A. The applicant/subdivider, after official notification by the Township Secretary of approval of the preliminary plan and the changes, if any, to be made therein, shall within five years thereafter prepare and submit to the Supervisors the final plan. Otherwise the approval of the preliminary plan shall become null and void unless the Board of Supervisors grants an extension of time in writing.
B. Date of consideration. For consideration at the next regular meeting of the Planning Commission, the final plan must be submitted to the Township Manager 15 working days in advance of the regular meeting date.
C. Application procedure. The application with the appropriate fees shall include the entire subdivision, land development, and site plan, and be accompanied by eight sets of the final plan as described in Article IV of these regulations; and comply in all respects with the preliminary plan as approved.
D. Referral to Planning Commission. The applicant shall refer said final plans to the Township Engineer, Sewage Enforcement Officer, Monroe County Planning Commission and Township Planning Commission for their recommendations. If the Township Planning Commission does not make such recommendation within 60 days after the final application plan has been considered complete by the Planning Commission, the plan shall be deemed recommended to the Board of Supervisors. The applicant can request an extension of the time requirements as prescribed in this chapter as long as the time extension is agreed to in writing by the applicant, Planning Commission, or Board of Supervisors. A final plan shall not be recommended for approval to the Board of Supervisors and shall not be signed by the Planning Commission until the applicant has met all the considerations and conditions of the action granting final approval of such plan.
E. Professional consultants' review. The Township Engineer and other Township professional consultants, as that term is defined at Section 107 of the Municipalities Planning Code, shall thoroughly check the final plan of subdivision or land development in order to determine the degree of compliance with all regulations of an engineering nature and all other applicable Township ordinances, procedures and regulations. His/her review will be directed to plan content and the completeness of drawings for construction contract purposes and compliance with other criteria currently required by the Township. The full intent of all engineering specifications and other criteria required by the Township must be clearly defined in the final plans. The final plans shall not be recommended for approval until the applicant has completed all plan requirements. A report shall be submitted to the Planning Commission within 12 working days after referral unless the Engineer and/or other professional consultant is actively engaged in collection of data not supplied by the developer. In his/her review, the Engineer and/or professional consultant shall apply such judgment and specification interpretation as may be necessary to clarify the intent of the regulatory requirements. All review costs of the Township Engineer and/or professional consultant shall be in accordance with the current fee resolution and escrow requirements of the Township.
F. Supervisors approval. After careful study, the Board of Supervisors, within 30 days from the time it receives a recommendation from the Planning Commission, shall approve, conditionally approve or deny the plan. The ground for denial of any plan shall be stated in writing to the applicant. The Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors shall not sign a final plan until the applicant has met all of the conditions granting approval of the final plan.
G. Final plan void if revised after approval. No changes, erasures, modifications or revisions shall be made in any final plan after approval has been given by the Board of Supervisors and endorsed, in writing, on the plan. In the event that any final plan, when recorded, contains any such changes, the final plan shall be considered null and void, and the Board of Supervisors shall institute proceedings to have said plan stricken from the records of the County Recorder of Deeds.
H. Required improvements and agreements. Before the Supervisors approve any final subdivision, site plan or development plan for recording, the subdivider/developer shall assure the Township of the completion of the same by means of a proper completion guarantee in the form of a term bond or deposit of funds or securities in escrow as per §
135-27 of these regulations. Said improvements will subsequently be installed by the owner, and inspected by the Township Engineer at the expense of the applicant/developer.
I. Engineering inspections. The Township shall engage an inspector to act as its agent for the purpose of assuring the satisfactory completion of all improvements required. If the Township or its agent finds upon inspection that any of the required improvements have not been constructed in accordance with the approved construction detail sheets, or in accordance with the applicable Township ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations or specifications, the applicant/developer and the bonding company will be separately and jointly liable for the costs of completing said improvements according to specifications, plans and the subdivision and land development improvement agreement.
J. Utilities. The Board of Supervisors may accept written assurance from each public utility company whose facilities are proposed to be installed that the public utility company will make the installation necessary for furnishing of its services as required, in accordance with the approved construction detail sheets and in accordance with the applicable Township ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations, or specifications.
K. Approval and recording of final plan.
(1) No lot in a subdivision or site plan may be sold and no building erected, altered or repaired upon land in a subdivision unless and until a final subdivision plan has been approved and recorded, and until the improvements required by the Supervisors in connection therewith hove either been constructed or guaranteed, as hereinabove provided.
(2) Streets, parks, drainage facilities and other public improvements shown on the land development and/or subdivision plan to be recorded may be offered for dedication to the Township by formal notation thereof on the plan or the owner shall note on the plan that such improvements have not been offered for dedication to the Township.
(3) Every street, park or other improvement shown on a final subdivision plan that is recorded as provided herein, shall be deemed to be a private street, driveway, park, or improvement until such time as the same has been offered for dedication to the Township and accepted by resolution or until it has been condemned for use as a public street, park or other improvements.
(4) After completion of these procedures and upon approval of the final plan, such approval shall be indicated by a statement to that effect on the record plan with the signatures of the Township Planning Commission and the members of the Board of Supervisors.
(5) The approval of any final subdivision plan by the Supervisors or by the Court on appeal shall, within 90 days of the date of approval, be recorded by the owner in the office of Recorder of Deeds of Monroe County. Should the subdivider fail to record the final plan within 90 days from the date of approval by the authorities of the Township of Tobyhanna after proper notification of final approval, approval shall be null and void unless an extension is granted in writing by the Board of Supervisors.
(6) After a subdivision plan had been duly recorded, all streets, parks and other public improvements shown thereon shall be considered to be part of the official plan of the Township. The Board of Supervisors shall determine when any improvements are to be the property of the Township of Tobyhanna.
(7) All final plans must comply with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended, PennDOT highway occupancy permit, Monroe County erosion and sediments control approval, DEP regulations and permits regarding sewage, water, wetlands and stream encroachments and any other appropriate federal, state, or local permits. All federal, state, county or local permits must be obtained by the applicant prior to final plan approval by the Board of Supervisors.
L. Any final plan filed with the Township which has not been revised within six months form the date of the last Township Engineer’s review letter shall be deemed inactive and may be denied for failure to promptly process plan in accordance with Township ordinances.
