§ 165-45. General procedures for site plan and subdivision review.

A. 

Purpose. Such regulations are deemed necessary to achieve the following purposes:

(1) 

Promote orderly development to protect the character and to maintain the stability of all areas within the community and to promote the orderly and beneficial development of such areas.

(2) 

Promulgate rules and regulations to provide rules, regulations and procedures where applicable and to the extent the same have not been otherwise promulgated by ordinance in the Borough of Wharton which will guide the appropriate development of lands within the Borough in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.

(3) 

To protect against hazards and danger; to secure safety from fire, flood, panic and other natural and man-made disasters.

(4) 

Design standards to encourage the design and location of streets which will promote the free flow of traffic while discouraging the location of such facilities and routes which will result in congestion.

(5) 

Creative development techniques to promote a desirable physical environment through creative development techniques, design and arrangement.

(6) 

Open spaces to promote the conservation of open space and to protect the natural resources and to prevent overcrowding through improper land use.

B. 

Conditional approval. The applicant shall comply with reasonable conditions laid down by the approving authority for design, dedication, improvements and the use of the land to conform to the physical and economical development of the municipality and to the safety and general welfare of the future residents/owners in the development and the community at large. Where County Planning Board review or approval is required on a subdivision or site plan, the approving authority shall condition any approval it grants upon either timely receipt of a favorable report from the County Planning Board or approval by the County Planning Board due to its failure to submit a report within the required time period. If the county's report is timely and negative or attaches mandatory conditions, the original action by the municipal approving authority shall be void, and the application shall be denied, and a new resolution shall be adopted which considers the County Planning Board's report.

C. 

Exceptions to design and performance standards. The approving authority, when acting upon applications, shall have the power to grant such exceptions from the subdivision and site plan requirements of this chapter as may be reasonable and within the general purpose and intent of the provisions for subdivisions, plat, site plan review and approval if the literal enforcement of one or more provisions of this chapter is impracticable or will exact undue hardship because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question.

D. 

Exemptions from subdivision and site plan regulations. The approving authority may waive required notices and hearings for exempt subdivisions and exempt site plans except where a variance or conditional use is part of the application. Divisions of land not considered a subdivision as defined in this chapter shall be exempt from compliance with the requirements of this chapter only after affirmative action by the approving authority. Such action shall be taken following submission of documentation to the approving authority showing the division of land for agricultural purposes where all resulting parcels are 10 acres or larger in size; divisions by testamentary or intestate provisions; division of property by court order and conveyance so as to combine existing lots by deed or other instrument, as the case may be. Until exempted from the subdivision regulations by the approving authority, no person can transfer, sell or agree to transfer or sell, as owner or agent, any land which forms a part of a subdivision for which approval is required. Until exempted from the site plan regulations by the approving authority, no alterations or improvements shall be made nor permits issued.

E. 

Simultaneous review or separate applications.

(1) 

The approving authority shall have the power to act upon subdivisions, conditional uses or site plans simultaneously without the developer making further application or the approving authority being required to hold further hearings. The longest time period for action by the approving authority, whether it is for subdivision, conditional use or site plan approval, shall apply. Whenever approval of a conditional use is requested by the developer in conjunction with a site plan or subdivision, notice of the hearing on the plat shall include reference to the request for such conditional use.

F. 

Use variance applications. All use variance applications shall be accompanied by plans plus other supporting documents as required for subdivision and site plan approval. (See also § 14-23B.)

G. 

Submission of concept plan for informal review.

[Amended 3-22-2004 by Ord. No. O-6-04]

(1) 

An informal review of a concept plan is optional. At the request of the developer, the Planning Board shall grant an informal review of a concept plan for a development for which the developer intends to prepare and submit an application for development. The purpose will be to review concepts to assist the applicant in the preparation of subsequent plans. Other than classification, no decisions will be made, no hearings held and no formal action taken. Neither the developer nor the approving authority shall be bound by this informal review.

(2) 

Filing procedure and information for concept review.

(a) 

The developer shall file with the Secretary, at least 15 days prior to the meeting of the approving authority, 16 copies of the concept plan and five copies of the completed application form.

(b) 

The concept plan is considered a sketch or general plan, neither fully engineered nor surveyed. Information used to prepare the concept plan can be available from secondary source information such as the Soil Conservation Survey Map or U.S. Geodetic Survey Maps but should be sufficiently detailed to allow the Planning Board to make suggestions on general site design and layout for circulation, stormwater management, location of open space and buffers and building arrangements and to determine how the land use code affects the proposal.