[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 801; as amended by Ord.
632, 10/11/1993, § 2; by Ord. 787, 10/9/2006, § 13;
and by Ord. 791, 4/9/2007, § 16]
1. Application Filing Fees.
A. Application filing fees shall be established, from time to time,
by resolution of Borough Council. The application filing fees shall
cover the administrative costs associated with processing an application
for approval of a subdivision or land development and shall be payable
to the Borough at the time of submission of the application.
B. An escrow deposit in an amount established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council also shall be payable at the time of submission of the application to guarantee payment of the estimated application review fees required by §
22-901, Subsection
2, below. The actual amount of the review fees in excess of the escrow deposit shall be payable within 10 days of billing by the Borough. Any monies remaining in the escrow account after all review fees have been paid shall be returned to the applicant. Failure to pay the required escrow deposit or any additional fees required by §
22-901, Subsection
2, shall cause the application to be determined to be incomplete and all application materials shall be returned to the applicant for resubmission.
2. Application Review Fees.
A. Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary charges
by the Borough's professional consultants for review and report
thereon to the Borough. Such review fees shall be based upon a schedule
established from time to time by resolution. Such review fees shall be reasonable and in accordance
with the ordinary and customary charges for similar service in the
community, but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost
charged by the professional consultant for comparable services to
the Borough for services which are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed
on applicants. Fees charged to the Borough relating to the appeal
of any decision on an application shall not be considered review fees
and may not be charged to the applicant.
B. Borough Council shall submit to the applicant an itemized bill showing
work performed, identifying the person performing the services and
the time and date spent for each task. Nothing in this subparagraph
shall prohibit interim itemized billing or Borough escrow or other
security requirements. In the event that the applicant disputes the
amount of any such review fees, the applicant shall, no later than
45 days after the date of transmittal of the bill to the applicant,
notify the Borough and the Borough's professional consultant
that such fees are disputed and shall explain the basis of their objections
to the fees charged, in which case the Borough shall not delay or
disapprove a subdivision or land development application due to the
applicant's dispute over fees. Failure of the applicant to dispute
a bill within 45 days shall be a waiver of the applicant's right
to arbitration of that bill under this section.
C. In the event that the Borough's professional consultant and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of review fees which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and the Borough shall follow the procedure for dispute resolution for inspection fees set forth in §
22-901, Subsection
3, below.
3. Inspection Fees.
A. The Borough shall require that the applicant shall reimburse the
Borough for the reasonable and necessary expense incurred in connection
with the inspection of improvements. The applicant shall not be required
to reimburse the Borough for any inspection which is duplicative of
inspections conducted by other governmental agencies or public utilities.
The burden of proving that any inspection is duplicative shall be
upon the objecting applicant. Such reimbursement shall be based upon
a schedule established from time to time by Resolution of Borough
Council. Such expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the
ordinary and customary fees charged by the Borough's professional
consultant for work performed for similar services in the community,
but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by
the professional consultant to the Borough for comparable services
when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.
B. Borough Council shall submit to the applicant an itemized bill showing
the work performed in connection with the inspection of improvements
performed, identifying the person performing the services and the
time and date spent for each task. In the event the applicant disputes
the amount of any such expense in connection with the inspection of
improvements, the applicant shall, no later than 30 days after the
date of transmittal of a bill for inspection services, notify the
Borough and the Borough's professional consultant that such inspection
expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary and shall explain
the basis of their objections to the fees charged, in which case the
Borough shall not delay or disapprove a request for release of financial
security, a subdivision or land development application or any approval
or permit related to development due to the applicant's dispute
of inspection expenses. Failure of the applicant to dispute a bill
within 30 days shall be a waiver of the applicant's right to
arbitration of that bill under this section.
C. Subsequent to the final release of financial security for completion
of improvements for a subdivision or land development, or any phase
thereof, the professional consultant shall submit to Borough Council
a bill for inspection services, specifically designated as a final
bill. The final bill shall include inspection fees incurred through
the release of financial security.
D. If the professional consultant and the applicant cannot agree on
the amount of the expenses which are reasonable and necessary, then
the applicant shall have the right, within 45 days of the transmittal
of the final bill or supplement to the final bill to the applicant,
to request the appointment of another professional consultant to serve
as an arbitrator. The applicant and the professional consultant whose
fees are being challenged shall by mutual agreement appoint another
professional consultant to review any bills the applicant has disputed
and which remain unresolved and make a determination as to the amount
thereof which is reasonable and necessary. The arbitrator shall be
of the same profession as the professional consultant whose fees are
being challenged.
E. The arbitrator so appointed shall hear such evidence and review such
documentation as the arbitrator in his or her sole opinion deems necessary
and shall render a decision no later than 50 days after the date of
appointment. Based on the decision of the arbitrator, the applicant
or professional consultant whose fees were challenged shall be required
to pay any amounts necessary to implement the decision within 60 days.
In the event that the Borough has paid the professional consultant
an amount in excess of the amount determined to be reasonable and
necessary, the professional consultant shall within 60 days reimburse
the excess payment.
F. In the event that the Borough's professional consultant and
the applicant cannot agree upon the arbitrator to be appointed within
20 days of the request for appointment of an arbitrator, then, upon
application of either party, the President Judge of the Allegheny
County Court of Common Pleas (or if at the time there be no President
Judge, then the senior active judge then sitting) shall appoint such
arbitrator, who, in that case, shall be neither the Borough's
professional consultant nor any professional consultant who has been
retained by, or performed services for, the Borough or the applicant
within the preceding five years.
G. The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid by the applicant if the review
fee charge is sustained by the arbitrator, otherwise, it shall be
divided equally between the parties. If the disputed fees are found
to be excessive by more than $5,000, the arbitrator shall have the
discretion to assess the arbitration fee in whole or in part against
either the applicant or the professional consultant. Borough Council
and the professional consultant whose fees are the subject of the
dispute shall be parties to the proceeding.
[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 802]
1. Borough Council may, from time to time, amend this chapter in accordance
with the following provisions. In the case of amendments other than
those prepared by the Borough Planning Commission, Borough Council
shall submit the proposed amendment to the Planning Commission for
recommendations at least 30 days prior to the date fixed for the public
hearing on the proposed amendment.
2. Proposed amendments shall not be enacted unless public notice of
the proposed enactment is given in the manner set forth in this chapter
and shall include the time and place of the meeting at which passage
will be considered, a reference to a place within the Borough where
copies of the proposed amendment may be examined without charge or
obtained for a charge not greater than the cost thereof. Borough Council
shall publish the proposed amendment once in one newspaper of general
circulation in the Borough not more than 60 days nor less than seven
days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed amendment shall
include either the full text thereof or the title and a brief summary
prepared by the Borough Solicitor and setting forth all the provisions
in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
A. A copy thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation
in the Borough at the time the public notice is published.
B. An attested copy of the proposed amendment shall be filed in the
county law library or other county office designated by the County
Council, who may impose a fee no greater than that necessary to cover
the actual costs of storing said ordinances.
C. In the event substantial amendments are made in the proposed amendment,
before voting upon enactment, Borough Council shall, at least 10 days
prior to enactment, readvertise in one newspaper of general circulation
in the Borough, a brief summary setting forth all the provisions in
reasonable detail together with a summary of the amendments.
D. Subdivision and land development amendments may be incorporated into
official ordinance books by reference with the same force and effect
as if duly recorded therein.
3. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the Allegheny County
Planning Commission for review and recommendations at least 30 days
prior to the public hearing on the amendment.
4. Within 30 days after adoption, Borough Council shall forward a certified
copy of the amendment to the Allegheny County Planning Commission.
[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 803; as amended by Ord.
704, 2/14/2000, § 7]
Any landowner aggrieved by the decision of Borough Council regarding
a subdivision or land development plan may appeal such decision within
30 days of the date of the decision of Borough Council to the Allegheny
County Court of Common Pleas. Any aggrieved party, other than the
landowner, may appeal to the Borough Zoning Hearing Board within 30
days of the date of Borough Council's approval or disapproval
of the plan.
[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 804]
1. In addition to other remedies, the Borough may institute and maintain
appropriate actions by law or in equity to restrain, correct or abate
violations, to prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages and
to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure or premises.
The description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer
or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring
shall not exempt the seller or transferor from such penalties or from
the remedies herein provided.
2. The Borough may refuse to issue any permit or grant any approval
necessary to further improve or develop any real property which has
been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision of real property
in violation of this chapter. The authority to deny such a permit
or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
A. The owner of record at the time of such violation.
B. The vendee or lessee of the owner of record at the time of such violation
without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive
knowledge of the violation.
C. The current owner of record who acquired the property subsequent
to the time of violation without regard as to whether such current
owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
D. The vendee or lessee of the current owner of record who acquired
the property subsequent to the time of violation without regard as
to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge
of the violation.
3. As an additional condition for issuance of a permit or the granting
of an approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee
for the development of any such real property, the Borough may require
compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable to
the property at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such
real property.
[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 805]
1. Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated
the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefore
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough, pay a
judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney fees incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment
shall commence or be imposed, levied or be payable until the date
of the determination of a violation by the District Justice. If the
defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Borough
may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules of civil
procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a
separate violation, unless the District Justice determining that there
has been a violation further determines that there was a good faith
basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating this chapter
to have believed that there was no such violation, in which event
there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the
fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation by
the District Justice and thereafter each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate violation.
2. The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay,
upon cause shown, tolling the per diem judgment pending a final adjudication
of the violation and judgment.
3. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted
to grant to any person or entity other than the Borough the right
to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.
[Ord. 603, 12/30/1991, § 806]
1. Whenever any provision of this chapter is at variance with another
lawfully adopted rule, regulation, ordinance, restriction or covenant,
that which imposes the most restrictive requirement shall govern.
2. Whenever there is a difference between a minimum standard or dimension
specified in this chapter and those contained in another official
regulation, resolution or ordinance of the Borough, the highest standard
shall apply. If a question of conflict arises between various portions
of this chapter, the most restrictive term shall apply.