| A. | Pre-application Procedures - A landowner proposing to develop a TND is strongly encouraged to submit a sketch plan to the Planning Commission for informal discussion prior to the drafting of the tentative plan. During this process, the applicant and the Planning Commission shall establish the density of development. |
| B. | Application for Tentative Approval. |
| | | 1. | The application for tentative approval shall be executed by, or on behalf of, the landowner and filed with the Borough Zoning Officer. An initial deposit in the amount of $1,000.00 shall be paid upon filing of the application, and additional deposits shall be made from time to time as requested by the Borough. Such deposits shall be applied against the expenses of processing and reviewing the application, and are not to exceed actual expenses incurred by the Borough. | | 2. | The developer shall submit six copies of all required plans and information; the Borough Secretary shall thereafter distribute copies of the plans to all appropriate agencies, including but not limited to (for example) the Borough Planning Commission, the Borough Council, the County Planning Commission, a Professional Engineer retained by the Borough, if applicable, the Soil Conservation Service, the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. | | 3. | All pertinent reviews, including those of the Borough and County Planning Commissions and a Professional Engineer retained by the Borough, shall be effected within 45 days of referral or at least 5 days prior to the public hearing to be held by the Borough Council on the tentative application, whichever shall first occur. The Borough Planning Commission shall forward to the Council copies of reports received from the Professional Engineer retained by the Borough and all other reviewing agencies together with its own recommendations, within the aforesaid time limitations. Copies of such reports and recommendations also shall be furnished to the applicant within the aforesaid time limitations. |
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| C. | Public Hearings. |
| | | 1. | Within 60 days after the filing of an application for tentative approval of a TND pursuant to this Ordinance, a public hearing pursuant to public notice on said application shall be held by the Borough Council in the manner prescribed in Section 808 of the Lewisburg Borough Zoning Ordinance for the enactment of an amendment. The President or, in his absence, the Acting President of Borough Council or its designated agency may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses. All testimony by witnesses at any hearing shall be given under oath and every party of record at a hearing shall have the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses. | | 2. | A verbatim record of the hearing shall be caused to be made by the Borough Council whenever such records are requested by any party to the proceedings; but the cost of making and transcribing such a record shall be borne by the party making the request and the expense of copies of such record shall be borne by those who wish to obtain such copies. All exhibits accepted in evidence shall be properly identified and duly preserved or, if not accepted in evidence, shall be properly identified and the reason for the exclusion clearly noted in the record. | | 3. | The Borough Council may continue the public hearings provided, however, that the ensuing hearings shall be concluded within 60 days from the date of the first public hearing. |
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| D. | Findings. |
| | | 1. | Within 60 days following the conclusion of the public hearing provided for in this Article, the Borough Council shall, by official written communication to the landowner either: | | | | a. | Grant tentative approval of the development plan as submitted; | | b. | Grant tentative approval subject to specified conditions not included in the development plan as submitted; or | | c. | Deny tentative approval of the development plan. |
| | 2. | Failure to so act within said period shall be deemed to be a grant of tentative approval of the development plan as submitted. In the event, however, that tentative approval is granted subject to conditions, the landowner may, within 30 days after receiving a copy of the official written communication of the Borough Council, notify the Borough Council of his refusal to accept all said conditions, in which case, the Borough Council shall be deemed to have denied tentative approval of the development plan. | | 3. | In the event that the landowners does not, within said period, notify the Council of his refusal to accept all said conditions, tentative approval of the development plan, with all said conditions, shall stand as granted. | | 4. | The grant or denial of tentative approval by Borough Council's written communication shall include not only conclusions but also findings of fact related to the specific proposal and shall set forth the reasons for the grant, with or without conditions, or for the denial, and said communication shall set forth with particularity in what respects the development plan would or would not be in the public interest, including but not limited to findings of fact and conclusions on the following: | | | | a. | Those respects in which the development plan is or is not consistent with the comprehensive plan for the development of the Borough; | | b. | The extent to which the development plan departs from zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the subject property, including but not limited to density, bulk, and use, and the reasons, if any, why such departures are not deemed to be in the public interest. | | c. | The purpose, location, and amount of the public space in the TND, the reliability of the proposals for maintenance and conservation of the public space, and the adequacy or inadequacy of the amount and purpose of the public space as related to the proposed density and type of residential development; | | d. | The physical design of the development plan and the manner in which said design does or does not make adequate provisions for public services, provide adequate control over vehicular traffic, and further the amenities of light and air, recreation, and visual enjoyment; | | e. | The relationship, beneficial or adverse, of the proposed TND to the neighborhood in which it is proposed to be established; and | | f. | In the case of a development plan that proposes development over a period of years, the sufficiency of the terms and conditions intended to protect the interests of the public and of the residents of the TND in the integrity of the development plan. |
| | 5. | In the event a development plan is granted tentative approval, with or without conditions, the Borough Council may set forth in the official written communication the time within which an application for final approval of the development plan shall be filed or, in the case of a development plan that provides for development over a period years, the periods of time within which applications for final approval of each stage thereof shall be filed. Except upon the consent of the landowner, the time so established between grant of tentative approval and an application for final approval shall not be less than 3 months and, in case of development over a period of years, the time between applications for final approval of each stage of a plan shall not be less than 12 months. |
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| E. | Status of Plan after Tentative Approval. |
| | | 1. | The official written communication provided for in Section 615.4 of this Article shall be certified by the Borough Secretary and shall be filed in his/her office, and a certified copy shall be mailed to the landowner. Where tentative approval has been granted, the same shall be noted on the Borough Zoning Map. | | 2. | Tentative approval of a development plan shall not qualify a plat of the TND for recording nor authorize development or the issuance of any building permits. A development plan that has been given tentative approval as submitted, or that has been given tentative approval with conditions that have been accepted by the landowner (and provided that the landowner has not defaulted nor violated any of the conditions of the tentative approval), shall not be modified or revoked nor otherwise impairs by action of the Borough pending an application or applications for final approval, without the consent of the landowner, provided an application for final approval is filed or, in the case of development over a period of years, provided applications are filed, within the periods of time specified in the official written communication granting tentative approval. |
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| F. | Application for Final Approval. |
| | | 1. | An application for final approval may be for all the land included in a development plan or, to the extent set forth in the tentative approval, a phase or section thereof. Said application shall be made to the official review agency and within the time or times specified by the official written communication granting tentative approval. If the application for final approval is in compliance with the tentatively approved development plan, a public hearing need not be held. | | 2. | In the event the application for final approval has been filed, together with all drawings, specifications, and other documents in support thereof, and as required by this Ordinance and the official written communication of tentative approval, the Borough shall, within 45 days of such filing, grant such development plan final approval. | | 3. | Alternatively the land owner may re-file his application for final approval without the variations objected to; or file a written request with the Borough Council that it hold a public hearing on his application for final approval. | | 4. | If the landowner wishes to take either such alternate action, he may do so at any time within which he shall be entitled to apply for final approval, or within 30 additional days if the time for applying for final approval shall have already passed at the time when the landowner was advised that the development plan was not in substantial compliance. In the event the landowner shall fail to take either of these alternate actions within said time, he shall be deemed to have abandoned the development plan. | | 5. | Any such public hearing shall be held pursuant to public notice within 30 days after request for the hearing is made by the landowner, and the hearing shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in this Ordinance for public hearings on application for tentative approval. | | 6. | Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the Borough Council shall, by official written communication, either grant final approval to the development plan or deny final approval. | | 7. | The grant or denial of final approval of the development plan shall, in cases arising under this Section, be in the form and contain the findings required for an application for tentative approval set forth in this Ordinance. |
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| G. | A development plan, or any part thereof that has been given final approval shall be so certified without delay by the Borough Council and shall be filed of record forthwith in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Union County before any development shall take place in accordance therewith. Upon the filing of record of the development plan, the zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the land included in such plan shall cease to apply thereto. |
| H. | In the event that a development plan, or a section thereof, is given final approval and thereafter the landowner shall abandon such plan or the section thereof that has been finally approved, and shall so notify the Borough Council in writing; or, in the event the landowner shall fail to commence and carry out the TND within such reasonable period of time as may be fixed by Ordinance after final approval has been granted, no development or further development shall take place on the property included in the development plan until after the said property is resubdivided and is reclassified by enactment of an amendment to this Ordinance. |
