General terms. As used in this chapter, words in the singular include the plural, and those in the plural include the singular. The word "person" includes a corporation, unincorporated association and a partnership, as well as an individual. The word "building" includes "structure" and shall be construed as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof." The word "street" includes avenue, boulevard, court, expressway, highway, lane, arterial and road. The word "watercourse" includes channel, creek, ditch, drain, dry run, spring and stream. The word "may" is permissive; the words "shall" and "will" are mandatory; subject, however, to the provisions of §
425-31 hereof.
Specific terms. As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall be defined as follows:
ALLEY
A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access
to the side or rear of two or more properties.
BLOCK
An area bounded by streets.
CLEAR-SIGHT TRIANGLE
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined
by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection
of street right-of-way lines.
COMMISSION
The Vandergrift Borough Planning Commission.
COMMISSION ENGINEER
The Borough Engineer, if said office exists, and, if not,
shall be the engineer or other qualified person designated by the
Planning Commission to perform all administrative and/or supervisory
duties required of the Commission Engineer by the provisions of this
chapter.
COUNCIL
The Vandergrift Borough Council.
CUL-DE-SAC
A minor street intersecting another street at one end and
terminated at the other by a vehicular turnaround.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of land by its owner for any
general and public uses, reserving to himself no other rights than
such as are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the
public uses to which the property has been devoted.
EASEMENT
A right-of-way granted for limited use of private land for
a public or quasi-public purpose.
HALF OR PARTIAL STREET
A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line,
having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for satisfactory
improvement and use of the street.
INTERIOR WALK
A right-of-way for pedestrian use, extending from a street
into a block or across a block to another street.
LOT
A tract or parcel of land intended for transfer of ownership,
use or improvement.
PAVEMENT
The portion of a street or alley intended for vehicular use.
PLAN, FINAL
A complete and exact subdivision plan, prepared for official
recording as required by statute, to define property rights and proposed
streets and other improvements.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY
A tentative subdivision plan, in lesser detail than a final
plan, showing approximate proposed streets and lot layout as a basis
for consideration prior to preparation of a final plan.
PLAN, SKETCH
An informal plan, not necessarily to scale, indicating salient
existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general
layout of the proposed subdivision.
REVERSE FRONTAGE LOT
A lot extending between and having frontage on a major traffic
street and a minor street, and with vehicular access solely from the
latter.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
Land reserved for use as a street, alley, interior walk,
or for other public purpose.
SETBACK or BUILDING LINE
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any enclosed structure and the adjacent right-of-way.
SIGHT DISTANCE
The maximum extent of unobstructed vision (in a horizontal
or vertical plane) along a street from a vehicle located at any given
point on the street.
STREET
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation. Classes
of streets are as follows:
A.
MAJOR TRAFFICStreets serving large volumes of comparatively high-speed and long-distance traffic, and include facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania State Highway Department, and include streets classified as expressways and major traffic streets in the Thoroughfare Plan adopted by the Borough Planning Commission.
B.
COLLECTORStreets which, in addition to giving access to abutting properties, intercept minor streets and provide routes carrying considerable volumes of traffic to community facilities and to major traffic streets, and include streets classified as collector streets in the Thoroughfare Plan adopted by the Borough Planning Commission.
C.
MINORStreets used primarily to provide access to abutting property.
D.
MARGINAL ACCESSMinor streets, parallel and adjacent to major traffic streets, providing access to abutting properties and control of intersections with the major traffic streets.
SUBDIVIDER
The owner or authorized agent of the owner of a subdivision
SUBDIVISION
The following:
A.
A division of any part, parcel or area of land by the owner
or agent, either by lots or by metes and bounds, into lots or parcels
two or more in number for the purpose, whether immediate or future,
of conveyance, transfer, improvement or sale, with appurtenant roads,
streets, lanes, alleys and ways dedicated or intended to be dedicated
to public use or for the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting
thereon. A subdivision as defined above includes division of a parcel
of land having frontage on an existing street into two or more lots
having frontage on the existing street. However, for the purposes
of this chapter, division of land for agricultural purposes into parcels
of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement, shall
not be deemed a subdivision.
B.
Any development of a piece of land which involves installation
of sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water mains, gas mains or pipes
or other facilities for the use, whether immediate or future, of the
owners or occupants of the land or of buildings abutting thereon.
C.
Any development of a parcel of land (for example, as a shopping
center or a multiple-dwelling project), which involves installation
of streets and/or alleys, even though the streets and alleys may not
be dedicated to public use and the parcel may not be divided immediately
for purposes of conveyance, transfer or sale.
D.
The term "subdivision" includes resubdivision and, as appropriate
in this chapter, shall refer to the process of subdividing land or
to the land subdivided.
YARD
An open space as may be required by this chapter of uniform
width or depth on the same lot with a building or group of buildings,
which open space lies between the principal building or group of buildings
and the nearest lot line and is unoccupied and unobstructed from the
ground upward.
A.
YARD, FRONTAn open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the front lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
B.
YARD, REARAn open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the rear lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
C.
YARD, SIDEAn open space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a building and the nearest side lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.