For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCELERATED EROSION. The removal of the surface of the land through the combined action of human’s activities and the natural process at a rate greater than would occur because of the natural process alone.
ACT 247. See the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code, 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq.
ALLEY. A minor right-of-way providing secondary access to the side or rear of two or more properties.
APPLICANT. A landowner or developer who has filed an application for development including his or her heirs, successors and assigns.
AVAILABLE SEWER. A municipal sewer is considered available if it is within 1,000 feet or less from the nearest point of a subdivision, and a tap-in is permitted by the municipality.
BENCHMARK. A point of known elevation in or near the subdivision tied in with established benchmarks in the vicinity that are maintained by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey or United States Geologic Survey.
BLOCK. An area bounded by streets, utility, railroad, public facility or other rights-of-way or easement or other definite barrier.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. The Board of Supervisors of Bradford Township.
BUILDING LINE. The line parallel to the right-of-way across the lot establishing the minimum open space to be provided between the edge of the legal or required right-of-way and the foremost projection of the building.
CARTWAY. The improved portion of a street or alley used or required for vehicular travel.
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE. An area of unobstructed vision at intersections defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of the centerlines for the intersecting streets.
CLUSTER OR GROUP HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. Where two or more residential buildings are constructed on a plot of ground not subdivided into the customary lots and streets.
COUNTY. The County of McKean, Pennsylvania.
COVENANT. An agreement or restriction placed on a parcel of land by a previous owner and usually found in the deed.
CUL-DE-SAC. A minor street terminating in a vehicular turn-around.
DETENTION STRUCTURE. A vegetated pond, swale or other structure designed to drain completely after storing runoff only for a given storm event and release it at a predetermined rate. Also known as a DRY POND.
DEVELOPER. Any land owner, 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.
EASEMENT. A right granted by law to a person or persons or the general public for the use of certain land to include the area over, under or through it.
ENERGY DISSIPATOR. A device used to slow the velocity of stormwater, particularly at points of concentrated discharge such as pipe outlets.
ENGINEER or SURVEYOR. A person licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a registered professional land surveyor.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. A certified report which contains an inventory of construction activity, including the identification and assessment of impacts to the environment, proposed remediation and required review agency approvals.
FREEBOARD. The difference between the design flow elevation in the emergency spillway and the top of the settled embankment.
GRASSED WATERWAY. A natural or human-made drainageway of parabolic or trapezoidal cross-section shaped to required dimensions and vegetated for safe disposal of runoff. Also known as a SWALE.
HOLDING POND. A retention or detention pond.
IMPROVEMENTS. Those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable and desirable lots from raw acreage including, but not limited to, grading, paving, curbs, gutters, storm sewers and drains, improvements to existing watercourses, provision of sidewalks, crosswalks, street signs, monuments, water supply facilities and sewage disposal facilities.
LAND DEVELOPMENT.
A. The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
(1) 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
(2) 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.
B. A subdivision of land.
C. Development in accordance with § 503(1.1) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq., as amended.
LAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN. A complete set of technical documents and reports for development of land, whether immediate or phased over a period of time, at the appropriate scale, including a completed application, as required for submission to the township.
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 other persons having a proprietary interest in land.
LOT. A tract or parcel of land for the purpose of conveyance, transfer, improvement or sale (whether immediate or future).
LOT DEPTH. The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lines of a lot.
LOT WIDTH. The distance between the side lines of a lot measured at the building line.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE. A lot, the opposite ends of which both abut streets.
LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGE. A lot extending between and having frontage on a major traffic street and a minor street and with vehicular access solely from the latter.
MAJOR SUBDIVISION. The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into five 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, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development. In addition, for the purpose of this Chapter, a MAJOR SUBDIVISION includes the division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into four or fewer lots if the division or redivision involves new roads, streets, easements of access and utilities or municipal facilities and services.
MINOR SUBDIVISION. The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into four or fewer lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development and not involving new roads, streets, easements of access or the extension of other municipal utilities or facilities; and not adversely affecting the development potential of the remainder of the tract or parcel and adjoining property.
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 or again 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 constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
MOBILE HOME LOTS. 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 home, which is leased by the park owner to the occupant of the mobile home erected on the lot.
MOBILE HOME PARK. A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
MODIFICATION. When the subdivider can show that a provision of these regulations would cause unnecessary hardship if strictly adhered to because of topographical or other conditions peculiar to the site, and where in the opinion of the Planning Commission a departure may be made without destroying the intent of such provisions, the Planning Commission may authorize a modification. Any MODIFICATION thus authorized shall be entered in the minutes of the Planning Commission and the reasoning on which departure was justified.
MONUMENT. A point of known coordinates, established by a civil engineer or registered surveyor, and used to locate property lines, building lines, and the like. The MONUMENT should be tied in with monuments maintained by the United States Coastal and Geodetic Survey, or the United States Geologic Survey, if the monument is within a distance of one mile.
MUNICIPALITY. Bradford Township.
ON-SITE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. The control of runoff to allow water falling on a given site to be absorbed or retained on site to the extent that after development the peak rate of discharge leaving the site does not exceed the rate prior to development.
PENNSYLVANIA MUNICIPALITIES PLANNING CODE. Adopted as Act 247 of 1968, 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq., this Act enables municipalities to plan for and regulate community development with subdivision and land development ordinances. The Code also contains guidelines for subdivision and land development ordinance content. For the purpose of this Chapter, the Code is referred to as ACT 247 and is intended to include the current code and any further amendments thereto.
PRE-APPLICATION. Informal submission of a rough sketch plan of a proposed subdivision to the Planning Commission to show intent of the developer.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY. A tentative plan showing existing features of the land and proposed street, utility and lot layout within and adjacent to the subdivision.
PLAN, FINAL. A complete and exact subdivision plan, prepared by a registered surveyor for official recording as required by statute, to define property rights and proposed streets and other improvements.
PLANNED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. An area of land controlled by a landowner to be developed as a single entity for a number of dwelling units, or combination of residential and nonresidential uses, the development plan for which does not correspond in lot size, bulk, type of dwelling, or use, density, or intensity, lot coverage and required open space to the regulations established in any one district created, from time to time, under the provisions of a municipal zoning ordinance.
PLANNING COMMISSION. The Planning Commission of Bradford Township.
PLAT. The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether preliminary or final.
PUBLIC MEETING. Forum held pursuant to notice under Act of July 3, 1980, (Pub. Law 388, No. 84) known as the Sunshine Act, 65 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 701 et seq.
PUBLIC NOTICE. Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. 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.
RETENTION STRUCTURE. A pond, swale or other structure containing a permanent pool of water designed to store runoff for a given storm event.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. The total width of any land reserved or dedicated for use as street, alley or for any public purpose.
SEDIMENT BASIN. A temporary dam or barrier constructed across a waterway or at other suitable locations to intercept the runoff and to trap and retain the sediment.
SITE IMPROVEMENTS. Physical additions or changes to the land that may be necessary to provide usable and desirable lots including, but not limited to, utilities, streets, curbing, sidewalks, street lights and stormwater facilities.
STORAGE STRUCTURE. A retention or detention structure.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. The control of runoff to allow water falling on a given site to be absorbed or retained on site, to the extent that after development the peak rate of discharge leaving the site does not exceed the rate prior to development.
STREET. Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private. STREETS are classified by function as follows.
A. ARTERIAL STREET. An expressway, controlled access highway or other designation. The street is of considerable continuity which serves, or is to serve, as a major trafficway for travel within the county.
B. COLLECTOR STREET. A street which serves, or is to serve, as a trafficway for a community and as a feeder to an arterial street and to facilitate the collection of traffic from minor streets and to provide circulation around the boundary of the residential neighborhood.
C. LOCAL STREETS. Used primarily for access to abutting properties.
D. MARGINAL ACCESS. A street parallel and adjacent to arterial or collector streets providing access to abutting properties and control of intersections.
SUBDIVIDER. 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 land development.
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 the 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.
SURVEYOR, REGISTERED. An individual licensed and registered as a professional land surveyor by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
SWALE. See GRASSED WATERWAY.
TOWNSHIP. Bradford Township.
YARD, FRONT. The open space extending across the width of the lot, between front of building line and the street right-of-way.
YARD, REAR. The open space extending from the rear of the main building and along the rear lot line (not a street line) throughout the whole width of the lot.
YARD, SIDE. An open space between the building and the adjacent side line of the lot extending from the front line of the building to the rear line of the building. Corner lots shall have a wide yard equal to or greater than 20% of the lot width.
(Ord. 1983-3, passed 12-12-1983; Ord. 1989-1, passed 3-13-1989; Ord. 1991-5, passed 4-29-1991; Ord. 1998-2-2, passed 2-9-1998)