No final plat of any subdivision shall be entitled to be recorded in the Westmoreland County Office of the Recorder of Deeds or have any validity until it shall have been approved in the manner prescribed herein. In the event that any such unapproved plan is recorded, it shall be considered invalid and the Board shall institute proceedings to have the plan stricken from the records of the county.
No owner or agent of the owner of any land located within a subdivision shall transfer or sell any land by reference to, exhibition of or by the use of a plan or plat of a subdivision before such plan or plat has been approved and recorded in the manner prescribed herein. Any sale or transfer contrary to the provisions of this section is void. The description of such lot or parcel by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the transaction from the provisions of these regulations.
A. 
Building or repair permits shall not be issued for any structure on a lot in a subdivision for which a plat has not been approved and recorded in the manner prescribed herein.
B. 
No owner or agent of the owner of any land shall be entitled to a permit for the installation of wells and septic tanks upon any lots in a subdivision for which a plat has not been approved and recorded in the manner prescribed herein.
The Township hereby defines its policy to be that all public improvements of whatsoever nature, including the maintenance of streets and the furnishing of sewerage facilities and water service, will be withheld from all subdivisions which have not been approved and from all areas dedicated to the public which have not been accepted in the manner prescribed in Article IV, § 156-32.
No changes, erasures, modifications or revisions shall be made on any final plat of a subdivision after approval has been given and endorsed, in writing, on the plat, unless said plat is first resubmitted to the Commission and the Board.
A. 
Application filing fee. At the time of submitting a preliminary or final plan, the applicant shall pay an application filing fee and the amount shall be determined by a schedule adopted from time to time by resolution of the Board. The application filing fee shall cover the costs associated with processing an application for approval of a subdivision or land development. The filing fee shall be paid in legal tender or by check or money order made payable to the Township and shall be deposited at the time an application is submitted with the Treasurer for transfer to the general fund.
B. 
Application review fees. Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary charges by the Township's professional consultants or the Township Engineer for review and report on the application to the Township. Such review fees shall be based upon a schedule established from time to time by resolution of the Board. Such review fees shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary charges by the Township Engineer or other consultants for similar service in the community, but in no event shall fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Township Engineer or other consultants to the Township when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.
(1) 
In the event that the applicant disputes the amount of any such review fees, the applicant shall, within 10 days of the billing date, notify the Township Secretary that such fees are disputed, in which case the Township shall not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land development application due to the applicant's request over disputed fees.
(2) 
In the event that the Township and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of the review fees which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and the Township shall follow the procedure for resolution of disputes set forth in Subsection C of this section.
C. 
Inspection fees. The Township may prescribe that the applicant shall reimburse the Township for the reasonable and necessary expense incurred for the inspection of improvements. Such reimbursement shall be based upon a schedule established from time to time by resolution of the Board. Such expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with ordinary and customary fees charged by the Township Engineer or consultant for work performed for similar services in the community, but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Township Engineer or consultant to the Township when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.
(1) 
In the event that the applicant disputes the amount of any such expense in connection with the inspection of improvements, the applicant shall, within 10 working days of the date of billing, notify the Township Secretary that such expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary, in which case the Township shall not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land development application or any approval or permit related to development due to the applicant's request over disputed engineer expenses.
(2) 
If, within 20 days from the date of billing, the Township and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and the Township shall jointly, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional engineer, licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to review said expenses and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable and necessary.
(3) 
The professional engineer so appointed shall hear such evidence and review such documentation as the professional engineer in his or her sole opinion deems necessary and shall render a decision within 50 days of the billing date. The applicant shall be required to pay the entire amount determined by the decision immediately.
(4) 
In the event that the Township and the applicant cannot agree upon the professional engineer to be appointed within 20 days of the billing date, then, upon application of either party, the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the judicial district in which the Township is located or, if at the time there is no President Judge, then the senior active Judge then sitting shall appoint such engineer who, in that case, shall be neither the Township Engineer nor any professional engineer who has been retained by or performed services for the Township or the applicant within the preceding five years.
(5) 
The fees of the appointed professional engineer for determining the reasonable and necessary expenses shall be paid by the applicant if the amount of payment required in the decision is equal to or greater than the original bill. If the amount of payment required in the decision is less than the original bill by $1,000 or more, the Township shall pay the fee of the professional engineer, but otherwise the Township and the applicant shall each pay 1/2 of the fee of the appointed professional engineer.
D. 
Inspection fee escrow and utility certificates. In order to defray a part of the costs incurred by the Township in inspecting the installation of the improvements required by this chapter to assure compliance with the requirements of this chapter, the developer shall, at the time he files the original tracing of the final plat of a subdivision with the Commission, present a certified check or money order made payable to the Township in an amount equal to 7% of the cost of all public improvements approved by the Engineer. The developer shall also present certificates from all utility companies, stating that the final plan meets their requirements and specifications insofar as the utility service which they provide is concerned.
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 herein provided.
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 this chapter. The authority to deny such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
(1) 
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
(2) 
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.
(3) 
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.
(4) 
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.
C. 
As an additional condition for the issuance of a permit or the granting of approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee for the development of any such real property, the Township may require compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable to the property at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such real property.
A. 
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated the provisions of this chapter 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 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 this 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.
B. 
The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem judgment pending final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
C. 
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant any person or entity other than the Township the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.