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Township of Caln, PA
Chester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (6) Index
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Caln Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance of 1978."
The purpose of this chapter is:
A. 
To assist in the orderly, efficient and integrated development of land in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan.
B. 
To facilitate the movement of traffic.
C. 
To ensure coordination and conformance of subdivision and land development plans with the public improvement plans of the Township.
D. 
To provide for the proper extension of community services and facilities at minimum cost and maximum convenience.
E. 
To ensure equitable handling of all subdivision and land development plans by providing uniform standards and procedures.
F. 
To promote the general health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Township.
A. 
Article V, Section 501 of Act 247 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended,[1] enables the Board of Commissioners to regulate subdivisions and land development within the Township by enacting a Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10501.
B. 
No subdivision of any lot, tract or parcel of land, or land development, shall be effected, and no street, alley, sanitary sewer, stormwater sewer, water main or other facilities in connection therewith shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public or private use, except in strict accordance with these regulations.
C. 
No lot in a subdivision or land development may be sold, no permit to erect, alter or repair any building upon land in a subdivision or land development may be issued, and no building may be erected in a subdivision or land development unless and until a subdivision or land development plan has been approved and, where required, recorded, and until the required improvements in connection therewith have either been constructed or the completion thereof has proof of a bond or the deposit of funds or securities, in escrow, sufficient to cover the cost of the required improvements, as estimated by the Township Engineer.
The Board of Commissioners shall have jurisdiction and control of subdivision and land development within the Township limits. In order that the actions of the Board of Commissioners under this chapter may be correlated with all relevant data and procedures, the Board of Commissioners hereby designates the Township Planning Commission as the agency of the Board of Commissioners:
A. 
To which all applications relating to either preliminary or final approval of subdivision and land development plans shall be referred upon submission to the Board of Commissioners.
B. 
With which applicants shall hold all preliminary consultations relating to the plans.
C. 
Which shall make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning approval, disapproval, modification and conditions of approval of such plans.
D. 
Which shall make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning the interpretation of and the granting of modifications to provisions and standards of this chapter.
A. 
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the terms as set forth in this chapter shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings indicated. 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. The word "building" shall be construed as if followed by the words "or part thereof." The word "watercourse" includes "drain," "ditch" and "stream." The words "shall" and "will" are mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.
AGENT
Any person, other than the developer, who, acting for the developer, submits to the Board of Commissioners subdivision or land development plans for the purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
ALLEY
A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
APPLICANT
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has filed an application for development, including his heirs, successors and assigns.
APPLICATION
A form available at the Township office containing a checklist of plan requirements and other general information used for administrative purposes to aid in the review of the subdivision or land development plan.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Those practices and methodologies specified in The Pennsylvania Handbook of Best Management Practices for Developing Areas, prepared by CH2MHILL, Spring 1998 or latest edition.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
BLOCK
An area bounded by three or more streets.
BOARD
The Board of Commissioners of Caln Township.
BOULEVARD
A two-way access street to a commercial, industrial or residential development, one such access for ingress and one such access for egress, separated by a planted landscape center island, which island shall continuously be maintained as such by the property owners formed for the development which the boulevard serves or the owners of the development.
[Added 10-9-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-15]
CALIPER
The diameter of a tree trunk measured at a point four feet from the ground elevation.
[Amended 6-10-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-7]
CARTWAY
The surface of a street or alley available for vehicular traffic.
CLEAR SIGHT DISTANCE
A line of unobstructed vision from a point 4 1/2 feet above the center line of a street to the nearest point at the top of an object four inches high on the same center line.
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of street center lines.
COMMON OPEN SPACE
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water, within a development site and intended for the use or enjoyment of its residents, not including streets, off-street parking areas and areas set aside for public facilities.
CROSSWALK
A right-of-way, municipally or privately owned, intended to furnish access for pedestrians.
CUL-DE-SAC
A minor street originating at a through street at one end and terminating at the other end with a vehicular turnaround or by looping back to itself, i.e., a single access street having only one access originating at a through street. A cul-de-sac street shall be measured beginning from the edge of the right-of-way of the through street from which it originates and terminating at its furthest point of paved cartway.
[Amended 9-11-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-4]
CULVERT
An enclosed water carrying structure of one or more barrels having a combined span less than eight feet and having a total flow area greater than forty-eight-inch diameter.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
DETENTION BASIN
A basin designed to drain completely after retarding stormwater runoff by temporarily storing the runoff and releasing it at a predetermined rate.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
DEVELOPER
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.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
DOUBLE FRONTAGE LOT
A lot with front and rear street frontage.
DRAINAGE EASEMENT
A right granted by a landowner to a grantee allowing the use of private land for stormwater management purposes.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
DRAINAGE FACILITY
Any ditch, gutter, pipe, culvert, storm sewer or other structure designed, intended or constructed for the purpose of diverting surface waters from or carrying surface waters off streets, public rights-of-way, parks, recreational areas or any part of any subdivision, land development or contiguous land areas.
EASEMENT
A right-of-way granted for limited use of land for public, quasi-public or private purpose.
ELEVATION
The horizontal alignment of a surface, as it exists or as it is made by cut and/or fill.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
(1) 
FLOOR ELEVATIONThe elevation of the lowest level of a particular building, including the basement.
(2) 
ROAD GRADEThe rate of rise and fall of a road surface, measured along the profile of the center of the cartway.
EROSION
The removal of soil particles by the action of water, wind, ice or other geological agents.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
FILL
Material placed or deposited so as to form an embankment or raise the surface elevation of the land, including but not limited to levees, bulkheads, dikes, jetties, embankments and causeways.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
FIRE APPARATUS ACCESS ROAD
A road that provides fire apparatus access from the fire station to a facility, building or portion thereof. This is a general term inclusive of all other terms such as fire lane, public street, private street, parking lot lane and access roadway.
[Added 3-31-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-3]
FLAG LOT
An interior lot that has an access strip not less than 50 feet in width that connects to a street. Said access strip shall be within the title lines of the lot. The minimum lot area and other dimensional requirements shall be those of the applicable zoning district and shall be met on that portion of the lot exclusive of the access strip. The access strip shall not be includable for purposes of calculating lot area. If a configuration of the lot meets this definition of a flag lot, it shall retain its classification as a flag lot even if access to the lot is by means other than the access strip.
[Added 9-11-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-4]
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies; infiltration.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
HALF OR PARTIAL STREET
A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line, having a right-of-way width less than normally required for a satisfactory improvement and use of the street.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
A surface which prevents the percolation of water into the ground.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
IMPROVEMENTS
Those physical additions and changes to the land that may be necessary to produce usable and desirable developments.
IMPROVEMENTS AGREEMENT
A list of improvements prepared by the Township Engineer which the developer agrees to install as a prerequisite to final plan approval.
INFILTRATION
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies; groundwater recharge.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
INFILTRATION STRUCTURES
A structure designed to direct runoff into the ground.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
LAND DEVELOPMENT
(1) 
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for the purpose involving a group of two or more principal buildings, or the division or allocation of land or space 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.
(2) 
A subdivision of land.
LAND DEVELOPMENT, MAJOR
See “major land development.”
[Added 6-26-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-12]
LAND DEVELOPMENT, MINOR
See “minor land development.”
[Added 6-26-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-12]
LANDOWNER
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 shall be deemed to be a "landowner" for the purposes of this chapter.
LOT
A designated parcel of land intended for transfer of ownership, use, improvement and/or dedication in accordance with the following:
[Amended 9-11-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-4]
(1) 
Lots shall conform to the Township Zoning Ordinance.[1]
(2) 
All lots shall abut a public street or shall have access to an approved private street. In general, side lot lines shall be at right angles or radial to street lines. If, after subdividing, there exist remnants of land, they shall be included in the area of proposed or existing lots.
(3) 
Double frontage lots are prohibited.
(4) 
Reverse frontage lots are encouraged.
(5) 
The number of lots permitted in a particular subdivision shall be determined by the following schedule:
(a) 
One to four lots = zero flag lots.
(b) 
Five to 15 lots = one flag lot.
(c) 
Sixteen to 25 lots = two flag lots.
(d) 
Twenty-six to 39 lots = three flag lots.
(e) 
Forty and over = 10% of total lots with no rounding.
LOT AREA
The area contained within the property lines of the individual parcels of land and existing right-of-way line, including the area of any easement. Minimum lot area is the same area as lot area, but it excludes all areas within the right-of-way for a street.
MAJOR LAND DEVELOPMENT
Any land development which does not meet the criteria for a minor land development.
[Added 6-26-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-12]
MINOR LAND DEVELOPMENT
A land development which complies with all of the criteria set forth in § 137-14.1 of this chapter.
[Added 6-26-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-12]
PEAK DISCHARGE
The maximum rate of flow of water at a given point and time resulting from a specified storm event.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
PERMANENT POOL CONDITION
A condition where water exists in a stormwater retention facility on a permanent basis.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
PIPE
An enclosed water-carrying structure of one or more barrels having a total flow area equivalent to forty-eight-inch diameter or less.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
PLAN, FINAL
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan prepared for official recording as required by statute to define property rights, proposed streets and other public improvements.
PLANNING COMMISSION
The Planning Commission of the Township of Caln.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY
A tentative subdivision or land development plan in lesser detail than the final plan, indicating the approximate proposed layout of the area to be subdivided and/or developed as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of the final plan.
PLAN, SKETCH
An informal plan, not necessarily to exact scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surrounding and general layout of the proposed subdivision or land development.
PLANTING STRIP
The unpaved portion of a street right-of-way.
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS
Any persons who provide expert or professional advice, including but not limited to architects, attorneys, certified public accountants, engineers, geologists, land surveyors, landscape architects or planners.
[Added 5-26-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-6]
PROJECT SITE
An area of land under development and within the jurisdiction of this chapter.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
RETENTION BASIN
A basin designed to retain stormwater runoff with its primary release of water being through the infiltration of said water into the ground.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
REVERSE FRONTAGE LOT
A lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial or collector street and on a local street, with vehicular access solely from the latter.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
A strip of land granted for public or private use.
RUNOFF
That part of precipitation which flows over the land.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
SECRETARY
Whenever any duty is imposed under the terms of this chapter upon the Township Secretary, the same shall be deemed to include and may be performed by any Assistant Secretary lawfully appointed or by the Township Manager.
SEDIMENT
Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported or has been moved from its site of origin by water.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
SEDIMENT BASIN
A barrier, dam, retention or detention basin designed to retain sediment.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
SEEPAGE PIT/SEEPAGE TRENCH
An area of excavated earth filled with loose stone or similar material and into which stormwater runoff is directed for infiltration into the ground.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
SETBACK LINE
A line parallel to, and at a prescribed distance from, a public or private street as specified in the Township Zoning Ordinance[2] which determines an area within which no structure may be erected; the minimum front yard requirement.
STORM SEWER
A system of pipes, conduits, swales or other similar structures, including appurtenant works, which carries intercepted runoff and other drainage but excludes domestic sewage and industrial wastes.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
STORMWATER
Drainage runoff from the surface of the land resulting from precipitation or snow or ice melt.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
A program of controls and measures designed to regulate the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff from a development while promoting the protection and conservation of groundwaters and groundwater recharge.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITIES
Those controls and measures used to effect a stormwater management program.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
STREET
A street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other strip of land, including the entire right-of-way used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private.
(1) 
LOCAL STREET (LOCAL ACCESS ROADS)A street used primarily to provide access to abutting properties.
(a) 
CUL-DE-SACA street not exceeding 1,600 feet in length (measured from the center line of the closest through street with which it connects) originating at a through street at one end and terminating at the other in a vehicular turnaround.
(b) 
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETA street parallel and adjacent to an arterial street, providing access to abutting properties and control of intersections with collector or arterial streets.
(2) 
COLLECTOR STREETSThose which, in addition to giving access to abutting properties, intercept minor streets and provide routes, carrying considerable volumes of traffic, to community facilities and to major traffic streets.
(3) 
MAJOR TRAFFIC STREETSThose serving larger volumes of traffic between communities, and includes facilities classified as Class II and Class III highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways.
(4) 
ARTERIAL HIGHWAYSThose with more than two lanes, both limited access and nonlimited access, which provide for large volumes of traffic between major population centers.
(5) 
SERVICE DRIVEA street primarily for service access to the back or sides of properties.
STREET, PRIVATE
Those streets not offered for dedication.
STRUCTURE
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
SUBDIVIDER
The owner of a subdivision or the authorized agent of the owner.
SUBDIVISION
A division of a single lot, tract or parcel of land, or a part thereof, into two or more lots, tracts or parcels of land, including changes in street lines or lot lines, for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership or of building development, provided that a division of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres and not involving any new streets or easements shall not be deemed a subdivision.
(1) 
Where land is being conveyed solely for the purpose of increasing the size of an existing lot, the following note shall be placed on the plan: "The lot is to be used for additional yard area only and will not be used for building purposes except extensions of existing buildings or additional drainage requirements."
(2) 
The creation of a mortgage encumbering real estate is deemed to be a subdivision if it encumbers less than the entire tract of land standing in the mortgagor's name at the time the mortgage is created.
(3) 
The term "subdivision" includes resubdivision and, as appropriate in this chapter, shall refer to the process of subdividing land or to the land subdivided.
SUBDIVISION, MAJOR
Any subdivision not a minor subdivision.
[Added 5-12-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-9]
SUBDIVISION, MINOR
A subdivision involving up to five lots and proposing no new streets or public improvements or common amenities.
[Added 5-12-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-9]
SURFACE DRAINAGE PLAN
A plan showing all present and proposed grades and facilities for stormwater drainage.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
SWALE
A wide shallow ditch which carries surface water runoff.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
TOWNSHIP ENGINEER
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the engineer for the Township.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook, run, creek, channel, swale, pond, lake or other body of surface water carrying or holding surface water, whether natural or artificial.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
WATERSHED
All the land from which water drains into a particular watercourse.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
WETLANDS
Those 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, prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.
[Added 3-29-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 155, Zoning.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 155, Zoning.
[Amended 12-17-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-14]
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated the provisions of this Chapter 137 shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, pay a judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Township 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 District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township 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 District Justice determining that there has been a violation further determines that there was a good faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating the 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.
Description of lots or parcels by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the transaction from the penalties or remedies outlined in §§ 137-3 and 137-6.