Garden apartments, where permitted, shall adhere to the following provisions in addition to the district regulation of §
525-14 and shall receive site plan review and approval.
A. The overall density shall not exceed 10 dwelling units per acre of land.
[Amended 4-3-1979 by Ord. No. 400]
B. Each dwelling unit in a garden apartment shall have two separate means of egress to the ground, except that any window sill which is 12 feet or less above the ground level below it shall be considered a separate means of egress.
C. Each apartment complex shall have a compatible architectural theme with variations in design to provide attractiveness to the apartment development, which shall include consideration of landscaping techniques, building orientation to the site and to other structures, topography, natural features and individual dwelling unit design such as varying unit widths, staggering unit setbacks, providing different exterior materials, changing roof lines and roof designs, altering building heights and changing types of windows, doors, shutters, porches, colors and vertical or horizontal orientation of the facades.
D. Measuring horizontally from the perimeter of the units, the distance between structures shall be the sum of the two abutting yards, but in no event shall a structure be closer at any point than the sum of two side yards.
E. The minimum gross floor area for dwelling units shall be:
(1) Efficiency units, 500 square feet.
(2) One-bedroom units, 700 square feet.
(3) Two-bedroom units, 900 square feet.
(4) Three-bedroom units, 1,250 square feet.
F. All garden apartment projects in excess of 12 dwelling units shall provide a minimum of 15% of the total site area for usable recreation space which shall be reviewed and approved as part of the site plan approval and shall be improved as approved on the site plan prior to the issuance of any certificates of occupancy. Such recreation areas shall not be less than 2,000 square feet or 50 feet wide or have a grade in excess of 5%.
G. The total area devoted to parking shall not exceed 40% of the total land area of the site. All parking facilities shall be on the same site as the building and within 200 feet of the nearest entrance of the building they are intended to serve.
H. The arrangement of buildings shall be such that when viewed perpendicular to any side, the overall length of any structure or attached group of structures shall be no more than 200 feet.
I. Each garden apartment building shall provide concrete or cinder block fire walls between every dwelling unit; which fire wall shall extend to the roof sheathing with a solid ridge line.
J. No garden apartment shall have more than two stories nor be more than 35 feet in height. The first story shall have a floor level at least two feet above the grade line at the foundation.
K. Garden apartments shall contain no less than six nor more than 10 dwelling units per structure. Structures shall be designed to enhance their adaptability into the low density residential character of the Borough.
L. All dwelling units shall be connected to approved and functioning water and sanitary sewer systems prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
Within any residential district, no building shall be constructed or altered in a manner so that its exterior design and appearance is not compatible and harmonious with a normal exterior residential appearance.
Nothing in the chapter shall require any change in the plans, construction, size or designated use of any building, structure or part thereof for which any building permit or site plan approval has been granted before the enactment of this chapter, provided that construction from such plans shall have been started within 60 days after the enactment of this chapter and shall be diligently pursued to completion, otherwise said permit shall be void.
Except as specified in §
525-25, any use, building or structure existing at the time of the enactment of this chapter may be continued even though such use, building or structure may not conform to the provisions of this chapter for the district in which it is located.
All lots being filled shall be filled with clean fill and/or topsoil to allow complete surface draining of the lot into local storm sewer systems or natural drainage rights-of-way. No construction shall be permitted which creates or aggravates water stagnation or a drainage problem on adjacent properties.
All parking areas and walkways thereto and appurtenant passageways and driveways serving commercial, public, office, industrial, apartment or other similar uses having common off-street parking and/or loading areas, and building complexes requiring area lighting, shall be illuminated adequately from 1/2 hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise. The lighting plan in and around the parking areas shall provide for nonglare, color-corrected lights focused downward. The light intensity provided at ground level shall be a minimum of 0.3 footcandle anywhere in the area to be illuminated, shall average a minimum of 0.5 footcandle over the entire area and shall be provided by fixtures with a mounting height not to be more than 25 feet measured from the ground level to the center line of the light source, spacing not to exceed five times the mounting height. Any other outdoor lighting, such as building and sidewalk illumination, driveways with no adjacent parking and ornamental light, shall be shown on the lighting plan in sufficient detail to allow determination of the effects to adjacent properties, traffic safety and overhead sky glow. The objective of these specifications is to minimize undesirable off-premises effects. No light shall shine directly into windows or onto streets and driveways in such manner as to interfere with or distract driver vision. To achieve these requirements, the intensity of such light sources, light shielding and similar characteristics shall be subject to site plan approval by the Joint Land Use Board.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, the lawful use of land, buildings or structures existing at the date of the adoption of this chapter may be continued, although such use does not conform to the regulations specified by this chapter for the zone in which such land, buildings or structures are located; provided, however, that no existing land, buildings or structures devoted to a use not permitted by this chapter in the district in which such land, buildings or structures are located shall be enlarged, extended, constructed, reconstructed, substituted, relocated, erected, converted to another use or structurally altered except in conformity with the regulations of this chapter for the district in which such land, buildings or structures are located except as allowed in Article
VI. Also, land on which a nonconforming building is located shall not be reduced in size, nor shall any lot already nonconforming be made more nonconforming in any manner.
A. Abandonment. A nonconforming use shall be considered abandoned if such nonconforming use is terminated by the owner. If a nonconforming use of a structure, or a structure and land in combination, is discontinued or abandoned for a period of 12 consecutive months or if a nonconforming use of land is discontinued for a period of 60 days, thereafter the use of such building, structure and/or land shall not be used in a nonconforming manner.
B. Conversion to permitted use. Any nonconforming building or use which has been changed to a conforming building or use shall not be changed back again into a nonconforming building or use.
C. Restoration. Any nonconforming building or use which has been destroyed by fire, explosion, flood, windstorm or other act of God shall be examined by the following three people to determine whether the building is more than 50% destroyed: Borough Building Inspector; the owner or an architect or engineer selected by the owner; a third person agreed to by the Borough Building Inspector and the owner, whose fee shall be agreed to and shall be paid in equal portions by the Borough and the owner. If in the opinion of the above three people, the damage is greater than 50%, the building or use shall be considered completely destroyed and may be rebuilt only upon approval of a use variance as provided by state statutes. In the event of a damaged or condemned structure where the damage or value of restoration is less than 50% in the opinion of the majority of the above three people, the nonconforming structure or use may be rebuilt and used for the same nonconforming use, provided it does not exceed any height, area and volume of the original structure and the reconstruction shall commence within one year from the date the building was damaged or condemned and shall be carried on without interruption. The total value of the structure shall be based on the current cost of replacing those portions destroyed or required to be rebuilt to their original status plus the current cost of replacing the remaining usable elements of the structure. The cost of replacing the portion that was damaged or required rebuilding shall be computed as a percentage of the current total value of the structure as outlined above.
D. Repairs and maintenance. Such repairs and maintenance work as required to keep a building in sound condition may be made to a nonconforming building or structure.
E. Sale of nonconforming use. Any nonconforming use may change ownership and continue to function as the same nonconforming use provided the other provisions of this section are met.
F. Any existing lot which does not meet the minimum lot size, or a building which does not meet all the yard requirements, may have additions to the principal building and/or construct an accessory use without an appeal to the Joint Land Use Board provided: The total permitted building coverage of the existing structures, together with the accessory building and any addition, is not exceeded; and the accessory building and/or any addition do not violate any other requirements of this chapter. Any vacant lot existing at the effective date of adoption or amendment of this chapter whose area or dimensions do not meet the requirements of the district in which the lot is located, may have a building permit issued for a use permitted for that zoning district without an appeal to the Joint Land Use Board, provided the building coverage limit is not exceeded, parking requirements are met, and the yard and height provisions are reduced by the same percentage that the area of such lot bears to the zone district requirements, except that no side yard shall be less than 1/2 that required by this chapter or five feet, whichever is greater, and no building shall be required to have a height less than one story or 12 feet.
[Added 10-6-1983 by Ord. No. 460; amended 8-6-1987 by Ord. No. 521]
A. Legislative findings. It is hereby determined and declared that the placing, abandonment, leaving, parking, storing or maintaining of any unregistered, unlicensed, disabled, dismantled or inoperable motor vehicles, boats, machinery or mechanical equipment out of doors on private lands in the Borough of Mount Ephraim is contrary, inimical and detrimental to the public welfare in that such articles so placed, abandoned, left, parked, stored or maintained attract or may attract persons of tender years who, being so attracted, may play in and about the same and may be injured and in that such articles so placed, abandoned, parked, stored or maintained out of doors, exposed to the elements, deteriorate and in themselves are unsightly and, deteriorating, become more unsightly and tend to attract vermin and rodents and by reason thereof depreciate the value of properties in the neighborhood where they are located and in the Borough as a whole, thereby creating health, fire and sanitary hazards, all of which are contrary and inimical to the public welfare.
B. Articles stored outdoors to be in enclosed building. No person or corporation shall place, abandon, leave, keep, park, maintain or permit or suffer the placing, abandoning, leaving, keeping, parking or maintaining of any articles described in Subsection
A of this section out of doors upon any private land in the Borough of Mount Ephraim for more than 10 days, unless the same is garaged or stored in an enclosed building.
C. Property owner or tenant presumed responsible. If any vehicle, boat, machinery or mechanical equipment or other article described in Subsection
A of this section shall be placed, abandoned, left, kept, parked or maintained on private lands for 10 days or more, it shall be presumed that the owner or tenant in possession of said lands, or both, left, placed, kept, stored, parked or maintained the same there or permitted or suffered it to be so left, placed, kept, stored, parked or maintained upon such premises.
D. Notice to abate violation. The Zoning Officer of the Borough of Mount Ephraim may cause a notice to be served upon the owner or tenant in possession of said lands on which the violation exists to abate the violation by removing the vehicle, boat, machinery or mechanical equipment or other articles constituting a violation of this chapter from the premises or by storing the same within an enclosed building within 10 days after service of such notice, which notice may be served upon such owner or tenant, if he resides in the Borough, personally or by leaving it at his usual place of abode with some member of his household over the age of 14 years. If any such owner or tenant shall reside outside of the Borough, such notice shall be served upon him by certified mail addressed to him at his usual residence according to the tax records of the Borough of Mount Ephraim. Said owner or tenant or other person shall so abate the violation within the time fixed by the notice.
[Amended 12-5-1996 by Ord. No. 650]
E. Violations and penalties.
(1) Each day that any such person or corporation shall continue to keep, maintain, park, store, place or abandon such vehicle, boat, machinery or mechanical equipment or other articles prohibited in this section upon such premises after the time contained in the aforesaid notice shall expire shall be deemed to be a separate offense and violation of this section.
(2) Any person who shall violate any provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to the penalty provisions contained in Chapter
470, Land Use Procedures, Article
IV, Violations and Penalties, §
470-14, Zoning.
F. Applicability. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any lawfully existing licensed junkyard which otherwise complies with all federal, state and municipal regulations, nor shall it apply to the temporary storage of vehicles awaiting repairs at service stations as permitted under the provisions of this chapter.
G. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections
B and
C of this section, the following exterior storage of one vehicle shall be permitted as follows:
[Added 12-3-1987 by Ord. No. 524A; amended 8-6-1992 by Ord. No. 590]
(1) No vehicle which is unregistered, inoperable or dismantled shall be permitted in any residential zone unless approval is obtained from the Borough Zoning Officer or if such storage is a site approved by the Joint Land Use Board for said purpose. The approval by the Zoning Officer shall only be given for one vehicle per property; provided, however, that the Zoning Official, in his sole discretion, may grant approval for one additional vehicle. Permits shall be issued for the fee set forth in Chapter
470, Land Use Procedures, Article
III, Fees, by the Construction Official only for repairs, restoration or construction of personally owned vehicles and not done in connection with a business venture. Approval by the Zoning Officer shall be limited to a time period of six months; however, one additional approval of up to six months may be granted by the Zoning Officer if the property owner can demonstrate that substantial progress has been made on the repair, restoration or construction of a vehicle.
[Amended 12-5-1996 by Ord. No. 650]
(2) No motor vehicle shall be stored on any surface which is not paved, graveled or stoned unless parked a minimum of 10 feet from any property line.
No more than one principal use shall be permitted on one lot.
[Amended 8-22-2002 by Ord. No. 702]
A. The entire area of the property traversed by motor vehicles shall be hard-surfaced.
B. Illumination of the property shall be such that no direct glare from lights shall fall upon adjacent properties.
C. No equipment for the dispensing of gasoline or oil shall be placed less than 10 feet from any property line.
D. No service station or convenience store with sale of petroleum products shall have an entrance or exit for vehicles within 500 feet of any other service station entrance or exit whether in the Borough or in an adjoining municipality, as measured in the shortest manner possible using the right-of-way of a public street or streets.
E. The requirement herein set forth relative to service stations and convenience stores with sale of petroleum products shall also be adhered to and required for the enlargement of any existing similar use.
F. Gasoline-filling pumps or air pumps shall be permitted within the required front yard space of service stations or convenience stores with sale of petroleum products, but shall be no closer than 50 feet to any street or future street.
G. No junked motor vehicle or part thereof, or motor vehicles incapable of normal operation upon the highways, shall be permitted on the premises. It shall be prima facie evidence of violation of this section if more than six motor vehicles are located at any one time upon any premises within a closed and roofed building, except, however, that a number not exceeding six motor vehicles may be located on any such premises outside of a closed and roofed building for a period of time not to exceed three days, provided that the motor vehicles are awaiting repair.
Private permanent residential swimming pools above or below ground shall adhere to the following standards:
A.
No
pool or wading
pool shall be constructed or installed on any lot unless said lot shall contain a residential structure and/or residence building.
Swimming pools and any accessory building thereto may be located in any such yard but shall be constructed only in the rear yard and shall be at least 10 feet from the rear property line. No
swimming pool shall be erected or placed nearer to a street property line or nearer to a side property line than would be allowed for buildings in the respective zoning districts as set forth in this chapter.
[Amended 9-1-2016 by Ord. No. 12-16]
B.
The pool shall occupy no more than the equivalent of 75% of the yard area in which it is located.
C.
The pool may be lighted by underwater or exterior lights, or both, provided that all exterior lights are located so that the light is neither directed nor reflected upon adjacent properties in such a manner as to be a nuisance or an annoyance to neighboring properties. Underwater lighting shall be in compliance with the applicable National Electrical Code.
D.
Any
pool shall be completely surrounded by fencing between four feet and six feet in height, which requirement in accordance with this chapter may require greater setbacks in order to comply with this chapter.
[Amended 8-7-1973]
E.
All pools shall have all the areas surrounding the pool made and kept neat and attractive, and no rubbish, debris or litter shall be permitted to remain or accumulate in or about the pool.
Townhouses shall adhere to the following provisions in addition to the district regulations of §
525-14.
A. The overall density shall not exceed eight dwelling units per acre of land.
[Amended 4-3-1979 by Ord. No. 400]
B. Each dwelling unit shall be no less than 18 feet wide.
C. Each dwelling unit and combined complex of dwelling units shall have a compatible architectural theme with variations in design to provide attractiveness to the townhouse development which shall include consideration of landscaping techniques, building orientation to the site and to other structures, topography, natural features and individual dwelling unit design such as varying unit widths, staggering unit setbacks, providing different exterior materials, changing rooflines and roof designs, altering building heights and changing types of wind shutters, doors, porches, colors and vertical or horizontal orientation of the facade, singularly or in combination for each dwelling unit.
D. Fire walls of concrete or cinder block material shall be constructed between all dwelling units and shall extend to the roof sheathing with a solid ridge line in all instances, except that where the roofline is offset, the fire wall shall extend at least six inches above the roof sheathing.
E. No more than eight townhouses nor less than four shall be attached to produce one overall structure.
F. Measuring horizontally from the perimeter of the units, the distance between structures shall be the sum of the two abutting yards, but in no event shall a structure be closer at any point than the sum of two side yards.
G. The minimum gross floor area for a one-bedroom unit shall be 800 square feet, and 1,100 square feet for a two-bedroom unit. Each additional bedroom shall require at least an additional 250 square feet to the gross floor area of the total dwelling unit.
H. For individually owned, subdivided townhouses, the minimum lot size shall be 2,500 square feet, the minimum frontage of each lot shall be 18 feet and the minimum depth shall be 125 feet.
[Added 4-3-1979 by Ord. No. 400]
No open space provided around any principal building for the purposes of complying with the front, side, rear or other yard provisions of this chapter shall be considered as providing open space for meeting the same requirements for another principal building.
[Added 9-7-1976 by Ord. No. 366]
A. In the development and execution of this section, it is recognized that there are some uses, which because of their very nature, are recognized as having serious objectionable operational characteristics, particularly when several of them are concentrated under circumstances having a deleterious effect upon the adjacent areas. Special regulation of these uses is necessary to ensure that these adverse effects will not contribute to the blighting or downgrading of the surrounding neighborhood.
B. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ADULT BOOKSTORE An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade, books, magazines, other periodicals, films and other viewing materials which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to special sexual activities, sexual conduct or specified anatomical areas, or an establishment with a segment or section devoted to the sale or display of such material.
ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATER An enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities, sexual conduct or specified anatomical areas, for observation by patrons therein.
MOTION PICTURE Film or films in which any person is shown, depicted or revealed in any act of sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse.
SADOMASOCHISTIC ABUSE Flagellation or torture by or upon a human being who is nude or clad in undergarments or in revealing or bizarre costumes, or the condition of one who is nude or so clothed and is being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained.
SEXUAL CONDUCT Human masturbation, sexual intercourse or any touching of the genitals, pubic areas or buttocks of the human male or female, or the breasts of the female, whether alone or between members of the same or opposite sex or between humans and animals in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.
SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREA (1) Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.
(2) Human genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if covered.
SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITY (1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
(2) Any act of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy.
(3) Fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breasts.
C. Adult bookstores, adult motion-picture theaters, dance halls, poolrooms, billiard parlors and bowling alleys are hereby deemed to be regulated uses.
D. No regulated use may be located within 1,000 feet of any other regulated use nor within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned area nor within 1,000 feet of any school.
[Amended 7-3-1997 by Ord. No. 654]
[Added 6-9-1981 by Ord. No. 438]
A. In the development and execution of this section, it is recognized that there are some uses which, because of their very nature, are recognized as having serious objectionable operational characteristics and as having deleterious effects on the developed residential character of the Borough of Mount Ephraim, particularly when several of them are concentrated under circumstances having a deleterious effect upon adjacent residential areas. Special regulation of these uses has been deemed necessary by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough of Mount Ephraim to ensure that these objectionable operational characteristics have not contributed to the downgrading of the developed character of surrounding residential neighborhoods of the Borough of Mount Ephraim.
B. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ART STUDIO An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its services to the public the exhibition of male or female individuals to the general public, exhibiting or depicting said models displaying sexual activities, sexual conduct or specified anatomical areas of said models, as defined further in this section.
SEXUAL CONDUCT Human masturbation, sexual intercourse or any touching of the genitals, pubic areas or buttocks of the human male or female, or the breasts of the female, whether alone or between members of the same or opposite sex or between humans and animals in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.
SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREA (1) Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.
(2) Human genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if covered.
C. Art studios and all other similar establishments whereby the services provided by an establishment such as is defined in Subsection
B of this section are deemed to be regulated uses.
D. No regulated use may be located within 1,000 feet of any other regulated use nor within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned area nor within 1,000 feet of any school.
[Amended 7-3-1997 by Ord. No. 654]
[Added 11-7-1985 by Ord. No. 494; amended 4-2-1987 by Ord. No. 512; 6-9-1988 by Ord. No. 537A; 5-2-1991 by Ord. No. 578]
The governing body of the Borough of Mount Ephraim is concerned about the appearance and impact of structures commonly known as "antennas." The governing body finds that these antennas must be regulated because of the adverse impact in surrounding property values and the enjoyment and use of surrounding properties. The intent and purpose of this conditional use section is to establish a procedure and criteria in order to avoid the adverse impact of the installation of any type of antenna and to preserve the character, beauty and general welfare of the area and of the municipality. The use of these antennas may be utilized within all zones of the Borough of Mount Ephraim, provided that the following standards and conditions are complied with:
A. Applications for a conditional use or special use permit shall be made to the Joint Land Use Board. The applicant shall submit appropriate plans and sketches which will show the location of all physical improvements on the premises and the proposed location of the antenna. The proposed new landscaping shall be depicted. The applicant shall present documentation of the possession of any required license by any federal, state or local agency.
B. The Joint Land Use Board, in considering applications, shall find that the proposed antenna, whether satellite, dish or traditional television antenna, will have a harmonious relationship with surrounding property uses and shall be located so as to not diminish the value or use of surrounding properties. The Joint Land Use Board shall consider, among other things, the following criteria, which shall not be per se criteria, but only guidelines for the Joint Land Use Board to consider:
(1) The antenna should be located on the ground, if at all possible, given the technology of the antenna, and shall be screened from the roadway and adjoining properties with foliage of such height and density as to provide as much of a screen and buffer as possible. The Board shall have the sole discretion to determine on a case-by-case basis the nature and type of landscaping necessary to provide an appropriate buffer.
(2) The antenna shall not be located on any trailer or portable device.
(3) The antenna shall be located in rear yards only and shall be an accessory structure requiring compliance with all minimum yard requirements as per this chapter.
(4) The antenna shall not be connected to or placed upon any roof and shall not at any point or part of the antenna be elevated to reach a height of more than 15 feet above natural grade of subject premises. In no event shall the natural grade be changed by any means in order to increase the elevation of the antenna.
(5) The applicant must obtain a building permit in accordance with the other appropriate ordinances and regulations of the Borough of Mount Ephraim, and the antenna must have a concrete foundation.
[Added 7-3-1997 by Ord. No. 654]
A. In the development and execution of this section, it is recognized that there are some uses which, because of their very nature, are recognized as having serious objectionable operational characteristics and having deleterious effects on the developed residential character of the Borough of Mount Ephraim, particularly when several of them are concentrated under circumstances having a deleterious effect upon adjacent residential areas. Special regulation of these uses has been deemed necessary by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough of Mount Ephraim to ensure that these objectionable operational characteristics have not contributed to the downgrading of the developed character of surrounding residential neighborhoods of the Borough of Mount Ephraim.
B. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
FORTUNE-TELLERS AND PALM READERS An establishment having a substantial or significant portion of its services to the public using or pretending to use any skills in physiognomy, palmistry, the foretelling of future events or other crafty sciences or pseudosciences.
C. Fortune-tellers and palm readers and all other similar establishments whereby the services provided by an establishment such as is defined in Subsection
B of this section are deemed to be regulated uses.
D. Regulated use as mentioned in this section. No regulated use may be located within 1,000 feet of any other regulated use nor within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned area nor within 1,000 feet of any school.