Unless expressly stated, the words and phrases listed in this article
shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings indicated
herein. Words in the singular include the plural, and those in the plural
include the singular. Words in the present tense include the future tense.
Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The word
"person" includes a corporation, unincorporated association, limited liability
company, limited liability partnership and partnership, as well as an individual.
The word "structure" includes the meaning of "buildings," and each shall be
construed as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof." The word "may" is
permissive; the word "shall" or "must" always is mandatory. When words, phrases
or terms are not defined, they shall have their ordinarily accepted dictionary
meanings or such as the context shall imply.
The following terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings
indicated below:
The removal of the surface of the land through the combined action
of man's activities and natural processes at a rate greater than would occur
from natural processes alone.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code of July 31, 1968, 53
P.S. § 10101 et seq., as amended from time to time.
See "service street."
A landowner or developer, including his heirs, successors and assigns,
who has filed an application for subdivision or land development.
Every application, whether preliminary or final, required to be filed
and approved prior to start of construction or development, including but
not limited to an application for building permit, for the approval of a subdivision
plan and for the approval of a land development plan.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act of May 2,
1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipalities Authorities Act of
1945."[1]
Stormwater structures and facilities designed or used to maintain
the water quality of surface runoff. BMP's may be structural (basins and seepage
pits), nonstructural (vegetation filter strips and buffers) or managerial
techniques (maintenance practices) that may be used singly or in combination
to achieve water quality.
A tract of land bounded entirely by streets; by streets and a watercourse;
by streets and a railroad; by streets and the corporate boundaries of the
borough; by streets and public land or other park or recreation area; or any
combination of the above.
The Borough Council of Ephrata Borough, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
A professional engineer, licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and duly designated by the borough to perform the duties of engineer as herein
described.
A structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used for
the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or property.
An established line within a property defining the minimum required
distance between any building to be erected and the adjacent right-of-way
line of the street on which it fronts, to provide the front yard specified
by the Ephrata Borough Zoning Ordinance.[2]
The paved portion of a street or highway designed for vehicular traffic
and on-street parking.
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks
which confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined by
lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of
the street center lines.
That official of the borough (who may, but need not, also be the
Borough Engineer and/or Zoning Officer) designated by Borough Council to administer
the provisions of this chapter.
A form of ownership of real property, as defined in the Pennsylvania
Uniform Condominium Act of 1980,[3] which includes an undivided interest in a portion of a parcel,
together with a separate interest in a space within a structure.
The magnitude of precipitation from a storm event measured in probability
of occurrence (e.g., fifty-year storm) and duration (e.g., twenty-four-hour)
and used in computing stormwater management control systems.
A structure designed to retard surface water runoff for a period
of time sufficient to reduce the velocity and peak flow discharge leaving
a site in order to prevent soil erosion.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with the permission
of such landowner who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of land or
a land development, including improvements thereto.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including
but not limited to buildings or other structures, the placement of mobile
homes, streets and other paving, utilities, mining, dredging, filling, grading,
excavation, drilling operation, the storage of equipment or materials and
the subdivision of land.
A written contract between a subdivider or developer and the landowner,
on one hand, and the borough on the other, specifying the conditions of final
approval by the borough and providing for the completion and dedication of
public improvements.
The upstream watershed area of a drainage basin measured from a point
of discharge in the watercourse.
Any ditch, gutter, pipe, culvert, stormwater or other structure designed,
intended or constructed for the purpose of diverting surface waters from or
carrying surface waters off streets, public rights-of-way, parks, recreational
areas or any part of any subdivision or land development or contiguous areas.
A private means of vehicle access from a public or private street
to a single lot; provided, however, that two contiguous lots may share a common
driveway where the applicable requirements of this chapter and the Borough
Zoning Ordinance are complied with on each lot.
Activity resulting in the movement of earth or stripping of vegetative
cover from the earth.
A permanent right granted for limited use of private land, normally
for a public purpose in which the owner of the property shall have the right
to make any other use of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights
of the grantee (i.e., utility, drainage and public access easements).
A legal agreement between a property owner and an appropriate conservation
organization or governmental entity, through which the property owner establishes
certain use restrictions over all or portions(s) of the property for conservation
purposes.
A professional engineer, licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
to perform the services of an engineer as herein described.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural elements.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar material
is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or moved,
including the conditions resulting therefrom.
Any freestanding and uninhabited structure consisting of wood, glass,
metal, plastic, stone, wire, wire mesh, masonry or vegetation, singly or in
combination with other materials, erected to secure or divide one property
from another or part of a property from a remaining part; to ensure privacy;
to protect the property so defined; and/or to enclose all or part of the property.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any similar material is
placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or removed to another location
above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface,
including the conditions resulting therefrom;
The difference in elevation between a point on the pre-earth-moving
ground level and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade;
The material used to make a fill.
The low areas adjoining and including a watercourse or other body
of water (such as a pond, marsh or lake) within the borough which are subject
to inundation by a flood having a frequency of occurrence of one in 100 in
any given year (equaled or exceeded once every 100 years).
The mechanism used to regulate or guide the establishment of geometric
lines as they relate to the boundary of a tract or tracts of land. For the
purposes of this chapter, all surveys which relate to on-site or off-site
improvements shall be tied into North American Datum (NAD) 1983 Pennsylvania
State Plane Coordinates in feet, performed to the third order control standards
as set forth by the Federal Geodetic Control Committee as specified by the
National Geodetic Survey.
Any security which may be required of a developer by the borough
after final acceptance by the borough of improvements installed by the developer.
Such security may include, but is not limited to, federal or commonwealth
lending institution irrevocable letter of credit or restrictive or escrow
account.
Any security which may be required of a developer by the borough
in lieu of a requirement that certain improvements be made before the borough
approves the developer's subdivision plan or land development plan. Such security
may include, but is not limited to, those instruments cited above as acceptable
for maintenance guarantees.
Any area covered by a structure or other cover which has a runoff
coefficient of 0.8 or greater using the rational method or its equivalent
Soil Conservation Service value, including but not limited to buildings, structures
and paved areas (i.e., driveways, parking lots, etc.).
Buildings, structures or site alterations intended for public or
quasi-public use, including but not limited to streets, curbs, gutters, streetlights
and signs, water mains and laterals, hydrants, sanitary sewer mains, including
laterals to the street right-of-way line, storm drainage lines, stormwater
management structures, swales, drainage facilities, walkways, recreational
facilities, open space improvements, shade trees, buffer or screen plantings
and all other additions to the tract that are required by ordinance or necessary
to result in a complete subdivision or land development in the fullest sense
of the term.
Improvements, including but not limited to those contained in the
definition of "improvements," that are intended for dedication to the borough,
either in fee or by easement.
A structure designed to direct runoff into the ground.
The development of property as specified below:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or
parcels of land for any purpose involving:
Any group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether
proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building or
expansion thereof on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially or cumulatively,
between or among two or more existing or prospective occupants by means of
or for the purpose of streets, common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building
groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
"Land development" shall not include:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling or single-family
semidetached dwelling into not more than three residential units, unless such
units are intended to be a condominium.
The addition of an accessory building which is less than 500 square
feet, including farm buildings, on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing
principal building.
Any activity which causes land to be exposed to the danger of erosion,
including clearing, grading, filling, plowing or any other earthmoving activity,
as defined herein.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including for purposes
of this chapter the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or
not such option or contract is subject to any condition) a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other
person having a proprietary interest in land.
A registered landscape architect, licensed to practice in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A lane of a cartway intended for use by vehicles entering, leaving
or crossing a lane of forward travel without interrupting the flow of traffic.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land, undivided by any street
or dedicated future street right-of-way established by a plat or otherwise
permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
The acreage contained within the property lines of a lot. Acreage
shall be determined from an actual site survey rather than from a deed description.
Areas to be excluded from the calculation of minimum lot area shall be as
set forth in the Ephrata Borough Zoning Ordinance, as applicable.[4]
A lot at and abutting the intersection of two streets having an interior
angle of intersection not greater than 135º. A lot abutting a curved
street shall be deemed a corner lot if the tangents to the curve at the points
of intersection of the side lot lines with the street lines intersect at an
interior angle of 135º or less.
The total area of a lot or parcel which is covered by buildings,
driveways, paved surfaces and other impervious surfaces.
The line separating the lot from the street right-of-way. For interior
lots, it is the line generally parallel to the street right-of-way at the
nearest point to the right-of-way where the lot attains substantially the
minimum required lot width.
A lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line. If
the rear lot line is less than 10 feet in length, or if the lot forms a point
at the rear, the rear lot line shall be deemed to be a line 10 feet in length
within the lot, parallel to and at the maximum distance from the front lot
line. In the case of a corner lot, the rear lot line shall be any lot line
that is not a front lot line or a side lot line.
Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.
A lot which fronts on one public street but provides vehicular access
solely from another public street at the rear of the lot.
The horizontal distance between side lot lines measured along the
minimum required front yard setback line as set forth in the Zoning Ordinance.
When the street line is curved, the measurement shall be made on the arc,
on or parallel to the curve of the street line.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy
contained in one unit, or in two units designed to be joined into one integral
unit capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at
a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking
and assembly operations and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent
foundation, including any addition or accessory structure, such as porches,
sheds, decks or additional rooms. All mobile homes shall meet construction
standards set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary
utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon
of a single mobile home.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned and
improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use, consisting
of two or more mobile home lots.
A tapered, permanent survey reference point of stone or concrete
having a metallic reference disc with a length of at least 30 inches.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, as
amended and reenacted by Act 170 of 1988, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq..
and any subsequent amendments thereto.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water, within a development and designed and intended for the
use or enjoyment of residents of the development, excluding streets, off-street
parking area, areas set aside for public facilities and private yards.
The maximum rate of flow of water at a given point and time resulting
from a specified storm event.
AS-BUILTA corrected final plan, showing dimensions and locations of all streets and other improvements as actually constructed.
FINALAn exact and complete site design and layout plan and improvements construction plan to be recorded upon approval and which is prepared by a professional registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform such design work.
IMPROVEMENTS CONSTRUCTIONA component of the preliminary and final plan, prepared by a professional registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform such work, showing the construction details of streets, drains, sewers, water supply systems, bridges, culverts and other improvements as required, including a horizontal plan, profiles and cross sections.
LAND DEVELOPMENTA sketch, preliminary or final plan, including written and graphic material, showing the provision for development of a subject tract when a subdivision plan would not be applicable.
PRELIMINARYA site design and layout plan and improvements construction plan prepared of less detail than a final plan and prepared for consideration prior to submission of a final plan by a professional registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform such design work.
RECORDEDA final plan, with accompanying documents as required by this chapter, which has been recorded by the applicant in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Lancaster County.
SITE DESIGN AND LAYOUTA component of the preliminary and final plan, prepared by a professional registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform such design work, showing property lines, existing and proposed streets, lots, buildings, public areas, drainage facilities, easements and other details pertinent to the proposal.
SKETCHA plan submitted, at the applicant's option, for the review and discussion prior to application for preliminary plan approval, including at a minimum the information suggested for sketch plans by this chapter.
The Planning Commission of the Borough of Ephrata.
Notice given in advance of any public hearing required by this chapter.
Such notice shall be published once each week for two successive weeks in
a newspaper of general circulation in the Ephrata Borough community and shall
state the time and place of any hearing required by this chapter and the particular
nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not be more
than seven days from the date of the hearing.
A parcel of land separating a street from adjacent properties.
A reservoir, formed from soil or other material, which is designed
to detain temporarily a certain amount of stormwater from a catchment area
and which also may be designed to permanently retain additional stormwater
runoff from the catchment area. Retention basins also may receive fresh water
from year-round streams. Unlike detention basins, retention basins always
contain water and thus may be considered man-made lakes or ponds.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated as a street, alley
or crosswalk, or for any other public or private purposes.
Solid materials, both mineral and organic, that are in suspension,
are being transported or have been moved from their sites of origin by water.
An area of excavated earth filled with loose stone or similar material
and into which stormwater runoff is directed for infiltration into the ground.
INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMThe disposal of sewage by use of cesspools, septic tanks or other safe and healthful means, approved by the local sewage enforcement officer and generally within the confines of the lot on which the use is located.
COMMUNITY SYSTEMA sanitary sewage system, privately built and operated, in which sewage is carried from individual dischargers by a system of pipes to one or more common treatment and disposal facilities. Treatment and disposal may occur either on site or off site and shall be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
PUBLIC SYSTEMA system for the treatment and disposal of sewage in which sewage is conveyed by a system of pipes to an off-site, publicly operated treatment facility and disposed of through means approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A tree, ornamental or other, in a public place, street, special easement
or right-of-way adjoining a street, as provided in this chapter.
A line of unobstructed vision between two points of specified height
above the center line of a street, the length of which shall be of a minimum
specified distance.
A unique, rare or otherwise specifically selected plant or tree which
most typically represents a whole class or group, specifically in shape, form,
historical importance or any other characteristic which may be designated
as such by the borough.
Water that surfaces, flows or collects during and subsequent to rain
or snowfall.
A program of controls and measures designed to regulate the quantity
and quality of stormwater runoff from a development while promoting the protection
and conservation of groundwaters and groundwater recharge.
Includes "street," "avenue," "boulevard," "road," "highway," "freeway,"
"parkway," "lane," "alley," "viaduct" and any other ways used or intended
to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private.
Streets shall be classified as follows:
ARTERIALA street serving a large volume of comparatively high-speed and long-distance traffic, including all facilities classified as "main and secondary highways" by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Streets classified as arterial within the Borough of Ephrata are set forth in Appendix A.[5]
COLLECTORA street designed and located to provide means to drain traffic off local streets and to provide access for through traffic between residential neighborhoods and districts within the borough to other collector or arterial streets and/or a street used for access to nonresidential properties, i.e., commercial, industrial, professional, etc. Streets classified as "collector" within the Borough of Ephrata are set forth in Appendix A.[6] The typical configuration for a collector street consists of two
travel lanes and two parking lanes. Borough Council may modify this configuration
depending upon specific conditions affecting the collector street and its
location.
CUL-DE-SAC STREETA local street intersecting another street at one end and terminating at the other end by a permanent vehicular turnaround.
LOCAL STREETA street intended to serve and provide access to the properties abutting thereon and not connecting with other streets in such a manner as to encourage through traffic. The typical configuration for a local street consists of two travel lanes and two parking lanes. Borough Council may modify this configuration depending upon specific conditions affecting the local street and its location.
PRIVATE STREETA local street, serving only abutting lots, that is not offered or required to be offered for dedication.
SERVICE STREET (ALLEY)A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
SINGLE-ACCESS STREETA local street, including but not limited to a cul-de-sac or loop design, which has only one point of intersection with an existing borough or state road or with a proposed road having more than one access point.
The dividing line between a lot and the outside boundary or right-of-way
of a public street, road or highway, legally open or officially platted, or
between a lot and a privately owned street, road or way over which the owners
or tenants of two or more lots, each held in single and separate ownership,
have the right-of-way.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on
land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, estate,
trust or any other group or combination acting as a unit (or agent authorized
thereby) which undertakes the subdivision or development of land.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any
means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land, including
changes in existing lot lines, for the purpose, whether immediate or future,
of lease, partition by the court for the distribution to heirs or devisees,
transfer of ownership or building or lot development. Any subdivision of land
for mortgage purposes shall comply with all of the requirements of this chapter
and the Zoning Ordinance. The subdivision by lease of land for agricultural
purposes into parcels of more than 10 areas, not involving any new street
or easement of access or residential dwellings, shall be exempted from this
definition. Any subdivision of land for mortgage purposes shall comply with
all of the requirements of this chapter and the Ephrata Borough Zoning Ordinance.[7]
A site condition where, in the judgment of the Borough Engineer, at least 90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial security was posted pursuant to § 281-19 of this chapter) of those improvements required as a condition for final approval have been completed in accordance with the approved plan, so that the project will be able to be used, occupied or operated for its intended purpose.
A registered surveyor licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A report prepared by a professional engineer which includes all data,
descriptions, tables, figures, calculations, recommendations and any other
pertinent information necessary to show the impact of one or more proposed
developments and/or change of uses to the existing street infrastructure.
Existing and proposed traffic flows shall be considered to evaluate appropriate
highway system improvements. The borough may require that specific data relating
to specific site circumstances be incorporated into a traffic impact study.
A permanent stream, intermittent stream, river, brook, creek or a
channel or ditch for water, whether natural or man-made.
INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMA safe, healthful and adequate supply of water to a single user from a private well located on the land of the user.
PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMA system which is owned by a municipality, municipal authority, a public company or a private company which serves more than a single community or subdivision and may be interconnected with other water supply systems.
Those areas that are inundated and saturated by surface or groundwater
at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated
soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas; or as
further defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A land area characterized by a more or less dense and extensive tree
cover; a plant community predominantly of healthy trees and other wood vegetation,
well stocked and growing more or less closely together.
An open space on the same lot with a structure (or a group of structures)
which lies between the structure (or a group of structures) and a lot line
and which is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground to the sky.
A yard extending the full width of the lot between a structure and
the existing right-of-way line or side street lot line.
A yard extending the full width of the lot between a structure and
a rear lot line.
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a structure
and the nearest side lot line.
