A.
Subdivision
and land development control. It shall be unlawful for the owner or
any other person, firm, or corporation owning or controlling any land
in the Township to subdivide any lot, tract, parcel of land, or interior
or exterior space by leasehold or other means, or to lay out, construct,
open or dedicate for public use or travel, any street, sanitary or
storm sewer drainage facility, or other facilities in connection therewith,
for the common use of occupants of buildings within the subdivision
or land development, unless and until final plans of such subdivision
or land development shall have been:
(2)
Signed
by the record owners of the land, with said signature notarized;
(3)
Submitted
to and approved in writing thereon by Council and recorded in the
Bucks County Recorder of Deeds Office in Doylestown, Pennsylvania;
and
(4)
The
improvements required by Council in connection therewith have either
been constructed or Council has been assured of proper completion
by the deposit of funds or securities in escrow, sufficient to cover
the cost of the required improvements and inspections as determined
by the methods set forth by this chapter.
B.
Sale of
lots; issuance of building permits; erection of buildings.
(1)
No
lot in a subdivision may be sold, and no permit to erect, alter, or
repair any building upon land in a subdivision or land development
may be issued unless and until the plan has received final approval
and until the municipal improvements required by Council in connection
therewith have either been constructed or guaranteed as hereinafter
provided.
(2)
No
building in a subdivision or land development depending on ingress
and egress upon the improvement of any street or streets, herein provided
for, shall be permitted to be occupied before improvements are fully
completed from an existing paved street to, and across the front of
the lot on which the building is located, and/or to a sufficient depth
along the side of the lot to service any driveway or parking spaces.
(3)
No
building without adequate water and sewer facilities shall be issued
a permanent occupancy permit before such facilities are fully provided
and operational and have the approval of the County Health Department
and/or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A.
In addition
to other remedies, the Township may institute and maintain appropriate
actions by law or in equity to restrain, correct or abate violations,
to prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages and to prevent
illegal occupancy of a building, structure or premises. 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 such penalties or from the remedies provided
herein.
B.
The Township
may refuse to issue any permit or grant any approval necessary to
further improve or develop any real property which has been developed
or which has resulted from a subdivision of real property in violation
of any ordinance adopted pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, Act 247, as amended.[1] This authority to deny such a permit or approval shall
apply to any of the following applicants: the owner of record at the
time of such violation; 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 knowledge of the violation; 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; 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.
As an additional condition for issuance of a permit or the granting
of an approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee
for the development of such real property, the Township may require
compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable to
the property at the time that the applicant acquired an interest in
such property.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
A.
Any persons,
partnership, or corporation who or which has violated the provisions
of any subdivision or land development ordinance enacted under this
act or prior enabling laws 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
attorney fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. No judgment
shall commence or be imposed, levied or be payable until the date
of the determination of a violation by the District Justice. If the
defendant neither pays nor appeals the judgment in a timely manner,
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
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 District Justice, and thereafter each day that a violation
continues shall constitute a separate violation.
B.
The Court
of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause
shown, tolling the per diem judgment pending a final adjudication
of the violation and judgment.
C.
The Township
shall have the sole right to commence actions of enforcement pursuant
to this section.
