This is a chapter governing subdivisions and land developments within the limits of Coolbaugh Township and providing application procedures, design standards and maintenance requirements for improvements and prescribing penalties for violations. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Coolbaugh Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance."
A. 
Application. This chapter shall apply to all subdivisions and land developments in Coolbaugh Township proposed after the effective date of this chapter.
(1) 
The responsibilities of the Planning Commission are specifically enumerated throughout this chapter. All other power and authority is specifically reserved by the Board of Supervisors.
(2) 
No subdivision or land development of any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be made, and no street, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water main or other improvements 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 thereon, except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(3) 
No lot in a subdivision may be sold, no permit to erect or alter any building upon land in a subdivision or a land development may be issued, and no building may be erected in a subdivision or a land development, unless and until a plan of such subdivision or land development shall have been approved and properly recorded, and until the improvements required herein in connection therewith have been constructed or guaranteed as hereinafter provided.
(4) 
No person, firm or corporation proposing to make, or have made, a subdivision or land development within the Township shall proceed with any grading before obtaining from the Board of Supervisors the approval of the preliminary plan of the proposed development, and no deeds shall be recorded for lots in any development, before obtaining from the Board of Supervisors the approval of the final plan of the proposed subdivision or land development, except as otherwise provided herein.
(5) 
The proposed subdivision or land development plat shall be in general accordance with the Coolbaugh Township, Borough of Mount Pocono, Tobyhanna Township, and Tunkhannock Township Regional Comprehensive Plan.
B. 
Prior approvals. [See also § 508(4)(ii) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.[1]] When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, has been approved under the terms of this chapter without conditions or approved by the applicant's acceptance of conditions, 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 extended for the duration of any litigation, including appeals, which prevent the commencement or completion of the development, and for the duration of any sewer or utility moratorium or prohibition which was imposed subsequent to the filing of an application for preliminary approval of a plat. In the event of an appeal filed by any party from the approval or disapproval of a plat, the five-year period shall be extended by the total time from the date the appeal was filed until a final order in such matter has been entered and all appeals have been concluded and any period for filing appeals or requests for reconsideration have expired. Provided, however, no extension shall be based upon any water or sewer moratorium which was in effect as of the date of the filing of a preliminary application. (See § 355-5.)
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10508(4)(ii).
C. 
Previously filed maps. In cases where a map was filed and put on record prior to the enactment of this chapter or other prior regulations and any improvements shown on said map have not been installed or completed, said improvements shall be designed and installed in accord with this chapter.
D. 
Powers. The Township shall have all powers necessary to administer the provisions of this chapter without limitation by reason of enumeration, including the following:
(1) 
To prohibit the development of any land found to be unsuitable as defined by this chapter.
(2) 
To require that improvements to the land be made as defined by this chapter.
(3) 
To require the dedication of land as defined as a condition of subdivision or land development plan approval.
(4) 
To require adherence to this chapter and its standards.
(5) 
To require complete and accurate preliminary and final subdivision and land development submissions and additional information necessary to make reasonable evaluations of such plans.
(6) 
To make conditional approvals where requirements specified in writing by the Township will satisfactorily protect the public interest and health, and will not violate state laws and will accomplish the purpose of this chapter.
E. 
Recording of plans. In accord with § 513 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,[2] the Recorder of Deeds of the County shall not accept any subdivision or land development map or plan for recording unless such map or plan officially notes the approval of the Board and the acknowledgment of review by the County Planning Commission, and is presented for recording within 90 days of Board of Supervisors approval.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10513.
A. 
General. This chapter has been adopted to protect and promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the citizens of Coolbaugh Township by establishing regulations to allow for the proper and controlled development of the Township, to provide for environmental protection and to insure the proper provision of community facilities. Regulations for specific types of development for which additional standards have been deemed necessary are intended to protect the rights of the residents of Coolbaugh Township to enjoy clean air, pure water, and the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic value of the environment, and in particular to preserve and conserve the natural features of the Township.
B. 
Land capability; conservation design. The basic tenet of subdivision and land development in Coolbaugh Township is basing design on land capability and encouraging flexibility of design via the conservation design process to help protect an interconnected network of open space throughout the Township and help establish substantial buffers along boundaries with existing protected lands.
C. 
Comprehensive Plan. This chapter has also been adopted to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Coolbaugh Township, Borough of Mount Pocono, Tobyhanna Township, and Tunkhannock Township Regional Comprehensive Plan and to establish the resource inventory maps in the Comprehensive Plan as the basis for the design of projects and conservation area protection.
In interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, and the general welfare of the Township and its citizens. It is not intended to interfere with or abrogate or annul other rules, regulations, or ordinances of the Township, except that where this chapter imposes a more stringent or greater requirement on the development of land or structure, or requires larger open spaces than are imposed by such other rules, regulations, or ordinances, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
Changes in this chapter shall affect plats as follows:
A. 
Pending action. From the time an application for approval of a plat, 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 of the Township subdivision or other governing ordinance or plan 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, if an application is properly and finally denied, any subsequent application shall be subject to the intervening change in governing regulations.
B. 
Project completion and effect of litigation. When an application for approval of a plat, whether preliminary or final, has been approved under the terms of this chapter without conditions or approved by the applicant's acceptance of conditions, no subsequent change or amendment in the 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 extended for the duration of any litigation, including appeals, which prevent the commencement or completion of the development, and for the duration of any sewer or utility moratorium or prohibition which was imposed subsequent to the filing of an application for preliminary approval of a plat. In the event of an appeal filed by any party from the approval or disapproval of a plat, the five-year period shall be extended by the total time from the date the appeal was filed until a final order in such matter has been entered and all appeals have been concluded and any period for filing appeals or requests for reconsideration have expired. Provided, however, no extension shall be based upon any water or sewer moratorium which was in effect as of the date of the filing of a preliminary application.
C. 
Five-year initiation. Where final approval is preceded by preliminary approval, the aforesaid five-year period shall be counted from the date of the preliminary approval. In the case of any doubt as to the terms of a preliminary approval, the terms shall be construed in the light of the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood at the time when the application for such approval was duly filed.
D. 
Substantially completed improvements. Where the landowner has substantially completed the required improvements as depicted upon the final plat within the aforesaid five-year limit, or any extension thereof as may be granted by the Board of Supervisors, no change of municipal ordinance or plan enacted subsequent to the date of filing of the preliminary plat shall modify or revoke any aspect of the approved final plat pertaining to density, lot, building, street or utility location.
E. 
More than five years. In the case of a preliminary plat calling for the installation of improvements beyond the five-year period, a schedule shall be filed by the landowner with the preliminary plat delineating all proposed sections as well as deadlines within which applications for final plat approval of each section are intended to be filed. Such schedule shall be updated annually by the applicant on or before the anniversary of the preliminary plat approval, until final plat approval of the final section has been granted and any modification in the aforesaid schedule shall be subject to approval of the Board of Supervisors in its discretion.
F. 
Sections. Each section in any residential subdivision or land development, except for the last section, shall contain a minimum of 25% of the total number of dwelling units as depicted on the preliminary plan, unless a lesser percentage is approved by the Board of Supervisors in its discretion. Provided the landowner has not defaulted with regard to or violated any of the conditions of the preliminary plat approval, including compliance with landowner's aforesaid schedule of submission of final plats for the various sections, then the aforesaid protections afforded by substantially completing the improvements depicted upon the final plat within five years shall apply, and for any section or sections, beyond the initial section, in which the required improvements have not been substantially completed within said five-year period, the aforesaid protections shall apply for an additional term or terms of three years from the date of final plat approval for each section.
G. 
Landowner failure. Failure of landowner to adhere to the aforesaid schedule of submission of final plats for the various sections shall subject any such section to any and all changes in subdivision and other governing ordinance enacted by the Township subsequent to the date of the initial preliminary plan submission.
A. 
Reservations; options. All subdivisions and land developments shall be subject to the reservations shown and established by the Coolbaugh Township Official Map which has been enacted by ordinance pursuant to Article IV of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code, as amended.[1] If any of the land is subject to the Official Map, the options in § 275-8 of this Code are available to the applicant. The applicant is encouraged to contact the Township Zoning Officer prior to submitting the plan.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10401 et seq.
B. 
Final plans. All public streets, public grounds and other the public elements identified by the Official Map of Coolbaugh Township which are shown on final, recorded plats which have been approved in accord with this chapter shall be deemed amendments to the Official Map. No public hearing need be held or notice given if the amendment of the Official Map is the result of the addition of a plat which has been approved in accord with this chapter.
This Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, as adopted herein and as may be duly amended by the Board of Supervisors, is not intended to and shall not be construed to affect or repeal any other ordinance, code or regulation of the Township. If any other ordinance, code or regulation of the Township is in conflict or inconsistent with the requirements of this chapter, the most restrictive standards and provisions shall apply.