This chapter shall be considered to set forth
the minimum requirements for the protection of the public health,
safety, comfort, property or general welfare, pursuant to the authority
of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act No. 247, 1968
Sessions, as amended,[1] or such statutes hereinafter in effect, and shall be construed
most favorably to the Borough as encouraging standards of planning
and development exceeding these basic and minimum regulations.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq.
The Old Forge Borough Planning Commission and
the Old Forge Borough Council shall be charged with the responsibility
for the administration of the provisions of this chapter as herein
provided, including the exercise by the Borough Council of the municipal
authority to approve or reject any and all subdivision and land development
plans and to enforce the provisions of this chapter on behalf of the
Borough of Old Forge. The Borough Council also reserves, with respect
to this chapter, the authority to negotiate, approve, accept, hold
and release security paid by developers in lieu of the completion
of required improvements.
A.
Initiation of action. In addition to other remedies
provided herein, the municipality may, on behalf of the Borough, institute
and maintain appropriate actions by law or in equity to restrain,
correct or abate violations, to prevent unlawful construction, to
recover damages and to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure
or premises. The description by metes and bounds in the instrument
of transfer or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring
shall not exempt the seller or transferor from such penalties or from
the remedies herein provided.
B.
Refusal to issue permits. The municipality may refuse
to issue (or order municipal refusal to issue) any permit or grant
any approval necessary to further improve or develop any real property
which has been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision
of real property in violation of this chapter. This authority to deny
such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
(1)
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
(2)
The vendee or lessee of the owner of record at the
time of such violation, without regard as to whether such vendee or
lessee had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(3)
The current owner of record who acquired the property
subsequent to the time of violation, without regard as to whether
such current owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(4)
The vendee or lessee of the current owner of record
who acquired the property subsequent to the time of violation, without
regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive
knowledge of the violation.
C.
Compliance with prior conditions. As an additional
condition for issuance of a permit or the granting of an approval
to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee for the development
of any such real property, the municipality may require compliance
with the conditions that would have been applicable to the property
at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such real property.
A.
Modification standards. The provisions of this chapter
are intended as minimum standards for the protection of the public
health, safety and welfare of the residents and inhabitants of Lackawanna
County. The municipality may grant a modification of the requirements
of one or more provisions of this chapter if the municipality concludes
that the literal enforcement will exact undue hardship because of
peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question, provided that
such modifications will not be contrary to the public interest and
that the purpose and intent of this chapter is observed.
B.
Modification procedures. All requests for a modification
shall be in writing to the municipality and shall accompany and be
part of the application for development. The request shall state in
full the grounds and facts of unreasonableness or hardship on which
the request is based, the provision or provisions of this chapter
involved and the minimum modification necessary.
C.
Modification review and approval. All such modification
requests shall be approved or disapproved by the municipality. Any
modification or exception granted and the full particulars for such
grant shall be recorded in the minutes of the Commission. A statement
of modification or exception showing the date such grant was made
shall be attached to all copies of the final plan.
A subdivider or developer aggrieved by any action
of the municipality regarding refusal to approve a subdivision or
land development plan may, within 30 days of such refusal, appeal
to the Common Pleas Court of Lackawanna County. Such an appeal, as
well as any other appeals by aggrieved parties or other landowners,
shall be subject to the appeal procedures outlined in Article X-A
of Act 247.[2]
A.
General rules on fees.
(1)
No plat or site plan shall be signed, nor shall any
zoning permits, building permits, certificates of occupancy or any
other types of permits be issued, with respect to any approved application
for development until all bills for reimbursable services have been
received by the municipality from professional personnel rendering
services in connection with such application and payment has been
approved by the municipality, unless the applicant shall have deposited
with the Borough Secretary an amount agreed upon by the applicant
and the municipality as likely to be sufficient to cover all reimbursable
items, and upon posting said deposit with the Borough Secretary or
payment of said approved bills for reimbursable services, the appropriate
maps or permits may be signed and released or issued to the developer.
(2)
If the amount of the deposit exceeds the actual cost
as approved for payment by the municipality, the developer shall be
entitled to a return of the excess deposit, together with such interest
as allowed by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247.[1] But if the charges submitted and approved by the municipality
exceed the amount of the deposit, the developer shall be liable for
payment of such deficiency.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq.
(3)
No professional personnel submitting charges to the
Borough for any of the services referred to this section shall charge
for any of the services contemplated by this section at any higher
rate or in any different manner than would normally be charged the
municipality for similar work as ascertained by the professional's
contract of employment with the Borough or by provisions of a municipal
salary ordinance.
(4)
Payment of any bill rendered by a professional to
the municipality with respect to any service for which the Borough
is entitled to reimbursement under this chapter shall in no way be
contingent upon receipt of reimbursement by the developer, nor shall
any payment to a professional be delayed pending reimbursement from
a developer.
(5)
Deposits received from any developer pursuant to this
section shall be deposited in a banking institution or savings-and-loan
association in this state insured by an agency of the federal government
or in any other fund or depository on time or savings deposits. The
municipality shall notify the applicant, in writing, of the name and
address of the institution or depository in which the deposit is made
and the amount of the deposit.
(6)
The municipality shall not be required to refund an
amount of interest paid on a deposit which does not exceed $100 for
the year. If the amount of interest exceeds $100, that entire amount
shall belong to the applicant and shall be refunded to him or her
by the municipality annually or at the time the deposit is repaid
or applied to the purposes for which it was deposited, as the case
may be, except that the municipality may retain for administrative
expenses a sum equivalent to no more than 33 1/3% of that entire
amount, which shall be in lieu of all other administrative and custodial
expenses.
B.
Fee procedures.
(1)
Each subdivision or land development plan application
shall be accompanied by the required review and recording fees and
Engineer's review and inspection fee deposit, as established herein.
Fees shall be payable at the time of plan submission (unless otherwise
noted herein), and plan processing, approval and recording shall not
be completed until all required fees are paid.
(2)
There shall be no refund or credit of fees or a portion
of any fee should the subdivider or developer withdraw the plan during
the review process or fail to receive plan approval.
(3)
The fee schedule called for in this section shall
be established and may be amended from time to time by adoption of
a resolution by the Old Forge Borough Council setting forth such fees.
C.
Escrow deposits to be paid in addition to fees.
(1)
In addition to municipality review and processing
fees, an applicant shall be responsible to reimburse the Borough for:
(a)
All expenses of professional personnel incurred
and paid to process an application for development before the municipality,
such as, but not limited to:
[1]
Charges for reviews by professional personnel
of applications and accompanying documents, including field inspection
of project sites and site conditions.
[2]
Issuance of reports by professional personnel
to the Planning Commission and/or the Borough Council setting forth
recommendations resulting from the review of any document submitted
by the applicant.
[3]
Charges for any telephone conference or meeting
requested or initiated by the applicant, his or her attorney or any
of the applicant's experts.
[4]
Review of additional documents submitted by
an applicant after the submission of a completed application and issuance
of reports relating thereto.
[5]
Review or preparation of easements, developer's
agreements, deeds or the like.
[6]
On-site inspection of any and all project improvements
required to affirm that the developer has complied will the terms
of an approved development plan, preliminary or final.
[7]
Preparation for and attendance at special meetings.
(b)
The cost of expert advice or testimony obtained
by the Borough for the purpose of corroborating testimony of the applicant's
experts, provided that the municipal agency gives prior notice to
the applicant of its intention to obtain such additional expert advice
or testimony and affords an applicant an opportunity to be heard as
to the necessity for such additional devices or testimony and definition
of the limitation on the nature and extent thereof.
(2)
No applicant shall be responsible to reimburse the
Borough for any of the following:
(a)
Attendance by the municipality's professional
personnel at any regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission
or Borough Council; provided, however, that the municipality shall
be entitled to be reimbursed for attendance of its professional personnel
at special meetings of a municipal agency which were requested to
be called by the applicant for the applicant's convenience.
(b)
The preparation of a resolution or memorializing
resolution setting forth the findings and conclusions of the municipal
agency with respect to an application.
(3)
The term "professional personnel" or "professional
services," as used herein, shall include the services of a duly licensed
engineer, surveyor, planner, attorney, realtor, appraiser or other
expert who would provide professional services to ensure an application
meets all performance standards set forth in this chapter and any
other experts whose testimony relates to or rebuts a subject testified
to by the applicant's expert.
D.
Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission plan
review fee. The Borough shall collect and transmit any and all such
plan review fees required by the Lackawanna County Regional Planning
Commission. Failure or refusal by a developer to pay such a fee shall
constitute grounds for declaring any application for plan approval
to be incomplete. Alternatively, developers who submit their plans
to the County Planning Commission independently shall also assume
responsibility for the payment of such fees as the County Planning
Commission shall require.
A.
Fines. Any person, partnership or corporation who
or which has violated the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being
found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced
by the municipality, pay a judgment of not more than $500, plus all
court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Borough
as a result thereof.
B.
Jurisdiction. Magisterial District Judges shall have
initial jurisdiction in proceedings brought by the municipality in
accordance with this section. No judgment shall commence or be imposed,
levied or be payable until the date of the determination of a violation
by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor
timely appeals the judgment, the municipality may enforce the judgment
on behalf of the Borough pursuant to the applicable rules of civil
procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a
separate violation, unless the Magisterial District Judge determining
that there has been a violation further determines that there was
a good faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating
the chapter to have believed that there was no violation, in which
event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until
the fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation
by the Magisterial District Judge, and thereafter each day that a
violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.
A.
Amendments to this chapter may be initiated by the
Borough Planning Commission or the Old Forge Borough Council from
time to time in accordance with the requirements and procedures set
forth in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
B.
If the amendments are initiated by the Old Forge Borough
Council, the proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to
the Borough Planning Commission for review and comment at least 30
days prior to a public hearing. Before enactment of a proposed amendment
or amendments, the Old Forge Borough Council shall hold a public hearing
thereon pursuant to public notice.
The modification or repeal of any prior ordinance,
resolution or regulation by this chapter shall not annul or otherwise
relieve any party from any permit issued, condition imposed, approval
granted, approval denied, order issued or violation, penalty or other
liability incurred pursuant to such affected ordinance, resolution
or regulation.
The approval of a subdivision and/or land development
plan or of any improvement installed shall not constitute a representation,
guaranty or warranty of any kind or nature by the municipality or
any official, employee or appointee thereof of the safety of any land,
improvement, property or use from any cause whatsoever and shall create
no liability upon or a cause of action against the municipality or
such official, employee or appointee for any damage that may result
pursuant thereto.
The municipality, including both the Borough
Council and the Borough Planning Commission, shall keep a complete
record of all of its findings, decisions and recommendations relative
to all applications for approval of subdivision and land development
plans filed with the municipality for its review.
This chapter shall be in full force and effect
from and after its date of passage. This chapter, however, shall have
no effect on written agreements to sell, options and/or written offers
to purchase pending at the time of public notice of the introduction
and intended passage of this chapter, provided that said written agreements
shall be registered with the Borough Manager within 60 days of the
date of passage of this chapter.
