[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Warwick 9-27-1984 by Ord. No. 84-1 as
Part 7:300 of the 1984 Warwick Township Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The requirements of all zoning districts shall be modified in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter on all land designated as having a slope
of 8% or more, as delineated by the Soil Conservation Service, United States
Department of Agriculture, in the maps and data comprising the most recent
soil survey of Bucks County or that land indicated as having a slope of 8%
or more on a detailed topographical map taken from field surveys and giving
elevations at intervals of 10 feet or less and prepared by a land surveyor
or engineer licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and bearing his seal.
The following words and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have
the following meanings, unless a different meaning is required by the context:
The removal, destruction or damaging of plants, including trees,
grasses, shrubs and flowers, by methods including but not limited to cutting,
bulldozing, plowing, regrading, digging or widespread use of herbicides, unless
such vegetative ground cover is immediately replaced by like materials of
a domestic or cultivated nature, usually found in the vicinity of residential
dwellings.
C.
On all land having a slope of 25% or more, no person
shall disturb vegetative ground cover or cause disturbance of vegetative ground
cover on more than 15% of said land.
D.
The above regulations apply equally to the disturbance
of soil for agricultural or food production purposes, except that such existing
use prior to adoption of this chapter may be continued.
E.
Whenever earth-moving activities or the removal or disturbance
of ground cover is proposed within the steep slope area, an erosion control
plan, meeting the requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, must be submitted to and reviewed by the Municipal Engineer or
the Bucks County Soil Conservation District for compliance with the regulations,
prior to the granting of any approval or permit for the removal of vegetation
or for construction of any kind.
A.
Where there is land upon which, under the provisions
of this chapter, vegetative ground cover may not be disturbed and where such
existing vegetative ground cover represents an agricultural, food-producing
use which the owner of the land wishes to discontinue, the Board may require
replacement of said agricultural use with permanent, stable vegetation. Such
alterations of vegetative ground cover must be done in a way that minimizes,
as much as possible, soil erosion and stormwater runoff and is consistent
with the purposes of this chapter.
B.
Where special conditions exist or where enforcement of
the provisions of this chapter would be contrary to the interests of the Township,
said provisions may be moderated or waived by the Board, upon appeal by the
landowner.
[Amended 8-2-1988 by Ord.
No. 88-6]
Any person, partnership, corporation or entity violating any of the
provisions of this chapter shall, upon summary conviction before a District
Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600, plus the costs
of prosecution. In default of payment of said fine, said person, the partners
of said partnership or the officers and directors of said corporation shall
be sentenced to undergo imprisonment in the Bucks County Prison for a period
not exceeding 30 days. All fines collected for such violations shall be paid
over to the Township. Each period of 30 days that a violation exists shall
constitute a separate offense.
