[Ord. 2002-06, 11/11/2002, § 1001]
1. The Village Commercial District allows for commercial and service
establishments designed to serve the needs of local residents. A limited
amount of residential uses are also accommodated in the Village Commercial
District. The Village Commercial District is specifically intended
to:
A. Recognize the historical importance of the villages while providing
a focus to the surrounding community and serving local commercial,
office, and institutional service needs.
B. Provide for a mix of uses at a scale consistent with the historic
character of the villages.
C. Provide opportunities for infill development, redevelopment of existing
buildings, and some minor expansion in a manner consistent with the
historical and architectural character of the villages.
[Ord. 2002-06, 11/11/2002, § 1002]
1. Uses Permitted by Right. Any building may be erected, altered, or
used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes
and no other:
A. Single-family detached dwelling.
B. East Fallowfield Township municipal use and governmental offices
and facilities, including post office and similar service facilities.
C. Forestry, in accordance with §
27-1402, Subsection
7.
D. Accessory uses as defined in Subsection
2.
2. Accessory Uses. Accessory uses must be clearly incidental to and customarily associated with the principal use and located on the same lot as the principal use listed in Subsection
1.
A. Accessory structures normally associated with uses permitted in this
district.
B. Signs in accordance with Part 16.
C. Home occupations in accordance with §
27-1712, Subsection 1B.
3. Conditional Uses. The following uses will be considered by the Board
of Supervisors, subject to the conditions as specified in Part 17
and the procedures as specified in Part 19:
A. Individual retail stores for the sale of antiques, gifts, food, meat
and poultry, drugs, flowers, dry goods, household goods, hardware,
newspapers, stationery, jewelry, office supplies, or similar items,
not to exceed a gross leasable floor area of 2,000 square feet.
B. Restaurants and drinking establishments without drive-through service and not including fast-food restaurants, in accordance with §
27-1724.
C. Personal service establishments such as beautician, barber shop,
shoe repair, real estate and insurance, tailor shop, photographic
studios, and dry cleaners, not to exceed 2,000 square feet of gross
leasable floor area.
D. Individual professional or administrative offices not to exceed 2,000
square feet of gross leasable floor area.
E. Bakery or catering facility (food preparation only), not to exceed
a gross leasable floor area of 2,000 square feet.
F. Residential conversion of a single-family detached dwelling or nonresidential building in accordance with §
27-1723.
G. Residential use located above a commercial or office use.
H. (Reserved)
[Amended by Ord. No. 2018-01, 7/24/2018]
I. Bed and breakfast in accordance with §
27-1705.
J. Church and religious institutions in accordance with §
27-1708.
K. Shopping centers of two to four establishments at the density prescribed in §
27-1003, Subsection
1B(2), below, and in accordance with §
27-1731.
L. Accessory uses as defined in Subsection
2, above.
[Ord. 2002-06, 11/11/2002, § 1003]
1. Unless otherwise specified in Part
17, "Supplemental Land Use Provisions," or elsewhere in this chapter, the following requirements shall be applied to all uses permitted in the VC Village Commercial District:
A. Minimum Lot Area and Maximum Density.
(1)
Where a single use is proposed on a lot served by individual
on-lot sewers and water systems, a minimum lot area of 40,000 square
feet shall be required. Where more than one use is proposed on a lot
served by individual on-lot sewers and water systems, a minimum additional
area of 20,000 square feet per each additional proposed use on the
lot shall be required (i.e., a total of 60,000 square feet for two
uses, 80,000 square feet per three uses, etc.).
(2)
Three establishments per acre for uses or establishments in
the same building when served by either community or public sewage
systems.
(3)
Every lot shall have the requisite area stated above, provided
that in the case of an interior lot, any right-of-way or accessway
connecting such lot to a street shall be in addition to the minimum
lot area.
B. Minimum Lot Width. One hundred feet at street line.
C. Minimum Property Line Setbacks.
(1)
Front Yard Setback:
(a)
Twenty-five feet at street right-of-way, except as noted in
clause (b) below.
(b)
The front yard of a proposed building may be decreased in depth to the average alignment of existing buildings within 200 feet on each side of the proposed building. However, in no case shall the front yard setback be reduced to less than 15 feet from the street right-of-way or allow a proposed structure to interfere with the clear sight triangle required by §
22-609 of the Subdivision and Land Development [Chapter
22].
(2)
Side yard setback: 20 feet for either side yard and 50 feet
aggregate.
(3)
Rear yard setback: 25 feet. Accessory structures, 10 feet.
D. Maximum Height. Two stories or 25 feet.
E. Maximum Lot Coverage. Sixty percent impervious surface.
F. Maximum Building Coverage. Forty percent.
G. Minimum Landscape Area. Fifteen percent.
[Ord. 2002-06, 11/11/2002, § 1004]
1. New development proposed within the Village Commercial District,
as well as rehabilitation, alteration, or modification of existing
structures or uses, shall comply with the following design standards
to the extent possible:
A. New development proposed within the Village Commercial District should
be designed to complement the historic character of the village as
well as the overall character of the Township in terms of building
placement, style, bulk, construction, materials, and site design.
B. The removal of mature trees shall be limited to the individual building
sites and access to the sites and shall comply with the standards
set forth in Part 14, "Natural Resource Protection Standards."
C. A pedestrian orientation shall be maintained in the villages and
sidewalks or walking paths shall be provided where practical and appropriate.
D. Every effort shall be made to locate new structures in such a manner
as to minimize changes to the existing contours and original topography
of the site.
E. Parking.
(1)
Off-street parking for nonresidential uses shall be located
to the side or rear of buildings wherever practical.
(2)
Where feasible, garages and off-street parking for residential
uses shall be located to the rear of the main dwelling.
F. Mechanical systems, trash receptacles, and dumpsters shall be located in a side or rear yard and shall be screened from view in compliance with §
27-1808, "Landscaping, Screening, and Buffering."
G. The rehabilitation, alteration, or modification of buildings and
structures located in this district that contribute to the historic
character of the village are encouraged to comply with the Secretary
of the Interior's standards for rehabilitation as described below:
(1)
Every reasonable effort should be made to provide a compatible
use for a property that requires minimal alteration of the building,
structure, or site and its environment, or to use a property for its
originally intended purpose.
(2)
The distinguishing original qualities or character of a building
structure or site and its environment should not be destroyed. The
removal or alteration of any historic material or distinctive architectural
features should be avoided when possible.
(3)
All buildings, structures, and site should be recognized as
products of their own time. Alterations, which have no historical
basis and which seek to create an earlier appearance are discouraged.
(4)
Changes which have taken place in the course of time are evidence
of the history and development of a building, structure, or site and
its environment, these changes may have acquired significance in their
own right and this significance should be recognized and respected.
(5)
Distinctive architectural features or examples of skilled craftsmanship
which characterize a building, structure, or site should be treated
with sensitivity.
(6)
Deteriorated architectural features should be repaired rather
than replaced wherever possible.
(7)
The surface cleaning of structures should be undertaken with
the gentlest means possible.
(8)
Every reasonable effort should be made to protect and preserve
archeological resources affected by, or adjacent to, any acquisition,
stabilization, preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, or reconstruction
project.
(9)
Contemporary design for alterations and additions to existing
properties should not be discouraged when such alterations and additions
do not destroy significant historic architectural or cultural materials,
and such design is compatible with the size, scale, color, materials,
and character of the property, neighborhood, or environment.
(10)
Whenever possible, new additions or alterations to structures
should be done in such a manner that if such additions or alterations
were to be removed in the future, the essential form and integrity
of the structure would be unimpaired.
H. For additional requirements and design standards, refer to Part 14,
"Natural Resource Protection Standards"; Part 16, "Sign Regulations";
Part 17, "Supplemental Land Use Provisions"; Part 18, "Common Regulations";
and Part 19, "Conditional Use Regulations," for additional regulations
applicable to this district.