[Amended 1-3-1995 by Ord. No. 1995-3]
All subdivision or land development plans shall
be subject to approval, modification, or rejection by the Borough
Council; in the event such a plan is disapproved, the reasons therefor
shall be set forth in writing and given to the applicant. Prior to
action by the Borough Council, all subdivision or land development
plans shall be referred to the Borough Planning Commission for its
review and recommendations.
The applicant shall submit preliminary and final copies of subdivision or land development plans to the Borough Secretary, and the Borough Secretary shall distribute the required number of copies to the Borough agencies concerned, as provided for in Articles V, VI, and VII. All plans when first submitted shall be considered preliminary plans. If the applicant makes substantial revisions in his plans after they have been approved in preliminary form, such revised plans shall be treated as preliminary plans when resubmitted.
Subdivision and land development plans shall
be reviewed by the Borough Planning Commission at its first regular
meeting following the date of submittal, providing that such plans
are submitted at least 10 days prior to the meeting. Meetings of the
Planning Commission at which plans are reviewed shall be open to the
public. Applicants shall be given reasonable notice of the time and
place at which their plans are to be reviewed.
Approval of preliminary plans by the Borough
Council shall be considered approval of the arrangement and dimensions
of streets, lots and other features shown on the plans and may be
made conditionally on specified changes to be incorporated in the
plans. The Council's approval of the final plans shall be given only
after the requirements and conditions indicated on or in connection
with the preliminary plans have been met; and said approval shall
constitute final Borough approval for the purpose of recording the
plans in the office of the County Recorder of Deeds. Before acting
on any subdivision or land development plan, the Borough Council may
arrange for a public hearing thereon after giving such notice as it
may deem necessary and desirable in each case.
When an entire tract of land is divided into
not more than two lots with frontage on a paved street of sufficient
width and none of the lots is intended for further subdivision, the
requirements for submittal of final plans may be waived upon written
application of the applicant and that final approval be granted on
the basis of the preliminary plan as submitted. The application must
include a statement that none of the lots to be created is intended
for further subdivision or land development as well as a plan to scale
giving all of the boundary dimensions of the tract and of the proposed
lots, the location of proposed buildings, and the width of abutting
streets.
A.
The Borough Council shall establish by resolution
a schedule of fees, charges and expenses and collection procedures
for zoning permits, occupancy permits, special exceptions, variances
and appeals, and other matters pertaining to this chapter. The schedule
of fees shall be posted in the office of the Zoning Officer and may
be altered or amended only by the Borough Council.
B.
No action shall be taken on any application or appeal
until all application fees, charges and expenses have been paid in
full.
A.
Review fees shall include the reasonable and necessary
charges by the Borough's professional consultants or Engineer for
review and report to the Borough, and shall be set by resolution.
Such review fees shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary
and customary charges by the Borough Engineer or consultant 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 Borough
when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.
B.
In the event the applicant disputes the amount of
any such review fees, the applicant shall, within 10 days of the billing
date, notify the Borough that such fees are disputed, in which case
the Borough shall not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land development
application due to the applicant's request over disputed fees.
C.
In the event that the Borough and the applicant cannot
agree on the amount of review fees which are reasonable and necessary,
then the fees shall be recalculated and recertified by another professional
engineer licensed as such in this Commonwealth and chosen mutually
by the Borough and the applicant or developer. The estimate certified
by the third engineer shall be presumed fair and reasonable and shall
be the final estimate. In the event that a third engineer is so chosen,
fees for the services of said engineer shall be paid equally by the
Borough and the applicant or developer.
The following are exempt or partially exempt
from the provisions of this chapter:
A.
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;
B.
The addition of an accessory building, including farm
buildings, on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building;
or
C.
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 proper authorities.
Changes in this chapter shall affect plats as
follows:
A.
From the time an application for approval of a plat,
whether preliminary or final, is duly filed as provided in this chapter,
and while such application is pending approval or disapproval, no
change or amendment of this chapter, zoning or other governing ordinance
or plan shall affect the decision on such application adversely to
the applicant and the applicant shall be entitled to a decision in
accordance with the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans
as they stood at the time the application was duly approved. The applicant
shall be entitled to final approval in accordance with the terms of
the approved preliminary application as hereinafter provided. However,
if an application is properly and finally denied, any subsequent application
shall be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
B.
When an application for approval of a plat, whether
preliminary or final, has been approved without conditions or approved
by the applicant's acceptance of conditions, no subsequent change
or amendment in this chapter, zoning or other governing ordinance
or plan shall be applied to affect adversely the right of the applicant
to commence and to complete any aspect of the approved development
in accordance with the terms of such approval within five years from
such approval.
C.
Where final approval is preceded by preliminary approval,
the aforesaid five-year period shall be counted from the date of the
preliminary approval. In the case of any doubt as to the terms of
a preliminary approval, the terms shall be construed in the light
of the provisions of this chapter or the governing ordinance or plans
as they stood at the time when the application for such approval was
duly filed.
D.
Where the landowner has substantially completed the
required improvements as depicted upon the final plat within the aforesaid
five-year limit, or any extension thereof as may be granted by the
Borough Council, no change of any ordinance or plan enacted subsequent
to the date of filing of the preliminary plat shall modify or revoke
any aspect of the approved final plat pertaining to zoning classification
or density, lot, building, street or utility location.
E.
In the case of a preliminary plat calling for the
installation of improvements beyond the five-year period, a schedule
shall be filed by the landowner with the preliminary plat delineating
all proposed sections as well as deadlines within which applications
for final plat approval of each section are intended to be filed.
Such schedule shall be updated annually by the applicant on or before
the anniversary of the preliminary plat approval, until final plat
approval of the final section has been granted and any modification
in the aforesaid schedule shall be subject to approval of the Borough
Council in its discretion.
F.
Each section in any residential subdivision or land
development, except for the last section, shall contain a minimum
of 25% of the total number of dwelling units as depicted on the preliminary
plan, unless a lesser percentage is approved by the Borough Council
in its discretion. Provided the landowner has not defaulted with regard
to or violated any of the conditions of the preliminary plat approval,
including compliance with landowner's aforesaid schedule of submission
of final plats for the various sections, then the aforesaid protections
afforded by substantially completing the improvements depicted upon
the final plat within five years shall apply and for any section or
sections, beyond the initial section, in which the required improvements
have not been substantially completed within said five-year period
the aforesaid protections shall apply for an additional term or terms
of three years from the date of final plat approval for each section.
G.
Failure of landowner to adhere to the aforesaid schedule
of submission of final plats for the various sections shall subject
any such section to any and all changes in this chapter, zoning, and
other governing ordinance enacted by the Borough subsequent to the
date of the initial preliminary plan submission.
A.
Amendments to this chapter shall become effective
only after a public hearing held pursuant to public notice. A brief
summary setting forth the principal provisions of the proposed amendment
and a reference to the place within the Borough where copies of the
proposed amendment may be secured or examined shall be incorporated
in the public notice. Unless the proposed amendment shall have been
prepared by the Planning Commission, the Borough Council shall submit
the amendment to the Planning Commission at least 30 days prior to
the hearing on such amendment to provide the Planning Commission an
opportunity to submit recommendations. In addition, at least 30 days
prior to the public hearing on the amendment, the Borough shall submit
the proposed amendment to the county planning agency for recommendations.
B.
Within 30 days after adoption, the Borough Council
shall forward a certified copy of the amendment to the county planning
agency.
C.
Proposed amendments shall not be enacted unless notice
of proposed enactment is given in the manner set forth in this section,
and shall include the time and place of the meeting at which passage
will be considered, a reference to a place within the Borough where
copies of the proposed amendment may be examined without charge or
obtained for a charge not greater than the cost thereof. The Borough
Council shall publish the proposed amendment once in a newspaper of
general circulation in the Borough not more than 60 days nor less
than seven days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed amendment
shall include either the full text thereof or the title and a brief
summary, prepared by the Borough Solicitor and setting forth all the
provisions in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
D.
In the event substantial amendments are made in the
proposed amendment, before voting upon enactment, the Borough Council
shall, at least 10 days prior to enactment, readvertise, in one newspaper
of general circulation in the Borough, a brief summary setting forth
all the provisions in reasonable detail together with a summary of
the amendments.
