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." The word "watercourse" shall include channel, creek,
ditch, dry run, spring, stream and river. The words "shall" and "will"
are always mandatory.
As used in this chapter, except where the context
clearly indicates otherwise, the following words and/or phrases have
the meaning indicated below:
A right-of-way providing secondary vehicular access to the
side or rear of lots.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development, including his heirs, successors
and assigns.
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 building permit, and/or
for the approval of a subdivision plan or plat.
An area bounded by streets.
The line within a property defining at least the minimum
required distance between any building to be erected and an adjacent
right-of-way.
The portion of a street right-of-way which is paved customarily
used by vehicles in the regular course of travel over the street.
An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections defined
by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection
of the street center lines.
A parcel or parcels of land, or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of the development but not including
streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public
facilities. Common open space shall be substantially free of structures
but may contain such improvements as are in the subdivision or development
plan as finally approved and as are appropriate for the recreation
of residents.
Areas of subdivision or land development particularly subject
to erosion and sedimentation, such as areas not covered with vegetation
due to grading, cutting or filling, which contain exposed subsoils
or mixtures of soil horizons, or excessively long slopes and steep
grades.
A street with access at one end which is terminated by a
vehicular turnaround.
Minimum standards for the layout by which a subdivision or
land development is developed.
Any landowner or landowner's agent who makes or causes to
be made a subdivision of land or a land development.
The flow of water or liquid waste and the method of directing
such flow, whether natural or artificial.
An undedicated strip of land or roadway intended for use
as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation to provide access
to a single premises.
Any structure, or part thereof designed to be occupied as
a single housekeeping unit.
A grant of property rights for the use of land by the property
owner to an other person, organization, or entity for specific purpose.
A licensed professional engineer registered by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The movement of soil by the action of wind and/or water.
Minimum standards for the construction of the required improvements
such as streets, curbs, sidewalks, water mains, sewers, drainage facilities,
public utilities and other items required to render the land suitable
for the use proposed.
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.
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
between 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.
Provisions for exclusion in accordance with
Section 503(1.1) of the Municipalities Planning Code are included.[1]
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 having a
remaining term of not less than forty years, if he is authorized under
the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other person
having a proprietary interest in land shall be deemed to be a landowner
for the purposes of this chapter.
A parcel of land on which a principal building, or, where authorized by Chapter 185, Zoning, of the Code of the Borough of Chester Heights, a unified group of buildings, is or may be placed together with the required open space. The use of a lot for more than one principal building or for a unified group of buildings shall be considered a land development and the plan for any such use shall be subject to approval in accordance with this chapter. For the purposes of these definitions, unified group of buildings shall include a single commercial building designed to house more than one commercial use or entity.
A stone or concrete monument with a flat top at least four
inches in diameter or square, containing a copper or brass dowel (plug),
and at least 24 inches in length (preferred 30 inches to 36 inches).
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.
A plan, accompanying and forming a part of the preliminary
and final plans, detailing the measures to be taken by the developer
for protection of stream channels, major trees, and other important
natural features, and for erosion and sediment control.
A plan prepared by a registered engineer showing the construction
details of streets, drains, sewers, bridges, culverts and other improvements
as required by this chapter.
A complete and exact subdivision or land development plan
or plat, prepared for official recording as required by statute.
The element of the subdivision or land development plan,
which shall show the general location, alignment, and dimensions and
the identification and classification of existing and proposed streets,
highways and other thoroughfares.
The Chester Heights Borough Planning Commission.
The Comprehensive Development Policy Plan (Master Plan) and/or
Future Land Use Plan and/or Ultimate Right-of-Way Plan and/or Official
Map or other such plans, or portions thereof, as may be adopted, pursuant
to statute, for the area of the Borough in which the subdivision or
land development is located.
A tentative subdivision or land development plan, in lesser detail than a final plan, which includes all information required under § 162-14 of this chapter.
The copy of the final plan which contains the original endorsements
of the County Planning Commission and the Borough and which is intended
to be recorded with the County Recorder of Deeds.
An informal plan, not necessarily to exact scale, indicating
salient features of a tract and its surroundings and the general layout
of a proposed subdivision or land development.
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 of general circulation in Chester Heights Borough.
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 nor less than 14 days
from the date of the hearing.
A parcel of ground in separate (sometimes public) ownership
separating a street from other adjacent properties or from another
street.
A lot extending between and having frontage on two generally
parallel streets, (excluding service streets or alleys), with vehicular
access solely from one street.
An examination of the sketch plan, preliminary plan, and/or
final plan by the Planning Commission and/or the Chester Heights Borough
to determine compliance with this chapter and the administrative regulations,
design standards and improvements specifications enacted pursuant
thereto.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated as a street,
alley, crosswalk or for other public purposes.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots to a privately owned treatment system.
Any structure designed to treat sanitary sewage within the
boundaries of an individual lot.
A sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried
from individual lots by a system of pipes to a publicly owned central
treatment and disposal plant.
The resulting residue from erosion.
A covered watertight settling tank in which raw sewage is
changed into solid and liquid states to facilitate further treatment
and final disposal.
The required length of roadway visible to the driver of a
passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view
is unobstructed by traffic. Sight distance measurement shall be made
from a point 4.5 feet above the center line of the road surface to
a point 0.5 feet above the center line of road surface.
A field test conducted to determine the suitability of the
soil for on-site sanitary sewage disposal facility by measuring the
absorptive capacity of the soil at a given location and depth.
An undedicated strip of land or roadway intended for use
as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation to provide access
to premises. A private street is intended for use of only the premises
served rather than the general public.
A strip of land, including the entire right-of-way (i.e.,
not limited to the cartway) intended to be dedicated for general public
use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation. The term "public
street" includes any thoroughfare intended for public use. Public
streets are further classified according to the functions they perform.
MINOR LOCAL STREETA street used primarily to provide access to abutting properties.
CUL-DE-SAC STREETA minor local street intersecting another street and terminating in a vehicular turnaround at the other end.
HALF (PARTIAL) STREETA street, generally parallel and adjacent to a property line, having a lesser right-of-way width than normally required for improvement and use of the street.
MARGINAL ACCESS STREETA minor local street, parallel and adjacent to a major street (but separated from it by a reserve strip), which provides access to abutting properties and control of intersections with the major street.
COLLECTOR STREETA street which, in addition to providing access to abutting properties, intercepts minor streets to provide a route serving 50 or more dwelling units to give access to community facilities and/or other collector and major streets (streets in industrial and commercial subdivisions shall generally be considered collector streets); sometimes called a "feeder street," which connects a local street system and a major street or highway system.
MAJOR STREET or THROUGH HIGHWAY (ARTERIAL)A street serving a large volume of comparatively high-speed and long-distance traffic, including all facilities classified as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; a highway on which preference is given to the through movement of traffic at the expense of cross traffic.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
Any individual, copartnership or corporation (or agent authorized
thereby) which undertakes the subdivision of land, as defined by these
regulations, as the owner, lessee, equitable owner (or agent authorized
thereby) of the land being subdivided.
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 courts for distribution
to 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 10 acres, not involving any new
street or easement of access or any residential dwelling shall be
exempted.
A licensed surveyor registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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.
A system for supplying and distributing water from a common
source to dwellings and other buildings, but generally not confined
to one neighborhood.
A system for supplying and distributing water to a single
dwelling or other building from a source located on the same lot.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq.
