This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Springfield Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
All subdivisions of land and land developments, except as noted in §§ 370-4 and 370-5 below, within Springfield Township are regulated by this chapter. It shall not be lawful to record any plan in any public office unless the same shall bear thereon by endorsement the approval of the Township. The disapproval of any such plan shall be deemed a refusal of the privilege to record said plan.
This chapter is adopted to:
A. 
Promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare;
B. 
Assure that the arrangement of each subdivision or land development furthers the safe, harmonious and orderly development of Springfield Township.
C. 
Guarantee that the streets in and bordering each subdivision or land development are coordinated with the municipal circulation system and are of such widths, grades, locations and construction as to accommodate anticipated traffic and facilitate emergency service access;
D. 
Ensure that the sewage disposal and water supply systems are efficiently designed and have adequate capacity, and that on-lot sewage disposal and water supply systems are safely separated from each other;
E. 
Provide easements of adequate size and location for storm drainage and other utilities;
F. 
Safeguard land subject to flooding, periodic high-water table, or high incidence of erosion from the development practices that would aggravate these circumstances;
G. 
Ensure that public and private improvements necessary to support orderly development are installed and that a means of financial security for the quality of construction is established;
H. 
Curtail unnecessary destruction of natural plant materials or excessive earth disturbance, minimize the impact of stormwater runoff on drainageways and downstream properties and to prevent destruction of valuable wetland areas and farmland;
I. 
Encourage development that relates naturally into its environment;
J. 
Establish a precise, simple, uniform and objective procedure for review and disposition of subdivisions and land development plan proposals, and to ease the process of conveyance of title to property;
K. 
Implement the Wolf Creek Slippery Rock Creek Supervisors of Governments Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan; and
L. 
Complement Chapter 425, Zoning, by ensuring that subdivision and land development plans are consistent with current zoning standards.
A. 
On and after the effective date of this chapter, no lot in a subdivision may be sold or leased, no permit to erect or move any building upon land in a subdivision or land development plan may be issued, and no building, permanent or temporary, may be erected or occupied in a subdivision or land development plan unless and until a subdivision plan or a land development plan has been approved in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and until the improvements required by this chapter, if part of the approved plan, have either been constructed or guaranteed by bond.
B. 
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter are held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.
C. 
This chapter shall not apply to any lot or lots, subdivision, or land development plan created and lawfully recorded prior to enactment of this chapter. However, any lot, subdivision, or development plan illegally recorded or not lawfully recorded prior to enactment shall not be given legal status by the enactment of this chapter.
D. 
Any redivision or combining of lots or adjustment of lot lines within a subdivision plan previously approved and/or recorded or any rearrangement of structures, parking areas, access points, graded land surfaces, or other elements within an already approved land development plan shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
E. 
The provisions of this chapter shall be interpreted to be the minimum requirements to meet the stated purposes of § 370-3, unless otherwise specified. Where the provisions of this chapter conflict with the standards of any other regulation or requirement, the more restrictive requirement shall govern. The Township has also adopted a Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan and zoning ordinance. The Township may use the community development goals and objectives in interpreting the standards of this chapter, and said goals and objectives are adopted herein by reference.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code permits municipalities to exclude the following developments from being enforced as a land development. The Township thus deems the following forms of development as not subject to this chapter:
A. 
The addition of an accessory building, including farm buildings, on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building, provided that said accessory building is either:
(1) 
A part of an agricultural operation as defined by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
(2) 
Accessory to a single-family dwelling as defined by Chapter 425, Zoning.
(3) 
An accessory building of no greater size than 750 square feet gross floor area.
A. 
If any section, clause, paragraph, regulation, or provision of this chapter is found invalid by a court of law, such judgment shall not affect, impair, invalidate, or nullify the remaining sections, clauses, paragraphs, regulations, or provisions.
B. 
All ordinances or parts of ordinances or regulations in conflict with this chapter or inconsistent with its provisions are hereby repealed to the extent necessary to give this chapter full force and effect. However, where another ordinance, law, or regulation imposes a higher standard in a particular regulation, that standard shall supersede this chapter in the particular instance.
C. 
The adoption of this chapter does not make previous legitimate development activity in the Township illegal under provisions of prior regulations, nor does it annul any litigation currently being pursued in the future against such illegal activity.
D. 
The approval of any subdivision plan or land development shall not constitute a representation, guarantee, or warranty of any kind by the Township or by any official or employee of the practicality or safety of the arrangement of lots and improvements or other elements within the development covered by the approval and shall create no liability upon the Township, its officials, or employees.
E. 
Approval of any subdivision plan or land development is only approval of the specifications and regulations governed by this chapter.
A. 
No plan of a subdivision or land development proposed within the Township of Springfield shall be recorded in any public office unless or until that plan has been reviewed and approved by the Township and shall bear the proper certification of such action.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, trade, or otherwise convey any lot, parcel, or tract of land as part of, or in conformity with, any plan, plat, or replat of any subdivision or land development unless and until said plan, plat, replat, or land development shall have been first recorded in the office of the Mercer County Recorder of Deeds.
All applications for land development or subdivision approval within Springfield Township shall be forwarded upon receipt to the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission for review and comments consistent with Section 502(b) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.[1] The Township shall take no action until receiving comments from the County Planning Commission or the expiration of any comment period mandated by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10502(b).
Copies of this chapter shall be made available to the general public at a fee adequate to compensate the Township for the costs of reproduction.