For purposes of these regulations, certain terms or words used herein are defined as follows:
A. 
The word "person" or "developer" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual.
B. 
The present tense shall include the future tense.
C. 
The singular number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular.
D. 
The word "shall" is mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.
E. 
Words generally found in legal terminology not otherwise defined in this chapter or the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code[1] shall have the same meanings as they are generally interpreted in courts of law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ACCESS LANE
The passage within a parking area allowing traffic to enter and leave the individual parking spaces.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A building used for an activity in support of, but secondary to, the principal use of the property, such as a garage on a residential lot.
ACCESS POINT
A location along the frontage of a property providing connection between the property and the adjacent highway.
ALIGNMENT
The vertical or horizontal line to which a street, road, or utility adheres in its passage across, over, or under the land.
AMENDMENT
A change in these regulations, including the addition of new requirements, revision of existing requirements, or deletion of obsolete requirements, necessitating public hearings and formal adoption by the Borough Council before becoming effective.
APPLICATION
A formal request in writing by a developer for consideration of a proposal to develop land in accordance with the requirements of these regulations.
BERM
The graded strip, usually filled with crushed stone, along each side of a street pavement when curbs are not present, designed to direct stormwater from the pavement to a gutter and to provide a stable location for disabled or parked vehicles off the pavement.
BLOCK
An area of land, generally in a plan of lots, surrounded by streets.
BOROUGH ENGINEER
A professional civil engineer registered in Pennsylvania and retained by the Borough Council to represent the Borough in the review of proposed public improvements and in the inspection of them during construction and upon completion.
BOUNDARY
A line that demarcates the edge of a municipality, a development plan, zoning district property, or other land area.
BUILDING
A permanent man-made structure attached to or in the ground enclosing a volume of space intended to shelter or contain people, animals, businesses, and activities associated with any of them.
BUILDING PERMIT
A document issued by the Borough attesting that a proposal for construction meets all requirements of these regulations and other applicable development ordinances in force and allowing such proposed construction to commence.
CENTER LINE
A line running parallel to and equidistant from the edges or curbs on each side of the street.
CONTOUR
An imaginary line connecting all points with the same elevation above or below a fixed base point whose elevation is known.
COVENANT
An agreement legally binding successor owners of a property to certain conditions regarding use of the property stipulated by the original owner and running with the land.
CROSS SECTION
A cut through a road or utility at right angles to its length revealing materials and dimensions of components of construction.
CUL-DE-SAC
A street with connection to other streets at only one end and having a permanent vehicular turnaround at the closed end.
CURB
The raised edge of a street pavement designed to create a gutter for stormwater removal, to eliminate the need for berms, and to provide a guide for paving and snow removal.
CURVE
A rounded change of direction of an alignment that can be described by radii and arc distances.
CUT
An excavation into earth material that has lain dormant for at least two years.
DEDICATION
The designation of property, formerly privately owned, for public or semipublic purpose, such designation stipulated in writing and recorded by the private owner and accepted by the Borough of Indiana.
DEVELOPER
An individual, group or corporation that undertakes to improve a property or properties in accordance with these regulations and with concurrence of the Borough.
DWELLING
A building designed exclusively for residential purposes for one or more families on a permanent basis.
EASEMENT
A right-of-way grant across private property generally for public utility lines or access to another property.
EROSION
The process of the breaking down and carrying away of exposed ground surfaces by action of wind, water, or temperature change.
FILL
Earth material excavated elsewhere and deposited upon the ground surface in the process of grading.
FINAL PLAN
The documentation presented by a developer to the Planning Commission for consideration under the terms of this chapter after approval has been granted for a preliminary plan proposal that included the land area covered by the final plan.
FINISHED GRADE
The condition of the land surface after mechanical rough and finished grading is completed and topsoil applied.
FLOODPLAIN OR FLOOD-PRONE AREA
Land subject to inundation during an intermediate regional flood.
FRONTAGE
The edge of a property abutting a public street. When a property abuts two or more streets, frontage shall be considered the edge abutting the principal street to which the property has access.
GRADE
The percentage that the center line of a street or sewer line deviates from the level. A change of grade is a change in the percentage. "To grade" means to mechanically alter the land surface in the course of property development.
GUTTER
The low points in the cross section of a street designed to collect and direct stormwater to a planned discharge off the street surface.
HIGHWAY
A street carrying large traffic volumes between areas of major traffic generation, usually a state-maintained street, and often called a "traffic arterial."
IMPOUNDMENT AREA
A natural or man-made concavity in the land surface designed to accept storm drainage and to hold it for gradual release into a receiving stream in order to minimize downstream flooding.
IMPROVEMENT BOND
A guarantee, backed by the developer's collateral, that improvements agreed upon as a condition of final plan approval will be carried out as specified.
INTERMEDIATE REGIONAL FLOOD
The water level generated by a storm whose frequency can be anticipated once in every 100 years, using current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers criteria and determined by detailed stream flow analysis.
LAND DEVELOPMENT
A. 
Any of the following activities:
(1) 
The improvement of one or more contiguous lots, tracts, or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
(a) 
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively; or
(b) 
A single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or tenure; or
(c) 
The division or allocation of land 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, leaseholds, condominiums, building groups, or other features; or
(2) 
A subdivision of land.
B. 
In accordance with Section 503(1.1) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,[1] as amended, the following activity shall be excluded from the definition of land development: the addition of accessory buildings subordinate to the principal buildings on single-family residential lots.
LOT
A property within a group of similarly sized properties in a plan available for development.
LOT AREA
The square foot or acre measurement of all the land surface within a lot or property, except for street rights-of-way which shall be considered as not less than 50 feet in width for purposes of calculation, 25 feet on each side of the street center line.
LOT WIDTH
The distance between the side lot lines measured along the front building line of a lot.
MARKER
A permanent indication, established by a registered surveyor, of a specified point in a subdivision or planned development, as required in these regulations.
MINOR STREET
A vehicular street serving the properties abutting it not intended to carry traffic collected from other streets.
MODIFICATION
A grant by the Planning Commission allowing a developer to proceed with a deviation of the regulations normally in force on developer's property because unusual conditions are present not of the developer's making but creating hardship for the developer, and the deviation will not be contrary to the public interest and the purpose and intent of this chapter.
MONUMENT
A permanent indication, established by a registered surveyor, of points at changes of direction in the boundary of a subdivision or development plan or at points of crossing street rights-of-way within a plan.
OWNER OF RECORD
The person whose name appears on the records of the Indiana County Recorder of Deeds as the current owner of the property.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or similar entity.
PETITION
An appeal to an elected or appointed public body asking for review of a condition from which relief is requested and attesting that the appeal is supported by a consistency of sufficient size.
PLAN
An arrangement for development of property, either for sale or rental of lots or construction of buildings, including the provision of improvements as required by this chapter.
PLANNING COMMISSION
Unless indicated specifically as the County Planning Commission, the term refers to the Indiana Borough Planning Commission.
PRELIMINARY PLAN
The documentation presented by a developer to the Borough in support of a subdivision or land development plan for consideration under the terms of this chapter.
PRIVATE ROAD
A vehicular access to a second property as an easement over the land from which the second property was subdivided, approved in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS
Persons who provide expert or professional advice, including, but not limited to, architects, attorneys, certified public accountants, engineers, geologists, land surveyors, landscape architects, and planners.
PROFILE
A vertical cut along the center line of a street or utility line indicating the vertical alignment of the street or utility line, the vertical dimension often exaggerated to clarify the relation between horizontal and vertical measurements.
PROPERTY LINE
The boundary line surrounding a property or any portion of such line.
PROPERTY OR PARCEL
An area or tract of land all portions of which are in the same ownership and the boundary of which closes on itself.
PUBLIC HEARING
An advertised meeting called by the Borough and open to the public at which testimony is given on a proposal for development or a revision to these or other development regulations in order to assist the Borough in reaching a decision on the proposal or revision.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Those improvements contained in a plan for development of a property required by the municipality to be built by the developer as a condition of approval of the developer's plan since the improvements will ultimately be publicly maintained.
PUBLIC SEWER AND WATER SYSTEM
A system for sewage collection and disposal or water storage and distribution developed, financed, and operated by a public authority, public utility, or Indiana Borough.
PUBLIC STREET
A right-of-way dedicated for public vehicular use which may or may not have been accepted for maintenance by the Borough.
RECORDING
The act of timely filing with the Indiana County Recorder of Deeds a subdivision or land development plan which has received final approval by the Borough.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
A strip of land which has been dedicated for public use and provides access to private property abutting it, connects with other rights-of-way, or provides an easement across private property for the passage of public utilities, disposal of stormwater, or restricted vehicular use.
ROAD
Same as a street.
SEDIMENTATION
Material scoured from the earth's surface by water action and carried into nearby streams, raising their level and reducing their water-carrying capacity.
SIGHT DISTANCE
The distance that an automobile driver can see ahead unobstructed by changes in alignment, roadside structures, or topography, usually measured between points on a road center line between three feet six inches and eight feet above the surface.
STOP BARS
Devices attached to a parking area pavement to prevent vehicles from driving off the edge of the area and to guide motorists in the proper placement of their cars.
STORMWATER
Precipitation falling upon the ground surface, requiring structures to direct and contain it to prevent damage to downstream areas in developed areas.
STREET
An open public vehicular and/or pedestrian passage within a recorded right-of-way at least 30 feet in width, connecting with other streets to form the municipal circulation system.
STRUCTURE
Any man-made construction erected on the ground or attached to the ground directly or indirectly, including buildings, fences, poles, masts and signs, but excluding vehicles ready for immediate movement or any paved surfaces at grade level.
SUBDIVISION
The division or redivision of a tract of parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, 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.
SWALE
An elongated indentation in the ground surface which collects stormwater from higher elevations and directs it to an established all-weather stream or man-made subsurface drainage system.
TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
A map delineating by contours the surface elevations of a land area.
TRACT
A property, parcel, or lot to be subdivided or developed.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10503(1.1).