[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
1101.1.
All applications submitted for approval of a subdivision or
land development shall be subject to the following fees:
A.
Application Filing Fees. A schedule of application filing fees shall
be established, from time to time, by resolution of the Township Board
of Commissioners. The application filing fees shall cover the administrative
costs associated with processing an application for approval of a
subdivision or land development and shall be payable to the Township
at the time of submission of the application.
B.
Application Review Fees.
(1)
An application review escrow deposit in an amount established
from time to time by resolution of the Township Board of Commissioners
also shall be payable at the time of submission of the application
to guarantee payment of the estimated application review fees required
by this subsection. The actual amount of the review fees in excess
of the escrow deposit shall be payable within 10 days of billing by
the Township. Any monies remaining in the escrow account after all
review fees have been paid shall be returned to the applicant.
(2)
Failure to pay the required escrow deposit or any additional
review fees required by this subsection shall cause the application
to be determined to be incomplete, and the application shall not be
scheduled for review by the Planning Commission or Township Board
of Commissioners until such fees are paid.
(3)
Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary
charges by the Township's professional consultants, Township Engineer
or by the Township's Solicitor, to the extent permitted by law, for
review and report on the application to the Township. Such review
fees shall be based upon a schedule established from time to time
by resolution of the Township Board of Commissioners. Such review
fees shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary
charges by the Township Engineer or other professional consultants
for similar service in the community, but in no event shall the fees
exceed the rate or cost charged by the Township Engineer or other
professional consultants to the Township when fees are not reimbursed
or otherwise imposed on applicants.
(4)
In the event the applicant disputes the amount of any such review
fees, the applicant shall, within 10 days of the billing date, notify
the Township Zoning Officer that such fees are disputed, in which
case the Township shall not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land
development application due to the applicant's request over disputed
fees.
(5)
In the event that the Township and the applicant cannot agree
on the amount of review fees which are reasonable and necessary, then
the applicant and the Township shall follow the procedure for resolution
of disputes as set forth below in Subsection 1101.1C of this section,
provided that the professionals resolving such dispute shall be of
the same profession or discipline as the consultants whose fees are
being disputed.
C.
Inspection Fees.
(1)
The applicant shall reimburse the Township for the reasonable
and necessary expense incurred for the inspection of improvements.
Such reimbursement shall be based upon a schedule established from
time to time by resolution of the Township Board of Commissioners.
Such expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary
and customary fees charged by the Township Engineer or consultant
for work performed for similar services in the community, but in no
event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Township
Engineer or consultant to the Township when fees are not reimbursed
or otherwise imposed on applicants.
(2)
An inspection fee escrow deposit in an amount established from time to time by resolution of the Township Board of Commissioners shall be payable at the time of execution of the development agreement required by § 22-413 of this chapter to guarantee payment of the estimated inspection fees required by this section. The actual amount of the inspection fees in excess of the escrow deposit shall be payable within 10 days of billing by the Township. Any monies remaining in the escrow account after all inspection fees have been paid shall be returned to the applicant.
(3)
In the event the applicant disputes the amount of any such expense
in connection with the inspection of improvements, the applicant shall,
within 10 working days of the date of billing, notify the Township
Zoning Officer that such expenses are disputed as unreasonable or
unnecessary, in which case the Township shall not delay or disapprove
a subdivision or land development application or any approval or permit
related to development due to the applicant's request over disputed
engineer expenses.
(4)
If, within 20 days from the date of billing, the Township and
the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses which are reasonable
and necessary, then the applicant and the Township shall jointly,
by mutual agreement, appoint another professional engineer licensed
as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to review the said expenses
and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable
and necessary.
(5)
The professional engineer so appointed shall hear such evidence
and review such documentation as the professional engineer, in his
or her sole opinion, deems necessary and render a decision within
50 days of the billing date. The applicant shall be required to pay
the entire amount determined in the decision immediately.
(6)
In the event that the Township and the applicant cannot agree
upon the professional engineer to be appointed within 20 days of the
billing date, then upon application of either party, the President
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the judicial district in which
the Township is located or, if at the time there be no President Judge,
then the senior active judge then sitting shall appoint such engineer,
who, in that case, shall be neither the Township Engineer nor any
professional engineer who has been retained by, or performed services
for, the Township or the applicant within the preceding five years.
(7)
The fees of the appointed professional engineer for determining
the reasonable and necessary expenses shall be paid by the applicant
if the amount of payment required in the decision is equal to or greater
than the original bill. If the amount of payment required in the decision
is less than the original bill by $1,000 or more, the Township shall
pay the fee of the professional engineer, but otherwise the Township
and the applicant shall each pay 1/2 of the fee of the appointed professional
engineer.
[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
1102.1.
Township Board of Commissioners may, from time to time, amend
this chapter in accordance with the following provisions:
A.
Planning Commission Review. In the case of amendments other than
those prepared by the Township Planning Commission, the Township Board
of Commissioners shall submit the proposed amendment to the Planning
Commission for recommendations at least 30 days prior to the date
fixed for the public hearing on the proposed amendment.
B.
County Planning Agency Review. The proposed amendment shall be submitted
to the Allegheny County Planning Office for review and recommendations
at least 30 days prior to the Township Supervisor's public hearing
on the amendment.
C.
Public Hearing. Amendments to this chapter shall become effective
only after a public hearing conducted by Township Board of Commissioners
which is held pursuant to public notice, as defined herein.
D.
Publication, Advertisement, and Availability of Ordinance.
(1)
Proposed amendments shall not be enacted unless public notice,
as defined herein, of the proposed enactment is given, including the
time and place of the meeting at which passage will be considered
and reference to a place within the Township where copies of the proposed
amendment may be examined without charge or obtained for a charge
not greater than the cost thereof.
(2)
The Township Board of Commissioners shall publish the proposed
amendment once in one newspaper of general circulation in the Township
not more than 60 days nor less than seven days prior to passage. Publication
of the proposed amendment shall include either the full text thereof
or the title and a brief summary prepared by the Township Solicitor
and setting forth all the provisions in reasonable detail. If the
full text is not included:
(a)
A copy thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation
in the Township at the time the public notice is published.
(b)
An attested copy of the proposed amendment shall be filed in
the County Law Library or other County Clerk office, who may impose
a fee no greater than that necessary to cover the actual costs of
storing said ordinances.
(c)
In the event substantial amendments are made in the proposed
amendment, before voting upon enactment, the Township Board of Commissioners
shall, at least 10 days prior to enactment, readvertise, in one newspaper
of general circulation in the Township, a brief summary setting forth
all the provisions in reasonable detail together with a summary of
the amendments.
(d)
Subdivision and land development amendments may be incorporated
into official ordinance books by reference with the same force and
effect as if duly recorded therein.
E.
Filing After Enactment. Within 30 days after adoption, the Township
Zoning Officer shall forward a certified copy of the amendment to
the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Township Board of
Commissioners regarding a subdivision or land development plan may
appeal such decision within 30 days of the date of entry of the decision
of the Township Board of Commissioners to the Allegheny County Court
of Common Pleas.
[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
1104.1.
In addition to other remedies, the Township may institute and
maintain appropriate actions by 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 herein provided.
1104.2.
The Township 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 this chapter. The authority to deny such a permit
or approval shall apply to any of the following applicants:
A.
The owner of record at the time of such violation.
B.
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.
C.
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.
D.
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.
1104.3.
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 any such real property, the Township may require
compliance with the conditions that would have been applicable to
the property at the time the applicant acquired an interest in such
real property.
[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
1105.1.
Any person, partnership, or corporation who or which has violated
the provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, pay a
judgment of not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorneys' fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. No judgment
shall commence or be imposed, levied or be 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
Township 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
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 determination of a violation
by the Magisterial District Judge, and thereafter each day that a
violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. The Court
of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause
shown, tolling the per-diem judgment pending a final adjudication
of the violation and judgment.
1105.2.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted
to grant to any person or entity other than the Township the right
to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.
[Ord. 686, 8/12/2015]
Whenever there is a difference between a minimum standard or
dimension specified in this chapter and those contained in another
official regulation, resolution or ordinance of the Township or any
other restriction or covenant, the most-restrictive standard shall
apply. If a question of conflict arises between various portions of
this chapter, the most-restrictive term shall apply.