Township of Upper Moreland, PA Article II Driveway Permits

[Adopted as Title 8, Ch. 3, of the 1977 Code[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This article was adopted 2-9-1971 by Ord. No. 703 and amended 5-20-1987 by Ord. No. 1132; 9-6-1988 by Ord. No. 1165; 10-3-1988 by Ord. No. 1168 and 5-1-1989 by Ord. No. 1185.

§ 295-10 Permit required.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm, association or corporation to build or maintain a driveway across any curb or sidewalk along a public highway without first obtaining from the Upper Moreland Township Board of Commissioners a permit therefor before such work is begun. The permit shall be in force for the period of 90 days from its date.

§ 295-11 Permit application.

Before such permit is issued and said work begun, a written application on a blank form, to be furnished for that purpose by the said Board of Township Commissioners, must be filed with the Department of Highways, setting forth the purpose for which the said highway, road, street, avenue, public lane, public alley, sidewalk or footpath is to be opened, excavated or occupied and the location of the said proposed work and, in such application, the applicant shall agree to assume all liability for all or any damages to person or property accruing to the public or to the said Township which may or might result from the opening, excavating or occupying of said highway, road, street, avenue, public lane, public alley, sidewalk or footpath. All placements within the cartway or the sidewalk area shall be subject to the right of the Township to thereafter require the same to be relocated.

§ 295-12 Fees.

Before the issuance of a permit the applicant shall make payment to the Township of the fees required by the fee schedule adopted by the Board of Commissioners and found in Chapter 140, Fees, Rates and Permits, § 140-27, of the Upper Moreland Township Code.

§ 295-13 Measurement.

All measurements required to be made in applying the above fees shall be made by the Highway Department and should include any enlargement of openings which may be required to be made as an incident of the repair of such paving.

§ 295-14 Maximum driveway size.

A. No driveway constructed after the date of this article shall have a width in excess of 35 feet at the outer or street edge of the sidewalk and shall be constructed, in the case of a single- or two-family dwelling, in conformity with the standards as set forth in the land development and subdivision regulations for driveways and, for all other uses, in conformity with standards set forth in Article IV, Construction Standards for Driveways and Parking Areas for Commercial, Industrial and Multifamily Uses. No curbing shall be cut beyond the point of curb or tangent in a radius corner, and no driveway apron shall extend into the gutter area or beyond the face of the curb.

B. Where two or more driveways are constructed for the same property, a safety island shall be provided between such driveways of not less than 10 feet in width, measured at the outer or street edge of the sidewalk.

C. Where any driveway exists with a width that exceeds the maximum width permitted in Subsection A above, it may be permitted to be maintained, and in the event of a reconstruction of the street onto which the driveway exits, it may be reconstructed to the same width as previously existed unless the reconstruction to that width would create or continue a hazard to persons or property, in which case the driveway shall be reconstructed to a width not greater than permitted under Subsection A above.

§ 295-15 Driveway construction standards.

The following standards shall apply to the construction or reconstruction of all driveways after the effective date of this article for residential dwellings, except for those dwellings provided for in Article IV, Construction Standards for Driveways and Parking Areas for Commercial, Industrial and Multifamily Uses, of this chapter. Where the provisions of Chapter 300, Subdivision and Land Development, of this Code refer to the "standards" as applicable to driveways with respect to single-family dwellings, that reference shall be deemed to refer to this § 295-15.

A. Except as otherwise required by Chapter 350, Zoning, of this Code, every residential dwelling unit shall be provided with a minimum of two off-street parking spaces of at least nine feet in width and 18 feet in depth. Such parking spaces shall be constructed of paving as herein provided or shall be provided in a garage connected to a street by a driveway constructed in accordance with the provisions hereof.

B. No driveway shall be less than nine feet in width at any point.

C. Driveways shall be located no less than 40 feet from a street intersection and shall provide reasonable sight distance at intersections with streets. Driveways shall be located so as not to cause the following:

(1) Interference to the traveling public;

(2) A hazard to the free movement of normal highway traffic;

(3) Areas of undue traffic congestion on the highway; or

(4) Interference with drainage of the highway.

D. Material standards. Driveways and parking areas shall be constructed of either asphalt or reinforced concrete on an approved firm subgrade. The paving shall be constructed both as to materials and workmanship in accordance with the specifications and standards established by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, now in force or hereafter revised, except as expressly set forth herein:

(1) Asphalt. A driveway or parking area shall have a thickness of six inches, consisting of a base course of 2A modified stone with a compacted thickness of four inches and a surface of ID-2A wearing course with a compacted thickness of two inches.

(2) Concrete. A driveway or parking area shall have a minimum thickness of six inches of three-thousand-pounds-per-square-inch concrete reinforced with six-inch by six-inch wire mesh, No. 9 wire.

(3) Sidewalks crossing a driveway and driveway aprons shall be constructed of reinforced concrete as set forth in Subsection D(2) above, with a one-half-inch premolded expansion joint placed where the sidewalk or driveway apron abuts a concrete curb.

E. Provisions for drainage and stormwater runoff shall be approved by the Township Engineer.

F. No driveway shall be constructed closer than three feet to a property line of the lot, except in the R-4 Residential District, where a driveway may be located no closer than one foot to the property line of the lot. Lots with a frontage of 100 feet or less shall have only one curb cut for a driveway, and any one property may not have more than two curb cuts, except where a frontage exceeds 300 feet or where internal vehicular patterns require additional curb cuts.

G. The Board of Commissioners shall be authorized to permit deviations where they determine that the literal application of any of these standards would result in undue hardship or be unnecessary.

§ 295-16 Violations and penalties.

Any owner, person, firm, association or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this article or who shall fail to comply with the conditions or requirements of any permit granted in accordance with the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to pay a fine or not less than $50 nor more than $600 for each and every offense. A new and separate offense shall be deemed to have been committed for each day that said violation exists. All fines imposed by the article are recoverable by summary proceedings before any magisterial district judge in the Township of Upper Moreland and, upon recovery thereof, all such fines are to be paid into the treasury of the Township. In default of the payment of any fine imposed by any magisterial district judge under the provisions of this article, the person or persons so offending may be committed to the jail, workhouse or other penal institution of Montgomery County for a period not exceeding 30 days.