For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms and words used
herein shall be interpreted as follows:
A.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense; the singular
number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular;
words of masculine gender include feminine gender; and words of feminine
gender include masculine gender.
B.
The word "includes" or "including" shall not limit the term to the
specific example but is intended to extend its meaning to all other
instances of like kind and character.
C.
The words "shall," "will," and "must" are mandatory; the words "may"
and "should" are permissive.
D.
The word "person," "subdivider," and "owner" shall include a corporation,
unincorporated association and a partnership or other legal entity,
as well as an individual.
E.
The word "street" includes streets, 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.
F.
The word "building" includes structures and shall be construed as
if followed by the phrase "or part thereof."
G.
The word "watercourse" includes channel, creek, ditch, dry run, spring,
and stream.
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms or words used herein
unless otherwise expressly stated shall have the following meanings:
A subordinate building, the use of which is customarily incidental
to that of the main building, and which is located on the same lot
or parcel of land. Motor vehicles and/or parts thereof shall not be
used as accessory buildings.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of
1968, as amended.[1]
The officer as appointed by the Blair Township Board of Supervisors
to administer these regulations and to assist administratively the
other Boards and officers of the Township.
A minor right-of-way, privately or publicly owned, primarily
for service access to the back or sides of properties.
A means for obtaining review of a decision, determination, order, or failure to act pursuant to the terms of this chapter as authorized by the provisions of Article XIII.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for subdivision and/or development, including
his heirs, successors and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative, 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 the approval of a development plan.
The Blair Township Board of Supervisors.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[2]
A legal subdivision of state government delegated to administer
the erosion control program as set forth under the Pa. Code Chapter
92a and Chapter 102 regulations of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams
Law, 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq., within the County of Blair.
[3]A tract of land, a lot, or a group of lots bounded by streets,
public parks, railroad rights-of-way, watercourses, and boundary lines
of the Township, nonsubdivided land, other definite barriers, or by
a combination of the above.
Any body granted jurisdiction under a land use ordinance
or under this act to render final adjudications.
The Board of Supervisors of Blair Township, Blair County,
Pennsylvania.
A combination of materials to form a permanent structure
having walls and a roof, including, but not limited to, all mobile
homes.
The line within a property parallel to and defining the required
minimum distance between the foremost part of any building and the
adjacent right-of-way or property boundary line.
Any site intended to be used for temporary and/or seasonal
use for camping, inclusive of the area required to sustain a tent,
camper, motorhome, or other temporary camping facility.
The portion of a street right-of-way, paved or unpaved, intended
for vehicular traffic.
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 tract of land that has been planned, developed, and operated
as an integrated facility intended for a number of nonretail professional,
business, personal, and other service uses, with special measures
for traffic circulation, parking, utilities, and compatibility.
A parcel or parcels of land, an area 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
planned residential) a development, not including streets, off-street
parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities.
The complete plan plus any amendments or any of its component
parts for the development of Blair County and Blair Township providing
the continuing orderly development of the municipality and being recognized
by the governing bodies of the county as the official plan, including
such elements as community development objectives, plans and policies
for use of the land for housing, for community facilities, for transportation,
and for plan implementation.
Ownership in common with others of a parcel of land and certain
parts of a building thereon which would normally be used by all the
occupants, together with individual ownership in fee of a particular
unit or apartment in such building or on such parcel of land and may
include dwellings, offices, and other types of space in commercial
and industrial buildings or on real property.
The maps or drawings accompanying a subdivision or development
plan and showing the specific location and design of improvements
to be installed in the subdivision in accordance with the requirements
of the Board of Supervisors as a condition of the approval of the
plan.
Blair County, Pennsylvania.
The Blair County Planning Commission.
A right-of-way, municipally or privately owned, intended
to provide access for pedestrians.
A short street having one end open to traffic and being permanently
terminated by a vehicular turnaround.
A pipe, conduit, or similar enclosed structure, including
appurtenant works, which carries surface water.
An excavation. The difference between a point on the original
ground and designated point of lower elevation on the final grade.
Also, the material removed in excavation.
Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction
under any land use ordinance or this act 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 Blair County.
The deliberate appropriation of land by its owner for any
general and public use, reserving to himself no other rights than
those that are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of
the public uses to which the property has been devoted.
HIGH DENSITYThose residential subdivisions and land developments in which the density is equal to or greater than four dwelling units per acre.
LOW DENSITYThose residential subdivisions and land developments in which the density is less than four dwelling units per acre.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
its bureaus, departments, or divisions.
Final action by an officer, body, or agency charged with
the administration of any land use ordinance or applications thereunder,
except the governing body and the local planning commission, only
to the extent the planning agency is charged with final decision on
preliminary or final plans under the subdivision and land development
ordinance or planned residential development provisions. Determination
shall be applicable only to the boards designated as having jurisdiction
for such appeal.
A person, firm, partnership, corporation, trust, or authorized
agent thereof proposing to divide land so as to constitute a subdivision,
or engage in land development, as defined by the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, Act 247, as amended.[4] (See also "subdivider.")
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, the
placement of mobile homes, the construction, extension, and/or installation
of streets and other paving, utilities, mining, dredging, filling,
grading, excavation or drilling operations, and the subdivision of
land.
The provision for development, 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.
The removal of surface water or groundwater from land by
drains, grading or other means, and includes control of runoff to
minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after construction or
development.
A private vehicular passageway providing access between a
street and a private parking area or private garage.
Any building which is designed for human living quarters.
Any structure, or part thereof, designed to be occupied as
living quarters as a single housekeeping unit.
APARTMENTA dwelling unit separated horizontally and/or vertically from one or more other units in a structure.
APARTMENT HOUSE or MULTIPLE DWELLING UNITA residential structure containing three or more apartments.
GARDEN APARTMENTAn apartment house not exceeding three stories in height.
HIGH-RISE APARTMENTAn apartment house exceeding three stories in height.
DETACHED HOUSEA dwelling unit occupying the whole of a freestanding residential structure.
DUPLEXA residential structure divided horizontally into two dwelling units.
ROW HOUSE or TOWNHOUSEA structure with two or more party walls of three or more units not having any horizontal division between units.
TWIN OR SEMIDETACHED HOUSEA residential structure occupied by two dwelling units with a common wall.
A right-of-way granted, but not dedicated, for specific use
of private land for a public or quasi-public purpose, and within which
the owner of the property shall not erect any permanent structure,
but shall have the right to make any other use of the land which is
not inconsistent with the rights of the grantee.
A person licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
as a registered professional engineer.
The engineering criteria of Blair Township regulating the
installation of any improvement or facility.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated, or bulldozed. It shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
Sand, gravel, earth or other material placed or deposited
so as to form an embankment or raise the elevation of the land surface.
The term includes material used to replace an area with aquatic life
with dry land or to change the bottom elevation of a surface water
area.
Any form of security, including a cash deposit, surety bond, collateral, property, or instrument of credit and restrictive of escrow accounts from federal- or commonwealth-chartered lending institutions in an amount and form satisfactory to the Board of Supervisors and to be used wherever required by these regulations. (See Article III.)
The lands adjoining a river or stream that have been or may
be expected to be inundated by flood waters in a one-hundred-year
frequency flood.
The channel of the watercourse and portions of the adjoining
floodplains which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the
one-hundred-year frequency flood. Unless otherwise specified, the
boundary of the floodway is as indicated on maps and flood insurance
studies provided by FEMA. In an area where no FEMA maps or studies
have defined the boundary of the one-hundred-year frequency floodway,
it is assumed, absent evidence of the contrary, that the floodway
extends from the stream to 50 feet from the top of the bank of the
stream.
The council in cities, boroughs, and incorporated towns;
the Board of Commissioners in townships of the first class; the Board
of Supervisors in townships of the second class; the Board of Commissioners
in counties of the second class A through eighth classes or as may
be designated in the law providing for the form of government.
The slope of a road, street, or other public way specified
in percentage terms.
An administrative proceeding conducted by a board pursuant
to Section 909.1 of Act 170 of 1988 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code.[5]
Those fields of economic activity, including construction
contractors, mining, manufacturing, transportation, communication,
electric, gas, sanitary services, and wholesale trade.
A tract of land that has been planned, developed, and operated
as an integrated facility intended for a number of individual industrial
uses, with special measures for traffic circulation, parking, utilities,
and compatibility.
Any of the following activities:
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,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups, or other features; or
Any ground surface change of more than 5,000 square feet.
A subdivision of land.
For the purposes of this chapter, land development specifically
excludes the addition of an accessory building, including farm buildings
on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A tract or parcel of land, regardless of size, intended for
transfer of ownership, use, lease, improvements, or development, regardless
of how or if it is conveyed. "Lot" shall mean parcel, plot, site,
or any similar term which shall not be further subdivided.
LOT, AREAThe horizontal area contained within the property lines of a parcel of land as shown on a subdivision plan, excluding space within any street, but including the area of any easement.
LOT, CORNERA lot situated at the intersection of two streets, the interior angle of such intersection not exceeding 135°.
LOT, FRONTAGEThat side of a lot abutting on a street or way, and ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot, but it shall not be considered as the ordinary side of a corner lot.
LOT, INTERIORA lot having side lot lines which do not abut on a street.
LOT OF RECORDAny lot which individually, or as part of a subdivision, has been recorded in the office of the Blair County Recorder of Deeds.
LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGEA lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial and a minor street with vehicular access solely from the latter.
LOT, THROUGH OR DOUBLE FRONTAGEA lot with both front and rear street frontage.
Any security, other than cash, which may be accepted by Blair
Township for the maintenance of any improvements required by this
chapter.
A metal stake placed to designate the boundary and corners
of lots in the subdivision of land for the purpose of reference in
land and property survey and to facilitate the sale of lots.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in joint 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 or more 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 constructed so that it shall be used without a permanent foundation.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home.
Waivers of the requirements of one or more provisions of
the chapter as the literal enforcement will exact undue hardship because
of particular conditions pertaining to the land in question.
Stone or concrete monument of known coordinates, established
by professional land surveyors, and utilized to locate property lines.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Municipality
Authorities Act, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.[7]
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the engineer for a municipality,
planning agency, or joint planning commission.
The Township of Blair.
A subdivision whose intended use is other than residential,
such as commercial or industrial. Such subdivision shall comply with
the applicable provisions of these regulations.
The municipal map adopted by ordinance showing the exact
locations of the lines of existing and proposed public streets, watercourses
and public grounds, including widening, narrowing, extensions, diminutions,
opening or closing of same, for the entire municipality or part thereof.
A combination of program and facilities established for the
primary purpose of providing an outdoor group living experience for
children, youth, and adults, with social, recreational, and educational
objectives and operated and used for five or more consecutive days
during one or more seasons of the year.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan
prepared for official recording as required by statute; a final plat.
A subdivision plan or land development plan in lesser detail
than the final plan.
An informal optional submission preparatory to the preliminary
plan showing the general intent of the subdivider.
The Blair Township Planning Commission as established and
appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development whether
preliminary or final indicating the location and boundaries of individual
properties.
Conducted to obtain, add, and provide information, stenographic
records of which are retained as transcripts for future use in an
appeal or related matter.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the act of October
15, 1998 (P.L. 729, No. 93), 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701 et seq.,
known as the "Sunshine Act."[8]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. 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.
A parcel of land upon which two or more recreational vehicle
sites are located, established, or maintained for occupancy by recreation
vehicles of the general public as temporary living quarters for vacation
or recreation purposes.
A plot of ground within a recreation vehicle park intended
for the accommodation of either a recreation vehicle or other similar
individual camping unit on a temporary basis.
The improvement and development of land for camping and/or
related activities via the provision of campsites and any supportive
facilities on a rental basis.
A vehicular type unit primarily designed as temporary living
quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, which has its own
motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic
entities are travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper, and motor
home.
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. All reports shall be deemed recommendatory and advisory
only and shall not be binding upon the recipient, board, officer,
body, or agency nor shall any appeal lie therefrom. Any report used,
received or considered by the body, board, officer, or agency rendering
a determination or decision shall be made available for inspection
to the applicant and all other parties to any proceeding upon request,
and copies thereof shall be provided at cost of reproduction.
A parcel of ground separating a street from other adjacent
properties, or from another street, which shall prevent a street from
being connected or extended across property lines.
A public thoroughfare for vehicular or pedestrian traffic,
whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, road,
avenue, boulevard, land or alley and including both cartway and shoulders.
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.
A sanitary sewage collection system, either publicly or privately
owned, in which sewage is carried from individual lots by a system
of pipes to a central treatment and disposal plant, generally serving
a neighborhood area.
Any system of piping, tanks and other facilities designed
to biochemical treat sanitary sewage within the boundaries of an individual
lot.
A sanitary sewage collection system, owned by a municipality
or municipal authority, in which sewage is carried from individual
lots by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal plant.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving wind, water or gravity. Once this matter is
deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as sediment.
A watertight receptacle which receives sewage or industrial
wastes and is designed and constructed to provide for sludge storage,
sludge decomposition, and to separate solids from liquids through
a period of detention before allowing the liquid to be discharged.
A minor public right-of-way providing secondary vehicular
access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any building to be erected and the adjacent property
line. The front yard setback shall be measured at right angles from
the front street right-of-way line which abuts the property on which
said building is located and shall be parallel to said right-of-way
line.
A tree in a public place, street, special easement, or right-of-way
adjoining a street as provided in these regulations.
A group of retail establishments planned, constructed, and
managed as a total entity with customer and employee parking provided
on site, provision of goods delivery separated from customer access,
and protection from the elements via a canopy or other enclosure.
The required length of roadway visible to the driver of a
passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view
is unobstructed by traffic. Sight distance measurements shall be made
from a point 10 feet from the edge of cartway, 3 1/2 feet high
to a point 4 1/4 feet above the road surface.
The rise or fall of the land usually measured in percent
slope. The percent slope is equal to the rise or fall in feet for
a horizontal distance of 100 feet.
A field test conducted to determine the suitability of the
soil for on-site sanitary sewage disposal facilities by measuring
the absorptive capacity of the soil at a given location and depth.
The licensed attorney designated by the Blair Township Board
of Supervisors to furnish legal assistance for the administration
of this chapter.
Natural or mechanical treatment of a mass of soil or ground
area to increase or maintain its stability and ensure its resistance
to erosion, sliding, or other movement.
The plan for managing stormwater runoff as required by the Watershed Stormwater Management Plan of the Beaverdam Branch of the Juniata River, this chapter, the Township Engineer and/or a plan for managing stormwater as required by Chapter 338, Stormwater Management.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, and further
defined by the following functional classification in accordance with
the rural area system characteristics in the Design Manual, Part 2,
Highway Design, Publication 13, PennDOT Bureau of Design, latest edition.
ARTERIAL STREETS, PRINCIPALThose streets serving statewide or interstate travel, serving all urbanized areas, and/or providing integrated movements without stub connections.
ARTERIAL STREETS, MINORThose streets linking cities, larger towns, and other traffic generators, providing integrated interstate and intercounty service spaced at proper intervals consistent with population density, and/or those corridor movements with greater trip lengths and travel densities than those served by rural collector or local systems.
COLLECTOR STREETS, MAJORThose streets which provide service to county seats, larger towns, and other traffic generators, connect routes of higher functional classification, and/or serve intercounty travel corridors.
COLLECTOR STREETS, MINORThose streets which are spaced at intervals to collect traffic from local roads, provide service to remaining small communities, and/or link local traffic generators with rural hinterland.
EXPRESSWAYS, INTERSTATES, AND LIMITED ACCESS FREEWAYSThose roadways providing limited access facilities.
LOCAL STREETSThose streets which provide access to land adjacent to the collector network, serve travel over relatively short distances, and/or constitute all rural mileage not classified in one of the higher systems.
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETSMinor collector streets parallel and adjacent to arterial streets providing access to abutting properties and control of intersections with an arterial street.
STREET, PRIVATEA street not accepted or maintained by a governmental body such as the state, county or local municipality.
STREET, PUBLICA street owned and maintained by a governmental body such as the state, county or local municipality.
Any man-made object having walls and an ascertainable stationary
location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
Same as "developer."
The division or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of
land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels, or other
division 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; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease
of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres
not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential
dwelling, shall be exempted.
ADDITIONALAny further subdivision of a tract from which a minor subdivision has already been formed shall be classified as a major subdivision.
MAJORAll subdivisions not classified as minor subdivisions, including but not limited to subdivisions of three or more lots, or any size, subdivision requiring any new streets or extension of municipal facilities, or the creation of any public improvements.
Any subdivision containing not more than two lots fronting on
an existing public street, not involving any new street or road, or
the extension of municipal facilities, or the creation of any public
improvements, and not adversely affecting the remainder of the parcel
or adjoining property, and not in conflict with any provision or portion
of the Comprehensive Plan, Official Map, or these regulations.
Lot line changes not involving the creation of any new lots.
Where, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, at least 90% — based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial security was posted pursuant to Article III — of those improvements required as a condition for final approval have been completed in accordance with the approved plan, so that the project will be able to be used, occupied, or operated for its intended use.
A licensed land surveyor registered by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface
water runoff.
Occupancy of a campground or organized camp for no more than
six months in any consecutive twelve-month period.
A portable lodging unit usually made of skins, canvas, plastic,
or strong cloth stretched and usually sustained by poles, and dependent
upon separate toilet and lavatory facilities.
A map showing the elevations of the ground by contours or
elevations, including all existing topographic features such as streams,
roads, streets, existing facilities, and improvements, as specified
herein.
Surface soil and subsurface soil which presumably is fertile
soil and ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus debris.
The Township of Blair, Blair County, Pennsylvania.
A vehicular portable structure built on, or designed to be
mounted on, a chassis or wheels, or constructed as an integral part
of a self-propelled vehicle for use as a temporary dwelling for travel,
recreation, and vacation and commonly known as "travel trailers,"
"pickup coaches," "motor homes," or "camping trailers."
When the subdivider can show that a provision of this chapter
would cause unnecessary hardship if strictly adhered to because of
conditions peculiar to the site, and where, in the opinion of the
Township, a departure from this chapter may be made without destroying
the intent of such provisions, the Township may authorize a waiver.
A modification to the minimum standards of this chapter. (Refer to
"modification.")
A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook, creek,
channel, or ditch for collection and conveyance of water, whether
natural or man-made having defined bed and banks.
COMMUNITYA system for supplying and distributing water from a common source to two or more dwellings and other buildings within a subdivision, neighborhood, or whole community, the total system being publicly or privately owned.
ON-LOTA system for supplying and distributing water to a single dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[2]
Editor's Note: The Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945 (53 P.S. § 301 et seq.) was repealed 2001, June
19, P.L. 287, No. 22. See now 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.
[4]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[5]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10909.1 et seq.
[6]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. §§ 10401 et seq.,
10501 et seq., 10601 et seq., and 10701 et seq.
Where terms or words are not defined in the foregoing definitions,
they shall have their ordinarily accepted meaning or such as the context
may imply; provided, however, that as to those terms which are not
defined herein, but are defined in Section 107 of the Act of July
31, 1968 P.L. 247 (53 P.S. § 10107), as amended, the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, then said words shall have the meaning
as set forth in said section.
