[Ord. -/-/1985, -/-/1985, § 201]
1.
Unless expressly stated, the following terms shall, for the purpose of this Chapter 22, have the meanings indicated:
A.
Words in the singular include the plural and those in the plural
include the singular.
B.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
C.
The words "person," "applicant," "developer, "subdivider," and "owner"
include a corporation, unincorporated association and a partnership,
or other legal entity, as well as an individual.
D.
The word "building" includes structure and shall be construed as
if followed by the phrase "or part thereof."
E.
The word "watercourse" includes channel, canal, millrace, swale,
creek, ditch, dry run, spring, stream and river.
F.
The words "should" and "may" are permissive; the words "shall" and
"will" are mandatory and directive.
2.
The following definitions are frequently cross-referenced with other
words of similar meaning:
A.
The word "Supervisors" shall always mean the Board of Supervisors
of Newtown Township.
B.
The words "Planning Commission" shall always mean the Planning Commission
of Newtown Township.
C.
The word "County Planning Commission" shall always mean the Bucks
County Planning Commission.
D.
The word "Municipality" or "Township" shall always mean the Township
of Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
[Ord. -/-/1985, -/-/1985, § 202; as amended by
Ord. 91-O-2, 2/18/1991, §§ 1-6 and 20-24; and by Ord.
91-O-4, 2/18/1991, §§ 3-5]
The following words or terms used in this Part 2 and the accompanying standards and specifications are intended to be compatible to the definitions in § 107: Definition of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247, as amended).
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code of July 31,
1968, 53 P.S. 10101, et seq. (Act No. 247) as supplemented and amended
from time to time.
A landowner or developer, including his heirs, successors
and assigns, as hereinafter defined, who has filed an application
for subdivision or land development.
Every application whether preliminary or final, required
to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or development
including but not limited to an application for a building permit,
for the approval of a subdivision plan, for the approval of a land
development plan, or for the approval of a Planned Residential Development.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act
of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, No. 164, known as the Municipal Authorities
Act of 1945.
A tract of land bounded by streets; public park; railroad
right-of-way, excluding siding and spurs; corporate boundary lines
of the Township; water courses, or any combination of the above.
Any body granted jurisdiction under this chapter or under
the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning code to render final adjudications.
A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of a property, district, road, street, or highway, not less in width than is designated in this Chapter 22, and on which is placed year-round shrubbery, hedges, evergreens, or other suitable plantings of sufficient height and density to constitute an effective screen and to give maximum protection and immediate screening to an abutting property or district. A buffer yard may include a wall or fence provided that such wall or fence is screened or constructed in such a manner that it will not conflict with the character of the abutting district.
See "Structure."
The aggregate of the maximum horizontal cross-section areas
of all the buildings on a lot, excluding cornices, eaves, gutters,
chimneys projecting not more than 18 inches, bay windows not extending
through more than one story and not projecting more than five feet,
uncovered steps and balconies.
The area of a lot or parcel which is covered by principal
and/or accessory buildings, including but not limited to balconies,
porches, breezeways, and carports.
The line parallel to the proposed right-of-way line at a
distance therefrom equal to the depth of the front yard required for
the district in which the lot is located; provided that, in the case
of a lot where the side lines are not parallel, the building setback
line shall be where lot width first coincides with the required minimum
lot width but in no case closer to the street than the required front
yard.
A single parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied
by a building or structure.
The portion of a street right-of-way, paved or unpaved, intended
for vehicular use.
An area of unobstructed vision at intersections defined by
lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection
of street center lines.
As defined in the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act No. 82,
of 1980, as that Act may be amended from time to time: "Real estate,
portions of which are designated for separate ownership and the remainder
of which is designated for common ownership solely by the owners of
those portions. Real Estate is not a condominium unless the undivided
interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners."
A means of ownership (not a type of dwelling) with all of the
following characteristics:
The interior of the unit is owned by the occupant.
The unit is part of a development consisting of one or more
of the following uses: multiple-family dwelling, townhouse, two-family
or duplex dwelling, single-family detached dwelling.
All or a portion of the exterior open space and communal interior
spaces are owned and maintained in accordance with the Pennsylvania
Unit Property Act of July 3, 1963, P.L. 196, as amended.
A designated crossing of public or private streets for pedestrian
use.
Final adjudication by any board or other body granted jurisdiction
under this chapter or the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code
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 Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
A measure of the number of dwelling units per unit of area.
It shall be expressed in dwelling units per acre. The measure is arrived
at by dividing the number of dwelling units by the base site area.
This is the maximum density permitted on the buildable portion of
the site.
Standards adopted pursuant to these regulations imposing
standards by which subdivision is developed, or a property or structure
is used.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with the
permission of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
of land or a land development.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, the
placement of mobile homes, streets and other paving, utilities, filling,
grading, excavation, mining, dredging, drilling operations, and the
subdivision of land. "Development" includes the erection or construction
upon any lot or tract of any structure, any impervious surface, or
any parking or loading area (whether or not covered by an impervious
surface). "Development" also includes "Land Development" as that term
is defined herein.
A private strip of land intended for use as means of access
to an individual lot.
A building designed and occupied for residential purposes
excluding hotels, rooming houses, tourist homes, institutional homes,
residential clubs, motor home parks, and the like.
Single-family detached dwellings, i.e., buildings designed for
or occupied as a dwelling for one family;
Two-family dwellings, i.e., buildings designed for or occupied
as two dwellings for two families; and
Multi-family dwellings, i.e., buildings designed for, occupied,
or used for dwelling purposes by three or more families living independently
of one another.
One or more rooms for living purposes, together with cooking
and sanitary facilities, which are used or intended to be used by
one or more persons living together and maintaining a common household.
Each shall be accessible from the outdoors either directly or through
an entrance hall shared with other dwelling units.
A right-of-way or restriction granted for limited use of
private land within which the owner of the property may be restricted
from erecting permanent structures but shall have the right to make
any other use of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights
of the grantee.
A licensed professional civil engineer registered by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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 smallest roots of a tree, which are responsible for most
of the absorption of nutrients into the tree; most are located within
the top 12 inches of the soil.
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a 1% chance of occurring each year, although
the flood may occur more frequently). Included in this area is the
Floodway (FW) and Flood Fringe (FF) and Approximated Flood (FA).
The one-hundred-year flood elevation, plus free board safety
factor of 1 1/2 feet.
That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway. The boundaries of the floodfringe are delineated on the Flood Insurance Study prepared by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps attached hereto; the Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps are hereby incorporated into this Chapter 22 and shall be as much a part of this § 202 as if all were fully described herein.
A relatively flat or low land adjoining a river, stream, or
watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation;
An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or run-off
of surface waters from any source.
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The boundaries of the floodplain are delineated on the Flood
Insurance Study and the Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps. In areas
of the Township that are not mapped, see the Joint Municipal Zoning
Ordinance for a definition of the boundaries of the floodplain.
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Those Floodplain Districts specifically designated in the
Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance as being inundated primarily by the
one-hundred-year Flood. Such areas include the Floodway District,
the Floodfringe District, and the Approximate Floodplain District.
Areas subject to periodic flooding and listed in the Soil
Survey of Bucks and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, July, 1975, as being "on
the floodplain" or subject to "flooding."
The following soil types are floodplain soils.
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land areas required to carry and discharge the flood of the one-hundred-year
magnitude without causing more than a one-foot rise in flood heights
at any point. The boundaries of the floodway are delineated on the
Flood Insurance Study and the Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps.
The sum of the areas of the several floors of a building
measured from the outside face of the exterior walls or from center
lines of walls separating two buildings. In particular, flood area
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Basement space, if it meets the requirements of a building story.
Elevator shafts, stairwells, and attic space (whether or not
a floor has been laid) providing structural headroom of eight feet
or more.
Roofed terraces, exterior balconies, breezeways, or porches,
provided that over 50% of the perimeter of these is enclosed.
Any other floor space used for dwelling purposes, no matter
where located within building.
Accessory buildings, excluding space used for off-street parking
or loading berths.
Any other floor space not specifically excluded, excluding space
used for air-conditioning machinery or cooling towers and similar
mechanical equipment serving the building and cellar space.
An accessory building, or part of a building, intended for
the parking of vehicles.
An accessory use which:
Is clearly incidental or secondary to the residential use of
the dwelling unit.
Is customarily carried on within a dwelling unit by one or more
occupants of such dwelling unit, except that one person not residing
in such dwelling unit may be employed; and meets the requirements
of the Zoning Ordinance.
Buildings, for public or quasi-public use; grading; paving; street lights and signs; fire hydrants; water mains; sanitary sewers; storm-water detention and/or retention basins and other related drainage facilities; sidewalks; curbs; monuments; retaining walls; shade trees; buffer and screen plantings; open space improvements; recreational facilities; and other common amenities, as proposed or required by this Chapter 22, and intended for public or quasi-public use.
A publicly or privately owned right-of-way for pedestrian
use extending from a street into a block or across a block to another
street.
Land development shall include 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.
A subdivision of land.
The following shall not be considered a land development:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling
or single-family semi-detached dwelling into not more than three residential
units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium.
The addition of an accessory building, including farm buildings,
on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building; or,
The addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the
confines of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park.
For purposes of this exemption, an amusement park is defined as a
tract or area used principally as a location for permanent amusement
structures or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly acquired
acreage by an amusement park until the initial plans for the expanded
area have been approved by the Township.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including
the holder of any 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 landowners,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit.
LOT AREAThe area contained within the property lines of a lot (as shown on the development plan), excluding space within an existing or future street right-of-way and within all permanent drainage easements assigned an individual owner or to a given collective use by means of a subdivision of land. Open space required under this Chapter 22 shall not be counted as a portion of the lot area for the purposes of measuring lot area per dwelling unit.
LOT AREA PER DWELLING UNIT, AVERAGE (MINIMUM)The minimum lot area which is expressed as an average of all lots for a single type of dwelling unit.
LOT DEPTHThe mean distance from the street line of a 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 street line.
LOT LINE, FRONTSee "Street Line."
LOT LINE, REARAny lot line which is parallel to or within 45° of being parallel to a street line, except for a lot line that is itself a street line. In the case of a lot having no street frontage or a lot of an odd shape, only the one lot line furthest from any street shall be considered a rear lot line.
A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at
the intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curbed
street or streets shall be considered a corner lot if the tangent
to the curb at the points beginning within the lot or at the points
of intersection of the side lot lines with the street lines intersect
at an angle of less than 135°.
An exterior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately
parallel streets.
A metal pipe or pin installed to delineate a specific location
within a parcel of land or development.
A transportable structure suitable for use as a single-family
dwelling, office or place of assembly contained in one unit, or in
two units designed to be joined into one integral unit which arrives
at a site substantially ready for occupancy so that it may be used
with or 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.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so
designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots
for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
A stone or concrete post installed to delineate a specific
location within a parcel of land or development.
A person selected by the Township whose responsibilities
include ensuring that the tree protection standards are followed correctly.
The Township arborist must have a degree in aboriculture, horticulture,
forestry, landscape architecture, silviculture or plant physiology
and have a knowledge of and experience in the methods of tree protection.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the engineer for Newtown Township,
Newtown Township Planning Commission or the Newtown Area Joint Planning
Commission.
OPEN SPACE, COMMONA parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of the residential development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities. Common open space includes both developed (active) and undeveloped (passive) open space.
OPEN SPACE, DEVELOPED (ACTIVE)Land without resource restrictions which is set aside for use as active recreational areas, such as playfields, playgrounds, skating rinks, swimming pools, tennis courts, and areas for water management (storm, waste, potable supply).
OPEN SPACE, UNDEVELOPED (PASSIVE)Land used for passive recreation, agriculture, resource protection, amenity, or buffers and protected from future development by the provisions of this Chapter 22 to insure that it remains as open space.
A complete and exact map or plan of a subdivision or land development including all required supplementary data, prepared for official recording as required by statute and this Chapter 22, to define property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
The copy of the Final Plan which contains the required original
endorsements and which is recorded with the Bucks County Recorder
of Deeds.
A plan of a subdivision or land development including all
required supplementary data in lesser detail than a final plan, showing
approximate proposed street and lot layout as a basis for consideration
to preparation of a final plan.
A plan prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor showing
the vertical section of the existing grade and proposed grade along
the center line of any proposed street, and any street appurtenances
to be constructed or installed. The plan must include a typical cross-section
of the street construction.
A plan of a subdivision and land development provided at
the discretion of the applicant showing general layout of the proposed
development.
An area of land, controlled by a landowner, to be developed
as a single entity for a number of dwelling units, or a combination
of residential and nonresidential uses, the development plan for which
does not correspond in lots size, bulk, type of dwelling, or use,
density, or intensity, lot coverage and required open space to the
regulations established in any one district created, from time to
time, under the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance.
Removal of branches from a tree using proper tools and approved
cutting techniques.
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 to be recommendatory
and advisory only and shall not be binding upon the recipient, board,
officer 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.
Land set aside for use as a street, alley or other means
of travel.
EXISTING RIGHT-OF-WAYThe legal right-of-way established by the Commonwealth or other appropriate governing authority and currently in existence.
ULTIMATE RIGHT-OF-WAYThe right-of-way deemed necessary by the Joint Municipal Comprehensive Plan for Newtown Borough, Newtown Township, Upper Makefield Township, and Wrightstown Township in order to provide adequate width for future street improvements.
The total extent of land reserved for a declared or recorded
right-of-way for public utility or private utility purposes.
Any municipality- or privately-owned sewer system in which sewage is collected from several buildings on a single property or from several lots and treated at a common plant. The design, operation and location of the sewer plant shall be in accordance with the waste water policies of the Joint Municipal Comprehensive Plan and the Township's Act 537 Plan. For the purposes of this Chapter 22, community sewage systems shall be defined in accordance with Chapter 71.7(7), Administration of Sewage Facilities Program, Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act of January 24, 1966, P.L. 1535, as amended, 35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq.
The required length of roadway visible to the driver of a
passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view
is obstructed by traffic. Sight distance measurement shall be made
from a point 4.5' above the center line of the road surface to a point
0.5' above the center line of road surface.
The face of an embankment, fill, or cut section; any ground
whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon, slope
is expressed as a percentage, based upon the vertical difference in
feet per 100 feet of horizontal distance.
Areas where the average slope exceeds 15%.
Any ditch, gutter, pipe, culvert, swale, storm sewer or other
structure designed, intended, or constructed for the purpose of diverting
surface waters from, or carrying surface waters off, streets, public
rights-of-way, parks, recreational areas, or any part of any subdivision,
land area or continuous land areas.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way (i.e., not limited to the cartway) intended for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation to provide access to more than one lot, and which includes thoroughfare, avenue, boulevard, court, expressway, highway, roadway and alley. Specific standards are set forth in this Chapter 22 for the following categories of streets: collector, primary, local, service, and cul-de-sac.
COLLECTOR STREETA street which, in addition to providing access to abutting properties, intercepts other streets to provide a route serving 300 or more dwelling units to give access to community facilities and/or other collector and major streets. (Streets in industrial and commercial subdivisions shall generally be considered collector streets; sometimes called a "feeder street," which connects an internal street system with a major street or highway system.)
CUL-DE-SAC STREETA local street intersecting another street at one end and terminating in a vehicular turnaround at the other end.
HALF (PARTIAL) STREETA street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line, having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for improvement and use of the street.
LOCAL STREETAn interior development street used primarily to provide access to abutting properties, and which does not serve more than 50 dwelling units.
MAJOR THOROUGHFAREA street serving a large volume of comparatively high-speed and long distance traffic; a highway on which preference is given to the through movement of traffic at the expense of cross traffic.
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETA street parallel and adjacent to a collector or higher level street which provides access to abutting properties and separation from through traffic.
PRIMARY STREETA street intended primarily for inter-neighborhood and commuter traffic; which connects places of relatively dense settlement with each other and with major traffic streets and provides access to more than 50 dwelling units but less than 300 units.
PRIVATE STREETA street not offered or not required to be offered for dedication but built to Township standards.
RURAL ROADExisting town or State road providing access to agricultural tracts, estates, or scattered residences.
SERVICE STREET (ALLEY)A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
A line which is an equal distance from both street lines.
The dividing line between the street and the lot. The street
line shall be the same as the legal right-of-way provided that, where
an ultimate right-of-way width for a road or street has been established,
then that width shall determine the location of the street line.
A combination of materials assembled, constructed, or erected
at a fixed location, including a building, the use of which requires
location on the ground or attachment to something having location
on the ground.
Any individual, copartnership or corporation (or agent authorized
thereby) which undertakes the subdivision of land, as defined herein,
as the owner, lessee, or equitable owner (or agent authorized hereby)
of the land being subdivided.
Includes:
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. 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.
MINOR SUBDIVISIONBasically, all of the division or development of land involving no new streets or easements, including but not limited to:
MAJOR SUBDIVISION OR LAND DEVELOPMENTThe division and/or development of land involving new streets, new rights-of-way, easements, etc., or the splitting of a lot, parcel or tract into more than three lots.
A registered surveyor licensed as such by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A low lying stretch of land which gathers, or carries, surface
water run-off.
The line marking the outer edges of the branches of a tree.
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 of the tree to the tree 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.
An Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania adopted July 3,
1963, P.L. 196 as amended.
Storm sewers, lakes, damned water, ponds, springs and all
other bodies or channels of conveyance of surface and underground
water.
An open space, unobstructed from the ground up, on the same
lot with a structure, and extending along a lot line or street line
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 street
line.
A yard between a structure and a street line and extending
the entire length of the street line. In the case of a lot that fronts
on more than one street, the yards extending along all streets are
front yards.
A yard between a structure and a rear lot line and extending
the entire length of the rear lot line.
A 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.
Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance, Newtown Borough, Newtown
Township, Upper Makefield Township, Wrightstown Township, 1983.
