A.Â
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms and words listed in this
section shall have the meaning herein defined. Words not herein defined
shall have the meanings given in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary and
shall be interpreted so as to give this chapter its most reasonable
application.
B.Â
For the purpose of this chapter, the following rules of interpretation
shall apply:
(1)Â
Words in the present tense include the future tense;
(2)Â
Words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural
include the singular;
(3)Â
The words "used" and "occupied" shall be construed to include the
words "or intended, arranged or designed to be used or to be occupied,
or offered for occupancy";
(4)Â
The term "such as" shall be considered as introducing a typical or
illustrative designation of items, and shall not be interpreted as
constituting a complete list;
(5)Â
The words "person" and "owner" shall be deemed to include a corporation,
unincorporated association and a partnership, or other legal entity,
as well as an individual;
(6)Â
The words "building" and "structure" shall be construed as if followed
by the phrase "or part thereof";
(7)Â
The word "lot" includes the words "plot" and "parcel";
(8)Â
The word "watercourse" includes channel, creek, ditch, dry run, spring,
stream and river;
(9)Â
The word "erect" shall mean to build, construct, alter, repair, display,
relocate, attach, hang, place, suspend, affix or maintain any structure
or building and shall also include the painting of exterior wall signs;
(10)Â
The male gender includes the female gender;
(11)Â
The terms "shall" or "must" is always mandatory;
(12)Â
Days shall be calendar days unless indicated otherwise.
The following words and phrases shall have the particular meaning
assigned by this section in the appropriate sections of this chapter:
The removal of surface material by the action of natural
elements caused by man's manipulation of the landscape.
An improved surface other than a street or driveway, designed
and constructed to provide vehicular movement between a street to
any use other than agriculture and other than an individual residential
dwelling unit.
Any person other than the developer, who acting for the developer
submits subdivision and/or land development plans to the Township
for the purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
A private drive intended principally to provide vehicular
access within a vehicular parking compound. Although aisles provide
interior vehicular circulation, their principal function is to provide
entrance and exit for individual parking spaces. Aisle may not be
used to intersect streets.
A right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, intended to
provide for vehicular access to the back or side of properties and
not intended for general traffic circulation.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for subdivision or land development including
his heirs, successors and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative 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, preliminary or final development
plan.
The 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 the "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[1]
That portion of a street lying on either side of the cartway
where the soil is stabilized as a protection for the edge of pavement
or other road surfacing; or a mound of earth which serves purposes
such as directing the flow of surface water runoff, preventing soil
erosion or supporting plant materials to aid in screening.
A tract of land which is entirely bounded by streets, public
parks, cemeteries, railroads, watercourses, or any other barrier to
the continuity of development.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Carroll.
A strip of land at least 10 feet in width, in addition to
the minimum setback distance, free of any principal or accessory building
or required improvement other than screening.
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls
and a roof or other covering, designed for the shelter or enclosure
of any persons, animals, or property of any kind.
The line within a property defining the required minimum distance between any enclosed structure and the adjacent right-of-way, and the line defining side and rear yards, where required by Chapter 450, Zoning.
Sanitary sewerage facilities which are installed and capped
where existing sanitary sewerage facilities are not accessible and
available, but are proposed in the Official Sewage Facilities Plan
of the Township. Such facilities shall include sanitary sewers, force
mains, pumping stations, and all other appurtenances necessary to
serve the entire subdivision and/or land development.
That portion of a street or alley which is improved, or intended
for vehicular use, excluding the shoulders.
A public or private utility system designed to collect, centrally
treat, and dispose of sewage from customers, in compliance with Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection regulations or regulations
of the Township, whichever may be more stringent.
A public or private utility system designed to transmit potable
water from a common source to customers, in compliance with Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection regulations or regulations
of the Township, whichever may be more stringent.
A line of unobstructed vision from a point 3.5 feet above
the center line of a street to the nearest point on the top of an
object six inches high on the same center line.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections. It
is defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from
the intersection of the street center lines.
Any area of land or water, or a combination of land and water,
within a development site designed and intended for use by all residents
of the development or the general public. Land included within the
right-of-way lines of streets and stormwater detention basins shall
not be classified as common open space. Common open spaces shall not
include required setbacks between buildings.
The most recently adopted version of the Northern York Region
Comprehensive Plan, York County, PA, including any amendments.
A use which may be appropriate to a particular zoning district,
only when specific conditions and criteria prescribed for such uses
are satisfied. Conditional uses are reviewed by the Board of Supervisors
after recommendations by the Planning Commission, in accordance with
this chapter.
York County, Pennsylvania.
The Planning Commission of York County.
A right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, intended to
furnish access for pedestrians.
A street with a single common ingress and egress ending with
a circular paved turnaround.
A pipe, conduit or similar structure including appurtenant
works which carries surface water.
The raised edge of a pavement to confine surface water to
the pavement and to protect the abutting land from vehicular traffic.
The outside edge of the cartway.
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.
The deliberate assignment of land by its owner to another
party.
A written instrument whereby an estate in real property is
conveyed.
Failure of the governing body or agency to render a decision
and communicate it to the applicant within the time and in the manner
required herein shall be deemed an approval of the application in
terms as presented unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an
extension of time or change in the prescribed manner of presentation
of communication of the decision, in which case, failure to meet the
extended time or change in manner of presentation of communication
shall have like effect.
The number of dwelling units permitted in relation to the
land area actually in use or proposed to be used for residential purposes,
exclusive of public, private, or both, streets.
A reservoir, formed from soil or other materials designed
to retard stormwater runoff by temporarily storing the runoff and
releasing it at a predetermined rate into a watercourse or stormwater
drainage system. This basin is designed to drain completely after
a storm event.
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.
The provisions 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 flow of water or liquid waste and the methods of directing
such flow.
Any ditch, gutter, culvert, 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 or any subdivision or contiguous
land areas.
An improved surface other than a street or access drive designed
and constructed to provide vehicular access from a street to individual
residential dwelling unit or a farm use. A driveway may also be used
to provide access from an access drive to an individual semidetached
or semiattached residential dwelling unit.
Any building or structure designed for living quarters for
one or more families or housekeeping units, including manufactured
homes, which are supported by a permanent foundation, but not including
tents, cabins, travel trailers, boarding homes, rooming houses, convalescent
homes, motels, hotels or other accommodations used for transient occupancy.
A structure or entirely self-contained portion thereof designed
to be occupied for living quarters as a single housekeeping unit,
including any domestic servants employed on the premises and having
no enclosed space (other than vestibules, entrance or other hallways
or porches) or cooking or sanitary facilities in common with any other
dwelling unit. A travel trailer, a boarding or rooming house, convalescent
home, fraternity or sorority house, hotel, inn, lodging, nursing,
or other similar home, or other similar structure, shall not be deemed
to constitute a dwelling unit.
The authorization by a property owner or authorized agency
of a right-of-way granted, but not dedicated, for limited use of private
land for a public or quasi-public purpose; and within which the owner
of the property shall not erect any 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 person duly licensed as a professional engineer by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Township Engineer or any consultant designated by the
Board of Supervisors to review subdivision and land development plans
and perform the duties of engineer in behalf of the Township.
The engineering specifications of the municipality regulating
the installation of any required improvement or for any facility installed
by any other, subject to public use.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
A plan which is designed to minimize accelerated erosion
and sedimentation pursuant to 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed and shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel or rock or any other material
is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new location
above the stripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom;
The difference in elevation between a point on the original
ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade;
and
The material used to make a fill.
The distance between side property lines measured at the
street right-of-way.
A person dully licensed as a professional geologist by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Board of Supervisors of Carroll Township, York County,
Pennsylvania.
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies.
The financial security that may be accepted by the Township
as a guarantee that improvements required as part of an application
for subdivision and/or land development are completed to the satisfaction
of the Township. Such financial security shall include, but is not
limited to, performance bonds, federal- or commonwealth-chartered
lending institution irrevocable letters of credit, restrictive or
escrow accounts in such lending institutions and mortgage commitment
letters escrowing money for construction of improvements.
The financial security that may be accepted by the Township
as a guarantee that improvements required as part of an application
for subdivision and/or land development will be in first-class condition,
state of repair and working order for a specific period of time. Such
financial security shall be similar to that accepted for a completion
guarantee.
An incorporated nonprofit organization operating under recorded
land agreements through which:
Each lot and/or home owner in a cluster development or other
described land area is automatically a member;
Each lot is automatically subject to a charge for a proportionate
share of the expenses for the organization's activities, such as maintaining
a common property; and
The charge if unpaid becomes a lien against the property.
A surface made of materials which prevents the percolation
of water into the ground. These surfaces include semi-impervious materials
such as gravel, stone, block and pavers.
Those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable
and desirable lots from raw acreage, including but not limited to:
grading, paving, curb, gutter, storm sewers and drains, improvements
to existing watercourses, sidewalks, crosswalks, street signs, monuments,
water supply facilities, and sewage disposal facilities.
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.
Excluded from this definition of land development are the following:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling
or single-family semidetached 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 considered an amusement park.
For the purposes of this subsection, an "amusement park" is defined
as a tract or area used principally as the location for permanent
amusement structures or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly
acquired acreage by an amusement park until initial plans for the
expanded area have been approved by proper authorities.
A land surveyor registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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 landscape architect registered as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A strip of land outside of a street right-of-way, and usually
along the perimeter of the lot, designed, constructed, and maintained
to separate uses or activities on a lot from other uses or activities
through the use of trees, shrubs, hedges, perennials and ground cover.
A strip of land outside of a street right-of-way, and usually
along the perimeter of the lot, designed, constructed, and maintained
to form a visual separation from one side to the other side through
a the combined use of low-level and high-level planting elements (such
as deciduous and coniferous trees, shrubs, hedges, perennials and
ground cover).
Any street or combination of streets which does not intersect
with a through street at two or more separate and distinct locations.
A loop street includes any street or system of streets that rely on
one intersection with a through street as a means of ingress and egress
for vehicular traffic.
Any parcel, or tract of land intended as a single unit for
purposes of ownership, transfer of ownership, use, rent, improvement,
or development. The word "lot" includes the work "plot," "parcel"
or "tract."
LOT, CORNERA lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at the intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curve street shall be considered a corner lot if the tangents to the curve at the points of intersection of the side lot lines with the street line intersect at an interior angle less than 135°.
LOT, FLAGA lot whose frontage does not satisfy the minimum width requirements for the respective zone but that does have sufficient lot width away from the lot's frontage.
LOT, INTERIORA lot other than a corner lot, the sides of which do not abut a street.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE, THROUGH OR REVERSE FRONTAGEAn interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
That part of an individual lot which has been reserved for
the placement of the mobile home, appurtenant structures or additions.
Any structure intended for or capable of permanent human
habitation, with or without wheels, and capable of being transported
or towed from one place to the next, in one or more pieces, by whatsoever
name or title it is colloquially or commercially known, but excluding
transport trucks or vans equipped with sleeping space for a driver
or drivers, and travel trailers. Manufactured homes placed on individual
lots shall be considered "dwellings," and be bound by the requirements
there imposed. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "manufactured
home" shall mean a structure, transportable in one or more sections,
which is built on a permanent chassis, and is designed for use with
or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities.
The term includes park trailers, recreational vehicles and other similar
vehicles which are placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive
days.
A parcel of land in a manufactured home park, improved with
the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary
for the erections thereon of a single manufactured home park.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so
designated and improved that it contains two or more manufactured
housing lots for the placement thereon of manufactured housing.
An area designed exclusively for manufactured homes where
lots are not rented but sold.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
A residential land development plan which is not required
to construct public or private streets or other improvements to be
dedicated to the Township or state, and is consistent with Section
305 - Minor Plans.
A residential Subdivision of land which is not required to construct public or private streets or other improvements to be dedicated to the Township or State, and is consistent with § 435-15, Minor plan applications.
The Township of Carroll, York County, Pennsylvania.
A right-of-way, municipally or privately owned which cuts
across a lot or parcel to furnish access for pedestrians to adjacent
streets or properties.
The map representing a tract of land including all supplementary
data specified in this chapter. The following are the types of plans
specified by this chapter:
SKETCH PLANA formal submission of a nonactionable plan not necessarily to exact scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings, with the general layout of a proposal for consideration prior to the submission of a preliminary plan.
MINOR PLANResidential subdivision or land development as defined by this chapter.
PRELIMINARY PLANA complete and exact subdivision and/or land development plan, the purpose of which is to authorize the preparation of final plans.
FINAL PLANA subdivision and/or land development plan prepared for official recording as required by statute to define property rights, proposed streets and other public improvements.
AS-BUILTA revised final plan, showing dimensions and locations of all streets and other improvements as actually constructed.
An area of land controlled by a landowner, to be developed as a single entity for a number of dwelling units, or combination of residential and nonresidential uses, the development plan for which does not correspond in lot 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 Chapter 450, Zoning.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July
31, 1968, P.L. 805, Act 247, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as
amended.
Carroll Township Planning Commission.
A strip of land lying between the curbline, or edge of cartway, and the sidewalk or walkway; and any area requiring a screen planting as specified in this chapter, Chapter 450, Zoning, or any other Township ordinances, codes, regulations, plans and maps.
See "visual screen."
See "plan."
Includes the following:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Supervisors, Zoning Hearing Board or Planning Commission, intended
to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance
with this chapter.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act."[2]
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.
The one-hundred-year flood elevation plus a freeboard safety
factor of 1Â 1/2 feet.
Any method, process or substance whose supply is rejuvenated
through natural processes and, subject to those natural processes,
remains relatively constant, including, but not limited to, biomass
conversion, geothermal energy, solar and wind energy and hydroelectric
energy and excluding those sources of energy used in the fission and
fusion processes.
A narrow parcel of ground separating a street from other
adjacent properties.
Land reserved for use as a public thoroughfare for vehicular
traffic and/or pedestrian traffic, whether designated as a street,
highway, thoroughfare, parkway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, alley,
or however designated.
The distance required by a driver traveling at a given speed
to stop the vehicle after an object on the roadway becomes visible
to the driver.
The use of plant materials, fencing, walls and/or earthen
berms, or combinations thereof, to aid in the concealment of such
features as parking areas and vehicles within them, and to provide
for privacy between two or more different land uses or activities;
a visual and/or sound buffer or other barrier.
The process by which minerals 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."
Any septic system or structure designed to biochemically
treat sanitary sewage within the boundaries of an individual lot.
The 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. (See sketch in Appendix II.[3])
The face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
A field test conducted to determine the absorption capacity
of soil to be a specified depth in a given location for the purpose
of determining suitability of soil for on-site sewage disposal. Such
tests shall be performed in accordance with requirements of Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection.
Chemical or structural treatment designed to increase or
maintain the stability of a mass of soil or otherwise to improve its
engineering properties.
Drainage runoff from the surface of the land resulting from
precipitation or snow or ice melt.
The control of runoff from water falling on a given site.
Those controls and measures (e.g., storm sewers, berms, terraces,
bridges, dams, basins, infiltration systems, swales, watercourses
and floodplains) used to effect a stormwater management program.
A plan for controlling surface water runoff so that it will
preclude erosion or flooding and/or the adverse effects of impervious
areas on surface water runoff as required by this and other Township
ordinances, codes, regulations, plans, and maps.
A strip of land over which there is a public or private right-of-way
intended to serve principally as a means of vehicular access to and
frontage for abutting properties, as well as general traffic circulation.
Streets are further classified as follows:
ARTERIALA street which provides for intercommunity travel connecting population centers and carrying large volumes of traffic at speeds higher than desirable on other types of streets. The secondary function of an arterial street is to provide access to frontage lots; therefore, the intensity of driveway access is limited.
COLLECTORA street which conducts and distributes traffic between arterial and local streets. Collector street's primary function is to promote free traffic flow. The secondary function of a collector street is to provide access to frontage lots; therefore, the intensity direct driveway access is limited. Collectors shall be designed so that no section or any point of traffic concentration exceeds 1,000 average daily traffic movements.
CUL-DE-SACA street with a single common ingress and egress.
LOCALA street which provides frontage for access to lots, and carries traffic having destination or origin on the street itself.
The dividing line between a lot and a street.
A street not offered for dedication or was not accepted by
the municipality.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
to be dedicated for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation
by the public at large.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable location on or
in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
See "applicant' and "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 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.
Where approximately 90% of an approved plan site has been
developed, or some other percent as determined by the Board of Supervisors
to assure facilities to be dedicated to the Township are not adversely
affected by further development and so that the project will be able
to be used, occupied or operated for its intended use.
Professional land surveyor registered by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A defined watercourse which gathers or carries surface water
runoff.
A street that has at least two separate and distinct intersections,
as a means of ingress and egress for vehicular traffic, with one or
more streets that are not cul-de-sac streets nor loop streets.
Surface soils and subsurface soils which presumably are fertile
soils and soil material, ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus
debris. Topsoil is usually found in the uppermost soil layer called
the "A horizon."
A map showing the elevations of the ground by contours or
elevations.
The Township of Carroll, York County, Pennsylvania, Board
of Supervisors, its agents or authorized representatives.
A parcel of land that is a separate legal description in
a deed or deeds, or is separated from the whole tract by a stream
(20 feet wide or wider), a highway or any local, county or state boundary
line.
Campgrounds with dedicated campsites for recreational vehicles
or camping trailers proceed by a vehicle for short-term, temporary
residence, for up to three months.
The attaching of development rights to specified lands which
are desired by a municipality to be kept undeveloped, but permitting
those rights to be transferred from those lands so that the development
potential which they represent may occur on other lands within the
municipality where more intensive development is deemed by the municipality
to be appropriate.
Any lot, tract or parcel of land which has not been graded
or in any other manner prepared for the construction of a building
or for any other use.
A part of the property, structure, or building designed or
intended for any type of independent use, which has direct exit to
a public street or way, or to a common element or common elements
leading to a public street or way or to an easement or right-of-way
leading to a public street or way, and includes a proportionate undivided
interest in the common elements, which is assigned to the property,
structure or buildings.
The unenclosed portion of the ground of a lot which is not
devoted to driveways or parking spaces, which is free of structures
of any kind, of which not more than 25% is roofed for shelter purposes
only, and which is available and accessible to all occupants of the
building or buildings on the said lot for purposes of active or passive
outdoor recreation.
A well-maintained hedge, landscaped berm, or other vegetative
materials which, upon planting or installation, is both of sufficient
height and density to conceal from the view of adjacent properties
the structures and uses on the premise where the screening is located.
Up to 30% of the screening may be accomplished by using a fence or
wall.
Any water works, water supply works, water distribution system,
or part thereof designed, intended or constructed to provide or distribute
potable water.
The entire region or area drained by a river or other body
of water whether natural or artificial.
A system for supplying and distributing potable water to
a single dwelling or other building from a source located on the same
lot.
An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater
and surface-water resources within a municipality.
Any channel or conveyance of surface water having a defined
bed and banks, whether natural or artificial, with perennial or intermittent
flow.
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or
groundwater at 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, including
swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas, as defined by the United
States Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The current version of the Carroll Township Zoning Ordinance,
as amended.[5]