(A) Construction. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meaning herein indicated. The present tense shall include the future; the singular number shall include the plural; words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and the neuter; the word “shall” is always mandatory; the word “may” is always permissive.
(Prior Code, Ch. 22, Pt. 2, § 201)
(B) Definitions.
ACCELERATED EROSION. The removal of the surface of the land through the combined action of people’s activities and natural processes at a rate greater than would occur because of the natural processes alone.
APPLICANT. A land owner or developer, as hereinafter defined, 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 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.
AVENUE. A public or private right-of-way which usually affords access to the rear or side of a property. An AVENUE may also be known as a COURT, LANE, or PLACE.
BLOCK. A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines, or waterways.
BOROUGH COUNCIL. The Council of the Borough of Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
BUILDING . Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattels, and including covered porches or bay windows and chimneys. Included shall be all manufactured homes and trailers to be used for human habitation.
CARTWAY or ROADWAY. The portion of a street right-of-way designed or intended for vehicular use.
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE. A triangular area of unobstructed vision at street intersections, having as its sides two perpendicular street lines, and a line established between a point on each street line a given distance from the intersection.
COMMON OPEN SPACE. A parcel of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water, within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities.
COMPLETELY DRY SPACE. A space which will remain totally dry during flooding; the structure is designed and constructed to prevent the passage of water and water vapor.
CONDOMINIUM AND COOPERATIVE. (An ownership arrangement and not a land use.) A method of ownership which, when applied to a multi-family dwelling, provides for separate ownership for each unit, title of which shall consist of ownership of the unit, together with an undivided interest in the common element.
CONSERVATION DISTRICT. The Conservation District serving Bedford County.
CONSTRUCTION. The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension, expansion, alteration, or relocation of a building or structure, including the placement of manufactured homes.
COUNTY. The County of Bedford, Pennsylvania.
COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION. The Planning Commission of the County of Bedford.
CUT. An excavation. The difference between a point on the original ground and designated point of lower elevation on the final grade. Also, the material removed in excavation.
DEPARTMENT. The Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth.
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (DEP). The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, its bureaus, divisions, departments, and/or agencies, as may from time to time be established, or such department or departments as may in the future succeed it.
DESIGNATED FLOODPLAIN AREAS. A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation in a 100-year flood, as designated in the borough’s zoning ordinance (Chapter 154).
DETENTION POND. An area in which surface water runoff is temporarily stored pending its release at a controlled rate.
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. Any human-made change to improved or unimproved real estate including, but not limited to, the construction or placement of buildings or other structures, mobile homes, streets and other paving, utilities, mining, dredging, filling, grading, excavation or drilling operations, and the subdivision of land.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN. The provisions for development, including a planned residential development, a plat of 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. The phrase PROVISIONS OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN when used in this chapter shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
DRAINAGE. The removal of surface water or ground water from land by drains, grading, or other means and includes control of runoff to minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after construction or development.
DRAINAGE FACILITY. Any ditch, gutter, culvert, storm sewer, or other structure designed, intended, or constructed for the purpose of carrying, diverting, or controlling surface water or groundwater.
DRAINAGE RIGHT-OF-WAY. The lands required for the installation of storm water sewers or drainage ditches, or required along a natural stream or watercourse for preserving the channel and providing for the flow of water therein to safeguard the public against flood damage.
DRIVEWAY. A private vehicular passageway providing access between a street and a private parking area or private garage.
DWELLING. A structure or portion thereof which is used exclusively for human habitation.
EASEMENT. A grant for the use of a parcel of land by the public, a corporation, or a person for a specified purpose.
ENGINEER. A registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania designated by the Borough of Bedford.
ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS. The engineering criteria of the borough regulating the installation of any improvement or facility.
EROSION. The process by which the land surface and/or subsurface is worn away by the action of natural elements.
ESSENTIALLY DRY SPACE. A space which will remain dry during flooding, except for the passage of some water vapor or minor seepage; the structure is substantially impermeable to the passage of water.
EXCAVATION. Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other similar material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated, or bulldozed. It shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
FILL. Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported, or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface. It shall include the conditions resulting therefrom; the difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation of the final grade. The material used to make fill.
FLOOD. A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
FLOODPLAIN. A relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river, or watercourse; and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD-PROOFING. Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents.
FLOODWAY. The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and discharge flood waters of a given magnitude. For purposes of this chapter, the FLOODWAY shall be capable of accommodating a flood of the 100-year magnitude.
GOVERNING BODY. The Borough Council.
GRADING AND DRAINAGE PLAN. A plan showing all existing ground features and proposed grading, including existing and proposed surface and subsurface drainage facilities, described by grades, contours, and topography.
IDENTIFIED FLOODPLAIN AREA. The floodplain area specifically identified in this chapter as being inundated by the 100-year flood. Included would be areas identified as Floodway (FW), Flood-Fringe (FF), and General Floodplain (FA).
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE. A surface which prevents the penetration of water into the ground.
IMPROVEMENTS. Those physical additions, installations, and changes required to render land suitable for the use intended including, but not limited to, grading, paving, curbing, street lights and signs, fire hydrants, water mains, electric service, gas service, sanitary sewers, storm drains, sidewalks, cross-walks, driveways, culverts, and street shade trees.
INTERIOR WALK. A right-of-way or easement for pedestrian use, extending from a street into a block or across a block to another street.
LAND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) 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 of land.
(b) LAND DEVELOPMENT does not include development which involves:
1. The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling or single-family semi- detached dwelling into not more than three residential units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium;
2. The addition of an accessory building, including farm building, on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building; or
3. The addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the confines of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park. For the purposes of this division (b), an AMUSEMENT PARK is defined as a tract or area used principally as a location for permanent amusement structures or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly acquired acreage by an amusement park until initial plans for the expanded area have been approved by the proper authorities.
LAND DISTURBANCE. Any activity involving grading, tilling, digging, or filling of ground, or stripping of vegetation or any other activity which causes land to be exposed to the danger of erosion.
LOT. A designated parcel, tract, or area of land established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed, or built upon as a unit.
(a) LOT, CORNER. A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135 degrees at the intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curved street or streets shall be considered a CORNER LOT if the tangent to the curve at the points beginning within the lot or at the points of intersection of the side lot lines with the street lines intersects at an angle of less than 135 degrees.
(b) LOT, DEPTH. The mean distance from the right-of-way line of the lot to its opposite rear line measured in a direction parallel to the side lines of the lot. LOT DEPTH for triangular lots shall be the mean distance from the street line to the point of intersection of the side yards.
(c) LOT, INTERIOR. A lot, the side lot lines of which do not abut on a street.
(d) LOT, MINIMUM WIDTH. The minimum lot width at the building setback line.
(e) LOT, NONCONFORMING. A lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of this chapter, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reason of such adoption or amendment.
(f) LOT OF RECORD. A lot which has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds.
(g) LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGE. A lot which abuts upon both a street and either an arterial or a collector street, with vehicular access solely from the former.
(h) LOT, THROUGH. An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
(i) LOT, TRIANGULAR. A lot having three lot lines, but which does not qualify as a corner lot.
(j) LOT, WIDTH. The distance measured between the side lot lines, at the required building setback line. In a case where there is only one side lot line, LOT WIDTH shall be measured between such side lot line and the opposite rear lot line or street line.
MAINTENANCE GUARANTEE. Any security, other than cash, which may be accepted by the borough for the maintenance of any improvements required by this chapter.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION. Any subdivision not classified as a minor subdivision.
MARKER. A wood or metal stake placed to designate the boundaries and corners of lots in the subdivision of land for the purpose of reference in land and property survey and to facilitate the sale of lots.
MINOR REPAIR. The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, but not including the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or bearing support, or the removal or change of any required means of egress or rearrangement of parts of a structure affecting the exitway requirements; nor shall MINOR REPAIRS include addition to, alteration of, replacement, or relocation of any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas, soil, waste, vent or similar piping, electric wiring, or mechanical or other work affecting public health or general safety.
MINOR SUBDIVISION. The subdivision of land into not more than two parcels located on an existing improved street that does not involve installation of improvements as required by this chapter; extension of utilities; frontage on an arterial or collector street; adverse effect to the development of the remaining parcel; adverse effect to adjoining properties; and conflict with the borough’s Comprehensive Plan, zoning ordinance (Chapter 154), any portion of this chapter, or other state, county, or borough ordinances, laws, or regulations.
MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term includes park trailers, travel trailers, and recreational and other similar vehicles placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days.
MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME LOT. A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single mobile or manufactured home.
MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME PARK. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land which has been planned and improved for the placement of two or more mobile or manufactured homes.
MONUMENT. A concrete, stone, or other permanent object placed to designate boundary lines, corners of property, and rights-of-way of streets and utilities, for the purpose of reference in land and property survey.
MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY. A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act of May 2, 1945, Pub. Law 382, No. 164, 53 P.S. §§ 301 et seq., the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945.
MUNICIPALITIES PLANNING CODE. Act of July 31, 1968, Pub. Law 805, as amended, 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq.
100-YEAR FLOOD. A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every 100 years (i.e., that has 1% chance of occurring each year, although the flood may occur in any year).
ONSITE IMPROVEMENTS. All improvements constructed on the applicant’s property, or the improvements constructed on the property abutting the applicant’s property, necessary for the ingress or egress to the applicant’s property and required to be constructed by the applicant pursuant to any municipal ordinance including, but not limited to, the Municipal Building Code, this chapter, PRD regulations, and zoning ordinance (Chapter 154).
OWNER. 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 owner or other persons having a proprietary interest in the land, shall be deemed to be an OWNER for the purpose of this chapter.
PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE. Any security which may be in lieu of a requirement that certain improvements be made before the Borough Council approves a final subdivision or land development plan, including performance bonds, escrow agreements, and other similar collateral or surety agreements.
PERSON. An individual, partnership, public or private association or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit, public utility, or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
PLAN, FINAL. A complete and exact subdivision plan or land development plan, prepared for official recording as required by statute, to define property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY. A tentative subdivision plan or land development plan, in lesser detail than a final plan, showing approximate proposed street and lot layout as a basis for consideration prior to preparation of a final plan.
PLAN, SKETCH. An informal plan, subdivision or land development plan, not necessarily to scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout of the proposed subdivision.
PLAN, SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION CONTROL. A plan for controlling erosion and sediment during construction which shall provide all steps, including scheduling, to assure erosion and sediment control during all phases of construction, including final stabilization.
PLANNING AGENCY. The Borough of Bedford Planning Commission.
PLAT. A map or plan of a subdivision or land development whether sketch, preliminary, or final.
PUBLIC GROUNDS. Includes:
(a) Parks, playgrounds, trails, paths, and other recreational areas and other public areas;
(b) Sites for schools, sewage treatment, refuse disposal, and other publicly owned or operated facilities; and
(c) Publicly owned or operated scenic and historic sites.
PUBLIC HEARING. A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Borough Council or Borough Planning Agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.
PUBLIC MEETING. A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3, 1986, Pub. Law 388, No. 84, 53 P.S. §§ 271 et seq., the Sunshine Act.
PUBLIC NOTICE. Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough of Bedford. Such NOTICE shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
REGULATORY FLOOD ELEVATION. The 100-year flood elevation plus a freeboard safety factor of one and one-half feet.
RESERVE STRIP. A narrow parcel of ground having inadequate area for building purposes separating a street or a proposed street from other adjacent properties.
RESIDENT PROPERTY OWNER. Any individual maintaining a voting address in the Borough of Bedford, within 1,000 feet of the proposed subdivision, owning real estate in his or her own or joint names.
RESUBDIVISION. Any subdivision or transfer of land, laid out on a plan which has been approved by the Borough Council, which changes or proposes to change property lines and/or public rights-of-way not in strict accordance with the approved plan.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. A corridor of land set aside for use, in whole or in part, by a street.
RUNOFF. The surface water discharge or rate of 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; that part of precipitation which flows over the land.
SEDIMENT. Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by water.
SEDIMENTATION. The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated or deposited by the movement of wind and water, or by gravity. Once this matter is deposited, or remains suspended in water, it is usually referred to as “sediment.”
SETBACK (BUILDING SETBACK LINE). The minimum distance that a building must be held back from an adjacent lot line, depending on the zoning district in which the lot is located.
SEWER, COMMUNITY. A system, whether publicly or privately owned, for the collection of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature from two or more lots and for the treatment or disposal of the sewage or industrial waste on one or more of the lots or at any other site.
SEWER, INDIVIDUAL. A system of piping, tanks, or other facilities serving a single lot and collecting and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into the soil or into waters of the state or by means of conveyance to another site for final disposal.
SHOULDER. The portion of a roadway (cartway) between the curb or gutter and the travelway intended for emergency and parking use.
SIGHT DISTANCE. The unimpeded view a vehicle operator has along the street he or she is traveling or the street he or she is entering or crossing, such distance related to driver reaction time and posted speed limits and assuming the operator’s eye level is between two feet, six inches, and eight feet above the pavement.
SLOPE. The face of an embankment of cut section; any ground whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. SLOPES are usually expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per 100 feet of horizontal distance.
SPECIAL PERMIT. A special approval which is required for hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and new manufactured home parks and subdivisions, and substantial improvements to such existing parks, when such development is located in all or a designated portion of a floodplain.
STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN. The plan for managing storm water runoff adopted by Bedford County as required by the Act of October 4, 1978, Pub. Law 864, No. 167, 32 P.S. §§ 680.1 et seq. and known as the “Storm Water Management Act.”
STREET, ROAD, or HIGHWAY. Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, avenue, viaduct, or any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private, which are identified on the legally adopted borough street or highway plan or the official map, together with all necessary appurtenances, including bridges, rights-of-way, and traffic control improvements. The term shall not include the interstate highway system.
(a) ARTERIAL STREETS. Those serving large volumes of comparatively high-speed and long-distance traffic, and include facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the state’s Department of Transportation.
(b) COLLECTOR STREETS. Streets which give minimal emphasis to travel mobility, which is characterized by low travel speeds, full land access, neighborhood penetration, and which serves minor traffic generators such as local elementary schools, small individual industrial plants, offices, commercial facilities, and warehouses not served by principal or minor arterials.
(c) CUL-DE-SAC. A minor street intersecting another street at one end and terminated at the other by a vehicular turnaround.
(d) LOCAL ACCESS STREETS. Those used primarily to provide access to abutting properties.
(e) MARGINAL ACCESS STREETS. Minor streets, parallel and adjacent to arterial streets, providing access to abutting properties and control of intersections with the arterial street.
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, or parcels or other divisions, 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 or ownership, or building or lot development.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either, before the improvement or the repair is started, or if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred.
SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETED. Where, in the judgment of the Borough Engineer, at least 90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial security was posted pursuant to the requirements of this chapter) of those improvements required as a condition for final approval have been completed in accordance with the approved plan, so that the project will be able to be used, occupied, or operated for its intended use.
SURVEYOR. A licensed surveyor registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
SWALE. A low-lying stretch of land characterized as a depression used to carry surface water runoff.
TOP SOIL. Surface soils and subsurface soils which normally are fertile soils and soil material, ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus debris. TOP SOIL is usually found in the uppermost soil layer called the A Horizon.
UNDEVELOPED LAND. Any lot, tract, or parcel of land which has not been graded or in any other manner improved.
UNIT. A part of the property, structure, or building designed or intended for any type of independent use, which has direct exit to a public street or way, or to an easement or right-of-way leading to a public street or way and includes a proportionate undivided interest in the common elements, which is assigned to the property, structure, or building.
WATER FACILITY. Any water works, water supply works, water distribution system, or part thereof, designed, intended, or constructed to provide or distribute potable water.
WATER SURVEY. An inventory of the source, quantity, yield, and use of groundwater and surface water resources within the Borough of Bedford.
WATERCOURSE. A stream of water, river, brook, or creek; a channel or ditch for water, whether natural or human-made.
WETLANDS.
(a) Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
(b) The term includes, but is not limited to, WETLAND areas listed in the State Water Plan, the United States Forest Service Wetlands Inventory of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Coastal Zone Management Plan, and a wetland area designated by a river basin commission.
(Prior Code, Ch. 22, Pt. 2, § 202) (Ord. 2-2001, passed 7-2-2001)