory compliance with all conditions, if any, of the preliminary plan approval at a regularly scheduled public meeting. All materials to be considered by the Borough Council at such meeting shall be submitted by the applicant to the Borough at least 14 days prior to the meeting. Additionally, at the option of the applicant, after receipt of preliminary plan approval and compliance with all conditions of approval, a preliminary plan may be presented to the Borough Council for acknowledgment through a formal statement on the plan. (See
Appendix 17.)
(2) Approval of a preliminary application shall constitute
approval of the proposed subdivision and/or land development as to the character
and intensity of development and the general arrangement of streets, lots,
structures, and other planned facilities, but shall not constitute final plan
approval. The preliminary plan may not be recorded in the office of the Lancaster
County Recorder of Deeds.
(3) Preliminary plan approval will be effective for a five-year
period from the date of the Borough Council's approval of the preliminary
plan application; therefore, final plan applications for the entire project
must be made within five years of preliminary plan approval unless the Borough
Council grants a waiver by extending the effective time period of the approval.
(4) The applicant may, after receipt of acknowledgment from
the Borough Council of the satisfactory completion of any conditions of preliminary
plan approval, proceed to construct the improvements required by this chapter
and shown on the approved preliminary plan. The applicant shall indicate the
intent to construct the improvements in writing to the Borough Council prior
to the start of construction. Additionally, the applicant shall complete and
enter into the appropriate Memorandum of Understanding. The applicant shall
indicate the timetable for the construction of the improvements, including
a schedule and plan of the proposed phasing of sections of the plan.
(5) Construction and completion of the improvements shall
not constitute permission to sell lots or occupy proposed buildings shown
on the plan.
Any replatting or resubdivision of recorded plans or revision of approved
final plans which have not yet been recorded, excluding lot grading plans
in subdivisions, shall be considered as a new application and shall comply
with all requirements of this chapter, except that survey corrections can
be made.
A plan which proposes to alter the location of lot lines between existing
lots of separate ownership for the sole purpose of increasing lot size may
be approved by the Borough Council for recording purposes.
A. Lot add-on requirements. Lot add-on plans shall be reviewed
only as final plans and shall only be permitted when:
(1) No lot or tract of land is created which is smaller than
the minimum nor larger than the maximum lot size permitted by the Borough
Zoning Ordinance; and
(2) Drainage easements or rights-of-way are not altered;
and
(3) Access to the affected parcels is not changed;
(4) Street alignments are not changed; and
B. Lot add-on plan required. Where the above conditions are satisfactorily proven to exist, a plan shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the requirements of §
170-20 of this chapter.
C. Deed required. A copy of the deed to be recorded for
the receiving tract shall be submitted prior to recording of the lot add-on
plan. The deed shall provide a description of the receiving tract that reflects
the proposal to join it in common with the acreage to be conveyed.
D. Lot add-on plan submission procedures. In every case
where a proposal conforms to the requirements of this section, the application
shall comply with the following procedures:
(1) Fifteen copies of the final plan. All plans shall be
either black-on-white or blue-on-white paper prints.
(2) Three application forms (see
Appendix 24) completely and correctly executed, with all information legible,
and bearing all required signatures.
(3) Filing fee (see fee schedule available at the Borough).
Note: A filing fee shall accompany the final plan, consisting of a check or
money order drawn to Denver Borough.
E. Certification. After the plan has been reviewed and the required changes, if any, are made, the applicant shall proceed to prepare two sets of plans which shall be transparent reproductions of the plan which shall be black line on stable plastic film and one set of plans which shall be a paper copy for the Borough Council's files. The two transparent copies of the plan shall be certified in accordance with the provisions of §
170-22C and the following:
F. Borough official(s) signature required. Both plans shall
be signed by the Borough officials certifying that the plan qualifies for
this process.
G. Recording of plans. The applicant shall record the plans
with the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds.
H. Deeds required. The applicant shall provide the Borough
Council with proof that the deeds containing the new perimeter legal descriptions
have been recorded with the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds.
The resources of the Borough and the orderly administration of this
chapter are unduly burdened by multiple and conflicting applications. Therefore,
the same applicant may not submit multiple applications for approval of a
subdivision or land development plan for the same property or a portion thereof
involving the same land use. If an applicant desires to submit a new application,
then the applicant must withdraw in writing any pending applications. In the
event the applicant fails or refuses to withdraw any pending applications,
Borough Council may deny the new application due to noncompliance with this
section.
Applicants shall comply with all plan processing procedures of the Lancaster
County Planning Commission. It is the responsibility of the applicant to determine
the requirements of the Lancaster County Planning Commission, including, but
not limited to, the number of copies of the plan that must be submitted, and
the filing fee.
A. Application requirements. All review requests shall be
submitted by the applicant to the Lancaster County Planning Commission in
accordance with the application requirements set forth by the Lancaster County
Planning Commission.
B. Plan requirements. All plans shall be prepared in conformance
with the prevailing regulations of the Borough and the legislation of the
commonwealth.
C. Lancaster County Planning Commission action. The Lancaster
County Planning Commission will evaluate the application based upon the applicable
regulations and legislation and sound planning principles and forward a review
within the time period specified by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code to appropriate parties. The Lancaster County Planning Commission may
perform this review at a scheduled public meeting or delegate to the staff
the authority to perform the evaluation and forward comments.
D. Lancaster County Planning Commission certification. After completion of the Lancaster County Planning Commission's review, a preliminary or final plan may be presented to the Lancaster County Planning Commission for signature (
Appendix 21).