Permit a flexibility that will encourage innovations in residential and nonresidential development;

Permit a greater variety in type, design and layout of dwellings and other buildings and structures and the conservation and more efficient use of open space ancillary to said dwellings and structures;

Encourage a more efficient use of land and of public services and to reflect changes in the technology of land development; and

Provide a procedure which can relate the type, design and layout of residential and nonresidential development to the particular site and the particular demand for housing existing at the time of development in a manner consistent with the preservation of the property values within existing residential and nonresidential areas.

Dwelling units of any dwelling type or configuration, or any combination thereof;

Churches and other places of worship;

Schools, both public and private, if such schools are chartered or licensed by the commonwealth;

Municipal and public utility service buildings, structures and facilities to serve the planned development;

Community assembly halls, recreation centers and membership clubhouses related to the planned residential development;

Real estate sales and rental office serving the planned residential development only;

Swimming pools and recreation areas serving the planned residential development only;

Private or group garages and parking areas;

Those nonresidential uses deemed to be appropriate for incorporation in the design of the planned residential development;

Signs related to all development.

Minimum site size: five acres.

Maximum building coverage of site: 20%.

Minimum distances between multifamily residential buildings on the site:

Minimum setback from property boundary line: a fifty-foot setback for all structures shall be maintained along the perimeter property lines of the tract or parcel proposed for development.

Maximum height of buildings, measured between the average finished grade elevation and the top of the parapet on a flat-roof building or halfway between eave and ridge on a sloped-roof building: 35 feet or three stories, whichever is less.

Any lots available for sale and development for single-family buildings within a planned residential development shall be subject to the same standards as for single-family lots in the zone in which the development occurs, if municipal zoning is in force, or the standards of this chapter. The minimum lot standards may be reduced where the developer makes provisions for additional common open space held for the common enjoyment of the residents, beyond that which is required.

All improvements shall be installed, at no expense to the Borough or county, in accordance with the standards of the Borough and in this article.

Roads, parking areas and sidewalks shall be maintained in a serviceable condition by the developer or his successors.

All areas of the site not occupied by buildings or paved shall be either planted in natural materials or left in the state existing prior to development.

All structures in any planned residential development shall be connected to public or community sewage disposal and water supply systems.

Each dwelling unit shall be provided with two off-street parking spaces within 200 feet of the dwelling thus served.

All electric, telephone lines, television cable, etc., within a planned residential development shall be placed underground.

An application for tentative approval of the development plan for a planned residential development shall be filed by or on behalf of the landowner or, if several adjacent parcels are included in the plan, by the several landowners. The application shall be submitted to the Slippery Rock Borough Planning Commission no later than 10 days prior to the regular monthly meeting of the commission at which the development plan is to be considered.

The application shall consist of plans, drawings, data specifications, etc., in conformance with the required information for land developments, § 350-23 of Chapter 350, Subdivision and Land Development.

All applications for tentative approval shall be referred to the Butler County Planning Commission for study and recommendation. The County Planning Commission shall be required to report to the Borough within 30 days or forfeit the right to review.

Within 60 days after the filing of an application for tentative approval of a planned residential development pursuant to this chapter, a public hearing pursuant to public notice on said application shall be held by the Planning Commission.

Public notice shall be given and written notice shall be given to the applicant, the Zoning Officer and to any person who has made timely request for the same. Written notices shall be given at such time and in such manner as shall be prescribed by rules of the Borough Council. In addition to the written notice provided herein, written notice of said hearing shall be conspicuously posted on the affected tract of land at least one week prior to the hearing.

The parties to the hearing shall be the Borough, any person affected by the application who has made timely appearance of record before the Planning Commission, and any other person, including civic or community organizations, permitted to appear by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission shall have power to require that all persons who wish to be considered parties enter appearances in writing on forms provided by the Planning Commission for that purpose.

The Chairman, or Acting Chairman in the absence of the Chairman, of the Planning Commission shall have power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of relevant documents and papers, including witnesses and documents requested by the parties.

The parties shall have the right to be represented by counsel and shall be afforded the opportunity to respond and present evidence and argument and cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues.

Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded.

The Planning Commission shall keep a stenographic record of the proceedings. The appearance fee for a stenographer shall be shared equally by the applicant and the Borough Council. The cost of the original transcript shall be paid by the Borough Council if the transcript is ordered by the Borough Council or shall be paid by the person appealing from the decision of the Planning Commission if such appeal is made, and in either event the cost of additional copies shall be paid by the person requesting such copy or copies. In other cases, the party requesting the original transcript shall bear the cost thereof.

The Planning Commission shall not communicate, directly or indirectly, with any party or his representatives in connection with any issue involved except upon notice for all parties to participate, shall not take notice of any communication, reports, staff memoranda, or other materials, except advice from their solicitor, unless the parties are afforded an opportunity to contest the material so noticed, and shall not inspect the site or its surroundings after the commencement of hearings with any party or his representative unless all parties are given an opportunity to be present.

The Planning Commission may continue the hearing from time to time, provided that, in any event, the public hearing or hearings shall be concluded within 60 days after the date of the first public hearing.

The Planning Commission, within 60 days following the conclusion of the public hearing, shall, by official written communication to the landowner, either:

Failure to so act within said sixty-day 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 Planning Commission, notify such Planning Commission of his refusal to accept all said conditions, in which case the Planning Commission shall be deemed to have denied tentative approval of the development plan. In the event the landowner does not, within said period, notify the Planning Commission of his refusal to accept all said conditions, tentative approval of the development plan, with all said conditions, shall stand as granted.

The grant or denial of tentative approval by official 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:

In the event a development plan is granted tentative approval, with or without conditions, the Planning Commission may set forth in the official written communication the time within which application for final approval of the development plan shall be filed or, in the case of a development plan which provides for development over a period of years, the periods of time within which applications for final approval of each part 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 three months, and, in the case of development over a period of years, the time between applications for final approval of each part of a plan shall be not less than 12 months.

The official written communication shall be certified by the Borough Administrator/Secretary and shall be filed in the Borough office, and a certified copy shall be mailed to the landowner. Where tentative approval has been granted, it shall be deemed an amendment to the Zoning Map, effective upon final approval, and shall be noted on the Zoning Map.

Tentative approval of a development plan shall not qualify a plat of the planned residential development for recording nor authorize development or the issuance of any building permits. A development plan which has been given tentative approval as submitted, or which has been given tentative approval with conditions which 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 impaired by the action of the Borough pending an application or applications for final approval without the consent of the landowner, provided an application or applications for final approval are 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.

In the event that a development plan is given tentative approval and thereafter, but prior to final approval, the landowner shall elect to abandon said development plan and shall so notify the Borough Council in writing, or in the event the landowner shall fail to file application or applications for final approval within the required period of time or times, as the case may be, the tentative approval shall be deemed to be revoked, and all that portion of the area included in the development plan for which final approval has not been given shall be subject to those ordinances otherwise applicable thereto as they may be amended from time to time, and the same shall be noted on the Zoning Map and in the records of the Borough Administrator/Secretary.

An application for final approval shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Slippery Rock Borough Planning Commission at least 10 days prior to the regular Planning Commission meeting at which the application is to be considered.

The application shall contain, for the area for which final approval is sought, all requirements of the proposed plan and the written reports necessary to obtain tentative approval and, in addition:

Provided that all conditions of the tentative and final approvals have been met to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission, Slippery Rock Borough shall grant final approval within 45 days after the filing of the final approval application.

If the Planning Commission finds variations in the application for final approval when compared with the plan given tentative approval, the Planning Commission may refuse to grant final approval and shall so notify the landowner in writing not later than 45 days after the filing of the final approval application, setting forth the reasons why one or more of said variations are not in the public interest.

The landowner may either:

If the landowner requests a public hearing, the Planning Commission shall, within 30 days, hold such hearing, by official written communication, in the manner required for tentative approval, and either grant or deny final approval.

A development plan, or any part thereof, given final approval shall be certified immediately by the Planning Commission and Borough Council and shall be filed within 15 days after grant of final approval in the office of the Butler County Recorder of Deeds, after which development of the site area for which final approval has been granted may proceed. Each structure in the development will require a separate building permit.

Upon filing of the development plan with the Recorder of Deeds, all zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the area recorded shall cease to apply to that area.

If the landowner abandons his development plan after final approval and so informs the Slippery Rock Planning Commission in writing, or fails to carry out the development within the time period agreed upon in the final approval, no further applications for final approval shall be considered by the Planning Commission for subsequent portions of the same site, and no further development of such subsequent portions of the site shall be permitted until that area complies with Chapter 350, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Borough of Slippery Rock.

When a sequence of development of a site takes place over a period of years, the time between applications for final approval of each part of the plan shall be not more than 30 months.

The landowner shall satisfy the Planning Commission at the time of application for final approval that all areas for which the final approval is sought will be adequately maintained in perpetuity so as not to cause a public nuisance.

If the landowner provides for establishment of an association of residents of the planned residential development to own and maintain common open spaces on the site, he shall indicate the organization of such association, including bylaws, and the legal mechanism that will bind such association to perpetual maintenance of the common open space.

In the event that the organization established to own and maintain common open space, or any successor organization, shall fail to maintain the common open space in reasonable order and condition, the Slippery Rock Borough Council may serve written notice upon the organization or upon the residents of the planned residential development setting forth the deficiencies in maintenance, demanding that they be corrected within 30 days and stating the time and place of a public hearing to be held, pursuant to public notice, to consider the deficiencies, at which time the deficiencies noted may be modified or the time period for correction extended.

If the deficiencies are not corrected within 30 days, Slippery Rock Borough Council may enter the common open space containing the deficiencies and maintain the area for a period of 12 months, at the expiration of which the Borough Council shall call a second public hearing, with notice to the organization and residents of the planned residential development, at which the organization or the residents shall show cause why Slippery Rock Borough Council should cease maintenance based on the ability of the organization or the residents to again discharge such maintenance responsibility. Public hearings shall be called thereafter or less frequently than once per year to consider termination of Borough maintenance until such termination occurs.

The decision to continue or cease maintenance shall lie with Slippery Rock Borough Council.

The period during which Borough Council shall maintain common open space shall not constitute a taking of land nor entitle the public to use of such common open space unless as provided in the conditions establishing the common open space.

The cost of maintenance of common open space by Borough Council shall be assessed ratably against the properties within the planned residential development that have rights to common open space and shall become a lien on the properties, to be filed by Borough Council with the Prothonotary of Butler County at time of entrance into the common open space.