This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Bellefonte Zoning Ordinance."
This chapter is enacted and ordained under the grant of powers by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of 1968, July 31, P.L. 805, as amended (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.), and has been developed to be consistent with the Nittany Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan.
This chapter is enacted for the following purposes:
A. 
To promote, protect and facilitate public health, safety, morals, general welfare, coordinated and practical community development, proper density of population, civil defense, disaster evacuation, airports and national defense facilities, the provision of adequate light and air, police protection, vehicle parking and loading space, transportation, water, sewerage, schools, public grounds and other public requirements.
B. 
To prevent the following: overcrowding of land, blight, danger and congestion in travel and transportation, loss of health, life or property from fire, flood, panic or other dangers.
C. 
To satisfy the land use, infrastructure, services and facilities planning elements of the Nittany Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan. This chapter is made in accordance with the Nittany Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan and with consideration to the character of the municipality, its various parts and to the suitability of the various parts for particular uses and structures.
The community development objectives of this chapter are the goals, objectives and policies of the Nittany Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan as applicable to the purposes of this chapter.
In their interpretation and application, the regulations set by this chapter within each district shall be held to be minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the purposes of this chapter and shall apply with uniformity to each class of use or structure.
A. 
Types of control. The following regulations shall apply in the respective districts: use regulations, including primary and accessory uses; lot requirements, including size, width and coverage; setback requirements for front, side and rear yards; maximum height requirements; and supplemental regulations.
B. 
New lots, uses and structures. In all districts, after the effective date of this chapter, any new lot, use or structure shall be constructed, developed and used only in accordance with the regulations specified for each district.
C. 
Existing lots, uses and structures. In all districts, after the effective date of this chapter, any existing lot, use or structure which is not in conformity with the regulations for the district in which it is located shall be deemed as nonconforming and subject to the regulations of Article II of this chapter, entitled "Nonconforming Lots, Structures and Uses."
D. 
Relationship with other restrictions. The provisions of this chapter are not intended to interfere with, abrogate or annul other rules, regulations or ordinances, provided that, where this chapter imposes a greater restriction than that imposed by such other rules, easements, covenants, restrictions, regulations or ordinances, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
E. 
Exemptions. This chapter shall not apply to any lot, use or structure exempted from zoning regulations by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code or other laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In order to facilitate orderly development and accommodate sound land use planning and community design principles, a transitional zone may be established, by conditional use, for any property or portion thereof located within the Borough of Bellefonte and directly adjacent to a neighboring municipality. This transitional zone may allow for the application of certain elements of the neighboring municipality's zoning criteria to be applied to adjacent properties within Bellefonte Borough. The Bellefonte Borough Council may, upon recommendation from the Bellefonte Planning Commission, approve the utilization of the bulk, density and/or design requirements from the residential zoning districts of an adjacent municipality, subject to the following:
A. 
Properties proposed for inclusion within a transitional zone must be directly adjacent to a neighboring municipality (or bisected by the municipal line).
B. 
The zoning district (or proposed use) within the adjacent municipality proposed for extension into the transitional zone must be compatible with the permitted uses within the given Bellefonte Borough zoning district in which the subject property lies.