[Added 1-20-2015 by Ord. No. 4-237]
In expansion of the Community Development objectives contained
in this article, it is hereby declared to be the intent of this article
with respect to Community Shopping Center Overlay Districts to overlay
and supplement the existing or hereafter created underlying districts,
to encourage the preservation and subsequent logical and timely development
of land for Community Shopping Center purposes; to assure the suitable
design of Community Shopping Centers in order to protect the environment
of the adjacent and nearby neighborhoods; and to insure that Community
Shopping Center Development will take place only when served by adequate
public infrastructure. The protective standards in this article are
intended to minimize any unanticipated adverse impacts of a Community
Shopping Center Development on nearby premises.
In order to qualify for a conditional use in this Overlay District,
a portion of the land which is proposed for development must already
be zoned SC Shopping Center District or C Commercial District.
In a Community Shopping Center Overlay District, after obtaining
a conditional use from the Board of Supervisors, a building or a combination
of buildings may be erected or used and a lot area may be used or
occupied for any of the following purposes and no other.
B.
Restaurant with or without a liquor license, and including up to
three drive-through facilities for restaurants of less than 2,500
square feet each on the entire contiguous overlay tract, and including
outdoor dining at any restaurants if designated on the original Community
Shopping Center Plan.
C.
Taproom.
D.
Municipal use, including a firehouse.
E.
Fitness center including ancillary daycare facilities for fitness
center customers only and ancillary medical office use, under 1,800
square feet, for fitness center customers only.
F.
Professional and medical offices.
G.
Accessory use customarily incidental to any of the above uses.
H.
The following uses when authorized by conditional use received from
the Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors:
(1)
Any principal use of the same general character as any of the
above-permitted uses when authorized as a conditional use, provided
that such use shall be permitted subject to such reasonable conditions
or restrictions as the Board of Supervisors may determine as being
in the best interests of the public health, safety and general welfare,
and further provided that no trade or business shall be permitted
which is either noxious or hazardous.
(2)
Outdoor dining at a restaurant, and day care facilities, except
if designated as one of the uses on the original Community Shopping
Center Overlay Plan.
A.
In order to create a plan which will emulate a modern village center,
the plan should include a combination of small and medium sized buildings,
having exterior spaces accessible to the general public and designed
to achieve the following goals:
(1)
Promote walkability.
(2)
Provide adequate and attractive parking areas with interesting
small piazza spaces designed to achieve the scale of a village center.
(3)
Provide gathering spaces and meeting areas for Township residents
and visitors to the Community Shopping Center.
(4)
Create multiple attractive outdoor spaces that can be shared
by the businesses within the Community Shopping Center.
(5)
Minimize external curb cuts and develop a comprehensive circulation
plan both for vehicles and pedestrians which affords safe and convenient
external connections to adjoining roads and neighborhoods while providing
convenient and attractive parking opportunities for the consumer.
(6)
Create a plan where, once parked, the consumer can walk comfortably
and safely through the center.
(7)
Provide areas for meeting, seating, outdoor dining and entertainment.
(8)
Enhance the economic stability of Whitpain Township by promoting
growth, redevelopment, attractiveness and convenience of the area.
B.
Provide with the conditional use application a booklet or manual
of written and graphic design guidelines for buildings, streets, landscaping
and pedestrian circulation within the proposed development which shall
function as a coordinated and coherent set of drawings. Plans and
narratives shall include, but shall not be limited to, architectural
and landscaping standards, street and circulation systems, signage,
building materials, pedestrian walkways, sidewalks and crosswalks,
parking screening, lighting, pavilions, gazebos and plazas, street
furniture, trash receptacles, amenities and open space operation and
maintenance. Such guidelines, when approved by the Board of Supervisors
during the conditional use process, shall supersede any other provisions
of this Code, if and when a conflict occurs.
A.
Long, unbroken, monotonous facades of buildings and large parking
fields shall be avoided, and instead smaller external spaces at a
scale consistent with a community style village center designed to
promote walking, sitting and gathering areas in association with shopping,
dining, and other commercial activities shall be provided.
B.
A master plan shall be created which encompasses the entirety of
the Overlay District and which achieves the goals outlined for a modern
village center including establishing points of ingress and egress
at safe and desirable locations along the perimeter road frontage,
subject to PennDOT approval.
C.
No single tenant or building shall occupy more than 40% of the total
gross ground floor area of all the buildings within the Community
Shopping Center.
[Amended 10-18-2022 by Ord. No. 4-260]
D.
At least three buildings must be located within 120 feet of the ultimate
right of way of adjoining road frontages. The elevations of these
buildings should include materials, fenestration, and features (consistent
with the rest of the Community Shopping Center) that result in interesting
front facades facing out to the adjoining streets that are consistent,
architecturally and in the use of building materials, with the rest
of the Community Shopping Center.
E.
Outdoor green spaces and gathering areas shall be interconnected
using enhanced paving materials and shall be finished with ornamental
lighting, benches, fountains, clock towers, promenades and the like.
These spaces must be internalized and made an integral part of the
overall master plan. As part of the conditional use plans, the primary
outdoor gathering area proposed shall be offered for public use and
gathering on at least six weekend dates a year (not including any
weekend where any portion of such weekend [Friday through Sunday]
shall occur within November 10 and November 30 of each year, without
the permission of the property owner) and shall be further described
and regulated in the conditional use decision by the Board of Supervisors
on the Community Shopping Center application.
F.
Sidewalks along the perimeter of the right-of-way and sidewalks traversing
parking areas shall be at least five feet in width. Pedestrian walkways
shall be a minimum of at least 10 feet in width (with at least 40%
of the sidewalks in front of buildings to be at least 18 feet in width
and a minimum of eight feet in width on sides and rear, if any. Parking
islands should be designed with a generous amount of trees. Trees
along the road frontage shall be spaced at least 50 feet apart to
allow sufficient site lines to view the enhanced architectural features
of the buildings. Also, ornamental landscaping including flowering
trees shall be provided in landscape or other green areas as required
by the Board of Supervisors.
A Community Shopping Center shall be developed in accordance with the requirements set forth at § 160-164, except for § 160-164F and as modified in this article.
A.
No more than 22% of the net lot area (after dedication or deed restriction
of open space) shall be occupied by buildings, and the minimum district
size (before dedication of right of way or deed restriction of open
space) shall be 18 acres.
B.
Architectural features shall be treated the same as chimneys, spires,
towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, and similar projections concerning
the height of buildings.
C.
No building or structure shall be located closer than 25 feet to
the ultimate right-of-way of all adjacent streets, nor closer than
50 feet to a side property line, or 45 feet to a rear property line
adjacent to a residential use which is not within the Community Shopping
Center Overlay District, nor closer than 25 feet to any property line
not subject to the additional standards outlined herein. A loading
facility for the anchor tenant which does not exceed 4% of the gross
floor area of the anchor tenant may be as close as 15 feet to a side
or rear property line. No setback for buildings or parking shall be
required from properties owned by the commonwealth or the County other
than the ultimate right of way of public roads.
D.
No parking area may be located closer than 10 feet to the ultimate
right-of-way line for all adjacent streets and 25 to a side or rear
property line adjacent to a residential, park and recreation, or institutional
use.
E.
Landscaping for a Community Shopping Center shall be in accordance with § 160-108, with the exception of Subsections A and C, which shall be substituted with the following: There shall be no requirement for berming along street frontage and all off-street parking areas shall either have one shade tree for every 10 parking spaces or such required shade trees may be placed in other locations on the Community Shopping Center property if permitted by the Board of Supervisors in the conditional use decision. Shade trees shall be planted every 50 feet along the right-of-way frontage.
F.
The shopping center shall be provided with a permanent screen buffer from adjoining and contiguous residential and park and recreation uses by a combination of the following: berm, wall, fence, evergreen hedge, or other suitable enclosure of a minimum height of eight feet which shall be planted in accordance with a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors following a recommendation by the Planning Commission which, at the very least, shall conform to the standards and requirements of § 160-107, Buffer yards and planting materials, of this chapter.
G.
An open area of at least five acres shall be provided for each contiguous
Community Shopping Center Overlay District which shall remain open
in perpetuity and offered for dedication to Whitpain Township. If
the Township does not accept dedication of the open area, it shall
be maintained by the owner of the shopping center, with the top of
any berm and the side of the berm facing the center to be maintained
in a mowed lawn and landscaped condition and the side of the berm,
facing any property line outside the overlay district, to be maintained
in a natural condition, but free of trash and debris. The open area
shall be located to protect neighboring residential uses (including
the provision of building setbacks of at least 250 feet to the rear
of the Community Shopping Center boundary [shared with a residential
use] and 225 feet to the side of the Community Shopping Center [shared
with a residential use]) and acceptable in shape and location to the
Board of Supervisors of Whitpain Township.
H.
Development stages and permits. The development of the tract carried
out in either a single phase or in stages shall be executed in accordance
with the development agreement. The owner, developer, and Township
shall enter into said agreement embodying all details regarding compliance
with this article to assure the binding nature thereof on the overall
tract and its development, which agreement shall be recorded.
I.
Trash and refuse areas. The design of buildings in the community
shopping center shall include either a provision for the storage of
trash, refuse and garbage inside the buildings or within a walled
area outside of the buildings. The walls of such trash and refuse
area must shield the trash and refuse from direct view of any adjacent
property, and must be at least six feet in height.
J.
Building standards.
(1)
Rear and side facade shall be of finished quality and shall
be of a color that is similar to the front facade and blend with structures
within the development. All buildings shall have a common and coherent
architectural theme throughout the development.
(2)
Building facades must be interrupted at least once every 200
horizontal feet with offsets of two or more feet in depth along any
building facade facing a public street.
(3)
Building facades of 200 feet or more which face public streets
shall, in addition to offsets, include other design elements to break
up the facade, such as awnings, canopies, towers, bays, changes in
building materials, and gables.
(4)
Roof lines shall be varied to add visual interest and to reduce
the scale of larger buildings.
K.
If eating and drinking establishments are (at any time) to comprise
more than 30% of the total square footage of the community shopping
center, a conditional use to provide required parking spaces must
be obtained.
L.
Further subdivision of tract. Where the Township Board of Supervisors
shall have approved plans for a Community Shopping Center in accordance
with the regulations herein, and including parcels not held in single
and separate ownership, the subsequent division of the tract or a
part thereof into lots incident to the development of the Community
Shopping Center use for financing or land swap purposes shall thereafter
be exempted from the bulk, area, yard, open space, and green space
requirements of the Whitpain Township Zoning Ordinance, provided that
the conveyance of a parcel within the development plan area shall
be lawful, and upon compliance with the following conditions as certified
by the Board of Supervisors:
(1)
The development plan shall show a physical relationship between
the area to be conveyed, the remaining area covered by the development
plan, and the common areas so that each area is dependent upon the
other and so that the areas to be financed or swapped do not lack
the facilities to conduct an independent operation. The overall combination
of the lots so created within the Community Shopping Center District
shall comply in all respects with the bulk, area, yard, open space
and green space requirements of the Whitpain Zoning Ordinance.
(2)
Documentary evidence shall be filed with the Township, and shall
affirm to the satisfaction of the Township that:
(a)
The developer, its successors and assigns shall remain responsible
for the construction, control, and maintenance of the common areas.
(b)
Irrevocable cross easements in favor of and duly binding on
all title owners within the area of the development plan, their successors
and assigns, with respect to the use, control, and maintenance of
the common area are in effect.
(c)
The area to be conveyed shall be conveyed subject to the requirements
of the development plan, the obligations and responsibilities as to
the common areas, and the requirements of the cross easements, so
that each transferee of title as aforesaid shall be bound by the same.
(d)
The developer, its successors and assigns shall have the authority
to enforce the conditions attached to the development plan as well
as the sole authority to seek amendments thereto.
M.
Signs. For purposes of a Community Shopping Center, an anchor store
shall be considered to be any store that is 15,000 square feet or
larger. Notwithstanding any other regulations of this chapter to the
contrary, the sign criteria for Community Shopping Centers shall be
as set forth on Exhibit "A" attached hereto.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said Exhibit A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
N.
Green area. Any lot used or occupied for a Community Shopping Center Development shall be provided with a minimum green area of 35%, as defined in § 160-214 of this chapter, which shall include the required open area of at least five contiguous acres.
O.
Outdoor storage and display. No outdoor storage shall be permitted,
but outdoor display of not more than 10% of the total sidewalk area
in front of the store shall be permitted for the anchor tenant and
one other tenant, provided that such display does not in any way interfere
with pedestrian access and passage on the sidewalk in front of the
display of at least eight feet in width.
P.
Specific parking requirements for the Community Shopping Center Overlay District. Parking consistent with the requirements of Article XXVII shall be provided except that the number of such spaces provided shall be 4.5 per 1,000 square feet of gross ground level floor area (including the area of all outdoor eating or drinking locations, even if seasonal) and three per 1,000 square feet of second floor or mezzanine area (limited to 10,000 square feet in any supermarket or fitness facility), and with any other mezzanine or second floor area parked at five per 1,000 square feet.
Q.
Outdoor eating and drinking locations. Any tenant in the Community Shopping Center which offers food or beverage for consumption indoors shall be permitted an immediately adjacent outdoor area for the purpose of food or beverage consumption, provided such outdoor area does not exceed 15% of the total indoor square footage of the tenant and further provided that the "outdoor display" requirements of § 160-261O (regarding access and passage) above are addressed. Notwithstanding the general limitation on the area of outdoor square footage permitted for a single tenant set forth in the immediately preceding sentence, one restaurant tenant in a Community Shopping Center shall be permitted outdoor area for the purpose of food or beverage consumption of up to 40% of the total gross indoor floor area of the tenant. No amplified sounds or music shall be permitted in such outdoor dining areas without first applying for and obtaining a conditional use from the Board of Supervisors.
[Amended 10-18-2022 by Ord. No. 4-260]
