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Township of Worcester, PA
Montgomery County
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[Added 5-20-1998 by Ord. No. 163[1]]
In expansion of the legislative intent and community development objectives contained in Article I, §§ 150-2 and 150-3, of this chapter and in support of the goals and recommendations of the Worcester Township Comprehensive Plan, it is the intent of this article to:
A. 
Permit a range of manufacturing and other industrial uses.
B. 
Provide local job opportunities for Township residents.
C. 
Limit the potential adverse effect of industrial development on abutting properties, the Township's character and the Township's roads by controlling the location and nature of industrial development.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the repeal of former § 150-127, Applicability.
A building or combination of buildings may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other:
A. 
Manufacturing.
B. 
Storage or warehousing.
C. 
Industrial use or commercial kennel.
[Amended 4-17-1996 by Ord. No. 146]
D. 
Administrative offices and research facilities accessory to a permitted use.
E. 
Any use similar to those enumerated above, when authorized as a special exception by the Zoning Hearing Board.
F. 
Any other legitimate use not otherwise permitted expressly or by implication elsewhere in this Zoning Code when authorized as a conditional use by the Board of Supervisors and after the imposition of conditions designed to eliminate (to the extent reasonably possible) adverse affects upon neighboring properties and the general public health, safety and welfare.
[Added 2-16-2005 by Ord. No. 204[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also renumbered former Subsections F and G as G and H, respectively.
G. 
The following uses shall not be permitted:
(1) 
Abattoir.
(2) 
Acetylene gas manufacture and/or storage.
(3) 
Acid manufacture (hydrochloric, nitric, picric, sulphuric, sulphanous, carbolic).
(4) 
Airport.
(5) 
Ammonia, bleaching powder or chlorine manufacture.
(6) 
Ammunition manufacture and/or storage.
(7) 
Arsenal.
(8) 
Asphalt manufacturing or refining.
(9) 
Blast furnace.
(10) 
Bone distillation.
(11) 
Celluloid manufacture.
(12) 
Cement, lime, gypsum or plaster of paris manufacture.
(13) 
Coal distillation.
(14) 
Coke ovens.
(15) 
Creosote treatment or manufacture.
(16) 
Dead animal and offal reduction.
(17) 
Distillation of bones, coal, petroleum, refuse grain or wood (except in the manufacture of gas).
(18) 
Distillation of tar.
(19) 
Explosives, fireworks and gun powder manufacture or storage.
(20) 
Fat rendering.
(21) 
Fertilizer manufacture.
(22) 
Forge plant.
(23) 
Hog farm.
(24) 
Incineration, reduction, storage or dumping of slaughterhouse refuse, rancid fats, garbage, dead animal or offal.
(25) 
Oilcloth or linoleum manufacture.
(26) 
Ore reduction.
(27) 
Petroleum or kerosene refining, distillation or derivation of by-products and/or storage.
(28) 
Potash works.
(29) 
Power forge (riveting, hammering, punching, chipping, drawing, rolling or tumbling of iron, steel, brass or copper, except as a necessary incident of manufacture of which these processes form a minor part and which are carried on without objectionable noise outside the plant).
(30) 
Rolling mill.
(31) 
Steel furnace, blooming mill or rolling mill.
(32) 
Stock yards.
(33) 
Tar distillation or manufacture.
H. 
Municipal use as defined in Article III.
[Added 9-15-1993 by Ord. No. 133]
A. 
Minimum lot area. Ten acres shall be the minimum lot area that shall be provided for every building or use, except a commercial kennel which shall be permitted on a minimum lot area of five acres.
[Amended 4-17-1996 by Ord. No. 146]
B. 
Minimum lot width. A lot width of not less than 200 feet shall be provided for every building or use.
A. 
Front yard. One hundred feet shall be the minimum front yard on each lot.
B. 
Side yards. There shall be two side yards on each lot, neither of which shall be less than 50 feet.
C. 
Rear yards. There shall be a rear yard on each lot which shall not be less than 50 feet.
D. 
District yard. In the case of any front, side or rear yard adjacent to any single-family residential district, such yard shall not be less than 200 feet.
A. 
Building coverage.
(1) 
The total building coverage shall not exceed 20%.
(2) 
The floor area ratio of all buildings shall not exceed 30%.
B. 
Impervious coverage. The total impervious coverage shall not exceed 50%.
Building height. The maximum height for buildings or other structures erected or enlarged in this district shall be 35 feet; provided that for the purposes of this Article XIX, chimneys, spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, solar energy apparatus and similar projections shall be included in the height, and provided further that such projections shall be permitted to extend not more than 10 feet above the allowable building height only when authorized as a special exception by the Zoning Hearing Board.
A. 
Parking and loading. All-weather parking and loading facilities shall be provided in accordance with Article XXII.
B. 
Setbacks.
(1) 
No parking, loading or driveway area shall be closer than 25 feet to any side or rear property line, and no closer than 50 feet to any front property line, except as required for normal ingress and egress.
(2) 
In the case of any front, side or rear line being adjacent to a single-family residential district, no parking, loading or driveway area shall be located closer than 150 feet to that property line, except as required for normal ingress and egress.
A. 
Signs. Signs shall be permitted in accordance with Article XXI.
B. 
Minimum district size. The minimum area of any LI Limited Industrial District shall be 40 acres.
C. 
Landscaping.
(1) 
All development in the LI Limited Industrial District shall be designed and maintained so as to provide a complete and effective, year-round landscape buffer between itself and any development of any other adjacent district.
(2) 
There shall be a suitable and effective landscape barrier to separate the property from any adjacent public street. Such buffer strip shall be at least 30 feet wide and shall channel motor vehicle ingress and egress from the property. There shall be a maximum of one access road per 200 feet of frontage and in no case more than two access roads per frontage.
D. 
Utilities. All development in the LI Limited Industrial District shall be served by public sewer and public water. All utilities serving a permitted use in this district shall be underground.
E. 
Outdoor land use. The outdoor storage of goods and materials and trash within the building envelope shall be designed and maintained to be completely screened from view by a landscape buffer and such uses shall conform to all building setbacks.
F. 
Hazardous use. No building may be erected, altered or maintained or lot used for any purpose, trade or business that is noxious, offensive or potentially injurious to health by reason of odor, noise, dust, smoke, heat, gas, radiation, vibration or hazardous substance.
G. 
Building spacing. The distance at the closet point between any buildings shall be not less than 50 feet.
H. 
Site lighting. Exterior lighting provided in conjunction with any building or use shall be placed not higher than 12 feet above grade and shall be screened so as not to permit the source of illumination to be seen from off the premises. Only color corrected types of illumination shall be used. The hours of illumination of such lights (except security lighting) shall be limited to hours of business operation and shall otherwise be extinguished between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., prevailing time.
I. 
Application procedure. The procedure for making application under the LI Limited Industrial District shall be in accordance with § 150-202, Article XXIV, General Regulations, and § 150-214 of Article XXV, Administration.
J. 
Detention basins in yard areas. Detention basins shall be allowed in yard areas only in accordance with the applicable regulations under Article XXIV, General Regulations.