News In Focus

BUYING A PROPERTY?    

There are many good buys on property around today. We wanted to offer some information to consider BEFORE purchasing what appears to be the perfect lot, building, or new home. It is critical that a prospective buyer looks closely at local zoning regulations prior to purchasing a property. In Pennsylvania, this means check with the municipality (Borough or Township) where the property is located. In Maryland, you would either check with the County, or the municipality in incorporated areas.

When we say check the zoning we mean to determine the property's zoning classification and then closely read the allowed uses of property in that type of zoning. The allowed uses in the different categories vary from one municipality to another. If you are not positive that you understand whether your desired use of a property is allowed or not, we recommend contacting the municipality, a surveyor/ engineer (such as Hanover Land Services, Inc.) or a land use attorney.

Some things to avoid include:

• Assuming because a business is in the building now, your business will be allowed to move in. The business that is located in the building now may have been "grandfathered" because it was there when the local zoning regulations were either established or modified. In addition, different types of businesses are often treated differently in zoning ordinances.
• Assuming that the piece of property adjacent to the property you want to purchase will continue to be the same type of land use it is today. The farm next to your property could be zoned industrial and possibly even have approved plans for development. It always pays to looking at the zoning on adjacent and local properties before making a decision to purchase a property.
• Assuming you will be able to construct an addition onto or a pool in the yard of an existing home you are purchasing, because there appears to be plenty of space. Some townships have a "maximum allowable on-site impervious" percentage in their zoning ordinance.
• Assuming that you will be able to locate a home based business in your home. Some types of home based business are prohibited in certain zoning categories. Others may require a special exception or variance from the zoning ordinance.
• Assuming your definitions of business or commercial matches the municipalities.
• Not checking if the municipal zoning ordinance limits parking, percentage of on-site impervious area, sign location and size, driveway location, or other features that may affect your desired usage of a piece of property.
• Another potentially costly mistake a potential buyer could make was to not buy the perfect piece of property for a great price, because they assume that they cannot use it the way they want. It is sometimes surprising what can be located in a certain zoning category, and there is often an option to pursue a variance or special exception.  

If you have questions about the zoning on a piece of property, feel free to contact Hanover Land Services, Inc. at (717)637-5674 or office@hanoverlandservices.com, and we can help you determine your options for getting the most value out of that property. 

Can you ... NAME THAT SITE? 

Be the first reader to call or e-mail us with the correct location of this site and you can win a lunch with your choice of Doug, Reg, or Kristin to pick up the tab.

 HINTS:

1.  This site is located between Littlestown and Hanover.

2.  Activities will be commencing soon for the construction of a new  water line. 

3.  HLS completed the survey field work for the engineering design of the water line and will be performing the construction stakeout for this project.   

Please contact Hanover Land Service if additional hints are needed.  

E-mail your guess to office@hanoverlandservices.com or  

call Gail at our Hanover office 717-637-5674.     

The correct location of this month's site will be revealed in our next newsletter!

IMPORTANT REGULATION CHANGES

PENNSYLVANIA EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL CHANGES  

The York County Conservation District (YCCD) Board of Directors approved an updated District Service Fee Schedule (posted on the YCCD website at  http://www.yorkccd.org/erosion-and-sediment-control/ ) which will go into effect on May 1, 2012.  All Erosion and Sediment Control (E&S) plans submitted for District review and approval on or after May 1, 2012 will be required to use the new Application for District Services dated 4-19-12.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has finalized the new E&S Program Manual - (see link at http://www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-87792/363-2134-008.pdf  The link to the new manual is also located on the YCCD website (www.yorkccd.org).  It is recommended that engineers use the new manual on all new E&S plans, however the YCCD will continue to accept E&S plans that use the design guidance in the old (March/April 2000) Manual until November 1, 2012.   All new E&S plans submitted after November 1, 2012 will be required to use the design guidance provided in the new E&S Program Manual.  DEP plans to schedule new Manual training for the regulated community sometime this summer.  The YCCD is also planning a workshop in September to address new E&S requirements, stabilization methods, and post-construction stormwater management issues.  Please check the YCCD website for updates.   

DEP has published a new "Visual Site Inspection Report" (posted on the YCCD website at http://www.yorkccd.org/erosion-and-sediment-control/ ) for use in completing the required weekly and after every runoff event self-inspection logs for general NPDES permitted sites.  This new 2-page form replaces the previous 7-page DEP form and the 3-page EPA form that the YCCD distributed at preconstruction meetings.  Please plan on using this simplified form.

If you have any questions about how this information affects your current plan or construction site, please contact Doug at (717)637-5674 or dbarmoy@hanoverlandservices.com.

to your comments, questions and suggestions!

Email Doug 

Email Kristin  

Email Reg 

Hanover Land Services, Inc. FTP Site Launched to Serve Our Clients

HLS is happy to be able to offer clients a new service in the form of an FTP site. This site enables HLS to post plans, reports, comments etc... for client access 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  

Information is scanned into a password protected site for access by anyone the client designates. Any client representative (including construction contractors) can access and down load information. Only HLS staff has the ability to upload or modify information on the site. Information on the site can be segmented to give a certain group, such as contractors, access solely to the documents necessary for construction.

The HLS FTP site has a potential to save clients a substantial amount of money in the form of blueprint fees, copy fees and consultant fees for reproduction. It also provides a huge convenience if you need to view information during non-office hours.    

If you have a project that is not already available on our FTP site and think this benefit could be helpful, please contact Doug at 717-637-5674 or dbarmoy@hanoverlandservices.com .

Hanover Land Services, Inc.was recently selected by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) Bureau of Engineering and Architecture as recipient of a contract for Statewide Surveyor Services.  

Through this contract HLS may provide surveying services for DGS building projects in the general geographic area of our Hanover, PA office.

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