[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Loyalsock 3-13-1991 as Ch. 9, Art. II, of the 1991 Code. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
The Board of Supervisors shall appoint a Township Planning Commission
consisting of seven persons. The terms of all Commission members shall be
for a period of four years; provided, however, that the members who were serving
as of January 13, 1970, shall serve out their then-existing terms before such
term is reduced to four years. One of the new members whose office was created
on January 13, 1970, shall be appointed initially for three years, and the
other new member whose office was created on the same date shall be appointed
initially for four years.
All members of the Commission appointed under the terms of this chapter
shall serve without pay, although they may be reimbursed for necessary expenses
incurred in performance of their duties as Commission members.
All members of the Commission appointed under the terms of this chapter
shall reside within the township.
An appointment to fill a vacancy on the Commission appointed under the
terms of this chapter shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term.
The Commission members appointed under the terms of this chapter shall
hold no other township position or office, except that as a member of the
Township Zoning Commission or the Township Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The Township Planning Commission shall elect its own Chairman and fill
such other offices as it may deem necessary.
The Township Planning Commission may make and alter rules for its procedure
consistent with the ordinances of the township and the laws of the commonwealth.
The Township Planning Commission shall keep a record of its resolutions,
transactions, findings and determinations, which record shall be a public
record.
A.
In general, the Township Planning Commission shall have
such powers as will enable it to carry out its purpose and promote township
planning.
B.
In addition, this chapter is passed under authority of
the Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. §§ 67051 through 67057,
inclusive, and the Township Planning Commission shall have all the powers
and duties enumerated in such sections.
The Township Planning Commission or its employees may, while performing
necessary work, enter upon any land, in order to examine or survey it, or
to place and maintain necessary temporary markers thereon.
The Board of Supervisors shall appropriate funds for the Township Planning
Commission in the same manner as other appropriations are made.
The Township Planning Commission, with approval of the majority of the
Board of Supervisors, may appoint such employees and staff as it may deem
necessary for its work and may contract with planners and other consultants
for such technical services as it may require.
As an aid to coordination of municipal planning and with the consent
of the Township Supervisors, the Planning Commission may enter into joint
agreements with county, regional or other planning agencies, covering cooperative
relationships as are necessary to obtain the objectives of this chapter.
The Planning Commission shall incur only such expenditures as shall
be necessary and proper and all such expenditures shall be within the amount
appropriated by the Board of Supervisors or placed at the Commission's disposal
from other sources.
The Commission shall annually, at the regular meeting of the Township
Supervisors in June of each year, make a report to the Supervisors of their
transactions, findings and determinations.
The Planning Commission shall prepare and adopt a plan of development
for the township. The plan, with accompanying maps, charts, drawings and descriptive
matter, shall show the Commission's recommendation for the development of
the township. It may show the Commission's recommendations for the most desirable
use of land for agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial, industrial
and other purposes; for the most desirable density of population in the several
parts of the township; for a system of principal thoroughfares, parkways,
bridges, streets and other public ways; for airports, parks, playgrounds and
public grounds; for the general location and extent of facilities for water,
sewage, light, power, transit and other purposes, whether publicly or privately
owned; for the general location, character and extent of community centers
and neighborhood units; and for the replanning of blighted and slum areas,
for the extent and location of public projects; and for such other things
as, in the opinion of the Commission, are of public concern.
The development plan to be prepared by the Planning Commission shall
be based on studies of the physical, social, economic and governmental conditions
and trends, and shall be designed to promote with the greatest efficiency
and economy the coordinated development of the township and the general welfare
and prosperity of its people.
As the work of preparing the whole development plan progresses, the
Planning Commission may from time to time adopt parts thereof, any such part
to cover one or more major sections or divisions of the township or one or
more of the functional matters to be included in the plan. The Planning Commission
may from time to time amend, extend or add to the development plan. The Planning
Commission shall, wherever possible cooperate with the County Planning Commission,
if one is formed in Lycoming County. In such case, it shall be the duty of
the Commission to file a copy of all maps and plans and amendments thereto
adopted by the Commission with the County Planning Commission within 30 days
of the completion of such maps or plans.
The Board of Supervisors may establish as the Official Map of the township any part of the development plan to be prepared as provided by § 50-16 with respect to the location and width of streets, highways and parkways and the location and extent of public parks and playgrounds. Establishment shall be by ordinance, after public hearing, with notice of such public hearing to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the township at least 10 days prior to the hearing. Such map, subject to amendments as hereinafter provided, is to be deemed official and conclusive as regards the above subject matter and is hereby declared to be established to conserve and promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.
A.
The Planning Commission shall have power to make or cause
to be made from time to time surveys for the exact location of the lines of
new, extended, widened or narrowed streets, the newly proposed or changed
outer limits of parks, playgrounds, freeways and parkways, in the whole or
any portion of the township, and to certify to the Board of Supervisors at
plat or plats of the areas thus surveyed on which are indicated the location
of the lines recommended by the Planning Commission as the mapped boundaries
of future public areas, for placing on the Official Map of the township.
B.
The Board of Supervisors may by resolution, whenever
and as often as it may deem it for the public interest, change or add to the
Official Map of the township. Before changing or adding to the Official Map,
the matter shall be referred to the Planning Commission for its recommendation.
If the Planning Commission shall not make its recommendation thereon within
30 days after reference, it shall be deemed to consent thereto.
C.
Upon the receipt of the recommendation of the Planning
Commission or upon the expiration of 30 days after reference to the Planning
Commission, the Board of Supervisors may hold a public hearing on the proposed
change in or addition to the Official Map, and if such hearing is to be held,
shall cause notice of the hearing to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the township at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing.
At such public hearing, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity
to present their views prior to the final vote upon the resolution providing
for the change in or addition to the Official Map. Upon final passage of the
resolution, the changes or additions shall become a part of the Official Map
of the township.
D.
The acceptance or approval by the township, under the
provisions of laws other than those contained in this section, of the locating,
laying out, widening or closing of any public way or areas designated above
as part of the Official Map shall be deemed to be a change or addition to
the Official Map. The placing of a boundary line of any public way or area
upon the Official Map shall be in no way constructed as an opening, establishment,
taking or acceptance of any land for a public use.
For the purpose of preserving the integrity of the Official Map of the
township, no permit shall be issued for any building in the bed of any street
shown or laid out on the Official Map, except that when the property of the
applicant of which such reserved location forms a part cannot yield a reasonable
return to the owner unless such permit is granted, the Township Zoning Board
of Adjustment may, in a specific case, by the vote of a majority of its members,
grant a permit for a building in such street or tend to cause a change of
the Official Map; and the Board shall impose reasonable requirements as a
condition of granting the permit so as to promote the health, morals, safety
and general welfare of the public.
No public sewer, water main or other township street utility or improvement
shall be constructed in or so as to serve any street, highway, parkway, playground
or park until the street, highway, parkway, playground or park is duly placed
on the Official Map.
Upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors of land subdivision regulations,
all subdivision layout or plot maps shall be referred to the Planning Commission
for its recommendations. If the Planning Commission shall not make its recommendations
thereon within 30 days after such reference, it shall be deemed to consent
thereto.
No permit for the erection of any building shall be issued unless a
street or highway giving access to such proposed structure has been duly placed
on the Official Map. Where the enforcement of the provision of this section
would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship and where the circumstances
of the case do not require the structure to be related to existing or proposed
streets or highways, the applicant for the permit may appeal from the decision
of the administrative officer having charge of the issuance of permits to
the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the same provisions shall apply to such
appeals and to such Board as are provided in cases of appeals on zoning regulations.
The Board may, in passing on such appeal, make any reasonable exception and
issue the permit subject to conditions that will protect any street or highway
layout.
The Township Planning Commission may make reports and recommendations
to the Board of Supervisors, agencies and citizens regarding public and private
improvements in relation to its plans and general community development. It
may publish the development plan or sections thereof and such other reports
and recommendations as, in the opinion of the Commission, are necessary to
attain the objectives of this chapter.
The Township Planning Commission shall operate in cooperation with the
Township Zoning Commission.
All public officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Township Planning
Commission such available information as the Commission or its staff may require
for its work.
