[Ord. 2007-2, 5/22/2007]
All words used in this chapter shall carry their customary dictionary
definitions as provided in the most recent edition of Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, except where specifically defined herein. Words used in
the present tense shall include the future. The singular number shall
include the plural, and the plural, the singular. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not permissive; the word "may" is permissive.
The words "used" or "occupied," as applied to any land or structures,
shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged or designed
to be used or occupied." The word "person" shall include any individual,
corporation, partnership, incorporated association or any other legal
entity. Words in the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.
The words "includes" and "including" shall not limit the defined term
to the specific examples but are intended to extend the term's meaning
to other instances of like kind and character.
[Ord. 2007-2, 5/22/2007; as amended by Ord. 2008-3, 5/20/2008,
§ 1; by Ord. 2009-6, 8/20/2009; and by Ord. 2010-3, 9/1/2010]
The following words and phrases shall have the particular meanings
specified for the purpose of interpreting this chapter:
An accredited medical school within this commonwealth that
operates or partners with an acute care hospital licensed within this
commonwealth.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A means of providing vehicular or pedestrian ingress and
egress to and from a property.
A solar collection system principally used to capture solar
energy, convert it to electrical energy or thermal power, and supply
electrical or thermal power for on-site use. An ASES consists of one
or more freestanding ground-, roof-mounted, or wall-mounted solar
arrays or modules, or solar related equipment and is intended to primarily
reduce on-site consumption of utility power or fuels. An ASES must
be accessory to the principal use of the subject property.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
A structure located on the same lot with the principal structure
or use, that is subordinate and incidental to the principal structure
or use of the property, including lawn and garden sheds accessory
to a dwelling, a cooler accessory to a food store, a lean-to or shed
accessory to a commercial or industrial building, but excluding any
motorized vehicle, whether immobilized or not, and any trailer or
mobile home, except a construction trailer authorized by § 1207
of this chapter.
A use or structure, located on the same lot with the principal
use or structure, that is subordinate and incidental to the principal
structure or use of the property and that may occupy a separate structure
and/or area on or in the ground, including but not limited to storage
sheds, garages, swimming pools, decks, fences, patios and similar
structures.
Any place where the public is permitted or invited wherein
coin-operated, slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically
controlled still- or motion-picture machines, projectors, video or
laser disc players or other image-producing devices not located within
viewing booths are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons
per machine at any one time and where the images displayed are distinguished
or characterized by the depicting or describing of nudity, specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined herein.
A commercial establishment that, as one of its substantial
business activities, offers for sale or rental for any form of consideration
any one or more of the following:
Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs,
films, motion pictures, videocassettes or video reproductions, slides,
CD ROM discs or other computer software, or other visual representations
that are characterized by the depiction or description of specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; or
Instruments, devices or paraphernalia that are designed for
use in connection with specified sexual activities.
A sexually oriented business, including an adult arcade,
adult bookstore, adult novelty store or adult video store, adult cabaret,
adult live theater, adult mini motion-picture theater, adult motion-picture
theater, adult motel, escort agency, nude model studio or sexual encounter
center.
A nightclub, bar, restaurant or other commercial establishment
that regularly features:
Persons who appear in a state of nudity or semi-nudity;
Live performances that are characterized by the exposure of
specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities; or
Films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic
reproductions or visual presentations of any other kind that are characterized
by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or
specified anatomical areas.
Any theater, concert hall, dance hall, auditorium or similar
commercial establishment that regularly features live shows for public
viewing in which all or some of the performers appear in a state of
nudity or semi-nudity or live performances characterized by the exposure
of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities, as
defined herein.
A completely enclosed building, as defined herein, with a
capacity for accommodating fewer than 50 persons, where, for any form
of consideration, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or
similar photographic reproductions or visual presentations of any
kind are regularly shown that are characterized by the depiction or
description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical
areas.
A hotel or motel presenting adult motion pictures by means
of closed-circuit television, the material being presented having
as a dominant theme or presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to nudity,
specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined
herein.
An enclosed building, with a capacity for accommodating 50
or more persons, where, for any form of consideration, films, motion
pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions
or visual presentations of any kind are regularly shown that are characterized
by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or
specified anatomical areas.
The science and art of farming, the work of cultivating the
soil, producing crops and livestock.
A place licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
Bureau of Aviation, where fixed-wing aircraft land and take off on
designated and/or improved runways, including hangars and facilities
for refueling and repair and that may include accommodations for passengers.
A paved area, of a minimum width specified by this chapter,
that provides direct access to one or two rows of parking spaces and
connects those parking spaces with the driveways that provide circulation
through a parking area.
See "structural alteration."
An establishment for the medical or surgical treatment of
animals, including the boarding of hospitalized animals. An animal
hospital shall not board or treat exotic animals and shall be subject
to all State and Federal regulations.
A dwelling unit located in the same building with an office
and/or retail business.
See "street, arterial."
A room, hall or building used for lectures, meetings and
gatherings, other than a religious convocation.
See "service station, automobile."
Any institution that lends money or is engaged in a finance-related
business, including but not limited to a bank, savings and loan association,
mortgage or finance company or similar institution.
A business that sells alcoholic beverages for consumption
on the premises as the principal use and that may offer food for consumption
on the premises as an accessory use.
A type of energy storage solution that can provide backup
power for microgrids and assist in load leveling and grid support.
(BESS will be on its own ordinance.)
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
A dwelling that is the principal residence of the operator
where no more than four sleeping rooms are offered to transient overnight
guests for compensation and where the only meal served and included
with the overnight accommodations is breakfast.
A commercial business licensed by the Commonwealth to sell
beer in quantity entirely for off-premises consumption.
Any off-premises sign with a changeable advertising face
that advertises an establishment, person, activity, product or service
that is unrelated to or not available on the premises on which the
sign is located.
The keeping of horses and ponies owned by persons other than
the owner of the stable or the rental of horses owned by the owner
of the stable for a fee or other form of compensation. (See also "riding
academy.")
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Smith, Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
A landscaped area, of a certain depth specified by this chapter,
that shall be planted and maintained in trees, grass, ground cover,
shrubs, bushes or other natural landscaping material and that shall
consist of a mix of types and sizes of plant material that, within
three years of planting, meets the standard of providing a compact
year-round visual screen at least six feet in height or an existing
natural barrier, such as vegetation and/or topography, that duplicates
the effect of the required buffer area.
Any structure having enclosing walls and roofs and having
a permanent location on the land. (See also "completely enclosed building.")
The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the finished
grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings,
excluding one-story uncovered porches, bay windows, balconies, terraces
and steps.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade at the front of the building to the highest
point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs,
and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and
gambrel roofs.
A line parallel to or concentric with the front lot line,
the minimum measurement of which is the front yard depth required
by this chapter.
See "public building."
The minimum distance between two buildings on the same lot,
measured from the outermost wall or projection, excluding bay windows,
chimneys, flues, columns, ornamental features, cornices and gutters
that project beyond the wall of the building no more than two feet.
Any office of recognized professions, such as doctors, lawyers,
architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance agents and others
who, through training, are qualified to perform services of a professional
nature, and other offices used primarily for accounting, corresponding,
research, editing or other administrative functions, but not including
banks or other financial institutions.
Any office of recognized professions, other than medical,
such as lawyers, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance
agents and others who, through training, are qualified to perform
services of a professional nature, and other offices used primarily
for accounting, corresponding, research, editing or other administrative
functions, but not including banks or other financial institutions.
The individual designated by a patient to deliver medical
marijuana.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A facility, whether automatic, semiautomatic or manual, for
washing and polishing of vehicles.
A structure to house or protect motor vehicles, that is open
to the weather for at least 40% of the total area of its sides.
Property used for interring of dead persons or domestic pets,
including mausoleums and columbariums, but not including crematoriums
or family plots.
A document issued by the Zoning Officer indicating that a
premises for which a building permit and/or a zoning certificate has
been issued is ready for occupancy and is in compliance with the provisions
of this chapter and the Uniform Construction Code, if applicable.[1]
The acquisition, possession, use or transportation of medical
marijuana by a patient, or the acquisition, possession, delivery,
transportation or administration of medical marijuana by a caregiver,
for use as part of the treatment of the patient's serious medical
condition, as authorized by certification by the commonwealth.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
Any structure or structures used for worship or religious
instruction, including social and administrative rooms and day nurseries
accessory thereto, but not including any activity conducted for profit,
including chapels cathedrals, temples, synagogues and the like.
A triangular area of unobstructed vision at the intersection
of two streets or of a driveway and a street, defined by line of sight
a given distance from the intersection of the center lines of two
streets or the center lines of the driveway and the street. (See illustration
in Appendix A.[2])
An entity that:
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
Holds a permit, both as a grower/processor and a dispensary;
and
Has a contractual relationship with an academic clinical research
center under which the academic clinical research center or its affiliate
provides advice to the entity, regarding, among other areas, patient
health and safety, medical applications and dispensing and management
of controlled substances.
See "private club."
See "street, collector."
See "recreation, commercial."
See "school, commercial."
An area of land or body of water or a combination thereof
within a development site for the use and enjoyment of the residents
of a development, including stormwater management facilities, but
not including streets, off-street parking areas and other areas set
aside for facilities for the general public.
Any structure designed for transmitting or receiving wireless
communications of video, voice, data and similar transmissions, including
but not limited to omnidirectional or whip antennas, directional or
panel antennas and satellite or microwave dish antennas that may be
mounted on an existing building, an existing public utility storage
or transmission structure or an existing communications tower, excluding
transmission and receiving devices licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) exclusively for private use by citizens.
A manned or unmanned structure that contains the equipment
necessary to maintain and operate communications antennas and that
covers an area on the ground in excess of 200 square feet.
An unmanned structure that contains the equipment necessary
to maintain and operate communications antennas and that covers an
area on the ground of no more than 200 square feet.
Any structure, whether freestanding or attached to a building,
designed to support multiple communications antennas, including monopole,
self-supporting and guyed towers and one or more of the following
mounts for antennas: rotatable platform, fixed platform, multi-point
or side-arm mounts and pipe mounts for microwave dish antennas.
A building designed and constructed so that all exterior
walls shall be solid from the ground to the roofline, containing no
openings except for windows and doors that are designed so that they
may be closed and any other small openings required for the ventilation
system.
A device used alone or in series to raise the pressure of
natural gas and/or by-products to create a pressure differential to
move or compress a liquid, vapor or gas.
An agricultural operation where farm animals are kept at
a much higher ratio of animals per acre than animals that are pastured
and where animals are fed a regimented diet until ready for slaughter.
A use authorized by this chapter that may be granted only
by the Board of Supervisors following review by the Planning Commission
and a public hearing, subject to express standards and criteria contained
in this chapter.
A structure designed, used or constructed to provide temporary
offices for construction supervision on the site of an approved subdivision
or land development during the time that a valid building permit or
grading permit is in effect.
The administrative offices of a business that provides landscaping,
construction, remodeling, home improvement, land development and related
services on a contractual basis and that may include the storage of
materials, equipment and vehicles, provided that all materials, equipment
and vehicles are stored within a completely enclosed building, as
defined herein.
An establishment, that may or may not include administrative
offices, for a business that provides landscaping, construction, remodeling,
home improvement, land development and related services on a contractual
basis but that involves the storage, either indoors or outdoors, of
materials, equipment and vehicles used in the business.
A retail store selling food products and household supplies
for the convenience of the neighboring population.
A lot at the intersection of and fronting on two or more
street rights-of-way.
Washington County, Pennsylvania.
See "lot coverage."
A facility, licensed by the Commonwealth, located within
a building that is not used as a dwelling unit, for the care, on a
regular basis, during part of a twenty-four-hour day, of children
under the age of 16 or handicapped or elderly persons.
See "family day-care home."
The estimated cost to decommission the principal solar energy
system and restore the project parcels minus the estimated salvage
value of the PSES as reflected in the approved decommissioning plan.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
The number of dwelling units per acre of land area.
See "lot, depth of."
A curb cut on or a private driveway leading directly to a
public street right-of-way. In the case of the requirement for direct
vehicular access to an arterial or collector street, the point of
access shall be onto the arterial or collector street without traversing
any other public street right-of-way.
A person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, which
holds a permit issued by the Department of Health (DOH) of the commonwealth
to dispense medical marijuana.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
See "zoning district."
Animals or birds customarily found in a dwelling and kept
for company or pleasure, including dogs and cats, provided that there
is not a sufficient number to constitute a kennel, as defined herein,
hamsters, gerbils, parakeets, canaries, and similar small animals
or birds, but not including any exotic animals such as lions, tigers,
bears, ocelots or other feral cats, large or poisonous snakes, alligators,
monkeys or other animals normally found in a zoo, nor any horses,
pigs, chickens or other fowl or livestock customarily found on a farm.
Any digging or boring of a new well or reworking of an existing
well to explore, develop or produce oil, gas or other hydrocarbons
or to inject gas, water or any other fluids or substances into the
earth.
The derrick, all parts and appurtenances to such structure
and every piece of apparatus, machinery or equipment used, erected
or maintained in connection with oil and gas drilling, as defined
herein.
A private vehicular way providing access between a street
and a parking area or garage located on a lot.
Any principal use or accessory use that involves a window,
service lane, bay or other facility where customers are provided services
either inside or outside their vehicles and where cars may or may
not wait in line to access these services, including but not limited
to drive-in or drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants, banks
or other businesses, exterior automated teller machines (ATMs), quick
oil-change facilities, car washes and similar automotive services
and other such facilities.
A building designed exclusively as living quarters for one
or more families, including single-family, two-family and multifamily
dwellings, but not including hotels, motels or boardinghouses.
The following dwelling types are included in this chapter:
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGa detached residential building that is the only principal structure on the lot, designed exclusively for occupancy by one family, as defined herein, and containing one dwelling unit. (See also "modular dwelling.")
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGa residential building that is the only principal structure on the lot, designed exclusively for occupancy by two families living independently of each other, and containing two dwelling units, each with a separate entrance directly to the outside, including double houses and duplexes.
TRIPLEXa multifamily residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by three families living independently of each other, containing three dwelling units, each having independent access directly to the outside and having no other units above or below.
QUADRUPLEXa multifamily residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by four families living independently of each other, containing four dwelling units, each having independent access directly to the outside and having no other unit above or below.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGa residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other, and containing three or more dwelling units, including triplexes, quadruplexes, garden apartments and townhouses.
GARDEN APARTMENTa multifamily residential building no more than three stories in height containing three or more dwelling units that share a common entrance to the outside, usually through a common corridor, and which dwelling units may have other dwelling units either above or below them.
MODULAR DWELLINGa single-family dwelling that is delivered to its site in at least two sections that are set upon a permanent foundation and the sections joined together. Such dwellings shall be certified as meeting the minimum standards for manufactured housing in Pennsylvania and shall be at least 20 feet wide for the entire length when assembled. Modular dwellings shall be permitted wherever single-family dwellings are allowed, provided that they are installed on a permanent foundation and connected to all available utilities.
PERSONAL-CARE BOARDING HOMEa dwelling, licensed by the Commonwealth, where room and board are provided to more than three permanent residents who are not relatives of the operator and who are mobile or semi-mobile and require specialized services for a period exceeding 24 consecutive hours in such matters as bathing, dressing, diet and medication prescribed for self-administration but who are not in need of hospitalization or skilled nursing care or intermediate nursing care.
TOWNHOUSEa multifamily residential building no more than two and one-half stories in height that contains at least five but no more than eight dwelling units, each of which is separated from the adjoining unit or units by a continuous, unpierced vertical wall extending from the basement to the roof, each unit having independent access directly to the outside and having no other units above or below.
Two or more rooms designed for or occupied by one family
only and containing sleeping facilities, cooking and food storage
facilities, and, in a separate room, toilet and tub or shower, with
hot and cold water supply, all for the exclusive use of the family
occupying the dwelling unit.
See "density, dwelling unit."
A grant of the specified use of a parcel of land to the public,
a corporation or a person in which no permanent structures shall be
permitted without the permission of all parties having rights to the
easement.
The date on which this chapter is duly adopted by the Township
or as specified in the chapter so adopted.
Any facility that includes a boarding stable, as defined
herein, where more than 50 horses are boarded or kept or any facility,
regardless of the number of horses that are boarded or kept, that
includes a riding academy with an outdoor riding ring or an indoor
or outdoor arena where instruction is provided using horses that are
not kept or boarded on the premises and/or where invitational shows
and competitions are held that are open to horse owners that do not
board or keep their horses on the premises and which may or may not
include spectator seating to accommodate the general public.
The removal of surface materials by the action of natural
elements.
A person who, for consideration, agrees or offers to act
as a companion, guide or date for another person or who agrees or
offers to privately model lingerie or to privately perform a striptease
for another person.
A person or business association who or which furnishes,
offers to furnish or advertises to furnish escorts, as one of its
primary business purposes, for a fee, tip or other consideration.
The provision, by continuous conduit of distribution and
collection systems by public utilities, regulated by the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) or any agency, franchisee or authority of Smith Township,
of underground or overhead gas, electrical, telephone, steam, or water
lines, sewers, fire alarm boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, cable
TV (not including towers) and accessories in connection therewith,
reasonably necessary to furnish adequate services within Smith Township
to the general public.
An individual, or two or more persons related by blood, marriage,
adoption or foster child care, including domestic servants or gratuitous
guests thereof, or a group of not more than three unrelated persons
living together without supervision in a dwelling unit, or a group
of not more than eight persons, protected by the provisions of the
Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., as now or hereafter
amended), living together in a group living arrangement with supervision,
provided that those persons do not have a criminal record. "Family"
shall not include persons living together in a group-care facility,
personal-care boarding home or transitional dwelling, as defined herein,
or any other supervised group living arrangement for persons other
than those protected by the Fair Housing Act or persons who constitute
a direct threat to others or their physical property.
A facility, licensed or approved by the Commonwealth, as
required by the laws of the Commonwealth, located within a dwelling,
for the care on a regular basis during part of a twenty-four-hour
day of not more than six children under 16 years of age, including
care provided to children who are relatives of the provider, where
such use shall be secondary to the use of the dwelling for living
purposes.
A site of 10 acres or more used for the pursuit of agriculture,
as defined herein.
See "restaurant, fast-food."
See "concentrated feed lot."
A structure designed for the purpose of enclosing space or
separating parcels of land. The term "fence or wall" shall not include
retaining walls that are designed and approved in accordance with
the Township Grading Ordinance.[3]
See "banks and financial institutions."
Areas adjoining any river, stream, pond or lake subject to
the one-hundred-year-recurrence-interval flood, as delineated by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or subject to erosion caused by a one-hundred-year-recurrence-interval
flood, as well as any areas identified in the future by anyone else
expert and experienced in the preparation of hydrological studies
and the determination of flood lines, subject to the review and approval
of a professional engineer selected by the Township.
The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors
of a building, measured between exterior faces of walls.
The total floor area of a building designed for tenant occupancy,
or areas accessible to the customers, clients or general public, but
excluding storage areas, equipment rooms, food preparation areas in
a restaurant and common areas such as halls, corridors, stairwells,
elevator shafts, restrooms, interior vehicular parking and loading
areas and similar common areas, expressed in square feet and measured
from the center line of joint partitions and exteriors of outside
walls.
The management of forests and timberlands, when practiced
in accordance with accepted silviculture principles, through developing,
cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial
purposes, that does not involve any land development.
The characteristics of the medical marijuana recommended
or limited for a particular patient, including the method of consumption
and any particular dosage, strain, variety and quantity or percentage
of medical marijuana.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
See "building line, front."
See "lot line, front."
See "yard, front."
A building used for the embalming of the deceased for burial,
but not including cremation, and for the display of the deceased and
ceremonies connected therewith before burial or cremation.
An accessory structure or a portion of the principal building,
enclosed on not less than three sides, not being accessible to the
general public, and designed or used for shelter or storage of private
vehicles and personal property of the occupants of the principal building.
See "public parking garage."
See "vehicle repair garage."
See Subsection F under "dwelling types."
A retail establishment that sells flowers, plants, trees
and other natural flora and products that aid their growth and care
and that may include a greenhouse or the growing of plant material
outside on the lot.
A recreational facility that has a course, with a minimum
of nine regulation-size holes, for playing golf as its principal use
and that may have a clubhouse, locker rooms, restaurant, swimming
pool, pro shop, facilities for racquet sports, maintenance facilities
and similar facilities as accessory uses. (For miniature golf courses,
see "recreation, commercial.")
The indoor raising of plants, shrubs and trees for sale and
transplantation.
See "floor area, gross."
A person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, which
holds a permit from the DOH to grow and process medical marijuana.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A commercial recreational enterprise or private club that
has as a principal use a gymnasium, swimming pool or other sports
facility and that may offer massages, whirlpool baths, steam rooms,
saunas and/or medical facilities as accessory uses to the principal
use.
See "manufacturing, heavy."
See "building height."
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade around the sign to the highest point on the
sign and its supporting structures, including the foundation of the
sign if it is elevated above the ground level.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade around the structure to the highest point on
the structure.
See "private-use helipad."
See "no-impact home-based business."
The growing of flowers, plants or vegetables for consumption
by the persons residing on the premises, including backyard composting
for personal use.
An accessory use of a service character, other than a no-impact
home-based business, conducted entirely within a dwelling by the residents
thereof, which use is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling
for living purposes and does not, in any way, change the character
of the dwelling.
An establishment licensed by the Commonwealth for the care
of human patients suffering from physical or mental illnesses and
that may or may not include facilities for major surgery and that
may be publicly or privately operated.
See "animal hospital."
See "motel/hotel."
A document issued by the DOH that permits access to medical
marijuana.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A theater, arena, bowling alley, pool hall, skating rink
or similar cultural or recreational facility located within a completely
enclosed building, as defined herein, excluding those facilities that
are accessory to a church or school.
Any premises devoted wholly or in part to the storage, buying
or selling, salvaging, recycling or otherwise handling or dealing
in scrap metals, building materials, scrapped or used appliances or
other household goods, fixtures, vehicles and vehicle parts, machinery
and machinery parts or other forms of discarded materials.
A structure and/or premises where one or more dogs or cats,
who are six months or older that are not owned by the property owner,
or where four or more dogs or cats, who are six months or older that
are owned by the property owner, are kept, bred, trained or boarded
at any one time, whether for profit or not.
Natural or artificial bodies of water that retain water year-round.
Artificial ponds may be created by dams or result from excavation.
The shoreline of such bodies of water shall be measured from the maximum
condition rather than permanent pool if there is any difference. Lakes
are bodies of water two or more acres in surface area; ponds are bodies
of water less than two acres in surface area.
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots,
tracts or parcels for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively;
A single nonresidential building on a lot or lots, regardless
of the number of occupants or tenure;
Any change of use or structural alteration that results in an
increase in total lot coverage by structures and/or paving; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of or for the purpose of streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A plan, prepared in accordance with the application requirements
of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, for approval
of a land development, as defined herein.[4]
Any site licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PA DEP) for the disposal of solid waste, other than hazardous
waste, as defined and regulated by Federal statute.
See "private landing strip."
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A plan, prepared by a person knowledgeable in the characteristics
of plant materials and the proper techniques for installing and maintaining
them, including a registered architect or landscape architect or a
member of the American Nurserymen's Association, identifying each
tree and shrub by size, type and scientific name; the location of
each, including a planting diagram; and such other diagrams or reports
as are necessary to show the method of planting, staking and mulching,
grass seeding specifications and mixtures and existing trees to be
preserved, if any.
Areas of moderate to high susceptibility to landsliding produced
by the influence of natural and/or man-made activity.
A retail business equipped with a number of individual clothes-washing
machines and clothes dryers and that may include individual dry-cleaning
machines for use by the general public, excluding laundry facilities
provided as an accessory use in a multifamily residential building.
See "manufacturing, light."
Any member of the bovine or equine species and other animals
customarily found on a farm, including but not limited to cows, steers,
horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats, pigs,
chickens, peacocks and other fowl or game animals raised for profit.
An area within a principal building, or on the same lot with
the principal building, designed in accordance with the requirements
of this chapter and used for the standing, loading or unloading of
tractor-trailer trucks and other vehicles.
See "street, local."
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat, or otherwise as permitted by law, to be used, developed or
built upon as a unit.
The total area within the lot lines, excluding the area within
any street right-of-way.
See "corner lot."
That percentage of the lot area covered by the principal
building or buildings and all accessory buildings and structures,
including but not limited to decks, swimming pools, storage sheds,
garages and similar structures.
The mean distance from the street right-of-way line to its
opposite rear lot line, generally measured parallel to the side lot
lines.
That portion of the lot that adjoins the street right-of-way
or through which access is provided to a public street.
A line of record bounding a lot that divides one lot from
another lot or from a public or private street or other public space.
That lot line that is contiguous with the street center line
or the street right-of-way line. In the case of a lot that has no
frontage on a street, the front lot line shall be the lot line through
which vehicular access is provided, regardless of which way the dwelling
faces.
That lot line that is generally opposite the front lot line.
Any lot line that is not a front lot line or rear lot line.
Any lot that, individually or as part of a subdivision, has
been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Washington
County.
See "public parking lot."
The straight-line distance between the point of intersection
of the front building line with the side lot lines.
The mechanical or chemical transformation of raw materials
or substances into new products or other raw materials or any manufacturing
process not included in the definition of "light manufacturing."
The processing and fabrication of certain materials and products
where no process involved will produce noise, vibration, water pollution,
fire hazard or noxious emissions that will disturb or endanger neighboring
properties. Light manufacturing includes but is not limited to the
production of the following goods: home appliances, electrical instruments,
office machines, precision instruments, electronic devices, timepieces,
jewelry, optical goods, musical instruments, novelties, wood products,
printed material, lithographic plates, type composition, machine tools,
dies and gauges, ceramics, apparel, lightweight nonferrous metal castings,
film processing, light sheet metal products, plastic goods, pharmaceutical
goods, and food products, not including animal slaughtering, curing
or rendering of fats and similar activities.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties to a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
that the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
Any establishment, including mobile diagnostic units, where
human patients receive medical, dental, chiropractic, psychological
and surgical diagnosis, treatment and counseling under the care of
a group of licensed medical doctors and dentists and their supporting
staff, where said patients are not provided with board or room or
kept overnight on the premises.
Marijuana for certified medical use as legally permitted
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with Act 16.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
Any facility used to house delivery vehicles for supplying
marijuana plants or seeds to one or more marijuana grower/processors
and/or dispensaries.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A laboratory that submits an application to the Department
for approval to identify, collect, handle and test medical marijuana
and other items used by a medical marijuana organization in the growing,
processing or dispensing of medical marijuana as required under the
act and this part for the Department or a grower/processor.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
A dispensary or a grower/processor of marijuana for medical
purposes.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
One or more administrative offices of individual doctors,
dentists, chiropractors or other medical practitioners and their supporting
staffs where human patients receive diagnosis, treatment and counseling.
The removal of any mineral for sale or other commercial purpose
that involves excavation of the surface of the earth or any other
exposure of the mineral or subsurface of the earth to wind, rain,
sun or other elements of nature. The term "mineral" includes but is
not limited to anthracite and bituminous coal, lignite, including
mining activities carried out beneath the surface of the earth by
means of shafts, tunnels or other underground mine openings, limestone
and dolomite, sand, gravel, rock, stone, earth, slag, ore, vermiculite,
clay and other mineral sources.
A building or group of buildings in a controlled-access and
fenced compound that contains various sizes of individual, compartmentalized
and controlled-access stalls and/or lockers leased to the general
public for a specified period of time for the dead storage of personal
property.
A transportable, single-family dwelling, intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing, that arrives at a site complete and ready for
occupancy, except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembling
operations, and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent
foundation.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land that have been so
designated and improved that they contain two or more mobile home
lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
An establishment engaged in the retail sales of mobile homes,
including the servicing and on-site storage of mobile homes offered
for sale.
The temporary use of a dwelling unit in an approved plan
that is under construction for the purposes of marketing dwelling
units to be constructed.
See Subsection G under "dwelling types."
An establishment that offers transient overnight lodging
accommodations to the general public and that also may provide additional
supporting services such as restaurants, meeting rooms, recreation
facilities and living quarters for a resident manager or proprietor.
See Subsection E under "dwelling types."
Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended
(53 PS § 10101 et seq.)
A facility, including one or more natural gas compressors,
associated buildings, pipes, valves, tanks and other equipment, designed
and constructed to collect and compress natural gas that originates
from one or more natural gas well sites.
A facility that receives natural gas and associated hydrocarbons
from a gathering line system serving one or more well sites that compresses,
condenses, pressurizes or otherwise treats natural gas and which removes
or separates materials such as ethane, propane, butane and other constituents
or similar substances from natural gas to allow such natural gas to
be of such quality as is required or appropriate for transmission
or distribution to commercial markets, including but not limited to
cooling facilities, storage tanks and related equipment and facilities.
See "floor area, net."
A restaurant, or portion thereof, or any other establishment
serving food and/or drink, whether or not the consumption of alcoholic
beverages is permitted or allowed on the premises, that offers, on
a monthly or more-frequent basis, live entertainment on a stage or
bandstand and/or dancing to music, either live or recorded, and that
has a maximum permitted occupancy authorized by the Uniform Construction
Code (UCC) of 50 or more persons.
A business or commercial activity administered or conducted
as an accessory use that is clearly secondary to the use as a residential
dwelling and that involves no customer, client or patient traffic,
whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions
to or from the premises in excess of those normally associated with
residential use.
See "recreation, noncommercial."
Any lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior
to the adoption or amendment of this chapter, but that fails to conform
to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located
by reasons of such adoption or amendment.
Any sign that was lawfully erected and maintained prior to
the adoption or amendment of this chapter that fails to conform to
all applicable regulations and restrictions of this chapter.
A structure or part of a structure that does not comply with
the applicable area and bulk provisions of this chapter or amendment
heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed
prior to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto, or
prior to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location
by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures include but
are not limited to nonconforming signs.
A use, whether of land or of a structure, that does not comply
with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore
or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior
to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto or prior
to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location by
reason of annexation.
Any place where a person appears semi-nude or in a state
of nudity or displays specified anatomical areas and is provided to
be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed or
similarly depicted by other persons who pay money or any form of consideration.
Nude model studio shall not include a proprietary school licensed
by the State of Pennsylvania or a college, junior college or university
supported entirely or in part by public taxation; a private college
or university that maintains and operates educational programs in
which credits are transferable to a college, junior college or university
supported entirely or partly by taxation; or a structure:
Where no sign is visible from the exterior of the structure
and there is no other advertising that indicates a nude or semi-nude
person is available for viewing;
Where in order to participate in a class a student must enroll
at least three days in advance of the class; and
Where no more than one nude or semi-nude model is on the premises
at any one time.
The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area,
vulva, anus, anal cleft or cleavage with less than a fully opaque
covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully
opaque covering of any part of the nipple or the showing of the covered
male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
An institution licensed by the Commonwealth for the care
of human patients requiring skilled nursing or intermediate nursing
care, but not including facilities for major surgery or care and treatment
of drug or alcohol addiction.
See "business or professional offices."[5]
[Added by Ord. 2015-8, 9/21/2015]
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ACCESS ROAD — Ingress and egress from a Township or state
road providing private access to an oil and gas operation and related
operations.
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APPLICANT — An individual, corporation, or entity that
fills out the application.
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CERTIFIED MODULAR LARGE-VOLUME TANKS (MLVTs) — For the
purposes of this chapter, MLVTs include any aboveground, fully enclosed
tank field assembled from multiple uniform factory prepared components
which provides primary containment for 100,000 barrels or more of
fluids. By this definition, MLVTs are typically field assembled on
an oil and gas location for temporary use or are dismantled for movement
to a different location following their use. This shall include modular
large-volume tanks that meet American Water Works Association (AWWA)
standards or standards deemed to be acceptable by the Township.
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CERTIFIED SMALL TEMPORARY WATER FACILITIES — An aboveground
assembly of fluid storage containers that are each certified by a
nationally recognized testing laboratory or organization such as the
ASA, American Petroleum Institute, ASTM International, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the American Water Works Association
and used to support hydraulic fracturing operations for four months
or less during a twelve-month period. Certified small temporary water
facilities shall not include regular trucking of fluids to or from
the storage containers.
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CERTIFIED WATER STORAGE FACILITIES, LARGE — An aboveground
assembly of fluid storage containers that are each certified by a
nationally recognized testing laboratory or organization such as the
ASA, American Petroleum Institute, ASTM International, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the American Water Works Association
and used to hold over 100,000 barrels of freshwater and/or reuse water
for use in oil and gas development.
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CERTIFIED WATER STORAGE FACILITIES, MEDIUM — An aboveground
assembly of fluid storage containers that are each certified by a
nationally recognized testing laboratory or organization such as the
ASA, American Petroleum Institute, ASTM International, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the American Water Works Association
and used to hold between 10,000 barrels to 100,000 barrels of freshwater
and/or reuse water for use in oil and gas development.
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CERTIFIED WATER STORAGE FACILITIES, SMALL — An aboveground
assembly of fluid storage containers that are each certified by a
nationally recognized testing laboratory or organization such as the
ASA, American Petroleum Institute, ASTM International, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the American Water Works Association
and used to hold less than 10,000 barrels of freshwater and/or reuse
water for use in oil and gas development.
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COMPRESSOR — A device that raises the pressure of natural
gas and/or by-products. Compressors are any devices that create a
pressure differential to move or compress vapor or a gas. Any such
device used alone or in series to adequately move a vapor or a gas
is considered a compressor.
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COMPRESSOR STATION — A facility designed and constructed
to compress natural gas that originates from a single well site or
a collection of well sites and to remove water or water vapor from
the natural gas, which operates as a midstream facility for delivery
of gas to a transmission pipeline, distribution pipeline, processing
plant or underground storage field, including one or more natural
gas, electric compressors, associated buildings, pipes (other than
regulated or unregulated local distribution system, gathering system
or transportation lines served by the compressor station), valves,
tanks and other equipment.
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CONVENTIONAL WELL — A conventional gas well, also known
as a "traditional well," is a well that produces oil or gas from a
conventional formation. Conventional formations are variable in age,
occurring both above and below the Elk Sandstone. While a limited
number of such gas wells are capable of producing sufficient quantities
of gas without stimulation by hydraulic fracturing, most conventional
wells require this stimulation technique due to the reservoir characteristics
in Pennsylvania. Stimulation of conventional wells, however, generally
does not require the volume of fluids typically required for unconventional
wells.
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DEP — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), the commonwealth agency responsible for overseeing and administering
environmental laws and regulations within Pennsylvania.
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DRILLING — Any digging or boring activity of a new well
or the reworking of an existing well to explore, develop or produce
oil, gas or other hydrocarbons or to inject gas, water or any other
fluids or substances into the earth.
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EXPLORATION — Temporary geologic or geophysical activities
such as drilling in context with the zoning definition in this chapter,
including seismic surveys related to the search for natural gas or
other subsurface hydrocarbons.
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EXTRACTION — The act or process of separating, obtaining
or removing a substance, such as a mineral, including but not limited
to coal, sulfur, petroleum, oil and/or gas, and including oil and
gas development.
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FLOWBACK — The process of flowing a completed/fractured
well for the purposes of recovering water and residual sand from the
gas stream prior to sending gas down a sales line.
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FRESHWATER — Any water obtained from a water purveyor
or portion of the generally recognized hydrologic cycle which occupies
the pore spaces and fractures of saturated subsurface materials. Freshwater
does not include exploration and production fluids such as produced
water, flowback fluids, or reuse water.
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HYDRAULIC FRACTURING — The process of injecting water,
customized fluids, sand, steam, gas or other agents into a gas well
under pressure to improve gas recovery.
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IMPOUNDMENT — A facility or part of a facility which is
a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area
formed primarily of earthen materials, although it may be lined with
synthetic materials, and which is designed to hold an accumulation
of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids. The term includes
holding, storage, settling and aeration pits, ponds and lagoons. The
term does not include injection wells.
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MINERAL EXTRACTION — Any extraction of any mineral for
sale or other commercial purpose that involves removal of the surface
of the earth or exposure of the mineral or subsurface of the earth
to wind, rain, sun or other elements of nature. The term "mineral"
includes, but is not limited to, anthracite and bituminous coal, lignite,
including mining activities carried out beneath the surface of the
earth by means of shafts, tunnels, other underground mine openings,
limestone and dolomite, sand, gravel, rock, stone, earth, slag, ore,
vermiculite, clay and other mineral resources.
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NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS (NGL) — Components of natural gas
that are liquid at the surface of in-field facilities or in processing
plants. Natural gas liquids can be classified according to their vapor
pressures as low (condensate), intermediate (natural gasoline) and
high (liquefied petroleum gas) vapor pressure. Natural gas liquids
include ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane and heptanes. The
term is commonly abbreviated as NGL.
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OIL AND GAS — Crude oil, natural gas, methane gas, coal
bed methane gas, propane, butane and/or any other liquid hydrocarbons,
constituents or similar substances that are produced by drilling an
oil or gas well.
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OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT — The well site preparation, well
site construction, drilling, hydraulic fracturing and/or site restoration
associated with an oil and/or gas well of any depth; water and other
fluid storage, impoundment located on the same parcel as a well site;
and the installment and use of all associated equipment, including
tanks, meters and other equipment and structures, whether permanent
or temporary. This also includes the site preparation, construction,
installment, maintenance and repair of other equipment and activities
associated with the exploration for and production of oil and gas.
This does not include oil and gas pipelines, compressor stations and
natural gas processing plants or facilities performing the equivalent
functions that operate as midstream facilities that are only authorized
consistent with the Smith Township Zoning Ordinance as a conditional
use.
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OIL AND GAS PIPELINES — All parts of those physical facilities
regulated by federal, state or local agencies such as PHMSA, the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection and/or the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission through which oil and/or natural gas moves in transportation,
including pipe, valves, and other appurtenances attached to pipes,
compressor units, metering stations, regulator stations, delivery
stations, holders, and fabricated assemblies.
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OPERATOR — Any person, partnership, company, corporation,
and its subcontractors and agents who have an interest in real estate
for the purpose of exploring or drilling for, producing, developing
or transporting oil or gas.
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PHMSA — The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates the design
and installation of pipelines.
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PIPELINE — All parts of those physical facilities through
which gas, hazardous liquids, freshwater, salt water, or chemicals
move in transportation, including but not limited to pipe, valves
and other appurtenance attached to pipe, whether or not laid in public
or private easement or public or private right-of-way within the Township,
including, but not limited to, gathering lines, production lines,
and transmission lines.
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PROCESSING PLANT — A facility designed and constructed
to remove materials such as ethane, propane, butane, and other constituents
or similar substances from natural gas to allow such natural gas to
be of such quality as is required or appropriate for transmission
or distribution to commercial markets, but not including facilities
or equipment that is designed and constructed primarily to remove
water, water vapor, oil, or naturally occurring liquids from the natural
gas, including dew point control facilities. When used in this chapter,
the term shall include any similar facilities performing the equivalent
or similar functions.
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PROTECTED STRUCTURE — Any residential subdivision plan
consisting of five of more houses that adjoins a well site and any
hospital, school, cemetery, religious institution, public park, public
playground or other public building located within 1,500 feet of an
oil and gas development site.
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PUBLIC UTILITY INSTALLATION/SUBSTATION(S) — Any administrative
building, maintenance building, garage or other structure intended
for human occupancy or storage of movable equipment or any part of
the essential services, as defined herein, other than the general
transmission distribution system provided by public utilities, regulated
by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that is used to power, provide
transmission lines, switching facilities or similar facilities to
any oil and gas drilling, development or related activities.
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REENTRY DRILLING — The addition of wells at a Township-approved
well site after the previously approved oil and gas development was
completed and the site was reclaimed.
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REENTRY-RELATED OPERATIONS — The conduct of any related
operations at a Township-approved site that were not included in a
previous approval (permitted or conditional).
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RELATED OPERATIONS — The activities and operations that
are ancillary to oil and gas drilling, such as processing plants,
compressor stations, certified water storage (small, medium, large
and MLVTs), temporary work and bunk trailers, storage depots, traffic
control sites and truck staging areas.
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RESIDUAL WASTE — Residual waste is nonhazardous industrial
waste. It includes waste material (solid, liquid or gas), impaired
fluids and flowback produced by industrial, mining and agricultural
operations. It excludes certain coal mining wastes and wastes from
normal farming activities.
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REUSE WATER — Any water that has been used for drilling
or completing an unconventional well.
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STORAGE DEPOT — A permanent off-street facility designed
as a point for collection and/or storage of materials, supplies, equipment,
and/or other solid by-products from oil and gas development.
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TRAFFIC CONTROL SITES — An area used as a stopping place
or assembly point designed to accommodate trucks during their course
of travel to an oil and gas development and intended to be used for
four months or less during a twelve-month period. This definition
does not include the transfer of loads to, from or between trucks.
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TRUCK STAGING AREA — An off-street facility used for the
transfer of loads to, from or between trucks for oil and gas development
or a traffic control site intended to be used for more than four months
out of a twelve-month period pursuant to a stand-alone agreement with
the property owner.
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UNCONVENTIONAL WELL — An unconventional gas well is a
well that is drilled into an unconventional formation, which is defined
as a geologic shale formation below the base of the Elk Sandstone
or its geologic equivalent where natural gas generally cannot be produced
except by horizontal or vertical well bores stimulated by hydraulic
fracturing. (Example: Marcellus, Utica, Mandata, Huron, Rhinestreet,
and Upper Devonian.)
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WELL SITE — The area of surface operations surrounding
the surface location of a well or wells. The site can include facilities,
structures, materials, water containment devices and equipment, whether
permanent or temporary, necessary for or incidental to the preparation,
construction, drilling, production or operation of an oil or gas well.
Such area shall not include an access road to the well site.
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The sale of products raised, grown or produced on a farm,
provided that the sales are conducted on the farm property where the
products are raised, grown or produced and any products sold that
are not raised, grown or produced on the farm shall be less than 50%
of the total sales.
Any person, partnership, company or corporation, and its
subcontractors and agents, who have an interest in real estate for
the purpose of exploring or drilling for, producing or transporting
oil or gas.
See "landowner."
A portion of a lot designated for the parking of motor vehicles
in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
See "public parking garage."
See "public parking lot."
A portion of a garage or parking area designated for the
parking of one motor vehicle in accordance with the requirements of
this chapter.
The distance specified by this chapter from the entire boundary
of a site proposed for a development, as required by this chapter.
An individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation,
association or other legal entity.
See Subsection H under "dwelling types."
Any enterprise providing services to a person, their apparel
or personal effects commonly carried on or about their person, including
but not limited to shoe repair, tailoring, clothes cleaning, water
repair, beauty shops, barbershops and the like.
Any establishment that offers services for domestic pets,
including bathing, trimming, manicuring, massaging or other services
to maintain the animals' well-being, and that may sell pet care products
and pet supplies as an accessory use, but not including an animal
hospital or kennel, as defined herein.
See "domestic pets."
A site, under single ownership and control at the time an
application is filed, that is proposed to be developed as a unit for
two or more buildings containing business or professional offices,
research and development facilities or light manufacturing in a campus
environment utilizing common means of access, parking and loading
and uniform signage and may include other shared features.
A site, controlled by a landowner, to be developed as a single
entity for a number of dwelling units, the development plan for which
does not correspond in lot size, bulk, type of dwelling, or use, density
or intensity, lot coverage and required open space to the regulations
established in any one zoning district.
The Planning Commission of Smith Township, Washington County,
Pennsylvania.
See "lakes and ponds."
A roofed or uncovered structure without enclosing walls that
is attached to or part of the principal building and that has direct
access to and from the principal building.
An establishment that offers private educational services
to children who are under the minimum age for education in public
schools.
The building or structure in which the principal use is conducted.
A solar collection system principally used to capture solar
energy, convert it to electrical energy or thermal power, and supply
electrical or thermal power primarily for off-site use. Principal
solar energy systems consist of one or more freestanding ground- or
roof-mounted solar collector devices, solar related equipment and
other accessory structures and buildings, including light reflectors,
concentrators, and heat exchangers; substations; electrical infrastructure;
transmission lines and other appurtenant structures.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
The primary or predominant use to which the property is or
may be devoted and to which all other uses on the premises are accessory.
Owned, operated or controlled by an individual, group of
individuals, association or corporation, not for profit, and restricted
to members and their guests.
Any establishment, other than a sportsmen's club, operated
by a legally chartered organization for social, recreational, educational,
fraternal or sororal purposes, that is open only to members and their
guests and not to the general public.
See "garage, private."
An unimproved area of land designated for fixed-wing aircraft
to land and take off, licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
Bureau of Aviation.
See "sanitary sewer, private."
See "school, public and private."
The keeping of horses and/or ponies for personal use and
enjoyment of the residents of the lot, not involving any profit-making
activity.
See "street, private."
A helicopter landing pad, licensed by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation, Bureau of Aviation, and regulated by the Federal
Aviation Administration, that is owned by a private entity and restricted
to use by helicopters owned by such entity.
See "business or professional offices."
The PSES has not for 12 continuous months generated electric
energy and delivered such energy to the utility grid; been decommissioned
in accordance with this zoning order; and such cessation of operations
is not attributable to an event beyond the reasonable control of the
property owner or applicant, as the case may be.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
Any occupied residence, business, school, church or public building
located within 1,000 feet of a natural gas wellhead, as defined herein,
that may be impacted by noise generated from the drilling or hydraulic
fracturing at the well site, as defined herein, excluding any structure
owned by an oil or gas lessor who has signed a lease with the operator
granting surface rights to drill the subject well or whose owner or
occupants have signed a waiver relieving the operator from complying
with the noise abatement provisions of this chapter.
Any (public/private) hospital, school, cemetery, religious institution
and/or other public building located within 1,000 feet of a medical
marijuana grower/processor site.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
Owned, operated or controlled by a government agency, Federal,
State, County or local.
Any building owned or operated by a government agency, Federal,
State, County or local, used to provide services to the public, including
administrative offices, public works buildings and storage yards,
libraries, museums, fire companies, senior centers, recreation buildings,
government service centers and similar facilities.
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act."[8]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the 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.
A parking area that is located in a structure that is the
principal use on the lot and that may be operated by either a public
agency or private entity, whether for profit or not, and that is available
for use by the general public, usually for a fee.
A parking area on the surface of the ground that is the principal
use on the lot, that may be operated by either a public agency or
private entity, whether for profit or not, and that is available for
use by the general public, usually for a fee.
See "recreation, public."
See "sanitary sewer, public."
See "school, public and private."
See "street, public."
Any administrative building, maintenance building, garage
or other structure intended for human occupancy or storage of movable
equipment or any part of the essential services, as defined herein,
other than the general transmission distribution system provided by
public utilities, regulated by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
or any agency, franchisee or authority of Smith Township, that is
reasonably necessary to furnish adequate services to the general public,
both within Smith Township and outside the Township, including but
not limited to long-distance transmission facilities, such as electrical
power lines or high-pressure natural gas or petroleum lines, switching
facilities, substations and similar facilities.
See Subsection D under "dwelling types."
See "lot line, rear."
See "yard, rear."
A single-axle or multiple-axle structure mounted on wheels
or otherwise capable of being made mobile, either with its own motive
power or designed to be mounted on or drawn by an automotive vehicle,
for the purpose of travel, camping, vacation and recreational use,
including but not limited to travel trailers, mobile homes, motor
homes, tent trailers, boats, boat trailers, pick-up campers, horse
trailers, snowmobiles, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
A tract or contiguous tracts of land under single ownership,
improved with the necessary utility connections and other related
facilities and which contains two or more berths for the seasonal
or transient parking of recreational vehicles, but not including any
occupancy of the vehicles as permanent dwelling units.
[Added by Ord. 2013-1, 9/9/2013]
An enterprise operated for profit by other than a public
entity, either indoors or outdoors, for the pursuit of sports, recreation
or leisure activities, including but not limited to such establishments
as miniature golf, golf or batting practice facilities, bowling alleys,
ice or roller rinks, playing fields, racquet clubs, swimming pools,
theaters, dance halls, amusement parks, amphitheaters and similar
facilities.
An enterprise operated by an individual, association or corporation,
other than a public entity, whether or not for profit, and whether
or not the facilities are advertised to the general public, including
sports, recreation or leisure activities, the use of which is limited
to members and their guests, including but not limited to such establishments
as country clubs, golf courses, sportsmen's clubs, golf practice facilities,
playing fields, tennis or racquet clubs, swimming pools and similar
facilities.
An enterprise operated by a public entity, available to the
general public, whether or not an admission fee is charged, including
either indoor or outdoor facilities, for the pursuit of sports, recreation
or leisure activities, including but not limited to parks, playgrounds,
playing fields, golf courses, golf or batting practice facilities,
ice rinks, tennis courts, swimming pools and similar facilities.
The registry established by the DOH for all medical marijuana
organizations and practitioners.
[Added by Ord. No. 2018-1, 7/16/2018]
See "vehicle repair garage."
A service establishment providing maintenance and repairs
of items that can be carried in by hand, including personal effects
(such as jewelry, watches, bicycles), small household appliances,
office equipment, small gasoline engines and similar items, but not
including repair of large appliances, motorized vehicles or heavy
equipment.
Any establishment, including laboratories, that carries on
investigation in the natural, physical or social sciences, or engineering
and development as an extension of such investigation, with the objective
of creating end products and that may include supporting storage and
transportation facilities.
An establishment that offers food and beverages for sale
and consumption, either on or on and off the premises, as the principal
use and may serve alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises
as an accessory use.
A restaurant principally devoted to the retail sale of prepared
or pre-measured food items, where such food items are ordered by the
customer at a window, counter or vehicle rather than from a table,
and that is designed to facilitate quick service and take-out orders.
The sale on the premises of commodities and/or services directly
to consumers, but not including the manufacturing or processing of
any products.
A residential development designed primarily or exclusively
for occupancy by elderly or retired persons and that features one
or more of the following special services associated with the needs
of elderly or retired persons, such as transportation, limited nursing
facilities, dispensaries, common dining facilities, minimum maintenance,
laundry service, recreation programs, personal services (such as beauty
shops and barbershops, or cleaner's valet service), florist and/or
gift shops, doctor's offices, branch bank, postal service and similar
services or facilities.
An establishment that includes a boarding stable, as defined
herein, where no more than 50 horses are boarded or kept, and which
may include an outdoor riding ring or an indoor or outdoor arena,
which does not include spectator seating available to the general
public, where instruction in riding, jumping and showing is offered
for a fee using only horses that are kept or boarded on the premises
and where horses that are hired for riding are limited to the horses
that are kept or boarded on the premises. (See also "equestrian center.")
An easement or an area of land reserved or dedicated for
public or private purposes to provide access across private property.
Any premises devoted to the dismantling or wrecking of used
motor vehicles, trucks, trailers, farm equipment or mobile homes or
the storage, sale, crushing or dumping of dismantled or partially
dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts, but not including
the reassembly of any vehicles or equipment for resale.
An on-lot disposal system providing for the disposal of effluent
for one building and its accessory building on a single lot, subject
to the approval of the Washington County Local Cooperative Sanitation
Council.
Any municipal or privately owned sewer system in which sewage
is collected from more than one lot and piped to an approved sewage
disposal plant or approved community treatment system, including capped
sewers that are installed to Township specifications.
A privately operated, for-profit establishment providing
technical or skilled training, vocational or trade educational courses
and programs.
An accredited institution of learning that offers elementary
and secondary level instruction or that offers associate, bachelor
or higher degrees in the several branches of learning required by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The area required for one individual to sit on, as regulated
by the Township Building Code.[9]
See "mini-warehouse or self-storage facility."
A retail establishment that provides for one or more of the
following activities:
The servicing of motor vehicles and operations incidental thereto
and limited to one or more of the following activities: the retail
sale of petroleum products; retail sales and installation of automotive
accessories; automobile washing by hand; waxing and polishing of automobiles;
tire changing and repairing (excluding recapping); battery service,
changing and replacement, excluding repair and rebuilding; radiator
cleaning and flushing, excluding steam cleaning and repair; installation
of accessories; and State inspection;
The following operations, if conducted within a completely enclosed
building, as defined by this chapter: lubrication of motor vehicles;
replacement of exhaust systems; brake servicing, limited to servicing
and replacement of brake cylinders, lines and brake shoes; wheel balancing;
the testing, adjustment and replacement or servicing of carburetors,
filters, generators, points, rotors, spark plugs, voltage regulators,
water and fuel pumps, water hoses and wiring; and/or
The operation of a convenience store, provided that retail sale
of petroleum products is a part of the operation.
Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate
sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, and patently
offensive representations, descriptions or acts of masturbation, excretory
functions, homosexuality, sodomy, sexual intercourse or physical contact
with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks,
or, if such person be female, breast.
A business or commercial enterprise that, as one of its principal
business purposes, offers for any form of consideration:
An outdoor facility, whether operated for profit or not,
that includes facilities for one or more of the following activities:
tournaments, archery, target shooting, skeet or trap shooting, marksmanship
and similar activities, and that may or may not include a clubhouse.
A site under one ownership and control that is developed
as a unit for two or more retail businesses in one or more buildings
and designed with shared parking, loading and access facilities.
See "lot line, side."
See "yard, side."
Any structure or device used to attract attention by word
or graphic display.
See "height of sign."
The area enclosed by one continuous line connecting the extreme
points or edges of an advertising panel containing letters or the
sum of the areas of each letter in the case of freestanding letters
that are mounted on a building wall rather than painted on or affixed
to an advertising panel. In the case of freestanding pole or ground
signs, this area shall not include the main supporting sign structure
but shall include all other ornamental attachments and connecting
features that are not part of the main supports of the sign. In the
case of letters that are painted on or affixed to an awning or canopy,
rather than mounted on a wall or affixed to an advertising panel,
the area of the sign shall be the area of the geometric shape formed
by outlining the height and width of all of the letters, including
the space between the individual letters. For two-sided signs, only
one face is counted in computing the surface area.
See definitions for various types and classes of signs in Part 14 of this chapter.
See Subsection A under "dwelling types."
A tract of land or one or more contiguous lots proposed for
development.
The total area within the boundary lines of a site proposed
for development, expressed in acres or square feet.
The degree of rise or descent of the land surface, calculated
by dividing the number of feet of vertical rise/descent in elevation
by the number of feet of horizontal distance, expressed as a percentage.
A grouping of multiple solar modules with the purpose of
harvesting solar energy.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
The smallest basic solar electric device which generates
electricity when exposed to light.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
Radiant energy (direct, diffuse and/or reflective) received
from the sun.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
A solar photovoltaic cell, module, panel, shingle, or array,
or solar hot air or water collector device, which relies upon solar
radiation as an energy source for collection, inversion, storage,
and distribution of solar energy for electricity generation or transfer
of stored heat.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
The practice of grazing livestock on the same area of land
occupied by a PSES.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
A grouping of solar cells with the purpose of harvesting
solar energy.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
Items including a solar photovoltaic cell, module, or array,
or solar hot air or water collector device, panels, lines, pumps,
batteries, mounting brackets, framing and possibly foundations or
other structures used or intended to be used for collection of solar
energy.
[Added by Ord. No. 2023-2, 4/17/2023]
The ultimate disposition of unwanted or discarded materials
from households and businesses, including garbage and nonrecyclable
materials with insufficient liquid content to be free flowing.
See "use by special exception."
Human genitals, pubic region, anus, buttocks, female breast
below a point immediately above the top of the areola, or human male
genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely covered.
Any one of the following:
A legally chartered organization for the pursuit of hunting,
fishing, marksmanship and related activities, that may or may not
include a clubhouse and that has a roster of membership and a regular
calendar of activities that are limited to members and their guests.
See "private stable."
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling
next above it, excluding cellars.
A public or recorded private right-of-way that affords primary
means of vehicular access to abutting property, but not including
alleys.
A public street that serves large volumes of high-speed and
long-distance traffic. Streets classified as arterial in the Township
for the purposes of interpreting this chapter are: U.S. Route 22 and
PA Route 18.
A public street that, in addition to giving access to abutting
lots, intercepts local streets and provides a route for carrying considerable
volumes of local traffic to community facilities and arterial streets.
Streets classified as collector streets in the Township for the purposes
of interpreting this chapter are:
Atlas-Cherry Valley Road.
Bavington Road.
Francis Mine State Road.
Joffre-Bulger Road.
Grant Street (formerly Joffre-Bulger Road).
Joffre-Cherry Valley Road.
Langeloth Road.
Ostop Road.
Pleasant Valley Road.
Bulger-Candor Road.
Keys Road.
Plum Run Road.
Log Cabin Road.
The legal right-of-way line that forms the dividing line
between the street and the lot.
Any street in the Township not defined by this chapter as
an arterial street or a collector street.
A street, including the entire private right-of-way, that
is privately owned and maintained and that is intended for private,
rather than public, use.
A public right-of-way, dedicated and open for public use,
that has been adopted by the Township, County, Commonwealth or other
governmental body.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
See "height of structure."
A change or rearrangement of the structural parts or in the
exit facilities, or an enlargement or diminution of the structure,
whether by extending on the side or increasing the height or depth,
or the moving from one location or position to another.
The division of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means
into two or more lots, tracts or parcels or other divisions of land,
including any changes in existing lot lines, for the purpose, whether
immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution
to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development;
provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural
purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new
street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be
exempted.
A commercial establishment engaged in storing and selling
building supplies, industrial supplies or feed and grain primarily
to businesses, rather than to the general public.
See "sign, surface area of."
Any body of water or receptacle for water having a depth
at any point greater than two feet and a surface area greater than
100 square feet, used or intended to be used for swimming or bathing
and constructed, installed or maintained outside any building.
See "bar or tavern."
See "construction trailer, temporary."
Mobile homes, bunk houses or similar temporary dwelling units
designed to house transient contractors working at oil and gas drilling
well sites in the Township or immediately adjacent municipalities.
Any use or structure that is intended to be used either on
a seasonal basis, during the time of construction and completion of
an approved development or for any other period of time that is six
months or less.
See Subsection I under "dwelling types."
The Township of Smith, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
A report prepared by a qualified traffic engineer utilizing
the manuals and methodologies of the Institute of Transportation Engineers
(ITE) to analyze:
Projected traffic volumes associated with a proposed development;
Inventory of existing roadway and traffic conditions in the
vicinity of the site, including traffic controls, peak-hour and average
daily traffic, planned roadway improvements by others, lane widths
and roadway conditions;
Existing and future levels of service of streets, intersections
and driveways in the immediate vicinity of the plan with and without
the proposed development, access to the site utilizing PennDOT criteria
and on-site circulation (pedestrian and vehicular) and traffic controls;
and
Recommendations for mitigating negative impacts and maximizing
positive impacts.
See Subsection C under "dwelling types."
An establishment engaged in the rental, sale and/or service
of vehicles in excess of 26,000 pounds' GVW and/or any other heavy
equipment, including but not limited to construction or farm equipment,
whether or not the equipment is classified as a motor vehicle.
A facility to accommodate the fueling, routine maintenance
and storage of trucks and other motorized equipment and trailers and
that may provide warehousing and transfer facilities as accessory
uses.
See Subsection B under "dwelling types."
The purpose, business or activity for which any land or structure
is utilized.
A use authorized by this chapter that may be granted only
by the Zoning Hearing Board following a public hearing, subject to
express standards and criteria contained in this chapter.
A departure from the specific regulations of this chapter
that may be granted by the Zoning Hearing Board, in accordance with
the criteria established by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code (Act 247, as amended), for a particular piece of property that,
because of special circumstances applicable to it, cannot be developed
in compliance with the literal terms of this chapter without undue
physical hardship.
An establishment engaged in the retail sales and installation
of accessories for trucks, automobiles and motorcycles, including
but not limited to such items as tires, hubcaps, mirrors, seat covers,
floor mats, tonneau covers, truck caps, windshields, windshield wipers,
trim packages, running boards and the like, but not including any
mechanical parts.
The rental, sales and service of automobiles, motorcycles
and trucks under 26,000 pounds' GVW, but not including any heavy equipment
or any other vehicle or equipment that is not classified as a "motor
vehicle" under the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code.
A building, or part thereof, used for the servicing and repair
of motor vehicles, including engine overhaul, body work and recapping/retreading
of tires, and where all storage of parts and dismantled vehicles and
all repair work are conducted entirely inside a completely enclosed
building, as defined by this chapter.
Booths, stalls, partitioned portions of a room, rooms or
other enclosures that are available for viewing:
Films, movies, videos or visual reproductions of any kind depicting
or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical
areas; or
Persons who appear in a state of nudity or semi-nudity or who
offer performances or presentations characterized by the exposure
of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities, as
defined by this chapter.
See "fence or wall."
A building used for the storage and handling of freight or
merchandise, but not including the maintenance or fueling of commercial
vehicles. Warehousing that is incidental to retail sales and that
does not constitute in excess of 30% of the total floor area of the
retail establishment shall be excluded from this definition.
The precise point of entry into the ground where drilling
takes place, including the structure that is placed over the opening
upon completion of drilling and that is maintained during production.
All of the area occupied by the drilling equipment, as defined
herein, and all surface facilities, structures, water- and other fluid-storage
impoundments and storage tanks and associated equipment, including
tanks, meters and other permanent or temporary structures and equipment
incidental to oil and gas drilling, as defined herein, including facilities
and equipment necessary for site preparation, site construction, drilling,
hydraulic fracturing, site restoration, production and operation of
the well upon completion of drilling.
An establishment engaged in selling merchandise to retailers,
institutional, commercial or professional business customers or other
wholesalers, rather than to the general public, or acting as a broker
for such merchandise sales.
A wind power generating facility (WPGF), as defined herein,
primarily for private use to reduce on-site consumption of utility
power.
All necessary devices that together convert wind energy into
electricity, including the rotor, nacelle, generator, WPGF tower,
electrical components, WPGF foundation, transformer and electrical
cabling from the WPGF tower to the substation.
The entity responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance
of the WPGF, including any third-party subcontractors.
The entity or entities with an equity interest in the WPGF,
including their respective successors and assigns. Owner does not
mean the property owner from whom land is leased for locating the
WPGF (unless the property owner has an equity interest in the WPGF),
or any person holding a security interest in the WPGF solely to secure
an extension of credit, or a person foreclosing on such security interest,
provided that, after foreclosure, such person seeks to sell the WPGF
at the earliest practicable date.
The collection of WPGFs and substations as specified in the
siting approval application pursuant to § 1103, Subsection
42, of this chapter.
The apparatus that connects the electrical collection system
of the WPGF and increases the voltage for connection with the utility's
transmission lines.
The support structure to which the nacelle and rotor are
attached.
The distance from the rotor blade at its highest point to
the top surface of the WPGF foundation.
A required open space located on a lot that is unobstructed
by any portion of a principal structure, other than certain projections
expressly permitted by this chapter.
A yard extending between side lot lines across the full lot
width from the street right-of-way line to a line parallel to the
front lot line, the minimum horizontal distance required by this chapter.
A yard extending across the rear of the lot between the required
side yard lines parallel to the rear lot line, the minimum horizontal
distance required by this chapter.
A yard extending from the required front building line to
the rear lot line parallel to the side lot line, the minimum horizontal
distance required by this chapter.
A document issued by the Township Zoning Officer stating
that the proposed use of a particular structure, building or lot conforms
to the requirements of this chapter.
An area accurately defined as to boundaries and location
on the Zoning District Map and within which area only certain types
of land uses are permitted and within which other types of land uses
are excluded, as set forth in this chapter.
The official map delineating the zoning districts of Smith
Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, together will all amendments
subsequently adopted, which is incorporated in and made a part of
this chapter by reference thereto.[10]
The Zoning Hearing Board of the Township of Smith, Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
That person appointed by the Smith Township Board of Supervisors
and charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing
this chapter.
[5]
Editor’s Note: The former definitions of “oil
and gas,” “oil and gas drilling,” “oil and
gas drilling subsurface facilities” and “oil and gas drilling
surface facilities,” which immediately followed this definition,
were repealed by Ord. 2015-8, 9/21/2015. See now the definitions under
“oil and gas development, drilling and related operations.”
[6]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 721.2 et seq.
[7]
Editor's Note: See 32 P.S. § 631 et seq.
