[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
The provisions of this part shall be known and may be cited
as the "Town of McCandless Subdivision and Land Development Regulations."
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
These Subdivision and Land Development Regulations are adopted
for the following purposes:
(a)
To ensure the overall health, safety, and general welfare of
the residents of the Town;
(b)
To enable the development of the Town in an orderly, efficient,
integrated, and harmonious manner;
(c)
To guide the future growth and development of the Town in conformance
to all 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, snow removal, trails, and storm
drainage facilities;
(f)
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;
(g)
To ensure conformance of subdivision and land development proposals
with the availability of municipal services and public facilities,
and the coordination of intermunicipal programs;
(h)
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;
(i)
To encourage and promote flexibility, economy, and ingenuity
in the layout and design of subdivisions and land developments, including
provisions authorizing the Town to modify the requirements of this
part in accordance with concepts and practices consistent with the
modern and evolving, generally accepted principles of site planning,
engineering, and land development;
(j)
To provide equitable and expeditious handling of all subdivision
and land development proposals by providing uniform procedures and
standards;
(k)
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;
(l)
To ensure conformance of subdivision and land development plans
with the public improvements of the Town, and coordination of intermunicipal,
county, and Pennsylvania improvement plans and programs;
(m)
To provide adequate open space lands and recreation facilities;
(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
Town and adjacent lands;
(o)
To maintain the character and the social and economic stability
of the Town and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development
of the community; and
(p)
To provide for the buffering of certain types of land uses to
minimize their impact upon their surroundings.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(b)
Contents. This part contains regulations which include, but
are not limited to, the following:
(1)
Provisions for the submittal and processing of plats, including
the charging of review fees, and specifications for such plats, including
certification as to the accuracy of plats and provisions for preliminary
and final approval and for processing of final approval by stages
or sections of development.
(2)
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 to promote orderly development
within the Town.
(3)
Engineering and technical standards, including appropriate financial
guarantees, governing the manner by which various improvements, including
streets, bridges, common facilities, water supply and sewage facilities
infrastructure, stormwater management facilities (as required by Article
913, Stormwater Management), walkways, lighting, parking lots, and
other improvements are properly constructed.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
General. The Town Council shall, with the recommendation of
the Planning Commission, review, and act upon as appropriate all subdivision
and land development plans as defined below which are located entirely
or in part of the Town.
(b)
Subdivision and land development. No subdivision or land development
of any lot, tract, or parcel of land as defined in this part, 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 part.
(c)
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 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 Town under
the advice of the Town Engineer and Attorney, in accordance with the
laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(d)
Condominiums. No provision of this part shall be construed to
prohibit condominium ownership as permitted by the applicable enabling
legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
This part shall provide design standards and other regulations
pertaining to the development of land, whereas the Town's Zoning
Ordinance (part 13 of the Town of McCandless Municipal Code) provides
parameters on the use of land. Both documents correlate with each
other to provide the overall regulations administered by the Town
Council, Planning Commission, Zoning Officer/Code Enforcement and
Town Manager as specified in said ordinances.
(b)
Nothing in this part shall be deemed or construed to void, nullify,
abrogate, modify, limit or otherwise adversely affect any right vested
under applicable law at the time of enactment of this part, whether
such right arose under a subdivision or land development plan or development
agreement proposed by a person and accepted or approved by the Town.
This part is not intended to interfere with or abrogate or annul any
more restrictive easements, covenants, building restrictions, or other
agreements between parties relating to use or development of land.
(c)
No subdivision or land development of any lot, tract or parcel
of land located in the Town of McCandless shall be effected; no street,
sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water main, or other facilities in connection
therewith shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for
public use or travel, or for the common use of occupants of buildings
thereon unless and until a final subdivision plan has been approved
by the Town Council and publicly recorded in the manner prescribed
herein.
(d)
No lot in a subdivision will be sold; no permit to erect or
alter any building upon land in a subdivision or land development
will be issued; and no building will be erected or altered in a subdivision
or land development, unless and until a final subdivision plan has
been approved by the Town Council and recorded, and until construction
of the improvements required in connection therewith has been guaranteed
in the manner prescribed herein.
(e)
Unit or condominium development is included within the meaning
of subdivision and land development as defined herein and shall comply
with these regulations. Such compliance shall include, but not be
limited to, the filing of preliminary and final plans, payment of
established fees and charges, location of each structure and clear
definition of each unit, public easements, common areas, improvements,
and all easements appurtenant to each unit and all other land development
plan requirements.
(f)
Preliminary and final plans shall indicate the location of each
structure and clearly define each unit and shall indicate public easements,
common areas, and improvements, all easements appurtenant to each
unit and improvements to the public right-of-way.
(g)
These rules and regulations shall apply equally to all plans
for development regardless of the form of ownership, including but
not limited to developments owned as condominiums (including single
lot condominiums), in fee simple, as life estates, or in ownerships
subject to common ownership, common elements or other forms of ownership.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
The regulations specified within this part shall be considered
minimum regulations and shall be applied uniformly to all individuals
and businesses within the jurisdiction of the Town of McCandless.
(b)
When this part places a greater restriction than is imposed
or required by other provisions of law, or by other rules, regulations,
ordinances, or by private restrictions, covenants, or declarations,
the provisions set forth in this part shall prevail, except where
otherwise specifically stated herein. Without limitations of the foregoing,
in the event of a conflict between or among the provision of this
part, the Town of McCandless' Subdivision and Land Development
Ordinance, and/or any other duly enacted part of the Town, the conflicting
provisions shall be given precedence in the following order:
(c)
If there is a conflict between or among the provisions of this
part, the stricter regulation shall apply.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
Council may grant a waiver or modification to the minimum standards
of this part if the literal enforcement is shown to the satisfaction
of Council to be unreasonable, to cause undue hardship because of
peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question, or when an
alternative standard can be demonstrated to provide equal or better
results and provided that such modification will not be contrary to
the public interest and the purpose and intent of this part.
(b)
All requests for modification shall be in writing and shall
accompany and be a part of the application for development. The request
shall state in full the grounds and facts of unreasonableness or hardship
on which the request is based, the provision or provisions of the
ordinance involved and the minimum modification necessary.
(c)
The request for modification may be referred to the Planning
Commission for advisory comments. A written record shall be kept of
all action on all requests for modification.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
The Council may from time to time on its own motion, or on petition,
or on recommendation of the Planning Commission, amend, supplement,
or repeal the regulations and provisions of these subdivision and
Land Development Regulations. Every such proposed amendment or change,
whether initiated by the members of the Council or by petition, shall
be referred to the Planning Commission and Allegheny County Economic
Development Department at least 30 days prior to the public hearing
for review and a report thereon as required by law, before the Council
votes on the proposed amendment.
(b)
The rules and procedures outlined in the Town of McCandless
Code, part 1, Administrative, Article 117, Legislative Processes,
for Class A ordinances shall be followed.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
Should any section or provision of these regulations be declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the regulations as
a whole, or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be
unconstitutional or invalid.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
Any person, partnership, or corporation who or which has violated
the provisions of these land development and subdivision regulations
shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the Town, pay a judgment of not less than $100 but no
more than $500, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney
fees incurred by the municipality as a result thereof. The description
of metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other documents
used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the
seller or transferor from such penalties or from other remedies at
law.
(b)
Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate
violation unless the District Justice determines otherwise.
(c)
In addition to other remedies, the Town may institute and maintain
appropriate actions by law or in equity to restrain, to correct or
abate violations, to prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages
and to prevent illegal occupancy of a building.
(d)
The Town may refuse to issue any permit or grant any approval
necessary to further improve any real property which has been developed
or has resulted from a subdivision in violation to this part. As an
additional condition for the issuance of any permit or approval, the
Town may require compliance with the conditions that would have been
applicable to the property at which time the applicant acquired it.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
(a)
Administration.
(1)
The provisions of this part shall be administered by the Zoning
Officer and/or other appropriate staff as designated by the Town.
(2)
The administration and enforcement duties of the Zoning Officer
and/or other appropriate staff shall include but not be limited to
the following:
A.
Receive and review all applications and submissions related
to any proposed subdivision or land development for completeness.
B.
Provide a written review and report of all applications received
as to their compliance with the requirements of this part and other
applicable laws, rules, regulations, and standards.
C.
Determine compliance with the requirements of this part and
coordinate among the various internal and external stakeholders participating
in the process prior to plan submission, prior to plan approval, during
construction, and after construction has been completed.
D.
Bring applications and reports to the Planning Commission and
Town Council for consideration and action.
E.
Issue written stop, cease, and desist orders and other written
orders for correction of all conditions found to be in violation of
provisions of this part.
F.
Create and maintain standardized forms for applications and
other required documents.
G.
In addition to the above, administration of the Subdivision
and Land Development Ordinance also involves coordination with state
and federal laws and other municipal ordinances. These include but
are not limited to regulations covering waterways and wetlands, erosion,
driveways entering highways, stormwater and floodplain management,
water and sewer facilities, zoning, and building codes.
(b)
Records. The Town shall keep a public record of its correspondence,
findings, recommendations, and actions relating to plans filed for
review, in accordance with the policies, procedures, and guidelines
established by the Town Council.
[Ord. No. 1540, 6-26-2023]
Applications for subdivision and land development located within
the Town shall be forwarded upon receipt, with the appropriate review
fee, to the Allegheny Department of Economic Development and Planning
Division for review and report.
