A.
Unless a contrary intention clearly appears, the following words
and phrases have, for the purpose of this chapter, the meanings given
in the following clauses.
B.
For the purpose of this chapter, words and terms used herein shall
be interpreted as follows:
(1)
Words in the present tense include the future.
(2)
The singular includes the plural.
(3)
The word "person" includes a firm, corporation, partnership,
company, association, or other legal entity, as well as the individual.
(4)
The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel."
(5)
The term "shall" is always mandatory.
(6)
The word "Borough" always means Tullytown Borough.
(7)
The word "Commission" and the words "Planning Commission" always
mean the Tullytown Borough Planning Commission.
(8)
The word "Council" and the words "Borough Council" always mean
the Tullytown Borough Council.
(9)
The word "Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of Tullytown Borough.
(10)
The words "Zoning Officer" shall also mean his/her designee.
(12)
The words "used" or "occupied," as applied to any land or building,
shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged, or designed
to be occupied."
C.
Any word or term not defined herein shall be used with a meaning
of standard usage, or if defined by the Tullytown Borough Zoning Ordinance,
then that definition shall apply.
The following specific definitions apply in this chapter:
Any person, other than the developer, who, acting for the
developer, submits to the Borough subdivision or land development
plans for the purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
See "street."
A landowner, developer, or agent, as hereinafter defined,
who has filed an application for development, including his or her
heirs, successors, and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary or final, required
to be filed and approved prior to the 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 approval of
a development plan.
An area, divided into lots, and usually bounded by streets.
A licensed engineer designated by the Borough to perform
the duties of engineer as herein specified.
A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of
a property or district of a width not less than that designated by
the zoning ordinance, and on which is placed shrubbery, hedges, evergreens,
or other suitable plantings of sufficient height and density to constitute
an effective screen and give maximum protection and immediate screening
to an abutting property or district; or to separate one land use from
another land use; or to shield or block lights, noise, or other nuisances.
BUILDINGA structure having a roof which is used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, or property. The word "building" shall include any part thereof.
BUILDING OR STRUCTURE, ACCESSORYA subordinate building or structure located on the same lot as a principal building, clearly detached, incidental, and subordinate to the principal building and used for purposes customarily incidental to those of the main building, including but not limited to private noncommercial greenhouses, swimming pools, tool sheds, playhouses, detached garages, and workshops. Any portion of a principal building devoted or intended to be devoted to an accessory use is not an accessory building.
BUILDING, PRINCIPALA building in which is conducted, or is intended to be conducted, the principal use of the lot on which it is located.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE, FRONTThe rear line of the minimum required front yard, as established by the Tullytown Borough Zoning Ordinance. The front building setback line shall be measured from the proposed or future right-of-way line.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE, SIDEA line parallel to the side lot line at a distance from the side lot line equal to the depth of the minimum side yard required per the Tullytown Borough Zoning Ordinance.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE, REARA line parallel to the rear lot line at a distance from the rear lot line equal to the depth of the minimum rear yard required per the Tullytown Borough Zoning Ordinance.
The hard or paved surface portion of any street, or that
portion of a street customarily used by vehicles in the regular course
of travel over the street.
A line which is typically midway between and parallel to
the right-of-way lines.
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 right-of-way lines. See § 185-23 of the Zoning Ordinance.
The word "county" shall always mean Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
A secondary street intersecting another street at one end
and terminating at the other end in a vehicular turnaround.
Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction
under this chapter or the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code
(Act 247, as amended)[1] to do so, either by reason of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction
or by reason of appeals from determinations. All decisions shall be
appealable to the Court of Common Pleas of the county and judicial
district wherein the Borough lies.
Regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter imposing minimum
or maximum standards in the layout by which a subdivision or land
development is developed.
Final action by an officer, body or agency charged with the
administration of any land use ordinance or applications thereunder,
except the Borough Council and Zoning Hearing Board. Determinations
shall be appealable only to the board designated as having jurisdiction
for such appeal.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
or a land development.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings; placement of mobile homes
or other structures; mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation,
or drilling operations.
The provisions for 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" shall mean the written
and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A lot extending between and having frontage on a major thoroughfare
and a local street, and with vehicular access solely from the latter.
Any ditch, gutter, swale, pipe, culvert, storm sewer, detention
or retention basin or other structure designed, intended or constructed
for the purpose of diverting surface water from, or carrying surface
water off streets, public rights-of-way, parks, recreational areas
or any part of any subdivision or land development.
A vehicular accessway connecting a street and a parking area
or garage and located within a lot.
DWELLINGA building containing one or more dwelling units.
DWELLING UNITAny 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.
SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED DWELLINGA dwelling having only one dwelling unit from ground to roof, independent outside access, and open space on all sides.
SINGLE-FAMILY SEMIDETACHED DWELLINGA dwelling having only one dwelling unit from ground to roof, independent outside access, and not more than one wall in common with an adjoining dwelling. (These are not attached at the entire wall. They may also be end units of townhomes.)
SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED DWELLINGA dwelling having only one dwelling unit from ground to roof, independent outside access, and not more than two walls in common with adjoining dwellings.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA dwelling having three or more dwelling units that are completely separated by party walls but share outside access.
TWO-FAMILY DUPLEX DWELLINGA dwelling having no more than two dwelling units from ground to roof, independent outside access, and open space on all sides.
A grant of the specified use of a parcel of land by a property
owner to the public, a corporation, or a person.
A registered professional engineer licensed as such by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The process by which soil and bedrock are worn away by the
action of wind, water, climate or chemical action.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOODA flood that, on the average, has a one-percent chance of occurring each year; for the purposes of the zoning ordinance.
REGULATORY FLOOD ELEVATIONBase flood elevation considered to be the basis for the limits of the floodplain.
A relatively flat or low-lying area usually adjoining a stream
or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation.
An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff
of surface waters from any source.
ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOODPLAINThe area of land which is likely to be inundated during a one-hundred-year flood.
FLOODWAYThe channel of a stream or river plus any adjacent floodplain areas that must be kept free of encroachment in order that the one-hundred-year flood can be carried without substantial increases in flood heights. The Floodway District.
FLOODWAY FRINGEThe area between the floodway and the boundary of the one-hundred-year floodplain. The Flood Fringe District.
APPROXIMATE ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOODPLAINThe one-hundred-year floodplain delineated by approximate engineering methods. The Approximate Floodplain District.
An attached or detached building used or designed to be used
for the storage of vehicles.
Impervious surfaces are those surfaces that do not absorb
water. All buildings, hard-surfaced parking areas, driveways, roads,
sidewalks, and any area in concrete, asphalt, and packed stone shall
be considered impervious surfaces. In addition, other areas determined
by the Borough Engineer to be impervious will be classified as impervious
surfaces.
Those physical additions, installations and changes required,
such as streets, curbs, sidewalks, water mains, sewers, drainage facilities,
public utilities, driveways, parking areas and any other items required
to render land suitable for the use proposed.
The improvement of one 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, leaseholds, condominiums, building
groups or other features; a subdivision of land. The addition of an
accessory farm building, subordinate to an existing farm building,
on a lot or lots shall not be considered a land development.
The legal or beneficial owner(s) of land, including the holder
of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option is
subject to any condition), a lessee, if authorized under the lease
to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other person having a
proprietary interest in the land.
A licensed landscape architect registered in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A licensed surveyor registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
LOTA parcel of land used or set aside and available for use as the site of one or more buildings, and buildings accessory thereto, or for any other purpose, in one ownership, and not divided by a street, nor including any land within the right-of-way of a public or private street upon which said lot abuts, even if the ownership to such right-of-way is in the owner of the lot. A lot for the purpose of this chapter may or may not coincide with a lot of record.
LOT AREAThe area contained within the property lines of the individual parcels of land as shown on a subdivision plan, excluding any area within an existing street right-of-way, and including the area of any easement.
CORNER LOTA lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at the intersection of two right-of-way lines. A lot abutting upon a curved street or streets shall be considered a corner lot if the tangent to the curve at the points beginning within the lot or at the points of intersection of the side lot lines with the right-of-way lines intersect at an angle of less than 135°.
THROUGH LOTAn interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
DEPTH OF LOTThe mean distance from the right-of-way line of the lot to its opposite rear line measured in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.
LOT WIDTHThe distance measured between the side lot lines at the required building setback line. In a case where there is only one side lot line, lot width shall be measured between such side lot line and the opposite rear lot line or right-of-way.
LOT LINEAny boundary line of a lot, including a public right-of-way line.
REAR LOT LINEAny lot line that is parallel to or within 45° of being parallel to a right-of-way except for a lot line that is itself a legal right-of-way line, and except that in the case of a corner lot, the owner shall have the option of choosing which of the two lot lines that are not legal right-of-way lines is to be considered a rear lot line. In the case of a lot having no right-of-way frontage or a lot of an odd shape, only the one lot line farthest from any legal right-of-way shall be considered a rear lot line.
SIDE LOT LINEAny lot line that is not a legal right-of-way line nor a rear lot line.
FRONT LOT LINEOrdinarily the street line except in the circumstances where a lot is bounded by streets on more than one side, in which case all street lines would be regarded as front lot lines.
Any division of land for the adjustment or relocation of
one existing boundary line between two adjacent lots or the shifting
of boundary lines; to increase the area of an existing lot; provided,
however, that the lot line change results in the same number of lots
as existed prior to the lot line change and provided that the area
of each of the lots involved does not increase or decrease by more
than 20% of the original lot area.
A metal pipe or pin of at least 3/4 inch diameter and at
least 30 inches in length.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two units designed to be joined
into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated
towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except
for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and is
constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
For the purposes of this chapter, any mobile home shall be considered
a detached dwelling unit and as such shall be subject to all applicable
regulations in this or other Borough ordinances.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land under single ownership
which has been so planned and improved for the placement of mobile
homes of nontransient use, consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
A stone or concrete monument with a flat top of at least
four inches square, containing a scored "X" to mark the reference
point, and at least 30 inches in length. The bottom sides shall be
at least two inches greater than the top to minimize movements caused
by frost. The monument shall contain a metal rod.
A person selected by the municipality whose responsibilities
include ensuring that the tree protection standards are followed correctly.
The municipal arborist must have a degree in arboriculture, horticulture,
forestry, landscape architecture, silviculture, or plant physiology
and have a knowledge of and experience in the methods of tree protection.
Open space is land that shall be kept open in perpetuity
and shall be restricted from future development. Open space is land
used for recreation, resource protection, amenity, or buffers; is
freely accessible to all residents of the development; and is protected
by the provisions of this chapter and the zoning ordinance to ensure
that it remains in such use. Open space does not include land occupied
by nonrecreational buildings or structures, roads, or road rights-of-way,
nor does it include the yards of lots of single-family or multifamily
dwelling units, easements, stormwater detention basins or retention
basins or parking areas as required by the provisions of this chapter.
Open space for recreational uses may contain impervious surfaces,
and such surfaces shall be included in the calculation of the impervious
surface ratio.
See "landowner."
A portion of a lot area containing three or more off-street
parking spaces and having direct access to a street.
A portion of a lot area designed for the primary use of the
temporary storage of an automobile.
PLAN, FINALA subdivision or land development plan showing all those items required by this chapter and prepared for formal approval by the Borough Council.
PLAN, PRELIMINARYA subdivision or land development plan showing all those items required by this chapter and prepared for preliminary consideration prior to the preparation of a final plan.
PLAN, RECORDAn exact copy of the approved final plan on Mylar of standard size, prepared for necessary signatures and recording with the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds.
PLAN, SKETCHAn informal plan, to scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development for discussion purposes only and not to be presented for approval.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final. (See "plan.")
Removal of branches from a tree using proper tools and approved
cutting techniques.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing
body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment,
prior to taking action in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code,[2] as amended.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act."[3]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days, and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days, from the date of the hearing.
Transportation service for the general public provided by
a common carrier of passengers, generally on a regular route basis,
by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority or a private
operator offering service to the public.
Any letter, review, memorandum, compilation or similar writing
made by any body, board, officer or consultant, other than a solicitor,
to any other body, board, officer or consultant for the purpose of
assisting the recipient of such report in the rendering of any decision
or determination.
A parcel of ground in separate (sometimes public) ownership
separating a street from other adjacent properties or from another
street.
An examination of the sketch plan, preliminary plan, and/or
final plan by the Planning Committee, Borough Council, Borough Engineer,
Bucks County Planning Commission, and other agencies to determine
compliance with this chapter and the administrative regulations, design
standards and improvement specifications enacted pursuant thereto.
RIGHT-OF-WAYLand set aside for use as a street, alley or other means of travel, either existing right-of-way or future right-of-way when established.
EXISTING RIGHT-OF-WAYThe legal right-of-way as established by the commonwealth or other appropriate governing authority and currently in existence.
FUTURE RIGHT-OF-WAYThe right-of-way deemed necessary to provide adequate width for future street improvements.
RIGHT-OF-WAY LINESThe lines that form the boundaries of the right-of-way.
The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil
but runs off the surface of the land.
Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension,
is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by
wind, water, or gravity.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by wind, water, or gravity.
Any sanitary sewer, sewage system, sewage treatment works
or parts thereof designed, intended or constructed for the collection,
treatment and satisfactory disposal of sanitary waste and industrial
sewage.
SEWER, PUBLICAny municipal or privately owned sewer system in which sewage is collected from buildings and piped to an approved disposal plant or central septic tank disposal system. It may also be referred to as "off-lot" or "off-site" sewer.
SEWER, PRIVATEAn "on-lot" septic tank disposal or other system generally providing for disposal of effluent for only one building or a group of buildings on a single lot.
The length of a street, measured along the center line, which
is continuously visible from any point 3.75 feet above the center
line to the top of an object six inches high above the pavement.
A parcel or parcels of land intended to have one or more
buildings or intended to be subdivided into one or more lots.
All land area within the site from an actual site survey
rather than from a deed description.
The face of an embankment cut or fill section; any ground
whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes
are expressed in a percentage of horizontal distance as compared to
vertical distance.
Standards covering construction details for roads, curbs,
sidewalks, storm drains, water supply facilities, sewage facilities,
streetlighting, landscaping and other public improvements as herein
appended or maintained by the Borough or Lower Bucks Joint Municipal
Authority.
A system of pipes or other conduits which carries intercepted
surface runoff, street water or other waters, or drainage, but excludes
domestic sewage and industrial wastes.
Includes street, 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. Streets are further classified according to the functions
they perform.
PRINCIPAL ARTERIAL HIGHWAYSProvide minimal land access with a high degree of travel mobility; serve major centers of urban activity and travel generation; generally serve the highest traffic volume corridors and the longest trip lengths, thus carrying a significant proportion of the total urban area travel; principal arterial routes should be continuous, both internally and between major rural connections.
MINOR ARTERIAL STREETProvide greater emphasis on land access with a lower level of travel mobility than on principal arterials; include most bus routes not on principal arterials; serve larger schools, industries, hospitals, plus small commercial areas not incidentally served by principal arterials.
COLLECTOR STREETProvide minimal emphasis on travel mobility, low travel speeds, full land access; penetrate neighborhoods to distribute or collect trips that serve minor travel generators such as local elementary schools, small individual industrial plants, office, commercial and warehouse locations not served by principal or minor arterials.
LOCAL STREETSCompose all remaining urban roads and streets; primary purpose is to provide direct access to abutting land and access to the higher order systems; through traffic movement is deliberately discouraged; offers the lowest level of mobility.
PAPER STREETA street that has never been built, shown on an approved plan, subdivision plot, tax maps, or Official Map.
PRIMARY STREETDesigned to provide access to abutting properties and carry traffic from secondary streets to collector streets.
SECONDARY STREETDesigned primarily to provide access to abutting properties.
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETA secondary street that is parallel to and adjacent to an arterial or collector street, and that provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
ALLEYA serviceway providing a secondary means for public access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.
Areas where two or more streets join.
The dividing line between the street and the lot. The street
line shall be the same as the existing established legal right-of-way
in the case of existing streets, but in cases involving proposed streets,
the street line shall be the same as the future right-of-way line.
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
of 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.
MAJOR SUBDIVISIONThe division of land into three or more lots, tracts, or parcels.
MINOR SUBDIVISIONThe division of land into two lots, tracts or parcels of land, provided the proposed lots, tracts or parcels of land have frontage on an improved street or streets.
See "land surveyor."
An area that is radial to the trunk of a tree in which no
construction activity shall occur. The tree protection zone shall
be 15 feet from the trunk of the tree to be retained, or the distance
from the trunk to the dripline, whichever is greater. Where there
is a group of trees or woodlands, the tree protection zone shall be
the aggregate of the protection zones for the individual trees.
Those services customarily rendered by public utility corporations,
municipalities, or municipal authorities, in the nature of electricity,
gas, telephone, water and sewerage, including the appurtenances used
in connection with the supplying of such services (buildings, wires,
pipes, poles and the like).
Any waterworks, water supply works, water distribution system
or part thereof designed, intended or constructed to provide or distribute
potable water.
Any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, ditch, channel,
canal, waterway, gully or ravine in which water flows in a definite
direction or course, either continuously or intermittently, and has
a defined bed and banks.
A system of piping and appurtenances, whether municipally
or privately owned, designed for the transmission and distribution
of safe, potable water from a centralized water supply or source to
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, or institutions
(not including individual on-lot wells).
Those areas that are inundated and 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, including
swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.
One-quarter acre or more of wooded land where the largest
trees measure at least six inches in diameter at breast height (dbh)
or 4.5 feet from the ground. The woodland shall be measured from the
dripline of the outer trees. Woodlands are also a grove of trees forming
one canopy where 10 or more trees measure at least 10 inches in diameter
at breast height (dbh).
YARDAn open space unobstructed from the ground up, on the same lot with a structure, extending along a lot line or right-of-way line and inward to the structure. The size of a required yard shall be measured as the shortest distance between the structure and a lot line or right-of-way line.
FRONT YARDA yard between a structure and a right-of-way line and extending the entire length of the right-of-way line. In the case of a corner lot, the yards extending along all rights-of-way are front yards. In the case of a lot other than a corner lot that fronts on more than one street, the yards extending along all rights-of-way are front yards.
REAR YARDA yard between a structure and a rear lot line and extending the entire length of the rear lot line.
SIDE YARDA yard between a structure and a side lot line, extending from the front yard to the rear yard. In the case of a lot having no street frontage or a lot of odd shape, any yard that is not a front yard or a rear yard shall be considered a side yard.
