This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Limerick Township Zoning Ordinance of 1961, as amended by
Comprehensive Amendment enacted September 29, 1992," and shall become
effective upon enactment.
This chapter is enacted for the purpose of promoting
the health, safety, morals and the general welfare of the Township.
The chapter is in accordance with a Comprehensive Plan and is designed
to lessen congestion on the roads and highways, to secure safety from
fire, panic and other danger, to provide adequate light and air, to
prevent the overcrowding of land, to avoid undue congestion of population,
to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage,
schools, parks and other public requirements, to conserve the value
of buildings and to encourage the most appropriate use of land throughout
the Township.
[Amended 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 196]
This chapter is enacted in conformance with
the requirements of the Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247, as
amended. The goals and objectives of the Growth Management and
Comprehensive Plan of 1995, as may be amended, are hereby included
by reference. In addition, the following specific objectives are intended
to guide the Township's future development:
A. Residential development objectives.
(1) To encourage the maintenance of the rural character
of the Township while providing for a variety of housing types and
densities for persons of varying incomes, ages and lifestyles.
(2) To establish growth areas within the Township within
which higher density development will be concentrated and centralized
sewer and water service provided.
(3) To provide for low-density residential development
in areas outside the Township's growth area which neither have nor
are planned to have centralized sewer and water service.
(4) To provide for the timing of growth at a rate consistent
with the availability of community facilities and municipal services.
(5) To encourage the retention of agricultural uses and
the preservation and reuse of historic buildings and structures.
(6) To encourage development of the Township's villages,
Limerick and Linfield, as focal points for the neighborhoods around
them, and to encourage further village residential development at
a pedestrian scale.
(7) To encourage clustering and other flexible lotting
techniques to preserve open space and minimize disturbance of sensitive
natural features.
B. Office and industrial development objectives.
(1) To provide sufficient developable land for all types
of industrial development, in proximity to major regional roads and
highway interchanges.
(2) To concentrate office and limited industrial development
around highway interchanges, to facilitate circulation and minimize
interference with local traffic.
(3) To minimize conflict between industrial development
and surrounding land uses by means of performance standards governing
odors, emissions and other potential side effects of industrial development.
(4) To ensure the protection of sensitive natural resources
by limiting building coverage and impervious coverage within all nonresidential
development.
C. Commercial development objectives.
(1) To make provisions for adequate commercial facilities
to serve the present and projected population of Limerick Township,
rather than a regional market.
(2) To encourage small-scale, pedestrian-oriented commercial
development within the villages, especially where it leads to the
reuse of existing historic buildings.
(3) To ensure that highway-oriented commercial development
is designed to maximize traffic safety and convenience, and avoid
the cluttered appearance and traffic hazards of traditional "strip"
development.
(4) To encourage development of planned commercial centers,
combining retail and office uses with strong design and circulation
controls at the intersections of major roads.
D. Institutional objectives.
(1) To encourage development of institutional uses needed
and desired by the Township.
(2) To provide guidance and standards for locating and
developing institutional uses within residential and commercial areas,
in a manner compatible with surrounding land uses.
E. Environmental and open space objectives.
(1) To provide standards to control the density and intensity
of development in areas of sensitive natural resources, such as stream
valleys, steep slopes, woodlands and groundwater recharge areas.
(2) To encourage the setting aside of suitable open space
within residential developments, to meet the needs of present and
future residents for active and passive recreational facilities.
(3) To provide for a comprehensive trail system within
the Township, to provide for nonmotorized recreation and to link neighborhoods
with recreational and community facilities.
Where uncertainty exists with respect to the
boundaries of the district as indicated on the Zoning Map, the following
rules shall apply:
A. Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately
coinciding with the center lines of streets, highways, railroad lines
or streams, such center lines shall be construed to be such boundaries.
B. Where district boundaries are so indicated that they
approximately coincide with lot lines, such lot lines shall be construed
to be said boundaries; or where district boundaries are extensions
of lot lines or connect the intersection of lot lines, such lines
shall be said district boundaries.
C. Where a district boundary divides a lot, the locations
of such boundary shall be specified by figures on the Zoning Map,
or where no figures exist, by use of the scale appearing on the map.
D. Where figures are shown on the Zoning Map between
a street and a district boundary, they shall indicate that the boundary
runs parallel to the center line of the street or highway, at a distance
therefrom equal to the number of feet so indicated.
E. In case any further uncertainty exists, the Zoning
Hearing Board shall interpret the map as to the location of district
boundaries.
F. Where a district boundary line divides a lot held
in single or separate ownership at the effective date of this chapter,
the use regulations applicable to the less-restricted district shall
extend over the portion of the lot in the more-restricted district
a distance of not more than 50 feet beyond the district boundary line.
It is not intended by this chapter to repeal,
abrogate, annul, or interfere with any existing ordinances or enactment
or with any rule, regulation or permit adopted or issued thereunder,
except insofar as the same may be inconsistent or in conflict with
any of the provisions of this chapter, provided that where this chapter
imposes greater restrictions upon the use of buildings or land, or
upon the height and bulk of buildings, or prescribes larger open spaces
than are required by the provisions of such ordinance, enactment,
rule, regulation or permit, then the provisions of this chapter shall
control.
Should any section or provision of this chapter
be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
decision shall not affect the validity of the chapter as a whole or
of any other part thereof.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent
herewith are hereby repealed.