Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 19, May 11, 2024
Section 71.55 - Exceptions to the requirement to revise the official plan for new land development(a) A municipality does not have to revise its official plan when the Department determines that the proposal is for the use of individual onlot sewage systems serving detached single family dwelling units in a subdivision of ten lots or less and the following apply:(1) The proposal, in addition to the existing or proposed subdivision of which it is a part, will not exceed ten lots.(2) The subdivision has been determined to have soils and site conditions which are generally suitable for onlot sewage disposal systems under § 71.62 (relating to individual and community onlot sewage systems).(3) For the purposes of determining whether a proposal qualifies for an exception under this section, the enumeration of lots shall include only lots created after May 15, 1972.(4) The proposal is consistent with the requirements of § 71.21(a)(5)(iii) (relating to content of official plans).(b) Documentation supporting a request for exception under this section shall be submitted to the Department using the Department's sewage facilities planning module and shall include: (1) A statement by the governing body of the municipality acknowledging that they and an existing municipal planning or zoning agency, or both, have reviewed the proposal and found it to be consistent with the municipality's official plan.(2) Evidence of review by the municipality's sewage enforcement officer.(c) The municipality shall review sewage facilities planning modules upon receipt. If appropriate documentation and comments required by subsection (b) were not included in the planning module, the municipality shall forward a copy of the sewage facilities planning module to the sewage enforcement officer and appropriate planning or zoning agency within 10 days of receipt. The municipality shall review and act upon an application for an exception to the requirement to revise an official plan within 60 days of receipt of a complete sewage facilities planning module or additional time that the applicant and municipality may agree to in writing. Failure of the municipality to act within the 60-day period or an agreed-to time extension shall cause the application for the exception to the requirement to revise to be deemed approved by the municipality and the complete application shall then be submitted to the Department by the municipality or the applicant. Documentation of the period of time the application for the exception to the requirement to revise was in possession of the municipality shall be in the form of a completeness checklist signed by a municipal official confirming that the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) have been met.(d) The Department may act on requests for exceptions to the requirement to revise official plans within 30 days of the Department's receipt of the properly completed and submitted components of the Department's sewage facilities planning module, and proper written documentation. If the Department fails to act within the 30-day period, the exception to the requirement to revise the official plan shall be deemed to be applicable.The provisions of this § 71.55 adopted August 13, 1971, effective 8/14/1971, 1 Pa.B. 1649; amended April 28, 1972, effective 5/15/1972, 2 Pa.B. 753; amended September 28, 1973, effective 10/15/1973, 3 Pa.B. 2176; reserved August 30, 1974, effective 9/16/1974, 4 Pa.B. 1805; amended June 9, 1989, effective 6/10/1989, 19 Pa.B. 2429; amended November 7, 1997, effective 11/28/1997, 27 Pa.B. 5877.The provisions of this § 71.55 amended under section 9 of the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (35 P. S. § 750.9); The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. §§ 691.1-691.1001); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 71.1 (relating to definitions); 25 Pa. Code § 71.51 (relating to general); 25 Pa. Code § 71.59 (relating to delegated agency administration of new land development planning requirements); 25 Pa. Code § 71.83 (relating to Department fees); and 25 Pa. Code § 72.1 (relating to definitions).