A.
Unless a contrary intention clearly appears, the following
words and phrases have for the purpose of this chapter the meanings given
in the following clauses.
B.
For the purpose of this chapter the words and terms used
herein shall be interpreted as follows:
(1)
Words used in the present tense include the future.
(2)
The singular includes the plural.
(3)
The word "person" includes a corporation, partnership,
and association as well as the individual.
(4)
The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel."
(5)
The term "shall" is always mandatory.
(6)
The word "Commission" and the words "Planning Commission"
always mean the Morrisville Borough Planning Commission.
(7)
The word "Council" and the words "Borough Council" always
mean the Morrisville Borough Council.
C.
Any word or term not defined herein shall be used with
a meaning of standard usage.
[Amended 9-26-1977 by Ord. No. 727; 12-13-1977
by Ord. No. 730; 5-14-1984 by Ord.
No. 800; 6-8-1993 by Ord. No. 863]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any person who submits to the Borough Council subdivision or land
development plans for the purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final required
to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or development including,
but not limited to, an application for a building permit, for the approval
of a subdivision plat or plan or for the approval of a development plan.
A structure having a roof which is used or intended to be used for
the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. The word "building"
shall include any part thereof.
The rear line of the minimum required front yard. The building setback
line shall be measured from the proposed or future right-of-way.
The hard or paved surface portion of any street, or that portion
of a street customarily used by vehicles in the regular course of travel over
the street.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for
the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including streets,
off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities.
A secondary street with one end open for vehicular and pedestrian
access and the other end terminating in a vehicular turnaround.
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.
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, filling, grading, excavation,
mining, dredging or drilling operations and the subdivision of land.
The provisions for development including a planned residential development,
a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of
buildings and other structures, intensity of use or density of development,
streets, ways and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities.
The phrase "provisions of development plan" when used in this chapter shall
mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
Any ditch, pipe, culvert, storm sewer, or structure, designed, intended,
or constructed for the purpose of diverting surface water from, or carrying
surface water off streets, public rights of way, parks, recreational areas,
or any part of any subdivision or contiguous territory.
A private way for the use of vehicles and pedestrians providing access
between a street and a parking area or garage within a lot or property.
Any room or group of rooms located within a building and forming
a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used
for living, sleeping, cooking and eating by one family.
A limited right of use granted in private land for public or quasi-public
purpose.
The smallest roots of a tree, which are responsible for most of the
absorption of nutrients into the tree; most are located within the top 12
inches of the soil.
Areas adjoining any river, stream, or watercourse which are subject to flooding as defined and delineated in Chapter 465, of the Borough of Morrisville.
Include street construction, with or without curb, sidewalks and
ways, water mains, sewers of all kinds, public utility facilities, and other
appropriate items.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or
parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether
proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building 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" does not include development which involves:
The conversion of an existing single family detached dwelling or single
family semi-detached dwelling into not more than three residential units,
unless such units are intended to be a condominium;
The addition of an accessory building, including farm building, on a
lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building; or,
The addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the confines
of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park. For the purposes
of this subsection, an amusement park is defined as a tract or area used principally
as a location for permanent amusement structures or rides. This exclusion
shall not apply to newly acquired acreage by an amusement park until initial
plans for the expanded area have been approved by the proper authorities.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat
or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as
a unit.
An area contained within the property lines of the individual parcels
of land as shown on a subdivision plan. The lot area shall be measured to
the street line.
A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at the intersection
of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curved street or streets shall
be considered a corner lot if the tangents to the curve at the points beginning
with the lot or at the points of intersection of the side lot lines with the
street right-of-way lines intersect at an interior angle of less than 135°.
Any boundary line of a lot.
The division of a single lot, tract, or parcel of land into two lots,
tracts, or parcels of land, for the purpose, whether immediate or future,
of transfer of ownership or of building development, providing the proposed
lots, tracts, or parcels of land thereby created have frontage on existing
improved streets of sufficient width and providing further that there is not
created by the subdivision any new street, streets, easement of access or
the need therefor.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy,
contained in one unit or in two or more 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.
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 or contiguous parcels of land which has been so designated
and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the placement
thereon of mobile homes.
A building providing separate living quarters for two or more families.
A person selected by the Borough whose responsibilities include ensuring
that the tree protection standards are followed correctly. The municipal arborist
must have a degree in aboriculture, horticulture, forestry, landscape architecture,
silviculture or plant physiology and have a knowledge of and experience in
the methods of tree protection.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act of May 2,
1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipalities Authority Act of 1945."
Removal of branches from a tree using proper tools and approved cutting
techniques.
Includes:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Borough Council
or the Borough Planning Commission, intended to inform and obtain public comment,
prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3, 1986 (P.L.
388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act," 53 P.S. § 271 et seq.
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper
of general circulation in the Borough. Such notice shall state the time and
place of the hearing 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 less than seven days from the date of the
hearing.
Land set aside for use as a street, alley, stream, sanitary or storm
sewer drainage ditch, or for another special use. The use of the term "right-of-way"
for land-plotting purposes in the Borough shall mean that every right-of-way
hereafter established and shown on a final record plan is to be separate and
distinct from lots or parcels adjoining such lots or parcels.
Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway,
lane, alley, viaduct or any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular
traffic or pedestrians whether public or private.
Streets are further defined and classified as follows:
Thoroughfares.
Expressways. Designed for large volumes and high-speed traffic with
access limited to grade separated intersections.
Arterial streets. Designed for large volumes and high-speed traffic
with access to abutting properties controlled.
Collector streets. Designed to move large volumes of traffic to and
from arterials and expressways. Access to abutting properties restricted except
access to major local traffic generators — business, industry, and important
public buildings.
Local streets.
Primary access street. Designed to provide access to abutting properties
and to carry traffic from secondary streets to collector streets and community
facilities.
Secondary access streets. Designed primarily to provide access to abutting
properties.
Marginal access street. Is a service street which is parallel to and
adjacent to an arterial or collector street; and which provides access to
abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
Alley. A minor way which is used primarily for vehicular service access
to the back or the side of properties otherwise abutting on a street of higher
classification.
The dividing line between the street and the lot. The street line
shall be the same as the legal right-of-way line provided that (1) the street
right-of-way shall be not less than 25 feet from the center line of any road
or street, and (2) where a future right-of-way width for a road or a street
has been officially established, then the street right-of-way line shall be
the side line of the future right-of-way as established.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on
or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the 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 distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer
of ownership or building or lot development: Provided, however, that the subdivision
by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres,
not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential dwelling,
shall be exempted.
Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost
of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either
(a) before the improvement or repair is started, or (b) if the structure has
been damaged, and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes
of this definition "substantial improvement" is considered to occur when the
first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of
the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external
dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however, include either (1)
any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or
local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary
to assure safe living conditions or (2) any alteration of a structure listed
on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic
Places.
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 the requirements 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 use.
The line marking the outer edges of the branches of the tree.
An area that is radial to the trunk of a tree in which no construction
activity shall occur. The tree protection zone shall be 15 feet from the trunk
of the tree to be retained or the distance from the trunk to the dripline,
whichever is greater. Where there is a group of trees or woodlands, the tree
protection zone shall be the aggregate of the protection zones for the individual
trees.
Any activity, occupation, business or operation carried on, or intended
to be carried on, in a building or other structure or on a tract of land.
An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater
and surface-water resources within the Borough.
The area comprising one or more acres of wooded land where the largest
trees measure at least six inches diameter at breast height (dbh), 4 1/2
feet from the ground, or a grove of trees forming one canopy where 10 or more
trees measure at least 10 inches dbh.
An open space unobstructed from the ground up, on the same lot with
a structure, extending along a lot line or a street line and inward to the
structure. The size of a required yard shall be measured as the shortest distance
between the structure and a lot line or street line.
A yard between a structure and a street line and extending the entire
length of the street line. In the case of a corner lot, the yards extending
along all streets are front yards. In the case of a lot other than a corner
lot that fronts on more than one street, the yards extending along all streets
are front yards.
