A.Â
Unless a contrary intention clearly appears, the following
words and phrases shall have for the purposes of this chapter the
meanings given in the following clauses.
B.Â
For the purpose of this chapter, words and terms used
herein shall be interpreted as follows:
(1)Â
Words used in the present tense include the future.
(2)Â
The singular includes the plural.
(3)Â
The word "person" includes a corporation, partnership,
and association as well as the individual.
(4)Â
The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel."
(5)Â
The term "shall" is mandatory.
(6)Â
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 occupied."
(7)Â
The word "Commission" and the words "Planning Commission"
always mean the New Britain Borough Planning Commission.
(8)Â
The word "Board" or the words "Zoning Hearing Board"
always mean the New Britain Borough Zoning Hearing Board.
(9)Â
The word "Council" and the words "Borough Council"
always mean the New Britain Borough Council.
(10)Â
The word "Engineer" means the Borough Engineer
of New Britain Borough.
C.Â
Any word or term not defined herein shall be used
with a meaning of standard usage.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A building or structure located on the same lot as a principal
building and clearly incidental and subordinate to the principal building
or use. Any portion of a principal building devoted or intended to
be devoted to an accessory use is not an accessory building or structure.
As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement
in the structural parts, or an enlargement or diminution, whether
by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from
one location or position to another.
A story at least partly or totally below grade level. A basement
shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement
and for determining floor area if the vertical distance between the
ceiling and the average level of adjoining ground is more than six
feet or if the basement if used for business or dwelling purposes.
See "roomer or boarder."
A structure under roof, used for the shelter or enclosure
of persons, animals, or property. The word "building" shall include
any part thereof.
The total of the 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 and measured from
the exterior of outside walls.
The percentage of the lot area covered by building area,
measured as building area per lot area.
The building envelope is that area of a lot that has no building
restrictions. The building envelope shall not include the area of
any required setbacks (except for driveways which would cross yards),
buffer yards, natural features with 100% protection standard and the
portion of those natural features that may not be developed or intruded
upon by the terms of this chapter.
A vertical distance measured from the elevation of the proposed
finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of
the roof for flat roofs, to the deck lines of mansard roofs, and to
the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel
roofs.
BUILDING LINE, FRONTA line parallel to the future right-of-way line at a distance therefrom equal to the depth of the minimum front yard required.
BUILDING LINE, SIDEA line parallel to the side lot line at a distance therefrom equal to the depth of the minimum side yard required.
BUILDING LINE, REARA line parallel to the rear lot line at a distance from the rear lot line equal to the depth of the minimum rear yard required.
See "building line."
A building in which is conducted, or is intended to be conducted,
the principal use of the lot on which it is located.
The portion of a street or alley intended for vehicular use.
An area of land or of water or a combination of land and
water within a development site designed and intended for the use
or enjoyment of residents not including streets, parking areas, areas
set aside for facilities including detention and retention basins,
or resource-protected land.
Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction
under this chapter, either by reason of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction
or by reason of appeals from determinations. All decisions shall be
appealable to the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County and the judicial
district wherein the Borough lies.
Density is a measure of the number of dwelling units per
unit area, expressed in dwelling units per acre.
Final action by an officer, body or agency charged with the
administration of this chapter or applications thereunder, except
the Borough Council and Zoning Hearing Board. Determinations shall
be appealable only to the boards designated as having jurisdiction
for such appeal.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
A vehicular accessway connecting a street and a parking area
or garage and located within a lot.
A building containing one or more dwelling units.
Any room or group of rooms located within a residential building
and forming a single, habitable unit with facilities used or intended
to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating, by one family.
Accessory family apartments as permitted herein shall, for the purposes
of this chapter, be considered to be part of a single dwelling unit,
even though they may contain facilities which are used or intended
to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating by family members.
A person employed by a business or commercial or industrial
enterprise, whether or not as an employee or as an independent contractor,
and who conducts his work on the lot with the business or commercial
or industrial enterprise.
[Amended 5-10-2011 by Ord. No. 340]
One or more persons, including a student, related
by blood, foster relationship, marriage or adoption, along with their
domestic servants or gratuitous guests, maintaining a common household
with single cooking facilities;
A group of not more than five persons who need
not be related by blood, foster relationship, marriage or adoption,
along with their staff, domestic servants, or gratuitous guests, all
of whom live together in a single, nonprofit dwelling unit (pursuant
to the Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988 and any successor statute),
maintaining a common household with single cooking facilities. Two
or more students, as the term "student" is defined below, living with
or without others who are not students, shall not constitute a "family"
hereunder, notwithstanding the fact that they may reside together
in a single, nonprofit dwelling unit (pursuant to the Nonprofit Corporation
Law of 1988 and any successor statute), maintaining a common household
with single cooking facilities; or
Two or more persons, along with their domestic
servants or gratuitous guests and all living together in a common
household with single cooking facilities. However, if there are three
or more persons, all but one must be related to all the others by
blood, foster relationship, marriage or adoption. Unless students
are related by blood, foster relationship or marriage or adoption,
this subsection shall not apply to students as "student" is defined
below.
Any structure of nonliving material erected for the purpose
of separating one property from another either to assure privacy or
to protect the property screened. For the purpose of this chapter,
a masonry wall is considered to be a fence.[1]
Areas subject to periodic flooding, or listed in the official
soil survey provided by the United States Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resource Conservation Service, Web Soil Survey (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/),
as soils having a flood frequency other than "none."
[Amended 5-11-1999 by Ord. No. 280; 5-10-2005 by Ord. No.
299; 2-24-2015 by Ord. No. 362]
The sum of the areas of all floors of a building or structure,
including areas used for human occupancy or required for the conduct
of the business or use, stairways, and basements, attics and penthouses,
as measured from the exterior faces of the walls. It does not include
cellars, unenclosed porches, attics not used for human occupancy,
nor any floor space in an accessory building or in the main building
intended or designed for the parking of motor vehicles in order to
meet the parking requirements of this chapter, or any such floor space
intended and designed for accessory heating and ventilating equipment.
The ratio of the floor area to the lot area.
An area of trees which occupies at least one-quarter acre,
containing any tree or trees either three inches in diameter or 20
feet tall, and including the natural layers of vegetation beneath
the canopy and understory plants. Diameter shall be measured 4.5 feet
above ground level.
[Amended 4-13-1999 by Ord. No. 279]
The mean elevation of the ground surrounding a building,
calculated as an average of the highest and lowest elevations.
An administrative proceeding conducted by the Borough Council
or the Zoning Hearing Board pursuant to this chapter.
Surfaces which do not absorb water. All buildings, parking
areas, driveways, roads, sidewalks, and any areas in concrete and
asphalt shall be considered impervious surfaces. In addition, other
areas determined by the Borough Engineer to be impervious within the
meaning of this definition will also be impervious surfaces.
The impervious surface ratio measured by dividing the total
area of all impervious surfaces within a lot by the lot area.[2]
Natural or artificial bodies of water which retain water
year-round.
A parcel of land, used or set aside and available for use
as the site of one or more buildings and any buildings accessory thereto
or for any other purpose, in one ownership and not divided by a street,
nor including any land within the right-of-way of a public or private
street upon which said lot abuts, even if the ownership to such right-of-way
is in the owner of the lot. A lot for the purpose of this chapter
may or may not coincide with a lot of record. It is any designated
parcel, tract, or area of land established by a plat or otherwise
permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit.
The area contained within the property lines of the lot shown
on a subdivision plan or required by this chapter, excluding any area
within an existing or designated future street right-of-way, and excluding
any area required as open space under this chapter and excluding any
area within a stormwater detention facility.
A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at
the intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curved
street or streets shall be considered a corner lot if the tangent
to the curve at the points beginning within the lot or at the points
of intersection of the side lot lines with the street lines intersect
at an angle of less than 135°. A corner lot shall have front yards
along all streets; one rear yard; and one side yard.
Any boundary line of a lot.
LOT LINE, FRONTA line abutting the street at the future right-of-way line.
LOT LINE, REARA lot line which is opposite and most distant from the front lot line. In the case of a lot having no street frontage or a lot of an odd shape, the one lot line farthest from any street shall be considered a rear lot line.
LOT LINE, SIDEAny lot line which is not a street line or a rear lot line.
A lot which has been recorded in the Office of the Recorder
of Deeds of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately
parallel streets. A through lot shall have front yards along all streets.
The distance measured between the side lot lines at the required
building setback line, which lies at a distance from the street line
equal to the required front yard. In a case where there is only one
side lot line, lot width shall be measured between such side lot line
and the opposite rear lot line or street line.
Act 16 of 2016, 35 P.S. § 1023.101 et seq.
[Added 5-8-2018 by Ord.
No. 386]
A person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, which
is registered by the Department of Health under the Medical Marijuana
Act to dispense medical marijuana. The term does not include a health
care medical marijuana organization under Chapter 19 of the Medical
Marijuana Act.
[Added 5-8-2018 by Ord.
No. 386]
A person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust, or other entity, or any combination thereof, which
is registered by the Department of Health under the Medical Marijuana
Act to grow and process medical marijuana. The term does not include
a health care medical marijuana organization under Chapter 19 of the
Medical Marijuana Act.
[Added 5-8-2018 by Ord.
No. 386]
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined together into one integral unit capable of again being
separated for repeated towing, 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, including any addition or accessory structure,
such as porches, sheds, decks, or additional rooms.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances for the erection
thereon of a single mobile home.
A parcel of land or contiguous parcels of land so designated
and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the
placement thereon of mobile homes.
Open space is land used for recreation or resource protection, and is protected by the provisions of this chapter and Chapter 385, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Borough of New Britain, to ensure that it remains in such uses. "Open space" does not include the following: land occupied by nonrecreational buildings, roads, ultimate rights-of-way, the yards of lots of single-family dwelling units, minimum yards of other uses, parking areas, driveways, stormwater management facilities, or easements for stormwater management facilities.
Total amount of open space in acres within a lot per acre
of site area.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Borough
Council or the Planning Commission, intended to inform and obtain
public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.
A forum held pursuant to notice under 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701
et seq., known as the "Sunshine Act."
[Amended 4-14-2015 by Ord. No. 361]
Notice published once each week for two consecutive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough. Such notice
shall state the time and place of hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
Any letter, review, memorandum, compilation or similar writing
made by any body, board, officer or consultant other that a solicitor
to any body, board, officer or consultant for the purpose of assisting
the recipient of such report in the rendering of any decision or determination.
All reports shall be deemed recommendatory and advisory only and shall
not be binding upon the recipient, board, officer, body or agency,
nor shall any appeal lie therefrom. Any report used, received, or
considered by the body, board, officer or agency rendering a determination
or decision shall be made available for inspection to the applicant
and all other parties to any proceeding upon request, and copies thereof
shall be provided at cost of reproduction.
Land set aside for use as a street, alley, or other means
of travel.
EXISTING RIGHT-OF-WAYThe legal right-of-way as established by the commonwealth or other appropriate governing authority and currently in existence.
FUTURE RIGHT-OF-WAYThe right-of-way deemed necessary by Chapter 385, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Borough of New Britain, or by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as appropriate to provide adequate width for future street improvements.
A person occupying any room or group of rooms forming a single,
habitable unit used or intended to be used for living and sleeping,
but not for cooking or eating purposes, and paying compensation for
lodging or board and lodging by prearrangement for a week or more
at a time to an owner or operator. Any person occupying such room
or rooms and paying such compensation without prearrangement or for
less than a week at a time shall be classified for purposes of this
chapter not as a roomer, boarder or lodger, but as a guest of a commercial
lodging establishment (motel, hotel, bed-and-breakfast).
A parcel or parcels of land intended to have one or more
buildings or intended to be subdivided into one or more lots.
All land area within the site as defined in the deed and
as determined by a site survey.
Facilities where six or more individuals reside together,
either voluntarily or by court order, for the purpose of recovering
from drug, alcohol, and/or substance abuse, and which serves as an
interim environment between rehabilitation facilities/hospitalization
and reintegration to independent living. The term shall include recovery
houses and halfway houses.
[Added 5-8-2018 by Ord.
No. 386]
Areas of land where the average slope exceeds 15%.
That part of a building located between a floor and the floor
or roof next above. The first story of a building is the lowest story
having 75% or more of its wall area above grade level. A half story
is a story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof.
A public or private way used or intended to be used for passage
or travel by motor vehicles, excluding driveways.
The dividing line between the street and the lot. The street
line shall be the same as the future or ultimate right-of-way line.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
Any occupant or proposed occupant enrolled at and physically
attending a college or university, or on a summer or semester or holiday
break from such college or university, and which occupant would reside
in New Britain Borough while attending classes. One who attends a
college or university via Internet does not qualify as a student hereunder
unless he or she attends online in consequence of a physical or mental
handicap.
[Added 5-10-2011 by Ord. No. 340]
A residential living arrangement for more than one student
and for no more than three students, as the term "student" is defined
in this section, above, wherein the students shall live together in
a common household with single cooking facilities. "Student home"
shall not include a fraternity or sorority, and shall not include
a dormitory or a community residential program. When a student home
has been established in a residence, student home shall be the only
use permitted at the premises.
[Added 5-10-2011 by Ord. No. 340]
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged, intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained. For definitions of specific uses, see Article IV.
A use located on the same lot with a principal use, and clearly
incidental or subordinate to, and in connection with, the principal
use.
A use allowed subject to the provisions of this chapter,
exclusive of any nonconforming or illegal use.
The main use on a lot.[3]
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or
ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and
under normal conditions do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically
adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Those areas or lands
defined as wetlands in either: (1) The United States Army Corps of
Engineers Technical Report Y87-1, Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation
Manual, as most recently updated or modified; or (2) The United States
Environmental Protection Agency Wetlands Identification and Delineation
Manual, Volume I, Rational, Wetland Parameters, and Overview of Jurisdictional
Approach, Volume II, Field Methodology, as most recently updated or
modified; or (3) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Wetlands Identification and Delineation, Chapter 105, Dam Safety and
Waterways Management Rules and Regulations, as most recently updated
or modified. Where a difference between the foregoing criteria exist,
the most restrictive criteria will be used in any particular case.
For the purposes of this definition and for its application to this
chapter "most restrictive criteria" shall mean the criteria which
causes the preservation of the most extensive area of wetlands.
An open space unobstructed from the ground up, except as
may be expressly permitted by this chapter, on the same lot with a
structure, extending along a lot line or street line and inward to
the structure. The size of a required yard shall be measured as the
shortest distance between the structure and a lot line or street line.
YARD, FRONTA yard between a structure and a street line and extending the entire length of the street line. In the case of a corner lot, the yards extending along all streets are front yards. In the case of a lot other than a corner lot that fronts on more than one street, the yards extending along all streets are front yards.
YARD, REARA yard between a structure and a rear lot line and extending the entire length of the rear lot line.
YARD, SIDEA yard between a structure and a side lot line, extending from the front yard to the rear yard. In the case of a lot having no street frontage or a lot of odd shape, any yard that is not a front yard or a rear yard shall be considered a side yard.
|
Illustrations of Lot and Yard Definitions
 |
Zoning Officer of New Britain Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "flood, regulatory,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 5-11-1999
by Ord. No. 280. The former definitions of "flood, one-hundred-year"
and "floodplain," as amended, which immediately followed this definition,
were repealed 2-24-2015 by Ord. No. 362.
[2]
Editor's Note: The original definition of "junkyard," which
immediately followed this definition, was repealed 4-14-2015 by Ord.
No. 361.
[3]
Editor's Note: The former definition of "utilities,"
which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 4-13-1999
by Ord. No. 279.
