For the purpose of this chapter, words in the
singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular.
The word "person" includes a corporation, unincorporated association
and a partnership as well as an individual or any other legal entity.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense, the terms
"shall" and "will" are always mandatory, and the word "may" is permissive.
Words in the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words, for the purpose of this chapter, shall have the meaning herein
indicated.
The Stormwater Management Act (Act of October 4, 1978, P.L.
864, No. 167; 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., as amended by act
of May 24, 1984, No 63).
A 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, who has
filed an application for development, including his heirs, successors
and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative 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 or for the approval of a land development plan.
A municipal sewer if, in the opinion of the Planning Commission,
Borough Council, and the Borough Engineer, that is considered feasible
to make a connection into.
The net land area divided by the number of lots developed.
The Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Wilkinsburg, Allegheny
County Pennsylvania.
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls
and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of any individual,
animal, process, equipment, goods or material of any kind or nature.
When separated by walls which are common with the walls of adjoining
buildings, each portion of such structure shall be considered a separate
building.
A line parallel to the front lot line, at a distance measured
perpendicular therefrom as prescribed in the Zoning Ordinance for
a required yard. Where there is no required yard, the lot line shall
be the building line.
That portion of the street right-of-way surfaced for vehicular
use. Width is determined from face of curb to face of curb or from
one edge of driving surface to the other edge of driving surface.
A perceptible natural or artificial waterway which periodically
or continuously contains moving water or which forms a connecting
link between two bodies of water. It has a definite bed and banks
which confine the water.
That triangular area lying between the intersection of two
streets and the line of sight across the corner lots from points at
a given distance along the center line of each street.
The land area set aside for joint recreational (active or
passive), aesthetic or density requirement purposes.
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.
The Comprehensive Development Plan of the Borough of Wilkinsburg.
A building where each unit in the structure is individually
owned, and the owner of each unit has an undivided interest in the
common areas and facilities of the structures and surrounding grounds.
The Allegheny County Conservation District.
The combination of two or more lots, tracts or parcels of
land into one lot, tract or parcel for the purpose of sale, lease
or development of a building or lot.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
An obligation defined by law or agreement, a violation of
which can be restrained by court action; these are usually stated
in the deed.
A residential street with one end open to traffic and pedestrian
access and permanently terminated by a vehicular turn around.
A closed conduit for the free passage of surface drainage
under a highway, railroad, canal, or other embankment.
An excavation; the difference in vertical elevation between
a point on the surface of the original ground and a point of lower
elevation on the finished grade; material removed in excavation.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
its bureaus, divisions, departments and/or agencies, as may from time
to time be established, or such department or departments as may in
the future succeed it.
Engineering guidelines specifying construction details and
materials, objectives, results or limits which must be met by a facility,
structure or process in performance of its intended functions.
See "storm frequency."
The slowing, dampening, or attenuating of runoff flows entering
the natural drainage pattern or storm drainage system by temporarily
holding water on a surface area in a detention basin or within the
drainage system.
A pond or reservoir, usually small, constructed to impound
or retard surface runoff temporarily.
An area in which surface water runoff is temporarily stored
pending its release at a controlled rate.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner who makes or causes to be made 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, mining, dredging,
filling, grading, excavation, or drilling operations, and the subdivision
of land.
The provisions for development, including a planned residential
development, a plat of subdivisions, 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 flow or rate of flow from a canal, conduit, channel,
or other hydraulic.
A lot having two or more of its nonadjoining property lines
abutting a street or streets, usually having front and rear street
frontage.
In general, the removal of surface water from a given area.
Commonly applied to surface water and groundwater.
The area of a drainage basin or watershed, expressed in acres,
square miles, or other unit of area. Also called "catchment area,"
"watershed," "river basin"; or the area served by a sewer system receiving
storm- and surface water or by a watercourse.
A private vehicular passageway providing access between a
street and a private parking area or private garage.
A vehicular access route serving only one parcel or lot which
provides access to a public street, but which does not provide access
to any other lot or parcel under separate ownership.
Any structure, or part thereof, designed to be occupied as
living quarters as a single housekeeping unit. It shall not be deemed
to include hotels, boarding- or rooming houses, institutional homes
and residence clubs.
A right-of-way granted for the use of private land for a
public or private purpose.
Any structure or activity which in any manner changes, expands,
or diminishes the course, current or cross section of any watercourse,
floodway, or body of water.
The Engineer of the Borough of Wilkinsburg.
The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments or
the wearing away of the surface of the land by wind, water, ice, or
gravity.
The application of measures to reduce erosion and land surfaces.
The required charge, which shall be payable to the municipality,
established from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council
collected to defray the costs of processing an application, reviewing
an application or inspecting the installation of improvements which
shall be payable to the municipality.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material
is placed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new 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 original ground and a designated
point of higher elevation on the finished grade; the material used
to make a fill.
That portion of the flood hazard area outside of the floodway
based on the total area inundated during the regulatory base flood
plus 25% of the regulatory base flood discharge.
The floodplain consisting of the floodway and the flood fringe
area.
The channel and the relatively flat area adjoining the channel
of a natural stream or river which has been or may be covered by floodwater.
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year,
although the flood may occur in any year).
The channel of a natural stream or river and portions of
the floodplain adjoining the channel which are reasonably required
to carry and discharge the floodwater or flood flow of any natural
stream.
The open space extending across the entire width of the lot
between the front line of the building and the street line.
The Borough Council of the Municipality of Wilkinsburg.
Materials covering the ground surface.
Subsurface water occupying the saturation zone from which
wells and springs are fed.
Replenishment of groundwater naturally by precipitation or
runoff or artificially by spreading or injection.
Any surface which generally prevents or impedes the infiltration
of water into the ground.
Those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable
and desirable lots from raw acreage, including but not limited to:
grading, paving, curbs, gutters, storm sewers and drains, improvements
to existing watercourses, sidewalks, crosswalks, street signs, monuments,
water supply facilities, and sewage disposal facilities.
The flow or movement of water through the interstices or
pores of a soil or other porous medium; or the absorption of liquid
by the soil.
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;
Development in accordance with Section 503(1.1)
of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
A plan which encompasses a proposed land development which
includes: all covenants relating to the use of the land; the proposed
use, location and bulk requirements of buildings and other structures;
the intensity of use or density of development; streets, ways and
parking facilities; common open space and public facilities, if any.
The land development plan shall include all of the written and graphic
information required by this chapter.
Any activity involving the changing, grading, transportation,
fill and any other activity which causes land to be exposed to the
danger of erosion.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
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 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.
The total area within the lot lines of a lot, excluding any
street rights-of-way.
A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection,
the front of which shall be considered to be the frontage of least
dimension on a street, except that where any two frontages shall each
exceed 150 feet in length, either frontage may be designed as the
"front" of the lot.
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot
lines.
The portion of the lot which abuts the street measured along
the front lot line.
A lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to
the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to
conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is
located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.
A lot described in a deed or shown on a plan of lots which
has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania.
The upkeep necessary for efficient operation of physical
properties.
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 erections 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 body politic and corporate created pursuant to the act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipal Authorities
Act of 1945."
The Borough of Wilkinsburg.
A watershed where natural surface configurations, runoff
characteristics and defined drainage conveyances have attained the
conditions of equilibrium.
The gross area of a lot, parcel or tract of land, less the
area of any lands contained within the right-of way of a public street
or streets on or adjacent to the lot, parcel or tract.
The point, location or structure where drainage discharges
from a sewer, drain or other conduit; or the conduit leading to the
ultimate discharge point.
The means of controlling the relationship between the headwater
elevation and the discharge, placed at the outlet or downstream end
of any structure through which water may flow.
A tract of land which is recorded in a plan of land development
or any other tract of land described in a deed or legal instrument
pursuant to the laws of the commonwealth which is intended to be used
as a unit for development or transfer of ownership.
Maximum flow.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Act 247 of 1968, as amended by Act 170 of 1988, 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq., and as it may be amended.
A standard which establishes an end result or outcome which
is to be achieved but does not prescribe specific means for achieving
it.
The map or plan of a proposed land development containing
all the information required by this chapter and the Allegheny County
Subdivision and Land Development Regulations for final plan approval
and in a form acceptable for recording in the Office of the Allegheny
County Recorder of Deeds.
The map or plan of a proposed land development which contains
all of the information required by this chapter for preliminary approval
of a proposed land development.
The legally appointed Planning Commission of Wilkinsburg
Borough.
The map or plan of a land development, whether preliminary
or final.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing
body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment
prior to taking action in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code.
All roads, streets, walkways, gutters, stormwater management
facilities, curbs, sewers, landscaping and other facilities to be
dedicated to or maintained by the Borough for which plans, specifications
and construction shall comply with Municipal Construction Standards.
Includes:
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1968 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act," 53 P.S. § 271
et seq.[1]
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 not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
The watershed factor determined by comparing the maximum
rate of runoff from a subbasin to the contributing rate of runoff
to the watershed peak rates at specific points of interest.
A basin, usually enclosed by artificial dikes, that is used
to retard stormwater runoff by temporarily storing the runoff and
releasing it at a predetermined rate.
The average interval in years over which an event of a given
magnitude can be expected to recur.
The total extent of land reserved or dedicated as a street
or way, alley or lane, for public or private purposes. This includes
land reserved or dedicated for the location of utilities.
That part of precipitation which flows over the land.
The surface components of any watershed which affect the
rate, amount, and direction of stormwater runoff. These may include,
but are not limited to: vegetation, soils, slopes, and man-made landscape
alterations.
The United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation
Service.
Mineral or organic solid material that is being transported
or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, or ice and
has come to rest.
The process by which soil or other surface material is accumulated
or deposited by wind, water, or gravity.
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance between any structure and the ultimate adjacent right-of-way,
and the line defining side and rear yards where required.
A sanitary sewage collection method in which sewage is carried
from the site by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal
plant.
The required length of roadway visible to the driver of a
passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view
is unobstructed by traffic. Sight distance measurements shall be made
from a point 10 feet from the edge of the cartway, 3 1/2 feet
high, to a point 3 1/2 feet above the road surface.
The face of an embankment, fill or cut section; any ground
whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon, expressed
as a percentage based upon the number of feet of vertical difference
in elevation per 100 feet of horizontal distance.
See "detention basin" and "retention pond."
The average interval in years over which a storm event of
a given precipitation volume can be expected to occur.
A sewer that carries intercepted surface runoff, street water
and other drainage but excludes domestic sewage and industrial waste.
That portion of precipitation which runs over the land.
Natural or man-made structures that collect and transport
stormwater through or from a drainage area to the point of final outlet,
including but not limited to any of the following: conduits and appurtenant
features, canals, channels, ditches, streams, culverts, streets, and
pumping stations.
The plan for managing stormwater runoff adopted by the County
of Allegheny as required by the Stormwater Management Act.
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 public street which serves large volumes of local and through
traffic and which collects and distributes traffic from collector
streets through the region and which collects and carries a daily
volume of 8,000 AWDT (average, weekday traffic) or more.
A public street which, in addition to providing access to
abutting lots, intercepts local streets and provides a route for carrying
considerable volumes of local traffic to community facilities and
arterial streets and which carries a daily volume of at least 3,000
AWDT, but no more than 7,999 AWDT.
A public street designed to provide access to abutting lots
and to discourage through traffic which carries a daily volume of
less than 3,000 AWDT.
A street, including the entire private right-of-way, which
is privately owned and maintained.
A street, including the entire public or private right-of-way
which has been dedicated to and accepted by the municipality, the
county, or the commonwealth for public use.
An imaginary line which passes through the middle of a proposed
or existing right-of-way. This line may or may not coincide with the
physical cartway center line.
The procedure applied to new or existing streets or streets
under construction, including resurfacing, regrading, drainage improvement,
pothole repair, dust prevention practices and snow removal.
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.
A subdivision, containing four or more lots or any subdivision,
regardless of the number of lots, which involves the creation, extension
or improvement of any public street.
A subdivision containing not more than three lots, proposed
either for the construction of one-family dwellings or two-family
dwellings or for the transfer of property between lots which contain
existing one-family dwellings or two-family dwellings, all of which
have frontage on an improved public street, and which subdivision
does not involve the construction or improvement of any public street
and which does not adversely affect the future development of the
remainder of the parcel or any adjoining property.
Where, in the judgment of the Municipal Engineer, at least
90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial
security was posted pursuant to Section 509 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code) 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.
A professional surveyor, licensed in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, in accordance with the Act of May 23, 1995 (P.L. 913,
No. 367) known as the "Engineer, Land Surveyor, and Geologist Registration
Law."
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface
water runoff.
A map showing ground elevations by contour lines and the
location of important natural and other objects.
An area devoted to outdoor recreational space, greenery and/or
services for household activities which are normally carried on outdoors.
The area is accessible and available to all occupants of the dwellings.
It does not include streets or roadways open to vehicular traffic
or individual parking spaces or loading space.
A plan to show all existing and proposed fire hydrants, water
and sewer lines, gas and electric lines, and streetlighting.
A permanent stream, intermittent stream, river, brook, creek,
channel, or ditch which carries water, whether natural or man-made.
The entire region or area drained by a river or other body
of water, whether natural or artificial. A "designated watershed"
is an area delineated by the Pennsylvania DEP and approved by the
Environmental Quality Board for which counties are required to develop
watershed stormwater management plans.
The plan for managing runoff throughout a designated watershed
adopted by the County of Allegheny as required by the Pennsylvania
Stormwater Management Act.
A yard between the building and the adjacent side lot line,
extending from the front yard to the rear yard of the lot.
[1]
Editor's Note: 53 P.S. § 271 has
been repealed. See now 65 Pa. C.S.A. § 701 et seq.
