A.
Enabling authority/adoption. The County Council of Allegheny County,
in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
Act 247 of 1968, as reenacted and amended by Act 170 of 1988, and
as subsequently amended, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq. (MPC),
enacts the following chapter to regulate the subdivision and development
of land in Allegheny County (County).
B.
Planning agency authority. The Allegheny County Department of Economic
Development (Department) is designated as the County planning agency
with authority to administer this chapter and to review and approve
applications for subdivision and land development.
C.
Repealer. Any prior County ordinances or regulations or parts thereof
conflicting with the provisions of this chapter, including but not
limited to the Allegheny County Subdivision and Land Development Regulations
adopted in 1983 (designated as Agreement No. 18870) and the amendments
thereto adopted in 1987 (designated Agreement No. 19241) and the Allegheny
County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance of 1998, are hereby
repealed.
D.
Title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Allegheny
County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance of 2012."
E.
Separability. Any section, subsection or provision of this chapter
that is declared to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction
shall not affect the validity of any other part of this chapter or
the chapter as a whole.
F.
Amendments. This chapter may be amended by the County Council in
accordance with the procedures specified in the MPC.
G.
Effective date. This chapter shall become effective 14 days after
the date of enactment.
A.
General purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to protect and
promote the public health, safety and welfare through the establishment
of standards and procedures for the review and approval of subdivisions
and land development in Allegheny County.
B.
Specific purposes. The provisions of this chapter are intended to
achieve the following specific purposes:
(1)
To encourage new development that is well-designed, of high quality
and suited to the natural conditions of this site.
(2)
To encourage the coordinated growth of communities and compact, efficient
and economic patterns of development, and to avoid excessive public
costs of scattered development.
(3)
To prevent development which may be hazardous because of the physical
character of land and to protect and preserve valued natural, historic
and cultural features of the environment.
(4)
To ensure the provision of public improvements which are necessary
and appropriate for the development and which are coordinated with
nearby areas.
(5)
To provide flexibility in standards and requirements so that the
design of development can be fitted to the character of its site and
to the community in which it is located.
(6)
To reflect and implement municipal, County and regional plans and
policies.
(7)
To provide standards and procedures for the uniform preparation and
recording of plans so that the land records of the County are accurate,
complete and legible.
(8)
To coordinate consistency with local municipalities.
(9)
To plan for greenway connectivity throughout the County, as
promoted by the County Comprehensive Plan (Allegheny Places).
(10)
To coordinate and provide a system of or network of pedestrian
and bicycling trails and paths throughout the County and its governed
municipalities.
(11)
To optimize access to rivers.
(12)
To encourage concentrated development and maximize use of existing
highways, transit, and utilities.
(13)
To promote energy conservation.
(14)
To control light pollution.
(15)
To encourage sustainable design techniques, including the use
of renewable energy systems and energy efficient building design.
B.
Municipal adoption by reference. These regulations shall also govern
the review and approval of subdivisions and land developments in municipalities
within the County that have chosen to adopt this chapter as their
local subdivision and land development ordinance and have designated
the Department to administer the regulations in this chapter on their
behalf. The designation of the Department to administer this chapter
as the subdivision and land development ordinance of a municipality
shall not become effective without the concurrence of the Department.
C.
Review authority. In municipalities which have enacted a subdivision
and land development ordinance, all applications for preliminary or
final approval of subdivisions and land developments shall be forwarded
upon receipt by the municipality to the Department for review and
report.
D.
Review period. A municipality with its own ordinance shall not approve
an application for subdivision or land development until the expiration
of 30 days from the date the application was forwarded to the Department
unless the report of the Department has been received.
E.
Exemption. The City of Pittsburgh is exempt from the provisions of
the MPC and, therefore, from this chapter.
A.
General. No subdivision or land development of any lot, tract or
parcel of land shall be made, no street, sanitary sewer, storm sewer,
water main or other improvements in connection therewith shall be
laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use or travel,
or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting thereon,
except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and of any
applicable municipal ordinance.
B.
Recording required. All plans of subdivision and land developments
shall be recorded in the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate
within 90 days after final approval or within 90 days after the date
of delivery of an approved plat signed by the Director following completion
of conditions imposed for such approval, whichever is later.
C.
County approval or review notation required. The Department of Real
Estate shall not accept any plan for recording unless the plan officially
notes the approval of the approving authority and review by the Department
where the Department is responsible for review, but not approval,
of a plan.
D.
Effect on applications pending or previously approved.
(1)
Pending applications. The provisions of this chapter shall not affect
any application for subdivision or land development which is pending
approval prior to the effective date of this chapter. Such applications
shall comply with regulations in effect at the time they were filed.
(2)
Approved applications. No provision of this chapter shall adversely
affect the right of an applicant to complete any aspect of a plan
that was approved prior to the effective date of this chapter in accordance
with the terms of such approval within five years from the date of
first approval.
A.
Interpretation. The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be
minimum requirements for subdivisions and land developments in municipalities
where the Department is responsible for the approval of applications.
B.
Conflict with other laws/regulations. If any provision of this chapter
imposes restrictions which are different from those imposed by any
other applicable ordinance, regulation or provision of law, the provision
that is more restrictive or which imposes higher standards shall control.
C.
Conflict with private provisions. If the requirements of this chapter
are different from those contained in deed restrictions, covenants
or other private agreements, the requirements that are more restrictive
or which impose higher standards shall govern, provided that the private
provisions are otherwise lawful.
D.
Liability. The review or approval of a subdivision or land development
by the Department in accordance with the provisions of this chapter
shall not constitute a guarantee of any kind that the proposed development
is safe and shall create no liability upon the County, its officials
or employees.
A.
Department may grant. The Department may grant a modification or
waiver of the requirements of one or more provisions of this chapter
for the following reasons, provided that such modification or waiver
will not be contrary to the public interest and that the purposes
of the chapter are observed:
B.
Requests in writing. All requests for modifications or waivers shall
be in writing and shall accompany and be a part of the application.
The requests shall state in full the grounds and facts of hardship
or evidence of equal or better result on which the request is based,
the provision or provisions of the chapter involved and the minimum
modification necessary.
C.
Records required. The Department shall keep a written record of all
actions on requests for modifications.
A.
Mediation as an option. The Department may offer mediation as an
aid in reaching decisions on applications for approval of subdivision
or development of land and as an alternative to appeals from such
decisions. Mediation shall supplement, not replace, those procedures
once they have been formally initiated. Nothing in this section shall
be interpreted as expanding or limiting the County's police powers
or as modifying any principle of substantive law.
B.
Voluntary participation. Participation in mediation shall be wholly
voluntary. The appropriateness of mediation shall be determined by
the particulars of each case and the willingness of the parties to
negotiate. The Department shall assist, in each case, the mediating
parties, assisted by the mediator, as appropriate, develop terms and
conditions for:
(1)
Funding mediation.
(2)
Selecting a mediator who, at a minimum, shall have a working knowledge
of zoning and subdivision procedures and demonstrated skills in mediation.
(3)
Completing mediation, including the time limits for such completion.
(4)
Suspending time limits otherwise authorized in this chapter, provided
that there is written consent by the mediating parties and by an applicant
or the Department if either is not a party to the mediation.
(5)
Identifying all parties and affording them the opportunity to participate.
(6)
Subject to legal restraints, determining whether some or all of the
mediation sessions shall be open or closed to the public.
(7)
Assuring that mediated solutions are in writing and signed by the
parties and become subject to review and approval by the Department
pursuant to the procedures for approval contained in this chapter.
C.
Final agreement admissible as evidence. No offers or statements made
in the mediation sessions, excluding the final written mediated agreement,
shall be admissible as evidence in any subsequent judicial or administrative
proceedings.
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Department concerning
an application for approval of a subdivision or land development may
appeal the decision in accordance with the procedures specified in
Article X-A of the MPC.
A.
Preventive remedies. In addition to other remedies, the County or
a municipality may institute and maintain actions by law or in equity
to restrain, correct or abate violations of this chapter, to prevent
unlawful construction, to recover damages and to prevent illegal occupancy
of a building, structure or premises.
(1)
No exemption in metes and bounds descriptions. The description by
metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other documents
used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the
seller or transferor from the penalties or remedies provided.
(2)
Further development not permitted. The County or a municipality in
which a violation of this chapter occurs may refuse to issue any permit
or grant any approval necessary to further improve or develop real
property which has been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision
of real property in violation of this chapter. The authority to deny
such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
(a)
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
(b)
The vendee or lessee of the owner of record at the time of such
violation without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had actual
or constructive notice of the violation.
(c)
The current owner of record who acquired the property subsequent
to the time of violation without regard as to whether such current
owner had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation.
(d)
The vendee or lessee of the current owner of record who acquired
the property subsequent to the time of violation without regard as
to whether such vendee or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge
of the violation.
(3)
Compliance with chapter required for permit. As an additional condition
for issuance of a permit or the granting of an approval for any such
owner, current owner, vendee or lessee for the development of any
such real property, the County and/or municipality may require compliance
with the conditions that would have been applicable to the property
at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such real property.
B.
Enforcement remedies.
(1)
Initial jurisdiction. District Justices shall have initial jurisdiction
in proceedings brought under this section.
(2)
Judgment. Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has
violated the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable
therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the County,
pay a judgment of not more than $500, plus all court costs, including
reasonable attorney fees incurred by the County as a result thereof.
(a)
No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or be payable
until the date of the determination of a violation by the District
Justice.
(b)
If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment,
then the County may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable
rules of civil procedure.
(c)
Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate
violation unless the District Justice determining that there has been
a violation further determines that there was a good faith basis for
the persons, partnership or corporation violating this chapter to
have believed that there was no such violation, in which event there
shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth
day following the date of the determination of a violation by the
District Justice, and thereafter, each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate violation.
(4)
Enforcement by County. Nothing in this section shall be construed
or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the County
the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this
section.
