[Amended 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
The design standards established under this chapter have been established to support the natural resource conservation objectives of the Phoenixville Regional Comprehensive Plan, while accommodating new growth and development. The purposes of these standards are:
A. 
To allow for flexibility in lot design which directs buildings, site disturbance, and activities to the most suitable locations with respect to the natural conditions of a tract;
B. 
To protect unique natural features of the Township, including aquifers, water bodies, floodplains, wetlands, woodlands and forests, and steep slope areas, from disturbances;
C. 
To minimize visual impact upon the scenic rural character of the Township by fitting new construction harmoniously into the natural landscape; and
D. 
To provide an opportunity for creative, varied, environmentally sensitive, and economical development, permitting a range of lot areas, building densities, and housing sizes, and to promote continued diversity of age and income in the community.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Ord. No. 197; 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
Subject to other relevant provisions of this chapter, the following uses and improvements shall be permitted on greenway lands:
A. 
Conservation of open land in its natural state, including but not limited to forest, woodland, fallow field, and managed meadow.
B. 
Agriculture and horticulture uses, including raising crops or livestock, and aquaculture, including buildings that are specifically needed to support an active, viable agricultural or horticultural operation. Specifically excluded are intensive agriculture, wholesale nurseries, and commercial livestock operations involving swine or poultry.
C. 
Pastureland for horses, excluding commercial hack stable operations. Unroofed equestrian facilities and structures, including training and exercise facilities, shall be permitted but may not occupy more than half of the minimum required greenway land. Roofed equestrian facilities and structures within greenway lands shall not individually exceed 25,000 square feet, nor shall all structures in total cover more than 5% of the greenway area.
D. 
Forestry, including timber harvesting per § 390-166 in this chapter.
E. 
Neighborhood greenway land uses, such as village greens, commons, picnic areas, community gardens, trails per § 315-48 of Chapter 315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of West Vincent, and similar low-intensity recreational uses. Specifically excluded are high-intensity recreational uses, motorized off-road vehicle tracks, rifle ranges, and other uses similar in character and potential impact as determined by the Board.
F. 
Medium-intensity recreation areas not housed within a building, such as playgrounds, playing fields, courts and bikeways, provided such areas do not occupy more than half of the minimum required greenway land. Playing fields, playgrounds, and courts shall not be located within 100 feet of abutting properties, except for developments in districts that permit mixed uses, where this setback may be reduced at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.
G. 
Easements for drainage, emergency access, sewer lines or waterlines, or other public purposes.
H. 
Aboveground and/or underground utility and street rights-of-way may traverse greenway areas but shall not count toward the minimum required greenway land.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Ord. No. 197; 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
A. 
Greenway lands shall be laid out to ensure that an interconnected network of greenway land will be provided, as well as to maintain large, contiguous areas of forested lands. The required greenway land shall include primary conservation areas and secondary conservation areas.
(1) 
Primary conservation areas comprise environmentally sensitive areas including floodplains, submerged lands, wetlands, riparian and wetland buffers, critical value forests, critical value woodland, and slopes over 25%. Clearing in primary conservation areas shall be prohibited, except as necessary to create trails or to remove hazardous and/or invasive vegetation.
(2) 
Secondary conservation areas include precautionary slopes (15% to 25%), seasonal high-water table soils, non-critical value woodlands, non-critical value forests, visual resources, and lands on which conservation is desirable for purposes of providing an interconnected system of greenway land and recreation. Clearing in secondary conservation areas shall generally be prohibited, except as necessary to create trails and recreation facilities and/or vegetation management. The determination of necessity shall lie with the Board of Supervisors.
(3) 
Where applicable, greenways shall be designed to preserve woodlands and forests, especially to maximize preservation of interior forests and old growth forest.
B. 
Minimum required greenway land. The minimum percentage of land to be designated as permanent greenway in all subdivisions in the RC, R-3 and R-2 Zoning Districts shall be as set forth in the applicable zoning district, per an applicant's designated tier.
C. 
Location of greenway lands.
(1) 
Greenway lands in Tier I developments may be contained within conservancy lots, as undivided land with common rights of usage among the subdivision residents, or a combination of the two.
(2) 
In Tier I and Tier II subdivisions, the required greenway land comprises all of the primary conservation areas within the total tract.
(3) 
In Tier III and Tier IV subdivisions, the greenway land shall comprise a minimum of the applicable percentage of the adjusted tract acreage, plus all of the primary conservation areas within the tract. The greenway land may be owned and maintained by the Township, a homeowners' association, land trust, another conservation organization recognized by the Township, or by a private individual and subject to the terms of a conservation easement. Except when used for active agriculture, less than 50% of the land composing the greenway land shall be available for the common use of the subdivision residents. Resident access to greenway land used for active agriculture is at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors. These ownership options may be combined so that different parts of the greenway land may be owned by different entities.
(4) 
Greenway land within Tier III and Tier IV subdivisions shall generally remain undivided. Alternatively, up to 50% of the greenway land may be included within one or more large conservancy lots at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors, with the remainder deeded to a homeowners' association, land trust, or the Township. See §§ 315-51 and 315-52 of Chapter 315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of West Vincent for greenway design criteria. In determining the amount of greenway land which may be included in the conservancy lots of a given subdivision application, the Board of Supervisors shall consider, among other things, the effect that such conservancy lots have on the location and interconnected nature of the balance of the greenway land proposed and the reduction in the ability to utilize greenway lands as buffer areas to reduce the impact that the proposed development has on adjacent parcels of land. Neither the building envelope nor the impervious coverage on conservancy lots shall be considered as greenway land. In situations not involving conservancy lots of 10 acres or more, waivers to the minimum standard for undivided greenway land in Tier III subdivisions and minimum standard for undivided greenway land in Tier IV subdivisions may be granted by the Board of Supervisors to enable applicants to provide a greater variety of larger lot sizes within their proposed subdivisions. Under this waiver provision, such larger lots may consume up to 20% of the undivided greenway land that is normally required. Any such proposed reduction in the undivided greenway land shall not compromise the integrity of that land from an environmental, functional or visual standpoint. In order to safeguard these values, those parts of the enlarged house lots that would have ordinarily been included in the undivided greenway land (based on the locational criteria for greenway lands in this chapter and in Chapter 315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Township's Code) shall be protected through permanent conservation easements prohibiting construction and land management practices inconsistent with conservation purposes. Because of the potential of streams, brooks and creeks as corridors for neighborhood paths and community trail linkages, individual private lot lines shall not be allowed to extend to within 100 feet of their banks.
(5) 
Buffers for adjacent public parks or nature preserves. Where the proposed development adjoins public parkland (Township, county, state or federal), or nature preserves owned by any governmental agency or private conservation organization, a greenway buffer at least 150 feet deep shall be provided within the development along its common boundary with such lands, within which no new structures shall be constructed, nor shall any clearing of trees or understory growth be permitted (except as may be necessary for trail construction or the removal of invasive plant and tree species). Where this buffer is unwooded, the Board may require vegetative screening to be planted or that it be managed to encourage natural forest succession through no-mow policies and the periodic removal of invasive alien plant species.
D. 
Permanent greenway protection. Required greenway land shall be permanently protected and held in public or private ownership that prohibits future development and ensures that the purposes of § 390-121 are achieved.
A. 
The greenway land in residential subdivisions shall be identified and laid out according to the five-step design process described in § 315-13F of Chapter 315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of West Vincent, beginning with identification of both primary conservation areas and secondary conservation areas. The Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance in Chapter 315 contains both design standards and a design process for greenway lands, and those regulations shall apply to residential subdivisions.
B. 
Greenway lands shall contain only those structures relating to the designated purpose for which the land area has been reserved (see also § 390-122 above).
C. 
Where common greenway land is designated as separate, noncontiguous parcels, parcels constituting part of the minimum required greenway land shall consist of not less than three acres in area, nor shall they generally have a length-to-width ratio less than 4:1; provided, however, that the Board of Supervisors may waive the foregoing size and ratio requirements for neighborhood greens, playing fields or trail links, where such greenway lands meet the purposes set forth in § 390-121 hereof.
D. 
Greenway land shall be directly accessible to the largest practicable number of lots within the development to provide direct views and safe and convenient pedestrian access to the greenway land from all lots not adjoining such areas.
E. 
Greenway land shall be located in a manner which preserves and protects the following resources:
[Amended 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
(1) 
Watercourses, floodplains, and delineated wetlands.
(2) 
Riparian and wetland buffers.
(3) 
Critical value forests and critical value woodlands.
(4) 
Interior forest habitats, through the consolidation of permanently protected woodland and forest areas.
(5) 
Non-critical value forests and non-critical value woodlands.
(6) 
Springs and seasonal high-water table soils.
(7) 
Prime agricultural lands.
(8) 
Slopes in excess of 25%.
(9) 
Slopes 15% to 25%.
(10) 
Visual and historic resources.
F. 
When greenway land borders individual lots within a subdivision, the greenway land shall be marked where it meets the corners of the residential lots with permanent cement markers. In addition, the greenway land shall be clearly delineated by a fence, hedgerow other vegetative buffer, trail or other visible demarcation from such lots.
G. 
Greenway land not used for agriculture or recreation shall be planted and maintained, in order of preference, as woodland or meadows following the guidelines of the Greenway Lands Stewardship Guide.
A. 
Greenway land may be owned by a homeowners' association, the Township, a land trust, another conservation organization recognized by the Township, or by a similar entity. Such land may also remain privately owned in connection with conservancy lots and subject to permanent conservation easement restrictions. In developments with 25 or more dwelling units, a maximum of 50% of the required greenway land may remain in private ownership, while a minimum of 50% of the required greenway land shall be in common or public ownership.
[Amended 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
B. 
Greenway ownership standards. Common greenway land within a development shall be owned, administered and maintained by any of the following methods, either individually or in combination, and subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors:
(1) 
Ownership by the Township.
(a) 
The Township shall have the first and last offer of dedication of common greenway land in the event said land is to be conveyed. Dedication shall take the form of a fee simple ownership. The Township may, but shall not be required to, accept common greenway land, provided:
[1] 
There is no cost of acquisition; and
[2] 
The Township has access to such lands.
(b) 
Where the Township accepts dedication of greenway land that contains improvements, the Board of Supervisors may require the posting of financial security to ensure structural integrity of said improvements as well as the functioning of said improvements for a term not to exceed 18 months from the date of acceptance of dedication. The amount of financial security shall not exceed 15% of the actual cost of installation of said improvements.
(2) 
Ownership by homeowners' associations.
(a) 
The greenway land and associated facilities may be held in common ownership by a homeowners' association and shall be subject to a permanent conservation easement. The association shall be formed and operated under the following provisions:
[Amended 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
[1] 
The developer shall provide a description of the association including its bylaws and methods for maintaining the greenway land.
[2] 
The association shall be organized by the developer and operating with financial subsidization by the developer before the sale of any lots within the development.
[3] 
Any sale or transfer of a lot or lots within a development covered by a homeowners' association shall contain a disclosure to the buyer at the time of agreement of sale and on the property deed indicating the existence of a homeowners' association, including any declaration of covenants and restrictions, bylaws, and rules and regulations.
[4] 
Membership in the association is mandatory for all purchasers of homes therein and their successors. The conditions and timing of transferring control of the association from developer to homeowners shall be identified.
[5] 
The association shall be responsible for maintenance, insurance and taxes on common greenway land, enforceable by liens placed by the homeowners' association. Maintenance obligations may be enforced by the Township, which may place liens, including on member properties, to recover its costs. Any governmental body with jurisdiction in the area where the development is located may place liens on the owners of the greenway land to collect unpaid taxes.
[6] 
The members of the association shall share equitably the costs of maintaining and developing such greenway land. Shares shall be defined within the association bylaws. Association dues shall be structured to provide for both annual operating costs and to cover projected long-range costs relating to the repair of any capital facilities (which shall be deposited in a sinking fund reserved for just such purposes).
[7] 
In the event of a proposed transfer, within the methods here permitted, of greenway land by the homeowners' association, or of the assumption of maintenance of such land by the Township, notice of such action shall be given to all property owners within the development.
[8] 
The association shall have or hire adequate staff to administer common facilities and property and continually maintain the common greenway land.
(3) 
Ownership by condominium associations. In order to facilitate public matters such as the collection of taxes on greenway land and associated facilities, such land and facilities shall be controlled through the use of condominium agreements, approved by the Board. Such agreement shall be in conformance with the Uniform Condominium Act of 1980. All common greenway land shall be held as common element and shall be subject to a permanent conservation easement.
[Amended 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202]
(4) 
Ownership by individuals. Greenway land may be individually owned within a development, provided that the remainder of each lot meets the minimum area and bulk requirements of the district and such greenway land is subject to a permanent conservation easement ensuring the purposes of § 390-121 are achieved. Any proposed uses within the greenway land shall be subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors.
C. 
Public access and conservation easements.
(1) 
Public access. Where greenway land is owned by an entity other than the Township, the Township may, but shall not be required to, accept easements for public use of any portion or portions of common greenway land, title of which is to remain in ownership by the condominium or homeowners' association, provided:
(a) 
There is no cost of acquisition; and
(b) 
The terms of such easement are satisfactory to the Township in all respects, including, but not limited to, the existence of a satisfactory maintenance agreement for the Township's benefit with the developer, condominium or homeowners' association.
(2) 
Conservation easements with a private conservation organization. With the permission of the Township, an owner, including the Township, may grant easements to a private, nonprofit organization recognized by the Township, among whose purpose it is to conserve greenway land and/or natural resources, provided that:
(a) 
The organization is acceptable to the Board and is a bona fide conservation organization with perpetual existence;
(b) 
The conveyance contains appropriate provision for proper reverter or retransfer in the event that organization becomes unwilling or unable to continue carrying out its functions;
(c) 
The Township is a party to the conservation easement agreement; and
[Added 10-17-2022 by Ord. No. 202[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former Subsection C(2)(c) as Subsection C(2)(d).
(d) 
The terms of such easement are satisfactory to the Township in all respects, including, but not limited to, the existence of the developer and the organization.
(3) 
Township as easement holder. The Township may elect, but shall not be required, to be designated and serve as the easement holder for any portion or portions of greenway land which becomes the subject of an easement under this chapter or may hold such easement jointly with a private conservation organization or another governmental entity, provided that:
(a) 
A satisfactory maintenance agreement is reached between the developer and the Township.
(b) 
The existence of the trusteeship shall be recorded against all individual lots and property owners.
D. 
Greenway maintenance standards. Unless otherwise agreed to by the Board of Supervisors, the cost and responsibility of maintaining common facilities and greenway land shall be borne by the property owner, condominium association, homeowners' association, or conservation organization.
(1) 
A narrative describing ownership, use and maintenance responsibilities shall be submitted for all common and public improvements, utilities and greenway lands at the time of preliminary subdivision plan submission. A maintenance and operations plan shall be submitted, detailing the kinds of tasks that will need to be undertaken on a regular basis to control invasive species and to promote a varied habitat for plant and wildlife, the various responsibilities for those maintenance tasks, and the entities that will perform those tasks in both the short term and over the longer term. Such maintenance and operations plan shall be in accordance with the then-current land stewardship handbook "Greenway Lands Stewardship Guide" and shall include concomitant budget to ensure adequate maintenance of the greenway land. Such budget shall be subject to review and approval by the Township on an annual basis. Any changes to the maintenance and operations plan shall be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
(2) 
In the event that the entity established to maintain the greenway lands and the common facilities, or any successor thereto, shall at any time after establishment of a development containing greenway land fail to maintain such land in reasonable order and condition in accordance with the development plan, the Township may serve written notice upon the owner of record, setting forth the manner in which the owner of record has failed to maintain the greenway land in reasonable condition.
(3) 
Failure to adequately maintain the greenway land in reasonable order and condition constitutes a violation of this chapter. The Board is hereby authorized to give notice, by personal service or by United States Mail, to the owner or occupant, as the case may be, of any violation, directing the owner to remedy the same within 30 days.
(4) 
If the owner fails to remedy, the Township may assume responsibility for maintenance; in which case, any escrow funds may be forfeited and any permits may be revoked or suspended. The Township may enter the premises and take corrective action. The costs of such corrective action shall be charged to the property owner and may include administrative and legal costs and penalties.
(5) 
Should any bill or bills for maintenance of greenway land by the Township be unpaid by November 1 of each year, a late fee of 15% shall be added to such bills, and a lien shall be filed against the premises in the same manner as other municipal claims.