Loading...
(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)
(a) The official written communication provided for in § 1270.16 shall be certified by the Township Secretary and shall be filed in his or her office, and a certified copy shall be mailed to the applicant. Where tentative approval has been granted the same shall be noted on the zoning map.
(b) Tentative approval of a development plan shall not qualify a plot for recording nor authorize development or the issuance of any building permits. A development plan which has been given tentative approval with conditions which have been accepted by the applicant (and provided that the landowner has not defaulted nor violated any of the conditions of the tentative approval), shall not be modified or revoked nor otherwise impaired by action of the township pending an application or applications for final approval, without the consent of the applicant, provided an application for final approval is filed or, in the case of development over a period of years, provided applications are filed, within the periods of time specified in the official written communication granting tentative approval.
(c) In the event that a development plan is given tentative approval and thereafter, but prior to final approval, the applicant shall elect to abandon said development plan and shall so notify the Board of Commissioners in writing, or in the event the applicant shall fail to file application or applications for final approval within the required period of time or times, as the case may be, the tentative approval shall be deemed to be revoked and all that portion of the area included in the development plan for which final approval has not been given shall be subject to those local ordinances otherwise applicable thereto as they may be amended from time to time, and the same shall be noted on the zoning map and in the records of the Township Secretary.
(Ord. 896, passed 12-21-2011)
(a) (1) An application for final approval may be for all the land included in a development plan or, to the extent set forth in the tentative approval, a section thereof. Said application shall be made to the Board of Commissioners and within the time or times specified by the official written communication granting tentative approval as in § 1270.16 or as otherwise mutually agreed upon between the applicant and the Board of Commissioners and set forth in writing by the Board of Commissioners. If the application for final approval is in compliance with the tentatively approved development plan, a public hearing need not be held.
(2) The application for final approval shall consist of a plan or plans and accompanying documents which shall show and shall include the following information:
A. Development name or identifying title;
B. Municipality in which the development is located;
C. North arrow, scale and date;
D. Name of record owner of the tract and developer;
E. Name and seal of the registered professional engineer, landscape architect, land planner, architect or surveyor responsible for the plan;
F. Boundaries of the tract determined by accurate survey in the field, which shall be balanced and closed with an error of closure not to exceed one foot in 10,000;
G. Property lines within the development;
H. Lot areas (if any) to one one-thousandth of an acre;
I. Street lines, lot lines, rights-of-way, easements and areas dedicated to or proposed to be dedicated to public use. Profiles for all streets and for proposed sanitary and storm sewer mains, inlets and manholes, and the location of all utilities;
J. The length of all straight lines, radii, curves and tangent bearings for each street;
K. All dimensions and angles or bearings of the lines of each lot and of each area proposed to be dedicated to public use;
L. The designation of common open space, including the area contained therein;
M. Location, grades, length and width of all private driveways and all parking facilities and type of paving and other surface to be used;
N. Names proposed to be given to all streets;
O. Location of all structures;
P. Number of lots;
Q. Number of dwelling units by type and, where applicable, the number, location and square footage of areas to be devoted to nonresidential use;
R. Architectural drawings, floor plans and elevations to scale of all buildings, said drawings to bear the seal of the architect who has prepared same;
S. Total property area of the entire development tract and, in the case of development in sections, the size of the section for which plans are submitted;
T. All permanent monuments;
U. A final grading plan, including existing and proposed contours at vertical intervals of two feet, the lines thereof to be conspicuously distinguishable;
V. All existing watercourses, tree masses and other significant natural features, including all trees 12 inches in caliper or greater to be retained and/or to be removed;
W. A final soil erosion and sedimentation control plan;
X. A final landscaping plan, wherein existing and proposed plant materials are differentiated, a final plant list indicating the types, quantities and sizes of the proposed plant materials and typical planting details for tree planting and staking, shrub planting and the like;
Y. A final environmental impact assessment report; and
Z. Plan profile drawings of all streets meeting the design specifications of the latest adopted township subdivision regulations.
(b) The application for final approval shall also be accompanied by:
(1) Copies of deed restrictions and/or easements, if any, and other documents relating to title, use or occupancy;
(2) Copies of permits obtained under authority of statutes of the commonwealth of and/or the county regarding the provision for construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed sanitary sewer system, water supply system, soil erosion and sedimentation control system, and highway occupancy system;
(3) An affidavit that the applicant is the owner of the land proposed to be developed, or has been authorized by the landowner to be the applicant, supported by a copy of the written authority therefor;
(4) Offers of dedication and covenants and other documents governing the reservation and maintenance of undedicated open space, provided that all such offers of dedication and covenants shall bear the certificate of approval of the Township Solicitor as to their legal sufficiency and compliance herewith;
(5) Copies of the homeowners’ agreements for common open space not to be offered for dedication to the township;
(6) A statement duly acknowledged before an officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds and signed by the owner or owners of the property to the effect that the development as shown on the application for final approval is made with his, her or their free consent and that it is desired to record the application and accompanying documents upon their approval; and
(7) Such other related information as deemed necessary by the Board of Commissioners to make its determination.
(c) (1) Whenever a developer proposes to establish a street which is not offered for dedication and not required to be offered for dedication, he or she shall submit a copy of statements co-signed by the Township Solicitor, that he or she has made an agreement on behalf of his or her heirs and assigns with the township. Said agreement shall be subject to the Township Solicitor’s approval and shall be recorded with the plan.
(2) Said agreement shall establish the condition under which the streets may later be offered for dedication and stipulate among other things:
A. The street shall be in a good state of repair as certified by the Township Engineer, or that the owner or owners of the lots along it agree to include with the offer of dedication sufficient money, as estimated by the Township Engineer, to restore the street to conform with township design standards;
B. An offer to dedicate the street shall be made only for the street as a whole;
C. The method of assessing repair costs shall be as stipulated; and
D. Where applicable, agreement to offer the street for dedication by the owners of 60% of the lots shall be binding on owners of the remaining lots.
(d) In the event the application for final approval has been filed, together with all drawings, specifications, covenants, easements, performance bonds and other documents in support thereof, and as required by this Zoning Code and the official written communication for tentative approval, the township shall, within 45 days of such filing, grant such development plan final approval.
(e) (1) In the event the development plan as submitted contains variations from the development plan given tentative approval, the Board of Commissioners shall refuse to grant final approval and shall, within 45 days from the filing of the application for final approval, so advise the applicant in writing of said refusal, setting forth in said notice the reasons why one or more of said variations are not in the public interest.
(2) In the event of such refusal, the applicant may either:
A. Re-file his or her application for final approval without the variations objected to; or
B. File a written request with the Board of Commissioners that it hold a public hearing on his or her application for final approval.
(f) If the applicant wishes to take either of such alternative actions, he or she may do so at any time within which he or she shall be entitled to apply for final approval, or within 30 additional days of receipt of notice that the development plan was not in substantial compliance. In the event that the applicant shall fail to take either of these alternative actions within said time, he or she shall be deemed to have abandoned the development plan. Any such public hearing shall be held pursuant to public notice within 30 days after request for the hearing is made by the applicant, and the hearing shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in this Zoning Code for public hearings on applications for tentative approval. Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the Board of Commissioners shall, by official written communication, either grant final approval to the development plan or deny final approval. The grant or denial of final approval of the development plan shall, in cases arising under this section, be in the form and contain the findings required for an application for tentative approval set forth in this chapter.
(g) A development plan, or any part thereof which has been given final approval, shall be so certified without delay by the Board of Commissioners and shall be filed by the landowner of record forthwith in the office of the Recorder of Deeds before any development shall take place in accordance therewith. Upon the filing for record of the development plan, the zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the land included in such plan shall cease to apply thereto. Pending completion within a reasonable time of said planned residential development or of that part thereof, as the case may be, that has been finally approved, no modification of the provisions of said development plan, or part thereof, as finally approved, shall be made except with the consent of the landowner.
(h) In the event that a development plan, or a section thereof, is given final approval and thereafter the applicant shall abandon such plan or the section thereof that has been finally approved, and shall so notify the Board of Commissioners in writing, or, in the event the applicant shall fail to commence the development project or section thereof within six months and complete it within two years after final approval has been granted, no development or further development shall take place on the property included in the development plan until after the said property is re-subdivided and is reclassified by enactment of an amendment to this Zoning Code.
(Ord. 896, passed 12-21-2011)
The township shall require appropriate liability insurance and minimum limits of coverage in regard to any development in a PRD. The township shall be a “named insured” under all such liability policies, without premium liability therefore; said policies shall further be written to exclude the operation of any “other insurance” clause. The township shall also require from the applicant a defense, indemnity and hold harmless agreement in favor of the township which shall be insured by the applicant to at least the minimum limits required by the Board of Commissioners for liability insurance.
(Ord. 896, passed 12-21-2011)
Fees for the review of the final plan shall be established by resolution of the Board of Commissioners, which fees shall not exceed costs incurred. Should any funds remain after the final plan is processed and reviewed, they will be returned to the applicant.
(Ord. 896, passed 12-21-2011)