[Ord. 761, 8/26/1985, § 200; as amended by Ord.
1005, 5/23/2011; and by Ord. 1015, 1/28/2013]
In interpreting this chapter, the present tense includes the
future; the singular number includes the plural and the plural the
singular; the word "building" includes the word "structure" and shall
be construed as if followed by the words "designed or intended to
be occupied"; the word "person" includes natural persons, partnership,
firm, association, and corporation.
[Ord. 761, 8/26/1985, § 201; as amended by Ord.
798, 6/27/1988; by Ord. 859, 9/30/1991; by Ord. 958, --/--/2005; by
Ord. 967, 5/22/2006, § 3; by Ord. 971, 12/18/2006, § 1;
and by Ord. 1005, 5/23/2011]
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall
for the purpose of this chapter have the meaning herein indicated:
When used in this chapter the following shall mean:
ACCESSORY BUILDING/STRUCTUREA building or structure subordinate to principal building on same lot therewith and used for the purpose customarily incidental to those of the principal building. Such building or structure includes, but is not limited to, garages, sheds, domestic pet shelters, swimming pools (in-ground or on-ground), barns, or greenhouses.
ACCESSORY USEAny use of a principal or accessory building or structure customarily incidental to those of the principal building, and as permitted under § 27-408 of this chapter.
A planned age restricted residential community with usable
open space to include: limited on-site services, medical offices,
cafe, outdoor seating, pocket parks, and at least one common recreational
hall. These offices, cafes, walkways, and parks should be open to
the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods to promote a "sense-of-belonging."
Each residential unit will only be permanently occupied by persons
age 55 or above with the following exceptions:
A spouse under 55 years if married to a resident over that age.
Up to two children, or one child and one child-in-law, over
18 years of age, residing with at least one parent over 55 years of
age whose presence is required to care for that parent.
A spouse under 55 years of age who is the surviving member of
a previously qualified household.
A live-in nurse or similar caretaker whose presence is required
to care for an occupant over 55 years of age.
Any adult child with special needs that must reside with at
least one qualified parent.
The cultivating of the soil and the raising and harvesting
of the products of the soil including, but not limited to, nursery,
horticulture, and forestry.
Any change in existing facilities, structural parts, or mechanical
equipment which does not increase the cubic content of a building.
Satisfactions derived from ownership or occupancy, or both,
of a property because of qualities of excellence which characterize
the property and its surroundings.
A dwelling unit in a building containing three or more units
and having direct access to the outside or access through a common
entrance hall.
A building containing three or more apartments.
Passed upon as satisfactory by the authority designated by
law to give approval to the matter in question.
The merging of adjacent properties into a single ownership
or use, and the merged property considered as a single unit.
A story partly underground but having less than half its
clear height above grade on at least one side.
Any enlargement of a building, whether by extending on any
side or by increasing in height, any change in the use or classification
of a main building, or by moving of a building from one location,
to another.
A building, structure, or outdoor facility used for the boarding
of horses or other domestic animals.
The duly elected Borough Council of the Borough of Hatboro,
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
A roofed and walled structure built for permanent use affixed
to a permanent foundation.
The aggregate of the maximum horizontal cross-section areas
of all buildings on a lot, taken at their greatest outside dimensions
on the ground floor, including all attached structures, except steps,
terraces, cornices, eaves, and gutters, but including roofed porches,
roofed breeze ways, and roofed carports.
The line parallel to the street line at a distance therefrom
equal to the depth of the front yard required for the district in
which the lot is located, provided that, in the case of a lot where
the side lines are not parallel, the building line shall be at that
point where minimum lot width first coincides with the required lot
width but in no case closer to the street line than the required front
yard.
An internally illuminated portion of a permanent monument
sign in which plasma technology, LED technology, or other electronic
technology is utilized to convey a message or announcement regarding
the use(s) on the property where the sign is located.
[Added by Ord. 1033, 5/23/2016]
Facilities located in residences or other structures in the
Borough and used for the following purposes:
CHILD DAY CARE CENTERA facility licensed by the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, used for the care of seven or more children at any one time.
FAMILY DAY CARE HOMEA facility located in a residence and certified for operation by the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, used for the care of four to six children, not relatives of the care giver.
GROUP DAY CARE HOMEA facility located in a residence and certified for operation by the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and used for the care of seven to 12 children, not relatives of the care giver.
Provision made for traffic within or through buildings, outside
areas, and communities.
A principal building used for the meeting place of an organized
group of citizens such as a veterans' organization, fraternal
organization, business organization, service organization, and the
like, in which the activities are limited to members of the organization
and their guests and which may also provide living quarters for caretakers
and transient quarters for members.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land and water within a development site designed and intended
for the use of enjoyment of residents of the development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public
facilities. Common open space shall be substantially free of structures
but may contain such improvements as are appropriate for recreation
of residents.
The act of bringing to a condition of physical completeness
and readiness for use and occupancy.
The Comprehensive Plan for the Borough of Hatboro and amendments
thereto, including maps, charts, and/or descriptive matter, officially
adopted by the Borough Planning Commission and Borough Council.
A use of a building, structure, or lot permitted by special
exception by the Borough Council.
The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension,
alteration, or relocation of a building or structure, including the
placement of mobile homes.
The remodeling or alteration of a building or structure to
include more apartments or dwelling units than were originally intended.
Conversions include the alteration of a nonresidential building or
structure into a dwelling unit for at least one family; the alteration
of a single-family dwelling to include two or more dwelling units;
and the alteration of a multi-family building or structure to include
more units than originally intended.
A lot at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting
streets. Yards abutting a street shall be treated as front yards with
respect to all regulations contained in this chapter.
[Added by Ord. 1033, 5/23/2016]
An open, unoccupied space bounded on two or more sides by
the exterior walls of a building or by exterior walls and lot lines.
INNER COURTA court enclosed on all sides by exterior walls of a building or by exterior walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable.
OUTER COURTA court enclosed on not more than three sides by the exterior walls of a building or by exterior walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable, with one side or end open to a street, driveway, alley, or yard.
A street with access closed at one end and with a vehicular
turnabout at the closed end.
The elevation of the top of a curb at a given point with
a reference to a designated datum.
That line defining the maximum width between right-of-way
lines that may be paved as the cartway or street. When street or roads
are curbed, the curb is built at the curb line.
A conveyance of realty whereby title is transferred from
one person to another.
The maximum number of dwelling units permitted within that
area stipulated as the minimum area allowed in a particular residential
district.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
of land or a land development.
Any man-made changes to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, the
placement of mobile homes, streets and other paving, utilities, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, excavation, or drilling operations.
The provisions for development of a planned residential development,
including a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location,
and bulk of buildings and other structures; intensity of use or density
of development, streets, ways, and parking facilities, common open
and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of the development plan,"
when used in this chapter, shall mean the written and graphic materials
referred to in this definition.
A container designed to receive and transport and dump waste
which exceeds 96 gallons in size. A dumpster includes waste disposal
bags that are designed to hold in excess of 96 gallons of waste and
metal bins that shall not exceed 30 cubic yards in size.
[Added by Ord. 1019, 1/27/2014]
A house, an apartment, or other group of rooms, or a single
room is a dwelling when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as
separate living quarters.
When used in this chapter:
SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED DWELLINGA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family and having no party wall in common with an adjoining dwelling or building.
TOWNHOUSEA building designed for and occupied exclusively as the residence for one family with party walls, except in the case of end units, in common on two sides.
TWINA building designed for and occupied by two families, the building having one party wall serving both dwelling units.
DUPLEXA building designed for and occupied by two families, one living above the other, each family occupying the entire area of the structure at one of two floor levels and having no party wall in common with an adjoining building.
MULTI-FAMILY DWELLINGA detached building occupied by three or more families each living independently and completely separated from the other.
GARDEN APARTMENTA multi-family dwelling as defined above, which is not more than two stories in height.
MID-RISE APARTMENTA multi-family dwelling as defined above, which is not more than seven and not less than three stories in height.
HI-RISE APARTMENTA multifamily dwelling as defined above, that is more than seven stories in height.
[Added by Ord. 1015, 1/28/2013]
A vested or acquired right to use land other than as a tenant,
for a specific purpose, such right being held by someone other than
the owner who holds title to the land.
A person who has reached the age of 62 years.
An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation
or utilization, through which electricity in bulk is passed for the
purpose of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet the
needs of the general public.
Any number of individuals living together on a nontransient
basis as a single housekeeping unit and doing their cooking on the
premises when the individuals are related by blood, marriage or adoption,
including any number of foster children; no more than four unrelated
individuals living together on a nontransient basis as a single housekeeping
unit and doing their cooking on the premises. Family shall also be
deemed to include any number of handicapped individuals, as defined
by 42 U.S.C. § 3602(h) of the Federal Fair Housing Act,
and protected from discrimination under the provisions of 42 U.S.C.
§ 3604 of the Federal Fair Housing Act, occupying a dwelling
on a nontransient basis as a single housekeeping unit and doing their
cooking on the premises. The term "handicap" shall not include current,
illegal use of a controlled substance or current abuse of alcohol.
The term "family" shall not include occupants of a club, fraternity
house, lodge, residential club or rooming house.
[Amended by Ord. 1039, 10/10/2016]
The extent of a building or of land along a public street
or highway.
Lot frontage along the street with the greatest traffic volume.
[Added by Ord. 1015, 1/28/2013]
PRIVATEAn accessory building or a part of a principal building used for the storage of motor vehicles owned and used by the owner or tenant of the premises, and for the storage of not more than two motor vehicles owned and used by persons other than the owner or tenant of the premises. Not more than one commercial motor vehicle or truck may be stored in a private garage.
PUBLICA building, other than a private or storage garage, one or more stories in height, used solely for the commercial storage, service, or repair of motor vehicles.
STORAGEA building, not a private or public garage, one story in height, used solely for the storage of, motor vehicles (other than trucks), but not for the service or repair thereof nor for the sale of fuel, accessories, or supplies.
Any area of land, including structures thereon, or any building
or part thereof, that is used for the sale of gasoline or other motor
vehicle fuel or accessories, and which may or may not include facilities
for lubricating, washing or other wise servicing motor vehicles but
which shall not include painting or body and fender repairs.
A residential facility used as living quarters by any number of unrelated persons requiring special care and their attendant adult supervisors. A group home is specifically designed to create a residential setting for the following types of individuals: foster children, juvenile or adult delinquents, the mentally and physically handicapped who do not qualify as a family as defined herein, and other similar uses as a special exception; the individuals may be either transient or permanent residents. A group home shall be considered an institutional use and shall meet the standards set forth in § 27-2312.
[Amended by Ord. 1039, 10/10/2016]
A place of business having members or customers who pay a
fee to use its health and fitness facilities and equipment.
[Added by Ord. 1015, 1/28/2013]
A building or structure's vertical measurement from
the mean level of the ground surround the building or structure to
a point midway between the highest and lowest points of the roof,
provided the chimneys, tanks and towers, elevator, penthouses and
similar projections shall not be included in calculating the height
of a building or structure.
[Amended by Ord. 1039, 10/10/2016]
A structure that is listed or is eligible for listing in
the National Register of Historic Places, or listed or eligible for
listing in any Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, or Borough of Hatboro
historic inventory or registry.
A business or commercial activity administered or conducted
as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential
dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic,
whether vehicular or pedestrian, or pickup, delivery or removal functions
to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with
residential use. No-impact home-based businesses must satisfy the
following requirements:
[Added by Ord. 1015, 1/28/2013]
The business activity must be compatible with the residential
use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
The business shall employ no employees other than family members
residing in the dwelling.
There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling
or inventory of a substantial nature.
There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including,
but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
The business activity may not use any equipment or process which
creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical or electronic
interference, including interference with radio or television reception,
which is detectable in the district.
The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage
discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with
residential use in the district.
The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling
and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.
The business may not involve any illegal activity.
Any lawful occupation customarily conducted in a dwelling
by the occupants as an incidental use only. Home occupation does not
include the conducting of a clinic, hospital, barber shop, beauty
parlor, tearoom, tourist home, animal hospital, or any similar issue.
A building used for the purpose of furnishing for compensation
more or less temporary lodging to the public, with or without meals.
Those surfaces which do not absorb rain. All buildings, parking
areas, driveways, roads, sidewalks, and any areas in concrete, asphalt,
and packed stone shall be considered impervious surfaces within this
definition. In addition, other areas determined by the Borough Engineer
to be impervious within the meaning of the definition will also be
classed as impervious surfaces.
A structure or public utility or any other installation or
physical change made in a property with a view to increasing the value,
utility, or beauty of the property.
A building, structure, or outdoor facility used for the shelter,
breeding, or boarding of three or more dogs.
The legal owner or owners of land including the holder of
an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option or contract
is subject to any condition), a lessee having the remaining term of
not less than 40 years.
A building, structure, or outdoor facility used for the shelter
of domestic farm animals.
A space, accessible from a street or right-of-way, in a building
or on a lot, for the temporary use of vehicles while loading or unloading.
A measured parcel of land having fixed boundaries and designated
on a plot or survey.
FRONT OF LOTThe edge of a lot which borders on a street or highway. In the case of a corner lot, the front may be designated by Borough Council or by the owner.
REAR OF LOTThe edge of a lot opposite the front. In the case of a triangular lot the rear shall be designated by Borough Council.
The total horizontal area of the lot lying within the lot
lines, provided that no area of land lying within any street line
shall be deemed a portion of any lot area. The area of any lot abutting
a street shall be measured to the street line only.
A property boundary line of any lot held in single and separate
ownership, except that, in the case of any lot abutting a street,
the lot line shall be deemed to be the same as the street line, and
shall not be the center line within the street lines even though such
may be the property boundary line.
The width of a lot measured at the setback line.
A transportable single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two units designed to be joined
into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated
towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except
for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed
so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home, which is leased by the
park owner to the occupants of the mobile home erected on the lot.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use,
consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
A building or a group of two or more detached or semi-detached
buildings containing rooms or apartments having separate entrances
provided directly or closely in connection with automobile parking
or storage space serving such rooms or apartments, which building
or group of buildings is designated, intended, or used principally
for the providing of sleeping accommodations for travelers and is
suitable for occupancy at all seasons.
A building, or structure, a use of a building, structure
or lot, or a lot, which by reason of design, size, or use, does not
conform with the requirements of the district in which it is located.
Any area used for the storage of motor vehicles.
A reasonably level space designed for and used for the parking
of one motor vehicle, and being at least nine feet wide and 18 feet
long with a minimum of 162 square feet in area. Area shall be measured
exclusive of passageways, driveways, or other means of access or circulation.
An all weather parking space is a parking space surfaced to whatever
extent necessary to permit reasonable use under all weather conditions.
The residing in a dwelling by a person for a period exceeding
31 consecutive days or 61 cumulative days within the same given three-hundred-sixty-five-day
period with the following exceptions:
Any active duty members of a US military or service organization
(i.e., Americorps, Peace Corps) during periods of authorized leave.
A residential or active adult community development in which
separate lots will not be created for each principal building.
The duly appointed Hatboro Borough Planning Commission as
provided by Ord. 278 enacted and ordained by the Borough Council of
the Borough of Hatboro.
Portable containers which are used for the purpose of storing,
loading, or unloading furniture, clothing, or other personal or household
belongings as part of the process of renovation or moving, the relocation
of belongings to an off-site commercial storage location, or on-site
storage in the aftermath of the property being affected by a natural
disaster. Unlike storage containers typically, portable storage units
must be no larger than eight feet by eight feet by 16 feet.
[Added by Ord. 1019, 1/27/2014; amended by Ord. 1027, 10/26/2015]
A building in which is conducted the principal use of the
lot on which it is located.
An office or studio for a physician, dentist, teacher, artist,
architect, landscape architect, musician lawyer, engineer, or other
such professional, but not including real estate office, beauty shop,
barbershop, and provided that no goods, equipment, merchandise, or
material associated with such practice may be displayed, stored, or
sold on the lot area on which the structure is located.
A building or structure and its equipment, used for the transmission
or distribution of gas, electricity, sewer, water, telephone, and
television signals. Such facilities located in residential districts
shall not include any business facilities, repair shops, storage of
materials or trucks, or housing for repair crews.
The dividing line between a lot and the ultimate right-of-way
or, if greater, the outside boundary of a legally opened or officially
plotted public street, road, or highway; the dividing line between
a lot and a privately owned street, road or right-of-way over which
the owners or tenants of two or more lots each held in single and
separate ownership have the right-of-way.
[Amended by Ord. 1033, 5/23/2016]
A building used for the purpose of a residence for one family in which the owner rents rooms within the building to not more than six nontransient persons, with or without the provision of table board for such persons. A rooming house (boardinghouse) shall be considered an institutional use and shall meet the standards set forth in § 27-2312.
[Amended by Ord. 1039, 10/10/2016]
An outdoor lot used for the display of, merchandise such
as building materials, monuments, nursery, greenhouse and garden supplies,
new and used motor vehicles, and farm and lawn care machinery, displayed
out of doors and offered for sale but not for the storage of used
materials, junk, or badly damaged merchandise whether or not offered
for sale.
A public sanitary sewer system, or a comparable common or
package sanitary sewer facility approved by the appropriate governmental
agencies.
Non-self-propelled, fully enclosed trailers that are designed
or used to store or transport goods, materials, and equipment and
are placed on property zoned for residential or nonresidential purposes.
Such cargo trailers shall include, but are not limited to, reusable
steel boxes, freight containers, bulk shipping containers, or other
standardized reusable vessels that were designed for parking, shipping,
movement, transportation, or storage of freight, articles of goods
or other commodities, and generally capable of being mounted or moved
on a rail car or truck trailer or loaded onto a ship.
[Added by Ord. 1027, 10/26/2015]
A paved area lying between the curb line and the street or
property line. Usually a fixed and proportional width of the total
distance between the opposite street lines, the sidewalk is public
property but is maintained by the adjoining lot owner at that owner's
responsibility and cost.
The ownership of a lot by one or more persons, and partnerships,
or corporations, which ownership is separate and distinct from that
of, any adjoining lot.
Approval granted to an applicant to use land in a district
for a purpose other than that generally permitted outright in that
district. A special exception is granted by the Zoning Hearing Board
in accordance with standards contained in this chapter, provided that
the specific application of the use would not be injurious to the
public interest.
That part of a building between any floor and the floor or
roof next above.
A street line is that line defining the legally open, or
to be opened, width of a public street, road, or highway, beyond which
line is privately held property. The street line is sometimes called
the property line since the area beyond that line is normally privately
held property.
A public or privately owned right-of-way serving as a means
of vehicular and pedestrian travel.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
A room or rooms used by an artist, musician, or person of
similar calling in which such person practices his calling or teaches
the same to not more than two persons at one time.
A dwelling in which sleeping accommodations for less than
10 persons are provided or offered primarily for travelers and for
compensation.
A vehicle without motive power which may be towed on public
streets, roads without a special hauling permit, which is designed
for human occupancy under transient circumstances such as camping,
travel, or other recreation, and has a body width not exceeding eight
feet and a body length not exceeding 32 feet.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved with water and sanitary facilities for the placement
of trailers for periods of short duration usually not exceeding five
days.
A facility used for the keeping and private or public display
of wild or domestic animals.
