[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Hempfield 3-9-1981 as Ord. No. 81-4; amended in its entirety 7-25-2011 by Ord. No.
2011-05. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Hempfield Township Driveway
Permit Ordinance."
The intent of this chapter is to provide minimum standards to
safeguard persons, to protect property, and to regulate the location,
design, construction, maintenance and drainage of access driveways
constructed within the Township of Hempfield.
Wherever used in this chapter, the following words shall have
the meanings indicated:
The portion of roadway adjoining the traveled way constructed
for the purpose of enabling a vehicle entering a roadway to increase
its speed to a rate at which it can safely merge with traffic.
A driveway, street or other means of passage of vehicles
between the highway and abutting property, including acceleration
and deceleration lanes and such drainage structures as may be necessary
for the proper construction and maintenance thereof.
A line formed by the face of the existing curb or, in its
absence, the outer edge of the shoulder, along which curbing is or
may be located.
A structure that carries water from one side of a road, driveway
or other obstruction to the other. A culvert is opened at both ends.
In addition thereto, a natural drainage channel for the purpose of
conveying water along a side of a road, underneath a driveway or other
obstruction to the other.
The portion of the roadway adjoining the traveled way constructed
for the purpose of enabling a vehicle that is exiting a roadway to
slow to a safe speed after it has left the mainstream of traffic.
Every entrance or exit used by vehicular traffic to or from
properties abutting a street. The term includes proposed streets,
lanes, alleys, courts and ways.
The narrowest width of a driveway measured perpendicular
to the center line of the driveway.
The exit of vehicular traffic from abutting properties to
a highway.
All machinery and equipment, together with the necessary
supplies for upkeep and maintenance, and also tools and apparatus
necessary for the proper construction and completion of work.
The latest revision of highway construction specifications
issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The distance along the right-of-way line in front of an abutting
property.
A driveway used or expected to be used by more than 1,500
vehicles per day.
The area within the right-of-way which has been constructed
for street purposes, including roadbed, pavement, shoulders, slope,
sidewalks, drainage facilities, and any other appurtenances.
The entrance of vehicular traffic to abutting properties
from a street.
The Township's authorized representative assigned to
inspect permit operations.
A driveway used or expected to be used by more than 25 but
less than 750 vehicles per day.
A driveway used or expected to be used by more than 750 but
less than 1,500 vehicles per day.
A residential or other driveway which is used or expected
to be used by not more than 25 vehicles per day.
To hold title to land or a building or be a tenant in a lease
that will not terminate within 15 years of the permit issuance date.
The edge of the main traveled portion of any street, exclusive
of shoulder.
Plain or reinforced cement concrete or asphalt curb which
meets Township standards.
A street occupancy permit issued by the Township pursuant
to this chapter.
Any natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation,
or political subdivision.
Drawings which show the location, character, and dimensions
of the proposed occupancy and related street features, including layouts,
profiles, cross sections, drainage, and other details.
The distance measured along the pavement edge or curb between
the property frontage boundary line and near edge of the driveway.
A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation publication,
sometimes called "Bulletin 43," containing requirements for the maintenance
and protection of traffic on construction projects.
A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation publication containing
regulations governing the design, location, and operation of all official
traffic signs, signals, and markings on and along highways.
A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation publication containing
requirements for work area traffic control during highway maintenance
operations and utility work.
The area which has been acquired by the Township for street
purposes.
That portion of a street improved, designed, or ordinarily
used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the sidewalk or shoulder.
Township design standard for street construction.
The lateral distance between the right-of-way line and the
roadside building, liquid fuel pump island, display stand, or other
object, which will result in space for vehicles to stop or park between
such objects and the right-of-way line.
The portion of the roadway, contiguous to the traffic lanes,
for accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency use, and for
lateral support of base and surface courses and pavements.
The intersection of the shoulder slope with the side slope
or ditch slope.
A paved walkway, continuous for a reasonable distance and
an integral part of the street, constructed solely for use by pedestrians.
Any aggregate such as aggregate cement, aggregate bituminous
or lime pozzolan, placed in such a manner as to provide a smooth,
stable, all-weather surface not subject to undue raveling.
The distance required by a driver traveling at a given speed
to stop the vehicle after an object on the roadway becomes visible
to the driver.
Includes street, road, lane, alley, or court, intended for
public use and shall include the cartway, sidewalk, gutter or right-of-way
area, whether or not such street, or any part thereof, is owned in
fee by others within the Township.
The portion of the street for the movement of vehicles, exclusive
of shoulders and auxiliary lanes.
Any sign, signal, marking or device placed or erected for
the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding vehicular traffic or
pedestrians, or both.
The radius of an arc which approximates the turning path
of the exterior corner of a vehicle.
Every device in or by which any person or property is or
may be transported or drawn upon a highway. The term includes special
mobile equipment as defined in the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
A.Â
No person, partnership, corporation, or any other type of entity
shall hereafter construct, build, alter, rebuild or establish any
driveway or access road intersecting with any portion of a Township
street without there first being filed by said person, partnership,
corporation or any other type of entity an application for a driveway
permit, on a form as to be supplied by Hempfield Township, for the
construction, building or establishment of the same. Said application
shall be made to the Hempfield Township Zoning Office.
B.Â
The Hempfield Township Zoning Office shall, before the issuance of
any driveway permit or access permit pursuant to the application made,
inspect the plans and specifications of the proposed construction
in order to ensure that the same are in conformity with all applicable
ordinances of the Township of Hempfield regulating and controlling
the use and maintenance of the Township roads and rights-of-way; and,
further, to ensure that the driveway shall be installed in accordance
with the guidelines as established by the following sections of the
Pennsylvania Code, Title 67, Transportation, Chapter 441, Access to
and Occupancy of Highways by Driveways and Local Roads, as amended
from time to time:
|
Code Section
|
Description
|
Appendix Location*
| |
|---|---|---|---|
|
67 441.3(f);
|
Traffic control plan
|
Appendix A-1
| |
|
67 441.3(g);
|
Drainage plan for other than minimum use driveways
|
Appendix A-1
| |
|
67 441.3(h);
|
Drainage release for other than minimum use driveways
|
Appendix A-2
| |
|
67 441.3(i);
|
Plans for other than minimum use driveways
|
Appendix A-2
| |
|
67 441.6 (1) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi) and (viii);
|
Permit general conditions
|
Appendix B-1
| |
|
67 441.6 (3);
|
Department standards
|
Appendix B-1
| |
|
67 441.6(4);
|
Permitee responsibility
|
Appendix B-2
| |
|
67 441.6(5);
|
Restoration of slopes
|
Appendix B-3
| |
|
67 441.6(6);
|
Altering existing drainage
|
Appendix B-3
| |
|
67 441.6(7);
|
Disposition of materials
|
Appendix B-3
| |
|
67 441.6(8);
|
Equipment damaging highway
|
Appendix B-3
| |
|
67 441.6(9);
|
Traffic protection & maintenance
|
Appendix B-4
| |
|
67 441.6(10);
|
Restoration
|
Appendix B-4
| |
|
67 441.6(11);
|
Approval by inspector
|
Appendix B-4
| |
|
67 441.6(12);
|
Maintenance of adjacent driveways & property
|
Appendix B-4
| |
|
67 441.6(13);
|
Indemnification
|
Appendix B-4
| |
|
67 441.6(14);
|
Insurance certification
|
Appendix B-5
| |
|
67 441.6(15);
|
Repairing damage to a highway
|
Appendix B-5
| |
|
67 441.6(43);
|
Future additional driveways
|
Appendix B-6
| |
|
67 441.6(17);
|
Use of highway prohibited
|
Appendix B-6
| |
|
67 441.7;
|
General driveway requirements
| ||
|
67 441.8;
|
Driveway design requirements
|
Appendix D-1
| |
|
67 441.8(a)(ii)-(iv)
|
Minimum, low, medium & high volume standards
|
Appendix D-1
| |
|
67 441.8(b)
|
Angle of access driveway approach
|
Appendix D-2
| |
|
67 441.8(f)
|
Site requirements for nonresidential driveways
|
Appendix D-3
| |
|
67 441.8(g)
|
Curbing requirements
|
Appendix D-3
| |
|
67 441.8(h)
|
Site distance requirements
|
Appendix D-5 — 7
| |
|
67 441.8(i)
|
Grade of access driveway
|
Appendix D-8 — 12
| |
|
67 441.81(j)-(o)
|
Various commercial driveway considerations
|
Appendix D-13 — 15
| |
|
67 441.9
|
Minimum use driveway design requirements
|
Appendix E-1
| |
|
67 441.9
|
Low volume driveway design requirements
|
Appendix E-2
| |
|
67 441.9
|
Medium volume driveway design requirements
|
Appendix E-3
| |
|
67 441.9
|
High volume driveway design requirements
|
Appendix E-4
| |
|
67 441.9
|
Fuel station — Undivided roadway
|
Appendix E-5
| |
|
67 441.9
|
Fuel station — Divided highways
|
Appendix E-6
|
|
NOTES:
| |
|---|---|
|
* The appendixes are located at the end of this chapter.
| |
|
With respect to the aforesaid, all references to the "Department
and/or District Office" shall mean the "Township of Hempfield."
|
C.Â
The Hempfield Township Zoning Office shall issue a driveway permit
when it has been determined that the construction and/or location
of the new driveway or access road will not violate any ordinances
of Hempfield Township and is in conformity with the standards set
forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as aforesaid.
D.Â
The Hempfield Township Zoning Office shall deny the issuance of a
driveway permit if there are found to exist violations of ordinances
of Hempfield Township concerning the construction and/or location
of such new driveway or access road or if the proposed location fails
to meet the minimum standards as set forth by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation as aforesaid.
E.Â
In the event of a denial of a driveway permit under the terms hereof,
the applicant shall have the right of appeal for reconsideration directly
to the Hempfield Township Board of Supervisors, which said appeal
shall be considered by the Board at a public meeting following due
notice to the applicant.
G.Â
Where culverts are required, the following minimum requirements shall
be observed.
(1)Â
All culverts shall extend across the entire right-of-way width of
the driveway. The cover over the culvert and its capacity shall be
determined by the Director of Public Works. The minimum diameter of
a culvert pipe shall be 12 inches, unless the Township Director of
Public Works and/or the Township Engineer determine that a larger
diameter pipe is required. Headwalls, depending on existing drainage
conditions, may be required.
(2)Â
Driveway culverts shall have a minimum length of 20 feet. The diameter
of driveway culverts shall be subject to the determination of the
responsible governmental official, depending upon jurisdiction. The
driveway culverts shall be laid so as to maintain the flow lines of
the ditch or gutter. Headwalls may be required.
Any person, partnership, corporation or any other type of entity
filing an application for a driveway permit with Hempfield Township
shall, at the time of said filing, pay to Hempfield Township a fee
as shall be set forth in a resolution duly adopted by the Board of
Supervisors of Hempfield Township.
Any person, partnership or corporation violating any provision
of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil
enforcement proceeding, pay a judgment of not more than $500 per lot
or parcel, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney's
fees incurred by the Township of Hempfield as a result thereof. Each
day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation
hereof, unless the District Justice determines that there was a good
faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating this
chapter to have believed that there was no such violation, in which
event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until
the fifth day following the date of the District Justice determination
of a violation, and thereafter, each day that a violation continues
shall constitute a separate violation. All moneys collected for such
violations shall be paid over to the Township of Hempfield. The description
by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document
used in the process of selling or transferring shall not exempt the
seller or transferor from such penalties or from the remedies herein
provided. Further, the appropriate officers agents of the Township
of Hempfield are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance with this chapter.
