Section 10711 - Application for Final Approval(a) An application for final approval may be for all the land included in a development plan or, to the extent set forth in the tentative approval, for a section thereof. Said application shall be made to the official of the municipality designated by the ordinance and within the time or times specified by the official written communication granting tentative approval. The application shall include any drawings, specifications, covenants, easements, performance bond and such other requirements as may be specified by ordinance, as well as any conditions set forth in the official written communication at the time of tentative approval. A public hearing on an application for final approval of the development plan, or part thereof, shall not be required provided the development plan, or the part thereof, submitted for final approval, is in compliance with the development plan theretofore given tentative approval and with any specified conditions attached thereto.(b) In the event the application for final approval has been filed, together with all drawings, specifications and other documents in support thereof, and as required by the ordinance and the official written communication of tentative approval, the municipality shall, within 45 days from the date of the regular meeting of the governing body or the planning agency, whichever first reviews the application next following the date the application is filed, grant such development plan final approval, provided, however, that should the next regular meeting occur more than 30 days following the filing of the application, the 45-day period shall be measured from the 30th day following the day the application has been filed.(c) In the event the development plan as submitted contains variations from the development plan given tentative approval, the approving body may refuse to grant final approval and shall, within 45 days from the date of the regular meeting of the governing body or the planning agency, whichever first reviews the application next following the date the application is filed, so advise the landowner in writing of said refusal, setting forth in said notice the reasons why one or more of said variations are not in the public interest, provided, however, that should the next regular meeting occur more than 30 days following the filing of the application, the 45-day period shall be measured from the 30th day following the day the application has been filed. In the event of such refusal, the landowner may either:(1) refile his application for final approval without the variations objected; or(2) file a written request with the approving body that it hold a public hearing on his application for final approval. If the landowner wishes to take either such alternate action he may do so at any time within which he shall be entitled to apply for final approval, or within 30 additional days if the time for applying for final approval shall have already passed at the time when the landowner was advised that the development plan was not in substantial compliance. In the event the landowner shall fail to take either of these alternate actions within said time, he shall be deemed to have abandoned the development plan. Any such public hearing shall be held pursuant to public notice within 30 days after request for the hearing is made by the landowner, and the hearing shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in this article for public hearings on applications for tentative approval. Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the approving body shall by official written communication either grant final approval to the development plan or deny final approval. The grant or denial of final approval of the development plan shall, in cases arising under this section, be in the form and contain the findings required for an application for tentative approval set forth in this article. Failure of the governing body or agency to render a decision on an application for final approval and communicate it to the applicant within the time and in the manner required by this section shall be deemed an approval of the application for final approval, as presented, unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time or change in the prescribed manner of presentation of communication of the decision, in which case failure to meet the extended time or change in manner of presentation of communication shall have like effect.
(d) A development plan, or any part thereof, which has been given final approval shall be so certified without delay by the approving body and shall be filed of record forthwith in the office of the recorder of deeds before any development shall take place in accordance therewith. Upon the filing of record of the development plan the zoning and subdivision regulations otherwise applicable to the land included in such plan shall cease to apply thereto. Pending completion, in accordance with the time provisions stated in section 508, of said planned residential development or of that part thereof, as the case may be, that has been finally approved, no modification of the provisions of said development plan, or part thereof, as finally approved, shall be made except with the consent of the landowner. Upon approval of a final plat, the developer shall record the plat in accordance with the provisions of section 513(a) and post financial security in accordance with section 509.(e) In the event that a development plan, or a section thereof, is given final approval and thereafter the landowner shall abandon such plan or the section thereof that has been finally approved, and shall so notify the approving body in writing; or, in the event the landowner shall fail to commence and carry out the planned residential development in accordance with the time provisions stated in section 508 after final approval has been granted, no development or further development shall take place on the property included in the development plan until after the said property is reclassified by enactment of an amendment to the municipal zoning ordinance in the manner prescribed for such amendments in Article VI.(f) Each month a municipality shall notify in writing the superintendent of a school district in which development plans for a planned residential development were finally approved by the municipality during the preceding month. The notice shall include, but not be limited to, the location of the development, the number and types of units to be included in the development and the expected construction schedule of the development.1968, July 31, P.L. 805, No. 247, art. VII, § 711. Amended 1981, Oct. 16, P.L. 293, No. 101, § 1, effective in 60 days. Reenacted and amended 1988, Dec. 21, P.L. 1329, No. 170, § 76, effective in 60 days. Amended 2000, June 23, P.L. 495, No. 68, § 20, effective in 60 days; 2012, July 5, P.L. 928, No. 97, § 2, effective in 60 days [Sept. 4, 2012].