Borough of Elverson, PA Article V Site Analysis Plan

§ 240-501 Site analysis plan.

A. Applicability. In order to properly inform the design process, facilitate realization of community resource protection objectives, preclude unnecessary engineering expense on behalf of the applicant and provide an adequate information base for plan review, applicants for subdivision or land development shall thoroughly investigate the tract under proposal and immediately surrounding areas, providing data, plans, and narrative descriptions in accordance with the provisions of this section. A site analyses plan shall be required under the following circumstances:

(1) Preliminary or final plan. As partial fulfillment of the requirements for submission of preliminary or final subdivision or land development plans;

(2) Conditional use. As partial fulfillment of the requirements for application for conditional use approval ultimately involving submission of subdivision or land development plans or as otherwise required by Chapter 290, Zoning, of this Code; and

(3) Sketch plan submission. To the degree appropriate information is available at the time of sketch plan submission, site analyses should accompany any sketch plan submission.

B. A site analysis plan submission shall include the following:

(1) Base plan, prepared in accordance with the provisions of § 240-502A;

(2) Engineering data, provided in accordance with the provisions of § 240-502B;

(3) Natural and cultural resources, provided in accordance with the provisions of § 240-502C; and

(4) Traffic impact studies where required by Borough Council, provided in accordance with the provisions of § 240-502D.

C. The Borough Council may retain such consultants as necessary to review and certify the accuracy and completeness of any site analysis plan submission, reasonable and necessary fees or charges shall be the responsibility of the applicant.

D. Where a site analysis plan has been provided in full compliance with the provisions of this chapter, the same site analysis plan may be resubmitted for any subsequent plan application involving the same tract of land, where such application is made within five years of the original submission and where no land disturbance or other significant change affecting the subject property has occurred since the time of that submission.

For example, where full site analyses have been submitted with a conditional use application, the same site analyses may be resubmitted with preliminary or final land development plans.

§ 240-502 Site analysis plan requirements.

A. Base plan. The applicant shall prepare a reproducible base plan depicting all information required in accordance with this subsection. The base plan need not be submitted by itself, but shall serve as a template (base) upon which all site analyses required under § 240-501 shall be submitted.

(1) The base plan shall depict the following information in all cases:

(a) Title block and tract information:

[1] Proposed name or identifying title of the tract;

[2] North arrow, graphic scale, and date of plan preparation;

[3] Total acreage of the tract;

[4] Zoning of the tract (Note: If the tract lies within more than one zoning district, indicate the total acreage per zoning district.);

[5] Name, address, and telephone number of the landowner;

[6] Name, address, and telephone number of the applicant (if different from landowner);

[7] Name and signature of the person who prepared the base plan.

(b) Location map. The location map is to be a plan inset, at a scale of one inch equals 800 feet or greater, and shall identify the subject tract and its boundaries, showing its relationship to all areas within a minimum radius of 1/2 mile, including indication of the following within the entire 1/2-mile radius:

[1] All public and private streets and roads, watercourses, municipal boundaries, zoning districts, including the floodplain district and zoning boundaries;

[2] All wetlands as shown on National Wetland Inventory (NWI) Maps;

[3] All woodlands as shown on USGS quadrangle maps and/or available aerial photography.

(c) The base plan shall depict the following information for the entire tract subject to application and all adjacent areas within 100 feet of the boundaries of said tract:

[1] Adjacent property information, all property boundaries. The names of the owners of all adjacent tracts and the names of all adjacent subdivisions or developments shall be indicated.

[2] Topography. Existing topographic contours shall be indicated at two-foot intervals throughout the subject tract and all areas located within 100 feet of said tract. Elevations shall be indicated and, where reasonably practical, datum shall refer to established USCG elevations. Except for sketch plan purposes, topographic data shall be prepared from an actual field survey of the tract or via photogrammetry using aerial photographs not more than two years old. For sketch plan purposes, topographic contours may be derived from USGS quadrangle maps.

[3] Soils. The limits of all soil types are to be plotted and identified with an appropriate symbol (MgB2, WoA, etc.), as mapped by the Soil Conservation Service for the Soil Survey of Chester and Delaware Counties.

[4] Streams, ponds, watercourses, and drainagecourses. Stream mapping shall include all stream center lines and channel boundaries. Water resource information also shall be prepared from an actual field survey of the site or via photogrammetry using aerial photographs not more than two years old.

[5] Floodplains. The limits of all areas within the one-hundred-year floodplain (Zone A) as shown on the most recent FEMA Maps, in accordance with Chapter 140, Floodplain Management, of the Code.

[6] Buildings and structures. All existing principal and accessory structures and facilities, including but not limited to buildings, wells, septic fields, underground tanks, fences, walls and sheds.

[7] Roads and other infrastructure. All existing roads, road rights-of-way and appurtenant works, including but not limited to bridges, culverts, guardrails, etc.

[8] Utilities. All existing utilities and utility rights-of-way, including but not limited to locations of poles, overhead and underground lines, and transformers.

[9] Existing vegetation; all existing tree lines, forest edges, hedgerows and tree masses. Within areas proposed for disturbance, the locations of any individual trees greater than 24 inches' diameter at breast height (dbh) and their approximate canopy spreads (tree dripline) shall be indicated.

[10] Legal encumbrances. The limit lines and nature of all private easements, deed-restricted areas, and rights-of-say within the entire subject tract shall be indicated.

B. Site analysis: engineering data. All information required in accordance with this subsection shall be depicted upon a copy of and at the same scale as the base plan. Tabular and/or narrative information may be presented as plan notations or on separate sheets where insufficient space is otherwise available.

(1) The site analysis. Engineering data shall depict the following information in all cases:

(a) Map title and date. This plan shall be entitled "Site Analysis - Engineering Data." The name and signature of the person who prepared the plan shall be included, if different from that of the base plan.

(b) Boundary survey data. The bearings and distances along all tract boundary lines, and all corner markers, monuments, etc., shall be indicated.

(c) Legal encumbrances. The dimensions of all easements, deed-restricted areas, and rights-of-way within the tract shall be indicated. Where the tract lies within more than one zoning district, zoning district boundaries shall be indicated.

(2) The site analysis. Engineering data shall depict the following information for the entire tract subject to application and all adjacent areas within 100 feet of the boundaries of said tract:

(a) Topography. Moderate slope areas between 15% and steep slope areas equal to or greater than 25% shall be separately indicated through shading of the appropriate areas as bounded by the contour intervals shown on the base plan.

(b) Soils. The following soils information, as indicated in the Soil Survey for Chester and Delaware Counties, shall be provided; where appropriate, a tabular or narrative format may be utilized to present such information:

[1] Infiltration rates and erodibility (K values) for each soil type;

[2] Engineering properties, including septic suitability, suitability for buildings with basements, suitability for construction of roads and streets;

[3] Locations of prime agricultural soils (agricultural capability classes I, II, and III), hydric soils, soils with seasonal high groundwater, soils with hydric inclusions, and alluvial soils;

[4] Percolation tests where available. If the applicant has already performed percolation tests, the locations of all test holes and data results for each test hole shall be provided.

(c) Wetlands. All wetland boundaries shall be indicated. Wetland boundaries within the tract shall be determined from on-site delineation and plotted from actual field survey. Where undertaken for compliance with applicable state or federal regulation, a Wetland Delineation Report shall be provided to the Borough. For wetlands situated outside the subject tract but within 100 feet of tract boundaries, wetland boundaries may be approximated from field observations (i.e., they do not need to be surveyed).

(d) All fractures, faults and the limits of all geologic formations shall be indicated based on published geologic data (Chester County Geology); from the same or similar sources, the following information shall be indicated in tabular or narrative form, as appropriate, for each geologic formation identified:

[1] General potential groundwater yields;

[2] General potential for groundwater contamination;

[3] Generalized engineering constraints, including ease of excavation, cut slope stability, and foundation stability;

[4] All sinkholes and rock outcroppings shall be indicated (including identification of the extent and type of rock), as obtained from field investigation; and

[5] The dimensions of all identified roads, road rights-of-way, utility rights-of-way, easements and culverts shall be provided, along with the invert elevations for all identified culverts.

C. Site analysis: natural and cultural resources. All information required in accordance with this subsection shall be depicted upon a copy of and at the same scale as the base plan. Tabular and/or narrative information may be presented as plan notations or on separate sheets where insufficient space is otherwise available.

(1) The site analysis of natural and cultural resources shall depict the following information in all cases:

(a) Map title and date. This plan shall be entitled "Site Analysis - Natural and Cultural Resources." The name and signature of the person who prepared the plan shall be included, if different from that of the base plan.

(2) The site analysis. Natural and Cultural resources shall depict the following information for the entire tract, subject to application and all adjacent areas within 100 feet of the boundaries of said tract:

(a) Wetlands. As also shown on the Site Analysis - Engineering Data, all wetland boundaries shall be indicated, as required under § 240-502B(2)(c).

(b) All sinkholes and rock outcroppings shall be indicated as also shown on the Site Analysis - Engineering Data, as required under § 240-502B(2)(d)[4].

(c) Vegetation.

[1] All vegetation cover types shall be indicated in terms of the general type of vegetative cover in any given area. Examples of generalized types of vegetation cover include woodlands, tree masses, thickets, hedgerows, meadows, pastures, old fields, cultivated lands, orchards, lawns, disturbed areas (bare soil), etc. The approximate limits of each vegetation cover type shall be plotted based on field investigation.

[2] Within areas proposed for disturbance, the locations of all trees greater than 24 inches DBH shall be identified based upon field investigation and the location and extent of all tree protection zones.

(d) All historic resources, including districts, sites, structures, ruins, walls, transportation traces (trails and abandoned roads), and quarry sites shall be identified and described, based on the Chester County Historic Sites Survey, the Comprehensive Plan, and on-site investigation.

(e) Scenic resources as mapped in the Comprehensive Plan, including the following:

[1] The limits of areas defined as "scenic open landscape" and "scenic/historic village";

[2] Vista points; and

[3] Visual accents.

(f) Environmental hazards or intrusions. All environmental, visual and/or safety hazards or intrusions shall be located and described, based on field investigation. Such investigation shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

[1] Areas of erosion, evidence of bare soil and/or overgrazing;

[2] Debris/junk/soil piles, poor sight distances, poor road drainage or configuration; and

[3] Problems associated with culverts and other stormwater management facilities.

D. Traffic impact studies.

(1) Determining the need for a traffic impact study.

(a) Traffic impact studies are conducted to enable the Borough to identify the potential impacts of a proposed development and determine any roadway improvements necessary to provide an acceptable level of service. These studies are to be conducted during the preliminary plan or conditional use review process in order to adequately consider the impacts the development will have on the local transportation network.

(b) Not all developments will have a significant enough impact to require a traffic impact study. The use of engineering judgment is necessary in making this determination, and consideration should be given not only to changes in projected traffic volume changes but also safety or capacity deficiencies which could impact the highway system. At a minimum, a traffic impact study shall be required when either of the following conditions is satisfied:

[1] The proposed development is expected to generate 1,000 or more vehicle trips per day (total inbound and outbound development traffic).

[2] Traffic on any adjoining roadway plus development traffic will together exceed 700 vehicles per hour during the adjoining roadway's peak hour, and 80 or more of these vehicles are newly generated peak direction trips to or from the site.

(c) In all cases, a traffic impact study must be conducted when, in the opinion of the Borough, the site development is expected to have a significant impact on the safety and/or traffic flow of the affected roadway(s).

(2) Preparation of the study.

(a) When it has been determined that a traffic impact study is required for a proposed site development, it shall be the responsibility of the developer to ensure the study is conducted and a final report submitted in accordance with these guidelines. The traffic impact study and final report shall be prepared under the supervision of a registered professional engineer who possesses a license issued by the Pennsylvania State Registration Board for Professional Engineers.

(b) Engineers. The final traffic impact study report must have the seal of the supervising engineer on it when submitted. The conduct of the traffic impact study must be in cooperation with and coordination with the appropriate state and local officials. Where the recommended improvements will require a commitment from the Borough for continued maintenance and/or operation, such as with traffic signals, the report shall so indicate.

(3) Study procedures.

(a) General requirements.

[1] The traffic impact study shall be conducted using currently accepted traffic engineering practices and procedures. The use of computer programs to conduct the required analyses is acceptable, provided the programs reflect the most current provisions of the analysis procedures upon which they are based. Recommended traffic operations improvements must meet or exceed all applicable PennDOT minimum design criteria.

[2] The study engineer shall be responsible for the collection of all information and data required to support the study effort. At the developer's request, the Borough will make available appropriate information and data which will assist in the study effort. When traffic counts are required for the study, the study engineer shall collect such data to include peak hour turning movements on an average day as defined in current PennDOT Publications 46 and 212.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

(b) Study area characteristics.

[1] The limits for the study area shall be based upon engineering judgment and a knowledge of the existing traffic conditions in the vicinity of the proposed site development. The area must be of sufficient size to include the key roadway corridors and critical intersections which may be impacted by the proposed site traffic. Designation of the study area boundaries shall be a cooperative effort between the developer and the Borough Engineer. In those instances where agreement cannot be reached on the boundaries, the Borough Engineer will establish the boundaries to be used for the study. Designation of the future design year(s) as the basis for the study shall be made by the Borough Engineer dependent on the timing and/or phasing of the proposed development.

[2] Existing and proposed land uses in the study area must be considered in the study. This consideration must include not only the current/proposed zoning of the various tracts within the study area but also the specific use for the development site. Where the current/proposed land use of the site is being modified, an analysis of the proposed changes should be made to determine the extent to which traffic volumes for the site will be modified.

[3] Characteristics of the study area roadway network, intersections and the proposed site access point(s) to include geometries and traffic control shall be identified as part of the study. Included in this identification shall be all driveways adjacent to or across from the proposed site access point(s). In addition, all committed roadway and traffic operational improvements to the study area network, which will occur during the designated time period on which the study is based, are to be identified. Roadway improvements which have been identified on a Transportation Capital Improvement Plan developed under the provisions of Act 209/1990 also shall be included.

(c) Traffic analysis. The study area roadway network is to be analyzed for safety and capacity sufficiency for three separate conditions: existing network conditions, future network conditions without the proposed development and future network conditions with the proposed development. For each of the three conditions the following analyses shall be completed:

[1] Turning movement volumes for all critical intersections within the study area shall be determined for the AM peak hour, PM peak hour, and the proposed development peak hour, if other than either the AM or PM peak hour of the network.

[2] The effectiveness of the traffic signal control at all critical intersections shall be evaluated by approach in terms of vehicle stops and delays.

[3] Queue length studies shall be completed to evaluate the potential for a backup of traffic from controlled intersections which could impact other intersections including access points to the proposed development.

[4] An analysis of the volume and capacity of the network and all critical intersections shall be conducted utilizing the most current Highway Capacity Manual procedures. Levels of service shall be determined and documented.

[5] The analysis of the existing roadway and intersection conditions in the study area shall be based upon the current geometric conditions and traffic control operations. This analysis shall serve as a basis for determining the current adequacy of the roadway network and to document any deficiencies.

[6] The analysis of the future conditions without the proposed development shall document the adequacy of the study area network to accommodate traffic in the design year(s) without the proposed development. This analysis shall include a full consideration of all committed roadway improvements to the study area network when determining the expected levels of service.

[7] For the analysis of the future conditions with the proposed development, one of the key factors will be the development of the projected site-generated traffic and its distribution on the study area network. The study preparer shall fully document the methodology which was used to complete this effort and provide sufficient information such that the Borough can verify the results. Site-generated traffic shall be based upon Trip Generation, 5th Edition or subsequent update, from the Institute of Transportation Engineers, unless more reliable or site-specific data is available.

(d) Improvement recommendations.

[1] The overall goal of this section is to detail necessary improvements to the study area roadway network which will provide for an adequate level of service for the design year(s) in the context of the projected development. Based upon a comparison of the traffic analysis for the future conditions with and without the proposed development, roadway and traffic operational improvements which will support this goal are to be identified and analyzed. These improvements may include both on-site and off-site roadway and traffic operational changes as determined by the preceding analyses.

[2] In developing the proposed improvements, the study preparer shall consider the following:

[a] All highway capacity evaluations shall consider not only the overall intersection level of service and delay but also evaluate each approach and movement to identify any substandard values which need to be improved.

[b] For locations where the level of service of the design year without the proposed development is F, the improvements shall provide an estimated delay which will be no worse than the delay for the design year without the proposed development.

[c] Where new intersections are being established to serve as access to the proposed development, these intersections shall be designed to at least operate at level of service C or better.

[d] For access points to the proposed development, which are not proposed to be controlled by a traffic signal, an analysis shall be completed to determine the need for a separate left turn lane on the adjoining highway, based upon AASHTO criteria.

[e] For access points to the proposed development where traffic signal control is being proposed, a traffic signal warrant analysis shall be performed in accordance with the requirements of current PennDOT Publications 46 and 212. An analysis shall be completed to determine the type of signal phasing required.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

[3] The final recommended study area network with proposed improvements also shall be subjected to all the traffic analyses required herein. These analyses will serve to document the adequacy of the improvements.

(4) Final report.

(a) General.

[1] A final report shall be prepared to document the results of the traffic impact study and the recommended improvements to accommodate the projected traffic due to the proposed development. Since this report will be reviewed by officials with varying levels of technical expertise, the report shall be presented in a format and context which can be understood by both technical and nontechnical parties.

[2] The presentation of data and analyses results shall be accomplished on schematic diagrams of the study area and through the use of charts and/or tables. All sources of data and methodologies which were used in the study (including computer programs) shall be properly referenced and documented. Any modifications to the referenced procedures shall be properly documented to enable a review of the appropriateness of the modification.

(b) Contents. The final report shall include the following:

[1] Executive summary which provides a concise description of the study area, results of the traffic analyses and any recommended improvements.

[2] Description of the proposed development site to include a map showing the site's location in regards to the region and the area highway network.

[3] Schematic diagram/map of the designated study area showing all major highways and critical intersections.

[4] Results of the traffic analyses for the three traffic conditions. At a minimum, the following data must be shown for each of the three conditions:

[5] Mainline ADT and intersection turning movement counts.

[6] Levels of service.

[7] Projected traffic distribution and network assignment for the proposed site.

[8] Recommended improvements to the study area network to include preliminary cost estimates, proposed implementation schedule and expected levels of service for the recommended network.