A.
Words used in the singular include the plural, and
those used in the plural include the singular.
B.
Words used in the present tense include the future
tense.
C.
The words "person," "developer," "subdivider" and
"owner" include a corporation, unincorporated association, partnership
or other legal entity, as well as an individual.
D.
The word "building" includes a structure and shall
be construed as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof."
E.
The words "should" and "may" are permissive; the words
"shall," "must" and "will" are mandatory and directive.
The following terms shall have, throughout this
chapter, the meanings given herein.
A public or private minor right-of-way providing secondary
vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, including
his heirs, successors and assigns, who has filed an application for
development.
Every application, whether preliminary or final, required
to be filed and approved prior to the 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.
The official sanction of plans or documents by the Lower
Saucon Township Council.
The Lower Saucon Authority, a body politic and corporate
created pursuant to the Act of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, known as the
"Municipality Authorities Act of 1945" (53 P.S. § 301 et
seq.).
Activities, facilities, measures, or procedures used to manage stormwater quantity and quality impacts from the regulated activities of Chapter 137, Stormwater Management. "Best management practice" is more thoroughly defined with related requirements in Chapter 137, Stormwater Management.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
A tract of land or a lot or group of lots bounded on one
side by a street and on the other three sides by a street, railroad
right-of-way, waterway, unsubdivided area, Township boundary or other
definite barrier.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
STREAMSIDE BUFFERA zone of variable width located along a stream that is vegetated and is designed to filter pollutants from runoff.
SPECIAL GEOLOGICAL FEATURE BUFFERA required isolation distance from a special geologic feature to a proposed BMP needed to reduce the risk of sinkhole formation due to stormwater management activities.
Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering
any use or occupancy.
A detached subordinate building, the use of which is customarily
incidental and subordinate to that of the principal building and which
is located on the same lot as that occupied by the principal building.
A line established by Chapter 180, Zoning, and/or this chapter (whichever is more restrictive), which defines the required minimum distance between any building and the adjacent public right-of-way or lot line.
Rock consisting chiefly of carbonate minerals, such as limestone
and dolomite; specifically a sedimentary rock composed of more than
50% by weight of carbonate minerals that underlies soil or other unconsolidated,
superficial material.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
The portion of the street right-of-way, paved or unpaved,
intended for normal vehicular movement. The shoulder is not considered
part of the cartway.
An underground reservoir or tank for storing rainwater.
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.
A distinctive bowl-shaped depression in the land surface.
It is characterized by internal drainage, varying magnitude and an
unbroken ground surface.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
A parcel or parcels of land, an area of water or a combination
of land and water within a development site designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including
streets, off-street parking area and areas set aside for public facilities.
Common open space shall be substantially free of structures but may
contain such improvements as are appropriate for recreational use
by the residents.
Any system, whether publicly or privately owned, for the
collection of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature from
two or more lots and the treatment and/or disposal of the sewage or
industrial waste on one or more of the lots or at any other site.
The Comprehensive Plan of Lower Saucon Township.
A use for which the Township Council may grant permission following a public meeting and findings of fact consistent with Chapter 180, Zoning. Additional regulation may be imposed by the Township Council to protect public health, safety and welfare to preserve natural features and/or to protect and/or enhance the nature and characteristics of the neighborhood or community.
The Northampton County Soil Conservation District.
Lower Saucon Township Council, Northampton County. The council
is the appointing authority as defined in the Municipalities Planning
Code. The Council is also known as the "governing body."
Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
A sidewalk or pathway located in a right-of-way or pedestrian
easement, municipally or privately owned, at least 20 feet in width,
which cuts across a block or furnishes access for pedestrians to adjacent
streets and properties.
The portion of a single access street that provides a vehicular
turnaround.
A pipe, conduit or similar structure including appurtenant
works which carries surface water.
An artificial barrier, together with its appurtenant works,
constructed for the purpose of impounding or storing water or another
fluid or semifluid or a refuse bank, fill or structure for highway,
railroad or other purposes which does or may impound water or another
fluid or semifluid.
A grant of land and/or improvements for public use made by
a developer or property owner.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (formerly
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources).
The Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania; also known as "DEP" and also known as "Department"
in this chapter.
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 vegetated pond, swale or other structure designed to drain
completely after storing runoff only for a given storm event and releasing
it at a predetermined rate. It is also known as a "dry pond."
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. The word "subdivider" is construed
to mean the same as "developer" when used herein.
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
the development plan," when used in this chapter, shall mean the written
and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
The specific tract of land for which a regulated activity
is proposed.
A lot extending between and having frontage on two generally
parallel streets, with vehicular access from only one street.
A right granted by a landowner to the Township or other grantee,
allowing the use of private land for stormwater management purposes,
both on the surface of the ground and/or in underground facilities.
[Amended 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
The documentation of the proposed stormwater management controls,
to be used for a given development site.
A minor vehicular access between a street and a parking area
or garage within a lot or property.
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities
for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
A right of use over property of another.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A nonresidential land use of buildings, structures or land
that generates an estimated average daily flow of sewage of 250 gallons
or that uses an estimated average daily flow of water of 250 gallons.
The removal of soil particles by the action of water, wind,
ice or other geological agents.
A lot fronting on or abutting a public road, where access
to the public road is by a strip of land that is narrow and long relative
to the total lot.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
A relatively flat or low area adjoining a river,
stream, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation
of water.
An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation
of runoff of surface water from any source. For the purpose of this
chapter, the floodplain shall be considered to be the one-hundred-year
floodplain which is a floodplain subject to the above conditions on
an average of once every 100 years.
That portion of the one-hundred-year floodplain including
the channel of a river, or other watercourse, and the adjacent land
areas which are required to carry and discharge the one-hundred-year
flood where the activities permitted elsewhere in the floodplain district
will not cumulatively increase the water surface elevation more than
one foot at any given point. A detailed study of the regulatory flood
provides specific flood profiles and allows for the delineation of
both floodway and flood-fringe areas within the bounds of the floodplain.
The incremental depth in a stormwater management structure,
provided as a safety factor of design, above that required to convey
the design runoff event.
A professional geologist licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies.
Any nonvegetated ground cover except lakes and ponds, including
but not limited to building roof areas, parking lots or storage areas,
whether paved or stoned, and walkways or patios.
Construction and improvement standards and specifications
adopted by Lower Saucon Township, as set forth in Appendix A of this
chapter.[1]
Physical additions and changes to the land necessary to produce
usable and desirable lots.
A system of piping, tanks or other facilities, serving a
single lot, that collects and disposes of sewage, in whole or in part,
into the soil or into any waters of this commonwealth or by means
of conveyance to another site for final disposal.
Any liquid, gaseous, radioactive, solid or other substance
which is not sewage, resulting from any manufacturing or industry
or other plant or works, and mine drainage, silt, coal mine solids,
rock debris, dirt and clay from collieries, breakers or other coal
processing operations. Industrial waste shall include all such substances,
whether or not generally characterized as waste. All industrial waste,
as defined from time to time by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, shall also be included as industrial waste for the purposes
of this chapter.[2]
A practice designed to direct runoff into the ground, i.e.,
French drain, seepage pit, seepage trench, or bio-retention area.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
A type of topography or landscape characterized by depressions,
sinkholes, limestone towers and steep-sided hills, underground drainage
and caves. Karst is usually formed on carbonate rocks, such as limestone
or dolomites and sometimes gypsum.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
[Amended 2-7-2007 by Ord. No.
2007-02]
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.
The following activities are excluded from the definition of land development unless the proposal involves the construction described in Subsection A(2) above:
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; and
The addition of an accessory building on a lot
subordinate to an existing farm or residential principal building.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase; a lessee, if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner;
or other persons having a proprietary interest in land. The word "owner"
means the same as landowner and may be used interchangeably.
The Regional Planning Commission for Lehigh and Northampton
Counties.
Any natural channel or man-made conveyance system which has
the purpose of transporting runoff from the site to the mainstem.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land not divided by
a public street, established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by
law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
The area contained within the lot lines, excluding space
within all existing or future road rights-of-way.
The property lines bounding the lot. Refer to Chapter 180, Zoning, for specific definitions of front, side, and rear lot lines and lot width.
Any stream segment or other conveyance in a Dual Release
Rate or Condition No Detention I subarea used as a reach in the Catasauqua
Creek study area hydrologic model. In Conditional No Detention II
subareas, the main channel is the Lehigh River.
Any subdivision which is not a minor subdivision.
Any land development occurring outside floodplain or wetland
areas, affecting or disturbing 10,000 square feet of ground or less,
even if such development is on a larger lot.
Minor subdivision. Any subdivision which meets
all of the following requirements:
All lots abut existing state or township dedicated
streets (other than Interstate 78).
No prior subdivision plan has been approved
or submitted for the land in question within a five-year period.
No new streets or other improvements are required
for the property involved to be in conformance with the Township ordinances
and standards.
The resulting subdivision does not involve more
than three lots.
The developer does not have an option to purchase
or have title to or an interest in adjacent undeveloped land.
Minor subdivision. The relocation of lot lines
between two adjacent properties meeting all of the following requirements:
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, 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 professional engineer licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and duly appointed as the Engineer for the Lower Saucon Township Council
and Planning Commission. For the purposes of this chapter, "Municipal
Engineer" and "Township Engineer" can be used interchangeably.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 170 of
1988, as amended (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.), or its successor
legislation.
Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Commercial, industrial, offices, motels, hotels, restaurants,
campgrounds, travel-trailer parks, institutional, including hospitals
and nursing homes or any other land use not defined as "residential."
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations.
The United States Department of Agriculture. (Formerly the
"Soil Conservation Service.")
A comprehensive plan for the provision of adequate sewage
systems adopted by a municipality or municipalities possessing authority
or jurisdiction over the provision of such systems and submitted to
and approved by the State Department of Environmental Protection.
Those public capital improvements which are not on-site improvements
and that serve the needs of more than one development.
All improvements constructed on the applicant's property or the improvements constructed on the property abutting the applicant's property and required to be constructed by the applicant pursuant to any municipal ordinance, including but not limited to the municipal building code, this chapter, planned residential development regulations and Chapter 180, Zoning.
Any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved
and set aside, dedicated, designated or reserved for public or private
use or enjoyment or for the use and enjoyment of owners and occupants
of land adjoining or neighboring the open space.
The maximum rate of flow of storm runoff at a given point
and time, resulting from a specified storm event.
Act 537 of 1966 (P.L. 1535), as amended.
Any individual, association, public or private corporation
for profit or not-for-profit, partnership, firm, trust, estate, department,
board, bureau or agency of the commonwealth, political subdivision,
municipality, district, authority or any other legal entity whatsoever,
recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. Whenever used
in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty or imposing a fine
or imprisonment, the term "person" shall include the members of an
association, partnership or firm and the officers of any local agency
or municipal, public or private corporation for profit or not for
profit.
A quality of material that permits full absorption of stormwater
into unimproved land.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan
prepared for recording as required by statute to define property rights,
proposed streets and other improvements; a final plat.
The Lower Saucon Township Planning Commission.
A subdivision or land development plan showing a proposed
street and lot design and/or land development, including other information
required by this chapter as a basis for consideration prior to preparation
of a final plan.
An initial informal submission preceding a preliminary plan
that indicates existing features and proposed improvements of a tract,
as well as the surrounding area, and that describes the site potential
for subdivision or land development in a general way.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final.
Includes:
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Township
Council or Planning Commission, intended to obtain public comment
prior to taking action in accordance with the Municipalities Planning
Code.
A notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. 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 be not more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
A licensed professional geologist or a licensed professional
engineer who has a background or expertise in geology or hydrogeology.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
Any of the natural or man-made runoff conveyance channels
used for modeling purposes to connect the subareas and transport flows
downstream.
A one-hundred-year flood.
The one-hundred-year-flood elevation, based upon the information
contained in the Official Flood Insurance Study of the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development or other acceptable sources
of floodplain information or as identified by the developer's engineer
and approved by the Township.[4]
Single-family, multifamily, mobile home park, apartment,
dormitory or similar use.
Any replatting or resubdivision of land, limited to changes
in lot lines on approved final plans or recorded plans as specified
in this chapter. Other replatting shall be considered as constituting
new subdivision of land.
The average interval, in years, over which an event of a
given magnitude can be expected to recur. For example, the twenty-five-year
return period rainfall or runoff event would be expected to recur,
on the average, once every 25 years.
The official examination of plans of subdivisions and land
developments as required by law by appropriate agencies, commissions
and bodies and authenticated by the signature of an authorized representative.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated for use
as a street or for any other public purpose.
That part of precipitation which flows over the land.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots by a system of pipes to a central treatment and
disposal plant, generally serving a large single land development
subdivision or neighborhood and generally operated by a governmental
agency, governmental authority, public utility company, developer,
homeowners' association or other similar legal entity.
A method of sewage treatment designed to treat sanitary sewage
and dispose of the treated sewage within the boundaries of an individual
lot.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots by a system of pipes to a central treatment and
disposal plant, generally serving a major portion of a municipality
or municipalities and operated by the Township or a local government
authority, or public utility company.
An area of excavated earth filled with loose stone or similar
material and into which surface water is directed for infiltration
into the ground.
A quality of a material that permits partial absorption of
stormwater into the land.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical
to the public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation or which constitutes
pollution under the Act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known
as the "Clean Streams Law," as amended (35 P.S. § 691.1
et seq.).
A person certified as a Sewage Enforcement Officer who is
the Official appointed by the municipality who reviews and issues
certain sewage disposal permits and conducts such inspections and
investigations as are necessary to implement the provisions of the
Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq.).
A method of runoff computation developed by the Soil Conservation
Service, which is based upon relating soil type and land use or cover
to a runoff parameter called a "curve number."
A person certified as an SEO and who has documented two years
experience in characterization, classification, mapping and interpretation
of soils as they relate to the function of on-lot sewage disposal
systems and either has a Bachelors Degree in Soil Science from an
accredited college or university or is certified as a Professional
Soil Scientist by the Pennsylvania Association of Professional Soil
Scientists (PAPSS) or the American Registry of Certified Professionals
in Agronomy, Crops and Soils (ARCPACS).
Carbonate bedrock features, including but not limited to
closed depressions, existing sinkholes, fracture traces, lineaments,
joints, faults, caves and pinnacles, which may exist and must be identified
on a site when stormwater management BMPs infiltration or detention
of stormwater is being considered.
[Added 2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02]
A reservoir routing procedure based on solution of the continuity
equation (inflow minus outflow equals the change in storage for a
given time interval) and based on outflow being a unique function
of storage volume.
Areas which lack adequate stormwater collection and/or conveyance
facilities and which present a hazard to persons or property. These
areas are either documented in Appendix C[5] of this chapter or identified by the Township or Township
Engineer.
All facilities and features such as pipes, catch basins,
inlets, culverts, open channels, ditches, swales, stormwater detention
facilities, etc., used to transmit or temporarily store surface-water
runoff.
The plan for managing stormwater runoff adopted by Northampton
County pursuant to the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864, No. 167,
known as the "Stormwater Management Act," as amended (32 P.S. § 680.1
et seq.).
A watercourse.
This term 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.
A 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.
A street which, in addition to providing access to abutting
properties, intercepts local streets to provide a route giving access
to community facilities and/or other collector and arterial streets
(streets in industrial and commercial subdivisions shall be considered
collector streets).
Interstate 78.
A street used primarily to provide access to abutting residential
properties.
A local street, parallel and adjacent to arterial or collector
streets (but separated from it by a strip of land), which provides
access to abutting properties and control of intersections with the
major street.
A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line,
having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for improvement
and use of the street.
A strip of privately owned land providing access to abutting
properties and not offered for dedication.
A street having only one means of ingress and egress.
A street that has two means of ingress and egress.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land. The term
"structure" shall include building, parking lots or parking space,
signs, fences, walls, towers, swimming pools, tennis courts, porches,
garages and similar structures. "Structure" shall be interpreted as
including the words "or part thereof."
The smallest unit of watershed breakdown for hydrologic modeling
purposes for which the runoff control criteria have been established
in the Stormwater Management Plan.
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
dwellings shall be exempted.
A licensed surveyor registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A low-lying stretch of natural or man-made land which gathers
or carries surface-water runoff.
The Township of Lower Saucon in Northampton County, Pennsylvania,
as governed and represented by the Council of Lower Saucon Township.
A system of buildings, equipment, pumps, tanks, pipes, basins,
chemical feeders, power supplies, backup power supplies and related
improvements, such as landscaping, driveways, fences, etc., necessary
to treat sewage wastewater and dispose of treated water into the ground
or a stream and needed to treat and dispose of resultant sludge.
PUBLIC FACILITYA facility owned and maintained by a municipality or a municipal authority.
COMMON FACILITYA facility used by more than one person and owned and maintained by all users of the system, by way of a homeowners association or other similar legal entity.
PRIVATE FACILITYA facility owned and maintained by one person.
All rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundments, ditches,
watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, ponds, springs and all other bodies
or channels of conveyance of surface and underground water or any
of their parts, whether natural or artificial, within or on the boundaries
of this commonwealth.
A system for supplying and distributing water from a common
source to two or more dwellings and/or other buildings, generally
serving a single land development, subdivision or neighborhood and
generally operated by a governmental agency, governmental authority,
public utility company, developer, homeowners' association or other
similar legal entity.
A system for supplying and distributing water to a single
dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
A system for supplying and distributing water from a common
source to dwellings and other buildings, generally serving a major
portion of a municipality or municipalities and operated by a governmental
agency, governmental authority or public utility company.
The duly authorized and designated official of the Township responsible for administering and enforcing Chapter 180, Zoning, of the Township.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included at the end of this chapter.
[2]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "infiltration
structures," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed
2-7-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-02.
[4]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "release
rate," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 2-7-2007
by Ord. No. 2007-02.
[5]
Editor's Note: Appendix C is included at the end of this chapter.
