All land development applications shall be subject
to the following:
1. Application
filing fees. Application filing fees shall be established, from time
to time, by resolution of Borough Council. The application filing
fees shall cover the administrative costs associated with processing
an application for approval of a subdivision or land development.
2. Application
review fees.
A. In addition to the application filing fee required by Subsection
1, the Borough shall charge application review fees for costs incurred during the review of an application. Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary charges by the Borough's professional consultants or the Borough Engineer for review and report on the application to the Borough. Such review fees shall be used based upon a schedule established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council. Such review fees shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary charges by the Borough Engineer or other consultants for similar service in the community, but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Borough Engineer or other consultants to the Borough when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.
B. In the event
that the applicant disputes the amount of any such review fees, the
applicant shall, within 100 days of the billing date, notify the Borough
Secretary that such fees are disputed, in which case the Borough shall
not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land development application
due to the applicant's request over disputed fees.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see AO)]
C. In the event that the Borough and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of review fees which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and the Borough shall follow the procedure for resolution of disputes as set forth below in Subsection
3 of this section.
3. Inspection fees.
The Borough may prescribe that the applicant shall reimburse the Borough
for the reasonable and necessary expense incurred for the inspection
of improvements. Such reimbursement shall be based upon a schedule
established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council. Such
expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and
customary fees charged by the Borough Engineer or consultant for work
performed for similar services in the community, but in no event shall
the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the engineer or consultant
to the Borough when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on
applicants.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see AO)]
A. In the event
the applicant disputes the amount of any such expense in connection
with the inspection of improvements, the applicant shall, no later
than 100 days after the date of transmittal of a bill for inspection
services, notify the Borough and the Borough's professional consultant
that such inspection expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary
and shall explain the basis of their objections to the fees charged,
in which case the Borough shall not delay or disapprove a request
for release of financial security, a subdivision or land development
application or any approval or permit related to development due to
the applicant's dispute of inspection expenses. Failure of the applicant
to dispute a bill within 100 days shall be a waiver of the applicant's
right to arbitration of that bill under this section.
B. If the professional
consultant and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses
which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant shall have
the right, within 100 days of the transmittal of the final bill or
supplement to the final bill to the applicant, to request the appointment
of another professional consultant to serve as an arbitrator. The
applicant and professional consultant whose fees are being challenged
shall, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional consultant
to review any bills the applicant has disputed and which remain unresolved
and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable
and necessary. The arbitrator shall be of the same profession as the
professional consultant whose fees are being challenged.
C. The arbitrator
so appointed shall hear such evidence and review such documentation
as the arbitrator in his or her sole opinion deems necessary and shall
render a decision no later than 50 days after the date of appointment.
Based on the decision of the arbitrator, the applicant or the professional
consultant whose fees were challenged shall be required to pay any
amounts necessary to implement the decision within 60 days. In the
event the Borough has paid the professional consultant an amount in
excess of the amount determined to be reasonable and necessary, the
professional consultant shall within 60 days reimburse the excess
payment.
D. In the event
that the Borough's professional consultant and applicant cannot agree
upon the arbitrator to be appointed within 20 days of the request
for appointment of an arbitrator, then, upon application of either
party, the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the judicial
district in which the Borough is located (or if at the time there
be no President Judge, then the senior active Judge then sitting)
shall appoint such arbitrator, who, in that case, shall be neither
the Borough's professional consultant nor any professional consultant
who has been retained by, or performed services for, the Borough or
the applicant within the preceding five years.
E. The fee of
the arbitrator shall be paid by the applicant if the disputed fee
is upheld by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid
by the charging party if the disputed fee is $2,500 or greater than
the payment decided by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall
be paid in an equal amount by the applicant and the charging party
if the disputed fee is less than $2,500 of the payment decided by
the arbitrator.
F. In the event
that the disputed fees have been paid and the arbitrator finds that
the disputed fees are unreasonable or excessive by more than $10,000,
the arbitrator shall:
(1) Award the amount of the
fees found to be unreasonable or excessive to the party that paid
the disputed fee; and
(2) Impose a surcharge of
4% of the amount found as unreasonable or excessive to be paid to
the party that paid the disputed fee.
Borough Council may, from time to time, amend
this chapter in accordance with the following provisions:
1. Planning Commission
review. In the case of amendments other than those prepared by the
Borough Planning Commission, Borough Council shall submit the proposed
amendment to the Planning Commission for recommendations at least
30 days prior to the date fixed for the public hearing on the proposed
amendment.
2. County Planning
Commission review. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the
Allegheny County Planning Commission for review and recommendations
at least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment.
3. Public hearing.
Amendments to this chapter shall become effective only after a public
hearing held pursuant to public notice, as defined herein.
4. Publication,
advertisement and availability of ordinance.
A. Proposed amendments
shall not be enacted unless public notice, as defined herein, of the
proposed enactment is given, including the time and place of the meeting
at which passage will be considered, a reference to a place within
the Borough where copies of the proposed amendment may be examined
without charge or obtained for a charge not greater than the cost
thereof.
B. Borough Council
shall publish the proposed amendment once in one newspaper of general
circulation in the Borough not more than 60 days nor less than seven
days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed amendment shall
include either full text thereof of the title and a brief summary
prepared by the Borough Solicitor and setting forth all the provisions
in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
(1) A copy
thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation in
the Borough at the time the public notice is published.
(2) An attested
copy of the proposed amendment shall be filed in the County Law Library
or other county office designated by the County Commissioners, who
may impose a fee no greater than that necessary to cover the actual
costs of storing said ordinances.
(3) In the
event that substantial amendments are made in the proposed amendment,
before voting upon enactment, Borough Council shall, at least 10 days
prior to enactment, readvertise in one newspaper of general circulation
in the Borough a brief summary setting forth all the provisions in
reasonable detail, together with a summary of the amendments.
(4) Subdivision
and land development amendments may be incorporated into official
ordinance books by reference with the same force and effect as if
duly recorded therein.
5. Filing after
enactment. Within 30 days after adoption, Borough Council shall forward
a certified copy of the amendment to the Allegheny County Planning
Commission.
Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Borough
Council regarding a subdivision or land development plan may appeal
such decision within 30 days of the date of entry of the decision
of Borough Council to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.