This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Borough of Sewickley Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
This chapter is established for the purposes of:
A. 
Assuring sites are suitable for building purposes and human habitation.
B. 
Providing for the harmonious development of the Borough.
C. 
Coordinating the proposed development with existing development within the Borough.
D. 
Encouraging adequate open spaces, proper traffic flows, recreation, light and air and proper distribution of population, thereby creating conditions favorable to the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the citizens.
E. 
Protecting the character and social and economic stability of the Borough and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development of the Borough.
F. 
Protecting and conserving the value of land throughout the Borough, the value of buildings and improvements upon the land, and to minimize the conflicts among the uses of land and buildings.
G. 
Guiding public and private policy and action in order to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water supply, sewage, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation and other public requirements and facilities.
H. 
Providing the most beneficial relationship between the uses of land and buildings and the circulation of traffic within the Borough, having particular regard to the avoidance of congestion in the streets and highways and the pedestrian traffic movements appropriate to the various uses of land and buildings, and providing for the proper location and width of streets and building lines.
I. 
Establishing reasonable standards of design and procedures for subdivision and resubdivision in order to further the orderly layout and use and/or reuse of land, and ensuring proper legal descriptions and monumenting of subdivided land.
J. 
Promoting and fostering the community development goals and objectives, including quality infill, redevelopment and/or adaptive reuse, as identified in the Aleppo-Sewickley-Glen Osborne (ASO) Joint Comprehensive Plan, as amended.
K. 
Ensuring that public facilities are available and will have a sufficient capacity to serve the proposed subdivision.
L. 
Preventing the pollution of air, streams and ponds; assuring the adequacy of drainage facilities; safeguarding the water table; and encouraging the wise use and management of natural resources in order to preserve the community and value of the land.
M. 
Preserving the natural beauty and topography of the Borough and ensuring appropriate development with regard to these natural features.
N. 
Providing for open spaces through efficient design and layout of the land.
O. 
Ensuring that documents prepared as part of landownership transfer fully and accurately describe the parcel of land being subdivided and new parcels thus created.
A. 
Subdivision control. No subdivision, as herein defined, of any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be effected and no street, alley, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water main or other facilities in connection therewith shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use or travel, or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting or to abut thereon, except in strict accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
Land development control.
(1) 
Land development, as herein defined, must comply with the regulations contained herein. Such compliance shall include, but not be limited to, the filing of preliminary and final plans; the dedication and improvement of rights-of-way, streets and roads; developers' agreement(s), covenants and restrictions, as applicable; and the payment of fees and charges as established by resolution of Borough Council.
(2) 
Land development plans shall indicate the location of each structure and clearly define each unit and shall indicate public easements, common areas and improvements to public rights-of-way. Developments are subject to the zoning regulations as they apply to use and density requirements, setbacks, parking and other features and shall be indicated on the land development plans.
See the Code of the Borough of Sewickley: Chapter 330, Zoning; Chapter 280, Stormwater Management, and other applicable ordinances and regulations of the Borough as required.
A. 
Whenever there is a difference between the minimum standards specified herein and those included in other Borough ordinances and regulations, the more stringent requirements shall apply.
B. 
All requests for modification shall be in writing and shall accompany and be part of the application for development. The request shall state in full the grounds and facts of unreasonableness or hardship on which the request is based, the provision or provisions of this chapter involved and the minimum modification necessary.
C. 
See also § 292-312, Modifications.
Hereafter, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, no lot in a subdivision may be sold; no permit to erect any building upon land in a subdivision may be issued; no cuts, grading or filling shall be permitted; no street, walkway, curbs, gutters, streetlights, fire hydrants, shade trees, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water line, utilities or other improvements as may be required herein shall be laid out, constructed, opened or dedicated for public use or travel or for the common use of occupants of buildings abutting thereon.
Hereafter, except as provided in this chapter, any plat of any subdivision, street or development of land not approved by the Borough Council in accordance with the provisions and procedures as set forth herein shall be null and void.
A. 
From the time an application for approval, whether preliminary or final, is duly filed as provided in this chapter and while such application is pending approval or disapproval, no change or amendment in zoning or change in the subdivision or other governing ordinances or plans shall affect the decision on such application adversely to the applicant, and the applicant shall be entitled to a decision in accordance with the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood at the time the application was duly filed. In addition, when a preliminary application has been duly approved, the applicant shall be entitled to final approval in accordance with the terms of the approved preliminary application as hereinafter provided. However, when an application is properly and finally denied, then any subsequent application shall be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
B. 
When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, has been approved or approved subject to conditions acceptable to the applicant, no subsequent change or amendment in the zoning, subdivision or other governing ordinance or plan shall be applied to affect adversely the right of the applicant to commence and to complete any aspect of the approved development in accordance with the terms of such approval within five years from such approval; the five-year period shall be counted from the date of the preliminary approval. See also Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code § 504, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10504.
A. 
Any attempt at division or separation of ownership of portions of a development tract shall constitute a subdivision within the meaning of the term as used in this chapter and shall require review and approval. "Separation of ownership," as used herein, shall not be meant to include normal transfers between individuals involving only a single building lot or single residence.
B. 
For developmental purposes only, any separation of ownership, as defined herein, within an apartment development and/or townhouse type of development shall, for the purposes of this chapter, be considered a condominium.
C. 
For condominium, the requirements set forth in FHA Bulletin Series 1400, Suggested Legal Documents for Planned Unit Developments (April 1973, as amended), and the Uniform Condominium Act of Pennsylvania (as amended) shall be considered minimum standards for the establishment of a condominium association. The Borough may require additional information and documentation from the applicant to establish that an appropriate plan exists to assure the continued maintenance of common areas.
D. 
The final decision as to the propriety of the maintenance guarantees or the plan proposed by the applicant to deal with these questions shall rest with Borough Council.
E. 
In all other land development projects, all subdivisions or separations of ownership (as set forth above) shall otherwise meet all area, bulk, open space, parking and other applicable regulations of the zoning district as set forth in this chapter of the Code of Sewickley Borough and its amendments .