The Council shall not approve any plat unless the land whereon buildings are to be constructed shall be of such character that it can be used for building purposes without danger to health or peril from flood or other hazard.
Existing natural features which would add value to the subdivision and the City, such as trees, steep slopes, watercourses, historic spots and similar irreplaceable assets, shall be preserved, insofar as possible, through careful design of the subdivision.
A. 
All lands, regardless of their slope, from which structures or natural cover has been removed or otherwise destroyed, shall be appropriately graded and seeded within a reasonable time of such clearance activity. The phrase a "reasonable time" shall be interpreted to be within two weeks during the growing season and shall be rigidly applied to construction activities in order to accomplish the intent of keeping erosion and siltation to an absolute minimum.
B. 
On hillsides exceeding 25% in slope, no more than 20% by area of the natural vegetative cover may be removed for construction purposes or any other activity.
C. 
No cutting, filling or other disturbing of land and natural vegetation is permissible within 50 feet of the edge of any flowing stream or creek except as permitted by action of the Council. In such cases, permission may be granted, provided that special precautions are taken to ensure against continuing erosion and siltation or other circumstances which may be harmful to the immediate watercourse or in any way pollute the stream.
The Council shall not approve any plat unless all streets shown thereon shall be of sufficient width and proper grade and shall be so located as to accommodate the probable volume of traffic thereon, afford adequate light and air, facilitate fire protection, provide access of firefighting equipment to buildings and provide a coordinated system of streets conforming to the City's plan of streets.
A. 
In the case of subdivisions for commercial, industrial and public purposes, no street giving access upon an arterial street shall be located closer than 500 feet along the same side of such arterial street to any other driveway or public or private street in the same or another subdivision.
B. 
Local streets shall be so planned as to discourage through traffic.
C. 
Wherever there exists a dedicated or platted portion of a street or alley along a boundary of the tract being subdivided, the remainder of said street or alley, to the prescribed width, shall be platted within the proposed subdivision.
D. 
Half streets shall not be provided, except where it is essential to the reasonable development of the subdivision in conformity with the other requirements of these regulations or where it becomes necessary to acquire the remaining half by condemnation so it may be approved in the public interest.
E. 
Culs-de-sac shall normally not be longer than 800 feet, including a turnaround which shall be provided at the closed end with an outside curb radius of at least 40 feet and a right-of-way radius of not less than 50 feet. The maximum grade of the turnaround portion of the cul-de-sac shall be 5%.
F. 
Alleys shall not be permitted in residential districts but may be included in commercial and industrial areas where needed for loading and unloading or access purposes.
G. 
The minimum distance between center lines of parallel or approximately parallel streets intersecting a cross street from opposite directions shall be 150 feet.
H. 
Intersections of more than two streets at one point shall be avoided.
I. 
Dead-end streets shall be prohibited unless provided with a turnaround or cul-de-sac arrangement.
J. 
Right-of-way requirements may be increased where anticipated traffic flow warrants it or if drainage easements should reasonably parallel such thoroughfares. Such increased width will be established by the Council.
K. 
Minimum right-of-way widths, paving widths, angle of intersection, curb radius, distances along sides of sight triangles, horizontal alignments, vertical alignments, as well as maximum grades, shall be in accordance with the following table:
Minimum Improvement Standards for Public Ways
Street Type
Requirement
Arterial
Collector
Minor
Right-of-way width (feet)
50
50
50
Paving width (feet)
32
32
28
Maximum grade (percent)
10
12
14
Angle for intersection (degrees)
80
80
70
Curb radius (feet)
25
25
15
Grade at intersection (percent)
3
3
3
Sight triangle legs (feet)
500/30
350/30
250/25
Horizontal alignment (feet)
300
200
100
Vertical curves (feet)
300
250
200
Blocks shall ordinarily not exceed 800 feet in length. Where it is necessary for blocks to exceed this length, pedestrianways or easements may be required near the center of the block.
The lot and yard sizes shall conform to the requirements of Chapter 337, Zoning, and the lots shall be designated to accord with the following design standards:
A. 
Every lot shall be provided with access adequate for the use of public safety vehicles and other public and private purposes and shall be served by a public or private street system, improved in accordance with this chapter and connected to the general street system.
B. 
Side lines of lots shall be approximately at right angles to straight streets and on radial lines on curved streets wherever feasible. Pointed or very irregular lots shall be avoided unless such variations shall improve the overall neighborhood design.
C. 
Double-frontage lots shall be avoided.
D. 
When a tract is subdivided into larger than required building lots and there is no covenant preventing resubdivision of the lots, such lots or parcels shall be so arranged as to permit a logical location and opening of future streets and resubdividing with provision for adequate utility connection for each subdivision.
Easements for utilities and drainage shall have a minimum width of 15 feet. Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way or width sufficient for the purpose.
The water supply and sewage disposal systems for the subdivision shall meet the design standards and requirements of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.