For the purpose of this title, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ADDITIONS, NONRESIDENTIAL. An increase in the size of a nonresidential building. Such addition shall be regarded as a land development which must be submitted to the Township Planning Commission, Township Engineer and County Planning Department for review in cases where it would increase the floor area of the building by 50% or more.
ALLEY. A paved lane which provides secondary service access for vehicles to the side or rear of abutting properties.
ALTERATION. A change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the means of egress, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing the height, or moving from one location or position to another.
APPLICANT. A landowner or developer who has filed an application for development, including his or her heirs, successors and assigns.
APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT. Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final, required to be filed and approved prior to the start of construction or development, including, but not limited to, an application for a building permit, for the approval of a subdivision plat or plan or for the approval of a development plan.
AS BUILT PLAN. A plan prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor, bearing his or her seal, indicating the location and elevation of all public improvements, including, but not limited to, curbs, sidewalks, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, water supply, gas and electric easements and stormwater detention facilities.
BAY. A regularly repeated unit on a building elevation defined by columns, pilasters or other vertical elements or defined by a given number of windows or openings.
BERM. A raised earth mound of sufficient height, which constitutes an effective screen and gives maximum protection and immediate visual screening.
BLANK WALL. An exterior building wall with no openings and generally constructed of a single material, uniform texture and on a single plane.
BLOCK. A tract of land bounded by streets or a combination of streets, railroad rights-of-way, waterways, public land, unsubdivided area or other definite barrier.
BUILDING. See STRUCTURE.
BUILDING COVERAGE. The ratio obtained by dividing the ground floor area of all principal and accessory buildings on a lot by the total area of the lot upon which the buildings are located.
BUILDING SCALE. The relationship between the mass of a building and its surroundings, including the width of streets, open space and mass of surrounding buildings.
CAPPED SEWER SYSTEM. A completed sewer system, including sewer lines, lateral connections and all other appurtenances which are capped and in place for future connection to an approved public sewer system.
CARTWAY. The paved surface of a street right-of-way which is available for vehicular traffic, including parking lanes but excluding shoulders, drainage swales and curbs.
CATCH BASIN. An inlet designed to intercept and redirect surface waters.
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE. An area of unobstructed vision at a street intersection defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of the street centerlines.
COLUMN. A vertical pillar or shaft, usually structural.
COMMON OPEN SPACE. A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water, within a land development or a subdivision, designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents or occupants thereof, not including streets, off-street parking areas and areas set aside for public facilities.
CORNICE. The top part of an entablature, usually molded and projecting.
CUPOLA. A small roof tower, usually rising from the roof ridge.
CUL-DE-SAC. A street intersecting another street at one end and terminating at the other end in a vehicular turnaround.
CULVERT. A drain, ditch or conduit not incorporated in a closed system that carries drainage water under a street, driveway or sidewalk.
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 PLAN. The proposal for development, including a planned residential development, a plat of a subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of use or density of development, streets, ways and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities.
EASEMENT. A grant of property rights for the use of land by the property owner to another person, organization or entity for a specific purpose.
FASCIA. A projecting flat horizontal member or molding.
FENESTRATION. Window and other openings on a building facade.
GABLE. The part of the end wall of a building between the eaves and a pitched or gambrel roof.
GRADE. The change in elevation over a distance of 100 feet, expressed as a percentage.
HALF STREET. A street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line, having a lesser right- of-way width than normally required for satisfactory improvement and use of the street.
IMPROVEMENT. Grading, paving, curbing, street lights and signs, landscaping, water mains, hydrants, sanitary sewers, including laterals to the street, sidewalks, monuments and all other additions to the tract that are required by ordinance or necessary to result in a complete subdivision/land development in the fullest extent of the term.
LAND DEVELOPMENT. Any of the following activities:
(1) The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A. A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or tenure; or
B. The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially or cumulatively, 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, resubdivision or reverse subdivision of land; and
(3) See
ADDITIONS, NONRESIDENTIAL.
LAND DEVELOPMENT, EXCLUSIONS. The exclusion of certain land development shall include the following: the conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling or single-family semidetached dwelling into not more than three residential units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium.
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 or she is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner or another person having a proprietary interest in land.
LINTEL. A horizontal beam over an opening in a masonry wall, either structural or decorative.
LOT. A parcel of land which is or may be occupied by a building and/or accessory structure or use, including open spaces and setbacks as are required within the zoning district in which the lot is located.
LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGE. A lot extending between and having frontage on two generally parallel streets with vehicular access from only one street.
MASSING. The three-dimensional bulk of a structure: height; width; and depth.
MOBILE HOME. A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit capable again of being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and which is constructed so that it may be used with or without a permanent foundation. This definition is in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
MOBILE HOME LOT. A parcel of land improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the placement thereon of a single mobile home.
MOBILE HOME PARK. A parcel or parcels of land, at least ten acres in area, under single or separate ownership, which have been planned and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use, consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
MONUMENTS and MARKERS. Structures which mark and identify a perimeter boundary, lot lines, street lines or corners of lots and streets.
NEW CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE. A committee consisting of three members of the Board of Commissioners appointed by the President of the Board of Commissioners for the purpose of reviewing all subdivision and land development applications presented to the township prior to presentation to the entire Board of Commissioners.
PILASTER. A column partially embedded in a wall, usually nonstructural.
PLAN, FINAL. A complete and exact plan, including all supplemental required data, prepared for official recording. The FINAL PLAN shall be prepared by a professional land surveyor, engineer, architect, or landscape architect. The metes and bounds for the outbounds survey of the site must be certified by a professional land surveyor registered in the commonwealth.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY. A plan, showing approximate proposed street and lot layout in lesser detail than a final plan, required as a basis for consideration by the township prior to preparation of a final plan, and prepared by a qualified professional surveyor, architect, engineer, or landscape architect.
PLAN, SKETCH. An informal plan indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development to be used as a basis for discussion and consideration by the township.
PLANNED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. A contiguous area of land, controlled by a landowner, to be developed as a single entity for a number of dwelling units and nonresidential uses. The development plan must comply with Chapter 1270 of the Zoning Code.
PLANNING MODULE. A Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection form used to evaluate proposed revisions to the municipal sewage facilities plan to accommodate specific sewage facilities for new land developments.
RESUBDIVISION. The further division of lots or the relocation of lot lines of any lot or lots within a subdivision previously made and approved or recorded; or the alteration of any streets or the establishment of any new streets within any such subdivision.
RETENTION/DETENTION BASIN. A pond, pool or basin used for the storage of stormwater runoff.
RHYTHM. The effect obtained through repetition of architectural elements, such as building height, rooflines or side yard setbacks; of streetscape elements, such as decorative lampposts; or of natural elements, such as street trees.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. Land acquired by reservation, dedication, prescription, condemnation or other legal manner and occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water line, watercourse or similar uses.
RUNOFF. The surface water or discharge of a given watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil but runs off the surface of the land.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL, ON-LOT. Any structure or system designed to treat sanitary sewage within the boundaries of an individual lot.
SEWAGE SYSTEM, COMMUNITY. A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried from individual dischargers by a system of pipes to a central treatment plant, commonly called a PACKAGE TREATMENT PLANT, generally serving a single land development, subdivision or neighborhood and operated by a governmental agency or authority, public utility company or developer.
SEWAGE SYSTEM, PUBLIC. A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried from individual dischargers through a system of pipes to a central treatment plant, generally serving a major portion of a municipality or municipalities and operated by a governmental agency or authority or public utility company.
SIGHT DISTANCE. The required length of road visible to the driver of a vehicle at any given point on the road when the view is unobstructed by traffic.
STORMWATER. Water which surfaces, flows or collects during and subsequent to rain or snowfall.
STREET, ARTERIAL. A street serving a large volume of comparatively high-speed and long distance traffic, including all facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
STREET, COLLECTOR. A street which carries traffic from local streets to arterial streets or to major facilities or developments.
STREET, LOCAL. A street used primarily to provide access to abutting properties and to conduct traffic to collector and arterial streets.
STRUCTURE. Any human-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
SUBDIVISION. The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two 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, partition by the court for distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than ten acres, not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be exempted.
SUBDIVISION, MAJOR. A subdivision resulting in the creation of five lots or more, or any nonresidential subdivision involving the extension of municipal facilities, the creation of a street or the extension of an existing street. Land developments shall also be considered MAJOR SUBDIVISIONS.
SUBDIVISION, MINOR. A subdivision resulting in the creation of four lots or less and which does not involve the construction or extension of any streets or municipal facilities.
SUBDIVISION, REVERSE. The combining of individual recorded lots to form a single tract in single ownership.
(Ord. 668, passed 10-17-1990; Ord. 952, passed 9-21-2016)