[Ord. 2005-2, 4/4/2005]
1. 
The Borough of Watsontown, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, under authority granted by Act 247 of 1968[1] and subsequent amendments thereto, hereby adopts the following regulations governing the subdivision and development of land within the Borough as set forth herein.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
2. 
The Borough Council of the Borough of Watsontown is vested by law with control of the subdivision of land and land development within the Borough of Watsontown by Act 247 of 1968, the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,[2] as amended. The Borough Council of the Borough of Watsontown shall retain the authority to approve all major subdivision plans and land development plans as required herein; provided, however, that the Planning Commission is hereby designated by the Watsontown Borough Council as an agency which shall review and either approve or deny all minor subdivision plans, and shall review and make recommendations on preliminary and final major subdivision plans and land development plans as required herein, prior to action by the Watsontown Borough Council, and, when provided by ordinance, make other recommendations.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
3. 
No subdivision or land development of any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be made, and no street, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water main or other improvements 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 thereon, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
4. 
No lot in a subdivision may be sold, no permit to erect, alter or repair any building upon land in a subdivision or a land development may be issued, and no building may be erected in a subdivision or a land development, unless and until a plan of such subdivision or land development shall have been approved and properly recorded, and until the improvements required herein in connection therewith have been constructed or guaranteed as hereinafter provided.
5. 
No person, firm or corporation proposing to make, or having made, a subdivision or land development within the Borough shall proceed with any grading before obtaining from the Planning Commission the approval of the preliminary application for the proposed development, and no deeds shall be recorded for lots in any development, before obtaining from the Planning Commission the approval of the final application for the proposed subdivision or land development, except as otherwise provided herein.
6. 
The proposed subdivision or land development plat shall be in general accordance with the Comprehensive Plan of the Borough of Watsontown.
7. 
No land in the Borough shall be subdivided or otherwise developed if such land is considered by the Planning Commission to be unsuitable for development by reason of flooding or improper drainage, objectionable earth and rock formation, topography, or any other feature harmful to the health and safety of residents and the community as a whole; and provided further that no land shall be subdivided or otherwise developed by the subdivider or the developer unless adequate access to the land over adequate streets or thoroughfares exists or will be provided by the subdivider or the developer, or otherwise developed.
8. 
The proposed subdivision or land development shall conform with the design standards set forth in this chapter.
[Ord. 2005-2, 4/4/2005]
This chapter has been adopted in order to create conditions favorable to the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the citizens of the Borough of Watsontown through the provision of regulations that will insure the harmonious development of the community.
[Ord. 2005-2, 4/4/2005]
The provisions contained herein shall apply to all land within the Borough limits of the Borough of Watsontown through the provision of regulations that will insure the harmonious development of the community.
[Ord. 2005-2, 4/4/2005]
1. 
From the time an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, is duly filed, and while such application is pending approval or disapproval, no change or amendment of the zoning, subdivision or other governing ordinance or plan 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, if an application is properly and finally denied, any subsequent application shall be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
2. 
When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, has been approved without condition or approved by the applicant's acceptance of conditions, 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.
3. 
Where final approval is preceded by preliminary approval, the aforesaid five-year period shall be counted from the date of the preliminary approval. In the case of any doubt as to the terms of a preliminary approval, the terms shall be construed in the light of the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood at the time when the application for such approval was duly filed.
4. 
Where the landowner has substantially completed the required improvements as depicted upon the final application within the aforesaid five-year limit, or any extension thereof as may be granted by the Planning Commission, no change of municipal ordinance or plan enacted subsequent to the date of filing of the preliminary application shall modify or revoke any aspect of the approved final application pertaining to zoning classification or density, lot, building, street or utility location.
5. 
In the case of a preliminary application calling for the installation of improvements beyond the five-year period, a schedule shall be filed by the landowner with the preliminary application delineating all proposed sections as well as deadlines within which applications for final application approval of each section are intended to be filed. Such schedule shall be updated annually by the applicant on or before the anniversary of the preliminary application approval, until final application approval of the final section has been granted and any modification in the aforesaid schedule shall be subject to approval by the Planning Commission in its discretion.
6. 
Each section in any residential subdivision or land development, except for the last section, shall contain a minimum of 25% of the total number of dwelling units as depicted on the preliminary application, unless a lesser percentage is approved by the Planning Commission in its discretion. Provided the landowner has not defaulted with regard to or violated any of the conditions of the preliminary application approval, including compliance with landowner's aforesaid schedule of submission of final applications for the various sections, then the aforesaid protections afforded by substantially completing the improvements depicted upon the final application within five years shall apply and for any section or sections, beyond the initial section, in which the required improvements have not been substantially completed within said five-year period the aforesaid protections shall apply for an additional term or terms of three years from the date of final application approval for each section.
7. 
Failure of landowner to adhere to the aforesaid schedule of submission of final applications for the various sections shall subject any such section to any and all changes in zoning, subdivision and other governing ordinance enacted by the municipality subsequent to the date of the initial preliminary application submission.