From and after the passage and approval of this ordinance, the several
classes of districts specified herein shall be established and the
following regulations shall be in full force and effect.
This ordinance shall be known as the Zoning Ordinance, and the map
referred to herein and made a part of this ordinance shall be known
as the Zoning District Map.
The effective date of this ordinance shall be the date of its signature
of approval by the Mayor, and as provided in the Municipal Code and
its amendments.
Should any section or provision of this ordinance be declared invalid,
the same shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole
nor any part thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid.
Where a provision of this ordinance is found to be in conflict with
a provision of any building or housing code or in any applicable health
regulation or in any other ordinance of the Municipality existing
on the effective date of this ordinance, or in any regulation issued
under the authority of such code or ordinance, the provision, which
establishes the higher standard for the protection of health, safety
and welfare shall prevail.
The purposes of this ordinance are set forth in general terms in
the act of Legislature which enables the Municipality to enact this
ordinance, and in the preamble to this ordinance. The provisions of
this ordinance shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the
protection of health, safety and welfare of the people at large, and
to be designed to encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable
community standards of physical environment.
It is fundamental to the purpose of this ordinance to recognize that
many existing lots or properties throughout the Municipality are less
adequate than others because of their location, size, odd shape or
difficult topography, or any combination of these limitations. A claim
of hardship under this ordinance, therefore, shall not be allowed
on behalf of any lot because the physical characteristics of the lot
prevent it from being built upon exactly as in another lot abutting
or close to it or in the same zoning district. The regulations herein
permit most such lots to be satisfactorily built upon. There can be
some alleviation for other lots through variances (minor concessions)
granted by the Zoning Hearing Board when special physical conditions
make literal enforcement of the regulations either unsatisfactory
in the interest of the people at large or actually impossible. It
is not the ordinance but the physical conditions that prevent a lot
from accommodating a type or area or bulk of structure unsuited to
it. For typical example, it is not intended that each lot in a Multiple-Family
Dwelling District automatically become the prospective site for a
multiple-family dwelling and use. If a lot in such a district after
provision of the yards and other spaces prescribed for its own and
adjacent property protection has a buildable area too small in area
or dimensions for a multiple-family dwelling, then the lot may be
used under its district regulations for another type of dwelling or
building permitted in that district.
This ordinance, including the Zoning District Map, together with
any succeeding amendments thereto, shall be on file and may be viewed
by any interested party in the municipal office.