Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission

County Planning Review of Subdivision and Land Development Plans (MPC §502)

Under §502(b) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, a subdivision or land development application in a municipality with its own subdivision and land development ordinance is forwarded to the county planning agency 'for review and report together with a fee sufficient to cover the costs of the review and report which fee shall be paid by the applicant', and the municipality may not approve it until the county report is received or 30 days have passed. The Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission's Subdivision & Land Development Plan Submission Process states that the county planning agency 'has 30 days to review and comment', that 'We are an advisory body to the local municipalities', and that all forty municipalities 'administer their own subdivision and land development regulations, and they are the final approving authority.' It says 'There is no application form for county review'; one copy of the plan and all supporting documents goes in at least ten days before the monthly board meeting (held the 2nd Thursday of every month except July and August), and 'A review fee must accompany the plans or the submission will not be considered complete'. Per the same document, plans in Benton, Greenfield, Mayfield, Ransom, Roaring Brook and Madison must be submitted by the municipality. The amounts come from the commission's fee schedule marked 'EFFECTIVE: October 9, 2025', as published on the county's current website. A business that subdivides land or builds a land development pays this review fee in addition to the municipality's own fees.