Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings herein
indicated:
A service way providing a secondary means of public access
to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development 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 plan or for the
approval of a development plan.
The one-hundred-year-flood elevation as indicated on the
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), as revised, for the Township of Swatara,
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, prepared by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, Federal Insurance Administration.
An area bounded by streets.
Any body granted jurisdiction under a land use ordinance
or under this chapter to render final adjudications.
The Board of Commissioners of Swatara Township, Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania.
Any combination of materials forming any structure which
is erected on the ground and permanently affixed thereto, designed,
intended, or arranged for the housing, shelter, enclosure, or structural
support of persons, animals, or property of any kind.
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any principal or accessory structure and the adjacent
right-of-way, and the line defining side and rear yards, where required.
That portion of a street or alley which is improved, designated
or intended for vehicular use.
The Chairman of the Swatara Township Planning Commission.
A triangular shaped portion of land established at street
intersections in which nothing is erected, placed, planted or allowed
to grow in such a manner as to limit or obstruct the sight distance
of motorists entering or leaving the intersection. Refer to Chapter
441, "Access to and Occupancy of Highways by Driveways and Local Roads,"
as amended, a set of standards established by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation.
The Swatara Township Planning Commission.
Land amenities, parts of buildings, central services and
utilities, and any other elements and facilities owned and used by
all unit owners and designated as common elements. These elements
may include but are not limited to:
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; and
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.
Real estate, portions of which are designated for separate
ownership and the remainder of which is designated for common ownership
solely by the owners of those portions. Real estate is not a condominium
unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in
the unit owners.
The community association which administers and maintains
the common property and common elements of a condominium.
County of Dauphin, Pennsylvania.
A right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, intended to
furnish access of pedestrians.
A drain, 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.
An excavation, the difference between a point on the original
ground and designated point of lower elevation on the final grade.
Also, the material removed in excavation.
Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction
under any land use ordinance or this chapter to do so, either by reason
of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction or by reason of appeals from
determinations. All decisions shall be appealable to the Court of
Common Pleas of the county and judicial district wherein the Township
lies.
Final action by an officer, body or agency charged with the
administration of any land use ordinance or applications thereunder,
except the following:
The Board of Commissioners;
The Zoning Hearing Board; or
The Planning Commission, only if and to the
extent the Planning Commission is charged with final decision on preliminary
or final plans under the subdivision and land development or planned
residential development ordinances. Determinations shall be appealable
only to the boards designated as having jurisdiction for such appeal.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
of land or a 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
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 private roadway providing access for vehicles to a parking
space, garage, dwelling or other structure.
A single unit providing complete independent living facilities
for one or more persons including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
Any completed building or structure that was designed to
be built partially or wholly underground. A completed building or
structure which was not intended to serve as a substructure or foundation
for a building.
Any structure designed primarily for residential occupancy,
except a mobile home, which is wholly or in substantial part made,
fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation
or assembly and installation on the building site in such a manner
that all concealed parts or processes of manufacture cannot be inspected
at the site without disassembly, damage or destruction.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit or in two or more units designed
to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for
occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations,
and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
A building which is designed for three or more families living
independently of each other and doing their own cooking, including
apartment houses, row houses, or townhouses.
A single-family dwelling attached to two or more one-family
dwellings by common vertical walls.
A building which is designed for and occupied by not more
than one family and surrounded by open space or yards and which is
not attached to any other dwelling by any means, excluding mobile
home dwellings.
A building which is designed for one family, having one side
yard, and one party wall in common with another dwelling.
A building designed for use by two families with one dwelling
unit arranged over the other and having two side yards.
A building designed for use by two families, with one dwelling
unit arranged over the other, having one side yard and one party wall
in common with another building.
A right-of-way granted for the limited use of land for public
or quasi-public purposes.
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; provided, however, that tract perimeter surveys
shall be the function of the professional land survey;
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 survey
and hydrographic survey;
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 herein.
The engineering specifications of the Township regulating
the installation of any required improvements or for any facility
installed by any owner, subject to public use.
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;[1] however, a professional engineer may perform engineering
land surveys.
A registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania designated
by the Township to perform the duties of engineer as herein specified.
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments or
the wearing away of the land surface by water, wind, ice and gravity.
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 and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom. The
difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and
a designated point of higher elevation on the final ground. The material
used to make a fill.
The proposed elevation of the land surface of a site after
completion of all site preparation work.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
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).
That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway.
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
An official map of a community, issued by the Federal Insurance
Administration.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments to proposed and existing structures which reduces
or eliminates 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 Commissioners of Swatara Township, Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania.
See definition of "existing grade."
See definition of "finished grade."
Those floodplain areas specifically designated in Chapter 295, Zoning, as being inundated by the one-hundred-year flood. Included would be areas identified as the Floodway (FW) and the Flood-Fringe (FF).
Any man-made, immovable item which becomes part of, placed
upon, or is affixed to, real estate.
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 or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in 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.
The area contained within the property lines of a lot as
shown on a subdivision plan excluding space within any rights-of-way,
but including the area of any easement.
An interior lot having frontage on two streets.
A lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial
street and a minor street, and with vehicular access solely from the
latter.
A legal instrument under which title to real estate is conveyed
or by which a condominium is created and established.
See definition of "dwelling, mobile home."
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so
designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots
for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
Municipal Authority of the Township of Swatara.
See definition of "common open space."
Open space owned by a public agency and maintained by it
for the use and enjoyment of the general public.
Any individual or group of individuals, partnership, copartnership
or corporation.
The Development Policy Plan (Master Plan) and/or Future Land
Use Plan and/or Official Map or other such plans, or portions thereof,
as may be adopted, pursuant to statute, for the area of the Township
in which the subdivision or land development is located.
Swatara Township Planning Commission, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
An informal plan or plat, not necessarily to exact scale,
indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings
and the general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development.
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 and meeting all of the requirements contained in this and other related ordinances, including, but not limited to, Chapter 295, Zoning, hereof.
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 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.
Includes:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Commissioners 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," 65 P.S. § 271
et seq.[2]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. 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.
Any fee, leasehold or other estate or interest in, over or
under land, including structures, fixtures and other improvements
and interests which by custom, usage or law pass with a conveyance
of land though not described in the contract of sale or instrument
of conveyance. Real estate includes parcels with or without upper
or lower boundaries and spaces that may be filled with air or water.
Any letter, review, memorandum, compilation or similar writing
made by any body, board, officer or consultant other than a solicitor
to any other body, board, officer or consultant for the purpose of
assisting the recipient of such report in the rendering of any decision
or determination. All reports shall be deemed recommendatory and advisory
only and shall not be binding upon the recipient, board, officer,
body or agency, nor shall any appeal lie therefrom. Any report used,
received or considered by the body, board, officer or agency rendering
a determination or decision shall be made available for inspection
to the applicant and all other parties to any proceeding upon request,
and copies thereof shall be provided at cost of reproduction.
A strip of land adjacent to a street intended to control
access to the street from an adjacent property.
See definition of "lot, reverse frontage."
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.
A sanitary sewage collection method in which sewage is carried
from the site by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal
plant.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by 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. Also referred to as an "on-lot system."
A service way providing a secondary means of private access
to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.
See definition of "building setback line."
A graphic representation of shadows cast by nature, landscaping,
screening and structures plotted with regard to topography, slope
and direction at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. on the date of
the winter solstice.
A paved, surfaced or leveled area, paralleling and usually
separated from the street, used as a pedestrian walkway.
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 of a mass of soil to increase
or maintain its stability or otherwise to improve its engineering
properties.
Radiant energy (direct, diffuse or reflected) received from
the sun at wave lengths suitable for conversion into thermal, chemical
or electrical energy.
Any device, structure or part of a device or structure which
is used primarily to transform solar energy into thermal, chemical
or electrical energy, including any space or structural component
specifically designed to retain heat derived from solar energy.
A complete design or assembly consisting of a solar energy
collector, an energy storage facility (where appropriate) and components
for the distribution of transformed energy to the extent that they
cannot be used jointly with a conventional energy system. Passive
solar energy systems which use the natural properties of materials
and architectural components to collect and store solar energy without
using any external mechanical power are included in this definition
if they do not fulfill structural or other functions.
The space between a given location and the sun which must
remain unobstructed between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. mean solar time
on the date of the winter solstice in order to permit sufficient solar
energy to impinge on that location to allow efficient solar utilization.
A right, expressed as an easement, covenant or condition
or other property interest in any deed or other instrument executed
by or on behalf of any landlord which protects the solar skyspace
of an actual, proposed or designated solar energy collector at a described
location by forbidding or limiting activities or land uses that interfere
with access to solar energy. The solar skyspace may be described as
a three-dimensional space in which an obstruction is prohibited or
limited, or as the times of day during which direct sunlight to the
solar energy combination of the two methods.
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.
A watercourse having a source and terminus, banks and channel
through which waters flow at least periodically.
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.
LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAYA street or highway which carries large volumes of traffic at comparatively high speed with access at designated points and not from abutting properties.
ARTERIALA street or highway with fast or heavy traffic volumes of considerable continuity and used primarily as a traffic artery for intercommunications among large areas.
COLLECTORA street or highway which carries traffic from minor streets to the major system of arterial streets, including principal entrance streets of a residential, commercial or industrial development and streets for major circulation with such developments.
MINORA street used primarily for access to abutting properties.
MARGINAL ACCESSA street which is parallel and adjacent to limited access highways or arterial streets and which provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
CUL-DE-SACA street open at one end for vehicular and pedestrian access with the opposite end terminating in a vehicular turnaround.
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 shortest distance between the lines delineating the right-of-way
of a 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 development under the
terms of this chapter.
The division or redivision 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
street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be
exempted.
MAJOR SUBDIVISIONAny subdivision involving more than six lots, parcels of land or other divisions of land whether or not they involve new streets, additional utilities or other facilities immediate or future.
MINOR SUBDIVISIONThe 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 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.
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 plat, 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.
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.
A map showing the elevations of the ground by contours or
elevations.
The configuration of a surface area showing relative elevations.
Surface soils and subsurface soils which presumably are fertile
soils and soil material, ordinarily high in organic matter or humus
debris. Topsoil is usually found in the uppermost soil layer called
the "A Horizon."
The Township of Swatara, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Board
of Commissioners, its agents or authorized representatives.
Any lot, tract or parcel of land which has not been graded
to in any other manner prepared for the construction of a building.
Means 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 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, cable television, communication,
rail transportation, water, sewage collection or other similar service.
A closely regulated private enterprise with
an exclusive franchise for providing a public service.
A permanent stream, intermittent stream, river, brook, creek
or a channel or ditch for water, whether natural or man-made.
An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater
and surface water resources within the Township.
A device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical
energy.
The blades, plus hub to which the blades are attached, that
are used to capture wind for the purpose of energy conversion. The
wind rotor is generally used on a pole or tower and, along with other
generating and electrical storage equipment, forms a wind-energy conversion
system.
