[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.
