Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases
shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meaning herein
indicated. The singular shall include the plural and the plural shall
include the singular. Words used in the present or past tenses shall
include the future tense. The words "person," "applicant," "subdivider"
and "owner" shall include a corporation, unincorporated association
and a partnership, or other legal entity, as well as an individual.
The word "building" shall include the word "structure" and shall be
construed as if followed by the phrase "or part thereof." The word
"watercourse" shall include channel, canal, creek, ditch, dry run,
spring and stream. The words "should" and "may" are permissive; the
words "shall" and "will" are mandatory and directive.
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If a word is not defined in this chapter, but is defined in the Zoning
Chapter, then the definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply to
this Subdivision and Land Development Chapter.
[Added 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
As used in this chapter, except where the context clearly indicates
otherwise, the following words and/or phrases have the meaning indicated
below:
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of
1968, as amended and reenacted by Act 170 of 1988, 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq., and any subsequent amendments thereto.
See "service street."
A landowner or developer, including heirs, successors and
assigns, as hereinafter defined, who has filed an application for
subdivision or land development.
Every application whether preliminary 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 plan, for the approval of a development
plan, for the approval of a flexible development or for a change of
zoning.
A tract of land bounded entirely by streets; by streets and
a watercourse; by streets and a railroad; by streets and the corporate
boundaries of the Township; or by streets and public land, or any
combination of the above.
The Board of Supervisors of Westtown Township.
Any structure which is erected on the ground and permanently
anchored thereto, consisting of at least two walls and a roof, and
designed, intended or arranged for the housing, sheltering, enclosure
or structural support of persons, animals or property of any kind.
Any manufactured home or similar structure constructed off-site prior
to placement on the ground is a building.
The line parallel to the street line at a distance therefrom
equal to the depth of the minimum front yard required for the district
in which the lot is located.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
The paved area of a road right-of-way, including width intended
for vehicular movement and on-street parking, but not including shoulders.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined
by the lines of sight between points at a given distance from the
intersection of the street center lines.
The document adopted July 2, 2001, as the Growth Management
Plan/Comprehensive Plan for the Township of Westtown by the Board
of Supervisors.
[Amended 8-6-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-5; 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A publicly or privately owned right-of-way for pedestrian
use extending from a street into a block or across a block to another
street.
See definition under "streets."
Diameter of a tree at breast height, usually measured at
3.5 feet from the ground surface.
Minimum standards for the layout by which a subdivision or
land development is developed.
A structure designed to retard surface runoff for a period
of time sufficient to cause the deposition of sediment and to reduce
the velocity and rate of surface flows leaving a site, thus preventing
further erosion.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission from a landowner who makes or causes to be made the improvements
associated with a subdivision or land development. The developer may
also be the subdivider as defined herein.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, the placement
of manufactured homes, streets, and other paving, utilities, filling,
grading, excavation, mining, dredging or drilling operations, and
the subdivision of land.
The flow of water or liquid waste and the method of directing
such flow, whether natural or artificial.
A right-of-way granted to use private land to facilitate
drainage as deemed necessary by the Township within which the owner
shall erect no permanent structures, but may use the land in any other
way not inconsistent with the grantee's rights.
A private strip of land intended for use as a means of vehicular
or pedestrian access to an individual lot. No more than three dwelling
units may share access via the use of a common driveway.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A building or entirely self-contained portion thereof containing
food preparation and bathroom facilities, for occupancy by only one
family including any domestic servants living on the premises with
no enclosed space, other than vestibules, entrance or other hallways
or porches, in common with any other dwelling unit.
Land disturbance activity resulting in the movement of earth
or stripping of vegetative cover from the earth.
A permanent right granted for limited use of private land,
normally for a public purpose (e.g., utility, drainage, public access).
The owner of the property shall have the right to make any other use
of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights of the grantee.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and duly appointed on a yearly basis to act as consulting
engineer for the Township.
The movement of soil by the action of wind, water, climate
and/or construction-related activities.
A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream
or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation;
an area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of
surface waters from any source.
Replenishment of geologic structures and rock or soil interstices
which have the capacity to store water.
The definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
Buildings, for public or quasi-public use; grading; paving;
streets; streetlights and signs; fire hydrants; water mains; sanitary
sewers; storm drains and other drainage facilities; public utilities;
curbs; sidewalks; crosswalks; bridges; culverts; monuments; retaining
walls; and landscaping, as proposed or required.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
Minimum standards for the construction of the required improvements
such as listed under the definition of "improvements" above and other
items required to render the land suitable for the use proposed.
A structure designed to direct the flow of rain into storage
in geologic structures, e.g., french drains, seepage pits.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
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
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.
A subdivision of land.
Those activities described in § 503(1.1) of the Act[2] shall not be considered land developments for purposes
of this chapter.
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/she
is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A parcel of land, undivided by any street or dedicated future
street right-of-way. Such parcel shall be separately described by
metes and bounds, the description of which is recorded in the office
of the Recorder of Deeds of Chester County by deed description or
is described by an approved subdivision plan recorded in the office
of the Recorder of Deeds of Chester County.
The acreage contained within the property lines of a lot,
as defined in the deed or as shown on an approved subdivision plan.
Such acreage shall be exclusive of the following:
Any area used for gas, oil, natural gas, electric, or communications
transmission facilities, whether below or above ground, that do not
serve the lot or lots traversed.
Any area within a street or other transportation right-of-way,
existing or proposed.
Any area within a permanent drainage easement.
Every lot created by subdivision shall have a contiguous and
uninterrupted area equal to 75% of the minimum lot area required by
the applicable zoning district which is unencumbered by wetlands,
one-hundred-year floodplains, steep slopes and/or stormwater management
basins/facilities.
[Added 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
The definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
The definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A property boundary line of any lot held in single and separate
ownership, except that, in the case of any lot abutting a street,
the lot line for such portion of the lot as abuts such street shall
be deemed to be the same as the street line, and shall not be the
center line of the street, or any other line within the street line
even though such may be the property boundary line.
The lot line abutting any street and coinciding with any
street line. In the case of a corner lot, each of the two (or more)
street-abutting lot lines shall be considered a front lot line. In
the case of an interior lot, the front lot line shall be the line
most parallel and closest to the street line at the end of the access
strip; all other lines shall be side or rear lot lines.
A lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot lines;
if the rear lot line is less than 10 feet in length, or if the lot
forms a point at the rear, the rear lot line shall be deemed to be
a line 10 feet in length within the lot, parallel to and at the maximum
distance from the front lot line. In the case of a corner lot, any
lot line that is neither a front lot line nor a side lot line. Every
lot shall include one rear yard.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
Any lot line not a front or rear lot line.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A lot situated between and having frontage on two public
streets with vehicular access solely from the street with the lesser
highway functional classification.
The definition in the Zoning Chapter shall apply.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A metal pipe or pin of at least 1/2 inch diameter and at
least 24 inches in length.
A stone or concrete monument with a flat top at least four
inches across and at least 36 inches in length. The monument shall
be tapered so that the dimensions at the bottom are at least two inches
greater than the top to minimize movement caused by frost.
A building containing more than one dwelling unit.
See "Act."
The disposal of sewage by use of a sanitary sewer system
served by a central sewage treatment plan approved by all governmental
agencies having jurisdiction over such matters. (See also "sanitary
sewage disposal.")
A safe, adequate and healthful supply of water to more than
one user from a common source approved by all governmental agencies
having jurisdiction over such matters.
The disposal of sewage by use of septic systems, or other
safe and healthful means within the confines of the lot on which the
use is located, approved by all governmental agencies having jurisdiction
over such matters.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A safe, adequate and healthful supply of water to a single
user from a private well approved by all governmental agencies having
jurisdiction over such matters.
Area or areas of land and/or water substantially free of structures and paved areas, permanently restricted for common enjoyment and recreational use by residents of a development and possibly the general public, including agricultural activities as permitted by Chapter 170, Zoning, but not including individually owned private yards.
The maximum rate of flow of water at a given point and time
resulting from a predetermined storm.
A plan prepared by a registered engineer or surveyor showing
the construction details of streets, drains, sewers, bridges, culverts,
stormwater management structures and other required improvements and
for erosion and sediment control.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A complete and exact subdivision or development plan or plat, prepared for official recording as required by statute, which includes all information required under Article VII of this chapter.
The Westtown Township Planning Commission.
A tentative subdivision or development plan, in lesser detail than a final plan, which includes all information required under Article VI of this chapter.
An informal plan, not necessarily to exact scale, indicating salient features of a tract, its surroundings and the general layout of a proposed subdivision or land development and which includes all information required under Article V of this chapter.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final.
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper generally circulated in Westtown Township. 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 be no more than 30 days or less than seven days from the date
of the hearing.
Any revision of an approved final or recorded plan, limited
to changes in lot lines.
A reservoir or other feature formed from soil or other material
which is designed to permanently retain or to recharge to the groundwater
a certain amount of stormwater from a drainage area in order to reduce
the velocity, volume and rate of peak flows.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
An examination of the sketch plan, preliminary plan and/or
final plan by planning agencies and consultants so assigned to determine
compliance with this chapter and the administrative regulations, design
standards and improvement specifications.
A strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, prescription
or condemnation, and intended to be occupied or currently occupied
by a road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, oil or
gas pipeline, water line, sanitary or storm sewer, and other similar
uses; and, generally, the right of one to pass over the property of
another.
EXISTING RIGHT-OF-WAYThe legal road right-of-way as established by the commonwealth or other appropriate governing authority and currently in existence.
FUTURE RIGHT-OF-WAYThe right-of-way deemed necessary to provide adequate width in this chapter and Chapter 170, Zoning, for future circulation improvements. The future right-of-way shall be measured equal distance from the center line of the existing cartway.
CARTWAYThe paved area of a road right-of-way including width intended for vehicular movement and on-street parking, but not including shoulders.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from the individual lots by a system of pipes to a treatment facility
within the immediate community, i.e., community on-lot disposal system
(COLDS).
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots by a system of pipes to a treatment and disposal
plant.
Solid material, mineral and/or organic, that is in suspension,
is being transported or has been moved from its site of origin by
water.
A covered watertight settling tank in which sewage is putrefied
and decomposed through bacterial action.
The required length of roadway visible to the driver of a passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view is obstructed by traffic. Sight distance measurement shall be made from a point 3.5 feet above the center line of the road surface to a point 0.5 feet above the center line of the road surface (see §§ 149-905, 149-906 and 149-908).
A field test conducted to determine the suitability of the
soil for on-site sanitary sewage disposal facilities by measuring
the absorptive capacity of the soil at a given location and depth.
That ground area of a lot or tract of ground whose vertical
change in grade, measured against the horizontal measurement, is equal
to or greater than 15%.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A pipe or conduit that carries intercepted surface runoff,
street wash and other waters or drainage, but excludes domestic sewage
and industrial waste.
Water which surfaces, flows or collects during and subsequent
to rain or snowfall.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way (i.e.,
not limited to the cartway) intended for use as a means of vehicular
and pedestrian circulation to provide access to more than one lot.
The word "street" includes thoroughfare, avenue, boulevard, court,
expressway, highway, road, place, lane, way and alley. Streets are
further classified according to the functions they perform.
ARTERIAL HIGHWAYA street serving the heaviest volumes of traffic (comparatively high-speed and long-distance) in the Township, including all facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; providing the highest degree of vehicular mobility; and/or involving controls on access.
COLLECTOR STREETA street designed and located to provide means of access to traffic off minor (local) streets and to provide access for through traffic between residential neighborhoods and districts within the Township to major streets and/or a street used for access to nonresidential properties, i.e., commercial, industrial, professional, etc.
MINOR STREET (LOCAL STREET)A street intended to serve and provide access to the properties abutting thereon and not connecting with other streets in such a manner as to encourage through traffic.
CUL-DE-SACA minor street with access at only one end and which is terminated by a vehicular turnaround.
SERVICE STREET (ALLEY)A minor right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the side or rear of two or more properties. Permitted only in small lot single-family detached development, service streets are intended to be private streets owned and maintained by a homeowners' association or private landowner.
The dividing line between the street and the lot. The street line shall be the same as the future right-of-way line as defined by this chapter and Chapter 170, Zoning.
A street not offered or not required to be offered for dedication.
Any form or arrangement of building materials involving the
necessity of providing proper support, bracing, anchorage or other
protection. Such arrangement shall have a permanently fixed location
in or on the ground. Structures include but are not limited to buildings,
open sheds and similar enclosures with less than four walls and/or
a roof, signs, fences or walls over six feet in height, detached aerials
and antennas, porches, platforms, tennis and handball courts, swimming
pools, tanks and towers.
Any individual, copartnership or corporation (or agent authorized
thereby) which undertakes the subdivision of land, as defined by these
regulations, as the owner, lessee or equitable owner (or agent authorized
thereby) of the land being subdivided.
The division of a single lot, tract or parcel of land into
two or more lots, tracts or parcels of land, for the purpose, whether
immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution
to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development.
The subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels
of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of
access or residential dwellings, shall be exempted from this definition.
The Board of Supervisors of Westtown Township.
A land surveyor licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers and/or carries
surface water runoff across the ground.
A system of open jointed or perforated pipes laid in the
upper strata of the soil to distribute sewage effluent into the soil
for absorption and evaporation.
The Township of Westtown.
A grouping of more than three trees of the same or different
variety to be treated as one unit.
An area bounded peripherally by a water parting and draining
ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water.
Those areas inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater
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. Wetlands are also those
areas defined and regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection,
United State Army Corps of Engineers, and the United States Department
of Fish and Wildlife.
An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building
or other structures or use.
YARD, FRONTA yard extending the full width of the lot along the front lot line and extending in depth from the front lot line to the nearest point of any part of a structure on the lot. On a corner lot, the Zoning Officer shall have the authority to determine which lot line is the front lot line based on the predominant pattern in the area.
[Amended 7-22-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]
YARD, REARA yard extending the full width of the lot along the rear lot line and extending in depth from the rear lot line to the nearest point of any part of a structure on the lot.
YARD, SIDEA yard extending the full depth of the lot along a side lot line and extending in width from such side lot line to the nearest point of any part of a structure on the lot.
