The following words are defined in order to facilitate the interpretation
of the chapter for administrative purposes and in the carrying out
of duties by appropriate officers. Unless otherwise expressly stated,
the following terms shall, for the purpose of these regulations, have
the meaning indicated:
A.Â
Words in the singular include the plural, and those in the plural
include the singular.
B.Â
Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
C.Â
The words "person," "subdivider," "developer," and "owner" include
a corporation, unincorporated association and a partnership, or other
legal entity, as well as an individual engaged in the subdivision
of land and/or land development.
D.Â
The word "building" includes structure and shall be construed as
if followed by the phrase "or part thereof."
E.Â
The word "watercourse" includes channel, creek, ditch, dry run, spring,
stream and river.
F.Â
The words "should" and "may" are permissive; the words "shall" and
"will" are mandatory and directive.
G.Â
The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel."
H.Â
The word "used" or "occupied" as applied to any land or building
shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged or designed
to be used or occupied."
Other terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined
as follows:
Having a common border with, or being separated from such
common border by an alley or easement.
A means of vehicular approach or entry to or exit from property.
A building that is subordinate to and detached from the principal
building, is on the same lot as the principal building, and is used
for purposes that are customarily incidental to the principal building.
An accessory building may not be used as a dwelling.
Mobile homes, buses, recreational vehicles or trailers, campers,
trucks or truck trailers shall not be considered as accessory buildings,
regardless of whether they retain wheels or axles, or whether they
are considered immobile.
A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use, building or structure located on the same lot with the principal
building or structure.[2]
A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access
to the side or rear of two or more properties not intended for general
traffic circulation.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development including his heirs, successors
and assigns.
Every application, whether minor, 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, for the approval of a subdivision plat or plan, or for the
approval of a land development plan.
A piece of land usually bounded on all sides by streets or
other transportation routes such as railroad lines, or by physical
barriers such as water bodies or public open space, and not traversed
by a through street.
A structure built, having a roof supported by columns or
walls and intended for shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons,
animals, or property, and including carports, covered porches or bay
windows, and chimneys. The term is inclusive of any part thereof.
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any building or structure and the front, side or
rear property line. It shall be a straight line parallel to the front,
side or rear property line of rectilinear lots. On a curvilinear lot,
the building setback line shall be radial to the arc. No point on
the parallel to the tangent shall be a distance less than the minimum
setback distance. On a panhandle or flag lot, the building setback
line shall be measured from the point where the "panhandle" joins
the interior portion of the lot.
That portion of a street or alley which is improved, designated,
or intended for vehicular use, excluding the shoulders.
The length of roadway visible to the driver of a passenger
vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view is unobstructed
by traffic.
PASSING SIGHT DISTANCEA line of unobstructed vision from the height of a driver's eye, 3.5 feet above the surface of a roadway, to see an object on the roadway at a height of 3.5 feet high.
STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCEA line of unobstructed vision from the height of a driver's eye, 3.5 feet above the surface of a roadway, to see an object on the roadway at a height of 0.5 feet high.
DRIVEWAY ENTRANCESA line of unobstructed vision from which a driver's eye at a driveway entrance, 3.5 feet above the surface of the driveway, can continuously see an approaching vehicle, 4.25 feet above the surface of the roadway. The required clear sight distance shall be determined using PennDOT requirements found in the most recent edition of Pa. Code 67; Chapter 441; § 1.8, Driveway Design Requirements; Subsection (h), Sight Distance; using the applicable criteria including speed limit, road grade, etc.
A triangle-shaped area of unobstructed vision at street intersections
and driveway entrances in which nothing is erected, placed, planted
or allowed to grow in such a manner as to limit or obstruct the sight
of a motorist turning onto or crossing a street. It is defined by
lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection
of the street and/or driveway center lines.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public
facilities.
The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension,
expansion, alteration or relocation of a building or structure, including
the placement of mobile homes.
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
The Cumberland County Planning Department.
A minor street intersecting another street at one end and
terminated at the other by a vehicular turnaround.
An excavation, the difference between a point on the original
ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade,
and also means the material removed in excavation.
The deliberate appropriation of land by its owner for any
general and public, or limited public, uses, reserving to himself
no other rights than those compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment
of the public uses to which the property has been devoted.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with permission
of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of
land or a land development.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, the placement
of mobile homes, streets and other paving, utilities, mining, dredging,
filling, grading, excavation or drilling operations, and the subdivision
of land.
The provisions for the development of a tract 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, ways and parking
facilities, common open space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions
of the development plan," when used in this chapter, shall mean the
written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A development plan may be carried out in a single phase, or
in a series of specifically defined phases.
The flow of water or liquid waste and the removal of surface
water or groundwater from land by drains, grading or other means.
Drainage includes the control of runoff to minimize erosion and sedimentation
during and after development and includes the means necessary for
water supply preservation or alleviation of flooding.
Any ditch, gutter, culvert, storm sewer, basin, or other
structure designed, intended or constructed for the purpose of diverting
surface waters from, or carrying surface waters off streets, public
rights-of-way, parks, recreational areas or any part of any subdivision
or contiguous land area.
An improved vehicular access from a street to a parking area
or garage within a lot or property.
A building or structure designed for living quarters for
one or more families, including mobile homes which are supported by
a permanent foundation or anchored, but not including tents, cabins,
travel trailers, motels, hotels, rooming houses, boarding homes, convalescent
homes or other accommodations used for transient occupancy.
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities
for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
Any construction or other activity which disturbs the surface
of the land including, but not limited to, excavation, embankments,
land development, subdivision development, mineral extraction, and
the moving, depositing or storing of soil, rocks, or earth.
A right granted for the use of private land for certain public,
quasi-public or private purposes; also the land to which such right
pertains.
An additional dwelling unit placed on a property for occupancy
by either an elderly, handicapped, or disabled person related by blood,
marriage, or adoption to the occupant of the principal dwelling.
A device used to slow the velocity of stormwater, particularly
at points of concentrated discharge such as pipe outlets.
A person duly registered as a professional engineer by the
State of Pennsylvania.
The Township Engineer or any consultant designated by the
Board of Supervisors to review a subdivision plan and perform the
duties of engineer on behalf of the Township.
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by
water, wind, ice and/or gravity.
A plan which is designed to minimize erosion and prevent
sediment pollution to the waters of the commonwealth.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed, including the conditions resulting therefrom.
The sand, gravel, earth or other material placed or deposited
such as to form an embankment or raise the elevation of the land surface.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood
damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary
facilities, structures and their contents.
The elevation of the center line of the streets as officially
established by the Township authorities, or as surveyed and recorded
on a plat of record.
The completed surfaces of lawns, walks and roads brought
to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.
A natural or man-made drainage way of parabolic or trapezoidal
cross-section shaped to required dimensions and vegetated for safe
disposal of runoff, and is also known as a "swale."
A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line,
having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for satisfactory
improvement and use of the street.
Any natural or man-made material utilized to cover, pave,
resurface or compact any portion or area of a lot, so as to substantially
reduce or prevent the infiltration of stormwater into the ground beneath
it. It includes surfaces such as compacted clay, any form or mixture
of concrete, asphalt, tar or similar substances, as well as roof areas
of buildings and other structures.
Those physical additions, installations, and changes required
to render land suitable for the use intended, including but not limited
to grading, paving, curbing, streetlights and signs, fire hydrants,
water lines, electric service, sanitary sewers, stormwater management
facilities, sidewalks, recreational facilities, street trees and buffer
or screen plantings. Those physical additions and changes to the land
that may be necessary to produce usable and desirable lots.
Any 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,
or a telecommunication antenna or tower, 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.
A subdivision of land;
(Reserved)[3]
Excluding: (1) the conversion of an existing single-family detached
dwelling or single-family semidetached dwelling into not more than
three residential units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium;
(2) the addition of an accessory building, including farm buildings,
on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building; or
(3) the addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the confines
of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park. For
purposes of this subsection, an "amusement park" is defined as a tract
or area used principally as a location for permanent amusement structures
or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly acquired acreage
by an amusement park until initial plans for the expanded area have
been approved by proper authorities.
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 land, shall be deemed
to be a landowner for the purposes of this chapter.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise permitted by law, to be used, developed or built
upon as a unit.
The area contained within the property lines of a lot as
shown on a subdivision or land development plan excluding space within
any public right-of-way, but including the area of any easement.
The mean horizontal distance between the street line and
rear lot line, measured along the mean direction of the sidelines
of the lot. On a panhandle or flag lot, the depth of the "panhandle"
access shall be excluded from the calculation of lot depth.
The minimum distance between side property lines measured
along the adjoining street right-of-way, or private right-of-way.
A line bounding a lot which divides one lot from another
or from a street or any other public or private space.
That lot line which is parallel to and most distant from
the front lot line of a lot; in the case of an irregular, triangular
or gore-shaped lot, a line 20 feet in length, entirely within the
lot, parallel to, and at the maximum possible distance from, the front
line shall be considered to be the rear lot line. In the case of lots
which have frontage on more than one road or street, the rear lot
line shall be opposite the lot line along which the lot takes access
to a street.
Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.
Any lot validly recorded with the Recorder of Deeds of Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania, which at the time of its recordation complied
with all applicable laws, ordinances and regulations.
The mean horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured
at the minimum building setback line. Where there is only one side
lot line, "lot width" shall be measured between such lot line and
the opposite lot line or future right-of-way line. The width of a
lot on a cul-de-sac is measured as the chord distance length at the
minimum building setback line.
A corner lot is at the junction of and abutting on two or
more intersecting streets or private roads or at the point of abrupt
change of a single street or private road, where the interior angle
is less than 135° and the radius of the street or private road
line is less than 100 feet.
An interior lot having frontage on two streets.
A lot other than a corner lot.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing which arrives at a site complete and ready for
occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations,
and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
Any site, lot or tract of land under single ownership, upon
which two or more authorized mobile homes are parked permanently or
temporarily, either free of charge or for revenue purposes, and shall
include any appurtenant facilities used or designed as part of the
equipment of such mobile home court or park.
An area designed exclusively for mobile homes/manufactured
homes and mobile dwelling units where lots are not rented but sold.
The municipal corporation known as North Newton Township,
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and all lands therein.
Any wall, dam, wharf, embankment, levee, pile, abutment,
projection, excavation, channel, rectification, culvert, building,
fence, stockpile, refuse, fill, structure or matter, in, along, across,
or projecting into any channel, watercourse or flood-prone area, which
may impede, retard or change the direction of the flow of water, either
in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water,
or is placed where the flow of the water might carry the same downstream
causing damage of life and property.
Occupancy of a building or land for more than one use.
A comprehensive plan for the provisions of adequate sewage
systems, adopted by a municipality or municipalities possessing authority
or jurisdiction over the provision of the systems, and submitted to,
and approved by, the Department of Environmental Protection as provided
by the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (537),[4] and Chapter 71, Rules and Regulations, promulgated thereunder.
The control of runoff to allow water falling on a given site
to be absorbed or retained on site; to the extent that after development,
the peak rate of discharge leaving the site is not significantly different
than if the site had remained undeveloped.
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving a single
lot and collecting, treating and disposing of sewage into a subsurface
absorption area or a retaining tank.
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., a flood that has a one-percent chance of occurring
each year, although the flood may occur in any year).
The person or persons having the right of legal title to,
beneficial interest in, or a contractual right to purchase, a lot
or parcel of land.
A lot that is connected to a public street by a fifty-foot-wide
strip of land that is a part of the lot but that is not used in determining
the applicable minimum lot area requirement. The lot area of a panhandle
lot shall be calculated by using only that portion of the lot that
satisfies the minimum lot dimensions.
A lot, or contiguous group of lots, in single ownership or
under single control, and usually considered a unit for purposes of
development.[5]
A procedure to determine the absorption rate of the soil
in an area proposed as the installation site for an on-lot septic
system. Such a test will be carried out according to the requirements
of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and shall
be conducted by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer or Sanitarian.[6]
A concrete monument used for marking property comers.
A complete and exact subdivision plan, requiring the approval
of the Board of Supervisors, prepared for official recording as required
by statute, to define property rights and proposed streets and other
improvements.
A subdivision plan requiring the approval of the Board of
Supervisors, containing not more than five lots, which does not propose
the construction of public or private streets or other public improvements,
and does not propose the establishment of new public easements or
rights-of-way; or, a land development plan which contains not more
than five residential dwelling units, or not more than one nonresidential
structure with not more than five prospective occupants located on
a parcel of land totaling not more than five gross acres in size.
A formal, tentative subdivision or land development plan,
requiring approval of the Board of Supervisors, which is used as a
basis for consideration of a final plan. A preliminary plan is not
a final plan of record.
See "sketch plan."[7]
The Planning Commission of North Newton Township, Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania.
A procedure to permit visual inspection of soil characteristics,
geological formations and water table level in an area proposed as
the installation site for an on-lot septic system. Such tests shall
consist of a trench which shall be two feet wide and seven feet deep
or four feet below the proposed installation level of the septic field,
whichever is deeper. Such tests may be referred to as a "deep probe"
or inspection trench and shall be open for inspection by the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer or Sanitarian and the Department of Environmental
Protection.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Supervisors or the Planning Commission, intended to inform and
obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with appropriate
procedures and laws.
Any improvement, facility or service, together with customary
improvements and appurtenances thereto, necessary to provide for public
needs such as: vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems; storm
sewers; flood control improvements; water supply and distribution
facilities; sanitary sewage disposal and treatment; and public utility
and energy services.
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. 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 be not more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
Any letter, review, memorandum, compilation of similar writing
made by any body, board, officer or consultant other than a solicitor
to any other body, board, officer or consultant for the purpose of
assisting the recipient of such report in the rendering of any decision
or determination. All reports shall be deemed recommendatory and advisory
only and shall not be binding upon the recipient, board, officer,
body or agency, nor shall any appeal lie therefrom. Any report used,
received or considered by the body, board, officer or agency rendering
a determination or decision shall be made available for inspection
to the applicant and all other parties to any proceeding upon request,
and copies thereof shall be provided at cost of reproduction.
An area or strip of land, either public or private, on which
an irrevocable right of passage has been recorded for the use of vehicles
or pedestrians or both.
The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil
but runs off the surface of the land.
The use of plants, landscaping materials, fencing, walls
and/or earthen berms to aid in the concealment of such features as
parking areas or open storage areas, and to provide privacy between
two or more different land uses which abut one another.
The Township Secretary of North Newton Township.
A temporary dam or barrier constructed across a waterway
or at other suitable locations to intercept the runoff and to trap
and retain the sediment.
The deposition of soil that has been transported from its
site of origin by water, ice, wind, gravity, or other natural means
as a result of erosion.
The official of the Township who issues permits, reviews
permit applications and sewage facilities planning modules and conducts
investigations and inspections necessary to implement the Pennsylvania
Sewage Facilities Act[8] and the regulations thereunder.
A system of sewage collection, conveyance, treatment and
disposal which will prevent the discharge of untreated or inadequately
treated sewage or other waste into the waters of the commonwealth
or otherwise provide for the safe and sanitary treatment and disposal
of sewage or other waste.
COMMUNITY SEWAGE SYSTEMA sewage facility, privately owned, for the collection of sewage from two or more lots, or two or more equivalent dwelling units (EDUs), and the treatment or disposal, or both, of the sewage on one or more of the lots or at another site.
PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEMA sewage facility, owned and operated by a municipal agency or a public company controlled by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, for the collection of sewage from two or more lots, or two or more equivalent dwelling units (EDUs), and the treatment or disposal, or both, of the sewage on one or more of the lots or at another site.
The portion of the street, contiguous to the cartway, for
the accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency use or parking,
or for lateral support of base and surface courses of the pavement.
An informal plan, requiring no approvals, which indicates
salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the
general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development.[9]
The face of an embankment or cut section; or any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
A procedure to determine the absorption rate of the soil
in an area proposed as the installation site for an on-lot septic
system. Such a test will be carried out according to the requirements
of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and shall
be conducted by the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer or Sanitarian.[10]
Chemical or structural treatment of a mass of soil to increase
or maintain its stability or otherwise improve its engineering properties.
Drainage runoff from the surface of the land resulting from
precipitation or snow or ice melt.
The control of stormwater runoff on a given site.
A plan or design for controlling stormwater so that it will preclude erosion or flooding and/or the adverse effects of stormwater from impervious areas, as required by § 260-41 of this chapter.
A vegetated pond, swale, or other structure designed to drain
completely after storing surface water runoff for a given storm event,
and release it at a predetermined rate.
A pond containing a permanent pool of water designed to store
runoff from a given storm event.
Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway,
lane, alley, viaduct or other way, whether public or private, used
or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians.
A line defining the edge of an existing or contemplated street
right-of-way and which separates the street from abutting property
or lots. The street line shall be the same as the legal right-of-way
line. Where a definite right-of-way width has not been established,
the street line shall be assumed to be at a point 25 feet from the
center line of the existing street.
The distance between right-of-way lines measured at right
angles to the center line of the street.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, but not
intended to be dedicated for public use.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
to be dedicated for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation
by the public at large and accordingly ordained by the Board of Supervisors.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, including in-ground and aboveground swimming
pools, whether or not affixed to the land.
The owner, developer or the authorized agent of the owner
of a subdivision or land development.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, partition 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 judgement of the Township Engineer, at least
90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted) 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 plan showing all present and proposed grades and facilities
for stormwater drainage.
A person duly registered as a professional surveyor by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A low-lying stretch of land, characterized as a depression,
used to carry surface water runoff.
The interval of time required for water from the most remote
portion of the drainage area to reach the point in question.
Surface soils and subsurface soils which are presumably fertile,
containing material ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus debris.
Topsoil is usually found in the uppermost soil layer, or horizon.
The land area contained within the boundaries of a tract,
exclusive of the areas of such permanent easements as are associated
with overhead power transmission lines and underground pipelines,
and land within the right-of-way of existing public roads that are
present on the land at the time of development.
The Township of North Newton, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,
Board of Supervisors, its agents or authorized representatives.
See "accessory use."[11]
A system for supplying and distributing potable water from
a common source(s) to two or more dwellings and/or other buildings
within a neighborhood area, such system being privately owned.
A system for supplying and distributing potable water from
a common source(s) to two or more dwellings and/or other buildings
which is owned and operated by a municipal agency or a public company
controlled by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
A stream of water, river, brook, creek or a channel or ditch
for water, whether natural or man-made having a defined bed and banks,
and whether its flows are perennial or intermittent.
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundments,
ditches, watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, wetlands,
ponds, springs, and all other bodies or channels or conveyance of
surface and underground waters, or parts thereof, whether natural
or artificial, within or on the boundaries of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
The entire region or area drained by a river or other body
of water whether natural or artificial.
Areas that have a predominance of hydric soils and that are
inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and
duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do
support, a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted
for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include
swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
An open space, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground
upward, as may be required by this chapter, which open space lies
between the principal building or group of buildings and the nearest
lot line of unrelated property.
