Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of these regulations, have the meaning indicated:
A.
Words used in the present tense include the future, words in the
singular number include the plural and words in the plural number
include the singular number.
B.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
C.
The word "may" is permissive.
D.
The word "used" shall include arranged, designed, constructed, altered,
converted, rented, leased, or intended to be used.
E.
The word "occupied" includes arranged, designed, built, altered,
converted, rented or leased, or intended to be occupied.
F.
The word "land" shall include water surface.
G.
The word "Commissioner" shall mean the elected members of the Township
Board of Commissioners of Shaler Township, Pennsylvania.
H.
The phrase "Board Member" shall mean the members of the Zoning Hearing
Board of Shaler Township, Pennsylvania.
I.
The word "Manager" shall mean the Township Manager of Shaler Township,
Pennsylvania.
J.
Any reference to the Township Manager, Planning Commission, Township
Engineer or other administrative official of Shaler Township, Pennsylvania,
shall include their designees.
As used in this chapter, the following abbreviations shall have
the meanings indicated:
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ADA
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Americans with Disabilities Act
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ASTM
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American Society for Testing and Materials
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EPA
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Environmental Protection Agency
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FEMA
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Federal Emergency Management Agency
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FHA
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Federal Housing Administration
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HOP
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Highway Occupancy Permit
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HVAC
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Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning
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NPDES
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National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
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PADEP
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Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
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PennDOT
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Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
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PUC
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Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
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SALDO
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Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance
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Other terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined
as follows:
A landowner or developer, as herein defined, who has filed
an application for development, including his heirs, successors and
assigns.
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
and an application for the approval of a development plan.
An area bounded by streets, rights-of-way, streams or other
similar natural features.
Any fully enclosed structure having a roof intended for the
shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals, equipment or belongings
and not including heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC),
mechanical equipment, electrical equipment or trash.
The improved or paved portion or portions of a street available
for vehicular or other traffic; the portion or portions between curbs
where curbs are used.
An area of unobstructed vision at the intersection of two
streets or the intersection of a driveway with a street, intended
to allow the operators of vehicles approaching simultaneously to see
each other in time to prevent a collision.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water, within a development site, designed as and intended
for the use or enjoyment by the public or residents of a development,
not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside
for public facilities. Stormwater management facilities such as drainageways,
swales and stormwater basins shall not be considered eligible to meet
common open space requirements.
The County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County Economic Development (ACED) as assigned
by the Allegheny County Council.
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.
An excavation; the difference in vertical elevation between
a point on the surface of original ground and a point on the final
grade; the material removed in excavation.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
its bureaus, divisions, departments and/or agencies, as may from time
to time be established, or such department or departments as may in
the future succeed it.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner, who proposes, makes, or causes to be
made a subdivision of land or land development.
The provisions for development of land, 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, driveways, sidewalks and
parking facilities, common open space, and public facilities. The
phrase "provisions of development plan," when used in this chapter,
shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
The removal of surface water or groundwater from land by
drains, grading or other means, and includes control of runoff to
minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after construction or
development.
A vehicular connection from a lot to the right-of-way. A
driveway terminates at the right-of-way line and/or the access drive.
More than one habitable room containing permanent heating,
sanitary, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities used or intended
to be used as living quarters for a single household or family.
A grant of one or more property rights for a portion of land
by the landowner to and/or for the use by the public, a corporation,
or another person or entity.
Notice given by a municipality through the Internet of the
time and place of a public hearing and the particular nature of the
matter to be considered at the hearing.
An individual licensed and registered to engage in the practice
of engineering in Pennsylvania. A professional engineer may not practice
land surveying unless licensed as set forth in P.L. 534, No. 230;
however, a professional engineer may perform engineering land surveys.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
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, rock or any other material
is placed, pushed, dumped, transported, or moved to a new location
above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped
surface, and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom. Fill
also can refer to the difference in elevation between a point on the
original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the
final grade.
See Chapter 130 (Flood Damage Prevention) of the Code of Shaler Township.
A construction or installation, including, but not limited
to, of any of the following: streets, gutters, culverts, sidewalks,
storm sewers, fiber optic cable, water drainage facilities, utilities
(gas, electric, telephone services), water system, fire hydrants,
sanitary sewers, septic tanks, street signs, streetlights, and including
cuts and/or fills.
Any one 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.
Subdivision of land.
Development in accordance with Section 503(1.1) of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code.[1]
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 the 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.
The area contained within the lot lines of a lot, excluding
space within any rights-of-way of public streets and ways.
A lot which has been properly recorded in the Office of the
Department of Real Estate of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
A lot at the junction of and adjoining two or more intersecting
streets or at the point of abrupt change of a single street, where
the interior angle is less than 135° or the radius of the street
line is less than 10 feet.
A lot other than a corner lot with only one frontage on a
street.
A lot other than a corner lot with frontage on more than
one street.
The horizontal distance between both side lot lines measured
at the required minimum front setback.
A metal pipe or pin of at least 1/2 inch diameter (preferred
3/4 inch or 7/8 inch) and at least 24 inches in length (preferred
30 inches to 36 inches), which shall be used for survey purposes.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
A lot or contiguous lots of land which have been so designated
and improved that they contain two or more mobile home lots for the
placement thereon of mobile homes.
A stone or concrete monument with a flat top at least four
inches in diameter or square, containing a copper or brass dowel (plug),
and at least 24 inches in length (preferred 30 inches to 36 inches).
The bottom, sides or radius shall be at least two inches greater than
the top, to minimize movements caused by front which shall be used
for survey purposes.
Any security which may be in lieu of a requirement that certain
improvements be made before the Township Board of Commissioners approves
a final subdivision or land development plan, including performance
bonds, escrow agreements, and other similar collateral or surety agreements.
An individual(s), partnership(s), co-partnership(s), association(s),
corporation(s), limited liability company(ies), limited liability
partnership(s), and any and all other entities.
The Shaler Township Planning Commission, appointed by the
Township Board of Commissioners in accordance with the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended.[2]
The copy of the final plat which contains the required original
endorsements and which is recorded with the County Department of Real
Estate.
A complete and exact map or plan of a subdivision or land
development (and including all required supplementary data), prepared
for official recording as required by statute, defining property rights
as well as proposed streets and other improvements.
A tentative map or plan of a subdivision of land development
(and including all required supplementary data), in lesser detail
than a final plat, showing approximate proposed street and lot layout
as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of a final plat.
A right-of-way not adopted or otherwise determined to be
a public street by Shaler Township, or not having otherwise been adopted
as a county, state or Township street.
Public grounds includes:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Township
Board of Commissioners or Planning Commission, intended to inform
and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with
the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended.[3]
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act."[4]
A notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. 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.
A table designed to help an applicant determine the location
and amount of development permitted within any given lot in order
to protect the Township's natural resources.
See "subdivision."
An area of land that is legally described for the public
or private provision of access.
The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
area or watershed, after a fall of rain or snow, that does not enter
the soil but runs off the surface of the land.
Any structure designed to biochemically treat sanitary sewage
within the boundaries of an individual lot, or tract of lots.
A sanitary sewage collection system managed and operated
under private auspices, in which sewage is carried from individual
lots by a system of pipes, to a central treatment and disposal plant,
generally serving a neighborhood area.
A sanitary sewage collection system, managed and operated
by the Township, in which sewage is carried from individual lots by
a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal plant.
The process by which mineral 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 considered sediment.
A covered watertight settling tank in which raw sewage is
biochemically changed into solid, liquid and gaseous states to facilitate
further treatment and final disposal.
The portion of a roadway (cartway) between the curb or gutter
and the travelway intended for emergency and parking use.
The face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slope is 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 a specified depth in a given location for the purpose of
determining suitability of soil for on-site sewage disposal.
The chemical or structural treatment of a mass of soil to
increase or maintain its stability or otherwise to improve its engineering
properties.
Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway,
parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or intended
to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or
private. Streets are further classified according to the functions
they perform:
Arterial: signalized streets that serve primarily through traffic
and provide access to abutting properties as a secondary function,
having signal spacings of two miles or less and turn movements at
intersections that usually do not exceed 20% of total traffic.
Collector: a roadway which typically connects local streets
to arterial streets, whereas the street may provide land access and
traffic circulation within residential, commercial, and industrial
areas.
Local roads: a public street designed to provide access to abutting
lots and to discourage through traffic.
Alley: a public thoroughfare which may afford a secondary means
for lot access, but not intended for general traffic circulation.
Cul-de-sac: a dead-end street with a vehicular turnaround at
the dead end.
Any man-made object that has an ascertainable stationary
location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
The term "subdivider" shall be synonymous in meaning with
"developer" as defined herein and shall be used interchangeably with
same.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other division
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, petition 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, in the judgment of the Municipal Engineer, at least
90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted pursuant to Section 509 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code[5]) of those improvements required as a condition for final
approval have been completed in accordance with the approved plan,
so that the project will be able to be used, occupied or operated
for its intended use.
A surveyor registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers, or carries, surface
water runoff.
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."
Shaler Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
The governing body of Shaler Township, Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania.
A street adopted as a public street by the Township, or having
become a Township street as legally determined.
A system for supplying and distributing water to a single
dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
A permanent stream; intermittent stream; river; brook; creek;
or a channel or ditch for water, whether natural or man-made.
Any area defined as a wetland by the Federal Manual for Identifying
and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands.
