Words used in the present tense include the future tense; the
particular controls the general; the singular includes the plural
and the plural the singular; the word "person" or "developer" includes
a firm, association, partnership, trust, company or corporation as
well as an individual; the masculine includes the feminine; the word
"shall" is mandatory and the word "may" permissive; the word "used"
or "occupied" includes the words "intended, arranged, maintained or
designed to be used or occupied"; and words used in this chapter and
not otherwise defined in this article shall have the same meanings
as in a standard dictionary.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The vehicular passage between a street and parking spaces,
lined on one or both sides by parking spaces for all or a part of
the lane's length.
An activity that is incidental to the principal use of a
lot and not permitted unless developed at the same time as, or later
than, the principal use. An accessory structure contains an accessory
use, but no dwelling units.
A business dealing as a distributor or retail seller to distribute,
sell, consign for resale any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet,
newspaper, storypaper, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph,
video tape, figure or image, or any written or printed matter, or
any article which contains nudity, state of nudity, sexual content,
and sexually explicit nudity.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
A nightclub, bar, restaurant, or similar commercial establishment
which regularly features persons who appear in a state of nudity;
live performances which are characterized by sexual content or sexually
explicit nudity; films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or
other photographic reproductions, which are characterized by the depiction
or description of sexual content or sexually explicit nudity.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
Any structure, building or use which is open to the general
public, in which 20% or more of the occupied sales or display area
offers for the sale, or rent, lease, loan, or for viewing upon the
premises, pictures, photographs, drawings, prints, images, sculptures,
still films, motion-picture films, videotapes or similar visual representations
distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on sexual content or
sexually explicit nudity, or books, pamphlets, magazines, printed
matter, or sound recordings containing explicit or detailed descriptions
or narrative accounts distinguished or characterized by an emphasis
on sexual content, or which offers for sale sexual devices. This definition
shall also include a building, structure or portion thereof, or a
use open to the general public, used for presenting motion-picture
film, video tape, live performances or similar visual representation
or materials distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on sexual
conduct or sexually explicit nudity, and shall also include adult
motels, adult cabarets, and adult theaters.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
A hotel, motel or similar commercial establishment, which:
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
Offers accommodations to the public for any form of consideration;
and provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions,
films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic
reproductions which are characterized by the depiction or description
of sexual content or sexually explicit nudity; and has a sign visible
from the public right-of-way which advertises the availability of
this adult type of entertainment; or
Offers sleeping rooms for rent four or more times in one calendar
day in any continuous thirty-day period.
A commercial establishment, including a theater, concert
hall, auditorium or similar commercial establishment, which regularly
features persons who appear in a state of nudity either on film, motion
picture, videocassettes, slides, similar photographic reproductions,
or in live performances which are characterized by the depiction or
description of sexual content or sexually explicit nudity.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
Any addition, deletion or revision of the Zoning Ordinance
text or the Zoning Map officially adopted by Council after public
hearing.
A suite of rooms in a building containing at least one other
dwelling unit, each unit with its own cooking, food storage, bathing
and toilet facilities and with access directly or by a common hallway
to the outside.
A building containing more than two apartments, with access
from apartments via stairways and common halls to the outside at grade
level.
A dwelling unit established from a portion of an already
existing single-family dwelling, when each dwelling after conversion
is provided with all the facilities normally found in a dwelling unit,
including adequate heat, light, ventilation, sanitary and washing
facilities, cooking and food storage and separate means of egress.
A property containing a permanent building and pump islands
for the retail dispensing of liquid fuels, but not containing facilities
for auto body repair, major engine overhaul or auto painting.
A property devoted to the processing of junked cars or parts,
including the reduction of auto bodies for sale and removal from the
premises and the sorting and sale of usable parts, but not including
the disposal or burning of discarded materials on the premises.
A room within a dwelling available to an individual on a
rental basis but not necessarily including a private bathroom or meals,
which if provided constitute a boarding arrangement.
The duly elected governing body of Vandergrift Borough.
Any structure having a permanent roof and covering an area
on the ground.
A building with a permanent roof and solid walls extending
from the roof to the ground, the walls pierced by doors and/or windows.
The vertical distance along the wall of a building between
finished grade and the top of the wall, or halfway between eave and
ridge on a sloped roof building, measured on the wall with the lowest
finished grade elevation.
A building supported upon foundations extending into the
ground and constructed or placed thereon.
The main building or structure on a lot, housing the principal
use of the lot.
A secured facility at which fuel oil or gas for distribution
to residential and commercial customers is stored in bulk with no
retail sales on the premises.
A line running parallel to the curbs or edges of a street
and equidistant from the curbs or edges on each side.
An organization of members which operates a facility for
the social or fraternal benefit of the members and not as a commercial
venture.
An alternate development available for large lots with severe
topographical problems but allowing reasonable use of the lot with
minimum disturbance of the site.
A statement required by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code to appear in a zoning ordinance, demonstrating that the ordinance
is based upon a municipal master plan, relative to land use, population
density, and location of streets and utilities.
An authorized use specifically listed in this chapter which
may be granted only by the Borough Council of Vandergrift Borough
pursuant to the express standards and criteria prescribed by the Borough
through its Zoning Ordinance after review and recommendation by the
Planning Commission of Vandergrift Borough and following a public
hearing to be conducted by the Council of Vandergrift Borough.
[Added 7-2-2007 by Ord.
No. 7-2007]
An amendment of this chapter requested by a property owner,
requiring Borough Council to schedule a public hearing within 60 days,
followed by formal action thereon, or an amendment by Council after
declaring a part of this chapter defective, placing a moratorium on
property owner curative amendments, and requiring Council's action
to reaffirm or amend the ordinance or part thereof after hearing within
180 days.
A facility designed to accommodate pre-school-age or elderly
dependent persons while parents or guardians are at work, but not
including overnight accommodations.
The erection, expansion or structural alteration of one or
several buildings or structures on one lot or several contiguous lots;
the changing of the land surface in anticipation of receiving buildings
and/or structures in an approved plan or the offering of land for
such purpose; or the subdivision or redivision of land for sale, lease
or deed transfer. A developer is any landowner, agent of such landowner,
or tenant with the permission of such landowner who makes or causes
a development to be made.
[Amended 11-5-1990 by Ord. No. 2-1990]
A facility licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Department of Health and any other commonwealth licensing entities
required to license a facility that treats individuals who have been
identified or diagnosed as being drug or alcohol dependent and which
utilizes methods approved by a licensing entity of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania to treat said individuals, but excepting therefrom
methadone treatment facilities, which shall be separately defined
herein.
[Added 7-2-2007 by Ord.
No. 7-2007]
A group of connected rooms in a building for the exclusive
use of one family, containing its own private bathing, toilet, cooking
and food storage facilities.
A dwelling unit attached along a common party wall or party
walls to one or more similar dwellings, each with its own at-grade
access to the outside and each with at least one room, not a corridor
or stairhall, on the first-floor level; also, a townhouse.
A dwelling unit designed and intended to be occupied by one
family only and surrounded by open space on the same lot.
A detached building containing only two dwelling units, each
entirely separate from the other and each with its own access directly
to the outside.
The rearrangement of the earth surface by excavation and
filling to accommodate development; also known as "grading."
An individual or group of persons related by blood, marriage
or adoption, or a group of not more than three unrelated individuals,
living together in the same dwelling unit.
A retail business that sells food requiring little preparation,
over the counter, for consumption on or off the premises and may have
service available directly to patrons in their cars.
Material excavated elsewhere and deposited upon the earth
surface in the process of grading for land development. "Filling"
is the act of placing fill.
A dwelling used to house individuals who are under the custody
and care of a social agency or public body or are recovering from
treatment in an institution and are preparing to return to society.
An accessory building on a residential lot, attached to or
detached from the dwelling, or a room within the dwelling, intended
for the storage of vehicles operated by the residents of the dwelling
and not intended to house an automobile repair business.
The reconstruction of the surface of a property to accommodate
development.
A business carried on entirely within a single-family dwelling
by the residents thereof, involving no exterior changes to the appearance
of the dwelling and not creating nuisance or congestion conditions
in the neighborhood where it is located.
An organization of all property owners in a condominium or
cluster residential development with responsibility to maintain the
commonly held lands and improvements that formerly were provided by
the developer before being deeded over to the association.
An area of land surface abutting a street, such area recorded
as to ownership and legal description with the County Recorder of
Deeds; also "a property."
The land surface area of a lot but not including any portions
of a street right-of-way encroaching on or crossing the lot.
The portion of the lot surface, usually expressed as a percentage
of the whole lot area, occupied by the principal building or by accessory
buildings.
The length of the edge of a lot that abuts the street to
which the principal structure on the lot is or will be oriented.
The edge of a lot or property described by bearings and distances
and noted on the property deed.
A lot duly recorded in the office of the Westmoreland County
Recorder of Deeds.
The distance across a lot measured along the front setback
line.
A facility licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department
of Health to use the drug methadone in the treatment, maintenance
or detoxification of persons.
[Added 7-2-2007 by Ord.
No. 7-2007]
A transportable structurally integral single-family dwelling
intended for permanent occupancy, which arrives on its site or lot
ready for use, except for the joining of the matched pair of units
if a double-wide home, and other minor assembly; and which is capable
of later being disassembled and towed to a second site or lot.
A property which has been designed for placement of at least
two mobile homes.
Any service or utility provided by the Borough or by a body
created and/or supported by the Borough.
A lot created before the adoption of this chapter whose area
and/or frontage are less than the minimum required in the zone district
containing the lot.
A structure or building erected prior to the adoption of
this chapter whose height, coverage of the lot or location relative
to lot lines is less than the minimum required in the zone district
containing the lot.
A use that has occurred on a lot since before this chapter
was adopted and is otherwise legal, but is not a permitted use in
the zone district containing the lot.
The appearance of human bare buttocks, anus, male genitals,
female genitals or female breasts.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
Authorization issued by the Zoning Officer, attesting that
the proposed use or reuse of premises is in accordance with this chapter
or with a previously issued zoning permit and may legally be occupied.
Area set aside on a lot for parking of cars entirely outside
a public street.
An area in a lot designed to store one vehicle.
A paved outdoor area level with surrounding land surfaces
and without a permanent roof.
The enabling legislation of the commonwealth, originally
adopted in 1968, regulating the right of municipalities to adopt zoning
ordinances and specifying generally what such ordinances shall contain.[1]
A use that is expressly allowed by this chapter to occur
on a lot because of the lot's location in a certain zoning district
and to which all other activity on the lot is subordinate.
Retail services provided on a person-to-person basis with
no tangible product changing hands, except incidentally.
A structural attachment to a building, such attachment having
a permanent roof and floor but not otherwise enclosed and subject
to setback from lot lines as for any building or part thereof.
The placement of a notice for public view on a lot calling
attention to proposed changes in the zoning status of the lot, or
a similar public notice placed at the municipal office, or the placement
of a zoning permit on a lot during its development.
All or part of a lot or property devoted to a particular
use.
An individual duly registered to practice civil engineering
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A meeting called by the Borough Council or the Zoning Hearing
Board, properly noticed in advance, for the purpose of taking testimony
on the matter being heard as a basis for the Council or the Board
to make a later decision.
An announcement of a public hearing published in the legal
section of the principal newspaper serving Borough residents at least
twice, once in each of two consecutive weeks, the first notice not
more than 30 days before the hearing and the second not less than
seven days before, indicating the date, time and place of the hearing
and a description of the matter to be heard, as well as the location
where and the times during which the material to be covered in the
hearing may be examined.
[Amended 11-5-1990 by Ord. No. 2-1990]
Any element in the systems to convey water, sewerage, gas,
electricity, or telephone or television communications, as well as
devices to treat, store, transform or regulate within such systems,
whether on public or privately owned land.
A strip of land dedicated to and improved for public use,
providing access to properties or lots that abut it and connecting
to other public ways, or an easement across private property for the
passage of public utilities or the disposal of stormwater.
A planted buffer intended to protect residential properties
from abutting commercial or other downgrading activities that might
deteriorate the residential property values.
The minimum distance a structure must be removed from the
nearest property line; thus the front setback line describes the limit
of construction on a lot behind the property line abutting the street.
Any of the following:
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
The fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, public
region, buttocks, anus, or female breasts;
Sex acts, actual or simulated, including intercourse, oral copulation,
or sodomy;
Masturbation, actual or simulated; or
Excretory functions as part of or in connection with any of
the activities set forth in A through C above in this definition.
The male genitals in a state of sexual arousal and/or the
vulva or female genitals, or full exposure of the female breasts.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 3-2003]
A panel or construction projecting a message by words, symbols
and/or pictures, designed to be viewed by the public, but not including
the supports thereof.
A layout of a property showing all improvements proposed
to be placed on or under the lot in the course of development, as
well as existing conditions on the lot to remain.
A use to which a lot may be put, provided the Zoning Hearing Board, upon reviewing the proposal and the lot's location and access, finds that the use will not be detrimental to the public health and safety if placed on the lot. Special exception uses that may be considered in each zone district are specifically listed in Article III of this chapter.
A transcription of the testimony taken at a public hearing,
recorded by a professional stenographer at the hearing.
The vertical dimension between a floor and the floor of the
level next above or next below when the dimension between floors is
at least six feet or, if no floor is above, then the ceiling above.
An improved vehicular surface within a right-of-way which
affords the primary means of access to abutting properties. A public
street is one which has been accepted for maintenance by the Borough
or state.
Any permanent man-made construction in, on or over the ground
surface and attached to the ground, but not including paving or surfaces
treated for vehicular or pedestrian passage.
An accessory structure that is placed on a lot for a specified
short time period during the course of development of the lot and
then removed upon completion of development.[2]
A device no more than 10 feet in height or a dish not more
than 10 feet in diameter, attached to a building, structure or telecommunications
tower, principally intended for the receipt or transmission of signals
for such uses as commercial or public VHF or UHF television, FM radio,
two-way radio, commercial carriers, cellular telephone, and other
wireless services, fixed-point microwave, lower-power television or
AM radio, including accessory equipment related to telecommunications.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 2-2003]
The building in which the electromagnetic receiving and relay
equipment for a telecommunications antenna is housed.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 2-2003]
A freestanding structure, including any guy wires, principally
intended to support facilities for the receipt or transmission of
signals for uses such as commercial or public VHF or UHF television,
FM radio, two-way radio, commercial carriers, cellular telephones,
and other wireless services, fixed-point microwave, low-power television
or AM radio, including accessory equipment related to telecommunications.
[Added 4-14-2003 by Ord.
No. 2-2003]
Land surface that has not been altered for at least the two
previous years.
A grant of the Zoning Hearing Board permitting an owner to
use a property not wholly in accordance with this chapter because
the Board finds that strict conformance would be a hardship, not created
by the owner, depriving him of reasonable use of the property, and
that a specific minor variation or variations in the regulations determined
by the Board to accommodate the owner will not detrimentally affect
abutting properties or the public.
The dimension created by multiplying the length of an interior
space by its width and then multiplying the quotient by the floor-to-ceiling
dimension.
The front, side or rear area of a lot between property line
and setback line, the depths of which are specified for each zoning
district by this chapter, and within which buildings with permanent
roofs or portions thereof cannot be built.
The area of a lot between the front lot line abutting the
street to which the lot has access and the front setback line and
extending between the side lot lines.
The area of a lot between the rear lot line and rear setback
line and extending between the side lot lines.
The area of a lot between the side lot line and side setback
line on each side of a lot and extending between the front and rear
yards.
The group of uses that are permitted by right or by special
exception and the constraints on development that apply uniformly
throughout a zoning district.
A contiguous area of land on all parts of which the same
uniform opportunities for development apply.
The edge of a zoning district where it abuts another district
or the Borough boundary.
A Board appointed by Borough Council to examine and decide
appeals for relief from strict conformance to this chapter and to
hear testimony regarding the validity of this chapter or regarding
challenges to the decisions of the Zoning Officer.
The official plan of zoning districts in the Borough; a part
of this chapter, showing precisely the boundaries and title of each
zoning district.
A person retained by the Borough to enforce the regulations
of this chapter, with power to issue zoning and occupancy permits,
to halt illegal construction, and to interpret the meaning of the
various sections of this chapter literally, subject to appeal before
the Zoning Hearing Board.
A document issued by the Borough attesting that all requirements
of this chapter have been met and allowing the approved work to commence
in conformance with the permit.
