[Ord. 281, 1/5/1976, Art. I, § 1, as amended by
Ord. 295, 10/1/1979; and by Ord. 454, 9/2/2008]
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall,
for the purpose of this chapter, have the meaning herein indicated;
words used in the present tense include the future tense. The singular
includes the plural. The word "person" includes a firm, association,
organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well
as an individual. The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel."
The term "shall" is always mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.
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."
ACCESSORY BUILDING
A building detached from and subordinate to the main building
on the same lot and used for purposes customarily incidental to the
main building.
ACCESSORY USE
A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use
or building.
ALTERATIONS
As applied to a building or structure, any change or rearrangement
in the total floor area, or an enlargement, whether by extending on
a side or by increasing in height, or moving from one location or
position to another.
ALTERATIONS, STRUCTURAL
Any change in the supporting members of a building, such
as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
APARTMENT
A building occupied by three or more dwelling units.
AREA, LOT
The total area within the lot lines, excluding right-of-way
areas.
BASEMENT
A story partly below the finished grade, but having more
than 1/2 of its height (measured from finished floor to finished ceiling)
above the average level of the finished grade where such grade abuts
the exterior walls of the building. A basement shall be considered
as one story in determining the permissible number of stories.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls
and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals,
or chattels, and including covered porches or bay windows and chimneys.
BUILDING LINE
A line parallel to the front, side, or rear lot line set
so as to provide the required yard.
BUILDING, PRINCIPAL
A nonaccessory building in which the principal use of the
lot is conducted.
CELLAR
A story partly below the finished grade having more than
1/2 of its height (measured from finished floor to finished ceiling)
below the average level of the adjoining finished grade where such
grade abuts the exterior walls of the building. A cellar shall not
be considered a story in determining the permissible number of stories.
COVERAGE
The percentage of the plot or lot area covered by a building
or buildings.
DOG KENNEL
Any premises, except where accessory to an agricultural use,
where three or more dogs, six months in age or older, are kept or
boarded.
DWELLING UNIT
One room or rooms connected together, constituting a separate
independent housekeeping establishment for owner occupancy, or rental
or lease on a weekly, monthly, or longer basis, and physically separated
from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure,
and containing independent cooking and sleeping facilities.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family,
but not to be construed to include mobile homes.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A detached or semi-detached residential building containing
two dwelling units designed for occupancy by not more than two families.
DWELLING, MULTI-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied by three or more families
living independently of each other and doing their own cooking, including
apartment houses.
DWELLING, GROUP
A group of two or more single-family, two-family or multi-family
dwellings occupying a lot in one ownership.
FAMILY
One or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit; provided,
that unless all members are related by blood or marriage, no such
family shall contain over five persons; but, provided further, that
domestic servants employed on the premises may be housed on the premises
without being counted as a family or families.
FLOOR AREA, LIVABLE
The sum of the horizontal areas of all rooms used for habitation,
such as living room, dining room, kitchen, or bedroom but not including
cellars, attics, garages, enclosed porches, and roofed terraces, nor
unheated areas such as enclosed porches.
FLOOR AREA RATIO
The relationship between the area of permitted floor space
in a structure and the area of the lot on which it is situated. A
floor area ratio of one would permit a one-story building to cover
100% of its lot, a two-story building to cover 50% of its lot, a four-story
building to cover 25% of its lot, and so on.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
An enclosed or covered space for the storage of one or more
vehicles, provided that no business, occupation, or service is conducted
for profit therein.
GARAGE, PUBLIC
Any garage other than a private garage, which is used for
storage, repair, rental, servicing, or supplying of gasoline or oil
motor vehicles.
GRADE, FINISHED
The completed surfaces of lawns, walks, and roads brought
to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.
GASOLINE SERVICE STATION
A structure, building, or area of land or any portion thereof
that is used primarily for the sale of gasoline or other motor vehicle
fuel which may or may not include facilities for lubricating, washing,
selling of accessories, and otherwise servicing motor vehicles, including
minor repairs, but not including body or paint shops. Any business
or industry dispensing gasoline solely for its own use and vehicles
will not be deemed to be a gasoline service station.
HEIGHT OF BUILDING
The vertical distance measured from the mean level of the
ground surrounding the building to a point midway between the highest
and lowest point of the roof, but not including chimneys, spires,
towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, and similar projections.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation of a service type nature (rather than the sale of commodities) or profession operated by a member of the immediate family residing on the premises, and where the business or profession is conducted wholly within the dwelling. (See Part
10, "Supplementary District Regulations," §
27-1016, "Home Occupation Regulations," for further stipulations).
HOSPITAL
A place for the diagnosis, treatment, or other care of humans
and having facilities for inpatient care including such establishments
as a sanitarium, sanatorium, and preventorium.
HOTEL OR LODGING HOUSE
A building used as the more or less temporary abiding place
of three or more individuals who are, for compensation, lodged, with
or without meals, and in which no provision is made for cooking in
any individual room or suite. A hotel may include restaurants, and
other accessory structures, primarily for serving its occupants and
only incidentally the public.
JUNKYARD
A lot, land, or structure, or part thereof, used primarily
for the collecting, storage, and/or sale of waste paper, rags, scrap
metal, or discarded material, or for the collecting, dismantling,
storage, and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition,
and for the sale of parts thereof.
LAUNDROMAT
A business premises equipped with individual clothes washing
and/or drying machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive
of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment
house or an apartment hotel.
LOADING SPACE
An off-street space no less than 12 feet wide, 55 feet long
and having a minimum clear height of 15 feet, exclusive of access
area, for the parking of one vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise
or materials.
LOT
A tract or parcel of land, regardless of size, held in single
or joint ownership, not necessarily as lot or lots shown on a duly
recorded map, which is occupied or capable of being occupied by buildings,
structures, and accessory buildings, including such open spaces as
are arranged, designed, or required.
LOT AREA
An area of land which is determined by the limits of the
property line bounding that area and expressed in terms of square
feet or acres. Any portion of a lot included in a street right-of-way
shall not be included in calculating lot area.
LOT, CORNER
A lot at the point of intersection of and abutting on two
or more intersecting streets, and which has an interior angle of less
than 135° at the intersection of the two street lines.
LOT, INTERIOR
A lot other than a corner lot, the sides of which do not
abut a street.
LOT, THROUGH
An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately
parallel streets.
LOT LINE
Any line dividing a lot from another lot, street, or parcel.
LOT WIDTH
The mean width measured at the building setback line between
side lot lines parallel to the front lot line.
MOBILE HOME
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, office, or place of assembly contained in one unit, or
in two 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 PARK
Any space, however designated, that is occupied or designated
for occupancy by two or more mobile homes.
MOTEL
A building or group of buildings, whether detached or in
connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units, designated
with separated entrances and designed for occupancy, primarily for
transient automobile travelers, and providing for accessory off-street
parking facilities. The term "motel" includes buildings designated
as tourist, courts, tourist, cabins, motor lodges, and similar terms.
NONCONFORMING LOT
A lot, existing at the time of the passage of this chapter,
or any amendment thereto, which does not at the time have the minimum
width or contain the minimum area for the zone in which it is located
and is not abutted or adjoined by any other land owned by the same
owner.
NONCONFORMING SIGN
A sign which does not conform to the regulations of the district
in which it is located.
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE OR BUILDING
A structure or building or part thereof which at the time
of the enactment of this chapter, or any subsequent amendments thereto,
does not comply with the provisions of this chapter or such amendments
with respect to restrictions on area, lot coverage, height, yards,
location on the lot, or other similar requirements.
NONCONFORMING USE
A use, whether land, building or structure, which does not
comply with the applicable use provisions of this chapter, or subsequent
amendments thereto, where such use was lawfully in existence at the
time of the enactment of this chapter or such amendments.
NURSING OR CONVALESCENT HOME
A building with sleeping rooms where persons are housed or
lodged and furnished with meals and nursing care for hire.
OPEN SPACE
The unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with
the building.
PARKING SPACE
The space within a building or on a lot or parking lot, for
the parking or storage of one automobile - (minimum size 200 square
feet, dimension 10 feet by 20 feet), exclusive of passageways and
not an integral portion of the street.
PREMISES
Any lot, parcel, or tract of land and any building constructed
thereon.
PRIVATE ROAD
A legally established right-of-way, other than a street,
which provides the primary vehicular access to a lot.
PUBLIC HEARING
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Commissioners or Planning Committee, 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 the Act of June 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act," 53 P.S. § 271
et seq.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
SCREEN PLANTING
A vegetative material of sufficient height and density to
screen the view, in adjoining districts, of the structures and uses
on the premises upon which the screen planting is located.
SHOPPING CENTER
A group of stores, six or more in number, planned and designed
as an integrated unit with off-street parking provided on the property
as an integral part of the unit. It shall also mean a single store
or a group of stores less than six in number where the total gross
floor area of the store or stores exceeds 40,000 square feet.
SIGN
Any writing (including letter, word or numeral); pictorial
representation (including illustration or decoration); emblem (including
device, symbol, or trademark); or any other device of similar character
which (1) is a structure or any part thereof or is attached to, painted
on, or in any other manner represented on a building or other structure;
(2) is used to announce, direct attention to, or advertise; and (3)
is visible from outside of a building.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION
A use or a condition, listed specifically in the regulations
of this chapter, which is permitted only after a hearing held by the
Zoning Hearing Board. At the hearing, evidence must be presented to
satisfy the conditions and safeguards listed in this chapter, but
additional conditions and safeguards may also be imposed by the Board.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there
be no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling
next above it. A "story" does not include a cellar.
STREET
A public thoroughfare (or private road) which affords primary
vehicular access to abutting properties.
STREET LINE
The dividing line between the street right-of-way line and
the lot; also known as the "street lot line."
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 divisions
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.
USE
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designated,
arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
YARD
A required open space other than a court unoccupied by a
structure; provided, however, that fences, walls, posts, trees, lawn
furniture, and other customary yard accessories are permitted in any
yard subject to height limitations and requirements limiting obstruction
of visibility.
YARD, FRONT
A yard provided between the front property line and a line
drawn parallel thereto, and such distance therefrom as may be specified
herein for any district, and extending for the full width of the lot.
YARD REAR
An open unoccupied space, open to the sky, between the rear
property line and a line drawn parallel thereto at such distance therefrom
as may be specified herein for any district, and extending for the
full width of the lot.
YARD, SIDE
An open unoccupied space, open to the sky, between the side
property line and a line drawn parallel thereto at such distance therefrom
as may be specified herein for any district, and extending the full
depth of the lot.
ZONING PERMIT
A permit stating that the purpose for which a building or
land is to be used is in conformity with the uses permitted and all
other requirements of this chapter for the zone in which it is located
or to be located.
[Ord. 281, 1/5/1976, Art. I, § 2, as added by Ord.
295, 10/1/1979]
1. The objectives of this chapter are to:
A. Promote a land use and development pattern consistent with the proper
functioning and requirements of all classes of land use.
B. Provide for an adequate and diversified housing supply.
C. Maintain healthful and safe housing.
D. Provide and maintain attractive, healthful, and safe residential
environments.
E. Provide for ranges of population density to guide new development
and future redevelopment.
F. Maintain a strong and healthy economic base.
G. Maintain a viable and active central business district.
H. Provide for convenience shopping and personal service requirements.
I. Provide for adequate facilities and programs to meet social, cultural,
recreational, and aesthetic needs.
J. Provide for safe and convenient circulation and movement within the
community and to points beyond.
K. Protect to the maximum extent possible and promote the best use of
the Township's natural recreational opportunities and aesthetic
resources.