The following is a list of specific terms, found
elsewhere in this chapter, along with definitions of their intended
meanings:
ALLEY
A permanent service way providing a secondary means of access
to abutting lands.
ALL-WEATHER SURFACED
The surfacing of a street, parking area, access or walkway
to a mud-free or otherwise permanently passable condition during all
seasons of the year and under adverse weather conditions. Macadam,
gravel, crushed stone and shale surfaces will all suffice to meet
this test, but the depth and installation of the material shall be
subject to the approval of the Borough Engineer.
APPLICANT
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development, including his heirs, successors
and assigns.
BERM OR SHOULDER
That portion of a roadway between the outer edge of the traveled
way or pavement and the point of intersection of the slope lines at
the outer edge of the roadway, for the accommodation of stopped vehicles
and for lateral support.
BLOCK
A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of
streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines
or watercourses or boundary lines of the Borough.
BUILDING
Any structure which is permanently affixed to the land, has
one (1) or more floors or stories and is bounded by either lot lines
or yards. A "building" shall not include such structures as billboards
or fences; or structures with interior surfaces not normally accessible
to human use, such as gas tanks, grain elevators, coal bunkers or
similar structures. A "building" may accommodate more than one (1)
family and have more than one (1) dwelling unit and be used for residential
or commercial or manufacturing purposes. Mobile homes shall be considered
"buildings" but recreational vehicles shall not.
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE
An area of unobstructed vision at a street intersection(s),
defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from
the intersecting street right-of-way lines.
COMMISSION
The Matamoras Borough Planning Commission.
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 designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of the development. It does
not include streets, off-street parking areas and areas set aside
for utility placement, rights-of-way or similar public facilities.
COMMON PROPERTY
All of the land and improvements part of a subdivision or
land development which is to be jointly owned and maintained by the
lot owners, lessees and/or members of the development and identified
as such by the subdivider on any plan offered to the Borough for approval.
COMMONWEALTH
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and any of its departments
or agencies.
COUNTY
The County of Pike, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and its
Planning Commission.
CUL-DE-SAC
A minor street intersecting another street at one end and
terminated at the other by a vehicular turnaround.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation, by its owner, of land for any
general or public uses. This shall not be construed as acceptance
by the Borough of responsibility for maintenance and/or ownership
of such land and attendant facilities, except where appropriate legal
documents specifically relating to the same have been executed.
DER
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.
DEVELOPER
The owner or authorized agent of the owner, including but
not limited to any individual, partnership or corporation that undertakes
a subdivision or land development or any of the activities covered
by this chapter, particularly the preparation of a subdivision plan
showing the layout of the land and the public improvements involved
therein. The term "developer" is intended to include the term "subdivider,"
even though the personnel involved in successive stages of this project
may vary.
DRIVEWAY
A defined private access from an individual lot to a public
or approved private right-of-way.
DWELLING
A building arranged, intended, designed or used as the living
quarters for one (1) or more families living independently of each
other upon the premises. The term "dwelling" shall not be deemed to
include hotel, motel, rooming house or tourist home.
A.
SINGLE-FAMILYA building arranged, designed and intended for and occupied exclusively by one (1) family.
B.
TWO-FAMILYA building arranged, designed and intended for and occupied by two (2) families living independently and having no cooking or sanitary facilities in common with any other dwelling unit.
C.
MULTIFAMILYA building arranged, designed and intended for and occupied by three (3) or more families living independently and having no cooking or sanitary facilities in common with any other dwelling unit; including apartment houses, apartment hotels, flats and garden apartments.
EASEMENT
A right-of-way granted, but not dedicated, for limited use
of private land for a public or quasi-public or private purpose and
within which the lessee or owner of the property shall not erect any
permanent structure, but shall have the right to make any other use
of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights of the grantee.
FILING DATE
The date of the regular meeting of the Planning Commission
next following the date an application for preliminary or final approval
of a subdivision or land development is received by the Planning Commission
Secretary. If said next regular meeting occurs more than thirty (30)
days following its receipt, the "filing date" shall be the 30th day
following its receipt by the Secretary. Submissions lacking information
required by this chapter will not be considered filed.
INTERIOR STREETS (ACCESS DRIVES)
Streets intended to provide access to lots bordering a public
right-of-way to which access has been limited or prohibited and generally
running parallel to such right-of-way.
LOT
A tract or parcel of land held in single or joint ownership,
not necessarily shown on a duly recorded map, which is occupied or
capable of being occupied by buildings, structures and accessory buildings,
including such open spaces as are arranged, designed or required.
The term "lot" shall also mean "parcel," "plot," "site" or any similar
term.
A.
LOT AREAThe area of land contained within the limits of the property lines bounding that lot. Any portion of a lot included in a street right-of-way shall not be included in calculating "lot area."
B.
LOT WIDTHThe average of the widths of a lot at the building setback line and the rear lot line.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION
Any subdivision or land development which is not a minor
subdivision or is a recreational subdivision or land development,
a mobile home park or a land development designed to accommodate commercial
and industrial uses, multifamily dwellings or two-family dwellings.
Any subdivision which involves the utilization of off-site sewage
disposal systems or water supplies, the construction of any streets
or the utilization of clustering techniques shall also be considered
a "major subdivision," regardless of the number of lots or other considerations.
MINOR SUBDIVISION
A subdivision or development containing not more than three
(3) lots, or a cumulative development on a lot-by-lot basis for a
total of three (3) lots, of any original tract of land of record (i.e.,
not previously subdivided or developed subsequent to the effective
date of this chapter by the owner or the owner's duly appointed agent)
where no new streets or accesses are required. Use of the land is
limited to a single-family dwelling. "Minor subdivisions" shall otherwise
meet the definition of a "Supplement to the Borough Official Plan"
as provided for in Chapter 71 of the Regulations of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Resources.
OFFICIAL WASTEWATER DISPOSAL PLAN
A comprehensive plan for the provision of adequate sewage
systems, adopted by a municipality or municipalities possessing authority
or jurisdiction over the provision of such systems and submitted to
and approved by the State Department of Environmental Resources, as
provided by the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act and Chapter 71, Rules and Regulations, promulgated thereunder.
OFF-SITE SEWAGE AND WATER SUPPLY
A sewage system or water supply system designed to serve
more than one (1) dwelling unit or building; not including the use
of a single well or disposal system for two (2) dwellings on the same
parcel of land.
PARCEL
An area of land resulting from the division of a tract of
land for the purposes of transfer of ownership, use or improvement.
PAVEMENT
Improvement of the traveled portion of a roadway with a hard,
solid surface material conforming to the standards of the Matamoras
Borough Road Ordinance.
PERFORMANCE OR COMPLETION GUARANTY
A surety bond, certified check or other security meeting
the requirements of Act 247 (Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code) and the terms of which are satisfactory to the Borough
Solicitor, guaranteeing that the subdivider will install all required
or planned improvements.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private
association or corporation or other entity.
PLAN OR PLOT
A map or chart indicating the subdivision or resubdivision
of land, which in its various stages of preparation can include the
following:
A.
SKETCH PLANAn informal plan, identified as such with the title "Sketch Plan" on the map, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of the proposed subdivision, to be used as a basis for consideration by the Borough.
B.
PRELIMINARY PLANA complete plan prepared by a registered professional engineer or registered surveyor, identified as such with the wording "Preliminary Plan" in the title, accurately showing proposed streets and lot layout and such other information as required by this chapter.
C.
FINAL PLANA complete and exact plan, identified as such with the wording "Final Plan" in the title, with professional engineer's or registered surveyor's seal affixed and prepared for official recording as required by this chapter, to define property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS
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 11-1-2005 by Ord. No. 281]
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER OR ENGINEER
A person registered and licensed to practice engineering
within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Borough Engineer shall
be a professional engineer licensed as such by the commonwealth and
appointed or hired on a consulting basis to provide engineering advice
to the Borough.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable
and desirable lots from raw acreage, including but not limited to
grading, pavements, curbs, storm and sanitary sewers, gutters, drains
and betterments to existing watercourses, sidewalks, street signs,
crosswalks, shade trees, sodding or seeding, street name signs and
monuments.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice [given not more than thirty (30) days and not fewer
than fourteen (14) days in advance of any public hearing required
by the Act]. Such notice shall be published once each week for two
(2) successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Borough. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing
and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing.
The first publication shall be not more than thirty (30) days or fewer
than fourteen (14) days from the date of the hearing.
RECREATIONAL LAND DEVELOPMENT
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land,
by any means, into two (2) or more lots, tracts, parcels or other
divisions of land, including changes in existing lot line for the
purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, rent, sale or transfer
of ownership, for the purpose of providing a site for travel trailers,
truck campers, camper trailers, motor homes and tents for transient
use. Campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, primitive camping facilities
and other similar facilities shall fall under this definition.
A.
TRANSIENT RECREATIONAL SUBDIVISIONS OR LAND DEVELOP-MENTSPublicly operated facilities or businesses offering sites with the usual accessory recreational and service facilities, not normally including eating facilities, for use for tent camping and/or recreational vehicle camping by the public at large on a transient basis. Sites are rented on a daily or weekly basis.
B.
NONTRANSIENT RECREATIONAL SUBDIVISIONS OR LAND DEVELOP-MENTSPlanned private communities with recreational and service facilities, including central water and sewage and usually a restaurant and/or bar, lounge, chapel and community hall, for use only by occupants of tent and/or recreational vehicle sites within the campground. Sites may be owned in common or may be owned individually by deed conveyance or may be leased on an annual basis.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicular unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters
for recreational camping or travel use, which either has its own motive
power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic entities
are travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper and motor home.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
Land reserved for use as a street, alley, interior walk or
for other public purposes. The "right-of-way" shall not be considered
as land area when computing lot size.
SETBACK OR BUILDING LINE
The line within a property defining the required minimum
distances between any structure and the adjacent right-of-way or property
line of any lot. The "setback" shall be measured from the edge of
the right-of-way bordering the property.
SEWAGE PERMIT
A form filled out and issued by the Matamoras Borough certified
Sewage Enforcement Officer, based on his inspection of the proposed
site for installation of an on-lot sewer system.
SIGHT DISTANCE
The distance one can see in any direction from a given point
on a street.
SOILS EVALUATION BY TEST PIT METHOD
The excavation of a hole on a lot, tract or parcel to reveal
soil and rock strata, followed by evaluation and preparation of a
soils log by a qualified soils scientist or otherwise qualified individual
as designated by the Council, for the purpose of determining suitability
for on-lot sewage disposal, soils bearing capacity and other determinations.
STREET
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way, intended
for use as means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation.
A.
MAJOR TRAFFIC STREETSThose servicing large volumes of comparatively high-speed and long-distance traffic, and including facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
B.
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.
C.
MINOR STREETSThose which primarily provide access to abutting properties.
D.
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETSThose parallel to major traffic or collector streets and providing access primarily to abutting properties.
E.
STREET WIDTHThe shortest distance between the lines delineating the right-of-way of a street.
SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
A.
SUBDIVISIONA division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two (2) 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.
B.
LAND DEVELOPMENTThe improvement of one (1) or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
(1)
A group of two (2) or more buildings, including
mobile homes, used for residential, business, industrial or other
nonresidential purposes.
(2)
The division or allocation of land or space
between or among two (2) or more existing or prospective occupants
by means of or for the purpose of streets, common areas, leaseholds,
condominiums, building groups or other features. (Usually this includes
the leasing of land but it may include the leasing of building or
other space.) Examples of such "land developments" include campgrounds,
apartment complexes, shopping centers and some industrial parks.
SURVEYOR
A registered land surveyor licensed by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
WATERCOURSE
A discernible, definable natural course or channel along
which water is conveyed ultimately to streams and/or rivers at lower
elevations. A "watercourse" may originate from a lake or underground
spring(s) and be permanent in nature, or it may originate from temporary
sources such as runoff from rain or melting snow.