The Township Manager shall assign an application
number to all applications for preliminary plan and final plan approval.
All matters pertaining to such applications shall be filed in accordance
with the subdivision and/or land development application number. In
addition, the Township shall keep a record of its findings, decisions
and recommendations relative to all subdivision and/or land development
plans filed with the application for review. All such records shall
be public records.
Upon the filing of an application for preliminary
and final approval of a subdivision and/or land development plan,
the landowner or developer shall pay to the Township Manager to the
use of the Township, such fees as the Board of Supervisors shall from
time to time provide by ordinance or resolution.
The landowner or developer shall pay, to the
use of the Township and upon invoice rendered by the Township, the
actual cost of all fees incurred by the Township in the review of
all subdivision and/or land development plans by the Township Engineer,
consultants, Township Solicitor and such other professionals as are
engaged by the Township to review and evaluate subdivision and land
development plans. The need for such professionals and the selection
thereof shall be determined solely by the Board of Supervisors.
A.Â
In the event that the applicant disputes the amount
of any such review fees, the applicant shall, within 10 days of the
billing date, notify the Township that such fees are disputed, in
which case the Township shall not delay or disapprove a subdivision
or land development application due to the applicant's request over
disputed fees.
A.Â
The landowner or developer shall pay, to the use of
the Township and upon invoice rendered by the Township, such charges
as shall be made by the Township Engineer or other Township inspector
for the field inspection of improvements in the subdivision or land
development; but in the event that, owing to special or unusual conditions,
specialized or expert inspections, analyses or tests of improvements
shall be required, such inspections, analyses or tests shall be performed
by persons or firms selected by the Board of Supervisors, and the
fees and costs of such inspections, analyses or tests shall be paid
by the landowner or developer to the use of the Township upon invoice
rendered by the Township in an amount equivalent to the actual cost
thereof to the Township.
B.Â
All invoices shall be due upon presentation.
C.Â
Any landowner or developer who is delinquent in the
payment of invoices shall be denied issuance of any further approvals
or permits by the Township, whether such approvals or permits pertain
to the development for which said invoice was rendered or any other
land or development within the Township.
D.Â
The Township Building Inspector or Township Manager
shall revoke all permits issued to landowners or developers who are
delinquent in the payment of any invoice.
E.Â
A landowner or developer who disputes an invoice as
billed within 10 days shall state such objection to the Township Manager,
in writing, upon receipt, via certified mail, return receipt requested.
F.Â
Reimbursement by the applicant to the Township shall
be based upon a schedule established by ordinance or resolution. Such
expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and
customary fees charged by the Township Engineer or consultant for
work performed for similar service in the community, but in no event
shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Engineer or
consultant to the Township when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise
imposed on applicants.
(1)Â
In the event that the applicant disputes the amount
of any such expense in connection with the inspection of improvements,
the applicant shall, within 10 working days of the date of billing,
notify the Township that such expenses are disputed as unreasonable
or unnecessary, in which case the Township shall not delay or disapprove
a subdivision and/or land development application or any approval
or permit related to development due to the applicant's request over
disputed engineer expenses.
(2)Â
If, within 20 days from the date of billing, the Township
and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of the expenses which
are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and Township shall
jointly, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional engineer,
licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to review said
expenses and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is
reasonable and necessary.
(3)Â
The professional engineer so appointed shall hear
such evidence and review such documentation as the professional engineer
in his or her sole opinion deems necessary and shall render a decision
within 50 days of the billing date. The applicant shall be required
to pay the entire amount determined in the decision immediately.
(4)Â
In the event that the Township and applicant cannot
agree upon the professional engineer to be appointed within 20 days
of the billing date, then upon application of either party, the President
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas (or if at the time there be no
President Judge, then the senior active judge then sitting) shall
appoint such engineer, who, in that case, shall be neither the Township
Engineer nor any professional engineer who has been retained by or
performed service for the Township or the applicant within the preceding
five years.
(5)Â
The fee of the appointed professional engineer for
determining the reasonable and necessary expenses shall be paid by
the applicant if the amount of payment required in the decision is
equal to or greater than the original bill. If the amount of payment
required in the decision is less then the original bill by $1,000
or more, the Township shall pay the fee of the professional engineer,
but otherwise the Township and the applicant shall each pay 1/2 of
the fee of the appointed professional engineer.
The landowner or developer shall pay to the
use of the Township and upon invoice rendered by the Township the
cost of performing all material tests determined by the Board of Supervisors
to be necessary or desirable in connection with the inspection or
approval of all subdivision and/or land development plans or improvements.
The landowner or developer shall pay to the
use of the Township and upon invoice rendered by the Township all
fees incurred by the Township in the preparation of the subdivision
and land development agreements, improvement and maintenance bonds,
escrow agreements and other instruments deemed necessary or desirable
by the Board of Supervisors in connection with subdivisions or land
developments.
A.Â
Preventive remedies.
(1)Â
In addition to other remedies, the Township may institute
and maintain appropriate actions by law or in equity to restrain,
correct or abate violations, to prevent unlawful construction, to
recover damages and to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure
or premises. The description by metes and bounds in the instrument
of transfer or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring
shall not exempt the seller or transferor from such penalties or from
the remedies herein provided.
(2)Â
The Township may refuse to issue any permit or grant
any approval necessary to further improve or develop any real property
which has been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision
of real property in violation of any ordinance provisions. This authority
to deny such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following
applicants:
(a)Â
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
(b)Â
The vendee or lessee of the owner of record
at the time of such violation, without regard as to whether such vendee
or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(c)Â
The current owner of record who acquired the
property subsequent to the time of violation, without regard as to
whether such current owner had actual or constructive knowledge of
the violation.
(d)Â
The vendee or lessee of the current owner of
record who acquired the property subsequent to the time of violation,
without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive
knowledge of the violation.
(3)Â
As an additional condition for issuance of a permit
or the granting of an approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee
or lessee for the development of any such real property, the Township
may require compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable
to the property at the time the applicant acquired an interest in
such real property.
B.Â
Jurisdiction. District Justices shall have initial jurisdiction in proceedings brought under § 160-88C.
C.Â
Violations and penalties.
(1)Â
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which
has violated the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found
liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the
Township, pay a judgment of not more than $500, plus all court costs,
including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township as a result
thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or be payable
until the date of the determination of a violation by the District
Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment,
the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules
of civil procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute
a separate violation, unless the District Justice determining that
there has been a violation further determines that there was a good
faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating the
ordinance to have believed that there was no such violation, in which
event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until
the fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation
by the District Justice, and thereafter each day that a violation
continues shall constitute a separate violation.
(2)Â
The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant
an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem judgment
pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
(3)Â
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed
or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the Township
the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this
section.
All fines collected for violations of this chapter, as provided in § 160-88C, shall be paid over to the Township.
A.Â
The regulations set forth in this chapter may, from
time to time, be amended by the Board of Supervisors.
B.Â
The following requirements shall be observed prior
to making any amendment to this chapter:
(1)Â
Proposed amendments shall be submitted to the Township
Planning Commission for its findings and recommendations at least
30 days prior to the date fixed for the public hearing on such proposed
amendment if the amendment has been prepared by an agency other than
the Township Planning Commission. In addition, the proposed amendment
shall be submitted to the County Planning Department for its recommendations
at least 30 days prior to the date fixed for the public hearing on
the amendment.
(2)Â
The findings of the Planning Commission shall be submitted
to the Board of Supervisors in a written report.
(3)Â
Before voting on the enactment of a proposed amendment,
the Board of Supervisors shall hold a public hearing thereon pursuant
to public notice, as defined by this chapter, at which time the parties
in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. A
brief summary setting forth the principal provisions of the proposed
amendment and a reference to the place within the Township where copies
of the proposed amendment may be secured or examined, shall be incorporated
into the public notice.
(4)Â
Prior to the enactment of proposed amendments, the
Township shall publish the proposed amendment once, in a newspaper
of general circulation in the Township, not more than 60 days and
not less than seven days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed
amendment shall include the time and place of the meeting, the place
within the Township where copies of the proposed amendment can be
obtained and either the full text thereof or the title and a brief
summary prepared by the Township Solicitor, setting forth all the
provisions in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
(a)Â
A copy thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper
of general circulation in the Township at the time the public notice
is published.
(b)Â
An attested copy of the proposed amendment shall
be filed in the County Law Library.
(c)Â
In the event that substantial charges are made
in the proposed amendment, before voting upon enactment, the Board
of Supervisors shall, at least 10 days prior to the enactment, readvertise,
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township, a brief summary
setting forth all the provisions in reasonable detail, together with
a summary of the changes.
(5)Â
Within 30 days after enactment, the Board of Supervisors
shall forward a certified copy of the amendment to the County Planning
Department.
