A.
This chapter requires that all plans for the subdivision or development,
as defined herein, of land lying in the Borough of New Britain be
submitted for approval to the Borough Council of New Britain. All
such plans shall be reviewed by the New Britain Borough Planning Commission
and the Bucks County Planning Commission and any other reviewing agencies
specified by this chapter prior to submission to Borough Council.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or any other person, firm or corporation
owning or controlling any land in the Borough to subdivide any lot,
tract or parcel of land, or to lay out, construct, open or dedicate
for public use or travel any street, sanitary or storm sewer, drainage
facility or other facility in connection therewith, for the common
use of occupants of buildings located within the subdivision or land
development, unless:
(1)
Final plans of such subdivision or land development shall have been
prepared in accordance with all licensing laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania;
(2)
Final plans of such subdivision or land development have been submitted
to and approved in writing thereon by the President and Secretary
of the New Britain Borough Council;
(3)
Final plans of such subdivision or land development have been reviewed
and signed by the Bucks County Planning Commission;
(4)
Final plans of such subdivision or land development have been recorded
in the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds office in Doylestown, Pennsylvania;
and,
(5)
The improvements required by the Borough Council in connection therewith
have either been constructed or the Borough Council has been assured
of proper completion by the deposit of funds or securities in escrow
sufficient to cover the cost of the required improvements, as determined
by the methods set forth herein.
B.
Before the approval of a subdivision or land development plan by
the Borough, the applicant shall submit a copy of the proposed plat
to the Bucks County Planning Commission, and the Commission may make
a report thereon to the Borough of New Britain. If the Bucks County
Planning Commission wishes to submit a report to Borough Council,
such report must be submitted to the New Britain Borough Planning
Commission within 30 days of the submission of the plat to the Bucks
County Planning Commission or within such further time as may be agreed
by Borough Council.
A.
In addition to other remedies, the Borough may institute and maintain
appropriate actions at law or in equity to restrain, correct or abate
violations, to prevent unlawful construction, to recover damages and
to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure or premises.
The description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer
or other documents used in the process of selling or transferring
shall not exempt the seller or transferor from such penalties or from
the remedies provided herein.
B.
The Borough may refuse to issue any permit or grant any approval
necessary to further improve or develop any real property which has
been developed or which has resulted from a subdivision of real property
in violation of an ordinance adopted pursuant to the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as amended. This authority
to deny such a permit or approval shall apply to any of the following
applicants: (1) the owner of record at the time of such violation;
(2) the vendee or lessee of the owner of record at the time of such
violation, without regard as to whether such vendee or lessee had
actual or constructive knowledge of the violation; (3) the current
owner of record who acquired the property subsequent to the time of
violation, without regard as to whether such current owner had actual
or constructive knowledge of the violation; (4) the vendee or lessee
of the current owner of record who acquired the property subsequent
to the time of violation, without regard as to whether such vendee
or lessee had actual or constructive knowledge of the violation. As
an additional condition for issuance of a permit or the granting of
an approval to any such owner, current owner, vendee or lessee for
the development of such real property, the Borough may require compliance
with the conditions that would have been applicable to the property
at the time that the applicant acquired an interest in such property.
C.
Sale of lots; issuance of building permits; erection of buildings:
(1)
No lot in a subdivision may be sold nor any improvement constructed
thereon, and no permit to erect, alter or repair any building upon
land in a subdivision or land development may be issued, unless and
until the improvements required by the Borough Council in connection
therewith have either been constructed or guaranteed as hereinafter
provided, and the subdivision or land development plan has been approved
by the Borough Council and recorded in the Bucks County Recorder of
Deeds office.
(2)
No building in a subdivision or land development which depends upon
the improvement of any street or streets herein provided for, for
ingress and egress, shall be permitted to be occupied before improvements
are substantially completed from a now existing paved street to and
across the front of the land on which the building is located and/or
to a sufficient depth along the side of the land to service any driveway
or parking spaces, or in the case of streets of insufficient width,
until such widening of said street has been completed.
(3)
No building depending upon public water and sewer facilities shall
be permitted to be occupied before such facilities are fully provided
and operational.
D.
Any person, partnership or corporation who shall violate any of the
provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough, pay a
judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs including reasonable
attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment
shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of
the determination of a violation by the Magisterial District Judge.
If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the
Borough may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules
of civil procedure. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute
a separate violation unless the Magisterial District Judge determining
that there has been a violation further determines that there was
a good faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating
the ordinance 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 determination of a violation
by the Magisterial District Judge, and thereafter each day that a
violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.
