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.
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.
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. 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.
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.