This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough
of Lansdale Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
This chapter contains regulations which include, but are not
limited to, the following:
A.
Provisions for the filing, processing, review, and approval of all
subdivision and land development plans;
B.
Design standards and guidelines for the overall layout, configuration,
and placement of lots, roads, open space, parks, public facilities,
and other physical improvements on property within Lansdale Borough
to promote orderly development compatible with the Borough of Lansdale
Comprehensive Plan;
C.
Engineering and technical standards, including appropriate financial
guarantees, governing the manner by which various public improvements
including streets, bridges, common facilities, water supply and sewage
facilities infrastructure, stormwater management facilities, walkways,
lighting, and other public improvements are properly constructed;
and
D.
Prescribing penalties for violation.
The following are the purposes of this chapter:
A.
To accomplish the coordinated development of the Borough of Lansdale,
thereby ensuring the overall health, safety, and general welfare of
the residents of the Borough of Lansdale;
B.
To enable the development of the Borough of Lansdale in an orderly,
efficient, integrated, and harmonious manner;
C.
To guide the future growth and development of the Borough of Lansdale
in conformance to the Borough of Lansdale Comprehensive Plan and to
other relevant regulations, maps, studies, and reports adopted in
furtherance thereof;
D.
To ensure that streets in and bordering a subdivision or land development
shall be coordinated, and be of such design, and in such locations
as deemed necessary to accommodate prospective traffic and parking,
and to facilitate fire protection and other emergency services;
E.
To require adequate, appropriately located easements or rights-of-way
for existing and future utilities and storm drainage facilities;
F.
To provide adequate open space lands and recreation facilities;
G.
To ensure that any lands offered for dedication or otherwise reserved
for use as public or common grounds shall be of suitable size, configuration,
and topographical character for their designated uses;
H.
To ensure conformance of subdivision and land development proposals
with the availability of municipal services and public facilities,
and the coordination of inter-municipal programs;
I.
To ensure conformance of subdivision and land development plans with
the public improvements of the Borough of Lansdale, and coordination
of intermunicipal, Montgomery County, and Pennsylvania improvement
plans and programs;
J.
To preserve lands subject to inundation or flooding from subdivision
or land development which would endanger life or property or further
aggravate or increase the existing flooding or inundation conditions;
K.
To encourage and promote flexibility, economy, and ingenuity in the
layout and design of subdivisions and land developments, including
provisions authorizing the Borough of Lansdale to modify the requirements
of this chapter in accordance with concepts and practices consistent
with the modern and evolving, generally accepted principles of site
planning, engineering, and land development;
L.
To provide equitable and expeditious handling of all subdivision
and land development proposals by providing uniform procedures and
standards;
M.
To encourage subdivision and land development in accordance with
principles and practices which conserve energy, both during and after
construction, and which encourage the use of alternative energy sources
by the layout of the lots and the siting of buildings;
N.
To preserve and protect natural resources and to prevent pollution
of air and water so as to maintain the quality of life within the
Borough of Lansdale and adjacent lands;
O.
To maintain the character and the social and economic stability of
the Borough of Lansdale and to encourage the orderly and beneficial
development of the community;
P.
To provide for the buffering of certain types of land uses to minimize
their impact upon their surroundings.
The provisions of this chapter shall be the minimum requirements
to meet the above-stated purposes. Unless otherwise, noted, where
the provisions of this chapter impose greater restrictions than those
of any other statute, ordinance, or regulations, then the provisions
of this chapter shall prevail unless specifically preempted by a state
or federal statute. Unless otherwise noted, where the provisions of
any other statute, ordinance, or regulations impose greater restrictions
than those of this chapter, the provisions of such statute, ordinance,
or regulations shall take precedence.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Lansdale shall, with the recommendation of the Lansdale Planning Commission, review and act upon as appropriate all subdivision and land development plans as defined below and in § 347-201, Definition of terms, of this chapter which are located entirely or in part of the Borough of Lansdale.
A.
Subdivision and land development. No subdivision or land development of any lot, tract, or parcel of land as defined in Article II, shall be made, and no street, alley, sanitary sewer, storm drain, water main, gas, oil or electric line, or other improvements in connection therewith, shall be laid out, constructed, or dedicated for public use, or travel, or for the common use of occupants of a building abutting thereon, except in strict accordance with this chapter.
B.
Sale of lots, issuance of building permits, or erection of buildings.
No lot in a subdivision or land development may be sold, and no permit
to erect, alter, or repair any building or other improvements upon
land in a subdivision or land development will be issued unless and
until a subdivision and/or land development plan has been approved
and, where required, recorded, and until the required improvements
in connection therewith have either been constructed or guaranteed
for construction in the form of a bond, escrow, or other means approved
by the Borough of Lansdale under the advice of the Borough of Lansdale
Engineer and Solicitor, in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
C.
Condominiums. No provision of this chapter shall be construed to
prohibit condominium ownership as permitted by the applicable enabling
legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Lansdale may grant a modification of the requirements of this chapter, through a waiver where, owing to unusual and specific conditions, the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Lansdale Borough Council that literal compliance with mandatory requirements of this chapter would be unreasonable or cause undue hardship, or where an alternative standard can be demonstrated to provide equal or better results, subject to such conditions and safeguards as the Lansdale Borough Council may impose; provided, that such waiver will not be contrary to the public interest and that the purpose and intent of this chapter is observed. All requests for modifications shall be provided in accordance with § 347-310, Waiver of requirements, of this chapter.
