(a) (1) The Board of Commissioners, within 60 days following the conclusion of the public hearing(s) provided for in this chapter, shall by official written communication to the applicant either:
A. Grant tentative approval of the development plan submitted;
B. Grant tentative approval subject to specified conditions not included in the development plan as submitted; or
C. Deny tentative approval to the development plan.
(2) Failure to do so within said period shall be deemed to be a grant of tentative approval of the development plan as submitted. In the event, however, that tentative approval is granted subject to conditions, the applicant may, within 30 days after receiving a copy of the official written communication from the Board of Commissioners, notify the Board of Commissioners of his or her refusal to accept all said conditions, in which case, the Board of Commissioners shall be deemed to have denied tentative approval of the development plan. In the event the applicant does not, within said period, notify the Board of Commissioners of his or her refusal to accept all said conditions, tentative approval of the development plan, with all said conditions, shall stand as granted.
(b) The grant or denial of tentative approval by official written communication shall include not only conclusions but also findings of fact related to the specific proposal and shall set forth the reasons for the grant, with or without conditions, or for the denial, and said communication shall set forth with particularity in what respects the development plan would or would not be in the public interest, including, but not limited to, findings of fact and conclusions on the following:
(1) Those respects in which the development is or is not consistent with the Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan for Aston, Upper Chichester and Lower Chichester Townships and the development of the township;
(2) The extent to which the development plan departs from zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the subject property, including, but not limited to, density, bulk and use, and the reasons why such departures are or are not deemed to be in the public interest;
(3) The purpose, location and amount of the common open space in the development, the reliability of the proposals for maintenance and conservation of the common open space, and the adequacy or inadequacy of the amount and purpose of the common open space as related to the proposed density and type of residential development;
(4) The proposed systems for sanitary sewers, water supply, stormwater control and soil erosion and sedimentation control, and the manner in which said proposals adequately or inadequately address the construction, operation and maintenance of such systems;
(5) The physical design of the development plan and the manner in which said design does or does not make adequate provision for public services, provide adequate control over vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and further the amenities of light and air, recreation and visual enjoyment;
(6) The relationship, beneficial or adverse, of the proposed development to the neighborhood in which it is proposed to be established; and
(7) In the case of a development plan which proposes development over a period of years, the sufficiency of the terms and conditions intended to protect the interests of the public and of the residents of the development in the integrity of the development plan.
(c) In the event a development plan is granted tentative approval, with or without conditions, the Board of Commissioners may set forth in the official written communication the time within which an application for final approval of the development plan shall be filed or, in the case of a development plan which provides for development over a period of years, the periods of time within which applications for final approval of each part thereof shall be filed. Except upon the consent of the Board of Commissioners, the time so established between the grant of tentative approval and application for final approval shall be not less than three months nor more than one year and, in the case of development over a period of years, the time between applications for final approval of each part of the plan shall be not less than 12 months nor more than 18 months.
(Ord. 896, passed 12-21-2011)