[Amended 3-16-1999 by Ord. No. 1094]
A. Agreements.
(1) Prior to granting final approval of a subdivision or land development
plan, the Borough Council shall have the Borough Solicitor review
the agreement providing that the subdivider or developer shall complete
the required improvements and incorporate in the agreement any specified
matters which the subdivider or developer shall perform and which
are not shown in the plans or maps and including therein an agreement
to provide a completion bond to guarantee performance of said contracts.
Said agreement, prepared by legal counsel of the subdivider or developer,
shall be executed and the proper bonds furnished and all fees paid
before a final approval is granted.
(2) If there is a case where land development is not intended for the
immediate erection of buildings where streets, curbs, gutters, streetlights,
fire hydrants, water and sewage facilities and other improvements
may not be possible to install as a condition precedent to final approval
of plans, the Borough Council shall have the Borough Solicitor prepare
an agreement providing that the subdivider or developer shall commit
himself to the above agreements as a condition precedent to the erection
of building(s) on lands included in the approved plan.
B. Conditions of approval. Every approval, except as provided in §
250-19A(2), shall be subject to the following conditions:
(1) The developer or subdivider shall agree, in writing, in a form to
be approved or prepared by the Solicitor of the Borough, that he will
lay out and improve the streets, sanitary sewers, if required, and
construct all of the improvements, including necessary drainage facilities
and grading, paving, curbs, gutters, and other street improvements,
including storm sewers. The subdivider or developer shall also erect
such monuments within each development as are required by the Borough
Engineer.
(2) The developer or subdivider shall furnish a bond in such amount,
under such conditions, with approved surety as shall be required by
the Borough Council, to guarantee the performance of said contract
and to secure the completion by the Borough. The developer or subdivider
shall make all repairs necessary to restore the improvements to such
a condition satisfactory to the Borough Council, in order to relieve
the Borough of expense of restoring the improvements to their original
condition.
(3) In lieu of a bond, the applicant may deposit cash or securities with
the Borough or a bank or trust company, or a construction mortgage
(if such construction mortgage will reserve or segregate a sufficient
amount necessary from the construction funds), for the payment of
the costs of such improvements to guarantee performance of said contract
and to secure completion of the improvements upon an escrow agreement
to be prepared or approved by the Borough Solicitor and approved by
the Borough Council. The escrow agent for the deposits of such cash
or securities shall be designated and selected or approved by the
Borough Council.
[Amended 3-16-1999 by Ord. No. 1094]
A. Upon the approval of a final plat, the developer shall, within 90
days of such final approval, record such plat in the office of the
Recorder of Deeds of the county in which the Borough is located. The
Recorder of Deeds shall not accept any plat for recording unless such
plat officially notes the approval of the Borough Council and review
by the County Planning Agency.
B. The recording of the plat shall not constitute grounds for assessment
increases until such time as lots are sold or improvements are installed
on the land included within the subject plat.
[Added 3-16-1999 by Ord. No. 1094]
After a plat has been approved and recorded as provided in this
chapter, all streets and public grounds on such plat shall be and
become a part of the Official Map of the Borough without public hearing.
[Added 3-16-1999 by Ord. No. 1094]
Changes in this chapter shall affect plats as follows:
A. From the time an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, is duly filed as provided in this chapter, and while such application is pending approval or disapproval, no change or amendment of this chapter, Chapter
290, Zoning, or other governing ordinance or plan shall affect the decision on such application adversely to the applicant, and the applicant shall be entitled to a decision in accordance with the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood at the time the application was duly approved. The applicant shall be entitled to final approval in accordance with the terms of the approved preliminary application as hereinafter provided. However, if an application is properly and finally denied, any subsequent application shall be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
B. When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, has been approved without conditions or approved by the applicant's acceptance of conditions, no subsequent change or amendment in this chapter, Chapter
290, Zoning, or other governing ordinance or plan shall be applied to affect adversely the right of the applicant to commence and to complete any aspect of the approved development in accordance with the terms of such approval within five years from such approval.
C. Where final approval is preceded by preliminary approval, the aforesaid
five-year period shall be counted from the date of the preliminary
approval. In the case of any doubt as to the terms of a preliminary
approval, the terms shall be construed in the light of the provisions
of this chapter or the governing ordinance or plans as they stood
at the time when the application for such approval was duly filed.
D. Where the landowner has substantially completed the required improvements
as depicted upon the final plat within the aforesaid five-year limit,
or any extension thereof as may be granted by the Borough Council,
no change of any ordinance or plan enacted subsequent to the date
of filing of the preliminary plat shall modify or revoke any aspect
of the approved final plat pertaining to zoning classification or
density, lot, building, street or utility location.
E. In the case of a preliminary plat calling for the installation of
improvements beyond the five-year period, a schedule shall be filed
by the landowner with the preliminary plat delineating all proposed
sections as well as deadlines within which applications for final
plat approval of each section are intended to be filed. Such schedule
shall be updated annually by the applicant on or before the anniversary
of the preliminary plat approval, until final plat approval of the
final section has been granted, and any modification in the aforesaid
schedule shall be subject to approval of the Borough Council in its
discretion.
F. Each section in any residential subdivision or land development,
except for the last section, shall contain a minimum of 25% of the
total number of dwelling units as depicted on the preliminary plan,
unless a lesser percentage is approved by the Borough Council in its
discretion. Provided the landowner has not defaulted with regard to
or violated any of the conditions of the preliminary plat approval,
including compliance with landowner's aforesaid schedule of submission
of final plats for the various sections, then the aforesaid protections
afforded by substantially completing the improvements depicted upon
the final plat within five years shall apply, and for any section
or sections, beyond the initial section, in which the required improvements
have not been substantially completed within said five-year period,
the aforesaid protections shall apply for an additional term or terms
of three years from the date of final plat approval for each section.
G. Failure of landowner to adhere to the aforesaid schedule of submission of final plats for the various sections shall subject any such section to any and all changes in this chapter, Chapter
290, Zoning, and other governing ordinances enacted by the Borough subsequent to the date of the initial preliminary plan submission.