No applicant shall be permitted to submit a new subdivision or land development application for a tract for which there exists a prior approved application unless the applicant agrees, in writing, that as a condition of approval of the new application the applicant will withdraw the prior approved application.
[Ord. No. 1038, § 6(A), 5-14-1990; Ord. No. 1467, § 3, 10-10-2006]
Upon submission by a land developer or subdivider of an application in the form provided by the township, together with twenty-five (25) folded copies of the application plan and the requisite fee therefor:
1. 
A number will be assigned to the application.
2. 
Copies will be submitted to the Montgomery County Planning Commission, the Plymouth Township Planning Agency, the Plymouth Township Municipal Authority, and the United States Soil Conservation Service, together with the requests for recommendations. The Township may solicit reviews and reports from adjacent municipalities and other governmental agencies affected by the subdivision and/or land development plan.
3. 
At the next regular public meeting of council, receipt of the application will be publicly acknowledged.
4. 
Final action by council will be taken upon receipt of recommendations from the various planning agencies or within the period prescribed for such action set forth in the Municipalities Planning Code.
[Ord. No. 1038, § 6, 5-14-1990; Ord. No. 1134, §§ 2, 3, 9-27-1993; Ord. No. 1356, § 9, 9-10-2001]
1. 
A transportation impact study shall be undertaken for all subdivision and land developments meeting the criteria of paragraph 3. below to:
A. 
Enable the township to assess the impact of a proposed development on the local transportation system;
B. 
Ensure that proposed developments do not adversely affect the transportation network and to identify any traffic problems associated with access from the site to the existing transportation network;
C. 
Delineate solutions to potential problems;
D. 
Present improvements to be incorporated into the proposed developments; and
E. 
Protect air quality, conserve energy, and encourage use of public transportation.
2. 
The transportation impact study shall be prepared by a qualified traffic engineer and/or transportation planner with previous traffic study experience. The procedures and standards for the traffic impact study are set forth in paragraph 4. of this section utilizing the terminology contained in the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Capacity Manual.
3. 
A transportation impact study shall be required for all subdivisions and land developments that meet one or more of the following criteria:
Residential: One hundred (100) or more dwelling units.
Commercial: A commercial building(s) consisting of twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet or more of gross leasable floor area.
Office: A development consisting of twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet or more gross leasable floor space.
Industrial: A development consisting of fifty thousand (50,000) square feet or more gross leasable floor space.
Institutional: Any development of such nature.
NOTE: Where special conditions exist, council may request the preparation of a transportation impact study for any other subdivisions or land development.
4. 
The transportation impact study shall contain, but not be limited to, the following information:
A. 
General site description. The site description shall include the size, location, proposed land uses, construction staging and completion date of the proposed land development. If the development is residential, types of dwelling units and number of bedrooms shall also be included. A brief description of other major existing and proposed land developments within the study area shall be provided. The general site description shall also include probable socioecomonic characteristics of potential site users to the extent that they may affect the transportation needs of the site (i.e., number of senior citizens).
B. 
Transportation facilities' description. The description shall contain a full documentation of the proposed internal and existing external transportation system. This description shall include proposed internal vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian circulation, all proposed ingress and egress locations, all internal roadway widths and rights-of-way, parking conditions, traffic channelizations, and any traffic signals or other intersection control devices within the site. The site design shall be shown to maximize potential public transportation usage to and from the development, such as providing adequate turning radii at all access points to allow a bus to enter the development. Bus shelter and sign locations shall be designated where appropriate.
The report shall describe the entire external roadway system within the study area. Major intersections in the study area shall be identified and sketched. All existing and proposed public transportation services and facilities within a one-mile radius of the site shall also be documented. All future highway improvements, including proposed construction and traffic signalization shall be noted. This information shall be obtained from the Twelve-Year Highway Capital Program for the Delaware Valley Region, the Plymouth Township Comprehensive Plan, and from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Any proposed roadway improvements resulting from proposed surrounding developments shall also be recorded.
C. 
Existing traffic conditions. Existing traffic conditions shall be measured and documented for all streets and intersections in the study area. Traffic volumes shall be recorded for existing average daily traffic, existing peak hour traffic and for the subdivision's peak hour of traffic. Complete traffic counts at all major intersections in the study area shall be conducted, encompassing the peak highway and development-generated hour(s), and documentation shall be included in the report. A volume capacity analysis based upon existing volumes shall be performed during the peak hour(s) and the peak development-generating hour(s) for all roadways and major intersections in the study area. Levels of service shall be determined for each location.
This analysis will determine the adequacy of the existing roadway system to serve the current traffic demand. Roadways and/or intersections experiencing levels of service E or F shall be noted as congestion locations.
D. 
Transportation impact of the development. Estimation of vehicular trips to result from the proposal shall be completed for both the street system and the development-generated peak hour(s). Vehicular trip generation rates to be used for this calculation shall be obtained from the Trip Generation Manual, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 5th edition or subsequent editions, which is hereby adopted by the township. These development-generated traffic volumes shall be provided for the inbound and outbound traffic movements as estimated. The references source(s) and methodology followed shall be cited. These generated volumes shall be distributed to the study area and assigned to the existing streets and intersections throughout the study area. Documentation of all assumptions used in the distribution and assignment phase shall be provided. Traffic volumes shall be assigned to all access points. Pedestrian volumes shall also be calculated, if applicable. If school crossings are to be used, pedestrian volumes shall be assigned to each crossing. Any characteristics of the site that will cause unusual trip generation rates and/or traffic flows shall be noted.
E. 
Analysis of transportation impact. The total future traffic demand based on full occupancy of the proposed subdivision or land development, shall be calculated. This demand shall consist of the combination of the existing traffic expanded to the completion year, the development-generating traffic, and the traffic generated by other proposed developments in the study area. A volume/capacity analysis shall also be conducted using the total future demand and the future roadway capacity. If staging of the proposed development is anticipated, calculations for each stage of completion shall be made. This analysis shall be performed using the peak highway hour(s) and peak development-generated hour(s) for all streets and major intersections in the study area. Volume capacity calculations shall be completed for all major intersections.
All access points and pedestrian crossings shall be examined as to the feasibility of installing traffic signals. This evaluation shall compare the projected traffic and pedestrian volumes to the warrants for traffic signal installation. Levels of service for all streets and intersections shall be listed.
F. 
Conclusions and recommended improvements. All streets and/or intersections showing a level of service below C shall be considered deficient, and specific recommendations for the elimination of these problems shall be listed. This listing of recommended improvements shall include, but not limited to, the following elements: Internal circulation design, site access location and design, external street and intersection design and improvements, traffic signal installation and operation, including signal timing, and transit design improvements.
Existing and/or future public transportation shall also be addressed. A listing of all actions to be undertaken to increase present public transportation usage and improve service, if applicable, shall be included.
The listing of recommended improvements for both streets and transit shall include, for such improvement, the party responsible for the improvement, the cost and funding of the improvement, and the completion date for the improvement.
The planning agencies shall review the transportation impact study to determine its adequacy in solving any traffic problems, which may occur due to the land development or subdivision and make recommendations to council.
Council may decide that certain improvements contained in the study on or adjacent to the site are required for application plan approval and may attach these conditions to the preliminary approval.
The improvement plans shall not be submitted to PennDOT until such plans are approve by council. This submittal to PennDOT shall be accompanied by comments of the planning agency and the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
5. 
The cost of the transportation impact study shall be paid by the applicant/developer. The qualified traffic engineer and/or transportation planner shall be selected by the Township.
6. 
When a lot is located within the transportation service area designated by the Township council under Ordinance No. 1107 of September 14, 1992 (hereinafter called "Plymouth Township Impact Fee Ordinance"), the levels of service and other transportation criteria shall be as stated in the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis dated May, 1992, as adopted by Township Resolution 1992-51 and the Plymouth Township Impact Fee Ordinance. The specific impact fee for a specific new development or subdivision within the service area for road improvements shall be determined as of the date of land development or subdivision approval by multiplying the per trip cost established for the service area as determined under the Plymouth Township Impact Fee Ordinance, as amended, by the estimated number of peak-hour trips to be generated by the new development or subdivision using generally accepted traffic engineering standards.
[Ord. No. 1038, § 6, 5-15-1990; Ord. No. 1239, § 4, 9-22-1997; Ord. No. 1467, § 4, 10-10-2006]
When approval of the subdivision or land development has been given by council, the applicant/developer will be notified in writing thereof and of any conditions imposed on that approval, acceptance of which conditions must be made in writing by the applicant/developer within five (5) days of the mailing of notice of approval. The applicant/developer shall, within ninety (90) days of such final approval or ninety (90) days after the date of delivery of an approved plan signed by council following completion of conditions imposed for such approval, whichever is later, record such plan in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The applicant/developer shall be required to submit the following:
1. 
Record plans [two (2) linens or two (2) unaltered sepia mylars and two (2) paper copies];
2. 
The executed subdivision agreements;
3. 
Public improvement guarantees;
4. 
Improvement construction plan [six (6) copies] application and fee;
5. 
Grading plan application and fee where applicable; and
6. 
Permits required by any other governmental agencies which are made a condition of the approval.
7. 
Deeds for all easements or rights-of-way shown on the record plans must be submitted.
[Ord. No. 1601, § 3, 5-11-2015]
8. 
An electronic version of the final record plan in pdf format must be submitted.
[Ord. No. 1601, § 3, 5-11-2015]
In the event the applicant/developer does not accept such conditions in writing within five (5) days of mailing of notice of approval or in the event the applicant/developer does not submit the documents referred to above within the applicable ninety (90) day period, the approval of the subdivision or land development shall be rescinded automatically and written notice thereof shall be provided to the applicant/developer.
Upon completion of all the above steps, a record plan will be approved by execution by Township officials and returned to the applicant for recording, to be recorded within ninety (90) days. Information as to the recording, indicating the plan book and page number, is to be supplied to the Township engineer within fifteen (15) days of the date of such recording.
[Ord. No. 1038, § 6(D), 5-14-1990]
When the public improvements have been completed the developer shall be required to offer a deed of dedication therefor the Township. Upon certification by the Township engineer as to the completion of the public improvements and their acceptability, the Township council shall adopt an ordinance accepting dedication and shall release the financial security upon the tender by the developer of the required maintenance bond.
[Ord. No. 1038, § 6(E), 5-14-1990]
Council may grant a waiver or modification of one (1) or more of the provisions of this ordinance if the literal enforcement thereof will exact undue hardship because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question, provided such waiver or modification will not be contrary to the public interest, and that the purpose and intent of the ordinance is observed. All such requests for waiver or modification must be in writing and must accompany and be part of the application for subdivision and land development. The request shall state in full the grounds and facts of unreasonable or [undue] hardship, the provisions of the ordinance involved, and the minimum waiver or modification necessary to afford relief. The request may be referred to the planning agency for advisory comments, subject to final approval by council. Council shall keep a written record of all actions on all requests for waiver or modification.