Tentative subdivision and land development plans shall be reviewed
by the Township Zoning Officer, Township Planner, Township Engineer,
and any other staff or consultant as the Township deems necessary.
The tentative subdivision and land development plans shall also be
reviewed by the Planning Commission, the Centre County Planning Commission,
and the Centre Regional Planning Commission and shall be approved
or not approved by the Township Board of Supervisors in accordance
with the procedures specified in this article. Unless specifically
exempted, all plans shall be reviewed in two stages, preliminary and
final.
A potential applicant for subdivision or land development, all
or part of which is situate in the Township, may request a conference
with the Township's Zoning Officer, Township Zoning Administrator,
Township Engineer, Township Planner, and any other staff which the
Township deems necessary for the purpose of discussing or reviewing
such proposed subdivision or land development.
A. The preapplication conference shall not be mandatory and shall not
be regarded as formal application for subdivision or land development.
The filing of any report, sketch plan, plat or map prior to or at
such conference shall not constitute submission of a plan or application
for land development or subdivision.
B. Any report, sketch plan, plat or map to be shall be brought to the
preapplication conference.
C. Township staff may, at its sole discretion, make or refuse to make
recommendations as the result of the preapplication conference. Any
recommendations made by Township staff at or in response to the preapplication
conference shall not be binding upon the Township in its review of
the plan after formal application.
All subdivisions or land developments which do not require the
installation of streets, off-site water and sewage facilities, storm
drainage facilities, curbs or sidewalks, or fire suppression as required
in this chapter are exempt from the requirement to have a preliminary
review and may commence final approval procedures with submission
of a preliminary plan.
A plan shall be officially submitted to the Township Zoning
Administrator for final Township review after all improvements indicated
on the plan receiving preliminary approval have been installed or,
including but not limited to, state, county, fire, and regional required
permits and improvements. In lieu of the completion of the improvements
and/or permits, the applicant shall deposit with the Township a corporate
bond or other security acceptable to the Township Supervisors as follows:
A. Corporate or security bonds:
(1) Shall be in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of any improvements
which may be required.
(2) Such financial security may include, among others, a lending institution
letter of credit or a restrictive or escrow account in a lending institution.
(3) Such bond or other security shall provide for and secure to the public
the completion of any improvements which may be required within a
stated period, which shall not be longer than one year from the date
the plan received preliminary approval.
(4) Upon written application signed by the obligor and surety of a performance
guaranty in a form approved by the Township Supervisors, the governing
body may, at its discretion, extend said period, provided that satisfactory
security for the completion of the improvements within the extended
time is provided, or, when the improvements have been partially completed,
reduce proportionally the amount of the bond or other form of security
by formal resolution.
(5) In the event that any improvements which may have been required in
accordance with the finally approved plan have not been installed,
the Township Board of Supervisors may enforce any corporate bond or
other security by appropriate legal and equitable remedies.
(6) If the proceeds of such bond or other security are insufficient to
pay the cost of installing or making repairs or corrections to all
the improvements covered by said security, the Township Supervisors
may install part of such improvements in all or part of the subdivision
or land development or cause the same to be installed and may institute
appropriate legal or equitable action to recover the moneys necessary
to complete the remainder of the improvements. All the proceeds, whether
resulting from the security or from any legal or equitable action
brought against the applicant, or both, shall be used solely for the
installation of the improvements covered by such security and not
for any other municipal purpose.
(7) Release from the bond or other security shall be granted by the Supervisors contingent upon review and report by the Township Engineer in accordance with procedures outlined in Subsection
A(5) and
(6) above.
(8) Prior to final approval of a plan by the Township, the Township Supervisors
may require the applicant to deliver to the Secretary a maintenance
guaranty, in an amount of not more than 115% of the estimate of the
cost of all required improvements, guaranteeing that the applicant
shall maintain all such improvements in good condition for a term
not to exceed 18 months from the date of acceptance of dedication.
B. All plans which have received preliminary approval shall be entitled
to final approval in accordance with the terms of the approved preliminary
application for a period of five years from the date of the preliminary
approval.
C. The final review of the plan shall be conducted by the Township Supervisors
in the same manner as prescribed for preliminary review of the plan
except that final review shall be limited to determining if the plan
conforms to the plan which received preliminary approval, including
all conditions and modifications required by the Township Supervisors,
and the requirements for final plan review have been met.
(1) As a condition of approval, the applicant shall permit the Township
Engineer to make periodic site inspections of such nature and extent
as are necessary to ensure that the required improvements are being
installed and constructed in conformity with the design standards
contained herein or otherwise specified in the preliminary approval
of the plan. If the applicant has completed all of the required improvements,
he/she shall notify the Township Board of Supervisors in writing,
by certified mail, of the completion of the improvements and shall
send a copy thereof to the Municipal Engineer. The Supervisors hereby
direct and authorize the Municipal Engineer to make a final inspection
of all the aforesaid improvements after receipt of such notice. The
Municipal Engineer shall thereupon file a written report with the
Supervisors and shall promptly mail a copy of the same to the applicant.
D. All applications for final approval of a plan shall be acted upon
by the Township within such time limits as established in this chapter,
provided that the Supervisors shall render their decision and communicate
it to the applicant not later than 90 days after the date of the next
regular meeting of the governing body following the date the final
plan application is filed.
E. In the case where subdivision and land development is projected over
a period of years, the Supervisors may authorize final review of the
plan by sections or stages of development subject to such requirements
or guaranties as to improvements in future sections or stages of development
as they find essential for the protection of any finally approved
section or stage of development. In each such case, prior to preliminary
approval of the plan, the Supervisors and the developer shall enter
into a written agreement specifying the sequence of development of
sections or stages, the maximum time permitted the developer for final
submission of the plan for each subsection and any other such requirements
or guaranties as are applicable to that particular development. Where
development is permitted in stages, all improvements installed subsequent
to the third anniversary of preliminary approval of the plan shall
conform to standards for such improvements in effect at the time of
installation of the same.
F. Final official submission of the plan to the Township Supervisors shall consist of five black- (or blue-) on-white prints of the plan for which the plan received preliminary approval, plus the financial security specified in Subsection
A, all offers of dedication and deeds of easements to the municipality and all other required documents.
After completion of the procedures required by these regulations
and after final approval by the Supervisors, all endorsements shall
be so indicated on the approved plan and on as many other copies of
the plan as may be desired by the governing body. Upon approval and
signing of the plan by the Supervisors, a record plan shall be recorded
in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Centre County by the applicant
within 90 days of such approval and signing. Such recording shall
be otherwise in conformity with Section 513 of the Municipalities
Planning Code. Within 10 days after the Recorder of Deeds has properly
recorded the subdivision or land development plan, a copy of such
shall be forwarded to the Township Secretary by the applicant, including
the endorsement of the Recorder of Deeds.