[Adopted 12-20-1961 by Ord. No. 2660]
[Amended 6-11-1974 by Ord. No. 2921]
In accordance with Article V of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Code, whoever, being the owner or agent thereof, subdivides
any lot, tract or parcel of land in the City of Bradford 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, transfer of ownership or building or
lot development shall, prior to filing his subdivision plat or map
in the office of the County Clerk of McKean County and before proceeding
to sell lots or land so subdivided, submit his plan of street and
lot layout to the City of Bradford Planning Commission and a duplicate
of such plan directly to the Mayor and City Council as provided below
and shall have the approval of the Planning Commission and the City
Council before the plat map may be recorded.
The subdivider shall observe the following requirements
and principles of land subdivision:
A. Street system.
(1) The plat shall conform to such plan or plans (where
existing) for the City and surrounding area as shall have been prepared
and adopted by the City Planning Commission and other borough and
township commissions.
(2) The arrangement of streets in new subdivisions shall
make provision for the continuation of the principal existing streets
in adjoining areas (or their proper protection where adjoining land
is not subdivided) insofar as they may be deemed necessary by the
City Council and the Planning Commission for public requirements.
The width of such streets in new subdivisions shall not be less than
the minimum street widths established herein. The street and alley
arrangement must also be such as to cause no hardship to owners of
adjoining property when they plat their own land and seek to provide
for convenient access to it. In general, provisions shall be made
for through streets at intervals of approximately 1/2 mile or less.
Offset streets shall be avoided.
(3) Minor streets should approach the major streets at
an angle of not less than 80º nor more than 100º.
(4) Proposed street names shall be checked to prevent
duplication of street names.
B. Street and alley right-of-way widths. The subdivider
shall provide minimum rights-of-way for the following thoroughfares:
(1) Main arterial (city-to-city) highways, boulevards,
expressways, freeways and parkways shall conform to the standards
of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
(2) Secondary thoroughfares, 70 feet.
(4) Dead-end streets, not more than 500 feet long, 50
feet wide. All dead-end streets shall terminate in a circular right-of-way
with a minimum radius of 40 feet to the outside right-of-way line,
unless the Commission approves an equally safe and convenient form
of paved space instead of the required turning circle.
C. Street alignment; grades. Unless otherwise granted
by the Commission in special consideration, maximum percent grades
shall be as follows:
(1) Main arterial highways, boulevards, expressways, freeways
and parkways, subject to standards of the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation.
(2) Secondary thoroughfares, not greater than 5%.
(3) Minor streets, not greater than 10%.
(4) Alleys, not greater than 12%.
D. Alignment and visibility.
(1) Clear visibility, measured along the center line,
shall be provided for at least 600 feet on main thoroughfares, boulevards,
expressways, freeways and parkways; 300 feet on secondary thoroughfares;
and at least 100 feet on minor thoroughfares.
(2) It is recommended that wherever possible reversed
curves on the center line of any thoroughfare shall always be connected
by a tangent, which in most instances shall be greater than 50 feet
in length.
(3) No broken-back curves shall be permitted along the
center line of any thoroughfare.
(4) Street curb intersections shall be rounded by a radius
of at least 10 feet. The minimum radius of 10 feet shall be increased
when the smallest angle of intersection is less than 80º.
E. Block sizes.
(1) Length. No block shall be longer than 1,200 feet nor
less than 500 feet between street right-of-way lines.
(2) Width.
(a)
In plotting residential lots containing from
6,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet, it is recommended that the
depth of the block not exceed 300 feet.
(b)
Except where existing conditions or special
plan provisions warrant deviation, no block shall be less than 240
nor more than 350 feet in width.
(c)
If a block exceeds 1,000 feet in length, the
Planning Commission may require that a footpath of not less than 10
feet in width shall be provided at a convenient place to extend across
the width of the block.
F. Lots.
(1) The lot arrangement shall be such that they will provide
desirable sites for buildings. Whenever, in the same block, certain
lots are wider than others, the wider lots shall be located at the
corners.
(2) Double-frontage lots shall be avoided.
(3) Every lot shall abut on a street or on an officially
approved cul-de-sac.
(4) Side lot lines shall be approximately at right angles
to the street line on which the lot faces.
(5) Whenever the subdivision is located in an area affected
by zoning regulations, the lot areas shall be not less than the minimum
areas required in the zoning regulations.
(6) Where corner lots rear upon lots facing the side street,
the corner lots shall have extra width sufficient to permit the establishment
of front building lines on both the front and the side of the lots
adjoining the streets. Extra width should be provided on all corner
lots irrespective of whether they rear upon lots facing the side streets.
G. Building lines. Building lines shall be shown on all
plats of lots intended for residential use of any character and on
commercial or industrial lots immediately adjoining residential areas.
In all cases, building lines shall be no less than required by any
zoning or building line regulation applying to the property. Where
the subdivided area is not under zoning control, the subdivider shall
establish building lines in accordance with the needs of each addition.
It is suggested that building lines not be less than 25 feet from
the right-of-way of the street or highway upon which the lot fronts,
except that on side streets not used as lot fronts, building lines
may be not less than 15 feet. Restrictions requiring buildings to
be set back to such building lines shall be shown on the plat.
H. Political boundaries. Political boundary lines shall
be located along side or rear lot property lines, and, whenever possible,
location of the same along center lines of streets and other public
thoroughfares shall be avoided.
Whenever the tract to be subdivided is one acre
or less in area or whenever, in the opinion of the City Council and
the Commission, it is of such unusual size or shape or is surrounded
by such development or unusual conditions that the strict application
of the requirements contained in these rules would result in real
difficulties and substantial hardships or injustices, the City Council
and the Commission may vary or modify such requirements so that the
subdivider is allowed to develop his property in a reasonable manner
but also so that, at the same time, the public welfare and interests
of the City and surrounding area are protected and the general intent
and spirit of these rules are preserved.
These provisions shall be considered the minimum
requirements for the protection of the public welfare, and the City
Council, through the Planning Commission, reserves the right to modify
or to extend them as may be deemed necessary for the public good.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. I)]
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated
the provisions of this article shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the City, pay a judgment
of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney
fees incurred by the City as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence
or be imposed, levied, or payable until the date of the determination
of a violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the City may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation,
unless the Magisterial District Judge determining that there has been
a violation further determines that there was a good faith basis for
the person, partnership or corporation violating the ordinance 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
Magisterial District Judge, and thereafter each day that a violation
continues shall constitute a separate violation.