All land development applications shall be subject
to the following:
1.
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 associated with processing
an application for approval of a subdivision or land development.
2.
Application
review fees.
A.
In addition to the application filing fee required by Subsection 1, the Borough shall charge application review fees for costs incurred during the review of an application. Application review fees shall include reasonable and necessary charges by the Borough's professional consultants or the Borough Engineer for review and report on the application to the Borough. Such review fees shall be used based upon 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 in the community, 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.
B.
In the event
that the applicant disputes the amount of any such review fees, the
applicant shall, within 100 days of the billing date, notify the Borough
Secretary that such fees are disputed, in which case the Borough shall
not delay or disapprove a subdivision or land development application
due to the applicant's request over disputed fees.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see AO)]
3.
Inspection fees.
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 upon 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 engineer or consultant
to the Borough when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on
applicants.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see AO)]
A.
In the event
the applicant disputes the amount of any such expense in connection
with the inspection of improvements, the applicant shall, no later
than 100 days after the date of transmittal of a bill for inspection
services, notify the Borough and the Borough's professional consultant
that such inspection expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary
and shall explain the basis of their objections to the fees charged,
in which case the Borough shall not delay or disapprove a request
for release of financial security, a subdivision or land development
application or any approval or permit related to development due to
the applicant's dispute of inspection expenses. Failure of the applicant
to dispute a bill within 100 days shall be a waiver of the applicant's
right to arbitration of that bill under this section.
B.
If the professional
consultant and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses
which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant shall have
the right, within 100 days of the transmittal of the final bill or
supplement to the final bill to the applicant, to request the appointment
of another professional consultant to serve as an arbitrator. The
applicant and professional consultant whose fees are being challenged
shall, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional consultant
to review any bills the applicant has disputed and which remain unresolved
and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable
and necessary. The arbitrator shall be of the same profession as the
professional consultant whose fees are being challenged.
C.
The arbitrator
so appointed shall hear such evidence and review such documentation
as the arbitrator in his or her sole opinion deems necessary and shall
render a decision no later than 50 days after the date of appointment.
Based on the decision of the arbitrator, the applicant or the professional
consultant whose fees were challenged shall be required to pay any
amounts necessary to implement the decision within 60 days. In the
event the Borough has paid the professional consultant an amount in
excess of the amount determined to be reasonable and necessary, the
professional consultant shall within 60 days reimburse the excess
payment.
D.
In the event
that the Borough's professional consultant and applicant cannot agree
upon the arbitrator to be appointed within 20 days of the request
for appointment of an arbitrator, then, upon application of either
party, the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the judicial
district in which the Borough is located (or if at the time there
be no President Judge, then the senior active Judge then sitting)
shall appoint such arbitrator, who, in that case, shall be neither
the Borough's professional consultant nor any professional consultant
who has been retained by, or performed services for, the Borough or
the applicant within the preceding five years.
E.
The fee of
the arbitrator shall be paid by the applicant if the disputed fee
is upheld by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid
by the charging party if the disputed fee is $2,500 or greater than
the payment decided by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall
be paid in an equal amount by the applicant and the charging party
if the disputed fee is less than $2,500 of the payment decided by
the arbitrator.
F.
In the event
that the disputed fees have been paid and the arbitrator finds that
the disputed fees are unreasonable or excessive by more than $10,000,
the arbitrator shall:
Borough Council may, from time to time, amend
this chapter in accordance with the following provisions:
1.
Planning Commission
review. In the case of amendments other than those prepared by the
Borough Planning Commission, Borough Council 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.
2.
County Planning
Commission review. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the
Allegheny County Planning Commission for review and recommendations
at least 30 days prior to the public hearing on the amendment.
3.
Public hearing.
Amendments to this chapter shall become effective only after a public
hearing held pursuant to public notice, as defined herein.
4.
Publication,
advertisement and availability of ordinance.
A.
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, a reference to a place within
the Borough where copies of the proposed amendment may be examined
without charge or obtained for a charge not greater than the cost
thereof.
B.
Borough Council
shall publish the proposed amendment once in one newspaper of general
circulation in the Borough not more than 60 days nor less than seven
days prior to passage. Publication of the proposed amendment shall
include either full text thereof of the title and a brief summary
prepared by the Borough Solicitor and setting forth all the provisions
in reasonable detail. If the full text is not included:
(1)
A copy
thereof shall be supplied to a newspaper of general circulation in
the Borough at the time the public notice is published.
(2)
An attested
copy of the proposed amendment shall be filed in the County Law Library
or other county office designated by the County Commissioners, who
may impose a fee no greater than that necessary to cover the actual
costs of storing said ordinances.
(3)
In the
event that substantial amendments are made in the proposed amendment,
before voting upon enactment, Borough Council shall, at least 10 days
prior to enactment, readvertise in one newspaper of general circulation
in the Borough a brief summary setting forth all the provisions in
reasonable detail, together with a summary of the amendments.
(4)
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.
5.
Filing after
enactment. Within 30 days after adoption, Borough Council shall forward
a certified copy of the amendment to the Allegheny County Planning
Commission.
Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Borough
Council regarding a subdivision or land development plan may appeal
such decision within 30 days of the date of entry of the decision
of Borough Council to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
1.
In addition
to other remedies, the Borough 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.
2.
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 this chapter. This 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 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
the 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.
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 Borough shall require compliance with
the conditions that would have been applicable to the property at
the time that the applicant acquired an interest in such real property.
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 Borough, pay a judgment of
not more than $500 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney
fees incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment shall
commence or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of 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 procedures.
Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation,
unless the Magisterial District Judge determines that there has been
a violation and 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.
2.
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.
3.
Nothing contained
in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant to any
person or entity other than the Borough the right to commence any
action for enforcement pursuant to this section.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Subdivision and Site Plan
Handbook, which immediately followed Appendix I, is on file in the
Borough offices. Said handbook consists of IES Lighting Handbook excerpts
and various diagrams of buffer yards, clear sight triangles, natural
light access requirements, fences and berms.
