This chapter shall be known as the “Hilltown
Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.”
These regulations are adopted for the following
purposes:
A. To protect and provide for the public health, safety,
and general welfare of Hilltown Township.
B. To guide the future growth and development of Hilltown
Township, in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and Act 537 Sewage
Facilities Plan of Hilltown Township.
C. To provide for adequate light, air, privacy; to secure
safety from fire, flood, and other danger; and to prevent overcrowding
of the land and undue congestion of population.
D. To protect the character and social and economic stability
of Hilltown Township and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development
of Hilltown Township.
E. To protect and conserve the value of land throughout
Hilltown Township and the value of building(s) and improvements upon
the land and to minimize the conflicts among the uses of land and
buildings.
F. To guide public and private policy and action in order
to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water supply, sewerage,
stormwater management, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation, and
other public requirements and facilities.
G. To provide the most beneficial relationship between
the uses of land and buildings and the circulation of traffic within
Hilltown Township having particular regard to the avoidance of congestion
in the streets and highways, and the pedestrian traffic movements
appropriate to the various uses of land and buildings, and to provide
for the proper location and width of streets and building lines.
H. To establish reasonable standards of design and procedures
for subdivision and resubdivisions, in order to further the orderly
layout and use of land; and to insure proper legal descriptions and
monumenting of subdivided land.
I. To insure that public facilities are available and
will have a sufficient capacity to serve the proposed subdivision.
J. To prevent the pollution of air, streams, lakes, and
ponds; to assure the adequacy of drainage facilities; to safeguard
the water table; and to encourage the wise use and management of natural
resources in order to preserve the community and value of the land.
K. To control stormwater in a manner consistent with
the Bucks County Stormwater Management Plan.
L. To regulate the subdivision and/or development of
land within any designated floodplain district in order to promote
the general health, welfare, and safety of the community.
M. To require that each subdivision lot in flood-prone
areas include a safe building site with adequate access; and that
public facilities which serve such uses be designed and installed
to minimize flood damage.
N. To protect individuals from buying lands which are
unsuitable for use because of flooding by prohibiting the improper
subdivision and/or development of lands within the designated floodplain
districts; and which are unsuitable for use because of topography,
wetlands, steep slopes, and other environmental features.
O. To preserve the natural beauty and topography of Hilltown
Township and to ensure appropriate development with regard to these
natural features.
P. To provide for open spaces through efficient design
and layout of the land.
This chapter shall apply to all subdivision
and land development plans submitted after the effective date of this
chapter and to all subdivision and land development plans submitted
before the effective date of this chapter which no longer have protection
from the effect of changes in governing ordinances granted by the
Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
A. Subdivision control.
(1) No subdivision, as herein defined, of any lot, tract
or parcel of land shall be effected and no street, alley, sanitary
sewer, storm sewer, water main or other facilities in connection therewith,
shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use
or travel, or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting
or to abut thereon, except in strict accordance with the provisions
of this chapter. No lot in any subdivision may be sold, and no permit
to erect, alter or repair any building upon land in a subdivision
may be issued and no building may be erected in a subdivision, unless
and until a subdivision plan has been approved by the Board of Supervisors
and recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for Bucks County.
(2) There shall be no subdivision of any lot which has
been restricted from further subdivision by a note or restriction
on a plan or deed recorded at the office of the Bucks County Recorder
of Deeds.
B. Land development control.
(1) Land development, as herein defined, must comply with
the regulations contained herein. Such compliance shall include but
not be limited to the filing of preliminary and final plats, the dedication
and improvements of rights-of-way, streets and roads, and the payment
of fees and charges as established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(2) Land development plans shall indicate the location
of each structure and clearly define each unit and shall indicate
public easements, common areas, and improvements, all easements appurtenant
to each unit, and improvements to public rights-of-way. Developments
are subject to the zoning regulations as they apply to use and density
requirements, setbacks, parking and other features, and the same shall
be indicated on the land development plan.