[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, DETACHED
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
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.
BUILDING, SEMI-DETACHED
A building which has one wall in common with an adjacent building.
CARPORT
See "garage, private."
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.
CUSTOMARY HOUSEHOLD PETS
Such pets which are normally found within the home, such as dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, etc.
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.
MOBILE HOME SUBDIVISION
An area designated exclusively for mobile homes where lots are not rented but sold.
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.
PLANNING COMMITTEE
The West Lebanon Township Planning Committee.
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.
ROW HOUSE (TOWNHOUSE OR ATTACHED DWELLING)
Three or more single-family dwellings in a group, one or more of which have two walls in common with adjoining dwellings.
SANITARIUM, SANATORIUM
A private hospital, whether or not such facility is operated for profit.
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 OFFICER (ZONING ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIAL)
The agent or official designated by the Township Commissioners to enforce this chapter.
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.