(A) Purposes. To provide adequate open spaces, recreational lands and recreational facilities to serve new inhabitants/occupants of new developments, for both active and passive recreation. To recognize and work to carry out the park, recreation and open space plan for the township, which is adopted as recreation plan for the township or by a successor document that may be adopted as the recreation plan for the township.
(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 amendment.
(2) This section shall not apply to plans that the township determines only involve adjustments or corrections to an approved preliminary plan or a preliminary plan that was actively before the township for consideration as of the date of the adoption of this section, provided the adjustments do not increase the number of proposed dwelling units.
(C) Limitations on use of fees.
(1) Any fees collected under this section shall be placed within the Township Recreation Escrow Fund, or its successor account.
(2) To make sure that the lands and facilities are accessible to the inhabitants of the developments that paid fees towards their cost, such fees should only be used within a five-mile radius of the boundaries of the subdivision or land development that paid the fees, unless the fees are used within a recreation area open to the public that the township intends to serve the entire township.
(3) Such fees shall only be used for the following: acquisition of public open space/recreation land and related debt payments, development of public recreational facilities, landscaping of public open space and necessary engineering and design work.
(D) Land to be preserved. Any subdivision or land development regulated under this section shall be required to preserve the specified amount of recreation land, unless the Board of Supervisors and the applicant mutually agree that recreation fees shall be required in-lieu of land.
(1) As a general non-binding guideline, it is the intent of this section that smaller developments (such as ten or fewer dwelling units) that do not include land that is adjacent to existing publicly-owned land shall be required to pay a recreation fee in lieu of dedicating land. However, if the applicant refuses to pay such fees, then recreation land shall be required to be preserved.
(2) The land and fee requirements of this section shall be based upon the number of new dwelling units that would be allowed on the lots of a subdivision or land development after approval.
(3) Prime recreation land: for the purposes of this section, the term PRIME RECREATION LAND shall mean land proposed to be established as recreation land that would meet all of the following standards:
(a) Less than 6% slope;
(b) Not a “wetland” under federal and/or state regulations;
(c) Be part of a contiguous tract of at least two acres (which may include existing adjacent recreation land); and
(d) Not be within the 100-year floodplain as defined by official floodplain maps of the township.
(4) Amount of recreation land: if a subdivision or land development is required to include recreation land, the following amounts for each permitted new dwelling unit shall apply:
Percentage of the Total Required Recreation Land That Would Meet the Definition of “Prime Recreation Land” | Minimum Required Recreation Land per Permitted Dwelling Unit |
0% to 25.0% | 5,000 square feet |
25.1% to 99.9% | 2,500 square feet |
100% | 1,250 square feet |
(E) Fees. If the Board of Supervisors determines that a proposed subdivision or land development is required to pay fees-in-lieu of dedicating recreation land, this fee shall be $3,150 for each new dwelling unit, unless such fee is updated by future action by the Board of Supervisors.
(F) Decision on land versus fees. The Board of Supervisors shall determine whether a land dedication would be in the public interest, or whether the payment of fees is required. This initial determination should, but is not required to, be made at the time of sketch plan review. The township 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 public or school district recreation area or to create a greenway along a creek;
(3) Whether the proposed land would meet the objectives and requirements of this section and any relevant policies of the Comprehensive Plan and any recreation or open space plan;
(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; and
(5) Any recommendations that may be received from the Planning Commission, the Township Engineer, the local school board or school district staff and the Township Parks and Recreation Board.
(G) Recreation land to be preserved.
(1) Suitability. Recreation land shall be suitable for its intended purpose, in the determination of the Board of Supervisors. The applicant shall state in writing what improvements, if any, he or she will commit 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. Proposed recreation land shall be suitable to meet the needs of the residents of the development.
(2) Ownership. Required recreation land shall be dedicated to the township, unless the Board of Supervisors agree to accept a dedication to any of the following: the school district, the county, a state agency charged with maintaining recreation land, a similar governmental agency, an incorporated property owners association (such as a homeowner or condominium association) or an established environmental organization acceptable to the Board of Supervisors. In the case of a rental development, the township may permit the recreation land to be retained by the owner of the adjacent principal buildings.
(a) Property owners association. If recreation land is to be owned by a property owners association, the developer shall be required to establish such association in a form that requires all property owners within the development to annually contribute to the maintenance of the recreation land.
1. Any property owners association agreements regarding required recreation land shall be subject to acceptance by the Board of Supervisors, based upon review by the Township Solicitor.
2. Prior to the sale of any dwelling unit or lot, all deeds shall require each property owner to pay fees on a regular basis for the maintenance and other expenses of owning such land. The property owners shall be incorporated with covenants and bylaws providing for the filing of assessments. After providing notice to affected owners, the township shall have the authority to establish municipal liens upon all properties in the association to fund maintenance of the land and township legal costs if the property owners association does not fulfill its responsibilities.
3. An orderly process shall be established for the transfer of the land to the association. The dedication of maintenance responsibilities by a developer to a property owners association shall not occur until such association is incorporated and able to maintain such land.
4. The property owners association shall be established in full compliance with applicable state law, including the Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 5101 et seq.
(b) Transfer to another entity. If the approved plan states that ownership of and/or responsibilities to maintain the recreation land are given to a particular entity, then any transfer of ownership or responsibilities to another entity shall require pre-approval by the Board of Supervisors. Where land is to be owned by a conservation organization, a process shall be established for the land to transfer to a different organization if the first organization is not able to fulfill its obligations.
(c) Board of Supervisors authority. The Board of Supervisors shall have the authority to refuse to accept an offer of dedication of recreation land to the township, and/or to determine that an offer does not meet township requirements.
(3) Easements. Any required recreation land dedication shall include a conservation easement to permanently prevent its development for buildings, except buildings for approved types of noncommercial recreation or to support maintenance of the land. Such conservation easements shall, at a minimum, be enforceable by the Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors may require that the easements also authorize their enforcement by a suitable third party.
(4) Priorities. Priority shall be given to dedication of land that would be suitable for:
1. Additions to existing public schools and public parks;
2. Preservation of woods, steep slopes or other important natural features or land along a creek; or
3. For centralized active recreation.
(5) Suitability. Land that is not suitable for active or passive recreation shall not be permitted to meet the requirements of this section. Any land area used to meet the requirements of this section shall meet the definition of recreation land. Portions intended for active recreation shall be well-drained, of less than 6% average slope and not require filling in of a wetland for use.
(6) Access and contiguousness. Recreation land within a subdivision or land development shall be contiguous, except as may be specifically exempted by the Board of Supervisors, if necessary considering the unique features of the site, and shall have a minimum of 20 feet of road frontage at a location that allows access for maintenance and by pedestrians.
(7) Other ordinances. Any required land dedication or fees under this section shall be in addition to any land dedication or improvement requirements of any other township ordinance.
(8) 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. The intent is to coordinate current plans with any future development, even in the long-term.
(9) Coordination with future adjacent dedication. The Board of Supervisors 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 a recreation land/open space dedication on the edge of an adjoining property when that adjoining property is subdivided or developed.
(H) Combination of land and fees.
(1) Upon mutual agreement of the Board of Supervisors and the applicant, the township may accept a combination of recreation land and fees-in-lieu of land to meet the requirements of this section for a subdivision or land development. This combination shall be based upon the recreation land requirement applying for a certain number of dwelling units and the fee-in-lieu of land requirement applying for the remaining development.
(2) For example, if a development included 25 dwelling units, recreation land could be required for 15 dwelling units and fees could be required for ten dwelling units.
(I) Timing of residential fees. Fees required by this section for all of the dwelling units shall be paid prior to the recording of the final plan, except as follows.
(1) If the required fee would be greater than $4,000, and the applicant and the township 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 or sub-phase of the development, then fees are not required to be paid prior to recording of the final plan but may instead be paid within the requirements of that development agreement.
(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, being 53 P.S. §§ 10101 et seq. until all such fees are paid in full, including all installments and phases.
(J) Facilities in place of land or fees.
(1) An applicant may submit a written request for a modification of the requirements of this section by offering to construct substantial permanent recreation facilities within the proposed subdivision or land development or on public park land. Such modification shall only be approved if the applicant clearly proves to the satisfaction of the Board of Supervisors that the facilities will serve a valid public purpose, will be designed following modern standards in a durable manner and will have a higher market value than the land or fees that would otherwise be required.
(2) A modification of these requirements may also be approved by the Board of Supervisors if the applicant donates or sells appropriate public recreation land to the township or the school district. In such case, the applicant shall provide a written appraisal from a qualified professional that the market value of the donation or price reduction is greater than the value of the fee or land requirement that is waived. In such case, the land shall be determined to be suitable for public recreation by the Board of Supervisors.
(Ord. 127, passed 3-18-2010; Ord. 141, passed 5-7-2015)