§ 123-41. Reserve strips; rights-of-way; easements.

A. 

Reserve strips created by the placement of a new road close to but not on the boundary to an adjacent property are prohibited.

B. 

Rights-of-way and/or easements for sanitary sewer, road construction or maintenance, drainage purposes, public utilities or for any specific purpose shall be required by the Board of Supervisors as needed. The location and width in each case shall be determined by the Board of Supervisors.

(1) 

Buildings shall be set back five feet from the nearest side of the utility right-of-way or easement to the proposed building.

(2) 

Nothing shall be placed, planted, set or put within the areas of an easement, and the area shall be kept as a lawn.

(3) 

The owner of any lot, upon written request by the Township and at the owner's sole expense, shall remove anything placed, planted, set or put, with or without knowledge of this Part 1, within the area of any easement.

(4) 

To the fullest extent possible, easements shall be adjacent to rear or side lot lines.

C. 

No right-of-way nor easement for any purpose whatsoever shall be recited or described in any deed unless the same has been shown on the approved plan. Any error found in a deed shall be immediately corrected and rerecorded at the sole expense of the subdivider at the Montgomery County office of the Recorder of Deeds in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

D. 

Utility easements. A minimum width of 20 feet shall be provided for common utilities and drainage when provided in undedicated land. Nothing shall be placed, planted, set or put within the area of an easement, and the area shall be maintained as a lawn. An additional width of 10 feet shall be added to the easement width for each additional utility placed in the common easement.

E. 

Drainage easements.

(1) 

Drainage easements shall be required along natural watercourses coinciding with the extent of the one-hundred-year floodplain but in no case less than 50 feet in total width. The easement shall be adequate to preserve natural drainage as determined by the Township Engineer and/or as required by the Department of Environmental Protection. The owner shall properly grade and seed slopes and fence any open ditches as required by the Township.

(2) 

Permanent drainage easements for man-made facilities and swales shall be a minimum of 25 feet in width and may be used for storm and sanitary sewers and as open space.

F. 

Dedication. Where stormwater or surface water will be gathered within the subdivision or land development and discharged or drained in volume over lands within or beyond the boundaries of the subdivision or land development, the subdivider, developer or builder shall reserve or obtain easements over all lands affected. The easements shall be adequate for such discharge of drainage and for carrying off of such water and for the maintenance, repair and reconstruction of the same, including the right of passage over by vehicles, machinery and other equipment for such passage and work. The subdivider, developer or builder shall offer for dedication, at no cost, the easements to the Township.

G. 

Describing easements or rights-of-way. Any easements and/or rights-of-way approved by the Township under this Part 1 shall be described on the deed of each lot in a subdivision or land development affected by such easements and/or rights-of-way and shall be recorded at the sole expense of the subdivider, developer or builder at the Montgomery County office of the Recorder of Deeds in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The recording of these restrictions on the deeds for each parcel is required to ensure that any future purchaser of the property is fully informed of the existence of any easements and/or rights-of-way on the parcel.