[Ord. 2001-08, 11/8/2001, § 2.01]
The following terms shall have, throughout this Chapter, the meaning given herein. Any word or term not defined herein shall be used with a meaning of standard usage.
[Ord. 2001-08, 11/8/2001, § 2.02]
1.
Words used in the singular include the plural, and those used in the plural include the singular.
2.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
3.
The words "person," "developer," "subdivider," and "owner" include a corporation, unincorporated association, a partnership, a trust, a company, or other legal entity, as well as an individual.
4.
The word "building" includes structure and shall be construed as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof."
5.
The words "should" and "may" are permissive; the words "shall," "must," and "will" are mandatory and directive.
6.
The word "Commission" and the words "Planning Commission" always mean the Allen Township Planning Commission.
7.
The word "Board" and the words "Township Supervisors" always mean the Allen Township Board of Supervisors.
8.
The word "Engineer" always means the Allen Township Engineer.
9.
Except as may be otherwise qualified, the meaning of the word "subdivision" also includes "land development."
[Ord. 2001-08, 11/8/2001, § 2.03; as amended by Ord. 2002-09, 12/30/2002, § 1]
A public or private minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
An azonal great group of soils, developed from transported and relatively recently deposited material (alluvium), characterized by a weak modification (or none) of the original material by soil-forming processes.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has filed an application for development including his heirs, successors, and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative, 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 subdivision plat or plan, or for the approval of a development plan.
The official sanction of plans or documents by the Allen Township Board of Supervisors.
A Municipal Authority which may at any time be formed by the Allen Township Board of Supervisors in accordance with the Municipal Authorities Act.
A tract of land or a lot or group of lots bounded on one side by a street, and other three sides by a street, railroad right-of-way, waterway, unsubdivided area, Township boundary, or other definite barrier.
The Allen Township Board of Supervisors, Northampton County.
A structure which has a roof supported by columns, piers, or walls which is intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattel or which is to house a commercial or manufacturing activity. This definition shall include all mobile homes and trailers utilized for human habitation.
A detached subordinate building, the use of which is customarily incidental and subordinate to that of the principal building, and which is located on the same lot as the principal building.
The line parallel to the street at a distance there from equal to the depth of the front yard required for the district in which the lot is located.
SETBACK, FRONTThe distance between the street line (right-of-way line), or front property line, and the front closest point a structure may be constructed to that line, projected the full width of the lot. Commonly called "front yard."
SETBACK, REARThe distance between the rear lot line and the rear closest point a structure may be located to that line, projected the full width of the lot. Commonly called "rear yard."
SETBACK, SIDEThe distance between the side lot line and the closest a structure may be located to that line, projected from the front to the rear yard. Commonly called "side yard."
The portion of the street right-of-way, paved or unpaved, intended for vehicular use. The shoulder is not considered part of the cartway.
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.
A parcel or parcels of land, an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of the development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities. Common open space shall be substantially free of structures but may contain such improvements as are appropriate for recreational use by the residents.
The Comprehensive Plan of Allen Township.
Northampton County Conservation District, Pennsylvania.
Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
A sidewalk or pathway located in a right-of-way or pedestrian easement, municipally or privately owned, at least 20 feet in width, which cuts across a block or furnishes access for pedestrians to adjacent streets and properties.
A street terminating in a vehicular turn-around.
Process of earthmoving by excavating part of an area and/or using excavated material from embankment or fill areas.
A grant of land or improvements for public use made by a property owner.
A vegetated pond, swale, or other structure designed to drain completely after storing runoff only for a given storm event and release it at a predetermined rate. Also known as a dry pond.
Any Landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with the permission of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of land or a land development. The words "subdivider" or "builder" are construed to mean the same as Developer when used in this Chapter.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings, mobile homes, or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
The provisions for development of, including a planned residential development, a plat of 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. The phrase "provisions of the Development Plan" when used in this Chapter shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A lot extending between and having frontage on two generally parallel streets with vehicular access from only one street; also called "through lot."
A minor vehicular access between a street and a parking area or garage within a lot or property.
Any room or group of rooms located within a residential building and forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating by one family.
A right-of-way granted for the use of the property of another.
Any security which may be accepted by the Township in lieu of a requirement that certain improvements be constructed by an applicant/developer before the Final Plan is approved and recorded, including escrow agreements and other similar collateral or surety agreements.
The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
A relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river, or watercourse; and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of surface waters from any source.
The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this Chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of the one-hundred-year magnitude.
The slope of a road, channel, or natural ground;
The finished surface of a canal bed, roadbed, top of embankment, or bottom of excavation; any surface prepared for the support of construction like paving or laying a conduit;
To finish the surface of a canal bed, roadbed, top of embankment, or bottom of excavation.
Physical additions and changes to the land necessary to produce usable and desirable lots.
OFF-SITE IMPROVEMENTSThose public capital improvements which are not on-site improvements and that serve the needs of more than one development.
ON-SITE IMPROVEMENTSAll improvements constructed on the applicant/developer's property or the improvements constructed on the property abutting the applicant/developer's property, necessary for the ingress and egress to the applicant/developer's property and required to be constructed by the applicant developer pursuant to any Township ordinance, including, but not limited to, the Township Building Codes, Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27].
One or more industrial uses located on a single parcel of land or on separate parcels contiguously arranged to form a planned development of industrial sites or industrial buildings.
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts, or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
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
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective occupants by means of, or for the purpose of streets, common areas, lease-holds, condominiums, building groups, or other features.
A subdivision of land.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, a lessee if he is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other persons having a proprietary interest in land. The word "Owner" means the same as landowner and may be used interchangeably.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
An area of land which is determined by the limits of the property line bounding that area and expressed in terms of square feet or acres. Any portion of a lot included in a street right-of-way shall not be included in calculating lot area, but the area of any easement shall be included.
Any subdivision, as regulated by this Chapter, which is not otherwise classified as a minor subdivision, shall be termed a major subdivision.
Any land development occurring outside the floodplain when the total area of impervious cover proposed and existing on the lot is equal to or less than 10,000 square feet, or when the total area of impervious cover proposed on the lot is equal to or less than 2,000 square feet.
A minor subdivision is any subdivision which meets all of the following requirements:
All lots abut existing dedicated streets.
No new streets or other improvements are required for the property involved to be in conformance with the Township ordinances and standards.
The resulting subdivision does not involve more than two lots.
Each owner of a parcel of land, existing as of the date of this Chapter and/or after the effective date of this Chapter, may submit only one minor subdivision for that parcel within a twelve-month period.
A Lot Line Adjustment Plan (creating no new lots) is considered a Minor Subdivision and is not subject to Subsection (D) above.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, office, or place of assembly, contained in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used with or without a permanent foundation. The term does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers; however, for floodplain management purposes, the term "mobile home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erections thereon of a single mobile home.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
One or more multiple-family dwelling buildings planned as a unit.
Those areas designated as common open space within certain development plans that exhibit existing landscape features, as further defined in § 22-412F(3), which are intended to be preserved and enhanced.
[Added by Ord. 2014-01, 3/25/2014]
A map adopted by the Board of Supervisors as the Official Map of Allen Township pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code, Act 247, as amended.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Adopted as Act 247 of 1968, this Act enables Municipalities to plan for and regulate Community development with Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances. The Code also contains guidelines for subdivision and land development content. For the purpose of this Chapter, the Code is referred to as "Act 247" and is intended to include the current Code and any further amendments thereto.
A complete and exact Subdivision or Land Development Plan prepared for recording, as required by statute, to define property rights, proposed streets, and other improvements; a Final Plan.
Allen Township Planning Commission.
A subdivision or land development plan showing proposed street and lot layout and other information required by this Chapter as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of a Final Plan.
An informal plan indicating existing features of a tract and the surrounding area and outlining the general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development.
Includes:
The latest Recreation Plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
A person registered as a professional engineer by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A person registered as a Surveyor by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A one-hundred-year flood.
The one-hundred-year flood elevation based upon the information contained in the Official Flood Insurance Study of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or other acceptable sources of floodplain information or as identified by the applicant/developer's engineer and approved by the Board of Supervisors and/or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and/or agencies of the U.S. Government.
Any replatting or resubdivision of land, limited to changes in lot lines on approved Final Plans or Recorded Plans as specified in this Chapter. Other replattings shall be considered as constituting a new subdivision of land.
The official examination of plans of subdivision as required by law by appropriate agencies, commissions, or bodies, and authenticated by the signature of an authorized representative.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated for use as a street or for any other public purpose.
Water that is derived directly from precipitation and passes over the ground into watercourses.
Any privately owned sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried from individual lots by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal plant, generally serving a single land development, subdivision, or neighborhood.
A sanitary sewage disposal system designed to treat sanitary sewage within the boundaries of an individual lot.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried from individual lots by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal plant, generally serving a major portion of a municipality or municipalities, and operated by a governmental agency, governmental authority, or licensed public utility company.
Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity or ice and has come to rest on the earth's surface either above or below sea level.
Degree of deviation of a surface from the horizontal usually expressed in percent or degrees.
A condition of the soil, referring to the frequency and duration of periods when the soil is free of saturation.
All facilities and features such as pipes, culverts, open channels, ditches, swales, stormwater detention facilities, etc. used to transmit or temporarily store surface water runoff.
Includes avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, alley, viaduct, and any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians whether public or private.
A street serving a large volume of comparatively high speed and long distance traffic, as identified by the Township Official Map.
A street which, in addition to providing access to abutting properties, intercepts local streets to provide a route giving access to community facilities and/or other collector or arterial streets. Streets in Industrial and Commercial Subdivisions shall generally also be considered classified as collector streets.
A street used primarily to provide access to abutting residential properties.
A local street, parallel and adjacent to a major street (but separated from it by a reserve strip) which provides access to abutting properties and control of intersections with the major street.
A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line, having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for improvement and use of the street.
A strip of private land providing access to abutting properties and not offered for dedication or accepted for municipal ownership and maintenance.
A street or road extending from within a subdivision boundary and terminating there with a temporary vehicular turn-around. Stub streets are provided to permit adjacent undeveloped parcels of land to be developed later with an adjacent connecting street system.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
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 or land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development; provided however, that the division or subdivision by lease of land for agriculture purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access, or any residential dwelling, shall be exempted.
Material immediately underlying topsoil consisting of, but not limited to, either singly or in combination clay, sand, gravel, or crushed rock, but not including, bedrock or other impervious surface as more fully defined and set forth in the most recently adopted and approved Northampton County Soil Survey exclusive of the A Horizon.
A low-lying stretch of natural or man-made land which gathers or carries surface water runoff.
The top most layer of ground cover containing humus in some concentration capable of supporting plant growth as more fully defined and set forth in the most recently adopted and approved Northampton County Soil Survey under the designation of the A Horizon, but not including subsoil as defined elsewhere in this Chapter.
The Township of Allen in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, as governed and represented by the Board of Supervisors of Allen Township.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the Engineer for Allen Township Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission.
A continuous area of land, whether divided by a public street or not; containing certain contiguous parcels or lots of land in common ownership at the time an application is filed pertaining to any of those parcels or lots.
A privately owned system for supplying and distributing water from a common source to two or more dwellings and/or other buildings, generally serving a single land development, a subdivision, or neighborhood.
A system for supplying and distributing water to a single dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
A system for supplying and distributing water from a common source to dwellings or other buildings, generally serving a major portion of a municipality or municipalities, and operated by a governmental agency, governmental authority, or a licensed public utility company.
A natural or man-made stream, river, brook, creek, channel, swale, or ditch for water.
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
The adopted Allen Township Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as may be amended from time to time.