Part 2
Planning Commission

§1-201 Creation.

A Township Planning Commission, to be composed of five members, appointed as provided by la, §202 of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. §10202, is hereby created in and for the Township of Wolf. The Planning Commission shall perform all duties and may exercise all the powers conferred by law upon municipal planning agencies, as more fully set forth hereinafter; provided, the Planning Commission previously created in and for the Township of Wolf shall constitute the tenure of any of the members thereof, but any and all vacancies in the said Commission, hereafter occurring, shall be filled in the manner and for the term provided in the law governing municipal planning commissions in effect at the time of the happening of said vacancy.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §1; as amended by Ord. 2004-1, 3/8/2004)

§1-202 Members of the Commission.

All of the members of the Planning Commission shall be residents of the Township. On a Commission of five members at least three shall be citizen members, not officers or employees of the Township. Except for elected or appointed officers or employees of the Township, members of the Commission may receive compensation in an amount fixed by the Board of Supervisors and may be reimbursed for necessary and reasonable expenses.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §2; as amended by Ord. 2011-01, 1/3/2011, §1)

§1-203 Term and Vacancy.

The term of each of the members of the Commission shall be for 4 years. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §3; as amended by Ord. 2011-01, 1/3/2011, §1)

§1-204 Township Planning Commission Elections.

The Township Planning Commission shall elect its own Chairman and create and fill such other offices as it may determine necessary. The Commission may make and alter rules for its procedure consistent with the ordinances of the Township and the laws of the Commonwealth. It shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions, findings and determination which record shall be a public record. The Board of Supervisors shall appropriate funds in the same manner as other appropriations are made. The Planning Commission, with approval of the majority of the Board of Supervisors, may appoint such employees and staff as it may deem necessary for its work and may contract with planners and other consultants for such technical services as it may require. As an aid to coordination of municipal planning and with the consent of the Township Supervisors, the Planning Commission may enter into joint agreements with County, regional or other planning agencies, covering cooperative relationships as are necessary to attain the objectives of this article. The Planning Commission shall incur only such expenditures as shall be necessary and proper and all such expenditures shall be within the amount appropriated by the Board of Supervisors or placed at the Commission's disposal from other sources.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §5)

§1-205 Annual Report.

The Commission shall, annually, at the regular meeting of the Township Supervisors in January of each year, make a report to the Supervisors of their transactions, findings, and determinations.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §6; as amended by Ord. 2011-01, 1/3/2011, §1)

§1-206 Prepare and Adopt a Plan of Development for the Township.

The Planning Commission shall prepare and adopt a plan of development for the Township. The plan, with accompanying maps, charts, drawings and descriptive matter, shall show the Commission’s recommendation for the development of the Township. It may show the Commission's recommendations for the most desirable use of land for agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial, industrial and other purposes; for the most desirable density of population in the several parts of the Township for a system of principal thoroughfares, parkways, bridges, streets and other public ways, for airports, parks, playgrounds and public grounds; for the general location and extent of facilities for water, sewage, light, power, transit and other purposes, whether publicly or privately owned; for the general location, character and extent of community centers and neighborhood units; and for the replanning of blighted and slum areas, or the extent and location of public projects; and for such other things as, in the opinion of the Commission, are of public concern.

A.    The development plan shall be based on studies of the physical, social, economic and governmental conditions and trends, and shall be designed to promote with the greatest efficiency and economy the coordinated development of the Township and the general welfare and prosperity of its people.

B.    As the work of preparing the whole development plan progresses, the Commission may from time to time adopt parts thereof, any such part to cover one or more major sections or divisions of the Township or one or more of the functional matters to be included in the plan. The Commission may from time to time amend, extend or add to the development plan. The planning commission shall, wherever possible cooperate with the county planning commission, if one is formed in Lycoming County. In such case, it shall be the duty of the Commission to file a copy of all maps and plans and amendments thereto adopted by the Commission with the county planning commission within 30 days of the completion of such maps or plans.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §7)

§1-207 Establish Official Map.

The Board of Supervisors may establish as the official map of the Township any part of the development plan with respect to the location and extent of public parks and playgrounds. Establishment shall be by ordinance, after public hearing, with notice of such public hearing to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township at least 10 days prior to the hearing. Such map, subject to amendments as hereinafter provided, is to be deemed official and conclusive as regards the above subject matter and is hereby declared to be established to conserve and promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.

A.    The Planning Commission shall have power to make or cause to be made from time to time surveys for the exact locations of the lines of new, extended, widened or narrowed streets, the newly proposed or changed outer limits of parks, playgrounds, freeways and parkways, in the whole or any portion of the Township, and to certify to the Board of Supervisors a plat or plats of the areas thus surveyed on which are indicated the location of the lines recommended by the Planning Commission as the mapped boundaries of future public areas, for placing on the official map of the Township.

B.    The Board of Supervisors may by resolution, whenever and as often as it may deem it for the public interest, change or add to the official map of the Township. Before changing or adding to the official map, the matter shall be referred to the Planning Commission for its recommendation. If the Planning Commission shall not make its recommendation thereon within 30 days after reference, it shall be deemed to consent thereto.

C.    Upon the receipt of the recommendation of the Planning Commission or upon the expiration of 30 days after reference to the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors may hold a public hearing on the proposed change in or addition to the official map, and if such hearing is to be held, shall cause notice of the hearing to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing. At such public hearing, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to present their views prior to the final vote upon the resolution providing for the change in or addition to the official map. Upon final passage of the resolution, the changes or additions shall become a part of the official map of the Township.

D.    The acceptance or approval by the Township, under the provisions of laws other than those contained in this Section, of the locating, laying out, widening or closing of any public way or areas designated above as part of the official map shall be deemed to be a change or addition to the official map. The placing of a boundary line of any public way or area upon the official map shall be in no way constructed as an opening, establishment, taking or acceptance of any land for a public use.

E.    For the purpose of preserving the integrity of the official map of the Township, no permit shall be issued for any building in the bed of any street shown or laid out on the official map, except that when the property of the applicant of which such reserved location forms a part cannot yield a reasonable return to the owner unless such permit is granted, the Township Zoning Hearing Board may, in a specific case, by the vote of a majority of its members, grant a permit for a building in such street which will as little as practicable increase the cost of opening such street or tend to cause a change of the official map; and the board shall impose reasonable requirements as a condition of granting the permit so as to promote the health, morals, safety and general welfare of the public. [Ord. 2004-1]

F.    No public sewer, water main or other Township street utility or improvement shall be constructed in or so as to serve any street, highway, parkway, playground or park until the street, highway, parkway, playground or park is duly placed on the official map.

G.    No permit for the erection of any building shall be issued unless a street or highway giving access to such proposed structure has been duly placed an the official map. Where the enforcement of the provision of this section would entail practical difficulty of unnecessary hardship and where the circumstances of the case do not require the structure to be related to existing or proposed streets or highways, the applicant for the permit may appeal from the decision of the administrative officer having charge of the issuance of permits to the Zoning Hearing Board and the same provisions shall apply to such appeals and to such Board as are provided in cases of appeals on zoning regulations. The Board may, in passing on such appeal, make any reasonable exception and issue the permit subject to conditions that will protect any sheet or highway layout. [Ord. 2004-1]

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §8; as amended by Ord. 2004-1, 3/8/2004)

§1-208 Adoption of Subdivision Regulations.

Upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors of land subdivision regulations, all subdivision layout or plot maps shall be referred to the Planning Commission for its recommendations. If the Planning Commission shall not make its recommendations thereon within 30 days after such reference, it shall be deemed to consent thereto.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §9)

§1-209 Reports for Improvements.

The Township Planning Commission may make reports and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, agencies and citizens regarding public and private improvements in relation to its plans and general community development. It may publish the development plan or sections thereof and such other reports and recommendations as, in the opinion of the Commission, are necessary to attain the objectives of this article. It shall operate in cooperation with the Township Zoning Commissions. All public officials shall, upon request, furnish to the Commission such available information as the Commission or its staff may require for its work. The commission or its employees may, while performing necessary work, enter upon any land in order to examine or survey it or to place and maintain necessary temporary markers thereon. In general, the Planning Commission shall have such powers as will reasonably enable it to carry out its purpose and promote Township planning.

(Ord. 5-1965, 6/7/1965, §10)