This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Shaler
Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
This chapter is established for the purposes of:
A.
Assuring sites suitable for building purposes and human habitation.
B.
Providing for the harmonious development of the Township.
C.
Coordinating the proposed development with existing development within
the Township.
D.
Encouraging adequate open spaces for proper traffic flows, recreation,
light and air and for proper distribution of population, thereby creating
conditions favorable to the health, safety, morals and general welfare
of the citizens.
E.
Protecting the character and social and economic stability of the
Township and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development of
the Township.
F.
Protecting and conserving the value of land throughout the Township,
the value of buildings and improvements upon the land and to minimize
the conflicts among the uses of land and buildings.
G.
Guiding public and private policy and action in order to provide
adequate and efficient transportation, water supply, sewage, schools,
parks, playgrounds, recreation and other public requirements and facilities.
H.
Providing the most beneficial relationship between the uses of land
and buildings and the circulation of traffic within the Township,
having particular regard to the avoidance of congestion in the streets
and highways and the pedestrian traffic movements appropriate to the
various uses of land and buildings, and providing for the proper location
and width of streets and building lines.
I.
Establishing reasonable standards of design and procedures for subdivision
and resubdivision in order to further the orderly layout and use and/or
reuse of land, and ensuring proper legal descriptions and monumenting
of subdivided land.
J.
Promoting and fostering the community development goals and objectives,
including quality infill, redevelopment and/or adaptive reuse.
K.
Ensuring that public facilities are available and will have a sufficient
capacity to serve the proposed subdivision.
L.
Preventing the pollution of air, streams and ponds; assuring the
adequacy of drainage facilities; safeguarding the water table; and
encouraging the wise use and management of natural resources in order
to preserve the community and value of the land.
M.
Preserving the natural beauty and topography of the Township and
ensuring appropriate development with regard to these natural features.
N.
Providing for open spaces through efficient design and layout of
the land.
O.
Ensuring that documents prepared as part of land ownership transfer
fully and accurately describe the parcel of land being subdivided
and new parcels thus created.
A.
Land development, as herein defined, must comply with the regulations
contained herein. Such compliance shall include, but not be limited
to: the filing of preliminary and final plans, the dedication and
improvement of rights-of-way, streets and roads, developers'
agreement(s), covenants and restrictions as applicable and the payment
of fees and charges as established by resolution of the Township Board
of Commissioners.
B.
Land development plans shall indicate the location of each structure
and clearly define each unit and shall indicate public easements,
common areas and improvements to public rights-of-way. Developments
are subject to the zoning regulations as they apply to use and density
requirements, setbacks, parking and other features and shall be indicated
on the land development plans.
Hereafter, except in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter, no lot in a subdivision may be sold; no permit to erect any
building upon land in a subdivision may be issued; no cuts, grading
or filling permitted; no street, walkway, curbs, gutters, streetlights,
fire hydrants, shade trees, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water line,
utilities or other improvements as may be required herein shall be
laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use or travel
or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting thereon.
Hereafter, except as provided in this chapter, any plat of any
subdivision, street or development of land not approved by the Township
Board of Commissioners in accordance with the provisions and procedure,
as set forth herein, shall be null and void.
A.
From the time an application for approval, whether preliminary or
final, is duly filed as provided in this chapter and while such application
is pending approval or disapproval, no change or amendment in zoning,
or change in the subdivision or other governing ordinances or plans,
shall affect the decision on such application adversely to the applicant,
and the applicant shall be entitled to a decision in accordance with
the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood
at the time the application was duly filed. In addition, when a preliminary
application has been duly approved, the applicant shall be entitled
to final approval in accordance with the terms of the approved preliminary
application as hereinafter provided. However, when an application
is properly and finally denied, then any subsequent application shall
be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
B.
When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or
final, has been approved or approved subject to conditions acceptable
to the applicant, no subsequent change or amendment in the zoning,
subdivision or other governing ordinance or plan shall be applied
to affect adversely the right of the applicant to commence and to
complete any aspect of the approved development in accordance with
the terms of such approval within five years from such approval. The
five-year period shall be counted from the date of the preliminary
approval. See also PA MPC Section 504, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10504.
