Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings herein
indicated:
A.
Words in the singular include the plural, and those
in the plural include the singular. Words in the masculine gender
apply, as applicable, to persons of the feminine gender.
B.
Words in the present tense include the future tense.
C.
The word "shall" is always mandatory; the word "may"
is permissive; and the word "should" means a suggested or preferred
action.
D.
The word "person" or "subdivider" or "developer" or
"owner" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust,
company or corporation, as well as an individual.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings herein
indicated. Undefined terms or words used herein shall have their ordinarily
accepted meanings or such meanings as the context of this chapter
may imply.
The removal of the surface of the land through the combined
action of man's activities and the natural processes at a rate greater
than would occur because of the natural process alone.
See the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.[1]
Any person other than the subdivider who, acting for the
subdivider, submits subdivision or land development plans for the
purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
A minor permanent serviceway providing secondary vehicular
access to abutting lands.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development, including his or her heirs,
successors and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final,
required to be filed and approved prior to the 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 Borough Council of the Borough of Old Forge.
A tract of land bounded on one side by a street and the other
sides (normally three) by streets, railroad rights-of-way, waterways,
unsubdivided areas and other definite barriers.
The governing body of the Borough of Old Forge.
Any structure, such as, but not limited to, those having
a roof supported by columns, piers or walls, including tents, lunch
wagons, mobile homes, trailers, dining cars, camp cars or other structures
on wheels, or having other supports, and any unroofed platform, terrace
or porch having a vertical face higher than three feet above the level
of the ground over or upon which said structure is located.
A line established by Chapter 350, Zoning, or this chapter which defines the required minimum distance between any building and the adjacent public right-of-way.
The portion of the street right-of-way, paved or unpaved,
intended for vehicular use. The shoulder is not considered part of
the cartway.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined
by the center line of the streets and by a line of sight between points
on their center lines at a given distance from the intersection of
the center lines.
The Planning Commission of the Borough of Old Forge, County
of Lackawanna, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and the water within a development site, designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of the development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas and areas set aside for public facilities.
The allocation of land areas of the Borough to the several
varieties of physical development, present and future, the same having
been prepared in accordance with the principles of comprehensive planning
or having been developed through the approval of subdivisions previously
submitted, wherever such plan exists and has been officially adopted
by the municipality and recorded by the Borough Secretary. Wherever
the term "Master Plan" or "Comprehensive Plan" is used, it shall have
the same meaning as the term "Comprehensive Development Plan."
An ownership arrangement, not a land use; therefore,
it is allowed in any district and under the same restrictions as the
land uses that it comprises. A condominium shall not negate lot or
other requirements intended to provide adequate light, air and privacy.
Either a residential, commercial or industrial
unit which has all of the following characteristics:
The unit (the interior and associated exterior
areas designated for private use in the development plan) is owned
by the condominium owner.
The unit may be part of any permitted land use.
All or a portion of the exterior open space
and any community interior spaces are owned and maintained in accordance
with the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S.A. § 3101
et seq., as amended, and in accordance with the provisions for open
space, roads or other development features as specified in this chapter.[2]
A map showing the elevations of the ground in stated intervals.
The (or of the) County of Lackawanna, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission.
A minor street having one end open to vehicular traffic and
being permanently terminated by a vehicular turnaround.
A street or portion of a street with only one vehicular outlet
but which has a temporary turnaround and which is designed to be continued
when adjacent open land is subdivided.
A vegetated pond, swale or other structure designed to drain
completely after storing runoff only for a given storm event and release
it at a predetermined rate. Also known as a "dry pond."
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, including but not limited to 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 the development plan," when used in this chapter,
shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A parcel of land which extends from one street to another
having a frontage on both streets.
Any ditch, gutter, pipe, culvert, storm sewer or other structure
designed, intended, constructed or used 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.
A plan showing all proposed and existing facilities to collect
and convey surface drainage, described by grades, contours and topography.
Any structure or part thereof designed to be occupied as
living quarters as a single housekeeping unit, including mobile homes,
cottages or other such facilities, whether or not currently occupied
or intended to be occupied on a permanent or temporary basis.
A right-of-way through a parcel of land granted by the owner(s)
for limited, generally public or quasi-public purposes.
A device used to slow the velocity of stormwater particularly
at points of concentrated discharge such as pipe outlets.
A registered engineer designated by the Borough to perform
duties as required by this chapter on behalf of the Borough and the
Borough Planning Commission.
Engineering criteria of the Borough of Old Forge and, absent
such criteria, the applicable standards of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
An individual licensed and registered as a professional engineer
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The removal of soil and other surface materials by the action
of natural elements.
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 condition
resulting therefrom.
The difference in elevation between a point
on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation
on the final grade.
The material used to make a fill.
The temporary condition of partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland waters and/or
the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from
any source.
The area adjacent to a watercourse or other water body which
is periodically or likely to be flooded.
The difference between the design flow elevation in the emergency
spillway and the top of the settled embankment.
Those features, natural or man-made, inherent in the crust
of the earth so as to cause landslides, soil slump, ground subsidence,
rock failure, mud avalanche and similar undesirable conditions.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Old Forge, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A natural or man-made drainageway of parabolic or trapezoidal
cross section shaped to required dimensions and vegetated for safe
disposal of runoff. (Also known as a "swale.")
A street parallel and adjacent to a property line having
a lesser right-of-way width than required for satisfactory improvement
and use of the street.
As referred to in this chapter, one having an average cross-slope
of more than 10%.
A retention or detention pond.
Same as "mobile home."
Those that do not absorb rain or runoff. All buildings, parking
areas, driveways, roads, sidewalks and any areas in concrete and asphalt
shall be considered impervious surfaces within this definition. In
addition, other areas determined by the Borough Engineer to be impervious
within the meaning of this definition will also be classed as impervious
surfaces.
Any physical additions and/or changes to land, whether necessary
or intended to enhance the usefulness and/or desirableness of a lot
or lots or not.
Includes the following:
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, apartments, building groups,
including malls, or other features.
A subdivision of land.
The development of a mobile home park.
For the purpose of this chapter, however, in
further deciding what is "land development," the following types of
transactions are exempt under this chapter:
The conversion of an existing single-family
detached dwelling or single-family semidetached dwelling into not
more than two residential units, unless such units are intended to
be a condominium.
The addition of an accessory building on a lot
or lots subordinate to an existing principal building, where the use
of the principal building is residential and where the use of the
proposed accessory building is also residential and no other use,
and the floor area of the proposed accessory building is less than
50% of the floor area of the principal building.
The addition or conversion of buildings or rides
within the confines of an enterprise which would be considered an
amusement park. This exclusion shall not apply to newly acquired acreage
by an amusement park until initial plans for the new and/or expanded
area have been approved by 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 or
she is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person, partnership, corporation or association having a
proprietary interest in land.
A professional landscape architect licensed by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law, having frontage upon a public
right-of-way or a right-of-way proposed for public dedication and
to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
The area contained within the property line of a lot or the
allocation of land, excluding space within any street right-of-way
but including the area of any easement.
FRONT LOT LINEThat boundary of a lot which is along an existing or proposed right-of-way and the lesser dimension of two lot boundaries along rights-of-way in the case of corner lots.
REAR LOT LINEThat boundary of a lot most distant from and most nearly parallel to the front lot line.
SIDE LOT LINEAny boundary of a lot not a front or rear lot line.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
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 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 under single ownership
which have been so designated and improved that they contain two or
more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
A structure housing or designed to house three or more households
of one or more persons or any group living facility.
The (or of the) Borough of Old Forge, Pennsylvania. Where
the text so indicates, the term "municipality" shall also refer to
the totality of the combined actions of the Borough Planning Commission
and the local governing body, the Borough Council of the Borough of
Old Forge, as called for and outlined in this chapter, in reviewing
and acting upon applications submitted or other actions taken by developers
that fall under the purview of this chapter.
Notice of a public hearing published once each week for two
successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation serving the
municipality. 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 advertisement shall be not more than 30 days and the second
shall not be less than seven days before the date of the hearing.
A map officially adopted by ordinance of the Borough consisting
of surveys of the exact locations of the lines of existing and proposed
public streets, watercourses and public grounds, including widenings,
narrowings, extensions, diminutions, openings or closings of the same
for the whole of the Borough.
The control of runoff to allow water falling on a given site
to be absorbed or retained on site to the extent that, after development,
the peak rate of discharge leaving the site does not exceed the rate
prior to development.
A right-of-way or easement for pedestrian travel across or
within a block.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Adopted as Act 247 of 1968,[3] this Act enables municipalities to plan for and regulate
community development with subdivision and land development ordinances.
The code also contains guidelines for subdivision and land development
ordinance content. For the purpose of this chapter, the code is referred
to as "Act 247" and is intended to include the current code and any
further amendments thereto.
An area of land controlled by a landowner to be developed as a single entity for a number of dwelling units or combination of residential and nonresidential uses, the development plan for which does not correspond in lot size, bulk, type of dwelling or use, density or intensity, lot coverage and required open space to the regulations established in any one district created, from time to time, under the provisions of Chapter 350, Zoning.
The Old Forge Borough Planning Commission.
An urban planner certified by the American Institute of Certified
Planners (AICP), designated by the Borough to perform duties as required
by this chapter on behalf of the Borough and the Borough Planning
Commission.
An exact copy of the approved final plat reproducible at
standard size and prepared for necessary signatures and recording
with the Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final. The terms "plat" and "plan" are used through
this chapter interchangeably.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development
plan prepared for recording as required by statute, including plans
and support data, to define property rights, proposed streets and
other improvements and which may include all or part of the area included
in the approved preliminary plan for the area covered by the final
plan.
A final plat.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan,
including plans and support data, to define property rights, proposed
streets and other improvements presented for purposes of securing
preliminary approval of a subdivision or land development.
An informal plan indicating existing features of a tract
and the surrounding area and outlining the general layout of a proposed
subdivision or land development presented for discussion purposes
only and not to be presented for approval. For a major subdivision,
the voluntary submission of a sketch plan by an applicant, no matter
how detailed, is not considered to be the submission of the required
preliminary plan.
The general citizenry and/or the specific residents of a
specific subdivision.
Includes land owned by the Borough or other governmental
agency. Uses of such land may include, but are not limited to:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Borough
Council or the 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 October
15, 1998, P.L. 729, No. 93 (65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701 et seq.),
known as the "Sunshine Act."[4]
Water approved for drinking purposes and other public use
by PennDEP, supplied through approved piping facilities to places
of private and public use and being under the jurisdiction of one
or more of the following: the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission,
the Borough of Old Forge, a municipal water authority or other approved
water company.
Any method, process or substance whose supply is rejuvenated
through natural processes and, subject to those natural processes,
remains relatively constant, including but not limited to biomass
conversion, geothermal energy, solar and wind energy and hydroelectric
energy, and excluding those sources of energy used in the fission
and fusion processes.
Any subdivision or transfer of land, laid out on a plan,
whether or not approved previously, which changes or proposes to change
property lines and/or public rights-of-way not in strict accordance
with the approved plan or the recorded plat.
A pond, swale or other structure designed to contain a permanent
pool of water, such as the runoff from a given storm event.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated for use
as a street, alley, other means of travel or for any public purpose.
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 pipe for conveying sewage and which excludes stormwater,
surface water and groundwater.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving wind, water or gravity. Once this matter is
deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as "sediment."
A temporary dam or barrier constructed across a waterway
or at other suitable locations to intercept the runoff and to trap
and retain the sediment.
Any sewer, sewage system, sewage treatment works or part
thereof designed, intended, constructed or used for the collection,
treatment or disposal of liquid waste, including industrial waste.
The improved portion of a street immediately adjoining the
travel way for parking and for access to abutting properties.
The length of street, measured along the center line, which
is continuously visible from any point four and 1/2 feet above the
center line to an object four inches above the road surface.
Physical additions or changes to the land that may be necessary
to provide usable and desirable lots, including but not limited to
utilities, streets, curbing, sidewalks, streetlights, sanitary sewers
and stormwater facilities.
Natural or mechanical treatment of a mass of soil or ground
area to increase or maintain its stability or otherwise improve its
engineering properties and resistance to erosion.
A retention or detention structure.
A pipe for conveying rainwater, surface water, condensate,
cooling water and similar liquid waste, exclusive of sewage.
The control of runoff to allow water falling on a given site
to be absorbed or retained on site to the extent that, after development,
the peak rate of discharge leaving the site does not exceed the rate
prior to development.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, improved
or unimproved, used or intended for use as a means of vehicular and
pedestrian circulation, whether public or private. The word "street"
includes a street, thoroughfare, avenue, boulevard, court, expressway,
freeway, parkway, highway, road, lane, bikeway, pedestrianway, viaduct
and alley.
MAJOR TRAFFIC STREETSThose serving large volumes (more than 3,000 average daily traffic) of comparatively high-speed traffic. These include facilities classified as arterial streets and highways (primary and secondary) by PennDOT.
COLLECTOR STREETSThose which carry an average daily traffic volume of between 500 and 3,000 vehicles, primarily between local streets and the system of major traffic streets and highways.
MINOR (OR LOCAL) STREETSThose intended primarily to serve local needs and to provide access to abutting properties. These include culs-de-sac and marginal access streets (neighborhood feeder streets) parallel to major traffic streets which provide means for local traffic to reach access points on such arterial streets as well as access to abutting properties. Local streets will have an average daily traffic count of fewer than 500 vehicles.
A strip of private land providing access to abutting properties
and not offered for dedication or accepted for municipal ownership
and maintenance.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
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 division or redivision of a lot, tract or
parcel of land by any means into two or more 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. The term "subdivision"
shall also mean the following:
Any land development which involves installation
of sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water mains, gas mains or pipes
or other facilities.
Any land development involving two or more principal
structures or involving a shopping center, a multiple dwelling or
the like which requires the installation of vehicular rights-of-way,
streets and/or alleys, even though the vehicular rights-of-way, streets
and/or alleys may not be dedicated to public use and the parcel may
not be divided for purposes of conveyance, transfer or sale.
The term "subdivision" includes resubdivision
and, as appropriate in this chapter, shall refer to the process of
subdividing the land or to the land subdivided.
Exclusions. In further deciding what is a "subdivision,"
the following types of transactions shall be excluded, it being the
intent of this definition that the following types of transactions
are exemptions under the subdivision aspects of this chapter but are
not exempt under the land development aspects of this chapter:
Any sale or other transfer of bulk property,
which, for the purposes of this chapter, shall be defined as any tract
of two acres or more not involving any construction. The granting
of a right-of-way for access shall not be deemed to involve any construction.
Any division of property handed down by court
action.
The sale, exchange or other transfer of parcels
between adjoining lot owners where it does not create additional building
sites or lots or reduce existing lots to a lesser width or area than
required by Borough ordinance.
Where, in the judgment of the Municipal Engineer, at least
90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted) of those improvements required as a condition
for final approval have been completed in accordance with the approved
plan, so that the project will be able to be used, occupied or operated
for its intended use.
An individual licensed and registered as a professional land
surveyor by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
See "grassed waterway."
The attaching of development rights to specified lands which
are desired by the Borough to be kept undeveloped but permitting those
rights to be transferred from those lands so that the development
potential which they represent may occur on other lands within the
Borough where more intensive development is deemed by the Borough
to be appropriate.
Land in parcels sufficiently large for future subdivision
which is presently in agricultural use or woodland or other natural
state.
Shopping and commercial developments designed as one unit
having off-street parking facilities and controlled circulation.
A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook or creek
or a channel or ditch for the collection and conveyance of water,
whether natural or man-made.
An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater
and surface water resources within the Borough of Old Forge.
A strip of land which has been dedicated legally for use
by pedestrians and/or vehicles.
Any appropriate ordinance officially adopted by the Borough
of Old Forge as a zoning ordinance, with any and all amendments thereto.[5]
Definitions of all other terms, i.e., terms not defined herein, shall be as included within the latest edition of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Any term not defined in § 305-7 or within the latest edition of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary shall be determined by the municipality, taken from any other appropriate source. After the application of any such definitions, they shall become part of this article and may not be changed without amending this chapter.
