For the purpose of preserving the integrity of the Official
Map of College Township, no permit shall be issued for any building
within the lines of any street, watercourse or public ground shown
or laid out on the Official Map. No person shall recover any damages
for the taking for public use of any building or improvements constructed
within the lines of any street, watercourse or public ground after
the same shall have been included in the Official Map, and any such
building or improvement shall be removed at the expense of the owner.
A.
Application. When the property of which the reserved location forms
a part that cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless a
permit shall be granted, the owner may apply to the College Township
Council for the grant of a special encroachment permit to build on
said property. Before granting any special encroachment permit authorized
in this section, the College Township Council may submit the application
for a special encroachment permit to the College Township Planning
Commission and allow the Planning Commission 30 days for review and
comment and shall give public notice and hold a public hearing at
which all parties of interest shall have an opportunity to be heard.
B.
Appeal. A refusal by the College Township Council to grant the special
encroachment permit applied for may be appealed by the applicant to
the Zoning Hearing Board in the same manner, and within the same time
limitation, as is provided in Article IX of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code[1] in accordance with Article VI of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10901 et seq.
College Township shall designate reservations as follows:
A.
Size and location. The size and location of a reservation shall be
determined as follows:
(1)
Reservations shown on the Official Map which are shown as constituting
an entire property shall be the same size and the same location as
that of the property designated on the Official Map.
(2)
Reservations shown on the Official Map which are shown as constituting
only a portion of a property shall be sized and located based on the
approximate size and location of the designation as shown on the Official
Map.
(3)
Reservations shown on the Map as corridors or rights-of-way, such as bicycle/pedestrian ways or streets, shall be of a sufficient width to allow for the designated purposes. Rights-of-way for streets shall be in conformance with Chapter 177, Streets and Sidewalks, and bicycle/pedestrian ways shall be at least five feet wide for pedestrian ways or 10 feet wide for off-street bicycle ways, plus a buffer on both sides of the path which would amount to a twenty-foot-wide easement or right-of-way.
(4)
At the Council's discretion, the size and/or location may deviate
from the requirements listed above if it determines that the new size
and/or location will allow sufficient size and access for the proposed
public use and that the new size and/or location will meet the intent
of the reservation.
B.
Public access. Public access shall be granted for all reservations
shown on the Map except for those properties designated as riparian
buffers on the Official Map. The Council may require public access
as part of the acquisition of riparian buffers shown reserved on the
Official Map if one of the following conditions is met:
C.
Bicycle/pedestrian ways. The Official Map shall designate bicycle/pedestrian
ways to be located and provided for as follows:
(1)
Those bicycle/pedestrian ways designated as within the right-of-way
or public utility easement shall be located within said right-of-way
or easement. No land shall be acquired from individual property owners
unless there are physical site constraints, in which case the acquisition
of additional right-of-way for the bicycle/pedestrian way shall be
necessary and permitted.
(2)
Those bicycle/pedestrian ways designated as on private property shall
require the acquisition of such land necessary from those properties
reserved on the Official Map. The location of the acquired land shall
be similar to that shown on the Official Map.
(3)
Those bicycle/pedestrian ways designated as undertermined shall be
located in a manner that limits the need for acquiring private property.
Preference shall be given to routes that are within or directly adjacent
to rights-of-way and shall be located as to limit the impact to private
property as much as possible.
D.
Exemptions. Any modifications to a single-family house involving actions listed in § 133-13A which constitute an addition of 25% or less area of the structure or impervious coverage shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. The percentage increase shall be measured from the area existing at the time of adoption of the College Township Official Map.
The College Township Council shall fix the time for which streets
and public grounds shown on the Official Map shall be deemed reserved
for future taking or acquisition for public use. The reservation for
public grounds, including riparian buffers, shall lapse and become
void after the owner of such property has submitted a written notice
to the Council announcing his intentions to build, subdivide or otherwise
develop the land covered by the reservation, or made formal application
for an official permit to build a structure for private use unless
the College Township Council shall have acquired the property or begun
condemnation proceedings to acquire such property before the end of
the following reservation periods as measured from the date of the
written notice or made formal application to the Township:
A.
Single-family houses. The reservation period for any action which requires a driveway permit, building/zoning permit and/or a zoning change of use permit for a single-family house shall be 90 days unless exempt pursuant to § 133-13D.
B.
Land development, subdivisions, conditional use permits. The reservation period for any action which requires land development and/or subdivision approval pursuant to Chapter 180 of the College Township Code or a conditional use permit pursuant to Chapters 86 and 87 of the College Township Code shall be one year.
The adoption of any street or street lines as part of the Official
Map shall not, in and of itself, constitute or be deemed to constitute
the opening or establishment of any street nor the taking or acceptance
of any land for street purposes, nor shall it obligate College Township
to improve or maintain any such street. The adoption of proposed watercourses
or public grounds as part of the Official Map shall not, in and of
itself, constitute or be deemed to constitute a taking or acceptance
of any land by College Township.
A.
Any releases or agreements, when properly executed by the College
Township Council and the owner and recorded, shall be binding upon
any successor in title.
B.
The College Township Council may designate any of its agencies or
Township Solicitor to negotiate with the owner of land under the following
circumstances:
