This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Borough
of Sewickley Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
This chapter is established for the purposes of:
A.
Assuring sites are suitable for building purposes and human habitation.
B.
Providing for the harmonious development of the Borough.
C.
Coordinating the proposed development with existing development within
the Borough.
D.
Encouraging adequate open spaces, proper traffic flows, recreation,
light and air and 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
Borough and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development of
the Borough.
F.
Protecting and conserving the value of land throughout the Borough,
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 Borough, 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, as
identified in the Aleppo-Sewickley-Glen Osborne (ASO) Joint Comprehensive
Plan, as amended.
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 Borough 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 landownership transfer
fully and accurately describe the parcel of land being subdivided
and new parcels thus created.
A.
Subdivision control. No subdivision, as herein defined, of any lot,
tract or parcel of land shall be effected and no street, alley, sanitary
sewer, storm sewer, water main or other facilities in connection therewith
shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use
or travel, or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting
or to abut thereon, except in strict accordance with the provisions
of this chapter.
B.
Land development control.
(1)
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 Borough Council.
(2)
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.
A.
Whenever there is a difference between the minimum standards specified
herein and those included in other Borough ordinances and regulations,
the more stringent requirements shall apply.
B.
All requests for modification shall be in writing and shall accompany
and be part of the application for development. The request shall
state in full the grounds and facts of unreasonableness or hardship
on which the request is based, the provision or provisions of this
chapter involved and the minimum modification necessary.
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 shall be 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 Borough
Council in accordance with the provisions and procedures 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 Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code § 504,
as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10504.
A.
Any attempt at division or separation of ownership of portions of
a development tract shall constitute a subdivision within the meaning
of the term as used in this chapter and shall require review and approval.
"Separation of ownership," as used herein, shall not be meant to include
normal transfers between individuals involving only a single building
lot or single residence.
B.
For developmental purposes only, any separation of ownership, as
defined herein, within an apartment development and/or townhouse type
of development shall, for the purposes of this chapter, be considered
a condominium.
C.
For condominium, the requirements set forth in FHA Bulletin Series
1400, Suggested Legal Documents for Planned Unit Developments (April
1973, as amended), and the Uniform Condominium Act of Pennsylvania
(as amended) shall be considered minimum standards for the establishment
of a condominium association. The Borough may require additional information
and documentation from the applicant to establish that an appropriate
plan exists to assure the continued maintenance of common areas.
D.
The final decision as to the propriety of the maintenance guarantees
or the plan proposed by the applicant to deal with these questions
shall rest with Borough Council.
E.
In all other land development projects, all subdivisions or separations
of ownership (as set forth above) shall otherwise meet all area, bulk,
open space, parking and other applicable regulations of the zoning
district as set forth in this chapter of the Code of Sewickley Borough
and its amendments .
