City of Clairton, PA Terminology

Words used in the present tense include the future.

The singular includes the plural, and the plural the singular.

The word "person" includes a corporation, partnership, association and individual.

The word "shall" is always mandatory. The word "may" is permissive.

The word "lot" includes the word "parcel," "tract," or "plot."

The word "used" or "occupied" as applied to any land or building shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged or designed to be used or occupied."

The word "City" means the City of Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; the terms "Council," "Zoning Board," and "Planning Commission" mean, respectively, the City Council, the Zoning Hearing Board and the City Planning Commission. "County" refers to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

ADULT-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENT (or ADULT USE)

If a word is not defined in this chapter, but is defined in Chapter 307, Subdivision and Land Development (SALDO) of the City of Clairton, as amended, then the SALDO definition shall also apply to this chapter. If a term is not defined in this chapter or the SALDO, then the term shall have its plain and ordinary meaning, within the context of the provision. A standard reference dictionary should be consulted.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:

ACCESSORY USE

A subordinate use which is clearly incidental and related to that of a main structure or main use of land.

The definition for this term and for all uses included under this term shall apply as are provided in Title 68, Part II, Subpart E, Chapter 55, Section 5502 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, as amended.[1] Such definitions in Pennsylvania Statutes are hereby included by reference, including, but not limited to, the definitions for "adult bookstore," "adult entertainment," "adult mini motion-picture theater," "adult motion-picture theater," "sexual activities," "specified anatomical areas," and "specified sexual activities."

AGRICULTURAL OPERATION

An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial production and preparation for market of crops, livestock and livestock products and in the production, harvesting, and preparation for market of use of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural, and aquacultural crops and commodities. The term includes any enterprise that implements changes in production practices and procedures or types of crops, livestock, livestock products, or commodities produced consistent with practices and procedures that are normally engaged in by farmers or are consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry.

ALLEY

A narrow service access to the rear of more urban buildings providing service areas, parking access, and utility easements.

ALTERATION

As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement in the structural parts, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another, or conversion of one use to another by virtue of interior change.

AMUSEMENT ARCADE

A structure, or portion of a structure, open to the public, which contains coin (or other disc, slug or token for which fees are paid to an attendant) operated games (commonly known as "pinball machines" and "video games") and similar entertainment and amusement devices.

ANIMAL SHELTER

A facility used to house or contain stray, homeless, abandoned, abused or unwanted animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters) that is owned, operated, or maintained by a public body, an established humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection and humane treatment of animals.

APARTMENT

A dwelling unit in a multiple-family residential structure, which contains three or more dwelling units.

ASSISTED-LIVING FACILITY

Any premises in which food, shelter, assisted-living services, assistance or supervision and supplemental health care services are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours for four or more adults who are not relatives of the operator, who require assistance or supervision in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial management, evacuation from the residence in the event of an emergency or medication prescribed for self-administration.

AUTO, BOAT OR MANUFACTURED/MOBILE HOME SALES AND RENTAL

A facility for the sales and/or rental of automobiles, trucks, buses, boats and marine equipment, motorcycles, campers, motor homes, recreational vehicles, and other vehicles, but not including heavy equipment. Includes facilities that sell manufactured/mobile homes.

AUTO BODY SHOP OR REPAIR GARAGE

A facility where repairs to the frame or other structural parts of motor vehicles, spray painting, and repair or replacement of fenders and similar external portions of motor vehicles are conducted. Auto repairs to the mechanized parts of a vehicle, including engine, motor, transmission, etc., shall also be included in this definition.

AUTOMOBILE SALVAGE

The dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicles, trucks, trailers, farm equipment or mobile homes or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled or partially dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts.

BASEMENT

A story partly below ground and having 40% or more of its height below the average level of the adjoining ground.

BASIC GRADE

A reference plane representing the average of the finished ground level adjoining a structure at all its exterior walls.

BED-AND-BREAKFAST INN

A detached dwelling unit and operated by the dwelling's owner in which a maximum of eight rooms provide overnight guests sleeping quarters for a period not more than seven consecutive nights in a thirty-day period, with or without breakfast meals for hire or for pay. The rented rooms do not contain kitchen facilities and do not constitute separate dwelling units. A bed-and-breakfast shall not include a boardinghouse, group living facility, motel, or hotel.

BILLBOARD

A type of off-premises sign with a sign area greater than 10 square feet. See Article IX.

BOARD

The Zoning Hearing Board of the City of Clairton.

BOARDINGHOUSE or ROOMING HOUSE

A dwelling in which at least two rooms are offered for rent, payable in money or other consideration, whether or not meals are furnished to lodgers and in which no transients are accommodated and no public restaurant is maintained. A school or college dormitory, fraternity or sorority house, membership club with residents, and other similar uses are not deemed a boardinghouse or rooming house.

BUFFER YARD

A strip of land planted with trees, shrubs and lawns and which is kept free of outdoor storage, buildings and vehicles, and which serves to separate certain uses or zoning districts. See also "screening" in this section.

BUILDABLE AREA

That portion of a zoning lot bounded by the required front, side and rear yards.

BUILDING

A structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter of persons, animals, chattels or property. When separated by walls which are common with the walls of adjoining dwellings, each portion of such structure shall be considered a separate building.

BUILDING COVERAGE

The percentage of the lot area which may be covered by all buildings as herein defined.

BYOB CLUB

Any business facility such as a dance hall, club or association not licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, wherein patrons 21 years of age and older may, after payment of an entry fee, cover charge or membership fee, consume alcoholic beverages which said patrons have carried onto the premises; also commonly referred to as "bring your own bottle" clubs; provided that a facility which is rented for a limited period of time, not to exceed six hours, by individual(s) or an organization for the purpose of a private party in which alcoholic beverages are carried onto the premises shall not be considered a BYOB club under the terms of this chapter. "BYOB club" shall not include a restaurant as defined in this chapter.

CEMETERY

Land used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including crematories, mausoleums and mortuaries when operated in conjunction with and within the boundary of such "cemetery."

CHECK-CASHING BUSINESS

An establishment engaged in the cashing of checks by individuals or the deferred deposit of personal checks whereby the check casher refrains from depositing a personal check written by a customer until a specific date; or the offering of a loan until a paycheck would be received by the person receiving the loan. This term shall not include any of the following:

A state or federally chartered bank, savings association, credit union, or industrial loan association;

A licensed gaming facility (or any hotel related thereto); or

CRITICAL PROCESS MANUFACTURING

A retail store engaged primarily in selling or leasing items to retail customers and that cashes a check for a fee not routinely exceeding 1% of the check amount as a service to its customers incidental to the retail store principal use.

CHURCH

See "place of worship" in this section.

COMMON OPEN SPACE

A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Clairton.

CONDITIONAL USE

A use authorized by this chapter which may be granted only by the City Council pursuant to express standards and criteria after recommendation by the Planning Commission and after a public hearing held in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

CONDOMINIUM

A form of ownership of individual units in a building or on a lot that was established under applicable state law, such as the Pennsylvania Unit Property Act of 1963 or the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act of 1980, as amended.[2] Each dwelling unit is owned by an individual person(s) in fee simple, with such owners assigned a proportionate interest in the remainder of the real estate which is designated for common ownership. Condominium dwellings shall meet the provisions for the type of dwelling unit that is involved. For a condominium dwelling other than multifamily dwellings, the applicant shall prove that each dwelling unit is able to meet the same dimensional provisions that would apply if the dwellings would be placed on individual lots, but the individual lot lines for each dwelling unit are not required to be actually established.

CONSTRUCTION

The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension, expansion, alteration, or relocation of a building or structure, including the placement of mobile homes.

CONVERSION

The remodeling or alteration of a structure in order to accommodate more leasable or salable units or a different use than what had originally been intended for the structure. This shall include the alteration of a nonresidential structure into a dwelling unit(s) for at least one family, the modification of a single-family structure to accommodate more units than originally intended, the alteration of existing dwellings into a commercial use, and the alteration of an existing dwelling into a mixed commercial and residential use.

COUNCIL

The governing body of the City of Clairton.

CREMATORIUM

An establishment containing a furnace where a corpse can be burned and reduced/cremated to ashes as permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The processing and fabrication of certain materials and products where some process may involve the production of noise, vibration, air pollution, fire hazard or noxious emission which will disturb or endanger neighboring properties.

DAY-CARE CENTER, ADULT

A use, not located in a dwelling unit, providing supervised care and assistance to persons who need such daily assistance because of their old age or disabilities. This use shall not include persons who need oversight because of behavior that is criminal, violent or related to substance abuse. This use shall involve typical stays of less than a total of 60 hours per week per person.

DAY CARE, CHILD

A use involving the supervised care of children under age 16 outside of the children's own home(s) primarily for periods of less than 18 hours per child during the average day. This use may also include educational programs that are supplementary to state-required education, including nursery school or Head Start programs. See also definition of "day-care center, adult." The following three types of day care are permitted without regulation by this chapter: care of children by their own relatives; care of children within a place of worship during regularly scheduled religious services; and care of one child to three children within any dwelling unit, in addition to children who are relatives of the caregiver.

FAMILY DAY-CARE HOMEA type of day-care use that:

Is accessory to and occurs within the primary caregivers' dwelling unit; and

Provides care for four children to six children at one time who are not relatives of the primary caregiver.

GROUP DAY-CARE HOMEA type of day-care use that:

Provides care for between seven children and 12 children at one time who are not relatives of the primary caregiver;

Provides care within the primary caregivers' dwelling unit; and

Is registered with the applicable state agency. (NOTE: As of the adoption date of this chapter, such agency was the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.)

DAY-CARE CENTERA type of day-care use that:

Provides care for seven or more children at one time who are not relatives of the primary caregiver;

Does not occur within a dwelling unit;

Is registered with the applicable state agency. (NOTE: As of the adoption date of this chapter, such agency was the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.)

DECISION

Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction under any land use ordinance or this chapter to do so, either by reason of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction or by reason of appeals from determinations. All decisions shall be appealable to the Court of Common Pleas of the county and judicial district wherein the municipality lies.

DETERMINATION

The final action by an officer, body or agency charged with the administration of any land use ordinance or applications thereunder, except the following:

The governing body.

The Zoning Hearing Board.

The planning agency, only if and to the extent the planning agency is charged with final decision on preliminary or final plans under Chapter 307, Subdivision and Land Development, or planned residential development provisions.

Determinations shall be appealable only to the boards designated as having jurisdiction for such appeal.

DEVELOPER

A landowner or holder of an agreement to purchase land, lessee or other person having a proprietary interest in land or the heirs, successors, assigns of such person who has filed an application for the use, improvement or development of any parcel or structure under this chapter.

DEVELOPMENT

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, streets and other paving, utilities, filling, grading, excavation, mining, dredging or drilling operations, and the subdivision of land.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN

A graphic and written presentation of a planned residential development, including a plat of subdivision, and all provisions relating to use, location and bulk of structures, intensity of development, streets, ways and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities.

DRIVEWAY

A private area used exclusively for circulation and ingress and egress to a street by the landowner or visitors of the lot.

DWELLING

A building or portion thereof, which is designed for or occupied in whole or in part for residential use having one or more dwelling units, but not including motels, boardinghouses, assisted-living facilities, continuing-care facilities, personal care homes, or skilled nursing facilities.

SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED DWELLINGA building occupied by only one dwelling unit, and having no party wall in common with an adjacent building.

SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED DWELLING (also known as a "TOWNHOUSE" or "ROW HOUSE")A set of three or more attached dwelling units, which are completely separated from each other by one or two vertical party walls.

DUPLEXA detached or separate building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other, with separate entrances and facilities.

MULTIFAMILY DWELLING or APARTMENTA building including three or more dwelling units, other than townhouses. See also "condominium" and "manufactured home" in this section.

MULTIFAMILY, CONVERSION APARTMENTConversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling into multiple dwelling units. See definition for "conversion."

MULTIFAMILY, GARDEN APARTMENTA multifamily residential building, not exceeding three stories in height, in which units are arranged side to side, back to back or one above another, which may have either private external entrances or common hall access and which may have a private exterior yard area for each unit.

MULTIFAMILY, HIGH-RISE APARTMENTAn apartment building which is four or more stories in height but not exceeding the height limitations (in feet) of this chapter that has multiple dwelling units that share a common entrance and/or common interior corridor.

EMERGENCY SERVICES STATION OR TRAINING FACILITY

MULTIFAMILY, RESIDENCE OVER BUSINESSA building, where the bottom floors are used for commercial use while the upper floors are used for residential dwellings, including those dwellings used for some combination of residential and commercial purposes.

DWELLING UNIT

One or more living or sleeping rooms with cooking and sanitary facilities for one person or one family.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

A preprimary, primary, or grammar, public, parochial, or private school; a high school, preparatory school or academy, public, parochial, or private school; a high school, preparatory school or academy, public or founded or owned or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; a private preparatory school or academy furnishing courses of instruction substantially equivalent to the courses offered by public high schools for preparation of admission to colleges or universities which award BA or BS degrees; a junior college or university, public or founded or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; or a private school when not conducted as a commercial enterprise for the profit of individual owners or stockholders. This definition shall not be deemed to include trade or business schools as defined in this section.

ELECTRONIC NOTICE

A notice given by a municipality through the Internet of the time and place of a public hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing.

A facility that is principally devoted to emergency response, training or emergency management services, including structures and facilities for fire departments, police stations, ambulance stations, emergency management operations and community response networks.

EMPLOYEES

The highest number of workers (including both part-time and full-time, both compensated and volunteer, and both employees and contractors) present on a lot at any one time, other than clearly temporary and occasional persons working on physical improvements to the site.

FAMILY

One or more individuals who are "related" to each other by blood, marriage or adoption (including persons receiving formal foster care) or up to five unrelated individuals who maintain a common household with common cooking facilities and certain rooms in common, and who live within one dwelling unit. The foregoing restrictions do not apply to persons with disabilities as defined in the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.

FLOOD

A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.

FLOOD, ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR

A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every 100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year, although the flood may occur in any year).

FLOODPLAIN

A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation and/or subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

FLOODPROOFING

Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.

FLOODWAY

The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purpose of this chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of the one-hundred-year magnitude without raising the one-hundred-year flood elevation more than one foot.

FLOOR AREA

In a dwelling, the sum of the horizontal areas of all rooms used for habitation, but not including cellars, attics, unheated rooms or rooms without either a skylight or window. In a store, shop, restaurant, club or funeral home, the sum of the horizontal areas of all space to which the customer has access and excluding storage, office, other preparation or administrative spaces. "Gross floor area" is the sum of the horizontal area of all floors of a structure and its accessory buildings as measured between the exterior faces of walls.

FLOOR AREA, HABITABLE

The enclosed indoor "floor area" that is designed and suitable for residency by persons and which is heated. This term shall not include vehicle garages or areas with a headroom of less than seven feet.

FLOOR AREA RATIO

The ratio obtained when the gross floor area minus the unoccupied basement area is divided by the total lot area.

FRONT YARD DEPTH

The prescribed minimum open space extending across the entire width of the lot between the front line of building and street right-of-way.

FUNERAL HOME

A building or part thereof used for human funeral services. Such building may contain space and facilities for:

Embalming and the performance of other services used in the preparation of the dead for burial;

The performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures;

The storage of caskets, funeral urns, and other related funeral supplies; and the storage of funeral vehicles.

For purposes of this chapter, the term "funeral home" shall not include a crematorium.

GARAGE, PRIVATE

An accessory use which is attached to or an integral part of a residential building or dwelling unit, or an accessory structure used for the storage of motor vehicles and other personal property owned and used by the residents of the residential building or dwelling unit.

GAS STATION

A building(s), premises or portions thereof which are used, arranged, designed, or intended to be used for the retail sale of gasoline or other fuel for motor vehicles, boats or aircraft.

GROUP HOME

A dwelling unit operated by a responsible individual, family or organization with a program to provide a supportive living arrangement for individuals where special care is needed by the persons served due to age, emotional, mental, developmental or physical disability. This definition shall expressly include facilities for the supervised care of persons with disabilities subject to protection under the Federal Fair Housing Act, as amended.[3] Group homes must be licensed where required by any appropriate government agencies, and a copy of any such license must be delivered to the Zoning Officer prior to the initiation of the use. A group home typically involves an individual residing on the premises for more than 30 days at a time.

Group homes shall be subject to the same limitations and regulations by the City as the type of dwelling unit they occupy.

It is the express intent of the City to comply with all provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Act, as amended, and regulations promulgated thereunder, in the construction of this term.

A group home shall not include a treatment center.

HALF-STORY

That portion of a building under a sloping gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates on at least two opposite exterior walls of which are five feet or less on average above the floor level of such half-story. Provided that it is not used as a dwelling unit, a top floor in which the floor area with seven feet or more of head clearance equals 50% or less of the floor area of the story next below shall be a half-story.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL

Any of the following materials or substances: acetone, ammonia, benzene, calcium carbide, carbon disulfide, celluloid, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, hydrocyanic acid, magnesium, nitric acid, nitric oxides, petroleum products, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, sulfur products, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and all poisons, flammable gases and radioactive substances.

HEIGHT OF A STRUCTURE

The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the average top of fascia height of a pitched roof, or top of parapet wall of a flat roof, provided that there is no living space above the fascia height of a pitched roof. If the area behind the pitched roof includes any living space, then the height of the building shall be measured from the average finished grade at front to the highest point of the structure.

HELIPORT and HELIPAD

A facility used for the landing and takeoff of helicopters.

HOME OCCUPATION

An accessory business that is conducted entirely within a dwelling or one accessory building, or administered from a dwelling, and which is conducted solely by residents of the dwelling and up to one nonresident employee, and which is clearly incidental and accessory to the dwelling. No display of products shall be visible from the exterior. On-site retail sales shall not be allowed as part of a home occupation, except for routine accessory sales to customers in a barbershop or beauty shop.

HOSPITAL

A building(s) which is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as a hospital, and which involves the diagnosis and treatment of human ailments.

HOTEL

A facility offering transient lodging accommodations to the general public and which may provide additional services, such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreational facilities.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

Those surfaces which do not absorb water. They consist of all buildings, parking lots, streets, sidewalks, and any areas of concrete or asphalt or nonabsorbent material. In the case of lumberyards, areas of stored lumber constitute impervious surfaces.

INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

One or more buildings which lease space to light manufacturing firms or service industries for light, heavy or critical process manufacturing firms.

INDUSTRIAL PARK

One or more allowed industrial or office uses on lots contiguously arranged, so as to form a planned development of industrial sites, or buildings.

INSTITUTION

Place of worship, school, college, medical center, hospital, society or organization of a public character and/or the building or buildings used by such organizations.

JUNK

Any scrap, waste, reclaimable material or debris, whether or not stored, for sale or in the process of being dismantled, destroyed, processed, salvaged, stored, baled, disposed, or other use or disposition, including, but not limited to, unregistered, inoperable vehicles; tires; vehicle parts; equipment; paper; rugs; metal; glass; household appliances; machinery, and building materials.

JUNKYARD

Any lot, site, parcel, building, or structure, or part thereof, used for the storage, collection, processing, purchase, sale, salvage, or disposal of junk.

KENNEL

Any commercial or private place where four or more dogs, cats or other animals over three months of age are kept, raised, sold, boarded, bred, shown, treated or groomed.

LAND DEVELOPMENT

The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:

A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or tenure; 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 subdivision of land.

LIVE-WORK UNIT

A dwelling unit or other space within a building that is used jointly for residential and nonresidential purposes that typically exceed those of a home occupation use pursuant to the regulations contained herein.

LOADING SPACE

An off-street space or berth on the same lot with a building or contiguous to a group of buildings for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials.

LOT

A parcel of land fronting on a street used or designed to be used by one use or structure or by a related group of uses or structures, and the accessory uses or structures customarily incident thereto, including such open spaces as are arranged or designed and required in connection with such structure or group of structures.

LOT AREAThe area of a lot exclusive of any portion of the right-of-way of any street, whether public or private.

LOT, CORNERA lot at the junction of two or more intersecting streets and having frontage on two or more of such streets.

LOT COVERAGEThe building area divided by the lot area expressed as a percent.

LOT, DEPTH OFThe distance along a straight line drawn from the midpoint of the front line to the midpoint of the rear lot line.

LOT, INTERIORA lot other than a corner lot or a through lot.

LOT LINEA line bounding a lot which divides one lot from another or from a street or any other public or private space.

LOT LINE, FRONTThe street line at the front of a lot.

NO-IMPACT HOME-BASED BUSINESS

LOT LINE, REARThe lot line opposite to the front lot line.

(9)

LOT LINE, SIDEAny lot line not a front lot line nor a rear lot line.

(10)

LOT, THROUGHA lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets and which is not a corner lot.

(11)

LOT, WIDTHThe dimension of a lot measured between the side lot lines on the front yard setback line.

LOT OF RECORD

Any lot which individually or as a part of a subdivision has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Allegheny County.

MAILED NOTICE

A notice given by a municipality by first-class mail of the time and place of a public hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing.

MANUFACTURING

The treatment or processing of raw materials, the production of products from raw or prepared materials by giving them new forms of qualities.

MEAL CENTER

A nonprofit establishment where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price.

MEDICAL CLINIC

Any establishment where human patients are not hospitalized overnight but are examined and treated by doctors or others who are duly licensed to perform medical healing arts.

MEMBERSHIP CLUB

A building, structure, lot or land area used as a private club or social organization not conducted for individual profit or gain.

MINERAL EXTRACTION

All or part of the process involved in the extraction and processing of minerals, including mining, drilling, digging, quarrying, batching or mixing.

MINERALS

Any aggregate or mass of mineral matter, whether or not coherent. The term includes, but is not limited to, limestone and dolomite, sand and gravel, rock and stone, earth, fill, slag, iron ore, zinc ore, vermiculite and clay, anthracite and bituminous coal, coal refuse, peat and crude oil and natural gas.

MOBILE HOME

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, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.

MOBILE HOME LOT

A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erections thereon of a single mobile home.

MOBILE HOME PARK

A parcel, or contiguous parcels of land, which has been so designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.

MOTEL

A structure in which lodging is provided for the accommodation of guests, offered to the public for compensation, which contains an office supervised by a person in charge at all hours with a majority of all rooms having direct access to the outside. "Motel" does not include assisted-living facility, boardinghouse, lodging house, rooming house, personal care home, or group home.

MPC

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., and as it may be amended.

NIGHTCLUB

A place of assembly, other than a dwelling unit, including private clubs which may offer food, drink, and entertainment, either live or recorded, and characterized by low light levels and closely packed tables, whether or not the consumption of alcoholic beverages is permitted or allowed on the premises. A nightclub may also operate as a restaurant during all or part of its hours of operation. An adult cabaret shall not be considered a nightclub, but shall be considered an adult-oriented business.

A business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the uses as a residential dwelling and which 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. The business or commercial activity must satisfy the following requirements:

The business activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.

The business shall employ no employees other than family members residing in the dwelling.

There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.

There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.

The business activity may not use any equipment or process which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical or electronic interference, including interference with radio or television reception, which is detectable in the neighborhood.

The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with residential use in the neighborhood.

The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.

PARKING LOT, ACCESSORY FOR NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE

The business may not involve any illegal activity.

NONCONFORMING LOT

A lot whose width area or other dimension does not conform to the regulations of this chapter and which was a lot of record or lawfully existed at the time the regulations with which it does not conform to became effective.

NONCONFORMING SIGN

A lawful sign existing at the date of the passage of this chapter or any amendment thereto, which does not conform to the controls regulating signs in Article IX.

NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE

Any structure or part of a structure legally existing at the time of enactment of this chapter or any of its amendments which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter.

NONCONFORMING USE

Any use or arrangement of land or structures legally existing at the time of enactment of a preceding ordinance, this chapter or any of its amendments, which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter.

OFFICE

A business establishment which does not offer a product or merchandise for sale to the public. Personal services such as barbershops and beauty shops and repair services are not deemed a business office.

PARKING LOT

A lot or part thereof used for the storage or parking of motor vehicles with or without the payment of rent or charges in money or other consideration.

A subordinate parking use for an already existing nonconforming use or structure, located on the same or abutting zoning lot as the nonconforming use or structure, except that such subordinate parking use may also be provided on any lot which is separated solely from the lot of the nonconforming use or structure from a public right-of-way, and which lot is, in part, directly across from and not diagonally, or in any other direction, from the nonconforming use or structure.

PARKING SPACE

A stall or berth used for parking motor vehicles, which meets the required length and width of this chapter, not including areas of a street or alley.

PARKING STRUCTURE

A facility that has at least one level of vehicle parking above another level of vehicle parking.

PARKS AND RECREATION, PUBLIC

An open area of ground set aside for public use with recreational facilities, playgrounds and structures or left in a natural state, owned by the City or municipal authority or otherwise dedicated to public use or owned and operated by a nonprofit association for the benefit of the public or the residents of the City.

PAWNSHOP

An establishment engaged in retail sales of secondhand merchandise and that offers personal loans secured by consumer goods, jewelry and other personal property held by the pawnshop.

PERSONAL CARE HOME

A premises in which food, shelter and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 consecutive hours for more than three adults who are not relatives of the operator and who require assistance or supervision in such matters as dressing, bathing, diet or medication prescribed for self-administration but who do not require hospitalization or care in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility, as defined in current state licensure requirements.

PET DAY CARE

Activities, fenced areas, and structures for the care, feeding, exercising and training of pets other than overnight boarding.

PLACE OF WORSHIP

Synagogues, churches, mosques, temples and similar buildings used primarily for religious worship for more than 10 persons at a time on a regular basis and that are operated for nonprofit and noncommercial purposes. A place of worship may include up to two dwelling units for religious staff-persons and their families. If a religious use includes other residential uses, they shall meet the requirements of such uses.

PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE OR USE

A structure or use in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which such structure or use is located.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

The use of offices and related spaces for such services as are provided by doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers and similar occupations.

PROPERTY LINE

A line forming the front, rear or sides of lots or parcels of property as described in the recorded title.

PUBLIC BUILDING OR USE

A school, playground, or related recreation facility or public maintenance facility.

PUBLIC HEARING

A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.

PUBLIC MEETING

A forum held pursuant to notice under 65 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 7 (relating to open meetings).

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice of the time and place of a hearing, meeting, proceeding or other matter published as provided by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code[4] or other applicable state law.

REAR YARD DEPTH

The prescribed minimum open space extending across the entire width of the lot between the back line of the building or accessory structure and the rear lot line.

RECREATION, COMMERCIAL INDOOR

A type of commercial recreation use that:

Does not meet the definition of "commercial outdoor recreation"; and

Is used principally for active or passive recreation, such as a bowling alley, roller skating, ice skating, commercial batting practice use and similar uses.

RECREATION, COMMERCIAL OUTDOOR

This term shall not include any use listed separately as a distinct use in this chapter.

A type of commercial recreation use that:

Has a total building coverage of less than 15%; and

Is used principally for active or passive recreation, such as a golf driving range, miniature golf course, amusement park, outdoor ice skating, campground and similar uses.

SINGLE AND SEPARATE OWNERSHIP

This term shall not include any use listed separately as a distinct use by this chapter.

RECYCLING CENTER

The salvage, collection, and recovery of scrap and other resources.

RESEARCH FACILITY

A facility for applied research conducted within an enclosed structure where no goods are produced in quantity.

RESTAURANT

Any establishment, however designated, at which food is prepared and sold for consumption on or off the premises. However, a concession stand at a public or a community playground, playfield, park or swimming pool, operated by the same agency operating the recreational facilities, and solely for the convenience of patrons of the facility, shall not be deemed to be a restaurant.

RETAIL STORE

A facility for the sale of commodities and service directly to consumers.

ROADSIDE STAND

A structure used for the sale of farm and nursery products, 80% of which shall be grown or produced by the owner and offered for sale.

SCREENING

A fence, evergreen hedge or wall at least six feet high, provided in such a way that it will block a line of sight. The screening may consist either of one or several rows of bushes or trees or of a constructed fence or wall.

SEAT

A fixed seat in a theater, auditorium or meeting room or 24 linear inches of an installed bench or pew or, in the absence of these, six square feet of floor space in the seating area.

SHOPPING CENTER

Five or more retail stores that are separated primarily by vertical walls and are in a complex designed as an integrated unit served by common parking and service facilities, and which has architectural and landscape unity. Such use may also include allowed offices, restaurants and personal service uses.

SIDE YARD WIDTH

The prescribed minimum open space extending from the side of any building or accessory structure to the side lot line throughout the entire depth of the yard.

SIGN

Any letter, numeral, symbol, emblem (including device, symbol, logo, or trademark) flag (including banner or pennant), or any other device, figure or similar character used to announce, inform, identify, advertise or otherwise make anything known which is visible from outside the building or structure.

The ownership of a lot by one or more persons, partnerships or corporations, which ownership is separate and distinct from that of any adjoining lot.

SPECIAL EXCEPTION

A use authorized by this chapter which may be granted only by the Zoning Hearing Board pursuant to express standards and criteria after a hearing held in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

STATE

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its agencies.

STORY

That portion of a building included between the upper surface of a floor and the upper surface of the floor or roof next above.

STREET

A right-of-way intended primarily for vehicular traffic and usually providing for utilities and pedestrian travel. A street may be designated by other appropriate names, such as "highway," "thoroughfare," "boulevard," "parkway," "road," "avenue," "drive," "lane" or "place."

STRUCTURE

Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land; including, in addition to buildings, billboards, carports, porches and other building features, but not including sidewalks, drives, fences and patios.

SUBDIVISION

The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other division of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership or building or lot development; provided, however, that the division of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access, shall be exempted.

SUBSTATION

An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation or utilization, through which electric or gas energy in bulk is passed for the purposes of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet the needs of the general public, provided that an electric or gas substation permitted in a residential district shall not include rotating equipment, storage of materials, trucks or repair facilities or housing of repair crews.

TAVERN

A commercial use that involves sale of food and beverages to the public, and which involves alcoholic beverages making up more than 50% of the total volume of sales, and which does not meet the definition of a "nightclub." A commercial use that involves a lower percentage shall be considered a "restaurant."

TEMPORARY COMMERCIAL USE

A retail sales use which primarily operates in the open air or under a tent and which is open to the public for retail sales less than 90 days per calendar year. The retail sales of trees or shrubs primarily grown in the ground on the premises shall be allowed in any location.

TEMPORARY SHELTER

A facility operated by a nonprofit agency providing temporary lodging, with or without meals, for persons of limited income with no ordinary or regular residence or to persons who need such shelter to avoid an abusive situation or because of a sudden event, such as fire, flood, domestic violence, condemnation, or court-ordered conviction.

TRADE OR BUSINESS SCHOOL

A secretarial school or college, business school or college, when not public and not owned or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; or a school conducted as a commercial enterprise for teaching instrumental music, dancing, barbering, martial arts, or hairdressing, or for teaching industrial skills in which machinery is employed as a means of instruction. This definition shall not be deemed to include an "educational institution" as defined in this section.

TRAILER

A vehicle designed to be pulled by another vehicle for on-street use, and that is part of a tractor-trailer combination or that is used to transport excavating equipment, boats or similar items.

TREATMENT CENTER

A use involving any one or a combination of the following:

A use (other than a prison or a hospital) providing housing for three or more unrelated persons who need specialized housing, treatment and/or counseling because of:

Criminal rehabilitation, such as a criminal halfway house, or a facility for the housing of persons judged to be juvenile delinquents, or a criminal work release or prerelease facility;

Current addiction to a controlled substance that was used in an illegal manner or alcohol;

A type of mental illness or other behavior that causes a person to be a threat to the physical safety of others.

A residential or nonresidential methadone treatment facility, which shall be defined as a facility licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, other than a hospital, to use the drug methadone in the treatment, maintenance or detoxification of persons.

A lot upon which reside two or more persons who are required to register their place of residence with the Pennsylvania State Police as a requirement of the Pennsylvania Megan's Law II, or its successor law, as amended.[5]

A use that otherwise meets the definition of a "group home," except that it includes a higher number of residents than is allowed in a group home.

USE

The purpose for which land or a building is arranged, designed or intended or for which land or a building is or may be occupied or maintained.

VARIANCE

An authorization to vary slightly from the strict interpretation of the standards of this chapter which may be granted by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with law.

VEHICLE

Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices used exclusively upon rails or tracks. The term does not include a self-propelled wheelchair or an electrical mobility device operated by and designed for the exclusive use of a person with a mobility-related disability.

VETERINARY CLINIC

A facility where animals are treated by a licensed veterinarian but are not boarded.

YARD

Any open space located on the same lot with a principal building situated between the nearest roofed portion of the principal buildings and a lot line.

YARD, FRONTA yard extending across the full width of the lot abutting the front lot line.

YARD, REARA yard extending across the full width of the lot, abutting the rear lot line.

YARD, SIDEA yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard, abutting the side lot line.