(a) Each application for improvement of land of a residential development, PRD excluded, shall set aside 2,000 square feet of land for each residential dwelling unit in the proposed development for park and recreational use, and each application for improvement of land of a commercial or industrial development shall set aside 5% of the land in the tract proposed to be developed for park and recreational use.
(b) In lieu of setting aside land for park and recreational use, the applicant for improvement of land shall pay to the township an amount calculated as follows: an amount equal to the average fair market value per acre of the undeveloped land as part of an approved improvement of land, multiplied by the amount of land required to be reserved for park and recreational use as set forth in subsection (a) above. Payment shall be due and payable upon approval of the application for improvement of land and/or the execution by the applicant of any required development agreement. The average fair market value shall be as determined between the township and the applicant, and absent such an agreement the average fair market value shall be determined by common law arbitration with the parties agreeing on a single arbitrator. If the parties are unable to agree upon a single arbitrator, the parties shall petition the Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the county for designation of a single arbitrator. The cost of the arbitration and the cost of petitioning the Presiding Judge shall be equally divided between the township and the applicant. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the parties. Upon the selection of the arbitrator, the applicant shall deposit with the township financial security equal to the payment due as determined by the township.
(c) All moneys paid and authorized under this chapter shall be placed by the township and deposited in an interest-bearing account clearly identifying the recreational facilities for which the fee was received. Interest earned on such account shall become funds of that account. Funds from such account shall be expended only in properly allocable portions of the cost incurred to construct the specific recreation facilities for which the funds were collected.
(d) Upon the request of any person who paid any fee under this chapter, the municipality shall refund such fee, plus interest accumulated thereon from the date of payment, if the township has failed to utilize the fees paid for the purposes set forth in this section within three years from the date such fees were paid.
(Ord. 657, passed 10-18-1989)