Before acting on any subdivision plan, Borough Council at their
sole discretion may arrange for a public hearing thereon, after giving
such public notice as Borough Council may deem desirable in each case.
Borough Council may alter any subdivision plan and specify changes
or modifications therein which it deems necessary or appropriate and
may make its approval subject to such alterations, changes or modifications.
After a subdivision plan has been duly recorded, and the streets,
highways, parks, and other public improvements shown thereon have
been accepted by the Borough, the same shall be considered to be a
part of the Official Plan of the Borough of Jenkintown.
Streets, parks and other public improvements shown on a subdivision
plan to be recorded may be offered for dedication to the Borough by
a formal notation thereof on the plan, or the owner may note on the
plan that such improvements have not been offered for dedication to
the Borough.
Every street, park or other improvement shown on a subdivision
plan that is recorded as provided herein shall be deemed to be a private
street, park or improvement until such time as the same has been offered
for dedication to the Borough and accepted by ordinance, deed or resolution
or until it has been condemned for use as a public street, park or
other improvement.
No fee will be charged by the Borough for any service in connection
with the requirements of this chapter, except as follows:
A. No application for preliminary or final plan approval shall be filed
and processed until the fees and/or escrow deposit, as set forth below,
shall have been paid.
B. Borough Council shall adopt and amend by resolution a schedule of
fees, payable by the applicant to the Borough for the filing of preliminary
and final plans.
C. Borough Council shall adopt and amend by resolution a schedule of
escrow deposits to be paid by the applicant to the Borough at the
time of the filing of an application, sufficient to pay all Borough
expenditures anticipated in the course of its review and disposition
of plans.
(1) Costs incurred by the Borough in excess of the escrowed amount shall
be paid by the applicant prior to the granting of approvals or permits.
(2) If costs incurred by the Borough are less than the escrowed amount,
the difference shall be refunded to the applicant following disposition
of the plans.
D. Borough expenditures subject to escrow as provided for in §
160-58C above, include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Engineering and other technical services performed by landscape architects,
geologists, planners, and other professionals during the plan review.
(2) Construction inspection and the testing of materials.
(3) Services of the Borough Solicitor in reviewing and/or preparing documents
related to the plan reviews.
(4) Actual costs of recording.
(5) An administrative charge of 15% of the total costs described in the
previous four subsections.
E. Escrow accounts for fees to conduct the necessary inspection and
review services provided by the Borough during the construction of
improvements approved in the final plan shall be established as part
of the developers agreement.
F. Disputes. In the event that the applicant disputes the amount of
any such review fee, the applicant shall, within 45 days of the billing
date or the notice of withdrawal by the Borough of an amount held
in escrow, notify the Borough and their consultant that the fees are
disputed. In such case the Borough shall not delay or disapprove a
subdivision or land development due to the applicant's request
regarding disputed fees. The applicant shall within 30 days after
the transmittal date of a bill for inspection services or 45 days
of the date of transmittal of a final bill for inspection services,
notify the Borough and their professional consultant that the fees
are disputed. The fee dispute process established in the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Code generally includes following steps:
(1) In the event that the Borough and the applicant cannot agree on the
amount of any review fees which are reasonable and necessary, then
the Borough and applicant shall jointly by mutual agreement, appoint
another professional consultant serving as arbitrator to examine the
disputed review fees and make a determination as to the amount thereof
which are fair and reasonable within 50 days.
(2) Appropriate payments or reimbursements shall be made within 60 days
following the decision by the arbitrator.
(3) If the Borough and applicant cannot agree on an independent professional
consultant to serve as arbitrator within 20 days of the billing date,
then upon application of either party, the President Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas of the judicial district in which the municipality
is located shall appoint an engineer who shall be neither the Borough
Engineer or any professional engineer who has been retained by, or
performed services for the Borough or applicant within the preceding
five years.
(4) The fee of the appointed arbitrator shall be paid by the applicant
if the amount of payment required in the decision is equal to or greater
than the original bill. If the amount of payment is less than the
original bill by $5,000 or more, the arbitrator may require part of
full payment from the applicant or professional consultant. In all
other cases, the consultant and Borough should each pay 1/2 of the
fees of the professional engineer.