Borough of Edgewood, PA Article VIII Fees

§ 180-49 Application review and inspection fees.

A. Application filing fees. Application filing fees shall be established from time to time, by resolution of Borough Council. The application filing fees shall cover the administrative costs, including advertising, associated with processing an application for approval of a land development and shall be payable to the Borough of Edgewood at the time of submission of the application.

B. Application review fees.

(1) Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary charges by the Borough's professional consultants or the Borough Engineer for review and report on an application for approval of a land development. Such review fees shall be based on a schedule established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council. Such review fees shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary charges by the Borough Engineer or other consultants for similar service to the Borough, but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the Borough Engineer or other consultants to the Borough when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.

(2) In the event that the Borough and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of review fees which are reasonable and necessary, the Borough shall follow the procedure for resolution of disputes set forth in this chapter.

C. Inspection fees.

(1) The Borough may prescribe that the applicant shall reimburse the Borough for the reasonable and necessary expense incurred for the inspection of improvements. Such reimbursement shall be based on a schedule established from time to time by resolution of Borough Council. Such expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary fees charged by the Borough 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 Borough Engineer or consultant to the Borough when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.

(2) In the event that 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 Borough Manager that such expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary, in which case the Borough shall not delay or disapprove a land development application or any approval or permit related to development due to the applicant's request over disputed engineer expenses.

(3) If within 20 days from the date of billing, the Borough and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant and the Borough shall jointly, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to review said expenses and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable and necessary.

(4) 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.

(5) In the event that the Borough 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 Allegheny County 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 Borough Engineer or any professional engineer who has been retained by, or performed services for, the Borough or the applicant within the preceding five years.

(6) 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 Borough shall pay the fee of the professional engineer, but otherwise the Borough and the applicant shall each pay half of the fee of the appointed professional engineer.

§ 180-50 Waivers and modifications.

A. Waivers to application requirements. In land development where conditions are such that certain information required by this chapter to be submitted to complete an application is either not available, not applicable or judged to be unnecessary to properly review the application, Borough Council may waive the requirement to submit such information, provided that all other application requirements have been met.

B. Modifications in cases of physical hardship. In any particular case where the applicant can show by plan and written statement that, by reason of exceptional topographic or other physical conditions, strict compliance with any requirement of this chapter would cause practical difficulty or exceptional and undue hardship, Borough Council may relax such requirements to the extent deemed just and proper, so as to relieve such difficulty or hardship, provided that such relief, if granted, will not be a detriment to the public good and will not impair the intent and purpose of this chapter or the desirable development of the immediate neighborhood.

C. Modifications to allow equal or better specifications. When an equal or better specification is available to comply with the design standards of this chapter, Borough Council may make such reasonable modification to such requirements of this chapter to allow the use of the equal or better specification, provided that such modification will not be contrary to the public interest. In approving such modification, Borough Council may attach any reasonable conditions which may be necessary to assure adequate public improvements and protect the public safety.

D. Procedure for authorizing waivers and modifications.

(1) Any request for a waiver or modification to any of the requirements of this chapter shall be submitted, in writing, by the applicant as part of the application for preliminary or final approval of a land development, stating the specific requirements of this chapter which are to be waived or modified and the reasons and justification for the request.

(2) The request for a waiver or modification to this chapter shall be considered by Borough Council at a public meeting. If warranted, Borough Council may hold a public hearing, pursuant to public notice, prior to making a decision on the request for a waiver or modification.

(3) If the Borough Planning Commission has not made a recommendation on the request for a waiver or modification, Borough Council may refer the request to the Planning Commission for a recommendation. In the case of a request for a modification to allow an equal or better specification to comply with the design standards of this chapter, the request shall be referred to the Borough Engineer for a recommendation.

(4) In all cases where the Planning Commission or Borough Engineer or any other review agency has made a recommendation on the request, the recommendation shall be entered onto the official record of the meeting.

(5) The reasons relied upon by Borough Council in approving or disapproving the request shall be entered into the minutes of the meeting and any resolution adopted by Borough Council governing an application which contains a request for a waiver or modification shall include a specific reference to the waiver or modification and the reasons for approval or disapproval.

(6) If a waiver or modification is granted by Borough Council, a notation shall be placed on the plan granted final approval, which indicates the substance of the waiver or modification granted and the date of approval by Borough Council.