Unless expressly stated herein, and unless the context otherwise
requires, the following expressions shall, for purposes of this part,
have the following meanings:
The cultivating of the soil and/or the harvesting of the
products of the soil, including horticulture and forestry.
A person/entity appointed by Council from time to time who/which
has demonstrated expertise in dealing with trees.
The Borough of Fox Chapel.
The felling of substantially all trees on a tract of land
or portion thereof.
The assemblage of plants and animals living together in the
same space at a given point in time.
The number of species (not individuals) per acre in a community.
The age of a community, i.e., the amount of time required
for a community to reach its present state through the process of
succession.
The rate at which the physical endowments of an ecosystem
are bound into organic matter (biomass/time/area). As a basic contribution
of an ecosystem to the biosphere, it is an indicator of potential
farming or forest production.
A community temporarily out of equilibrium with its environment,
evolving towards the composition and structure of that environment's
end state through the growth and replacement of individuals and species.
The Council of the Borough of Fox Chapel.
The diameter of a tree at breast height, measured 4.5 feet
from the ground surface.
Any person, including a governmental agency, proposing to
undertake any environmental disturbance, as defined herein; any landowner,
agent of such landowner, or tenant with the permission of such landowner
who seeks approval to make or cause to be made a subdivision of land.
Any activity, construction, alteration, change in land use
or similar action that affects stormwater runoff characteristics.
A lot, parcel or tract of land on which development is taking
place or is proposed.
The Environmental Advisory Council of the Borough of Fox
Chapel.
The combination of a community and a homogeneous physical
environment that it occupies.
The designated Engineer for the Borough of Fox Chapel.
Those activities defined as a "subdivision" in the Borough of Fox Chapel Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 380) where additional building lots will be created and/or an environmental disturbance will take place.
Those activities, actions or uses listed below, unless determined
otherwise by Borough Council upon recommendation of the EAC or, if
Borough Council initiates the determination, after consultation with
the EAC:
Any mining, drilling operations, excavation, landfill, grading
or similar disturbance to the land surface or subsurface geology that
exceeds 100 cubic yards.
In connection with the use of land, the making of any material changes to existing ambient noise levels, lighting levels, thermal conditions, access to solar skyscapes and the like, beyond that which is stated in § 363-17 herein.
The alteration of a wetland, or a shore, bank or floodplain
of a creek, run or other stream, or any lake, pond or artificial body
of water.
Any change to surface water runoff characteristics or any alteration
to stormwater or drainage ditches.
Reestablishment of a use which has been abandoned for one year,
where the initial establishment of such use would involve environmental
disturbance, as defined herein.
Departure from the terms of any environmental disturbance upon
which approval has been granted.
The use of land for agricultural purposes.
The removal of any one or more of the following: a tree six
inches or greater in dbh, a unique tree, or a tree in a unique tree
stand. The Tree Committee has the authority to approve the removal
of up to 10 trees six inches or greater in dbh without the filing
of a notice of proposed environmental disturbance.
The creation of 400 or more square feet of impervious surface.
Environmental disturbance, as defined herein, includes all other activities customarily associated with the specific environmental disturbances listed in Subsections A and B above of this definition, unless otherwise specified. Reference to particular operations is not intended to limit the generality of the definition of "environmental disturbance" set forth herein.
The following activities, actions or uses, for the purpose of
this part, shall not be considered to involve environmental disturbance,
unless determined otherwise by Borough Council upon the recommendation
of the EAC or, if Borough Council initiates the determination, after
consultation with the EAC:
Work of the maintenance, renewal, improvement or alteration
of any structure, if the work affects only the interior or the color
of the structure or decoration of the exterior of the structure but
does not otherwise materially affect the external appearance of the
structure.
A transfer of title to land not involving the division of land
into parcels.
The removal of dead trees.
Routine landscaping, which is defined as landscaping around
structures which involves the moving of no more than 100 cubic yards
of soil.
Emergency or necessary earth movement, as determined by the
Code Enforcement Officer, when associated with utility installation
or replacement.
Earth movement, as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer,
necessary to correct stormwater, subsurface water or surface water
conditions that are detrimental to the property or structure.
A subcommittee of the Environmental Advisory Council (EAC)
established for the primary purpose of evaluating small construction,
earth movement and other proposed projects to determine if the filing
of a notice of proposed environmental disturbance is required. The
determination shall be made by a majority of the EDRC. The EDRC will
develop criteria upon which to base its evaluation and determination.
The criteria should include percentage of slope, soil type, significant
tree removal, access to site, earth movement, increase of impervious
surface and any other criteria deemed appropriate by the Committee.
The EDRC shall consist of three members: the Code Enforcement Officer,
the Borough Manager and the Borough Engineer.
A detailed, comprehensive, written report, prepared and submitted to the Borough by a developer in the form and manner described in §§ 363-21 and 363-28 of this part, which sets forth the information required by said sections and identifies and evaluates all of the relevant environmental impacts and community benefits which may foreseeably be associated with a proposed environmental disturbance.
Areas subject to a one-hundred-year recurrence interval flood,
as delineated by the Federal Insurance Administration, United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development, in the Type 15 Flood
Insurance Study, Borough of Fox Chapel, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,
and as shown on the Fox Chapel Flood and Slope Map.[1]
Areas, groves or stands of mature or largely mature trees
(i.e., greater than six inches in dbh) covering an area greater than
1/4 acre; or groves of mature trees (greater than 12 inches in dbh)
consisting of more than 10 individual trees.
A community with an overall tree cover without dominant oaks,
hickory, sugar maple, beech, black birch, hemlock, basswood and sycamore.
The systematic management and maintenance of forests for
purposes such as the production of timber and other forest products
as a function of an approved forest management plan, watershed protection,
recreation and open space preservation, and conservation.
The art and practice of propagating and cultivating plants
for their produce or for ornament.
Soils identified in the Soil Survey of Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania, prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, as being landslide-prone.
To reduce to the smallest amount possible. "Minimize" shall
not mean complete elimination but shall require that the most substantial
efforts possible under the circumstances have been taken to reduce
the adverse effect of the action required to be minimized. With respect
to activities, the conduct of which is adverse to the preservation
of the natural features of land, the requirement to minimize shall
include but not be limited to the requirement that the placement of
dwellings and other structures and the location of roads, sedimentation
and erosion-control devices, and earthmoving activities shall be planned
and designated so as to permit the adverse effect of the activity
in question to be reduced to the smallest amount possible under the
circumstances consistent with the otherwise permitted development.
To lessen the impacts, including visual impacts, of environmental
disturbances which would adversely affect the health or longevity
of natural, visual or historic resources in Fox Chapel Borough.
A written statement (including any supporting documents) submitted by a developer to the Borough, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 363-20 and 363-27, which describes, among other things, the potential environmental impacts and community benefits which foreseeably may result from the implementation of a proposed environmental disturbance.
Land used for recreation, agriculture, resource protection,
amenity or buffers, exceeding 1/4 acre in area. Open space does not
include land occupied by nonresidential buildings, roads or road rights-of-way,
yards or lots of dwelling units, or parking areas.
Points or areas at which stormwater runoff leaves a site,
which may include streams, storm sewers, swales or other well-defined
natural or artificial drainage features, as well as areas of dispersed
overland flows.
The maximum instantaneous measurement of water flow expressed
in a unit of volume per unit of time; also referred to as "peak discharge";
usually stated in cubic feet per second (cfs) or gallons per minute
(gpm).
An individual, corporation, governmental agency, business
trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons
having a joint or common interest, or any other comparable legal entity.
Contamination of any watercourse in the Borough such as will
create or is likely to create a nuisance or to render such waters
harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare,
or to domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational
or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals,
birds, fish or other aquatic life. This term includes but is not limited
to such contamination by alteration of the physical, chemical or biological
properties of such waters, or change in temperature, taste, color
or odor thereof, or the discharge of any liquid, gaseous, radioactive,
solid or other substances into such waters.
The percentage of predevelopment peak rate of runoff from
a watershed subarea (as defined in the Act 167 Watershed Plan), which
defines the allowable post-development peak discharge from any development
site in that subarea.
See § 363-19F of this part.
A graphic representation of shadows cast by mature landscaping,
screening and structures, plotted with regard to topography, slope
and direction at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 3:00 p.m. on the date
of Winter Solstice.
The highest of a given species of tree growing in specified
community conditions at an arbitrarily chosen age; in the case of
Fox Chapel, it is the height of red oak growing in an even-aged canopy
of 50 years. As a central indicator of terrestrial ecosystem functions,
the site index is highly correlated with forest yield, forest structure,
species composition, and other ecosystem functions and community characteristics.
High site index tends to occur in cool, moist environments of coves
and northeast-facing slopes; low site index in hot, dry environments
of steep convex slopes and southwest facing hillsides. Site indexes
are mapped on pages 262 to 272 of the Fox Chapel Natural Resources
Plan.
STEEP SLOPEAreas where the slope is from 15% to 25% between adjacent contour lines as shown on the Fox Chapel Borough Geological Hazard Maps[2] (i.e., where the scaled horizontal distance between the
five-foot contour lines is between 33Â 1/3 feet and 20 feet) or
between adjacent contour lines having an interval of five feet or
less as shown on detailed site plans prepared by a registered engineer
or surveyor based on actual field topographical survey.
VERY STEEP SLOPESAreas where the slope exceeds 25% between adjacent contour lines as shown on the Fox Chapel Borough Geological Hazard Maps (i.e., where the scaled horizontal distance between the five-foot contour lines is less than 20 feet) or between adjacent contour lines having an interval of five feet or less as shown on detailed site plans prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor based on actual field topographical surveys.
Radiant energy (direct, diffused or reflected) received from
the sun at wavelengths suitable for conversion into thermal, chemical
or electrical energy.
The space between a given location and the sun, which must
remain unobstructed between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. mean solar time
(Winter Solstice), in order to permit sufficient solar energy to impinge
on that location to allow efficient solar utilization.
The approved detailed analysis, design and drawings of the
stormwater management system required for all construction.
The flow of water overland and/or in water bodies that results
from and occurs during and immediately following a rainfall event.
As defined in the Borough of Fox Chapel Subdivision Ordinance (Chapter 380).
A committee, appointed by the Environmental Advisory Council
and chaired by a member of the Environmental Advisory Council, to
review and approve or deny applications for tree removals.
A very large, old, individual tree remaining from previous
habitation of a site (sometimes referred to as a "grandfather" tree).
A particular stand for trees within one or more contiguous
communities that is remarkable for its degree of diversity, productivity,
rareness or other qualities, as identified and listed in the Fox Chapel
Natural Resources Plan, page 122, or mapped on pages 251 to 261 of
that plan.[3]
Resources which are depicted, displayed and otherwise noted
on the Fox Chapel Borough Flood and Slope Map and Geological Hazards
Map, as may be amended, revised or otherwise refined from time to
time.[4]
Any channel or conveyance of surface water having a defined
bed and banks, whether natural or artificial, with perennial or intermittent
flow, specifically including Sycamore Run.
[Amended 3-20-2023 by Ord. No. 723]
The plan for managing stormwater runoff throughout a designated
watershed, adopted by Allegheny County as required by the Pennsylvania
Storm Water Management Act.[5]
Land areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water
or groundwater with 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 (wetlands
generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas); or areas
that are defined and delineated in accordance with the Federal Manual
for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands, dated January
10, 1989, and as may be amended from time to time; or as further defined
and delineated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency, or the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said document is on file in the Borough office.
[2]
Editor's Note: Said document is on file in the Borough office.
[3]
Editor's Note: Said document is on file in the Borough office.
[4]
Editor's Note: Said maps are on file in the Borough office.
[5]
Editor's Note: See 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq.
