The following words are defined in order to facilitate the interpretation
of this chapter for the administrative purposes and in the carrying
out of duties by appropriate officers and by the Zoning Hearing Board.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall,
for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings herein indicated.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense. The singular
includes the plural. The word "person" includes an individual, a corporation,
a partnership, an incorporated association, or any other similar entity.
The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel." The term "shall"
is always mandatory. The word "used" or "occupied" as applied to any
land or building shall be construed to include the words, "intended,
arranged or designed to be used or occupied."
The following is a list of definitions:
- ABANDONED VEHICLES
- One or more motor vehicles which had been at one time licensed
for use on public highways, but which are not presently so licensed
and which do not presently have a current inspection sticker and registration
as required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including
trailers, semitrailers, and parts thereof.
- ABUT
- To physically touch or border upon; or to share a common
property line.
- ACCESS DRIVE
- A paved surface, other than a street, which provides vehicular
access from a street or private road to a lot.
- ACCESSORY BUILDING
- A building subordinate to and detached from the main building
on the same lot and used for purposes customarily incidental to the
main building.
- ACCESSORY USE
- A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use of the main building and located on the same lot with such principal
use or main building.
- ADULT BOOKSTORE
- An establishment having as a substantial or significant proportion
of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, and other periodicals which
are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting,
describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified
anatomical areas (as defined in this section), or an establishment
with a segment or section devoted to the sale or display of such material.
- AGRICULTURE
- The cultivating of the soil, producing crops and raising
livestock and, in varying degrees, the processing and marketing of
products raised on the premises.
- AIR RIGHTS
- The right to use space above ground level.
- ALLEY
- A public thoroughfare other than a minor street which affords
only a secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended
for general traffic circulation.
- ALTERATIONS
- As applied to a building or structure, any change or rearrangement
in the structural parts or in the existing facilities, or an enlargement,
whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the
moving from one location or position to another.
- ALTERATIONS, STRUCTURAL
- Any change in the supporting members of a building such as
bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
- ALTITUDE
- The angular distance from the horizon to the sun.
- AMENDMENT
- A change in use in any district which includes revisions
to the zoning text and/or the Official Zoning Map; and the authority
for any amendment lies solely with the Borough Council.
- AMUSEMENT ARCADE
- An establishment which has as its principal business offering
to patrons mechanical or electrical amusement devices or games such
as pinball machines, ping pong, darts, shooting galleries or similar
devices and games.
- ANIMAL HOSPITAL
- A building used for the treatment, housing or boarding of
small domestic animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds or
fowl, by a veterinarian.
- APARTMENT
- A dwelling unit within a multiple dwelling. This classification
includes apartments in apartment houses, bachelor apartments, studio
apartments, and kitchenette apartments. Conversion apartments are
not included in this classification.
- APARTMENT (CONVERSION)
- An existing dwelling unit that is or was converted to a dwelling
for more than one family, without substantially altering the exterior
of the building.
- APARTMENT (GARDEN)
- A two-story multifamily dwelling, containing one-story dwelling
units, under one ownership.
- APARTMENT HOUSE
- A building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied
by three or more families living independently of each other.
- APPLICANT
- A landowner or developer who has filed an application for
development, including his heirs, successors and assigns.
- APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
- Every application, whether preliminary or final, required
to be filed and approved prior to the start of construction or development,
including, but not limited to, an application for a building permit
for the approval of a subdivision plan or for approval of a development
plan.
- AREA (BUILDING)
- The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main
grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings,
exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces, and steps.
- AREA (LOT)
- The area contained within the property lines of a lot as
shown on a subdivision plan, excluding space within any street, but
including the area of any easement.
- AUTO BODY SHOP
- Any structure or any building or part thereof that is used
for the repair or painting of bodies, chassis, wheels, fenders, bumpers
and/or accessories of automobiles and other vehicles of conveyance.
- AUTOMOBILE AND/OR MOBILE HOME SALES GARAGE
- A building on a lot designed and used primarily for the display
or sale of new and used cars and mobile homes where mechanical repairs
and body work may be conducted as an accessory use incidental to the
primary use.
- AUTOMOBILE AND/OR MOBILE HOME SALES LOT
- An open lot used for the outdoor display or sales of new
or used automobiles or mobile homes and where minor and incidental
repair work (other than body and fender) may be done.
- AUTOMOBILE GARAGE
- A building on a lot designed and/or used primarily for mechanical
and/or body repairs, storage, rental, servicing, or supplying of gasoline
and oil to automobiles, trucks, or similar motor vehicles.
- AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION
- Any area of land, including any structures thereon, or any
building or part thereof, that is used for the retail sale of gasoline,
oil, other fuel, or accessories for motor vehicles and which may include
facilities used for polishing, greasing, washing, dry cleaning, or
otherwise cleaning or servicing such motor vehicles.
- AUTOMOBILE WASHING (CAR WASH)
- A building on a lot, designed and used primarily for the
washing and polishing of automobiles and which may provide accessory
services set forth herein for automobile service stations.
- AUTOMOBILE WRECKING
- The dismantling or wrecking of used automobiles or trailers,
or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled,
obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts.
- AZIMUTH
- The angular distance between true south and the point on
the horizon directly below the sun (also referred to as "bearing").
- BAFFLE
- A freestanding randomly located structure, fence-like in
nature and materials of construction, except that it is not normally
attached to any building, does not particularly follow lot lines,
nor enclose a particular area, but rather screens one segment of one
property from another for the primary purpose of assuring privacy;
a baffle or screen of this nature may also be utilized for the support
of various types of living plant materials, such as vines, climbing
roses or espaliered trees and shrubs.
- BASEMENT
- A story partly underground but having at least 1/2 of its
height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement
shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement
if the vertical distance between the ceiling and the average level
of the adjoining ground is more than five feet or is used for business
or dwelling purposes, other than a game or recreation room.
- BLOCK
- An area bounded by streets.
- BOARDINGHOUSE
- A building arranged or used for the lodging, with or without
meals, for compensation, by more than five and not more than 20 individuals.
- BUFFER YARD
- See "yard, buffer."
- BUILDING
- Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls
and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals,
or chattels, and including covered porches or bay windows and chimneys.
- BUILDING, DETACHED
- A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
- BUILDING, FRONT LINE OF
- The line of that face of the building nearest the front line
of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and covered porches, whether
enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.
- BUILDING, HEIGHT OF
- The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deckline of mansard
roofs and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip
and gambrel roofs.
- BUILDING LINE
- A line parallel to the front, side, or rear lot line so as
to provide the required yard.
- BUILDING, MAIN
- A building in which is conducted the principal use of the
lot on which it is located.
- BUILDING, NONCONFORMING
- A building, the size, dimensions or location of which was
lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment to a zoning ordinance,
but which fails, by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment,
to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.
- BUILDING PERMIT
- Written permission issued by the proper municipal authority
for the construction, repair, alteration or addition to a structure.
- BUILDING, PRINCIPAL
- A building in which is conducted the principal use of the
lot on which it is located.
- BUILDING SETBACK LINE
- The line within a property defining the required minimum
distance permitted between any enclosed structure and the adjacent
right-of-way.
- CAMPING GROUND
- A parcel of land used by campers for seasonal, recreational,
or other similar temporary living purposes, in buildings of a moveable,
temporary, or seasonal nature, such as cabins, tents, or shelters.
- CARPORT
- A covered space, open on three sides, for the storage of
one or more vehicles and accessory to a main or accessory building.
- CARTWAY
- That portion of a street or alley which is improved, designed,
or intended for vehicular use.
- CELLAR
- A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
clear height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar
shall not be considered in determining the required number of stories.
- CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE
- An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections. It
is defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from
the intersection of the street(s) center line(s).
- CONDITIONAL USES
- Conditional uses shall be allowed or denied by the governing
body after recommendations by the Planning Commission pursuant to
express standards and criteria set forth in this chapter.
- CONDOMINIUM
- Real estate, portions of which are designated for separate
ownership and the remainder of which is designated for common ownership
solely the owners of those portions. Real estate is not a condominium
unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in
the unit owners.
- COURT
- An unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same
lot with a building, which is bounded on two or more sides by the
walls of such building.
- COURT, INNER
- A court enclosed on all sides by exterior walls of a building
or by exterior walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable, and
the court does not extend to a street, alley, yard or other outer
court.
- COURT, OUTER
- A court enclosed on not more than three sides by exterior
walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable, with one side or
end open to a street, driveway, alley or yard.
- COVERAGE
- That portion or percentage of the lot area covered by the
building area.
- CURB LEVEL
- The officially established grade of the curb in front of
the midpoint of the lot.
- CUT
- An excavation; the difference between a point on the original
ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade;
also, the material removed in excavation.
- DAY-CARE FACILITY
- A facility that offers day care and supervision to children
and operates in accordance with Article XII, § 225-71A(25).
[Added 5-17-2005 by Ord. No. 360]
- DECIDUOUS
- Plants that drop their leaves before becoming dormant in
winter.
- DENSITY
- The number of families, individuals, dwelling units, or housing
structures per unit of land.
- DEVELOPMENT
- Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, filling,
grading, excavation, mining, dredging, or drilling operations and
the subdivision of land.
- DISTRICT, ZONE
- A district includes all buildings, lots, and surface areas
within certain designated boundaries as indicated on the Zoning Map.
- DOG KENNEL
- A structure where three or more dogs that are more than six
months old are kept for commercial purposes.
- DRIVE-IN USE
- An establishment which, by design, physical facilities, service,
or by packaging procedures, encourages or permits customers to receive
services, obtain goods, or be entertained while remaining in their
motor vehicles.
- DRUGSTORE
- A store where the primary business is the filling of medical
prescriptions and the sale of drugs, medical devices and supplies
and nonprescription medicines, but where nonmedical products are sold
as well.
- DUMP
- A lot or land or part thereof used primarily for disposal
by abandonment, dumping, burial, or other means and for whatever purpose
of garbage, sewage, trash, refuse, junk, discarded machinery, vehicles
or part thereof, or waste material of any kind.
- DWELLING
- A building or structure designed for living quarters for
one or more families, including mobile homes which are supported either
by a foundation or are otherwise permanently attached to the land,
but not including hotels, rooming houses or other accommodations used
for transient occupancy.
- DWELLING GROUP
- A group of two or more single-family, two-family, or multifamily
dwellings occupying a lot in one ownership.
- DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
- A building used by three or more families living independently
of each other and doing their own cooking, including apartment houses.
- DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED (ROW)
- A building used for one family, having one side yard and
one party wall in common with another building.
- DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED
- A building used by one family, having only one dwelling unit
and having two side yards.
- DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY SEMIDETACHED
- A building used by two families, with one dwelling unit arranged
over the other, having one side yard and one party wall in common
with another building.
- DWELLING UNIT
- A single unit providing complete independent living facilities
for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
- EASEMENT
- A grant of one or more of the property rights by the property
owner to and/or for the use by the public, a corporation, or another
person or entity.
- ELECTRIC SUBSTATION
- An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation
or utilization, through which electric energy in bulk is passed for
the purpose of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet
the needs of the general public.
- ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES
- Electric public utilities transmission distribution facilities,
including substations.
- ENGINEER
- A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the Engineer for the Borough.
- ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS
- The engineering specifications of the municipality regulating
the installation of any required improvement or for any facility installed
by any owner, subject to public use.
- EROSION
- The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
- EXCAVATION
- Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other
similar material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed and shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
- FACADE
- The exterior wall of a building exposed to public view or
that wall viewed by persons not within the building.
- FAMILY
- One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption,
or a group of not more than five persons, excluding servants, who
need not be related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together
as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit.
- FENCE
- Any freestanding and uninhabitable structure constructed
of wood, glass, metal, plastic materials, wire, wire mesh, or masonry,
singly or in combination, erected for the purpose of screening or
dividing one property from another to assure privacy or to protect
the property so screened or divided or to define and mark the property
line when such a structure is erected on any front, side or rear lot
line; for the purpose of this chapter, a freestanding masonry wall,
when so located, is considered to be a fence; also, for the purpose
of this chapter, when the term "lot line" is used in relation to fences,
it shall be synonymous with rear lot lines, side yard lot lines and
front yard lot lines. Fences are not synonymous with garden structures,
which are defined elsewhere herein.
- FILL
- Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other
material is placed, pushed, dumped, transported, or moved to a new
location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the
stripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom;
the difference in elevation between a point on the original ground
and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade; the
material used to make a fill.
- FLOOD
- A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
- FLOOD, BASE (ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD)
- A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year,
although the flood may occur in any year).
- FLOOD FRINGE
- That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway.
- A.
A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream,
or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation;
- B.
An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff
of surface waters from any source.
- FLOODPROOFING
- Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes, or adjustments to proposed or existing structures which reduce
or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property,
water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
- FLOODWAY
- The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and
discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this
chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of
the one-hundred-year magnitude without increasing the water surface
elevation more than one foot at any point.
- FLOOR AREA, HABITABLE
- The aggregate of the horizontal areas of all rooms used for
habitation, such as a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom,
but not including hallways, stairways, cellars, attics, service rooms
or utility rooms, bathrooms, closets, nor unheated areas such as enclosed
porches, nor rooms without at least one window or skylight opening
onto an outside yard or court. At least 1/2 of the floor area of every
habitable room shall have a ceiling height of not less than seven
feet, and the floor area of that part of any room where the ceiling
height is less than five feet shall not be considered as part of the
habitable floor area.
- FLOOR AREA OF A BUILDING
- The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors
of a building and its accessory buildings on the same lot, excluding
cellar and basement floor areas not used as primary living and sleeping
quarters, but including the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces.
All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.
- FLOOR AREA, RETAIL, NET
- All that space relegated to use by the customer and the retail
employee to consummate retail sales and to include display area used
to indicate the variety of goods available for the customer but not
to include office space, storage space, and other general administrative
areas.
- GARAGE, PRIVATE
- An enclosed or covered space for the storage of one or more
vehicles, provided that no business, occupation, or service is conducted
for profit therein nor space therein for more than one car is leased
to a nonresident of the premises.
- GARAGE, PUBLIC
- Any garage other than a private garage and which is used
for storage, repair, rental, servicing, or supplying of gasoline or
oil to motor vehicles.
- GARDENING
- The cultivation of herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables,
excluding the keeping of livestock.
- GARDEN STRUCTURES
- Any accessory structure which may be occupied for other than
sleeping or general housekeeping purposes, or which serves as a shelter
primarily for human beings, except a permitted garage, porch or carport,
which is located in any side or rear yard not closer than three feet
to any side or rear lot line; included in this category of structures
are arbors, aviaries, pergolas, trellises, barbecue shelters, lathe
house, private greenhouse and freestanding screens or baffles and
similar structures as however called. No such structure may be located
in any required front yard between the building setback line and the
street line. Such structures may be solidly roofed and walled or open
to the sky and on the sides, but if solidly roofed or solidly walled
on more than two sides, they must be located within the building line
of the lot and may not invade any required yard. Unscreened, unroofed,
unwalled, or unfenced patios, birdbaths, ornamental pools and swimming
pools are not considered as garden structures. Permitted structures
may be attached to or be detached from a dwelling.
- GOVERNING BODY
- The Borough Council of Duncannon, Perry County, Pennsylvania.
- GRADE, ESTABLISHED
- The elevation of the center line of the streets as officially
established by the municipal authorities.
- GRADE, FINISHED
- The completed surfaces of lawns, walks, and roads brought
to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.
- GROUND FLOOR
- The floor of a building nearest the mean grade of the front
of the building.
- HABITABLE SPACE
- Space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking.
Bathrooms, toilet compartments, closets, halls, storage or utility
space, and similar areas are not considered habitable space.
- HEIGHT OF BUILDING
- The vertical distance measured from the mean level of the
ground surrounding the building to a point midway between the highest
and lowest point of the roof, but not including chimneys, spires,
towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, and similar projections.
- HOME OCCUPATION
- Any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling
or in a building accessory thereto and carried on by the inhabitants
residing therein, providing that the use is clearly incidental and
secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes, the exterior
appearance of the structure or premises is constructed and maintained
as a residential dwelling, and no goods are publicly displayed on
the premises other than signs as provided herein.
- HOSPITAL
- An institution providing primary health services and medical
or surgical care to persons, primarily inpatients, suffering from
illness, disease, injury, deformity and other abnormal physical or
mental conditions, and including, as an integral part of the institution,
related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient facilities, or
training facilities.
- HOTEL
- A facility offering transient lodging accommodations to the
general public and providing additional services such as restaurants,
meeting rooms, and recreation facilities.
- INCINERATOR
- An approved device in which combustible material, other than
garbage, is burned to ashes.
- INDUSTRY
- The manufacturing, compounding, processing, assembly, or
treatment of materials, articles, or merchandise.
- JUNKYARD
- A lot, land, or structure, or part thereof, used primarily
for the collecting, storage, and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal,
or discarded material, or for the collection, dismantling, storage,
and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition, and
for the sale of parts thereof.
- A.
The improvement of one or more contiguous lots, tracts, or parcels
of land for any purpose involving:
- (1)
A group of two or more buildings; or
- (2)
The division or allocation of land or space between or among
two or more existing or prospective occupants by means of, or for
the purpose of, streets, common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building
groups, or other features;
- B.
- LANDOWNER
- The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any conditions). A lessee having
a remaining term of not less than 40 years, or other person having
a proprietary interest in land, shall be deemed to be a landowner
for the purpose of this chapter.
- LAUNDERETTE
- A business premises equipped with individual clothes-washing
and/or -drying machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive
of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment
house or an apartment hotel.
- A.
— That form of lighting wherein the light passes
from the source through a translucent cover or shade.
- B.
— That form of lighting wherein the source
is visible and the light is distributed directly from it to the object
to be illuminated.
- C.
— That form of lighting wherein the light source
is entirely hidden, the light being projected to a suitable reflector
from which it is reflected to the object to be illuminated.
- LOADING BERTH/SPACE
- An off-street area on the same lot with a building or contiguous
to a group of buildings, for the temporary parking of a commercial
vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials, and which
abuts on a street or other appropriate means of access.
- LODGING HOUSE (ROOMING HOUSE)
- Any building or portion thereof containing not more than
five guest rooms which are used by not more than five guests where
rent is paid in money, goods, labor, or otherwise.
- LOT
- Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory
buildings, or by a dwelling group and its accessory buildings, together
with such open space as is required under the provisions of this chapter,
having not less than the minimum area and width required by this chapter
for a lot in the district in which such land is situated and having
its principal frontage on a street.
- LOT, CORNER
- A lot at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting
streets or at the point of abrupt change of a single street, where
the interior angle is less than 135° and the radius of the street
line is less than 100 feet.
- LOT, DEPTH OF
- The average horizontal distance between the front and rear
lot lines.
- LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE
- An interior lot having frontage on two streets.
- LOT, INTERIOR
- A lot other than a corner lot.
- LOT LINES
- The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.
- LOT, MINIMUM WIDTH
- The minimum lot width at the building setback line.
- LOT, NONCONFORMING
- A lot of record prior to the enactment of this chapter, which,
by reason of area or dimension, does not conform to the requirements
of the district in which it is located.
- LOT OF RECORD
- A lot which has been recorded in the office of the Recorder
of Deeds of Perry County, Pennsylvania.
- LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGE
- A lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial
street and a minor street, and with vehicular access solely from the
latter.
- LOT WIDTH
- The horizontal distance between the sidelines of a lot, measured
at right angles to its depth along a straight line parallel to the
front lot line at the minimum required building setback line.
- MAJOR THOROUGHFARE
- A street or highway designated as an existing or planned
major thoroughfare.
- MANUFACTURING
- The processing and/or converting of raw unfinished or finished
materials or products, or any or either of them, into an article or
substance of different character or for use for a different purpose;
industries furnishing labor in the case of manufacturing or the refinishing
of manufactured articles.
- MASSAGE
- Any method of pressure on or friction against or stroking,
kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating, or stimulating of
the external parts of the human body with the hands or with the aid
of any mechanical electrical apparatus or appliances, with or without
such supplementary aids as rubbing alcohol, liniments, antiseptics,
oils, powder, creams, lotions, ointment, or other such similar preparations
commonly used in the practice of massage, under such circumstances
that it is reasonably expected that the person to whom the treatment
is provided or some third person on his or her behalf will pay money
or give any other consideration or any gratuity therefor.
- MASSAGE PARLOR
- Any establishment having a source of income or compensation
derived from the practice of massage and which has a fixed place of
business where any person, firm, association, or corporation engages
in or carries on the practice of massage.
- MIXED OCCUPANCY
- Occupancy of a building or land for more than one use.
- MOBILE HOME
- A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, office, or place of assembly, contained in one unit, which
arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor
and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed
so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
- MOBILE HOME LOT
- A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home, which is leased by the
park owner to the occupants of the mobile home erected on the lot.
- MOBILE HOME PARK
- A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use,
consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
- MOTEL
- A building or group of buildings, whether detached or in
connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units, designed
with separate entrances and designed for year-round occupancy, primarily
for transient automobile travelers and providing for accessory off-street
parking facilities. The term "motel" includes buildings designated
as tourist courts, tourist cabins, motor lodges, and similar terms.
- NURSERY, HORTICULTURE
- Any lot or parcel of land used to cultivate, propagate, and
grow trees, shrubs, vines, and other plants, including the buildings,
structures, and equipment customarily incidental and accessory to
the primary use.
- NURSING OR CONVALESCENT HOME
- A building with sleeping rooms where persons are housed or
lodged and furnished with meals, nursing care for hire and which is
approved for nonprofit agencies licensed for profit-making operations
by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare for such use.
- OBSCENE MATERIALS
- Any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story
paper, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, figure, image,
motion picture, sound recording, article, instrument, or any other
written or printed matter which:
- A.
Depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner sexual conduct,
sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse or (in the case of articles
or instruments) is designed or intended for use in achieving artificial
sexual stimulation;
- B.
Taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and
- C.
Taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
- OBSTRUCTION
- Any wall, dam, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, projections,
excavation, channel, rectification, culvert, building, fence, stockpile,
refuse, fill, structure, or matter in, along, across, or projecting
into any channel, watercourse, or flood-prone area, which may impede,
retard, or change the direction of the flow of water either in itself
or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water or is placed
where the flow of the water might carry the same downstream to the
damage of life and property.
- OCCUPANCY PERMIT
- A required permit allowing occupancy of a building or structure
after it has been determined that the building meets all the requirements
of applicable ordinances.
- OFFICE BUILDING
- A building designed or used primarily for office purposes,
no part of which is used for manufacturing.
- OFFICE, PROFESSIONAL
- A room or rooms used for the carrying on of a profession,
to include physicians, dentists, architects, engineers, accountants,
attorneys, real estate brokers and insurance agents entitled to practice
under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
- OPEN SPACE
- The unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with
the building, not including parking lots.
- OPEN SPACE, COMMON
- Land within or related to a development, not individually
owned or dedicated for public use, which is designed and intended
for the common use or enjoyment of the residents of the development
and may include such complementary structures and improvements as
are necessary and appropriate.
- OUTDOOR STORAGE
- The keeping in an unroofed area of any goods, junk, material,
merchandise, or vehicles in the same place for more than 24 hours.
- PARKING LOT
- Any lot, municipally or privately owned for off-street parking
facilities, providing for the transient storage of automobiles or
motor-driven vehicles. Such parking services may be provided as a
free service or may be provided for a fee.
- PARKING SPACE
- The space within a building, or on a lot or parking lot,
for the parking or storage of one automobile.
- PARTY WALL
- A common shared wall between two separate structures, buildings,
or dwelling units.
- PERSON
- Any individual or group of individuals, partnership, or corporation.
- PORCH
- A covered area in excess of four feet by five feet or 20
square feet in area at a front, side, or rear door.
- PREMISES
- Any lot, parcel, or tract of land and any building constructed
thereon.
- PRIVATE
- Not publicly owned, operated, or controlled.
- PRIVATE PROPERTY
- Any property not owned or leased by the government of the
United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any political
subdivision thereof.
- PRIVATE ROAD
- A legally established right-of-way, other than a public street,
which provides the primary vehicular and/or pedestrian access to a
lot.
- PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION
- The practice of a profession by any attorney, physician,
surgeon, osteopath, chiropractor, dentist, optician, optometrist,
chiropodist, engineer, surveyor, architect, landscape architect, or
planner entitled to practice under the laws of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
- PRURIENT INTEREST
- Is to be judged with reference to average adults, unless
it appears from the nature of the material or the circumstances of
its dissemination, distribution, or exhibition that it is designed
for clearly defined deviant sexual groups, in which case the predominant
appeal of the matter shall be judged with reference to its intended
recipient group.
- PUBLIC
- Owned, operated, or controlled by a government agency (federal,
state, or local, including a corporation created by law for the performance
of certain specialized governmental functions and the Board of Public
Education).
- PUBLIC GROUNDS
- Includes the following:
- A.
Parks, playgrounds, and other public areas; and
- B.
Sites for schools, sewage treatment, refuse disposal, and other
publicly owned or operated facilities.
- PUBLIC NOTICE
- Notice given not more than 30 days and not less than 14 days
in advance of the date of any public hearing required by this chapter.
Such notice shall be published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing.
- PUBLIC UTILITY FACILITIES
- Public utility transmission distribution facilities, including
substations and the like.
- RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
- A vehicular-type unit primarily designed as temporary living
quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, which has its own
motor power or is mounted or drawn by another vehicle, having a body
width of no more than eight feet and a body length of no more than
35 feet when factory equipped for the road and licensed as such by
the Commonwealth, to include, but not be limited to, travel trailers,
truck campers, camping trailers, and self-propelled motor homes.
- A.
A strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, forced
dedication, prescription or condemnation and intended to be occupied
or occupied by a road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission
lines, oil or gas pipeline, waterline, sanitary storm sewer, and other
similar uses;
- B.
Generally, the right of one to pass over the property of another.
- RIGHT-OF-WAY, STREET
- A public thoroughfare for vehicular traffic and/or pedestrian
traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway,
road, avenue, boulevard, lane, alley, or however designated.
- ROW HOUSE
- See "dwelling, single-family attached."
- RUNOFF
- The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil
but runs off the surface of the land.
- SADOMASOCHISTIC ABUSES
- Flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or
clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition
of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the
part of one so clothed.
- SANITARIUM
- A private hospital, whether or not such facility is operated
for profit.
- SCHOOL
- Any place offering instruction in any branch of knowledge
under the supervision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or a lawfully
constituted ecclesiastical governing body, person, partnership, or
corporation meeting the requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
- SCHOOL, NURSERY
- Any place designed and operated to provide regular instruction
and daytime care for two or more children under the age of elementary
school, including day-care centers.
- SCHOOL, VOCATIONAL
- Same as elementary and secondary school, except that the
primary activity is training in a trade or vocation.
- SCREEN PLANTING
- A vegetative material of sufficient height and density to
conceal from the view of property owners in adjoining residential
districts the structures and uses on the premises on which the screen
planting is located.
- SEDIMENTATION
- The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving wind, water, or gravity. Once this matter is
deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as "sediment."
- SEXUAL CONDUCT
- Actual or simulated acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse,
or any touching of the clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic areas,
or buttocks of the human male or female or the breasts of the female,
whether alone or between members of the same or opposite sex, or between
humans and animals.
- SEXUAL EXCITEMENT
- The condition of human male or female genitalia when in a
state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
- SHOPPING CENTER
- A group of stores planned and designed to function as a unit
for the lot on which it is located, with off-street parking provided
as an integral part of the unit.
- SIGHT DISTANCE
- The length of roadway visible to the driver of a passenger
vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view is unobstructed
by traffic.
- SIGN
- Any structure or device for visual communication that is
used for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the attention
of the public.
- SIGN, ADVERTISING
- A sign intended for the painting, posting, or otherwise displaying
of information inviting attention to any product, business, service
or cause not located on or related to the premises on which the sign
is situated.
- SIGN, BUSINESS
- A sign which directs attention to a use conducted, product
or commodities sold or service performed upon the premises.
- SIGN, IDENTIFICATION
- A sign or nameplate, indicating the name of noncommercial
buildings or occupants thereof or describing the use of such buildings
or, when displayed at a residence, indicating a home occupation legally
existing thereat.
- SIGN, NONCONFORMING
- Any sign lawfully existing on the effective date of an ordinance,
or an amendment thereto, which renders such sign nonconforming because
it does not conform to all the standards and regulations of the adopted
or amended ordinance.
- SIGN, OFF-PREMISES ADVERTISING
- A sign intended for the painting, posting, or otherwise displaying
of information inviting attention to any product, business, service,
or cause not located on or related to the premises on which the sign
is situated.
- SIGN, REAL ESTATE
- A sign relating to the property upon which it is located,
offering such property for sale or lease, announcing improvements
or changes in connection therewith, warnings, or other similar notices
concerning such property.
- SIGN, ROOF
- Any device or structure erected for advertising or identification
purposes upon or above the roof of any building or structure or part
thereof.
- SIGN, SERVICE
- A sign which is incidental to a use lawfully occupying the
property upon which the sign is located, which sign is necessary to
provide information to the public such as direction to parking lots,
location of restrooms; or other such pertinent facts.
- SIGN, TEMPORARY
- Any sign, banner, cardboard, or other material carrying an
advertisement or announcement which is displayed or intended to be
displayed for a period not exceeding ordinance requirements.
- SIGN, WALL
- A sign painted on or affixed to and paralleling the outside
wall of building and extending not more than 12 inches from such wall.
- SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
- A scaled graphical depiction of the proposed development
of a lot, parcel, or tract of land, describing all covenants assigned,
as well as accurately depicting the use, location, and bulk of all
buildings and structures, intensity of use or density of development,
streets, driveways, rights-of-way, easements, parking facilities,
open space, public facilities and utilities, setbacks, height of buildings
and structures, and other such data necessary for municipal officials
to determine compliance with this chapter and appropriate provisions
of other such ordinances, as they may apply.
- SLOPE
- The face of an embankment or cut section, and ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
- SOIL STABILIZATION
- Chemical or structural treatment designed to increase or
maintain the stability of a mass of soil or otherwise to improve its
engineering properties.
- SOLAR ACCESS
- A property owner's right to have the sunlight shine
on his land.
- SOLAR SKYSPACE
- The space between a solar energy collector and the sun which
must be free of obstructions that shade the collector to an extent
which precludes its cost-effectiveness operation.
- SOLAR SKYSPACE EASEMENT
- A right, expressed as an easement, covenant, condition, or
other property interest in any deed or other instrument executed by
or on behalf of any landowner, which protects the solar skyspace of
an actual, proposed, or designated solar energy collector at a described
location by forbidding or limiting activity or land uses that interfere
with access to solar energy.
- SPECIAL EXCEPTION
- The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide requests for
special exceptions in accordance with standards and criteria established
by the governing body. In granting a special exception, the Zoning
Hearing Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards,
in addition to those expressed in this chapter, as it may deem necessary
to implement the purpose of Act 247 and this chapter.
- STORAGE FACILITY
- A structure intended for lease for the sole purpose of storing
household goods, motor vehicles, or recreational equipment.
- STORY
- That portion of any building included between the surface
of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or if there
is no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling
next above it.
- STORY, HALF
- A story under a gabled, hipped, or gambreled roof, the wall
plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not over
three feet above the finished floor of such story.
- STREET
- A public right-of-way constructed to municipal standards
which affords primary vehicular traffic or pedestrian access to abutting
properties; includes avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway,
and viaduct, but shall not include a lane or an alley for the purpose
of this chapter.
- STREET, CUL-DE-SAC
- A street intersecting another street at one end and terminating
at the other in a vehicular turnaround.
- STREET GRADE
- The officially established grade of the street upon which
a lot fronts or, in its absence, the established grade of the other
streets upon which the lot abuts, at the midpoint of the frontage
of the lot thereon. If there is no officially established grade, the
existing grade of the street at such midpoint shall be taken as the
street grade.
- STREET LINE
- The dividing line between the street and the lot, also known
as the "right-of-way line."
- A.
— A major street or highway with fast
or heavy traffic of considerable continuity and used primarily as
a traffic artery for intercommunications among large areas.
- B.
— A major street or highway which carries
traffic from minor streets to arterial streets, including the principal
entrance streets of a residential development and streets for circulation
within such a development.
- STREET, MARGINAL ACCESS
- A minor street which is parallel and adjacent to a limited-access
highway or arterial street, which provides access to abutting properties
and protection from through traffic. Also known as a "service road."
- STREET, MINOR
- A street used primarily for access to abutting properties.
- STREET WIDTH
- The distance between street lines, measured at right angles
to the center line of the street.
- STRUCTURE
- Anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached
to the ground, including but not limited to buildings, fences, factories,
sheds, cabins, mobile homes, and other similar items.
- STRUCTURE, NONCONFORMING
- A structure, the size, dimensions, or location of which was
lawful prior to the adoption, revision, or amendment to a zoning ordinance,
but which fails by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment
to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.
- STRUCTURE, TEMPORARY
- A structure without any foundation or footings and which
is removed when the designated time period, activity, or use for which
the temporary structure was erected has ceased.
- STUDIO
- A building or portion of a building used as a place of work
by an artist, photographer, or artisan, or used for radio or television
broadcasting.
- STUDIO, DANCING OR MUSIC
- The use of a premises by a teacher of music or dancing where
students are taught these arts for a fee. This term is synonymous
with "dancing school" and "music school" and other similar expressions.
- SUBDIVISION (see "land development")
- The division or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of
land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels, or other
divisions of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the
purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership
or buildings or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision
by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than
10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access or residential
dwellings, shall be exempted.
- SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
- Any repair, alteration, reconstruction, or improvement of
a structure and/or use, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of
its market value either:
- A.
Before improvement is started; or
- B.
If the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before
the damage occurred.
- SURFACE DRAINAGE PLAN
- A plan showing all present and proposed grades and facilities
for stormwater management.
- SWALE
- A low-lying stretch of land characterized as a depression
used to carry surface water runoff.
- SWIMMING POOL
- A portable or permanent structure designed to hold water
for wading or swimming purposes, beginning at a height of 24 inches
or an area of 125 square feet or greater and located above or recessed
at ground level, shall, for the purpose of this chapter, be defined
as a "swimming pool."
- THEATER
- A building or part of a building devoted to the showing of
moving pictures or theatrical productions on a paid admission basis.
- TOWNHOUSE
- See "dwelling, single-family attached."
- TRANSFORMER SUBSTATION
- An electric substation containing an assemblage of equipment
for the purpose other than generation or utilization, through which
electrical energy in bulk is passed for the purpose of switching and
modifying its characteristics to meet the needs of the general public.
- UNDEVELOPED LAND
- Any lot, tract, or parcel of land which has not been graded
or in any other manner prepared for the construction of a building.
- USE
- The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to
include any nonconforming use.
- USE, NONCONFORMING
- A use or activity which was lawful prior to the adoption,
revision, or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails, by
reason of such adoption, revision, or amendment, to conform to the
present requirements of the zoning district.
- USE, PRINCIPAL
- The primary or predominant use of any lot.
- USE, TEMPORARY
- A use established for a fixed period of time with the intent
to discontinue such use upon the expiration of the time period.
- VARIANCE
- The permission granted by the Zoning Hearing Board for an
adjustment to some regulation which, if strictly adhered to, would
result in an unnecessary physical hardship, where the permission granted
would not be contrary to the public interest, and would maintain the
spirit and original intent of this chapter.
- WADING POOL
- A portable or permanent structure designed to hold water
for wading purposes, not to exceed 24 inches in height and area, governed
by its location and located above or recessed at ground level is for
the purpose of this chapter a wading pool.
- A.
The vertical exterior surface of a building;
- B.
Vertical surfaces that divide a building's space into rooms.
- WATERCOURSE
- A stream of water, river, brook, creek, or a channel or ditch
for water, whether natural or man-made.
- WIND-ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM (WECS)
- A device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical
energy.
- WIND ROTOR
- The blades, plus hub to which the blades are attached, that
are used to capture wind for purpose of energy conversion. The wind
rotor is used generally on a pole or tower and, along with other generating
and electrical storage equipment, forms a wind energy conversion system.
- YARD
- An unoccupied space, other than a court, open to the sky,
on the same lot with a building or structure.
- YARD, BUFFER
- A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of
a property or district, not less than the width designated in this
chapter, and on which is placed (planted) year-round shrubbery, hedges,
evergreens, or other suitable plantings of sufficient height and density
to constitute an effective screen and give maximum protection and
immediate screening to an abutting property or district and may include
a permissible wall.
- YARD, EXTERIOR
- An open, unoccupied space between the buildings of a dwelling
group or its accessory buildings and the project boundary or street
line.
- YARD, FRONT
- An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building,
extending the full width of the lot and situated between the street
line and the front line of the building projected to the sidelines
of the lot. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between
the front line of the building and the street line. Covered porches,
whether enclosed or unenclosed, shall be considered as part of the
main building and shall not project into a required front yard.
- YARD, INTERIOR
- An open, unoccupied space between the buildings of a dwelling
group or its accessory buildings; not a front, side, or rear yard.
- YARD, REAR
- An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main budding,
extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear
line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the
sidelines of the lot. The depth of the rear yard shall be measured
between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building.
A building shall not extend into the required rear yard.
- YARD, SIDE
- An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the buildings
situated between the building and the sideline of the lot and extending
from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a rear line
or a front line shall be deemed a sideline. A building shall not extend
into the required side yards.
- ZONING MAP
- The map setting forth the boundaries of the zoning districts
of the Borough which shall be part of this chapter.