In expansion of the declaration of legislative intent contained in § 116-2 of the Zoning Ordinance, it is hereby declared to be the intent of this article with respect to industrial zones to establish reasonable standards for the height and size of buildings, the area and dimensions of yards and open spaces, and the provision of facilities and operation of industries to minimize traffic congestion, noise, glare, vibration, air pollution, water pollution and fire and safety hazard in LIM and LIM-X Industrial Districts. It is the further intent to provide for the rehabilitation of extractive uses when completed.
The Board of Supervisors may authorize as an amendment to the Zoning Map the designation of an area as an LIM Limited Industrial District or as an LIM-X Limited Industrial District for the location of an industrial development. In an LIM or LIM-X Limited Industrial District, the following regulations shall apply.
No Limited Industrial District shall be less than 10 acres.
A. 
No industrial lot size shall be less than four acres.
B. 
Lot area coverage and yard regulations.
(1) 
Lot coverage. Maximum building coverage shall be no more than 40% of the total lot area. Impervious ground cover shall be no greater than 60% of the total lot area. Each lot shall have a minimum green space area of 40% of the total lot area.
[Amended 9-9-2004 by Ord. No. 794]
(2) 
No building or structure may be erected closer than 200 feet to any residential district; open areas shall be landscaped in accordance with a landscape plan showing the location, species and size of trees and shrubs and other proposed landscaping, which plan shall include proposals for screening adjacent residential areas and shall be submitted to and approved by the Shade Tree Commission prior to issuance of a building permit.
(3) 
No side or rear yard shall be required for the side or rear of a building or structure abutting on an existing railroad right-of-way except as provided in Subsection B(2) above.
(4) 
Front yard. The required minimum depth of a front yard shall be 50 feet except as provided in Subsection B(2) above.
(5) 
Side yard. On each interior lot, there shall be two side yards each having a width of not less than 50 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) above.
(6) 
On each corner lot, there shall be two side yards, each having a width of not less than 50 feet, the side yards abutting the street having the width of not less than 50 feet and the side yard not abutting the street having a width of not less than 50 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) hereof.
(7) 
Rear yards. There shall be a rear yard on each lot, the depth of which shall not be less than 50 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) hereof.
C. 
Height regulations.
(1) 
The maximum height of buildings and other structures erected in this district measured at the building line of all required yards shall be 35 feet, but any portion of a building erected above such height limit shall be erected within a recession at the rate of one foot of recession for each one foot of additional height, provided that a height of 40 feet or more shall require a special exception, with no structure to be erected over 65 feet.
(2) 
The following appurtenances of buildings may be erected above the recession plane, provided that such structure shall not reduce the width or depth of a court or yard to less than the minimum required:
(a) 
Chimneys and stacks.
(b) 
Penthouses (not more than one story).
(c) 
Tanks and tank towers.
(d) 
Flagpoles and aerials.
D. 
Control of dust, dirt, smoke, vapors and gases. No emission shall be made which can cause any damage to health, to animals, or to vegetation or to other form of property or which can cause any detrimental soiling at any point outside the operations. Table I, Chapter V, Industrial Hygiene Standards, Maximum Allowable Concentrations, Air Pollution Abatement Manual, Manufacturing Chemists Association, 1951, Washington, D.C., shall be used as a guide in determining what is a toxic gas.
E. 
Control of radioactivity or electrical disturbances. There shall be no activities which emit dangerous or harmful radioactivity or electrical disturbances on or beyond the lot line.
F. 
Control of odors. There shall be no emission of odorous gases or other odorous matter in such quantities as to be offensive at or beyond the lot line or which exceeds the standards of Table III (odor threshold) Chapter V, Industrial Hygiene Standards, Maximum Allowable Concentrations, Air Pollution Abatement Manual, Manufacturing Chemists Association, 1951, Washington, D.C. Any process which may involve the creation or emission of any odors shall be provided with a secondary safeguard system, so that control will be maintained if the primary safeguard system should fail.
G. 
Control of glare and heat. Any operation producing intense glare or heat shall be performed within an enclosed building or behind a solid fence in such a manner as to be completely imperceptible from any point on or beyond the lot lines.
H. 
Control of noises. At no point on or beyond the boundary of a residential or commercial district shall the sound-pressure level of any operation exceed the maximum of that permitted.
Sound Levels
Maximum Permitted Sound Level
(decibels)
Octave Band
(cycles per second)
Along Residential District Boundaries
(Re: 0.0002 microbars)
At Any Other Point on Lot Boundary
(Re: 0.0002 microbars)
0 to 75
72
79
75 to 150
67
74
150 to 300
59
66
300 to 600
52
59
600 to 1,200
46
53
1,200 to 2,400
40
47
2,400 to 4,800
34
41
Above 4,800
32
39
I. 
Conformity to federal, state, regional and local standards. Any use permitted under the provisions of this chapter shall conform to appropriate federal, state, regional and local standards relative to water or air pollution, particle emission, noise, electrical disturbances, waste disposal, light, glare, heat, vibration, radioactivity and outdoor storage of materials.
Provision shall be made for safe and efficient ingress and egress to and from streets and highways serving the site. All means of access to any tract in a Limited Industrial District from any street shall be so located and designed as to minimize the effect on existing traffic and adjacent land uses. All access and internal circulation streets shall be constructed or treated so as to be substantially dust-free and mud-free. A traffic circulation and control plan shall be prepared and filed with the Township for approval. The Township may require the owners in a Limited Industrial District to provide traffic control by various means when vehicles are entering or crossing streets for the safe movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Signs in a Limited Industrial District shall be regulated in accordance with Article XXVIII of this chapter of the Whitemarsh Township Code, as amended.
Adequate off-street parking and loading shall be provided at all times, but requirements for same shall not be less than those specified in Article XXVI, relating to off-street parking and loading, as contained in the Whitemarsh Township Zoning Ordinance. No parking area shall be permitted within the minimum required front yard of any lot in a Limited Industrial District, nor closer than 100 feet to a residential district.
A. 
No flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases shall be stored in bulk above the ground; provided, however, that tanks or drums directly connecting with energy devices, heating devices, or appliances located on the same lot as the tanks or drums are excluded from this provision.
B. 
All outdoor storage facilities for fuel, raw materials and products stored outdoors, including those permitted in Subsection A hereinabove, shall be enclosed by a fence of a type, construction and size as shall be adequate to protect and conceal the facilities from any adjacent properties. Fencing shall not only encompass the question of safety but also of screening, and the screening may be in the nature of trees, shrubbery, etc.
C. 
No materials or wastes shall be deposited upon a lot in such a form or manner that may be transferred off the lot by natural causes or forces.
D. 
All materials or wastes which might cause fumes or which constitute a fire hazard or which may be edible or otherwise be attractive to rodents or insects shall be stored outdoors only in closed containers.
Every use requiring power shall be so operated, constructed and installed, etc., to be an integral part of the architectural features of the plant, or if visible from abutting residential properties shall be concealed by coniferous planting.
[Amended 9-25-2008 by Ord. No. 862]
A. 
When deemed appropriate by the Zoning Officer, plans for any use in a Limited Industrial District shall be submitted to the Planning Commission prior to the issuance of any zoning permit or certificate of occupancy as provided in Article XXX, and such plans shall include, in addition to other applicable requirements, the following:
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
(1) 
A plot plan of the lot showing the location of all present and proposed buildings, drives, parking lots, waste disposal facilities and other constructional features on the lot and all buildings, streets, alleys, highways, streams and other topographical features of the lot and within 200 feet of any lot line.
(2) 
Architectural plans for any proposed building and/or addition.
(3) 
A description of the industrial operations proposed in sufficient detail to indicate water pollution, fire hazard or safety hazards.
(4) 
Engineering and architectural plans for the handling and disposal of sewage and industrial waste.
(5) 
Engineering and architectural plans for the handling of any excess traffic congestion, noise, glare, air pollution, water pollution, fire hazard or safety hazard.
(6) 
Designation of the fuel proposed to be used and any necessary architectural and engineering plans for controlling smoke.
(7) 
The proposed number of shifts to be worked and the maximum number of employees on each shift.
(8) 
Landscaping plan for all front yards, side yards and rear yards, which shall show the location, species and size of trees and shrubs and area to be in lawn, and which plan shall be submitted to the Shade Tree Commission for approval prior to the issuance of any permit.
(9) 
Any other data that the Planning Commission may require.
B. 
The Planning Commission shall review all plans and the data submitted to it and shall submit such plans and data, together with any recommended conditions for the issuance of a permit, to the Zoning Officer.
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
C. 
As a guide for recommendations by the Planning Commission, the following provisions shall be considered:
(1) 
The plan is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan for the orderly development of the Township with the purpose of this chapter to promote the health, safety, morals and the general welfare of the Township.
(2) 
The appropriate use of the property adjacent to the area included in the plan will be safeguarded.
(3) 
The development will consist of harmonious groupings of buildings, service and parking area circulation and open spaces, planned as a single unit, in such manner as to constitute a safe, efficient and convenient industrial site.
(4) 
The uses to be included will be limited to those permitted by § 116-144.
(5) 
There is adequate provision made for safe and efficient pedestrian and vehicular traffic circulation within the boundaries of the site.
(6) 
Provision is made for safe and efficient ingress and egress to and from public streets and highways serving the site without undue congestion to or interference with normal traffic flow within the Township.
(7) 
Adequate off-street parking and loading space will be provided in accordance with Article XXVI and §§ 116-138 and 116-140 of this article as an integral part of the plan.
(8) 
All buildings within the development shall be served by a central sanitary sewage disposal system.
(9) 
If the development is to be carried out in progressive stages, each stage shall be so planned that the foregoing requirements and intent of this chapter shall be fully complied with by the development at the completion of any stage.
D. 
This process applies to applications that do not otherwise constitute a subdivision and/or land development as defined by Chapter 105 of the Township Code.
A. 
A building may be erected, altered or used and a lot or premises may be used for any of the following purposes and no other:
(1) 
Cinema, radio and television productions.
(2) 
Distribution plant for small parcels (capable of being hand delivered), cold storage plants and bottling plants.
(3) 
Electric-transforming substations, or other necessary public service uses.
(4) 
Laboratories, experimental manufacturing and research.
(5) 
Manufacture, compounding, assembly or treatment of articles or merchandise from the following previously prepared materials: bone, cellophane, canvas, cloth, cork, rope, cord and twine, plastics, natural and synthetic rubber, feathers, felt, fiber, fur, glass, hair, horn, leather, paper, plaster, metals, precious or semiprecious stones, shell, tobacco, textiles, wood (excluding planing mill), yarns.
(6) 
Manufacturing, compounding, processing, packaging or treatment of such products as candy, cosmetics, dairy products, drugs, perfume, pharmaceuticals and toiletries.
(7) 
Manufacture of ceramic products, using only previously pulverized clay.
(8) 
Manufacture and assembly of electrical or electronic devices; home, commercial and industrial appliances and instruments; including the manufacture of accessory parts or assemblies.
(9) 
Manufacture of musical instruments, toys and novelties.
(10) 
Manufacture of textiles or textile products, including spinning and weaving, but not including wool pulling or scouring, or jute or burlap processing or reconditioning.
(11) 
Manufacture of paper or cardboard boxes, containers and novelties from previously prepared paper or cardboard.
(12) 
Offices and office record storage.
(13) 
Printing, publishing, lithographing, binding and kindred arts.
(14) 
Parking or garage, for pleasure or commercial vehicles.
(15) 
Warehouse as an accessory use to a manufacturing process.
(16) 
Office buildings.
(17) 
Banking facilities.
(18) 
Medical facilities.
(19) 
Restaurants.
(20) 
Accessory uses on the same lot with and customarily incidental to any specific permitted use.
(21) 
Any industrial use not hereinafter specifically excluded, which meets the provisions of §§ 116-136 through 116-143, inclusive, of this article when authorized as a special exception.
(22) 
Any use permitted in an Institutional District.
[Added 10-21-1982 by Ord. No. 442]
(23) 
Private-use heliport, subject to the provisions of § 116-33.1, when authorized as a special exception.
[Added 11-17-1983 by Ord. No. 481]
(24) 
Apartment buildings and condominiums, age-restricted, when authorized by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use. The Board of Supervisors may grant approval of such use, provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
[Added 12-18-2003 by Ord. No. 784]
(a) 
Lot size shall not be less than 40 acres.
(b) 
The lot shall abut, on some portion of its perimeter, land zoned AD, Apartment - LR, Apartment - HR, or MHP.
(c) 
A minimum of 50% of the site shall be set aside as common open space which shall be owned and maintained by the property owner, if an apartment project, or the condominium association, if a condominium regime is established. For the purposes of open space calculation, open space shall not include public or private streets and driveways, public street rights-of-way, parking area, any areas within 25 feet of any principal building, or other public improvements, nor shall it include the fifty-foot buffer area along the perimeter of the site.
(d) 
Unit occupancy shall be no more than three persons on a permanent basis, at least one of whom shall be 55 years of age or older. Further, no person under the age of 19 shall occupy a dwelling for more than three months in a calendar year.
(e) 
Declaration of age restriction. At the time of conditional use approval, the developer shall record a declaration against the entire site area, in a form acceptable to the Township, binding the entire property and all owners and subsequent owners and occupants to adhere to the requirements set forth in Subsection A(24)(d) hereinabove with regard to unit occupancy.
(f) 
The application for development shall be accompanied by a plan or plans, which shall comply with all requirements of Chapter 105 (Subdivision and Land Development) and Chapter 116 (Zoning) of the Whitemarsh Township Code and any other applicable ordinances and/or chapter of the Whitemarsh Township Code. The plan shall clearly designate the proposed use for each area of the parcel(s).
(g) 
The parcel(s) of land shall be in single ownership and shall be developed in accordance with the plan.
(h) 
When apartment buildings and condominium, age-restricted, is permitted as a conditional use, the following regulations shall apply:
[1] 
Maximum density shall not exceed six dwelling units per acre within the site area.
[2] 
All interior roads shall be undedicated and have a minimum width of 30 feet.
[3] 
Building setbacks on interior undedicated roadways or parking areas shall be a minimum of 20 feet measured from the curbline.
[4] 
No building shall contain more than 30 dwelling units. The maximum length of any building shall not exceed 220 feet, and the maximum depth shall not exceed 140 feet.
[5] 
The exterior facade shall present sufficient variation in elevation by way of balconies, varied roofline, setbacks and indentation.
[6] 
Principal and accessory buildings shall not cover more than 15% of the site area.
[7] 
Impervious coverage shall not exceed 25% of the site area.
[8] 
No building or structure may be erected closer than 200 feet to any residential zoning district. Setbacks from nonresidential zoning districts shall be in accordance with the provisions of § 116-137.
[9] 
No two buildings shall be closer than 60 feet to one another at any point along the external walls.
[10] 
The maximum building height shall be 50 feet with not more than three stories/floors of residential occupancy.
[11] 
Provisions for walking trails, gardens and public gathering places shall be incorporated into the required open space.
[12] 
A minimum of two off-street parking spaces shall be provided for each dwelling unit and such additional guest parking as established by the conditional use hearing to be appropriate. If ground floor parking beneath residential units is in a building as provided, the provisions of § 116-256J shall govern the design of the underground parking spaces.
[13] 
A maximum of one sign identifying the name of the development owner and/or manager to not exceed 16 square feet on one face and 32 square feet total area may be permitted at each regular permanent entrance serving the development.
[14] 
One sign may be provided for each separate building identifying the building, provided that the area of any one side of such sign shall not exceed eight square feet.
[15] 
Accessory structures and uses shall be limited to those that are accessory to the apartment buildings and condominiums, age-restricted, development. No other "limited industrial" uses are permitted.
(25) 
Attached dwellings subject to the following site and design criteria:
[Added 10-14-2010 by Ord. No. 897]
(a) 
Site shall not be less than 40 acres.
(b) 
The site shall abut, on some portion of its perimeter, land zoned AD, Apartment – LR, Apartment – HR, or MHP.
(c) 
Maximum density shall not exceed 3.2 units per acre within the site area.
(d) 
The following provisions set forth at Article XIII, AD Attached Dwelling District, shall be applicable: § 116-81, 116-82, 116-85, 116-85.1.
(e) 
The maximum impervious coverage shall be 40% and the minimum open space requirement shall be 20% of the total tract area. The development criteria set forth at § 116-85.2A, B and D shall apply.
(f) 
The following additional design criteria shall apply:
[1] 
Height: 35 feet maximum.
[2] 
Width at building setback line: 20 feet minimum.
[3] 
Side yard, from adjacent private road or drive or right-of-way of dedicated road: 15 feet.
[4] 
Distance between buildings where orientation of two buildings is side to side shall be a minimum of 30 feet between two exterior walls.
[5] 
Distance between buildings where orientation other than side to side shall be a minimum of 40 feet between two exterior walls.
[6] 
The provisions of § 116-83A shall apply with the exception that a deck or patio affixed to an attached dwelling may encroach to a maximum of 10 feet into the fifty-foot buffer/setback.
(26) 
Mobile home park in accordance with the requirements of §§116-87 through 116-90.
[Added 10-25-2018 by Ord. No. 988]
B. 
Uses not permitted in industrial districts pursuant to the provisions of Article XXI, § 116-155, shall not be permitted in any limited industrial district.
C. 
Extraction of mineral deposits and removal of same shall not be permitted in an LIM District but shall be permitted in an LIM-X District in strict compliance with further requirements of §§ 116-155 and 116-157 of the Whitemarsh Township Code, but no stockpiles shall be permitted except stockpiles of topsoil or overburden not exceeding 50 feet in height.
D. 
Any permitted use shall be conducted wholly within a completely enclosed building or in a court, enclosed on all sides by buildings, except for on-site parking, loading and storage incidental thereto.