Township of Lower Swatara, PA MOTOR VEHICLE ACCESS

[Ord. 384, 7/17/1993, § 2402]

Access to the lot shall comply with the following regulations:

Access shall be by not more than two driveways for each one-hundred-foot frontage on any street. The Board may grant permission for additional access drives where required to meet exceptional circumstances and where frontage of unusual length exists.

No two of said driveways serving single-family dwellings shall be closer to each other than 12 feet, and no driveway shall be closer to a side property line than three feet, and no flare shall cross an extended side property line. Except in the case of single- and two-family dwellings, the general layout shall be such that there will be no need for motorists to back over public rights-of-way.

Each driveway shall be paved and shall not exceed 35 feet in width within 12 feet of the street right-of-way line, measured at right angles to the center line of the driveway, except as increased by permissible curb return radii. The entire flare of any return radius shall fall within the right-of-way.

Driveways shall not cross the street right-of-way line within 40 feet of the street right-of-way line of an intersecting street and in no case less than 10 feet from the point of tangency when the intersecting street lines are joined by a curve. Notwithstanding the above and when deemed necessary for public safety by the Board, this dimension shall be increased for access drives to shopping centers, other commercial, industrial, public or institutional uses. Such access drives shall be located on major streets where practical, in a manner to permit safe ingress and egress.

Driveways shall not cross the street right-of-way within five feet of a fire hydrant, catch basin or drain inlet.

Driveways shall not cross the street right-of-way within 40 feet of another driveway on the same lot, excepting in the case where dual access drives are deemed necessary to permit safe ingress and egress, these dimensions may be reduced to not less than six feet between two access drives.

Driveways shall not cross the street right-of-way for all multifamily developments and in all commercial, industrial and other such nonresidential uses within 20 feet of a property line unless two adjoining property owners mutually agree in a legally recorded instrument to a common driveway.

For multifamily developments and nonresidential uses, where there is an existing curb and gutter or sidewalk on the street or private road, a safety island along the entire frontage of the property shall be provided, except for the permitted driveways. On the two ends and street side of each such island shall be constructed a concrete curb in accordance with other codes and ordinances of the Township.

For multifamily developments and nonresidential uses, where there is no existing curb and gutter or sidewalk, a curb, fence or pipe rail shall be constructed along the entire length of the property line, except in front of the permitted driveway in accordance with other codes and ordinances of the Township.

General Safety Requirements; Sight Distance. Driveways shall be located in safe relationship to sight distance and barriers to vision and shall not exceed a slope of 10% within 12 feet of the street line. Where drives enter a bank through a cut, unless a retaining wall is used, the side slopes of the cut shall be graded to not more than 1/2 foot vertical to one foot horizontal within 10 feet of the point the drive intersects with the right-of-way line.

Submission of Plan. A scale drawing of proposed off-street parking and loading areas, access drives and walks shall be submitted as part of the required plot plan. Any plan requiring access onto a state highway shall be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.