Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart C - Protection of Natural Resources › Article I - Land Resources › Chapter 85 - BLUFF RECESSION AND SETBACK › Subchapter D - MUNICIPAL BLUFF SETBACK ORDINANCE AND REGULATIONS › Section 85.37 - Contents of ordinance and regulations submitted by municipality

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The ordinance and regulations submitted by a
						  municipality to the Department must include at a minimum the following
						  components:
(1) A setback ordinance
						and regulations must meet the minimum requirements and contain a minimum
						setback distance for each class of structure under this chapter.
(2) The municipality must provide a mechanism
						for permitting all proposed construction, installation, or substantial
						improvement of structures, or utility facilities such as water, sewage,
						electric, gas and telephone facilities in designated bluff recession hazard
						areas. This bluff setback permitting process may be incorporated into any
						existing permitting process administered by a municipal building code or zoning
						officer. At the request of the municipality, the Department will provide
						assistance to the municipality in developing this procedure.
(3) The municipality must provide a
						procedure, as a part of the ordinance and regulations, that enables monitoring
						of substantial improvements to structures bisected by or within the bluff
						setback distance. The procedure must ascertain the market value of the
						structure prior to the first improvement and document subsequent improvements
						to the structure to ensure that they do not exceed 50% of the market value for
						a consecutive 5-year period. At the request of the municipality, the Department
						will provide assistance to the municipality in developing this
						procedure.
(4) The municipality
						must provide a variance to its bluff setback ordinance and regulations only in
						the following cases:
(i) When a parcel
						established prior to a bluff recession hazard area designation does not have
						adequate depth considering the minimum bluff setback requirements to provide
						for any reasonable use of the land, a variance may be applied for. The variance
						shall be authorized when the following standards and criteria are met:
(A) The structure and all associated
						structures and utility facilities shall be located on the property as far
						landward of the bluff line as allowed by other municipal ordinances.
(B) The structure shall be designed and
						constructed to be movable. Construction activities must meet the minimum
						erosion and sediment control practices established by Chapter 102 (relating to
						erosion and sediment control) and reflect guidance contained in municipal
						stormwater ordinances or county watershed stormwater management plans. As part
						of the moving operation, all construction materials, including foundations,
						shall be removed and disposed of in accordance with the Solid Waste Management
						Act (35 P. S. §§
															6018.101-6018.1003) and the regulations
						promulgated thereto. Access to and from the structure must be of sufficient
						width and acceptable grade to allow for moving of the
						structure.