The purpose of the R Rural Agricultural District is to:
A.
Permitted. A permitted building may be erected, altered, or used,
and a lot may be used for any one of the following principal uses
together with authorized accessory uses:
1.
Agricultural uses and necessary buildings related to the tilling
of the land, the raising of farm products, the raising and keeping
of horses, cattle and other livestock, and the raising of poultry
and poultry products subject to the agricultural performance standards
of Article 800.
2.
Greenhouses excluding on-premises retail selling.
3.
Governmental regulated recreation areas.
4.
Single-family detached dwellings.
5.
Community utilities, excluding communication towers, and subject
to the provisions of § 701.10.
6.
Municipal uses.
7.
Fire house.
8.
Grange hall or buildings of similar agricultural purpose.
9.
Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental to the above
uses, including, but not limited to, no-impact home-based businesses.
10.
Co-location of communications facilities on an existing communication
tower, subject to § 710.4.
[Added 8-3-2010 by Ord.
No. 4-10]
B.
Special exception. Any of the following uses shall be permitted as
a special exception when authorized by the Zoning Hearing Board subject
to the standards set forth in §§ 702 and 1005 of this
ordinance.
1.
Home occupations subject to the provisions of § 702.6.
2.
Veterinary facilities where clearly accessory to principal agricultural
uses(s) and subject to the provisions of Article 800, as applicable.
3.
Mobile home for farm employees subject to the provisions of § 702.4.
4.
Residential conversion subject to the provisions of § 702.1.
5.
Bed-and-breakfasts, subject to the provisions of § 702.8.
6.
Temporary roadside stand for the sale of agricultural and/or
garden products, subject to the provisions of § 701.9.
7.
Horse boarding facilities and kennels where clearly accessory
to principal agricultural use(s) and subject to the provisions of
Article 800.
8.
Horticultural uses and greenhouses which include on-premises
retail selling, where at least 80% of retail sales represents products
produced on-site.
9.
Group quarters.
10.
Echo housing.
11.
Family day-care facility.
12.
Large manure digester subject to the provisions of § 702.13.
C.
Conditional use. Any of the following uses shall be permitted as
a conditional use when authorized by the Board of Supervisors subject
to the criteria and procedures set forth in § 703 of this
ordinance. The burden of establishing compliance with all such criteria
and procedures shall be with the applicant.
1.
Single-family detached dwelling on a lot greater than two acres
provided that the following conditions can be shown to exist to the
satisfaction of the Board of Supervisors.
a.
That the land proposed for such development is not suitable
for agricultural purposes by virtue of its soil type, steepness of
slope or wooded character.
b.
That such tract by virtue of its unique location or limited
size cannot be reasonably farmed.
c.
Where the conditions of Subsection C, subdivision 1.a and b,
above are shown to apply, that access roads to such tract would not
significantly interfere with other lands within the Rural Agricultural
District by creating new tracts of land which are less than 10 acres
or which otherwise render agricultural uses impractical.
2.
Churches and related uses.
3.
School or educational use.
4.
Communication towers and facilities, other than co-location
of communication facilities on an existing tower, subject to all applicable
provisions of § 703.7.[1]
[Amended 8-3-2010 by Ord.
No. 4-10]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection C5, regarding development
under the open space design option, which immediately followed, was
repealed 4-6-2021 by Ord. No. 1-21.
[Amended 4-6-2021 by Ord. No. 1-21]
Area, lot width, and coverage requirements of not less than
the dimensions shown below shall be provided for each dwelling unit
and/or principal nonresidential structure hereafter erected or altered
for any use.
A.
Minimum and maximum lot area.
1.
Single-family detached dwelling: Minimum lot area of one acre
and maximum lot area of two acres.
2.
Group quarters: one acre minimum lot size.
3.
Communications towers and facilities: one acre minimum lot size.
4.
Open pit mining: 10 acres minimum lot size.
5.
School: Minimum lot size of one acre and maximum lot size of
three acres.
6.
Church: Minimum lot size of one acre and maximum lot size of
five acres.
7.
Any other permitted nonresidential use for which no other lot
size is established: Minimum lot size of one acre and maximum lot
size of three acres.
C.
Minimum lot width at building setback line.
D.
Minimum landscape area: 50%.
It is the intent of the Supervisors to preserve and protect
agriculture and to preserve prime agricultural soils through limitations
on subdivision and land development.
A.
Number of lots, dwellings or other principal nonagricultural buildings
permitted. For each parent tract there shall be permitted the subdivision
of one lot (which shall specifically include, but not be limited to,
a subdivision to create a farm or farms and a subdivision to change
lot lines or a "lot add-on" subdivision which removed land from the
parent tract to add the land to another lot) or the erection of one
single-family dwelling or other principal nonagricultural building
on the parent tract, but not both, with the portion of the existing
or newly created lot used for residential or other nonagricultural
purposes limited to the maximum lot size set forth in § 301.3A
above, for each 25 acres held on March 14, 1978, or if the parent
tract was not classified as Rural District or Rural Agricultural District
on March 14, 1978, on the date when such land was first included in
the Rural District or Rural Agricultural District after March 14,
1978. A tabular example of this limitation on the creation of lots
or the erection of dwellings is as follows:
|
Parent Tract Size
(acres)
|
Number of Lots Permitted to Be Subdivided or Dwellings
or Principal Nonagricultural Buildings Permitted to Be Erected
| |
|---|---|---|
|
At least 2 but less than 50
|
1
| |
|
At least 50 but less than 75
|
2
| |
|
At least 75 but less than 100
|
3
| |
|
At least 100 but less than 125
|
4
| |
|
At least 125 but less than 150
|
5
| |
|
At least 150 but less than 175
|
6
| |
|
At least 175 but less than 200
|
7
| |
|
At least 200 but less than 225
|
8
| |
|
At least 225 but less than 250
|
9
| |
|
At least 250 but less than 275
|
10
|
1.
The table set forth above shall be followed to determine the
number of lots which may be created or the number of dwellings or
other principal nonagricultural buildings which may be erected. Whenever
possible, each lot shall be created to contain and each dwelling or
other nonagricultural building shall be erected on soils with the
agricultural land capability classification of IV, V, VI, VII, or
VIII as defined by the USDA. If subdivision of a lot with such soils
or the location of a dwelling or other principal nonagricultural building
upon such soils is not possible, the lot or dwelling or other principal
nonagricultural building shall be so located as to be directly adjacent
to an existing public road.
2.
The number of lots which may be created or single-family dwellings
or other principal nonagricultural buildings which may be erected
on the parent tract shall be fixed according to the size of the parent
tract. This number shall not be increased by the subdivision of such
parent tract. Any subsequent owner of a parent tract or land remaining
in the parent tract after subdivision shall be bound by the actions
of his predecessor.
3.
Any land development, the purpose of which is to permit the
erection of a permanent single-family dwelling on a parent tract which
has been previously improved with a dwelling which also will remain
upon the parent tract or to permit the erection of a structure for
an additional principal use on the parent tract shall be considered
a subdivision for the purposes of this section. It is the purpose
and intent of this section to limit the development of agricultural
tracts for nonagricultural purposes regardless of whether such development
is accomplished by subdivision or land development as those terms
are defined in the MPC.
4.
No subdivision shall be permitted which shall increase the lot
size of a lot of record used or to be used for residential purposes
in excess of the maximum lot size as set forth herein. Any lot which
is less than 10 acres in size shall be presumed to be used for residential
purposes.
5.
If a parent tract is to be subdivided to create a new lot for
a farm, the remainder of the parent tract and the new lot to be created
for the new farm each must contain a minimum of 25 acres.
B.
Exemptions from limitation on subdivision of land. The following
types of subdivisions shall not be counted against the quota established
by § 301.4A:
1.
A subdivision, the sole purpose of which is to transfer land
to increase the size of a tract being used for agricultural purposes,
where both the parent tract from which the land is taken and the parent
tract to which the land is added will be 25 acres or greater after
such subdivision.
2.
A subdivision to create a lot which will be transferred to the
Township, a municipal authority created by the Township, or any other
entity with the power of eminent domain.
3.
A subdivision, the sole purpose of which is to transfer not
more than 0.5 acres of land to increase the size of an existing residential
lot in accordance with the following criteria:
a.
The residential lot shall not exceed the maximum lot area for
single-family dwellings set forth in § 301.3A.1 after the
land is added, and the parent tract shall meet the minimum lot area
after land is removed.
b.
The area to be added to the existing residential lot shall not
exceed 0.5 acre.
c.
Both the existing residential lot to which the land is added
and the parent tract from which the land is removed shall comply with
all setback, yard, coverage and other regulations after the transfer
of the land.
d.
Only structures accessory to an existing residential dwelling
shall be erected on the land which is added to the residential lot.
No new principal structure may be erected on the land which is allowed
to be added to an existing residential lot by this section.
e.
Where practical, the Township encourages that the new property
for the residential lot should follow any natural boundary line such
as streams, ridges, streets, hedgerows, tree lines, culverts or similar
features or should be parallel to the existing property line of the
residential lot.
C.
Requirements for plans and deeds relating to lands withing the Rural
Agricultural District. Any subdivision or land development plan hereafter
filed with the Township for subdivision or land development of land
in the Rural Agricultural District shall specify on the recorded plan
which lot or lots shall carry a right of further subdivision or erection
of single-family dwellings or other principal nonagricultural buildings,
if any such right remains from the quota allocated to the parent tract
on March 14, 1978, or on the date when such land was first included
in the Rural District or Rural Agricultural District, whichever is
later. The right of further subdivision or erection of single-family
dwellings or other principal nonagricultural buildings, or a statement
that no further subdivision or erection or other principal nonagricultural
buildings is permissible, shall also be included in the deed to the
newly created lot. If the designation of the right of further subdivision
or erection of additional single-family dwellings or other principal
nonagricultural buildings was not included on a subdivision or land
development plan of a parent tract, it shall be conclusively presumed
that the largest lot remaining after subdivision shall carry the right
of further subdivision or erection of additional single-family dwellings
or other principal nonagricultural buildings.
The following setback regulations apply to all uses permitted
within this district unless otherwise specified herein.
A.
Front yard. Front yard setback distances are determined by the kind
of road or highway on which the property abuts as follows:
1.
Arterial: 60 feet from the street right-of-way line or 75 feet
from the street centerline, whichever is the greater.
2.
Collector: 50 feet from the street right-of-way line or 65 feet
from the street centerline, whichever is the greater.
3.
Local: 40 feet from the street right-of-way line or 55 feet
from the street centerline, whichever is the greater.
B.
Side yard. Principal and accessory residential buildings and structures
shall have two side yards, neither of which shall be less than 15
feet. All nonresidential buildings shall have two side yards, neither
of which shall be less than 25 feet.
C.
Rear yard. A minimum of 25 feet for principal residential buildings
and 10 feet for accessory residential buildings and structures. All
nonresidential buildings shall have a minimum rear yard of 50 feet
for principal buildings and 20 feet for accessory buildings.
The maximum building height shall be 2 1/2 stories or 35
feet, whichever is lesser.
As provided for in § 707.
As provided for in § 708.
