[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
The Borough, in support of the agricultural, watershed protection,
and urban revitalization goals of the 2015 Honey Brook Township and
Borough Multi-municipal Comprehensive Plan, establishes its portion
of a multi-municipal transferable development rights program under
the terms of this part, and offers locations within its municipal
boundaries that are deemed appropriate for development at higher densities
and intensities through the use of Transferable Development Rights
(TDRs). These provisions, and those contained in the Honey Brook Township
Zoning Ordinance, enable owners of agricultural and natural resource
lands in the Township to benefit from the development value of their
land without converting the land to development use, and enable developers
of land in the Borough, as well as the Township, to achieve higher
densities or intensities of land use than otherwise are available
through the base zoning provisions by purchasing the requisite rights
to do so.
[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
A.
The provisions of this Part permit purchasers of Transferable Development
Rights (TDRs) originating from lands within Honey Brook Township to
use such purchased rights in areas of the Borough proposed for additional
development, referred to as receiving areas. The TDR provisions set
forth in this Part, as well as those TDR provisions set forth in the
Honey Brook Township Zoning Ordinance, are specifically authorized
under § § 603(c)(2.2) and 619.1 of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, under the terms of which development
rights are acknowledged to be severable and separately conveyable
from a sending area to a receiving area.
B.
In general, where a tract of land in the A - Agricultural District
or RC — Resource Conservation District established in Honey
Brook Township has been allocated TDRs in accordance with the terms
of its Zoning Ordinance, the owner of such tract may, upon receiving
certification of said TDRs by the Honey Brook Township Board of Supervisors,
sever some or all of the development rights and thereupon offer them
for sale or retain them. The only subsequent use to which the severed
development rights may be put is in conjunction with the development
of a tract in the Township's or Borough's receiving areas.
C.
Where all development rights allocated to a property in Honey Brook
Township's A - Agricultural District or RC — Rural Conservation
District are severed, that property is made subject to a conservation
easement permanently limiting the use of such land to agriculture,
agriculturally related uses, or open space uses, consistent with the
terms of the Honey Brook Township Zoning Ordinance.
D.
The transfer of development rights between Honey Brook Township and
Honey Brook Borough is subject to the terms of the Agreement for Intermunicipal
Transfer of Development Rights.
[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
Transferable development rights may only be severed from eligible
land in Honey Brook Township and may be sold in accordance with the
provisions contained in the Honey Brook Township Zoning Ordinance.
[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
Owners of tracts in designated receiving areas in Honey Brook
Borough that meet the following requirements may use development rights
that have been severed and transferred from sending area properties
in Honey Brook Township. Development not utilizing receipt of TDRs
shall be limited to the extent provided in the applicable base zoning
district(s). Permitted uses, design standards, development approval
procedures and other applicable provisions shall be as set forth for
the respective zoning districts, except where otherwise specifically
provided herein.
A.
Receiving Area Qualifications. Otherwise applicable
densities may be increased and area and bulk regulations modified
through the use of TDRs as part of a proposed subdivision or land
development plan, in accordance with the provisions of this Section
and the applicable zoning district, when the receiving area tract
of land is located in either of the following two zoning districts:
B.
Use of Transferable Development Rights on Receiving Area Properties.
1.
Increase in Permitted Density or Intensity of Development.
a.
Where TDRs are proposed to be used as part of a subdivision
or land development plan in the MUR or MUC Districts, the otherwise
applicable maximum number of dwelling units or maximum intensity of
nonresidential use on the tract, as authorized in the respective zoning
districts, may be expanded or increased in accordance with the limits
stipulated in the zoning districts. The expanded limits shall be based
upon the number of development rights to be transferred.
b.
Actual increases in the number of dwelling units or intensities
of use permissible on any tract shall be determined by the number
of development rights being transferred for use on the property, the
type or types of uses proposed, and compliance with all other applicable
standards of this Chapter.
c.
The incremental increase in density or intensity of use above
that otherwise provided without the use of TDRs must be fully accounted
for through proof of purchase and transfer of the development rights
in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
2.
Development right/dwelling unit or intensity factor equivalency.
a.
Each development right proposed for residential use on a receiving
area tract in the MUR or MUC District, under the terms of this Chapter,
shall be equivalent to the following number of dwelling units and
shall entitle the developer to that number of additional dwellings
on the site:
i.
1.1 single-family detached dwelling units per development right.
ii.
1.3 two-family dwelling units per development right.
iii.
1.5 single-family attached (townhouse) dwellings per development
right
iv.
1.7 quadraplex dwelling units per development right
v.
2.0 apartment units per development right.
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The above ratios may be increased by fifty (50) percent for
any dwelling units restricted to persons over fifty-five (55) years
of age, and any dwelling units qualifying as workforce housing.
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b.
Each development right proposed for residential or nonresidential
use on a receiving area tract in the MUR or MUC District, under the
terms of this Chapter, shall be equivalent to the following amount
of developed area:
c.
The developer shall be entitled to the additional development
area authorized by the number of development rights transferred, up
to the maximum residential density (du's/acre), or maximum amounts
of impervious surface, floor area, and/or building height established
in the applicable zoning district.
3.
Design Requirements and Modification of Area and Bulk Standards.
A proposed development in the receiving area using TDRs shall comply
with all requirements and design standards applicable in the base
zoning district in which it is located, except as specifically provided
in this Part. For any development proposing to use at least five (5)
TDRs, applicable area and bulk requirements in the base zoning district
not otherwise modifiable through the provisions of § 27-
704.B.2 above may be modified by as much as twenty-five (25) percent
when such modification is approved as a Conditional Use by Borough
Council. Any conditional use approval to permit such modification(s)
shall be subject to the following criteria:
c.
If the Council determines that the applicant has met his/her
burden of proof, it may grant modification(s) to the otherwise applicable
requirements. In approving modifications through the grant of a conditional
use, the Council may impose such conditions as will, in its judgement,
secure the objectives and purposes of this Chapter.
[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
An applicant proposing the use of TDRs shall submit a subdivision or land development plan as required in accordance with the Borough Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance [Chapter 22] for the development to which TDRs will be added. A conditional use application shall be submitted where applicable. Submitted subdivision or land development plans and/or conditional use applications, as applicable, shall, in addition to meeting all other applicable provisions, include submission of the following:
A.
A deed of transferable development rights or an agreement of sale
for all development rights proposed to be purchased from the sending
area site(s). The applicant must prove ownership or equitable ownership
of the requisite number of development right(s) to enable the proposed
additional density or intensity increase in the development plan,
up to the maximum additional increment permitted by this Part.
B.
A note on the plan showing the total number of dwelling units or
increased amount of impervious surface or floor area proposed on the
receiving area site, the total number or amount that could be built
not using TDR's, and the incremental difference between the two. This
difference represents the number of additional dwelling units or square
footage of impervious surface or floor area that could be constructed
using TDRs.
C.
If the development rights proposed for use in the receiving area
have previously been severed from a tract in the sending area, a copy
of the recorded deed of transferable development rights shall be submitted.
A title search of the rights set forth in the deed of transferable
development rights sufficient to determine all of the owners of the
development rights and all lienholders also shall be furnished to
the Borough.
D.
As a requirement for final plan approval, the applicant shall provide
documentation that appropriate conservation easements have been recorded
for sending area lands in Honey Brook Township from which development
rights are proposed for use by the applicant. The conservation easement
restricting the sending area tract must be recorded prior to recording
of the deed of transferable development rights, in accordance with
the provisions of the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code, as amended,
53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[Ord. No. 247-2018, 9/17/2018]
The Borough reserves the right to amend this Chapter in the
future, and the Borough expressly reserves the right to change the
manner in which TDRs can be used in the Borough's receiving area,
in accord with the Agreement for Intermunicipal Transfer of Development
Rights and the Intergovernmental Cooperative Implementation Agreement.
The Borough further expressly reserves the right to terminate its
participation in the Honey Brook multi-municipal transferable development
rights program as provided for in the Agreement for Intermunicipal
Transfer of Development Rights, and as an ordinance amendment pursuant
to the Intergovernmental Cooperative Implementation Agreement. No
owner of the land or owner of development rights shall have any claim
against the Borough for damages resulting from a change in this Chapter
relating to the regulations governing the calculation, transfer, and
use of development rights or the abolition of the TDR program. If
the TDR program is abolished by the Borough, no developer may attach
development rights to any tract in the receiving area after the effective
date of the ordinance abolishing the TDR program unless an application
in conformity with the provisions of this Part was filed prior to
the effective date of such ordinance and thereafter is continuously
processed to approval. Should the Township abolish its TDR program,
the Borough may continue to permit the use of TDRs within its receiving
areas when such TDRs have been legally severed from Honey Brook Township
lands prior to the effective date of the ordinance abolishing the
Township's TDR program.
