[Added 3-9-1999 by Ord. No. 454]
Applicants of subdivision or land development plans which propose the establishment of dwelling units shall dedicate to Derry Township land for park, recreation and open space uses or provide payment of a fee in lieu of Township acceptance of such land, as provided in this article.
A. 
Such dedications shall be at locations deemed appropriate by the Township. The Township may also require the dedication of land for trails, bicycle paths and linear parks.
B. 
Title to land to be dedicated shall be good and marketable, free of all liens or other defects and shall be acceptable to the Solicitor of the Township.
C. 
The area of the land to be dedicated may, for the purpose of calculating net developable area, be considered as a permanent part of the development site, even though it will be conveyed in title to Derry Township.
D. 
Derry Township may, after acceptance, reconvey such land to a public conservancy or a public park system as long as the land would remain available for use by the residents of the development activity which promoted the original dedication.
The amount of land required to be dedicated shall be 10 acres per 1,000 persons or fraction thereof expected to reside in the proposed dwelling units. The population potential of a dwelling unit shall be assumed to be 3.6 people per dwelling unit for the purpose of calculating the number of persons expected to reside in the proposed dwelling units.
A. 
If the Township determines that it is impractical to accept the dedicated land, or if no land suitable for dedication exists in the opinion of the Township, the developer shall offer a payment of a fee in lieu of acceptance of such land. The in-lieu fee shall be payable for the entire development concurrently with the approval of the first final plan of a subdivision or development plan by the Board of Supervisors.
B. 
The amount of the fee to be paid in lieu of acceptance of dedicated land shall be $900 per dwelling unit as of the date of adoption of these regulations (February 1999).
C. 
The $900 in-lieu fee shall be increased to reflect the most recently published Consumer Price Index of the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index, which shall be considered, shall be from area 0100 Northeast Urban, size B/C and from all urban consumers (CPI-U). The $900 in-lieu fee shall be increased to reflect the percent of increase indicated by the afore referenced CPI since February of 1999.
A. 
The fee authorized under this article shall, upon its receipt by the Township, be deposited in an interest bearing account, clearly identifying the specific recreation facilities for which the fee was received. Interest earned on such accounts shall become funds of that account. Funds from such accounts shall be expended only in properly allocable portions of the cost incurred to construct or acquire the specific recreation facilities for which the funds were collected.
B. 
Upon request of any person who paid any fee under this article, the Township shall refund such fee, plus interest accumulated thereon from the date of payment, if Derry Township has failed to utilize the fee paid for the purposes set forth in this section within three years from the date such fee was paid, unless a longer period of time has been agreed to by the developer.
The dedicated land for park, recreation and open space uses shall meet the following criteria:
A. 
The dedicated land shall be located so as to serve all of the residents of the subdivision or land development.
B. 
The dedicated land shall be accessible from a public street or shall adjoin and become part of an already existing public park, recreation or open space area which is accessible from a public street.
C. 
Not more than 25% of the dedicated land shall be located within a floodplain.
D. 
The Township may require that the dedicated land is contiguous rather than consisting of various pieces of land.
E. 
When public park, recreation or open space land exists adjacent to a site proposed to be subdivided or developed, the Township may require the dedicated land to be located to adjoin and enlarge the presently existing park, recreation or open space land.
F. 
At least 50% of the grade of the dedicated land shall have a slope of 6% or less.
G. 
The dedicated land shall be accessible to utilities such as sewer, water and power that are provided to the subdivision or land development and, if so requested by the Township, the developer shall extend such utilities to the dedicated land.
H. 
The minimum amount of dedicated land shall not consist of utility rights-of-way or easements.
I. 
When a proposed subdivision or land development plan is located wholly or partially in a potential acquisition zone as shown in the Derry Township Recreation, Parks and Open Space Plan, dedicated land shall be offered to the Township in the acquisition area.