Township of Newtown, PA Article XV O Office Districts

§ 172-64 Applicability.

In O Office Districts, the regulations contained in this article shall apply.

§ 172-65 Permitted uses.

A building may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for the following purposes and no other:

A. Service office building.

B. Accessory uses on the same lot with and customarily incidental to a service office building, subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors.

§ 172-66 Frontage, area and height regulations.

A. Lot area and frontage. The following lot areas shall be provided: For each office building, there shall be a street frontage of not less than 75 feet and a minimum lot area of 35,000 square feet.

B. Height regulations. The height of an office building shall not exceed 55 feet, exclusive of basement, and the height of a building shall not exceed the distance from the adjacent property line as determined as follows: The difference in elevation between the top of any element of a building and the elevation at the property line shall not exceed the horizontal distance from the property lines to the building element. This requirement shall be met for all points along the property line and for all elements of the building.

C. Side yards. For each building, there shall be two separate side yards, neither of which shall be less than 30 feet. Further, in the case of a group of office buildings, there shall be not less than 30 feet between buildings at any point.

D. Rear yards. There shall be a rear yard, the depth of which shall be at least 40 feet.

E. Building frontage, depth or length. The greatest dimension in frontage, length or depth of a building section erected, altered or used under this article shall not exceed 150 feet, and not more than three such sections may be attached to each other, and sections so attached shall be at an angle of 90° under the requirements of this Subsection E.

F. Total lot area coverage. Not more than 70% of each lot used for the construction of service office buildings shall be occupied by buildings, parking areas, parking facilities and/or improvements of any nature, such that not less than 30% of the lot area shall remain as green area.

[Amended 8-10-1987 by Ord. No. 1987-10]

G. Front yard. There shall be a front yard on each street on which the lot abuts, the depth of which shall be at least 40 feet. The area shall be planted with trees, shrubbery and ground cover for screening in accordance with an overall landscape plan approved by the Planning Commission and shall be maintained continually in a neat and attractive manner by the property owner, with existing trees and grades preserved insofar as possible.

H. Buffer area. There shall be a buffer area along the district boundary line within the Office District when adjacent to residential areas, the depth of which shall be at least 20 feet measured from the district boundary line. The buffer area may be included in any front, side or rear yard areas required under the provisions of this article. The buffer area shall be used for no other purpose other than planting and screening. The buffer area shall be planted with trees, shrubbery and ground cover for screening in accordance with an overall landscape plan approved by the Planning Commission and shall be maintained continually in a neat and attractive manner by the property owner. There shall be an immediate dense screen of evergreen trees at a minimum height of six feet in the buffer area of the lot, placed so as to give maximum protection to the residential area against light, noise, dust, visual or other similar nuisances or disturbances and continuously maintained in a neat and attractive manner by the property owner. No certificate of occupancy shall be issued until the Zoning Officer or his or her designee is satisfied that the requirements of this provision have been met. Should the planting of trees not be feasible at the time a certificate of occupancy is sought, a bond or other acceptable security shall be required to guarantee the planting. There shall be erected in areas on or adjacent to side and rear of property lines a fence of the type and height approved by the Planning Commission. Existing trees and grades are to be preserved insofar as possible.

[Amended 11-14-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-4]

§ 172-67 Parking regulations.

Service office buildings shall have one parking or garage space for each 200 square feet of gross floor area, including basement floor area, but in no event fewer than three parking or garage spaces for each separate office, such parking spaces to be a minimum of 200 square feet in area. A parking plan, including exterior lighting and suitable buffer areas within the parking area, shall be presented to and approved by the Planning Commission.

§ 172-68 General regulations.

A. No part of any front yard shall be used for garage, storage or off-street parking purposes, unless the area used for such purposes is beyond 40 feet from the street and the Planning Commission approves such use.

B. There shall not be outside storage of any kind.

C. All driveways and off-street parking facilities shall be in accordance with Township standards.

D. All exterior lighting shall be properly shielded from traffic on any public right-of-way and from any residential district.