Town of Bloomsburg, PA PART 6 SITE DESIGN STANDARDS FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of good site design and subdivision is to create a functional and attractive development, to minimize adverse impacts and to ensure that a development project will be an asset to the Town of Bloomsburg. To promote this purpose, all subdivision and/or land development plans shall conform to the following standards which are designed to result in a well-planned community.

§ 22-601 Application.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 601]

1. Application of site design standards for land development shall be done in accordance with the provisions set forth in Part 5, "General Design Standards," of this Chapter.

2. Provisions of this Part are to be used for both residential and nonresidential land subdivision and land development as further stated herein. Additional site design standards shall be applied in accordance with said provisions and may be found in the following cross referenced sections of the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] and all other Town ordinances, as applicable.

§ 22-602 Cross References.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 602]

1. Town of Bloomsburg Zoning and Related Ordinances. The following list of cross-references is provided to assure consistency in the plan review process and the orderly development of land. These references shall be referred to, and in accordance with, this Chapter when preparing and/or reviewing all subdivision and land development plans. While the Sections outlined below refer generally to the main requirements of each ordinance, all other applicable standards contained within shall be applied during development plan preparation and plan review.

A. Use Standards. Chapter 27, ((Part 5) – District Regulations), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

B. Special Exceptions. Chapter 27, ((Part 6) – Special Exception Uses), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

C. Conditional Uses. Chapter 27, ((Part 7) – Conditional Uses), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinances.

D. Stormwater Management. Part 8 – Drainage and Stormwater Management, herein.

E. Floodplain Management. Town of Bloomsburg Floodplain Management Ordinance (Chapter 8) and Part 5, § 22-511, Design Standards in Floodplains herein.

F. Off-Street Parking. Chapter 27, ((Part 8), § 27-801(3) — Off-Street Parking and Loading (see Table 1 – Requirements for Number of Off-Street Parking Spaces)), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

G. Performance Standards. Chapter 27, ((Part 8), § 27-801(6)(U) – Nuisance and Hazard Abatement), Town of Bloomsburg.

H. Signage Requirements. Chapter 27, ((Part 8), § 27-805 – Signs), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

I. Building Orientation. Chapter 27, ((Part 8), § 27-805 – Signs), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

J. Buffer/Screening Requirements. Chapter 27, ((Part 8), § 27-803(6) – Buffer Areas and Screen Planting) and Chapter 27, (Part 8, § 27-801(E)(1) – Design Facilities: Parking Buffers and Other Requirements), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance.

K. Landscaping. Chapter 25 Town of Bloomsburg Tree Program and Part 5, § 22-510(1) – Tree Preservation and Planting herein.

L. Handicapped Accessibility. Part 5, § 22-501(7), General Design Standards, herein.

§ 22-603 Site Analysis.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 603]

1. Analysis and inventory of site characteristics shall be made for all proposed development sites. Inventory and analysis shall include site context, geology and soil, topography, streams and water bodies, climate, ecology, existing vegetation and landscaping, structures and road networks, steep slopes, floodplains, wetlands, visual features and past and present use of the site in order to evaluate appropriate site design.

A. The following specific areas shall be preserved as undeveloped open space, to the extent consistent with the reasonable utilization of land:

(1) Unique or fragile areas, including wetlands.

(2) Significant trees or stands of trees as provided for in the Town of Bloomsburg Shade Tree Program [Chapter 25].

(3) Lands in floodplains, in accordance with the provisions set forth in § 22-511, herein, the provisions of the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27 and the Floodplain Management Ordinance [Chapter 8].

§ 22-604 Pedestrian Circulation.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 604]

1. Pedestrian walkways shall be provided within all high-density single-family and multifamily residential, commercial, industrial and institutional developments in order to promote safe pedestrian circulation throughout the developed area and shall be provided in accordance with §§ 22-505 and 22-706 herein.

2. Pedestrian walkways shall be physically separated from all streets and, where possible, from vehicle circulation ways within nonresidential developments.

3. Parking areas shall be designed to minimize the necessity for pedestrians to walk within and across vehicle circulation areas.

4. Commercial areas should be designed to allow pedestrians to browse and pause in areas removed or otherwise protected from vehicular circulation and parking areas.

§ 22-605 Structure Orientation.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 605]

1. Structure orientation shall be done in accordance with the provisions outlined in § 803 "Supplementary Yard Regulations," of the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance, as amended [Chapter 27 and Part 5, § 22-508(3), "Building Setbacks," herein.

2. Where permitted, structures should be clustered whenever possible to ensure that the largest, most usable tracts of open space are preserved. Further, buildings shall be oriented to maximize energy conservation as well as solar energy utilization.

A. Commercial, Industrial and Multifamily Residential Structures.

(1) Buildings shall be located according to topography with environmentally sensitive areas avoided to the maximum extent practicable, factors such as drainage, noise, odor and surrounding land uses shall be considered in building location.

(2) Sufficient access shall be provided, and further, adverse impacts shall be buffered from sight (see § 22-606, "Landscaping/Screening/Buffering," herein).

3. All buildings located on corner lots at street intersections shall be situated so as to assure that adequate sight distance, as defined in Part 2, herein, is achieved.

§ 22-606 Landscaping/Screening/Buffering.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 606]

1. Landscaping, screening and buffering, where appropriate, shall be provided as part of land development and subdivision design. It shall be conceived in a total pattern throughout the site, integrating the various elements of the site design, preserving and enhancing the particular identity of the site and being compatible and consistent with existing community character.

2. Landscaping shall be utilized to improve the appearance of access drives and property abutting public rights-of-way. Landscape screening and/or buffering shall be required between noncompatible land uses and used in a manner necessary to promote the public health and safety through the reduction of noise pollution, visual pollution, air temperature and artificial light glare.

3. All land and subdivision development shall, where possible, preserve and replace trees and significant vegetation removed in the course of land development and promote the proper utilization of landscaping as a buffer between certain land uses to minimize the opportunities for nuisances. (Reference the Town of Bloomsburg Shade Tree Program [Chapter 25] and Part 5, § 22-510(A), "Tree Preservation and Planting.")

4. Existing landscape material shall be shown on the required site plan and any material in satisfactory condition may be used to satisfy a portion of the landscaping requirements when, in the opinion of the Planning Commission, such material meets the desired level of landscaping.

5. Street trees shall be provided in accordance with the Town of Bloomsburg Shade Tree Program [Chapter 25].

6. Landscaping of parking areas shall be done in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] (§ 27-801(3)(D)(1)(e), "Parking Buffers and Other Requirements"), as amended.

7. Where an industrial use abuts a residential property, a buffer yard of at least 25 feet shall be required and developed in a manner consistent with the provisions of § 27-803(6) of the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27].

A. The buffer yard shall be a part of the industrial installation and shall be maintained by the industry.

B. Where the noncompatibility of uses warrant additional buffer yards, it is at the discretion of the Planning Commission to determine appropriate buffer yard requirements.

8. Parking lots, garbage collection, utility areas and loading and unloading areas shall be screened around their perimeters by a buffer strip a minimum of four feet wide.

9. Where residential uses abut a collector or an arterial street or a railroad, a landscaped buffer shall be provided along adjacent lots. In this instance, the buffer strip shall be a minimum of four feet wide or wider where necessary for the health and safety of the residents and shall include both trees and shrubs spaced, at a maximum, four apart and shall achieve 90% opacity by the third growing season.

10. Buffering shall provide a year round visual screen in order to shield noncompatible land uses and shall consist of trees, shrubbery, flowers, grass, ground-cover and other foliage as required by the Planning Commission.

11. All off-street parking facilities shall utilize a four-foot buffer yard as set forth in § 72-801(3)(D)(1), "Parking Buffers and Other Requirements," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

12. All land uses requiring conditional use approval shall be subject to buffer yard requirements set forth in § 27-703, "Conditional Uses," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

§ 22-607 Off-Street Parking.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 607]

1. Number of Spaces.

A. For both residential and nonresidential land uses, off-street parking shall be provided as set forth in § 27-801(3), "Off-Street Parking and Loading" (See Table 1, "Requirements for Number of Off-Street Parking Spaces"), Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

(1) Number of spaces required for land development shall be clearly indicated on the development plan.

(2) The development plan for multifamily, commercial and industrial development shall provide for adequate drainage of total parking and access areas.

2. Size of Spaces. Off-street parking spaces for residential and nonresidential uses, where required in the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], shall measure 10 feet in width by 20 feet in length according to the provisions set forth in § 27-801(3), "Off-Street Parking and Loading," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

3. Parking Areas.

A. Parking areas shall be suitably landscaped to minimize noise, glare and other nuisance characteristics as well as to improve the environment of the site and to remain compatible with the surrounding area.

(1) Where a parking area abuts an adjoining property a four deep landscaped buffer shall be created according to the provisions set forth in § 27-801(3)(D)(1)(e), "Landscaping," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

B. Off-street parking areas shall be oriented to and situated within a reasonable walking distance of the buildings they are designed to serve. The maximum reasonable distance to walk for residential use shall be 200 feet and 700 feet for commercial and industrial uses measured from the edge of structure to parking lot closest to structure.

C. Access to parking areas shall be designed so as not to obstruct free flow of traffic. There shall be adequate space for ingress and egress from all parking spaces to ensure ease of mobility, sufficient clearance and safety of vehicles and pedestrians.

D. Aisle width shall be in accordance with the requirements specified below:

(1) Parking Facilities. The minimum dimensions of parking facilities to be provide shall be as follows:

	Aisle-width
Angle of Parking	One-Way	Two-Way
90 degrees	24 feet	24 feet
60 degrees	18 feet	20 feet
45 degrees	15 feet	20 feet
30 degrees	12 feet	20 feet
Parallel	12 feet	20 feet

E. Where sidewalks are utilized in parking areas, parked vehicles shall not overhang the sidewalks; in order to prevent vehicle overhang, 1 1/2 additional feet shall be provided beyond the required curb-stop.

(1) Large lot parking areas of 10 or more spaces shall provide a minimum of 10% of the total interior parking area for pedestrian walkways to include, buffers, setbacks and other separations to mitigate the paved area as provided in § 27-801(3)(E)(2), "Design and Layout" the Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

(2) In order to achieve a desired level of shading, parking facilities of 10 or more spaces may, at the discretion of the Planning Commission, be required to include one or more trees for every eight parking spaces created. Each tree shall be surrounded by a planting island containing no less than 50 square feet of permeable and unpaved surface.

(3) Access into the parking areas shall be designed in a manner that provides for sufficient distance between the entrance to the parking area and the parking stalls.

(4) Large lot parking areas of 10 or more parking spaces shall submit a lighting plan in accordance with the provisions set forth in § 27-801(3)(D)(3), "Lighting," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended. Further, any lighting used to illuminate off-street parking areas shall be mounted and shielded in such a manner to effectively eliminate direct glare on adjacent properties or upon public streets.

4. Handicapped Accessible Parking.

A. All multifamily, commercial, public and industrial uses shall provide handicapped parking spaces as follows:

Total Parking Spaces	Required Accessible Spaces
1 to 25	1
26 to 50	2
51 to 75	3
76 to 100	4
101 to 150	5
151 to 200	6
201 to 300	7
301 to 400	8
401 to 500	9
501 to 1,000	2% of Total
Over 1,000	20 plus 1 per 100 over 1,000

B. Design of handicapped accessible spaces shall be as follows:

(1) Accessible parking spaces serving a particular building shall be located on the shortest accessible route of travel from adjacent parking to an accessible structure. In parking facilities not serving a particular structure, accessible parking shall be located on the shortest accessible route of travel to an accessible pedestrian entrance of the parking entrance.

(2) Accessible parking spaces shall be at least eight feet wide.

(3) One parking access aisle of no less than five feet in width shall be provided for each accessible parking space and shall be a part of the accessible route of no less than three feet in width to the building or facility entrance. A parking access aisle may be shared between two accessible parking spaces.

(4) Parking spaces and access aisles shall be level with surface slopes not exceeding 2% in all directions.

(5) Accessible parking spaces shall be designated as reserved by a sign showing the symbol of accessibility. Such signs shall be located so as not to be obscured by a vehicle parked in the space.

§ 22-608 Off-Street Loading.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 608]

1. Loading and unloading shall be done in accordance with the requirements set forth in § 27-801(3)(C), "Loading and Unloading Spaces," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], as amended.

2. Any lighting used to illuminate loading areas shall be mounted and shielded in such a manner to effectively eliminate direct glare on adjacent properties or upon public streets.

§ 22-609 Signs.

[Ord. 759, 3/8/1993, § 609]

All proposed signage for any subdivision or land development shall be provided in accordance with the requirements as set forth in § 27-805, "Signs," Town of Bloomsburg Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27].