This article shall be known and may be cited as the "East Hanover
Township Dedication of Park and Recreation Land Ordinance."
The Board of Supervisors has adopted a Recreation and Park Plan
for East Hanover Township. To implement this Plan, all residential
subdivisions and residential land developments shall be provided with
park, recreation and open space land which shall be dedicated to the
Township. The developer may request that the Township not require
the dedication of land and any such request shall be accompanied by
an offer to pay a fee in lieu of dedication of the land, computed
in accordance with the regulations provided herein, an offer to construct
recreational facilities and/or an offer to privately reserve land
for park, recreation and open space purposes.
The land reserved for park, recreation and open space usage
shall be a single lot which shall comply with the requirements of
this article and the recommendations of the East Hanover Township
Recreation and Park Plan. Unless otherwise approved by the Board of
Supervisors, no more than 15% of the lot shall consist of floodplain,
wetlands, steep slopes, utility easements or rights-of-way, or other
features which shall render the lot undevelopable. No stormwater management
facilities designed to retain or detain water from other portions
of the development shall be permitted on such land reserved for park,
recreation and open space usage.
A. In the event that the tract of land contains natural features which
are worthy of preservation, the Board of Supervisors may require that
the park, recreation and open space land be configured in such a manner
as to best preserve the natural features.
B. The park, recreation and open space land shall be accessible to utilities
such as sewer, water and power that are provided with the subdivision,
and if so requested by the Board of Supervisors, the developer shall
extend such utilities to the park, recreation and open space land.
C. If the adjoining property has previously been developed and recreation
land has been provided at the boundary of that previously developed
property, the Board of Supervisors may require that the park, recreation
and open space land be located adjoining the previously provided recreation
land.
D. If the adjoining property is undeveloped land, the Board of Supervisors
may require that the park, recreation and open space land be provided
at the boundary of the development in order that it may be added to
land provided for park and recreation purposes on the adjoining tract
at such time that the adjoining tract is developed.
The developer may request that the Board of Supervisors permit
the provision of park, recreation and open space land other than through
public dedication of land as set forth above. The developer shall
set forth, in writing, the means by which he will fulfill this requirement
which may include the payment of a fee in lieu of dedication of all
or a portion of the amount of land required to be dedicated, construction
of recreation facilities or any combination of dedication, fees or
construction of recreational facilities.
A. If a fee in lieu of dedication is proposed by the developer, said fee shall be the fair market value of the land required to be dedicated under §
74-3 above or the fee established under §
74-6 below, whichever is greater. Payment of all such fees shall be a condition of final plan approval and no plans shall be signed by the Board of Supervisors until such fees are paid. The developer shall provide the Board of Supervisors with all the information necessary to determine that fair market value of the land, including, but not limited to, a copy of the agreement of sale if the developer is an equitable owner and has purchased the land within the past two years, or an appraisal of the property conducted by an MAI appraiser acceptable to the Township. Fair market value shall be computed by dividing the total price for the tract by the number of acres within the tract and multiplying that number by the amount of land required to be dedicated. If the proposed subdivision contains 20 or less lots or units, the developer may elect to provide a fee as established by the Township by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, in lieu of the above procedures.
B. If the developer proposes to construct recreational facilities, the
developer shall present a sketch plan of such facilities and an estimate
of the cost of construction. The proposed sketch and estimated cost
shall be subject to approval by the Township.
C. The developer shall enter into an agreement with the Township setting
forth the fees to be paid, the facilities to be constructed or the
land to be dedicated. All such agreements shall be provided prior
to final approval of the plan and shall be satisfactory to the Board
of Supervisors.
D. All proposals for dedication shall be submitted to the East Hanover
Township Board of Supervisors for review. The Board of Supervisors
shall review the proposal for conformance with this article and the
provisions of the Recreation and Park Plan.
The minimum of 0.03 acre of land shall be reserved as park,
recreation or open space for each residential lot created in a subdivision
or each dwelling unit created in a land development.
The provisions of this article are severable, and if any section,
sentence, clause, part or provision hereof shall be held to be illegal,
invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction,
such decision of the court shall not affect or impair the remaining
sections, sentences, clauses, parts or provisions of this article.
It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Supervisors
that this article would have been enacted if such illegal, invalid
or unconstitutional section, sentence, clause, part or provision had
not been included herein.
All other ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
are expressly repealed.
This article shall become effective five days after its enactment
by the Board of Supervisors of the East Hanover Township.