[Ord. 101, 9/14/1993, § 201; as amended by Ord.
160, 2/14/2006]
1.
Tense, Gender and Number. Words used in the present tense include
the future; words in the masculine gender include the feminine and
the neuter; the singular number includes the plural and the plural
the singular.
2.
General Terms. The word "shall" or "must" is always mandatory; the
word "may" is permissive. The words "used for" includes "designed
for," "arranged for," "intended for," "maintained for," or "occupied
for." The word "building" includes "structure" and shall be construed
as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof." The word "person"
includes "individual," "profit or nonprofit organization," "partnership,"
"company," "incorporated association" or other similar entities.
3.
ALLEY
APPLICANT
APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK
BUILDING
CARTWAY
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
CROSSWALK
CURB CUT
DEVELOPER
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
DRIVEWAY
DWELLING
EASEMENT, UTILITY
ENGINEER
ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS
EROSION
EXCAVATION
FILL
FINANCIAL SECURITY
FLOOD, FLOODPLAIN, ETC.
GOVERNING BODY
IMPROVEMENTS
LAND DEVELOPMENT
LANDOWNER
LANDSCAPING
LAND SURVEYING
LOT
LOT AREA
LOT WIDTH
MEDIATION
MUNICIPALITY
NURSING HOME
OPEN SPACE
PLAN
A.
B.
C.
PLANNING COMMISSION
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS
PUBLIC NOTICE
REVERSE FRONTAGE LOT
RIGHT-OF-WAY
RUNOFF
SEDIMENTATION
SERVICE DRIVE
SETBACK LINE
SIGHT DISTANCE
SLOPE
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN
STREET
A.
B.
STRUCTURE
SUBDIVIDER
SUBDIVISION
A.
B.
SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETED
SURVEYOR
TOPSOIL
TOWNSHIP ENGINEER
TRANSFERABLE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
UNDEVELOPED LAND
WATERCOURSE
Terms, Phrases and Words Not Defined. When terms, phrases or words are not defined, they shall have their ordinarily accepted meanings or such as the context may imply. Also, definitions, as contained in the Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] and Act 170 of 1988, as amended, shall apply; however, if there is a conflict in definitions between amendments to Act 170, this Chapter or the Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], the more restrictive provisions in question shall apply.
A minor right-of-way primarily for service access to the
back or sides of properties otherwise abutting on a street.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development including his heirs, successors,
assigns and agents.
Every application, whether preliminary or final, required
to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or development
including, but not limited to, an application for a building permit,
for the approval of a development plan or subdivision plan.
An area bounded by streets.
Any combination of materials forming any structure which
is erected on the ground and permanently affixed thereto, designed,
intended or arranged for the housing, shelter, enclosure or structural
support of persons, animals or property of any kind.
The portion of a street or alley right-of-way which is improved,
designated or intended for vehicular use.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined
by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection
of the street center lines.
The person designated by the Board of Supervisors to enforce
the ordinances of Ralpho Township.
A publicly or privately owned right-of-way for pedestrian
use extending from a street into a block or across a block to another
street.
Any point of vehicular access from a street with curbing
to a lot.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with the
permission of such landowner, who causes to be made a subdivision
of land or a land development.
The provisions for the creation of land development, including
a plat or 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, stormwater management and erosion and
sediment control. The phrase "provisions of the development plan"
when used in these regulations shall mean "the written and graphic
materials referred to in this definition."
A private minor vehicular access serving four lots or less
between a parking area within a lot (or lots) and a public street
or right-of-way.
A building designed for residential purposes and used as
living quarters for one or more persons.
A right-of-way granted for the limited use of land for public
or quasi-public purposes.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the Township Engineer.
The requirements of the Township regulating the installation
of any required improvement or for any facility installed by any owner,
subject to public use.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed. It shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
All "filling" or constructing an embankment on any land shall
be performed using only "inorganic" material, except for topsoil.
Material associated with anthracite or bituminous coal mining shall
not be permitted. A permit for the placement or removal of material
from any lot may require a sedimentation and erosion control plan
to be approved by the Northumberland County Soil Conservation District.
Federal or Commonwealth chartered lending institution irrevocable
letters of credit and restrictive or escrow accounts in such lending
institutions or such other types of financial security as the Supervisors
of Ralpho Township may approve.
See Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] for all definitions and requirements related to floodplain management.
The Ralpho Township Board of Supervisors.
Those physical additions and changes to the land that may
be necessary to produce usable and desirable lots.
Any of the following activities: (1) the improvement of one
lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for
any purpose involving: (i) 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 (ii) the division or allocation of land
or space, whether initially or cumulatively, between or among two
or more existing prospective occupants by means of, or for the purpose
of streets, common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building groups
or other features. (2) A subdivision of land. (3) Development in accordance
with § 503(1.1) of the Municipalities Planning Code. All
submission, procedural and improvements, unless otherwise noted.
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 conditions), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land, shall be deemed
to be a landowner for the purpose of this Chapter.
Any combination of deciduous trees, groundcovers, evergreens,
shrubs, vines, flowers, rocks, gravel, earth mounds, berms, walls,
fences, screens, sculptures, fountains, sidewalk furniture or other
approved materials used to improve and beautify.
The practice of that branch of the profession of engineering
which involves the location, relocation, establishment, reestablishment
or retracement of any property line or boundary of any parcel of land
or any road right-of-way, easement or alignment; the use of the principles
of land surveying, determination of the position of any monument or
reference point which marks a property line boundary, or corner setting,
resetting or replacing any such monument or individual point including
the writing of deed descriptions.
A tract or parcel of land, regardless of size, held in single
or joint ownership, not necessarily a lot or lots shown on a duly
recorded map, which is occupied or capable of being occupied by buildings,
structures and accessory buildings, including such open spaces as
are arranged, designed or required. The term lot shall also mean parcel,
plot site or any similar term.
The area of land contained within the limits of the property
lines bounding that area. Any portion of a lot included in a street
right-of-way shall not be included in calculating lot area.
See Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] definition.
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 create and consider acceptable.
The Ralpho Township Board of Supervisors.
Any structure where more than four unrelated persons are
residing and receiving care for medical, nursing, physical, emotional,
mental or social problems or reasons, and where the care givers are
being offered remuneration or compensation of any kind.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of the planned residential development,
not including streets, off-street parking area and areas set aside
for public facilities.
A map of a subdivision or land development.
PLAN, FINALA complete and exact subdivision plan prepared for official recording as required by statute, substantially conforming to previously approved preliminary plan.
PLAN, PRELIMINARYA subdivision plan indicating the proposed layouts of a subdivision as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of the final plan.
PLAN, SKETCHAn informal plan, not necessarily to scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of and improvements to a proposed subdivision or development, prepared for the purpose of consultation with the Ralpho Township Planning Commission.
The Ralpho Township Planning Commission created by ordinance
of the Board of Supervisors to coordinate and review applications
for subdivision and land development approvals.
Persons who provide expert or professional advice, including
but not limited to architects, attorneys, certified public accountants,
engineers, geologists, hydrologists, land surveyors, landscape architects
or planners.
Notice published as prescribed by Act 170 of 1988, as amended,
or in the absence of any requirements by said Act, public notice shall
be provided as prescribed in the Second Class Township Code.
(Also known as a "through lot") a lot with both front and
rear street frontage.
Any strip or area of land, including surface, overhead and
underground space, which is granted for the construction, maintenance
or use as a street, utility or drainage easement or crosswalk.
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.
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 private vehicular access, improved to Township standards,
for the purpose of providing access to commercial, industrial and
multifamily residential land developments. It is not a "driveway."
A line, established by the Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], within a property, defining the distance between any building or structure or portion thereof to be erected or altered, and an adjacent right-of-way or lot line. Such line shall be measured at right angles from the street right-of-way line and shall be parallel to the said right-of-way line.
The length of street visible to the driver of a passenger
vehicle at any given point on the street, when the view is unobstructed
by traffic, as defined by Title 67, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
regulations.
The face of an embankment or cut sections; any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
A plan and an accompanying report and calculations representing
all existing and proposed hydrologic and hydraulic site conditions
including design of control facilities.
For the purposes of this Chapter, the words "street," "avenue,"
"boulevard," "road," "highway," "freeway," "parkway," "lane," "alley,"
"viaduct," and any other ways used, or intended to be used, by vehicular
traffic or pedestrians serving more than four lots. Streets are further
classified according to the functions they perform.
RESIDENTIAL ACCESS STREETA street that provides access to abutting properties designed to carry no more traffic than that which is generated on the street itself. No section of the street shall carry an A.D.T. volume greater than 200. Each half of a loop street may be regarded as a single residential access street and the total calculated A.D.T. volume on a loop street shall not exceed 400. These streets may intersect or take access from any street type. Both ends of a loop street, however, must intersect the same collecting street and be laid out to discourage through traffic.
RESIDENTIAL SUBCOLLECTOR STREETA street that provides access to abutting properties and which may also conduct traffic from residential access streets that intersect it. Each residential subcollector street shall be designed so that no section of it will convey an A.D.T. greater than 500. Each half of a loop subcollector street may be regarded as a single subcollector and the total A.D.T. conveyed on a loop subcollector shall not exceed 1,000. Residential subcollector street shall be designed to exclude all external through traffic which has neither origin nor destination on the subcollector or its tributary residential access streets.
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Higher order streets are not defined in this Chapter. Higher
order streets shall be classified and defined as stated in "A Policy
on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets," American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials, latest edition, which
is incorporated herein by reference.
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Any material or combination of materials which are constructed
or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground, or attached
to something located on the ground including, but not limited to,
carports, porches, swimming pools, etc.
(See "DEVELOPER") — The owner or authorized agent of
the owner of a lot, tract, or parcel of land to subdivided for sale
or development under the terms of this Chapter.
(See "LAND DEVELOPMENT") — The division or redivision
of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two 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,
transfer of ownership or building or lot development; provided, however,
that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into
parcels of not more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or
easement of access or residential dwellings shall be exempted. For
the purpose of this definition, the residue lot remaining after subdivision
is hereby defined as a "lot."
SUBDIVISION, MAJORAny subdivision that is not a minor subdivision.
SUBDIVISION, MINORA division or redivision, as defined in "subdivision" above, provided that the total lots, tracts or parcels in the subdivision shall not exceed five and further provided that each lot, tract or parcel must abut an existing dedicated public street and meet other provisions of this Chapter and the dimensional and other requirements of the Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27].
Where in the judgment of the Township Engineer, at least
90%, (based on the costs of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted) of those improvements required as a condition
of final approval has 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 to practice land surveying by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Surface soils and subsurface soils which presumably are fertile
soils and soil material ordinarily rich in organic matter of humus
debris.
A registered (licensed) professional engineer in the State
of Pennsylvania appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
The attaching of development rights to specified lands which
are desired by a Township 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 land within the
Township where more intensive development is deemed by the Township
to be appropriate.
Any lot, tract or parcel of land which has not been graded
or in any other manner prepared for the construction of a structure.
A perennial, intermittent or ephemeral stream of water, river,
brook, creek, swale or other defined channel of perceptible extent;
or a pond, lake or other impoundment.
