It is the specific intent of this article to:
A. 
Provide regulations for development of a wide range of commercial uses in the Township.
B. 
Provide regulations for continued commercial use opportunities in areas of existing commercial development.
C. 
Relate specific types of uses to appropriate minimum lot sizes to ensure adequate land area relative to intensity of use.
D. 
Minimize the potential for increased traffic congestion, overcrowding of land, noise, glare and pollution resulting from commercial development.
E. 
Ensure that the character of adjacent and nearby neighborhoods is protected by design controls.
F. 
Effectively regulate the establishment and maintenance of businesses requiring outdoor storage of vehicles, equipment or merchandise.
G. 
Ensure sufficient land area for on-site sewage disposal and groundwater recharge.
Each lot in the Highway Commercial District (both new and existing lots) shall be permitted a maximum of one permitted use plus one dwelling unit. Additional uses or units shall be permitted only as conditional uses. Permitted uses are grouped into three classes based upon the minimum lot size required for each classification.
A. 
Class One lots shall have a minimum lot area of 20,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 100 feet. In addition, public water and sewer service must be utilized. Where either of these utilities are unavailable, Class Two dimensional standards shall be used.
B. 
Class Two lots shall have a minimum lot area of 40,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 125 feet.
C. 
Class Three lots shall have a minimum lot area of 80,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 150 feet.
A. 
Class One permitted uses.
(1) 
Retail establishments for sale of dry goods, variety merchandise, clothing, food, beverages, flowers, plants, drugs, hardware, books, furnishings and sale and repair of jewelry, optical goods, cameras and home appliances and similar uses.
(2) 
Personal service shops, including but not limited to such uses as hairdresser, tailor, shoe repair, dry-cleaning dropoff and copy center.
(3) 
Sale of small automotive accessories (no automobile service work permitted).
(4) 
Job printing.
(5) 
Business or professional offices, including medical, dental and other health care offices, veterinary offices and similar uses.
(6) 
(Reserved)
(7) 
Bank or financial institutions meeting the following standards:
(a) 
If a drive-in window is provided, a minimum of eight cars stacking area shall be provided, including the space at the window.
(b) 
These spaces shall not interfere with other parking spaces or internal circulation on the site.
(8) 
Restaurants or taverns.
[Amended 4-6-1999 by Ord. No. 202]
(9) 
Studios for art, dance, music, exercise or photography.
(10) 
Municipal and government uses.
(11) 
Day-care centers, in accordance with the standards in § 184-73 herein.
(12) 
Bed-and-breakfast establishments, in accordance with the standards of § 184-74 herein.
(13) 
Undertaking or funeral establishments.
(14) 
Clubs, lodges, fraternal organizations.
(15) 
Educational, religious or philanthropic uses.
(16) 
Residential uses: Each lot is permitted one residential use, which may be either:
(a) 
An apartment unit in a new or existing building.
(b) 
A single-family detached unit, developed according to the dimensional standards of the R-3 District and the following additional standards:
[1] 
If a single-family detached dwelling and a nonresidential use share a single lot, the minimum required lot area shall be provided for each use.
[2] 
If public water service and/or public sewer service are not available, the dimensional standards will vary as specified in § 184-110 herein.
(17) 
Any combination of Class One uses as a conditional use, meeting the standards of § 184-145 herein.
(18) 
Any use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
(19) 
Public utility facility.
[Added 12-21-1999 by Ord. No. 206]
B. 
Class Two permitted uses.
(1) 
Any Class One use.
(2) 
Drive-through restaurants meeting the standards of § 184-76.3B.
[Amended 4-6-1999 by Ord. No. 202]
(3) 
Conversion of a single-family residence into a tourist home, rooming or boarding house.
(4) 
Ancillary indoor storage building (for other permitted use).
(5) 
Motor vehicle garage or repair shop, not to include body repair work or painting.
(6) 
Tires, batteries and automotive accessories store, with service bay.
(7) 
Gasoline service station (not to include car wash) that meets the following standards:
(a) 
A minimum lot width of at least 200 feet along each street the lot abuts.
(b) 
All activities except those performed at fuel or air pumps shall be performed within an enclosed building.
(c) 
Fuel pumps shall be set back at least 25 feet from any ultimate right-of-way.
(d) 
All auto parts and other storage shall be stored within an enclosed building.
(e) 
No paint spraying or body work shall be permitted.
(8) 
Any use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
(9) 
Any combination of Class One or Class Two permitted uses as a conditional use, meeting the standards of § 184-145 herein.
C. 
Class Three permitted uses.
(1) 
Any Class One or Class Two use.
(2) 
Outdoor amusement or recreation facility.
(3) 
Hotel or motel.
(4) 
Indoor theater.
(5) 
Indoor amusement facility, such as a bowling alley, billiard room or indoor court for racquet sports.
(6) 
Radio and/or television studios.
(7) 
Garden supply center; nursery.
(8) 
Building materials supply center; lumberyard.[1]
[Added 5-22-2008 by Ord. No. 298]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection C(8), Building materials supply center; lumberyard, was repealed 6-28-2007 by Ord. No. 278 and 10-25-2007 by Ord. No. 284.
(9) 
Motor vehicle or recreational vehicle sales or rental and related service, excluding motor vehicle body repair and motor vehicle painting.
[Amended 9-21-2010 by Ord. No. 318]
(10) 
Rental of goods, merchandise or equipment.
(11) 
Car wash.
(12) 
Gasoline service station containing car wash and meeting all the requirements of Subsection B(7) herein.
(13) 
Any use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
(14) 
Any combination of Class One, Class Two, or Class Three permitted uses as a conditional use, meeting the standards of § 184-145 herein.
The following standards apply to lots that are nonconforming in terms of area or width. Lots without public utilities are discussed under § 184-138, Use regulations.
A. 
A nonconforming lot may be used for a maximum of one permitted use and one dwelling unit.
B. 
Any new construction on nonconforming lots shall comply with the required setbacks and building and impervious coverage standards of § 184-142 herein.
[Amended 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 196; 7-13-2006 by Ord. No. 261; 6-28-2007 by Ord. No. 277]
The following dimensional standards shall apply to all permitted uses in the Highway Commercial District:
Type
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Minimum lot size (square feet)
20,000
40,000
80,000
Lot width (feet)
100
125
150
Minimum front yard (feet)
No parking in front yard
30
30
30
Parking in front yard
75
100
100
Minimum side yard (feet)
15 each
15/40 aggregate
20/60 aggregate
Minimum rear yard (feet)
30*
40*
55*
Maximum building height (feet)
35
35
35
Maximum building coverage1 (percentage of lot area)
15
15
15
Maximum impervious coverage1 (percentage of lot area)
70
70
70
Minimum building setback from residential district boundary (feet)
50
50
75
Minimum parking, driveway, loading area setback (feet)
From street line
20
20
20
From property boundary (residential district)
25
30
50
From property boundary (nonresidential district)
10
15
20
From building
5
5
5
Minimum distance between buildings (feet)
25
25
30
Maximum single building size (square feet)
65,000
65,000
65,000
NOTES:
1 Building and impervious coverage may be increased by use of bonus provisions listed in § 184-143 herein.
* An additional 20 feet of rear yard setback shall be required where the rear yard is adjacent to an existing or approved residential lot.
A. 
The minimum building coverage may be increased to 20%, if either of the following bonus requirements is met:
[Amended 7-13-2006 by Ord. No. 261; 12-20-2011 by Ord. No. 327]
(1) 
No parking is located between the front of the building and the street line. Parking shall be located to the rear of the principal building or within the side yard behind the front yard setback line.
(2) 
A shared driveway access is used for two or more lots. This bonus shall only apply if no additional driveways are used to access an arterial street. Additional driveways may access a side street or service road.
B. 
Any lot which has the required lot area for a given size class, but which lacks sufficient street frontage for that class,* may qualify for any use in that class as a conditional use if one or more of the following conditions are met:
(1) 
Access is shared with one or more adjacent properties, resulting in no more than one driveway entrance per 200 feet for all properties served. Shared access may be provided along property lines to serve future land uses.
(2) 
Access is taken from an intersecting side street, rather than from the primary arterial street.
[*NOTE: For example, if a lot is 40,000 square feet in size (Class Two) but has a lot width of only 100 feet (Class One), the lot may be used for a Class Two use if these conditions are met.]
(3) 
Access is taken from an intersecting side street, rather than from the primary arterial street.
(4) 
The applicant is willing to make additional road improvements (such as partial construction of a frontage or marginal access road) which will improve vehicular and pedestrian circulation, as determined by the Board of Supervisors, with the advice of the Planning Commission and Township Engineer.
The following general design requirements shall apply to all commercial properties:
A. 
Buffer area. For all nonresidential uses, a property line buffer shall be required, as specified in § 155-27.1C of Chapter 155, Subdivision and Land Development. The width of the required buffer shall be equal to the width of the parking, driveway and loading area setback from property boundaries specified in § 184-142 herein.
B. 
Outdoor display.
(1) 
The following types of commercial uses, and no others, may display vehicles, equipment, goods or merchandise within front yards on a permanent basis:
(a) 
Garden supply center, nursery and florist.
(b) 
Produce shop.
(c) 
Auto dealership.
(d) 
Building materials and home equipment supplies.
(2) 
The following regulations shall apply to all outdoor display:
(a) 
Any outdoor display area shall be considered to be sales floor area for the purpose of computing parking requirements.
(b) 
Any display area shall be separated from the ultimate right-of-way of any street by a twenty-foot landscaped buffer planted in grass, ground cover or low shrubs.
C. 
Outdoor storage. Any commercial use which includes outdoor storage of merchandise shall conform to the following standards:
(1) 
No vehicles, equipment or merchandise shall be parked, stored or displayed within the ultimate right-of-way of any street or any other areas intended for pedestrian use.
(2) 
Outdoor storage areas may not encroach upon required front or side yards. Outdoor storage in rear yards shall be setback at least 30 feet from property boundaries.
(3) 
All storage areas shall be screened from public view by an opaque fence or wall at least six feet and no more than 12 feet high. Stored materials may not exceed the height of the fence.
(4) 
A site element screen, according to the requirements of Chapter 155, Subdivision and Land Development, for Screen Type No. 1, shall be provided between the storage area and property boundaries and street rights-of-way.
D. 
Refuse areas. All refuse collection facilities shall meet the requirements of § 184-66 herein and the following requirements:
(1) 
The area shall be located at least 10 feet from any adjacent nonresidential property boundary and at least 50 feet from any adjacent residential property line or ultimate right-of-way.
(2) 
The refuse area shall not interfere with circulation within the parking lot.
E. 
Traffic impact analysis. A traffic impact analysis, in compliance with the standards of § 184-84 herein, shall be required for any proposed development that is expected to generate more than 100 peak hour trips, according to the latest trip generation standards of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
More than one nonresidential use and one dwelling unit per lot may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use, provided that the proposed land development meets the following standards:
A. 
The site shall be designed as a compact, unified development, with common parking and signage and internalized circulation.
B. 
The development shall be designed to minimize the appearance of the parking lot. Parking shall not be located between the primary building(s) and the street, but may be located to the side and rear of the building(s) behind the front yard setback line. Applicants are encouraged to pursue various alternative designs for building placement, such as placing large buildings perpendicular to the street, around a central courtyard or in an "L" shape.
C. 
The number of driveway access points shall be minimized, with no more than one permitted per street frontage unless the applicant can demonstrate that traffic safety will be enhanced by additional access points.
D. 
Parking for each use shall meet the requirements of Article XI, Off-Street Parking Standards. The shared parking concept may be utilized where appropriate.
E. 
Signs shall meet the requirements of Article XII for multi-tenant lots.
F. 
Existing residential buildings constructed before 1940 should be retained where possible, and front and side facades and front porches, if any, should be preserved. Any building additions or additional buildings on the same lot should be compatible with the existing building in size, scale, materials and general appearance. For a detailed discussion of these elements, see § 184-135, Design guidelines, for the Village Commercial District.