Borough of Northampton, PA Article I Short Title and Purposes

§ 250-1 Short title.

This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Borough of Northampton Zoning Ordinance."

§ 250-2 Application.

No building, sign or other structure or land shall be used or occupied and no building or structure or part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved, enlarged or structurally altered unless in conformity with the regulations of this chapter. However, this chapter shall not require any change to any building, structure or use legally existing at the effective date of this chapter, or any amendment thereto; or to any building, structure or use planned and construction started in compliance with existing laws prior to the effective date of this chapter, or any amendment thereto, and completed within a one-year period after the effective date of this chapter, or any amendment thereto, except as otherwise provided herein.

§ 250-3 Intent and purpose.

The intent of this chapter is to establish comprehensive controls for the development of land in the Borough based on the Comprehensive Plan for the area and enacted in order to promote and protect health, safety, comfort, convenience and the general welfare of the people. The general purpose of this chapter is to seek the following general objectives.

§ 250-4 Objectives.

Such regulations shall be made in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and designed to lessen congestion in the streets, to secure safety from fires, flood, panic and other dangers; to promote the health and general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent overcrowding of land; to facilitate the provision of transportation, water, sewage, schools, parks and other public requirements. Such regulations shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, as to the characteristics of the district and its peculiarities for particular uses and with a view to conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the Borough.

§ 250-5 Plan objectives.

A. Land use goals and objectives.

(1) Residential.

(a) To buffer residential areas from adjacent nonresidential incompatible land use activities.

(b) To allocate more acreage for medium-density land use than was proposed in the 1972 Borough General Plan. The preferred medium-density housing type is a two-family house.

(c) To permit some of the edges of the Uptown to be used for medium- and high-density residential land uses.

(d) To increase the off-street parking requirement for all residential land uses, except for senior citizen housing along bus routes.

(e) To expand the opportunities for home occupations in residential areas but clearly define the performance requirements for such uses so that they do not become a nuisance.

(f) To establish a policy regarding new land ownership patterns such as subdivision of an existing two or multifamily property and conversion of a multifamily property into a condominium or cooperative form of ownership.

(g) To provide technical advice to homeowners in regard to quality building maintenance, expansion, construction, energy conservation and environmental enhancement.

(2) Commercial.

(a) To consolidate and revitalize the Uptown as the Central Business District (CBD). At a minimum, the CBD should include Main Street from Nineteenth Street to Twenty-First Street, Twenty-First Street from Main Street to Center Street and Center Street.

(b) To encourage office and service commercial uses.

(c) To improve off-street parking opportunities in the Uptown CBD.

(d) To attract restaurants, offices, specialty, and convenience stores into the CBD.

(e) To facilitate reuse of vacant stores and buildings, particularly in the CBD.

(f) To explore the possibility of an Uptown Improvement District.

(g) To recognize that the midtown and downtown commercial areas deserve recognition and support. Their identity as business districts with special character should be preserved and enhanced. The downtown as a business area extends from Ninth Street to Thirteenth Street. The midtown business/residential area extends from Thirteenth Street to Eighteenth Street.

(3) Industrial.

(a) To attract technology-type businesses.

(b) To promote limited development of new factories.

(c) To encourage innovative reuse of existing industrial land.

(4) Recreation and open space.

(a) To preserve and enhance areas along streams and rivers for recreation and open space purposes.

(b) To preserve presently vacant high points with nice views for recreation purposes.

B. Community facilities goals and objectives.

(1) To preserve and enhance the Borough Municipal Building Complex.

(2) To construct an indoor recreation center.

C. Transportation goals and objectives. To establish traffic, parking and pedestrian movement recommendations for the Northampton Business District Improvement Program.

(1) To encourage orderly traffic flow through the Borough as a positive component for business opportunity in the Borough.

(2) To establish and implement a plan for improving the efficiency and safety of traffic flow in the Borough.

(3) To improve off-street parking resources within the Borough.

(4) To further enhance pedestrian and bicycling movements within the Borough.

(5) To encourage the development of mass transportation system service and to encourage intermodal terminals and/or stations to be located within the Borough.