The Newlin Township Board of Supervisors, pursuant to the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, hereby enacts and ordains the following ordinance governing all subdivisions and land developments within Newlin Township.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Newlin Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance of 1999, as amended.
In accordance with the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, it is the general intent, purpose and scope of this chapter to protect and promote safety, health and morals, to encourage coordinated development, and to provide for the general welfare. In specific, this chapter is adopted for the following purposes:
A. 
To ensure the compatibility of subdivision and land development plans by providing uniform procedures and standards.
B. 
To implement the policies and goals expressed in the Unionville Area Regional Comprehensive Plan and the Newlin Township Open Space, Recreation and Environmental Resources Plan of 1994.
C. 
To guide development in an orderly, efficient, integrated and harmonious fashion.
D. 
To assure that sites proposed for development are suitable for building purposes and human habitation.
E. 
To coordinate proposed streets with existing or other proposed streets, parks or other features of the Unionville Area Regional Comprehensive Plan and the Newlin Township Open Space, Recreation and Environmental Resources Plan of 1994.
F. 
To provide for adequate traffic circulation, recreation, open space, and for appropriate population densities.
G. 
To ensure the conformance of subdivision and land development plans with the public improvements of Newlin Township and to coordinate with the development plans of adjoining municipalities.
H. 
To encourage subdivisions and land developments to be harmonious with and protective of the existing natural features of Newlin Township.
I. 
To ensure that the layout and arrangement of the subdivision or land development plan is in conformance with the approved articles or chapters of the Unionville Regional Comprehensive Plan and to any regulations or maps adopted in furtherance thereof.
J. 
To provide proper procedures for regulating and recording of all public and private easements and rights-of-way within Newlin Township.
K. 
To protect floodplains, wetlands, and all sensitive natural resources of Newlin Township.
L. 
To provide a procedure and establish responsibility for the completion of all public improvements.
M. 
To regulate the design of mobile home parks and sites.
N. 
To mitigate soil erosion and control the increase of sedimentation in streams and rivers.
The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements necessary to meet the purposes stated above. Where a provision of this chapter imposes greater restrictions than those of any other statute, ordinance or regulation, the provisions of this chapter shall prevail. Where the provisions of any other statute, ordinance or regulation imposes greater restrictions than those of this chapter, the provisions of such other statute, ordinance, or regulation shall prevail.
A. 
Subdivision of a lot for construction, opening, or dedication of a street. No subdivision of any lot, tract, or parcel of land shall be permitted, and no street, alley, sanitary sewer, storm drain, water main, gas, oil or electric transmission line, or other associated facilities, shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use or travel, or for the common use of occupants of a building abutting thereon, except in strict accordance with this chapter.
B. 
Sale of lots, issuance of building permits, or erection of buildings. No lot in a subdivision or land development shall be sold or conveyed, no deed shall be executed for any lot, and no permit to erect, alter, or repair any building upon land in a subdivision or land development shall be granted, unless and until a plan has been approved, and recorded when required. Furthermore, no such lot or land development may be sold or conveyed until all improvements as required in this chapter have either been constructed or the Board of Supervisors have been assured of such completion according to the provisions of Article VIII of this chapter.
C. 
Conformance with the Township Zoning Ordinance. All applications for subdivisions and land developments shall be in conformance with the Newlin Township Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 240 of this Code.
The provisions of this chapter shall be severable, and if any of its provisions shall be held to be invalid, the validity of any of the remaining portions of this chapter shall not be affected. It is declared to be Township intent that the remaining portions of this chapter would have been adopted in the absence of the invalid portion.
This amendment to the Newlin Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance shall supersede all previous versions of this chapter. All other ordinances shall remain in full force and effect.
This chapter shall take effect and be in full force five days after its passage by the Board of Supervisors. The provisions of this chapter shall not affect an application for approval of a plan for subdivision or land development which is currently pending official action at the time of the effective date of this chapter, in which case the applicant shall be entitled to a decision in accordance with the governing ordinances as they stood at the time the application was duly filed. Additionally, this chapter shall not affect any suit pending or to be instituted to enforce any provision of any previous ordinance, and shall not affect any act, contract, or liability incurred prior to the effective date of this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall be construed to waive any obligation imposed upon an applicant to complete a previously approved plan, including the installation of improvements, in accordance with the provisions of any governing ordinance that applied at the time of approval.