(A) Intent.
(1) To provide adequate open spaces, recreational lands and recreational facilities to serve new residents of new developments, for both active and passive recreation; and
(2) To recognize and work to carry out the recreation plan sections of the officially adopted borough comprehensive plan.
(B) Applicability.
(1) This section shall apply to any subdivision or land development for which a preliminary plan or a combined preliminary/final plan is submitted after the enactment date of this section.
(2) This section shall not apply to plans that the Borough Council determines only involve clearly minor adjustments or corrections to an approved preliminary plan or clearly minor adjustments or corrections to a preliminary plan that was before the borough for consideration at the date of the adoption of this amendment.
(C) Limitations on use of fees.
(1) Any fees collected under this section shall be placed within an interest-bearing account and shall be accounted for separately from other borough funds.
(2) Such fees shall only be used for the following: acquisition of public open space; development of public recreational facilities; landscaping of public open space; and closely related engineering and design work.
(3) Unless the borough identifies fees for a particular set of facilities or particular recreation area, then the fees shall be used for the further development of the North Tatamy Playground or the Tatamy Municipal Park as recreation areas providing programs and facilities for the entire borough.
(D) Land dedication.
(1) Any subdivision or land development regulated under this section shall be required to dedicate the specified amount of common open space, unless the Borough Council determine that such land in that location would not serve a valid public purpose, in which case recreation fees-in-lieu of land shall be required.
(2) Generally, it is the intent of this section that developments of five or fewer dwelling units that do not include land that is adjacent to existing publicly owned land shall be required to pay a recreation and open space fee in lieu of dedicating land. However, if the applicant does not agree to pay such fees, then land shall be required to be dedicated.
(3) The land and fee requirements of this section shall be based upon the number of new dwelling units that would be permitted on the lots of a subdivision or land development after approval.
(4) Amount of common open space: a residential subdivision or land development shall be required to dedicate 1,000 square feet of land per proposed dwelling unit as common open space, unless the Borough Council determines that recreation fees in-lieu of the open space would be more in the public interest.
(E) Fees for residential development. If the Borough Council determines that a land dedication within a proposed subdivision or land development would not be in the public interest, the applicant shall be required to pay fees-in-lieu of dedicating open space. This fee shall be $1,000 in an amount as established, from time to time, by resolution of Borough Council, per permitted dwelling unit, unless these fees are revised by later resolution of the Borough Council.
(F) Decision on land versus fees. The Borough Council shall determine whether a land dedication or the payment of fees shall be required. This determination should, but is not required to, be made at the time of sketch plan review. The borough should, at a minimum, consider the following in this decision:
(1) Whether the land in that location would serve a valid public purpose;
(2) Whether there is potential to make a desirable addition to an existing recreation area;
(3) Whether the proposed land would meet the objectives and requirements of this section;
(4) Whether the area surrounding the proposed development has sufficient existing recreation and open space land, and whether it is possible for pedestrians and bicyclists to reach those lands;
(5) Any recommendations that may be received from the Planning Commission; and
(6) Any relevant policies of the borough comprehensive plan.
(G) Land to be dedicated.
(1) Land shall be suitable. Land required to be dedicated shall be suitable for its intended purpose, in the determination of the Borough Council. The applicant shall state what improvements, if, any, that he or she intends to make to the land to make it suitable for its intended purpose, such as grading, landscaping or development of trails. Such land shall be free of construction debris at the time of dedication.
(2) Required common open space. Required common open space shall be dedicated to the borough, unless the Borough Council agree to accept a dedication to any of the following: Northampton County; a homeowner or condominium association; or an environmental organization acceptable to the Borough Council. In the case of a rental development, the borough may permit the common open space may be retained by the owner of the adjacent residential buildings.
(3) Common open space owned by a homeowner association. If required common open space is to the owned by a homeowner association, the developer shall be required to establish such association in a form that requires all property owners with the development to annually contribute to the maintenance of the common open space. Any homeowner association agreements regarding required common open space shall be subject to acceptance by the Borough Council, based upon review by the Borough Solicitor. The provisions of § 703(f) of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10703(f) should serve as a model for such agreement.
(4) Deed restrictions. Any required common open space dedication shall include deed restrictions to permanently prevent its development for buildings, except buildings for noncommercial recreation or to support maintenance of the land.
(5) Priority. Priority shall be given to dedication of land that would be suitable for:
(a) New neighborhood parks in neighborhoods not currently served by existing parks; or
(b) Would preserve woods, steep slopes or other important natural features or land along the Bushkill creek.
(6) Lands not suitable. Land that is not suitable for active or passive recreation shall not be accepted as part of a required dedication, including areas within a stormwater detention basin that could not serve recreation purposes. Portions intended for active recreation shall be well drained, of less than 4% average slope and not require filling in of a wetland for use.
(7) Common open space within a subdivision or land development. Common open space within a subdivision or land development shall be contiguous, except as may be specifically exempted by the Borough Council, and shall have adequate access for maintenance and for pedestrians.
(8) Other ordinances. Any required land dedication under this section shall be in addition to any land dedication or improvement requirements of any other borough ordinance or resolution.
(9) Lands close to buildings.
(a) For the purposes of this section, no land shall be used to meet the minimum common open space requirements of this section if such land is within:
1. Fifteen feet of any building; or
2. Within 15 feet of a parking area of more than six parking spaces (other than parking areas specifically developed to serve the open space).
(b) This specifically includes, but is not limited to, open space surrounding buildings in a development of apartments or townhouses.
(10) Residual lands. If only a portion of a larger tract of land is currently proposed to be subdivided, or the applicant owns one or more adjacent tracts that are not currently proposed to be subdivided, the applicant shall provide a sketch of a possible future land dedication on these adjacent lands in case they would be developed in the future.
(11) Coordination with future adjacent dedication. The Borough Council may require that a required land dedication within a property currently being subdivided be placed along an edge of the property so that it may, in the future, be combined with an open space dedication on the edge of an adjoining property when that adjoining property is subdivided or developed.
(H) Combination of land and fees. Upon mutual agreement of the Borough Council and the applicant, the borough may accept a combination of common open space and fees-in-lieu of land to meet the requirements of this section for a residential subdivision or land development. This combination shall be based upon the common open space requirement applying for a certain of dwelling units and the fee-in-lieu of land requirement applying for the remaining number of dwelling units.
(I) Timing of fees. Fees required under this section shall be paid prior to the recording of the final plan, except as follows.
(1) If the required fee would be greater than $2,000, and the applicant and the borough mutually agree to provisions in a binding development agreement to require the payment of all applicable recreation fees prior to the issuance of any building permits within each clearly defined phase of the development, then the fees are not required to be paid prior to recording of the final plan but may instead be paid within the development agreement requirements.
(2) If the applicant agrees to pay such fees in installments, then all such fees shall not be considered to be “paid” for the purposes of any applicable time limitations for utilization under the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq. until all such fees are paid in full, including all installments and phases.
(J) Fee modification process. An applicant may seek a modification of the requirements of this section under the procedures of § 154.007 by offering to construct substantial permanent recreation facilities within the proposed subdivision or land development or on adjacent public open space that the applicant clearly proves to the satisfaction of the Borough Council will substantially meet the recreation needs of the residents of the development.
(Ord. passed 2-3-1992; Res. 2003-05, passed 12-1-2003)