[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Folcroft 2-14-1955 by Ord. No.
315 (Ch. 1, Part 2C, of the 2006 Code of Ordinances).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby created, in the Borough of Folcroft, a department
to be known as the Department of Borough Planning (hereafter called
the "Department").
[Amended 2-14-1972 by Ord. No. 581; 11-21-2006 by Ord. No. 990]
The Department shall be in charge of a Borough Planning Commission
(hereafter called "Commission") heretofore consisting of five persons.
The Planning Commission previously created in and for said Borough
shall constitute the tenure of any of the members thereof, but any
and all vacancies in said Commission hereafter occurring shall be
filled in the manner and for the term provided in the law governing
Borough Planning Commissions in effect at the time of the happening
of said vacancy. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be only for
the unexpired portion of the term thereof. All members of the Commission
shall reside within the Borough.
The Commission may make and alter rules and regulations for
their own organization and procedure, consistent with this chapter
of the Borough and the laws of the commonwealth.
The members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
The Commission shall make annually to the Borough Council a
report of their transactions.
Subject to the prior approval of Council, the Commission may
employ engineers and other persons, whose salaries and wages and other
necessary expenses of the Commission shall be provided through proper
appropriation by Council. With the prior approval of Council, the
Commission may contract for professional planning services, the cost
and expenses of which, when approved by Council, shall be provided
through proper appropriation by Council.
The Secretary of Council shall, upon introduction, furnish to
the Commission for its consideration a copy of all proposed ordinances
and all amendments thereto, relating to the location of any public
building of the Borough, and to the location, extension, widening,
narrowing, enlargement, ornamentation, and parking of any street,
boulevard, parkway, park, playground, or other public ground, and
to the relocation, vacation, curtailment, changes of use, or any other
alteration of the Borough plan with relation to any of the same, and
to the location of any bridge, tunnel, and subway, or any surface,
underground, or elevated railway. Said Commission shall have the power
to disapprove any of said ordinances, bills or amendments, which disapproval,
however, must be communicated to Council in writing within 10 days
from the introduction of said ordinances, but such disapproval shall
not operate as a veto.
The Commission may make, or cause to be made, and lay before
Council and, at its discretion, cause to be published, maps of the
Borough or any portion thereof, including territory extending three
miles beyond the Borough limits, showing the streets and highways,
and other natural and artificial features and also locations proposed
by it for any new public buildings, civic center, street, parkway,
park, playground, or any other public ground or public improvement,
or any widening, extension, or relocation of the same, or any change
in the Borough plan by it deemed advisable; and it may make recommendations
to Council, from time to time, concerning any such matters and things
aforesaid, for action by Council thereon, and, in so doing, have regard
for the present conditions and future needs and growth of the Borough,
and the distribution and relative location of all the principal and
other streets and railways, waterways and all other means of public
travel and business communications, as well as the distribution and
relative location of all public buildings, public grounds, and open
spaces devoted to public use.
The Commission may make recommendations to any public authorities
or any corporations or individuals in said Borough with reference
to the location of any buildings, structures, or works to be erected
or constructed by them.
All plans, plots, or replots of lands laid out in building lots,
and the streets or other portions of the same, intended to be dedicated
to public use, or for the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting
thereon or adjacent thereto, and located within the Borough limits,
shall be submitted to the Commission, and approved by it, before they
shall be recorded. And it shall be unlawful to receive or record such
plan in any public office, unless the same shall bear thereon, by
endorsement, or otherwise, the approval of the Commission. The disapproval
of any such plan by the Commission shall be deemed a refusal of the
proposed dedication shown thereon. The approval of the Commission
shall be deemed an acceptance of the proposed dedication, but shall
not impose any duty upon the Borough concerning the maintenance or
improvement of any such dedicated parts, until the proper authorities
of the Borough shall have made actual appropriations of the same by
entry, use, or improvement. No sewer, water, or gas main or pipes,
or other improvement, shall be voted or made, within the area under
the jurisdiction of said Commission, for the use of any such purchasers
or owners, nor shall any permit for connection with, or other use
of, any such improvement, existing, or for any other reason made,
be given to any such purchasers or owners, until such plan is so approved.
[Amended 4-15-1974 by Ord. No. 610; 11-21-2006 by Ord. No. 990]
All applications to be heard before the Planning Commission
shall be heard and administered in accordance with the procedures
and time limitations as set forth by the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code of 1968, as amended. The Borough shall be responsible for providing all reviewing
parties with submitted copies of any and all plans.