[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925[1]]
In expansion of the declaration of legislative intent contained in § 116-2, 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 provisions of facilities and operation of industries to minimize traffic congestion, noise, glare, vibration, air pollution, water pollution and fire and safety hazard in the HVY Industrial District. It is the further intent to provide for the rehabilitation of extractive uses when completed.
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also amended the title of this article from “HVY and HVY-X Industrial Districts” to “HVY District.”
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
The Board of Supervisors may authorize as an amendment to the Zoning Map the designation of an area as an HVY Industrial District for the location of an industrial development. In an HVY Industrial District, the following regulations shall apply.
A. 
Lot area. No industrial lot size shall be less than two 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. There shall be a front yard on each lot located across from an industrial or commercial zone of not less than 20 feet in depth, except as provided in § 116-153.
(5) 
Side yards. On each interior lot there shall be two side yards having an aggregate width of not less than 40 feet, neither side yard having a width of less than 15 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) above and in § 116-153.
(6) 
On each corner lot, there shall be two side yards having an aggregate width of not less than 40 feet, the side yards abutting the street having the width of not less than 25 feet and the side yard not abutting the street having a width of not less than 15 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) hereof and in § 116-153.
(7) 
Rear yards. There shall be a rear yard on each lot, the depth of which shall not be less than 20 feet, except as provided in Subsection B(2) and (3) hereof and in § 116-153.
C. 
Maximum height of buildings. No building shall exceed one foot in height for each one foot of setback from the property line or ultimate right-of-way line, whichever is closer to the building, and no building shall exceed 120 feet in height exclusive of equipment, devices and appurtenances such as stacks, tanks, silos, elevators or air-pollution control equipment.
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 disturbance 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 on 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 line.
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.
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
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 an HVY Industrial District 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 an HVY 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 an industrial district shall be regulated in accordance with Article XXVIII 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 Code (Chapter 116). No parking area shall be permitted within the required minimum front yard of any lot in an industrial district, nor closer than 100 feet to a residential district.
[Amended 9-25-2008 by Ord. No. 862]
A. 
When deemed appropriate by the Zoning Officer, plans for any use in an 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 7-28-2011 by Ord. No. 907; 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 the effects of those operations in producing traffic congestion, noise, glare, air pollution, water pollution, fire hazards 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 a harmonious grouping 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 in § 116-155 of this article.
(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 §§ 116-149 and 116-151 and 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.
Where any business or industry existing in an industrial district is made nonconforming by adoption of this chapter, by reason of existing lot coverage or by reason of any one or more of the following: existing front, rear, side yard or setbacks, then the provisions of Article XXVII regulating nonconforming uses shall not apply, and in that event, such business or industry may expand in any one or more directions to the ultimate right-of-way line of any street and to the property line of property held in single and separate ownership and zoned "industrial" at the time of enactment of this chapter, except where such street or property line is a residential district boundary line; expansion or change of a nonconforming use within the setback area shall be permitted only under the provisions of a special exception.
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
Nothing herein shall be interpreted or construed to restrict any industry or business existing within an HVY Industrial District at the adoption of this chapter from continuing or expanding, subject to the provisions of this chapter, within such district or within such new industrial districts as may be created from time to time.
A. 
A building may be erected, altered or used and a lot or premises may be used for any lawful purpose; however, the following shall not be permitted except as an accessory use customarily incidental to a permitted use:
Abattoirs
Acetylene gas manufacture
Ammonia, bleaching powder and chlorine manufacture
Arsenal
Automobile dismantling or junk establishment, unless carried on in an enclosed building
Bakery, wholesale
Beryllium processing
Blast furnace
Brewing
Celluloid manufacture
Coke oven
Commercial advertising on billboards, except advertising of a business or industry conducted on the premises
Creosote treatment or manufacture
Distillation of bones, coal, wood, petroleum, refuse or grain
Dwellings, except such as are for the residence of a caretaker, watchman or custodian on the same lot with the principal use to which it is accessory, and located at least 10 feet from any such building
Dye-stuff manufacture
Fat rendering
Fireworks or explosive manufacture
Fish smoking and curing
Glue, size or gelatin manufacture
Incineration, reduction, storage or dumping of slaughterhouse refuse, rancid fats, garbage, dead animals or offal
Lampblack manufacture
Oil cloth or linoleum manufacture
Oiled goods manufacture
Oil, turpentine or varnish manufacture
Organic fertilizer manufacture
Petroleum or asphalt refining
Plating works
Printing ink manufacture
Pyroxylin manufacture
Retail commercial
Soda and soda compound manufacture
Steel mill
Stockyard and piggery
Sulfuric, nitric or hydrochloric acid manufacture
Tallow, grease or lard manufacture or refining, tanning, curing or storage of leather, rawhide or skins
Tar distillation or manufacture
Vinegar manufacture
Wool pulling or scouring
Yeast plant
Any other use which is or may be, in comparable degree to any of the foregoing, noxious or offensive by reason of odor, dust, fumes, smoke, gas, vibration, illumination or noise, or which is or may be dangerous to the public health, welfare, safety or which constitutes or may constitute a public nuisance or hazard, whether by fire, explosion or otherwise
B. 
Extraction of mineral deposits, stockpiling, the processing of the removed materials and on-site operations appurtenant to mineral extraction shall not be permitted uses in an HVY Industrial District.
[Amended 3-28-2013 by Ord. No. 925]
C. 
Private-use heliport, subject to the provisions of § 116-33.1, shall be permitted, when authorized as a special exception.
[Added 11-17-1983 by Ord. No. 481]
D. 
Sales of consumer fireworks shall be permitted by conditional use, subject to compliance with all conditions set forth in § 116-104A(8).
[Added 10-25-2018 by Ord. No. 989]