For the purposes of this chapter, the following
rules of usage and interpretation shall apply, unless the context
indicates otherwise. In the interpretation of this chapter, the provisions
and rules of this chapter shall be observed and applied, except when
the context clearly requires otherwise.
A.
Words in the present tense include the future.
B.
Words in the singular include the plural and the plural
the singular.
C.
The word "shall" is intended to be mandatory.
D.
The word "lot" shall include the word "plot" or "parcel."
E.
The word "person" shall include an individual, firm,
or corporation.
F.
A building or structure includes any part thereof.
G.
The word "and" indicates that all connected items,
conditions, provisions or events shall apply.
H.
The word "or" indicates that the connected items,
conditions, provisions or events may apply singly or in any combination.
I.
The words "either. . .or" indicate that the connected
items, conditions, provisions or events may apply singly but not in
any combination.
J.
The word "Township" means the Township of Pine, Pennsylvania.
K.
The word "county" means the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
L.
Any use of the gender specific words (his, hers, him,
her) shall imply both genders.
M.
In case of any difference of meaning or implication
between the text of this chapter and any caption, illustration or
table, the text shall control.
N.
When a word or phrase is not specifically defined
in this chapter, or referenced to another chapter, then the common
meaning of the word or phrase, or the definition contained in Webster's
Dictionary most current version shall apply.
The definitions set forth in Chapter 84, Zoning, of the Township of Pine Code shall also apply to this chapter, except when in conflict with the following definitions, which shall specifically apply to this chapter. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
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
or for the approval of a subdivision plan or plot or development plan.
A portion of the site intended to provide a visual barrier
and physical protection between adjacent land uses.
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 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 preservation and for the use or enjoyment of residents of the
development, but not including streets, off-street parking areas,
crosswalks, setback distances or areas set aside for public facilities.
Common open space shall be substantially free of structures but may
contain such improvements as are in the subdivision or development
plan as finally approved and as are required by applicable Township
standards and appropriate for the recreation of residents. Common
open space may be publicly dedicated or may be owned by a homeowners'
association consisting of the landowners within a development or may
be owned by a single landowner; provided, however, that in the event
of ownership by a single landowner or homeowners' association, such
parcel or parcels shall be subject to restrictive covenants acceptable
to the Township and sufficient to satisfy its preservation against
further development and to preserve its character.
Financial security satisfactory to the governing body, in
the percentage amounts of estimated construction costs specified by
Section 509 (53 P.S. § 10509) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code as sufficient to construct the improvements and to guarantee
their maintenance for a period of 1 1/2 years from the date of
their acceptance by the Township, whichever is applicable, together
with an agreement to the effect that the developer will install and/or
maintain required improvements.
Areas of a subdivision or land development particularly subject
to erosion and sedimentation, such as areas not covered with vegetation
due to grading, cutting or filling, which contain exposed subsoils
or mixtures of soil horizons or excessively long slopes and steep
grades.
A publicly or privately owned delineated right-of-way for
pedestrian use extending from one side of a street to the opposite
side of the street.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, tenant or any other
legal entity who makes or causes to be made, or takes any planning
action to make, a subdivision of land or a land development.
Minimum standards for the layout by which a subdivision or
land development is developed.
A right-of-way granted, but not dedicated, for limited use
of private land and within which the owner of the property shall not
erect any permanent structures but shall have the right to make any
other use of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights of
the grantee.
A currently licensed professional engineer registered by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A person certified to perform wetlands delineation in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Residential lots, located along the perimeter of a planned residential development (PRD) parcel where property lines are adjacent to other land uses. Fringe lots within any proposed PRD must conform to the standards set forth and further defined in Chapter 84, Zoning, of the Township of Pine Code.
Minimum standards for the construction of the required public
improvements, such as streets, guardrails, street signs, curbs, sidewalks,
retaining walls, water mains, sewers, drainage facilities, public
utilities and other items reasonably required to render the land suitable
for the use proposed and in compliance with the purposes of this chapter.
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 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. The signature
of any single landowner holding land in joint tenancy shall be considered
as binding upon the others.
A designated or engineered parcel, tract, or area of land,
established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law, and to be
used, conveyed, sold, developed or built upon as a unit.
A concrete monument with a flat top at least four inches
in diameter, at least 36 inches in length, containing a copper or
brass dowel (plug).
A parcel of land integrated within a subdivision, planned
residential development, or land development that is dedicated, either
publicly or privately, specifically for use as a park, open space
and/or active or passive recreation area.
Blue-lined streams as designated on United States Geological
Survey mapping and further defined as a nonintermittent flow of water
that supports or is capable of supporting year-round aquatic fauna.
The Code of the Township of Pine, which constitutes a codification
of the complete body of the ordinances of the Township, as such is
amended from time to time.
A plan prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor, licensed
in Pennsylvania, showing the construction details of streets, drains,
sewers, bridges, culverts and other public improvements as required
by this chapter.
The provisions for development of a lot, parcel, tract, or
area of land, including 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 written
and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A complete and exact subdivision or development plan or plat,
prepared for official recording as required by statute, which includes
all information required by this chapter.
The Comprehensive Plan and/or Official Map or other such
plans or portions thereof as may be adopted or followed pursuant to
statute or ordinance, for the areas of the Township in which the subdivision
or land development is located or proposed.
A submittal prior to applications for preliminary plan and
final plan approvals and required for all planned residential developments
and for subdivisions and land developments greater than 10 acres in
size; and requiring Resource Inventory Mapping and a sketch plan.
A tentative subdivision or land development plan, in lesser
detail than a final plan, which includes all information required
by this chapter.
The copy of the final plan which contains the original endorsements
of Allegheny County, the Township and any other endorsements required
by any statute or ordinance and which is intended to be recorded with
the County Recorder of Deeds.
An informal plan, not necessarily to exact scale, indicating
salient features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout
of a proposed subdivision or land development.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final.
Notice required by the Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, Article I, § 107, 53 P.S. § 10107, as amended, and as it may be amended in the future.
A parcel of ground in separate, sometimes public, ownership
separating a street from other adjacent properties or from another
street.
An inventory of existing natural features of the site, submitted
on a scaled drawing, that illustrates slopes; woodlands and other
existing vegetative cover; streams, ponds and other watercourses;
wetlands; and other significant historical and cultural features of
the site. The Resource Inventory shall include the requirements set
forth in the development standards of this chapter.
Any plat adjustment, replatting, redevelopment or resubdivision
of land limited solely to changes in locations of lot lines (but with
no change in the number of lots) on the approved final plan and recorded
plan. Other replattings, redevelopments, and resubdivisions shall
be considered as constituting a new subdivision or development of
land.
A lot extending between and having frontage on two generally
parallel streets, excluding service streets, with vehicular access
solely from one street.
An examination of the sketch plan, preliminary plan or final
plan by the Environmental Advisory Council, Parks and Recreation Commission,
Planning Commission, or the governing body to determine compliance
with this chapter and the administrative rules, regulations, design
standards and improvements specifications enacted pursuant thereto.
The portion of a street right-of-way, paved or unpaved, customarily
used by vehicles in the regular course of travel over the street.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots.
Any structure designed to treat sanitary 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 publicly owned central
treatment and disposal plant.
The resulting residue from erosion.
A covered watertight settling tank in which raw sewage is
changed into solid, liquid and gaseous states to facilitate further
treatment and final disposal.
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" measurement shall be
made from a point 4.5 feet above the center line of the road surface
to a point 0.5 foot above the center line of the road surface.
A field test conducted to determine the suitability of the
soil for on-site sanitary sewage disposal facilities by measuring
the absorptive capacity of the soil at a given location and depth.
Any land area with a grade that exceeds four horizontal to
one vertical (4:1), or 25%.
A channel through which surface water is conveyed, meeting
the Army Corps of Engineers' definition of either a perennial stream,
intermittent stream, ephemeral stream, stable stream, channelized
stream, or ditch acting as a stream.
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 highway on which preference is given to the through movement of
traffic at the expense of cross traffic; and a street which meets
the criteria for an arterial street as set forth in the Township's
Comprehensive Plan.
A street which carries traffic from minor local streets to
arterial streets, including the principal entrance streets of a subdivision
or land development.
A street which intersects another street with its access
only at one end and terminates in a vehicular turnaround at its other
end. The length of any cul-de-sac street shall be no longer than the
length needed to accommodate a maximum of 50 dwelling units or a maximum
of 4,000 feet, whichever shall be less. The length of a cul-de-sac
street shall be measured from the nearest edge of the pavement of
the nearest intersecting street (which is not itself a cul-de-sac
street) to the center of the circle forming the cul-de-sac.
[Amended 11-16-2009 by Ord. No. 352]
A street which is not a cul-de-sac, but which is used primarily
to provide direct access to abutting properties and which may also
provide access to other streets of a higher classification.
A strip of land or roadway intended for use as a means of
vehicular and pedestrian circulation to provide access to more than
one lot. A private street is intended for use of only the lots served
rather than the general public.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way not limited
to the roadway, intended for general public use as a means of vehicular
and pedestrian circulation to provide access to more than one lot.
The term "public street" includes any thoroughfare intended for public
use. Public streets are further classified according to the functions
they perform.
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 and used primarily for vehicular service access
to the back or the side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.
The shortest distance between the lines delineating the right-of-way
of a street.
Any individual, copartnership or corporation or any other
legal entity or agent of the same, which undertakes the subdivision
of land, as defined by this chapter.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts or 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, improvement
or building or lot development.
Any single-dwelling-unit residential subdivision in which
all lots meet all requirements of this chapter and all other ordinances,
rules and regulations of the Township without a variance.
A currently licensed surveyor registered by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A system of open-jointed or perforated pipe laid in the upper
strata of the soil to distribute sewage effluent into the soil for
absorption and evaporation.
Any tree or group of trees with a minimum twelve-inch diameter
at breast height (DBH).
A system for supplying and distributing water from a common
source to dwellings and other buildings, but generally not confined
to one neighborhood.
A system for supplying and distributing water to a single
dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
In accordance with the definitions/regulations established
by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, areas that are inundated or saturated
by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to
support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
including swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.
A community of plants characterized by areas, groves, or
stands of trees. Area measurements of woodlands shall be understood
to include the canopy. It shall be further defined as an area or stand
of trees whose combined canopy is 1/2 acre or more in extent and consists
of at least 50% of canopy trees which have a diameter at breast height
(DBH) of three inches or more.
