The purpose of this chapter is to establish separate zoning
districts within the City of Harrisburg in order to promote the City's
community development objectives and to protect the general health,
welfare, and safety of its residents. This chapter creates separate
zoning districts with distinct purposes in each and describes the
land uses that are permitted in each district. Each zoning district
describes whether a specific land use is permitted by right, by special
exception, or is prohibited. Determination of boundaries for specific
zoning districts are shown on the Official Zoning Map for the City
of Harrisburg.
This chapter applies to all properties located within the City
of Harrisburg.
For the purposes of this Zoning Code, the City of Harrisburg
is hereby divided into zoning districts which shall be designated
as follows:
A. Open space district.
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OSR
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Open Space Recreation District
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B. Residential districts.
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RL
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Residential Low Density District
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RM
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Residential Medium Density District
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C. Commercial and downtown districts.
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CN
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Commercial Neighborhood District
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CG
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Commercial General District
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DC
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Downtown Center District
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D. Special districts.
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RF
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Riverfront District
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INS
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Institutional District
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F. Overlay districts.
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FP
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Floodplain Overlay District
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AZOD
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Airport Zoning Overlay District
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HD
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Historic Overlay District
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ACOD
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Architectural Conservation Overlay District
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[Amended 4-13-2021 by Ord. No. 6-2021]
In addition to the overall purpose and community development objectives stated in Chapter
7-301, the purpose for each designated zoning district is as follows:
A. OSR Open Space Recreation: to preserve important open space and environmental
resources, to maintain flood-prone areas in open space to minimize
flood damages and hazards, to provide for a range of recreation-oriented
facilities to serve residents and to attract visitors to the City,
and to provide for certain water-related public utilities.
B. RL Residential Low Density: to provide for neighborhoods of primarily
single-family detached housing at low densities; to protect neighborhoods
from incompatible uses and other activities that would adversely affect
the stability of the area.
C. RM Residential Medium Density: to provide for neighborhoods at medium
densities; to protect neighborhoods from incompatible uses and other
activities that would adversely affect the stability of the area.
D. CN Commercial Neighborhood: to encourage and preserve corridors with
a mix of medium- and high-density residential and neighborhood retail
activities; to encourage pedestrian-oriented uses, while avoiding
auto-related uses.
E. CG Commercial General: to provide for a wide range of commercial,
office, and service uses, and some residential uses that serve local
and regional needs and are located on major arterials.
F. DC Downtown Center: to promote a balanced mix of retail, office,
service, entertainment, institutional, and high-density residential
uses in the downtown; to promote expansion of the Downtown Center
around the Harrisburg Transportation Center and further east along
Market Street.
G. RF Riverfront: to recognize the historical importance of Riverfront
Park and to preserve the character of development along Front Street
and the portion of State Street between Riverfront Park and the Capitol.
Development standards, signage, and off-street parking requirements
are designed to minimize impacts and are more restrictive than other
zoning districts as a result.
H. INS Institutional: to facilitate and protect institutional development
including, but not limited to, government facilities, educational
institutions, and hospitals.
I. IND Industrial: to encourage all types of light industries, offices,
warehousing, and wholesale sales uses; to also provide for a broad
range of commercial uses, including retail sales, to provide a broad
market for reuse of buildings and land; to permit heavy industrial
uses by special exception to avoid conflicts with neighboring uses.
J. FP Floodplain Overlay District: to promote the general health, safety and welfare of the community; to encourage the utilization of appropriate construction practices in order to prevent or minimize flood damage in the future; to minimize danger to public health by protecting water supply and natural drainage; to reduce financial burdens imposed on the community, its governmental units, and its residents, by preventing excessive development in areas subject to flooding; to comply with federal and state floodplain management requirements. See Chapter
7-315.
K. AZOD Airport Zoning Overlay District: to create an overlay district
that considers safety issues around the Capital City Airport (CXY)
and Harrisburg International Airport (MDT); to regulate and restrict
the heights of established uses, constructed structures, and objects
of natural growth; to create a permitting process for certain uses,
structures, and objects within said related zones.
L. HD Historic Overlay District: to protect those areas of the City that are designated as municipal historic districts. See Chapter
7-317.
M. ACOD Architectural Conservation Overlay District: to protect the existing physical character of neighborhoods which have unique historic streetscapes. See Chapter
7-319.
Where uncertainty exists as to the boundaries of any district
as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply:
A. Unless otherwise stated on the Zoning Map, zoning district boundary
lines are intended to follow or be parallel to the center line of
street or alley rights-of-way, railroad rights-of-way, or waterways
or to follow lot lines as each existed as of January 1, 2013. A subsequent
change to or deletion of a lot line shall not by itself cause a change
to a zoning district boundary; and
B. Where a district boundary is not fixed by information on the Zoning
Map and where the line does not approximately follow lot lines, then
the location of such boundary shall be determined by the use of the
scale of the Zoning Map.