Words and phrases shall be presumed to be used in their ordinary
context unless such word or phrase is defined or interpreted differently
within this article.
In this chapter, when not inconsistent with the context:
A.
Words in the present tense imply also the future tense.
B.
The singular includes the plural.
C.
The male gender includes the female gender.
D.
The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, corporation,
firm, company, association, governmental entity, trustee, receiver,
assignee, or similar representative.
E.
The term "shall" or "must" is always mandatory.
F.
The term "may" is permissive.
The following words and phrases shall have the particular meaning
assigned by this section in the appropriate sections of this chapter.
An improved cartway designed and constructed to provide for
vehicular movement between a street or alley and any use other than
one single-family dwelling unit or farm.
Any person other than the developer, who acting for the developer
submits subdivision and/or land development plans to the Borough for
the purpose of obtaining approval thereof.
A private drive intended principally to provide vehicular
access within a vehicular parking compound. Although aisles provide
interior vehicular circulation, their principal function is to provide
entrance and exit for individual parking spaces. Aisles may not be
used to intersect streets.
A strip of land over which there is a right-of-way intended
to provide vehicular access to the side and/or rear of those properties
whose frontage is on a street. An alley is not intended for general
traffic circulation.
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for subdivision or land development, including
his heirs, successors and assigns.
A tract of land which is entirely bounded by streets, public
parks, cemeteries, railroads, watercourses, or any other barrier to
the continuity of development.
The governing body of the Borough of Palmyra, Lebanon County,
Pennsylvania.
A registered professional engineer, licensed as such in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the engineer for the
Borough of Palmyra.
Any structure with a roof designed or intended for use as
an enclosure, a shelter, or for protection of persons, animals, or
property.
A detached, subordinate building, the use of which is customarily
incidental to that of the principal building and which is located
on the same lot as the principal building.
The total area of all buildings (principal and accessory)
taken on one or more horizontal planes that are directly between the
ground and sky, exclusive of uncovered patios, decks, awnings, terraces,
and steps. (e.g., top view).
A building which is enclosed within exterior walls or fire
walls, which is built, erected, and framed of component structural
parts, which is a main structure on a given lot.
Rock types that are affected by dissolution weathering process
caused by slightly acidic groundwater. The most common types of rock
that are categorized as carbonate rock are limestone (calcium carbonate),
dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate), and some gypsum (calcium sulphate).[1]
The surface of a street available for use by vehicular traffic.
An area of unobstructed vision at a street intersection defined
by a line of sight between points at center lines.
An industry term referring to that portion of the trunk maintained
free of any branches. The clear trunk is the lower portion of the
trunk measured from the soil line up to the first major branch. Temporary
branches may exist on a clear trunk.[2]
A bowl-shaped depression in the land surface characterized
by internal drainage. A ghost lake is a closed depression which has
visible standing water after a heavy rainfall event.[3]
The most recent version of Palmyra Borough's Comprehensive
Plan.
The raised edge of a pavement to confine surface water to
the pavement and to protect the abutting land from vehicular traffic.
The outside edge of the cartway.
A straight curb.
The deliberate assignment of land by its owner to another
party.
A written instrument whereby an estate in real property is
conveyed.
A term used to express the allowable number of dwelling units
per acre of land, exclusive of improved public rights-of-way and rights-of-way
for public and private streets.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, equitable owner,
or tenant with the permission of the landowner, for whom subdivision
or land development plans are being or have been made.
An improved cartway designed and constructed to accommodate
vehicular movement between a public street and a tract of land serving
one single-family dwelling unit or a farm.
A right-of-way granted for limited use of private land for
a public or quasi-public or private purpose and within which the owner
of the property shall not have the right to make use of the land in
a manner that violates the right of the grantee.
A professional engineer registered as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
An analysis of the expected effects of a development or action
on the surrounding natural and fabricated environment. Such statements
are required for many federally supported projects under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
The point on the bank or shore of a watercourse, up to which
the presence and action of the water is so continuous as to leave
a distinct mark either by erosion, destruction of terrestrial vegetation,
or other easily recognized characteristic.[4]
A fracture in bedrock along which movement has taken place.[5]
The line of a lot coincident with an abutting right-of-way
line of a street.
A measurement of slope expressed in terms of percentage of
vertical versus horizontal distance.
Trees which exhibit no symptoms or signs of injury or disease.
Any site and/or structure that is:[6]
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places
(a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily
determined by the Secretary of the interior as meeting the requirements
for individual listing on the National Register;
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered
historic zone or a zone preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to qualify as a registered historic zone;
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places
in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved
by the Secretary of Interior; or
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
A type of topography or landscape characterized by surface
depressions, sinkholes, rock pinnacles/uneven bedrock surface, steep-sided
hills, underground drainage and caves. Karst is formed on carbonate
rocks, such as limestone or dolomites, and sometimes gypsum.[7]
The dissolution of carbonate rock by slightly acidic groundwater.
Dissolution weathering, the removal of soluble materials from intact
carbonate rock by slightly acidic groundwater.[8]
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 land development is also defined as a subdivision of land.
The following activities are excluded from this term:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling
into not more than three residential units, unless such units are
intended to be a condominium.
The addition of an accessory building/use, including farm buildings,
on a lot or lots as subordinate to an existing principal residence
or farm.
The construction of nonresidential additions or nonresidential
accessory buildings, provided the construction does not result in
the following:
Building addition or accessory structure in excess of 2,000
square feet or 10% of the existing building's square footage.
Once the two-thousand-square-foot or ten-percent addition has been
reached, any further expansions will require land development approval.
Increase in employees greater than 5% of the existing staff,
except all principal businesses are entitled to add a minimum of two
employees.
Negative stormwater impacts on existing stormwater facilities
or on neighboring properties.
Installation of additional access drives providing vehicular
access to or from a public right-of-way.
Need for DEP Sewer Planning Module or exemption.
Impacts on wetlands.
More than five additional parking spaces.
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 conditions), a lessee (if he
is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner),
or another person who has a proprietary interest in land.
A landscape architect registered as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
Living trees, shrubs and ground cover, fences and other similar
natural and decorative features.
A land surveyor registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A utility line between a utility main that is located within
a utility easement, and the single building which the line serves.
 |
Aligned topographic features that locate faults and fractures.[9]
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed,
or built upon as a unit. For the purposes of complying with this chapter,
the term "lot" may include more than one lot of record.
A property having street frontage along two or more contiguous
sides or along a single curved street with an interior angle of less
than 135° as measured along the interior edge of the street right-of-way,
or in the event of no right-of-way, along the interior edge of the
cartway.
A lot that relies upon a thin strip of land for street access
whose frontage does not satisfy the minimum width requirements for
the respective zone, but said lot has the required lot width away
from the street frontage.
An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately
parallel streets with vehicular access solely from the street of lesser
functional classification.
A parcel of land under single ownership, which has been planned
and improved, of two or more manufactured homes for nontransient use.
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), Act
of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended.[10]
A plant which grew in a defined region prior to European
settlement. Indigenous species and naturalized non-native plants may
be included as native plants if they have been brought into the region
and have become established in the wild and are not considered invasive
or do not displace native plants. Naturally occurring hybrids and
cultivars (cultivated varieties) of native genetic parent species
which may or may not have been present prior to European settlement
are considered native plants.
Any use other than residential. An institutional or similar
use in which persons may reside, including but not limited to dormitories,
nursing homes, retirement homes or hospitals, shall be considered
a nonresidential use. Any use providing temporary lodging, such as
a motel or hotel, shall be considered a nonresidential use.
The exposure of the rock that underlies soil or other unconsolidated
material that appears at the surface of the earth.[11]
An off-street parking space designed to accommodate a vehicle
with one or more of the following characteristics:[12]
A condition of surface in which man-made materials are applied
resulting in a durable, smooth, stable and dust free surface over
which vehicles and pedestrians may pass. This definition shall expressly
include asphalt, bituminous, concrete, masonry, gravel, permeable,
geo-grids and other similar materials provided they are applied with
sufficient depth and base to achieve the required durable, smooth,
stable and dust-free surface.[13]
The hour during which the heaviest volume of traffic occurs
on a street.
A right-of-way, municipally or privately owned, which cuts
across a block to furnish access for pedestrians to adjacent streets
or properties.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation or any agency
successor thereto.
The map representing a tract of land, including all supplementary data specified in Article IV of this chapter. The following are the types of plans specified by this chapter:
AS-BUILTA revised final plan, showing dimensions and locations of all streets and other public improvements as actually constructed.
SKETCH PLANAn informal plan, not necessarily to exact scale, indicating salient existing features of a tract and its surroundings, with the general layout of a proposal for consideration prior to the formal submission of a plan.
FINAL PLANA subdivision and/or land development plan prepared for official recording as required by statute to define property rights, proposed streets and other public improvements.
PRELIMINARY PLANA complete and exact subdivision and/or land development plan, the purpose of which is to authorize the preparation of final plans.
The Planning Commission of the Borough of Palmyra.
Public parks, playgrounds, open space and other public areas,
and sites for school, sewage treatment, refuse disposal and other
public-owned or -operated facilities.
An area secured for public use and which may, but need not,
be improved with streets, utilities, stormwater management facilities,
traffic control facilities, curbs, sidewalks, bicycle lanes or paths,
streetlights, and similar improvements for public benefit or enjoyment.
Localized land surface subsidence or collapse due to karst
processes or other subsurface action of water. Sinkholes are categorized
as solution sinkholes, collapse sinkholes and subsidence sinkholes.[14]
The degree of deviation of a surface from the horizontal.
Slope is expressed in a percentage which indicates the rate of elevation
change in feet per 100 feet.
A public or private right-of-way, excluding driveways and
access drives, intended for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian
circulation that provides a means of access to abutting property.
The word "street" includes thoroughfare, avenue, boulevard, court,
drive, expressway, highway, lane, road, and similar terms. Streets
are further classified as follows:
ARTERIALA street which provides for intercommunity travel connecting population centers and carrying large volumes of traffic at speeds higher than desirable on other types of streets. The secondary function of an arterial street is to provide access to frontage lots; therefore, the intensity of driveway access is limited. If a section of this chapter does not distinguish between "arterial" and "controlled access arterial" streets, the term "arterial" shall be interpreted to include "controlled access arterial" streets.
ARTERIAL, CONTROLLED ACCESSA street which provides for intercommunity travel connecting population centers and carrying large volumes of traffic at speeds higher than desirable on other types of streets. Access is strictly limited in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and, where applicable, in accordance with a permit, plat or map approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
COLLECTORA street which conducts and distributes traffic between arterial and local streets. Collector streets' primary function is to promote free traffic flow. The secondary function of a collector street is to provide access to frontage lots; therefore, the intensity of direct driveway access is limited.
CUL-DE-SACA street with a single common ingress and egress.
LOCALA street which provides frontage for access to lots and carries traffic having destination or origin on the street itself.
ALLEYSee "alley."
The elevation of a street along the center line of the cartway.
The line defining the edge of a street right-of-way and separating
the street from abutting property or lots. The street line shall be
the same as the legal right-of-way line currently in existence.
A street not offered for dedication or whose dedication was
not accepted by the municipality.
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 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
streets or easements of access or residential dwelling, shall be exempted.
A wide shallow ditch which gathers or carries surface water.
A single or one-direction vehicle movement with either the
origin or the destination (exiting or entering) inside the study site.
A unit, the use of which is not subordinate or customarily
incidental to a principal unit. A unit of occupancy can be an independent
unit within a building or a separate, detached building.
A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook, creek,
channel, or swale, pond, lake, or other body of surface water carrying
or holding surface water, whether natural or artificial.
A watercourse shown as a continuous blue line, not a dashed
blue line, on a United States Geological Survey [USGS] quadrangle
map.[15]
Rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundments, ditches,
watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, wetlands, ponds,
springs and other bodies or channels of conveyance of surface and
underground water, or parts thereof, whether natural or artificial,
within or on the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[16]
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water
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, including
swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas, and which shall be identified
using the United States Army Corps of Engineers Technical Report Y87-1,
Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual.
Generally, an ecosystem characterized by a dense and extensive
tree cover. More particularly, a plant community predominantly of
healthy trees and other woody vegetation, well stocked and usually
growing close together.
The Chapter 380, Zoning, of the Borough of Palmyra.
[10]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
