Township of Plumstead, PA VR VILLAGE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS

[Ord. 01-09-18-1, 9/18/2001, § 700]

A building or structure may be erected or altered, to be used either in whole or in part, and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following uses and no other, provided that such uses, buildings, or structures shall comply with such regulations as yards, lot sizes, lot width, building area, height, impervious surface, easements, bufferyards, off-street parking, and other requirements as specified by this chapter.

§ 27-702 Permitted Uses.

[Ord. 01-09-18-1, 9/18/2001, § 701; as amended by Ord. 2004-01, 4/6/2004, Art. II]

Uses Permitted by Right.

[Amended by Ord. No. 2020-04, 9/8/2020; Ord. No. 2023-02, 2/14/2023; and by A.O.]

A1	General Farming
A2	Agricultural Retail
A4	Forestry or Timber Harvesting
Bl	Detached Dwelling
B4	Two-Family Dwelling
B5	Multifamily: Apartments
B6	Multifamily: Townhouses
B11	Accessory Dwelling
B12	Home Occupations
B14	Accessory Building, Structure or Use
B17	Short-Term Rentals
C1	Place of Worship
C7	Municipal Building or Use
D1	Public Recreational Facility
D3	Private Club
D4	Community Center
G28	Small Wireless Communications Facility, co-located
G28	Small Wireless Communications Facility, requiring installation of new wireless support structure

Uses Permitted By Conditional Use.

[Amended by Ord. No. 2020-07, 11/10/2020]

B3	Land Preservation with TDRs
B9	Life-Care or Full-Care Facility
B18	Event Venue Use
C2	School
C3	Library or Museum
G28	Non-Tower-Based Wireless Communications Facility

Uses Permitted by Special Exception.

B10	Residential Conversion
B13	Bed-and-Breakfast
E1	Utilities
E2	Emergency Services

§ 27-703 Area and Dimensional Requirements.

[Ord. 01-09-18-1, 9/18/2001, § 702; as amended by Ord. 2004-01, 4/6/2004, Art. III]

All uses shall comply with the area and dimensional requirements listed in this section. Area or dimensional requirements stated in § 27-304, Use Regulations, that directly conflict with this section's requirements are superseded by these requirements listed below:

All uses except Use B4, B5 and Use B6.

Minimum lot area		10,000 square feet*
Maximum lot area		2 acres*
Maximum density		5 units per acre of base site acres
Minimum lot width		100 feet
Maximum impervious surface ratio
	Base site area	45%
	Lot	50%
Minimum yards
	Front	5 feet
	Sides	10 feet
	Rear	40 feet

*These requirements do not apply to Use B9, Life-Care or Full-Care Facility. The minimum lot area for Use B9 is three acres, and the maximum lot area is five acres.

Use B4.

(1)

Twin dwelling: a structure containing two dwelling units that share only one wall in common.

Minimum lot area per dwelling unit		3,500 square feet
Maximum density		5 units per acre of base site area
Minimum lot width per dwelling unit		35 feet
Maximum impervious surface ratio
	Base site area	45%
	Lot	50%
Minimum yards
	Front	5 feet
	Side	10 feet
	Rear	40 feet

(2)

Duplex dwelling: a structure containing two dwelling units with one dwelling unit located above the other.

Minimum lot area per building		5,000 square feet
Maximum density		5 units per acre of base site area
Minimum lot width per building		50 feet
Maximum impervious surface ratio
	Base site area	45%
	Lot	50%
Minimum yards
	Front	5 feet
	Side	10 feet
	Rear	40 feet

Uses B5 and B6.

Minimum site area		1 acre*
Maximum site area		9 acres*
Minimum lot area per unit		2,000 square feet
Minimum lot width per unit		20 feet
Maximum density		5 units per acre of base site area
Minimum open space		0%
Minimum street frontage for site		100 feet
Maximum impervious surface ratio
	Base site area	45%
	Lot	50%
Minimum setback of buildings
	Front	10 feet
	Side	25 feet
	Rear	25 feet
Parking Spaces
	Off-street	2 spaces per unit
	Overflow	0.5 space per unit

*In developments containing uses in addition to B5 or B6, only the land area devoted to Uses B5 and B6 is counted toward these site area requirements.

§ 27-704 Development Standards.

[Ord. 01-09-18-1, 9/18/2001; as added by Ord. 2004-01, 4/6/2004, Art. IV]

Where a use fronts an existing street, the front yard setback shall be established so as to maintain the prevailing setback of existing buildings upon the same street within 300 feet of this use. This provision supersedes the applicable front yard setback requirement in § 27-703.

Parking shall be located in the side or rear yards of buildings and not in the front yard or in front of the buildings. The use of alleys, where not already required by Township ordinances, is strongly encouraged.

Development with VR District shall be designed to protect and preserve the character of the village it encompasses by employing design, scale, materials and architecture that is consistent with the historic character of that village. Architecture of proposed buildings shall be reviewed and approved by the Township as part of the development review process. Architectural drawings shall be submitted to the Township for each proposed building, structure, addition and/or renovation.

Bufferyards are not required for adjacent roads in the VR District.

Developments containing or proposing five or more lots, units, uses or buildings shall comply with the following requirements. Such developments within the VR District may be comprised entirely of single-family detached dwellings. No other single-use developments are allowed within the district. Developments that encompass or create five or more lots, units, uses and/or buildings and propose uses other than single-family detached dwellings shall contain a mix of uses. In such a mixed-use development, a minimum of 80% of the dwellings must be single-family detached dwellings. Every 4,000 square feet of commercial/nonresidential space of part thereof shall be considered a separate building/unit for this calculation.

Where a lot has frontage on two more streets, the front facade of the primary building(s) on the lot shall face the street with the higher classification.

Garages and parking areas shall be located at least 10 feet behind the front building facade of the dwelling they serve, excluding the front porch, if any.

Use B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with Transferable Development Rights (TDRs).

Use B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with TDRs, is only permitted where transferable development rights are obtained to increase the density of the proposed development. Under this use, the density of the development may be increased to seven dwelling units per acre from five dwelling units per acre. For each dwelling unit added to the site above the five dwelling units per acre normally allowed, one transferable development right shall be acquired and transferred to the site. Every 4,000 square feet of commercial/nonresidential space or part thereof shall be considered a separate dwelling unit for this calculation.

Any use allowed within the VR District by right, conditional use or special exception may be included within a B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with TDRs, provided that such use conforms with the applicable area and dimensional criteria set forth in § 27-703 of this Part.

All requirements generally applicable to a specific use shall apply to that use when constructed as part of a B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with TDRs, except density requirements may be modified as set forth in Subsection 8A above.

A B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with TDRs, will be approved only where the benefits and purposes of the area to be preserved through the transfer of development rights meets Township goals of land preservation.

A B3, Land Preservation Subdivision with TDRs, is only permitted where TDRs are used to increase the density of a proposed development. Properties eligible for sending TDRs are defined in Part 28 and are limited to properties enrolled in the Township's Agricultural Security Area or properties nominated for preservation by the Township.