A.
The Municipal governing body may, from time to time on their own motion revise, modify, or amend this chapter in order to increase its effectiveness or to expedite the approval of subdivision plans.
A.
The Municipal governing body may grant a modification or waiver from the requirements of one or more of the provisions within this Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance if the literal enforcement will exact an extreme and undue hardship because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question, provided that such modification or waiver will not be contrary to the public interest and that the purpose and intent of the ordinance is observed.
B.
All requests for a modification or waiver shall be in writing and shall accompany and be part of the application for subdivision or land development review. The request shall state in full the grounds and facts of unreasonableness or hardship on which the request is based, the provision(s) of the ordinance involved, and the minimum modification necessary.
C.
The Municipal governing body shall keep a written record of the action on all requests for modifications and/or waivers.
D.
In reviewing the subdivider's request for a waiver from these Regulations, the following criteria should be used:
(1)
An unnecessary hardship should be established upon a finding of fact.
(2)
Any waiver and/or modification shall not cause harm to a neighboring property.
(3)
The particular hardship must stem from these regulations.
(4)
The situation must be unique, not one shared similarly by other properties in the neighborhood.
(5)
The hardship cannot be self-created by the property owner.
(6)
Hardship is not to be construed to mean that less profit will be made under the existing regulations than might be realized with the granting of a modification/waiver.
(7)
The hardship must be suffered by the parcel of land under question and not by other parcels owned by the subdivider or by the community as a whole.
(8)
If these regulations were in existence at the time of the purchase of the parcel of land under question, the condition of the parcel itself or the neighborhood must have changed since the time of the purchase. The changed condition must have a unique bearing on the parcel under question.
E.
In granting modifications/waivers, the Municipal governing body may impose such condition as will, in its judgment, secure substantially the original objectives of the now modified requirements.
F.
In order to encourage flexibility, economy, and ingenuity in the layout and design of subdivision and land developments, and to encourage the provision of amenities not otherwise required by this chapter or other applicable regulations, the Municipal governing body may waive, modify, reduce, or otherwise alter the standards and requirements of this chapter, provided that such actions do not conflict with the purposes of this chapter.
A.
The Municipality may offer a mediation option as an aid in completing proceedings authorized by Article V, Section 508 of Act 247: "Approval of Plats." In exercising this option, the Municipality and mediating parties shall meet the stipulations and follow the procedures set forth in Article IX, Section 908.1 of Act 247, as re-enacted and amended.
B.
Any subdivider aggrieved by a finding, decision, or recommendation of the Municipality may appeal such finding, decision, or recommendation to the Court of Common Pleas.
A.
The Municipal Officials shall establish by resolution a collection procedure and Schedule of Fees to be paid by the subdivider at the time of filing a Preliminary Plan.
B.
The Schedule of Fees shall be posted in the Municipal Secretary's office or in such other place as the Municipal Officials may designate.
C.
Review fee. Each Subdivision or Land Development Plan application shall be accompanied by the required review fee as established and adopted resolution by the Municipality. Fees shall be payable to the Municipality at the time of application (unless otherwise noted herein) and Plan processing. Approval and recording shall not be completed until all required fees are paid. There shall be no refund or credit of fees or a portion of any fee should the Applicant withdraw the Plan during the review process or fail to receive Plan approval.
D.
Professional service fees. In addition to the required review fee, it is anticipated that additional expenses will be incurred by the Municipality in processing the Preliminary and/or Final Plans which are submitted or which may be required to be submitted under this chapter, for engineering, legal or other professional consultant expenses. If the fees are not sufficient to cover these expenses incurred in the review of said Plans, the Municipality shall notify the person submitting the Plans for review of the additional expense and shall request payment of the same. All payment requested by the Municipality for engineering, legal or other professional expense shall be the actual cost of the services incurred by the Municipality. These services shall be billed at the normal established rate for engineering or legal services provided to the Municipality.
E.
All fee disputes shall be addressed pursuant to Section 503(1) of Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, as amended.
A.
In the event that any improvements which may be required have not been installed as provided in this chapter or in accord with the approved Final Plan, the Municipality is hereby granted the power to enforce any corporate bond, or other security by appropriate legal and equitable remedies to effect completion of said improvements. If proceeds of such bond, or other security are insufficient to pay the cost of installing or making repairs or corrections to all the improvements covered by said security, the Municipality may, at its option, install part of such improvements in all or part of the subdivision or land development and may institute appropriate legal or equitable action to recover the monies necessary to complete the remainder of the improvements. All of the proceeds, whether resulting from the security or from any legal or equitable action brought against the developer, or both, shall be used solely for the installation of the improvements covered by such security, and not for any other municipal purpose.
B.
In addition to other remedies, the Municipality may institute and maintain appropriate actions by law or in equity to restrain, correct or abate violation, to prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages and to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure or premises. The description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the seller or transferor from such penalties or from the remedies herein provided.
C.
The Municipality may refuse to issue any permit or grant any approval necessary to further improve or develop any real property which has been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision or land development of real property in violation of this chapter. This authority to deny such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
(1)
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
(2)
The vendee or lessee of the owner of record at the time of such violation without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(3)
The current owner of record who acquired the property subsequent to the time of violation without regard as to whether such current owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(4)
The vendee or lessee of the current owner of record who acquired the property subsequent to the time of violation without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation. As an additional condition for issuance of a permit or the granting of an approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee for the development of any such real property, the Municipality may require compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable to the property at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such real property.
D.
Any person, partnership, or corporation who or which has violated the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Municipality, pay a judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Municipality as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied, or payable until the date of the determination of a violation by the district justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Municipality may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation, unless the district justice determining that there has been a violation, further determines that there was a good faith basis for the person, partnership, or corporation violating the Ordinance to have believed that there was no such violation, in which event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation by the district justice and thereafter each day that a violation continued shall constitute a separate violation. The court of common pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem judgment pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
E.
District justices shall have initial jurisdiction in proceedings brought under enforcement remedies.
The Municipal Planning Commission and the Municipal Officials shall keep a record of their findings, decisions, and recommendations relative to all subdivision plans filed for review. Such records shall be made available to the public for review.
The subdivider shall be responsible for observing the procedures established in this chapter and for submitting all plans and documents as may be required.
A.
Whenever there is a difference between the minimum standards specified herein and those included in other Municipal ordinances or regulations, the more stringent requirements shall apply.
B.
All existing ordinances or regulations or parts thereof which are contrary to the provisions of this chapter are hereby repealed to the extent necessary to give this chapter full force and effect.
Should any article, section, subsection, paragraph, clause, phrase, or provision of these Regulations be declared by a court or competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect the validity of the Regulations as a whole or any part or provision thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid or unconstitutional.
This chapter shall become effective 10 days after the date on which it has been passed by the Municipality and approved by the Solicitor of the Municipality.