[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14.1]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "West Norriton
Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14-2]
This chapter is adopted for the following purposes:
1.
To assist orderly, efficient, integrated and harmonious development
of the Township.
2.
To assure sites suitable for building purposes and human habitation.
3.
To coordinate proposed streets within existing streets or other proposed
streets, parks or other features of the Township Plan of Streets.
4.
To provide adequate open spaces for traffic, recreation, light and
air and for proper distribution of population.
5.
To ensure conformance of subdivision and land development plans with
the public improvements of the Township and coordination of intermunicipal,
county and commonwealth improvement plans and programs.
6.
To secure equitable handling of all subdivision and land development
plans by providing uniform procedures and standards.
7.
To regulate subdivisions and land developments within the jurisdiction
of the Township and concurrently to promote the highest quality environment
obtainable.
8.
To ensure that the layout and arrangement of the subdivision or land
development plan is in conformance with the approved articles or chapters
of the Comprehensive Plan when such plan is adopted and to any regulations
or maps adopted in furtherance thereof.
[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14.1.3; as amended by Ord.
524, 12/31/1991]
The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements
to meet the above-stated purposes. Where the provisions of this chapter
impose greater restrictions than those of any statute, other ordinance
or regulation, the provisions of such statute, ordinance or regulation
shall prevail.
[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14.1.4]
No subdivision of any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be
effected and no street, alley, sanitary sewer, storm drain, water
main, gas, oil and electric transmission line, or other facilities
in connection therewith, shall be laid out, constructed, opened or
dedicated for public use or travel or for the common use of occupants
of a building abutting thereon, except in strict accordance with the
subdivision and land development regulations adopted hereunder.
[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14.1.5]
No lot in a subdivision or land development may be sold and
no permit to erect, alter or repair any building upon land in a subdivision
or land development may be issued, unless and until a plan has been
approved and, where required, recorded and until the required improvements
in connection therewith from the lot or building to an existing improved
street have either been constructed or the Township has been assured
by means of a proper completion guarantee in the form of a bond or
the deposit of funds or securities in escrow sufficient to cover the
cost of the required improvements, as estimated by the Township Engineer,
that the improvements will subsequently be installed. Where, owing
to special conditions, a literal enforcement of this requirement would
result in unnecessary hardship, such reasonable exception thereto
may be made as will not be contrary to the public interest, and the
sale of a lot, issuance of a permit or erection of a building may
be permitted subject to conditions necessary to assure adequate streets
and other improvements.
[Ord. 512, 3/26/1990, § 14-1.6]
1.
General.
A.
No changes shall be made in the contour of the land and no grading,
excavating, removal or destruction of the topsoil, trees or other
vegetative cover of the land shall be commenced for any commercial,
industrial, or residential development of five acres or more until
such time that a plan for minimizing erosion and sedimentation has
been processed with and reviewed by the Township Engineer or there
has been a determination by the Engineer that such plans are not necessary.
B.
No subdivision or land development plan shall be approved unless:
(1)
There has been a plan approved by the Board of Commissioners
that provides for minimizing erosion and sedimentation consistent
with this section, and an improvement bond or other acceptable securities
are deposited with the Township in the form of an escrow guaranty
which will ensure installation and completion of the required improvements;
or
(2)
There has been a determination by the Board of Commissioners
that a plan for minimizing erosion and sedimentation is not necessary.
C.
Measures used to control erosion and reduce sedimentation shall,
as a minimum, meet the standards and specifications of the Montgomery
County Conservation District. The Township Engineer, or other officials
as designated, shall ensure compliance with the appropriate specifications,
copies of which are available from the district or the Municipal Building
or the Township Secretary of West Norriton Township.
2.
Performance Principles. The following measures are effective in minimizing
erosion and sedimentation and shall be included where applicable in
the control plan:
A.
Stripping of vegetation, regrading or other development shall be
done in such a way that will minimize erosion.
B.
Development plans shall preserve salient natural features, keep cut-fill
operations to a minimum and ensure conformity with topography so as
to create the least erosion potential and adequately handle the volume
and velocity of surface water runoff.
C.
Whenever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected
and supplemented.
D.
The disturbed area and the duration of exposure shall be kept to
a practical minimum.
E.
Disturbed soils shall be stabilized as quickly as possible.
F.
Temporary vegetation and/or mulching shall be used to protect exposed
critical areas during development.
G.
The permanent (final) vegetation and mechanical erosion control and
drainage measures shall be installed as soon as practical in the development.
H.
Provisions shall be made to effectively accommodate the increased
runoff caused by changed soil and surface conditions during and after
development. Where necessary, the rate of surface water runoff will
be mechanically retarded.
I.
Sediment in the runoff water shall be trapped until the disturbed
area is stabilized by the use of debris basins, sediment basins, silt
traps or similar measures.
3.
Grading for Drainage. In order to provide more suitable sites for
building and other uses, improve surface drainage and control erosion,
the following requirements shall be met:
A.
All lots, tracts or parcels shall be graded to provide proper drainage
away from buildings and dispose of it without ponding, and all land
within a development shall be graded to drain and dispose of surface
water without ponding, except where approved by the Board.
B.
All drainage provisions shall be of such design to adequately handle the surface runoff and carry it to the nearest suitable outlet, such as a curbed street, storm drain or natural watercourse. Where drainage swales are used to divert surface waters away from buildings, they shall be sodded or planted as required and shall be of such slope, shape and size as to conform to the requirements of the Township. (See § 22-511 of this chapter).
C.
Concentration of surface water shall only be permitted in swales
or watercourses.
D.
Excavation and Fills.
(1)
Cut and fill slopes shall not be steeper than three to one unless
stabilized by a retaining wall or cribbing, except as approved by
the Board when handled under special conditions.
(2)
Adequate provisions shall be made to prevent surface water from
damaging the outface of excavations and of the sloping surfaces of
fills.
(3)
Cut and fill shall not endanger adjoining property.
(4)
Fill shall be placed and compacted so as to minimize sliding
or erosion of the soil.
(5)
Fill shall not encroach on natural watercourses or constructed
channels.
(6)
Fill placed adjacent to natural watercourses or constructed
channels shall have suitable protection against erosion during periods
of flooding.
(7)
Grading shall not be done in such a way so as to divert water
onto the property of another landowner without the written consent
of the Board of Commissioners and the affected property owner.
(8)
During grading operations, necessary measures for dust control
will be exercised.
(9)
Grading equipment will not be allowed to cross live streams.
Provisions will be made for the installation of culverts or bridges
as recommended by the Township Engineer and approved in writing by
the Board of Commissioners.
4.
Responsibility.
A.
Whenever sedimentation is caused by stripping vegetation, regrading
or other development, it shall be the responsibility of the person,
corporation or other entity causing such sedimentation to remove it
from all adjoining surfaces, drainage systems and watercourses and
to repair any damage at his expense as quickly as possible.
B.
Maintenance of all drainage facilities and watercourses within any
subdivision or land development is the responsibility of the developer
until they are accepted by the Township or some other official agency,
after which they become the responsibility of the accepting agency.
C.
It is the responsibility of any person, corporation or other entity
doing any act on or across a stream, watercourse or swale or upon
the floodplain right-of-way thereof to maintain as nearly as possible
in its present state the stream, watercourse, swale, floodplain or
right-of-way during the pendency of the activity and to return it
to its original or equal condition after such activity is completed.
D.
Maintenance of drainage facilities or watercourses originating and
completely on private property is the responsibility of the owner
to their point of open discharge at the property line or at a communal
watercourse within the property.
E.
No person, corporation or other entity shall block, impede the flow
of, alter, construct any structure or deposit any material or thing
nor commit any act which will affect normal or flood flow in any stream
or watercourse without having obtained prior approval from the Township
and/or the Department of Environmental Resources, whichever is applicable.
F.
Where a subdivision or land development is traversed by a watercourse
there shall be provided a drainage easement or right-of-way conforming
substantially to the line of such watercourse and of such width as
will be adequate to preserve natural drainage.
5.
Compliance with Regulations and Procedures.
B.
The approval of plans and specifications for the control of erosion
and sedimentation shall be concurrent with the approval of the final
plats of subdivision or land development and become a part thereof.
C.
At the time that a building permit is applied for, a review shall
be conducted by the Township Engineer to ensure conformance with the
plan as approved. During the construction, further consultative technical
assistance will be furnished, if necessary, by the Township Engineer
and the Montgomery County Conservation District. During this development
phase, the Township Engineer shall inspect the development site and
enforce compliance with the approved plans.
D.
Permission for clearing and grading prior to recording of plats may
be obtained under temporary easements or other conditions satisfactory
to the Township.
E.
In the event that the developer proceeds to clear and grade prior to recording plats, without satisfying conditions specified under § 22-106, Subsection 5D, the Board may revoke the approval of the preliminary plan and require restoration to the original grade and vegetation as equal as possible to the original natural conditions at the developer's expense and cost. Damages to adjoining property owners because of the developer's action in such cases will not be the responsibility of the Township but will be the sole responsibility of the developer who is in violation of this chapter.
