[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Raccoon 11-14-2017 by Ord. No.
2017-4. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Parks and recreation — See Ch. 127.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A vehicular portable structure to be mounted on a chassis
or wheels and towed by or constructed as an integral part of a self-propelled
vehicle for use as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreation, and
vacation, commonly known as "travel trailers," "pickup coaches," "motor
homes," or "camping trailers."
A tract or tracts of land, or any portions thereof, used
for the purpose of providing sites for the temporary use of trailers,
campers, or tents, as hereinafter defined, for camping purposes, with
or without a fee being charged for the leasing, renting, or occupancy
of such space.
A parcel of land in an organized camp or campground for the
placement of a single camper and/or tent and the exclusive use of
its occupants.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, municipality,
county, authority, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any other private
or public entity.
Those areas designated, developed and equipped for such organized
activities as swimming, basketball, volleyball, tennis, handball,
badminton, baseball, football, children's play areas and similar
endeavors.
Those functional areas either landscaped or left in a natural
state for walking, sitting, nature study and other passive uses.
A vehicle primarily designed and utilized as temporary living
quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, whether self-propelled
or mounted on or drawn by another vehicle, and including travel trailers,
recreational trailers, camping trailers, truck campers, motor homes,
and similar types of vehicles. It shall also include horse trailers
used for such purposes. The term shall not mean or include a mobile
home, manufactured home or seasonal dwelling.
A portable lodging unit usually made out of skins, canvas,
plastic, or strong cloth stretched and usually sustained by poles,
and which is dependent upon separate toilet and lavatory facilities.
Raccoon Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to construct or maintain a campground
within Raccoon Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, without first
having secured a permit from the Township.
B.
Application for such permit shall be provided by the Township Secretary
upon request. Following the approval of the Township Supervisors,
a permit shall be issued by the Secretary.
C.
A campground permit fee shall be required upon application or upon
issuance of a renewal. A fee of $2,500 must accompany all applications
for new campgrounds and the annual renewal fee is $1,000. These fees
may be changed from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
The applicant will also be responsible to pay any and all septic fees
and all cost of legal and engineering review, if necessary.
D.
The permit shall be valid only for the campground for which application
is made.
E.
The permit may be transferred if the property is sold, provided the
campground is in compliance with all provisions of this chapter and
upon the payment of a transfer fee in the amount of $2,500 which may
be changed from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
F.
In the event the issuance of a permit is authorized by the Board
of Supervisors for the establishment of a camp in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter, or in the case of a presently existing
camp, no change or alteration shall be made unless application therefor
shall be made to the Board as in the case of the original establishment
of a camp and a permit is thereupon authorized to be granted for such
change or alteration by resolution of the Board.
G.
The Supervisors may revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a permit
at such time as there is evidence of noncompliance with this chapter.
A.
Application. An application for a permit to operate a campground
must be made on a form provided by the Zoning Enforcement Officer
or Secretary of the Township. The operator/applicant must agree in
his or her application that a responsible attendant shall be in charge
of the management of the campground at all times. The application
must set forth the names of the management attendants to be in active
charge of the proposed campground and their hours of duties shall
be set forth.
B.
Plan. A plan must be submitted with the application; the plan shall
be drawn at an appropriate scale to provide ease of review but at
no less than one inch equals 100 feet. The plan must include the following:
(1)
The survey date with certification by a registered land surveyor
showing calculated distance and bearings of the mobile home park boundaries,
lots, utility easements, streets, alleys, building lines, and parks
and other common areas reserved for community purposes.
(2)
A site plan showing trees, roads, campsites, location of one-hundred-year
floodplain, if applicable.
(3)
A plan to control noise, litter, lighting, trespassing and traffic.
(4)
Property lines of adjacent properties, together with the land use
of such adjacent properties.
C.
Changes. Any changes after the permit is granted shall be filed with
the Township Zoning Officer within five days from the date of the
change.
A.
Setback. No camping site shall be located within 100 feet of a public
right-of-way or within 100 feet of any property line or within 300
feet of a nonaffiliated residence. No part of any setback shall be
used for any other required area for a campground, service buildings,
drives or water and sewage facilities which are located aboveground
except to contain the required buffer yard.
B.
Buffer yard. There shall be a planted buffer yard of at least 50
feet along the side and rear yards that shall contain evergreen shrubs
at least four feet in height when planted, to provide a visual buffer.
C.
Campground. A campground shall have a minimum lot size of five acres.
If a campground is being developed on the same parcel as another use,
for example a home or agricultural use, the parcel must have enough
acres to delineate the minimum five acres to the campground while
reserving the minimum acres required for the existing use per the
Zoning Ordinance.[1]
D.
Campsites. Individual campsites shall contain a minimum of 2,000
square feet with a minimum width of 40 feet. Each campsite shall provide
a clear, level, well-drained, mud-free pad for accommodating trailers
and campers. A maximum of 10 campsites per acre is permitted.
E.
Parking. Parking shall be provided within the campground.
F.
Streets and roads. Each camping site shall front upon an approved
street or road.
(1)
One-way streets and roads with camping site parking shall have an
improved surface of no less than 12 feet.
(2)
Two-way streets and roads with camping site parking shall have an
improved surface of no less than 20 feet.
(3)
One-way streets and roads with on-street parking on one side shall
have an improved surface of no less than 20 feet, and 28 feet for
parking on both sides.
(4)
Two-way streets and roads with on-street parking shall have an improved
surface of no less than 28 feet for one-side parking, and 36 feet
for both-side parking.
(5)
Streets and roads shall be graded to provide positive drainage from
the road surface. Drains and culverts shall be provided as necessary
to maintain proper drainage.
(6)
Streets and roads shall have a maximum grade of 6%, except for sections
of no more than 100 feet in length which may exceed 6% but in no case
shall exceed 10%.
(7)
Streets and roads shall be all-weather constructed. All streets and
roads shall be at least six inches of crushed, compacted aggregate
and shall be built to be mud-free year round. Road oil, calcium or
other suitable material shall be applied in an amount and frequency
as necessary to control dust.
(8)
Dead-end streets (culs-de-sac) shall be limited to a maximum length
of 600 feet, and shall be provided at the closed end with a turnaround
having an outside roadway diameter of at least 100 feet.
(9)
No structure shall be permitted within 25 feet from the right-of-way
of an access road, an interior road or within 20 feet of common parking.
G.
Emergency ingress and egress to all campsites shall be maintained
at all times. An operator/applicant shall permit representatives of
the Police Department, Fire Chief, Zoning Enforcement Officer or other
Township departments or agencies to inspect the premises of the campground
on an ongoing basis for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the
law.
H.
Common facilities shall be well-illuminated from dusk to dawn.
I.
A minimum of 20% of the gross area of the campground shall be devoted
to recreational facilities and common open spaces. Recreational facilities
shall not be located within 100 feet of any property line.
J.
At least 50% of the required recreational facilities and common open
spaces shall be developed for active recreation. The remaining portion
of required recreational facilities and common open spaces may be
used for passive recreation.
K.
No parking shall be permitted, for any reason, within the recreational
facilities and common open spaces.
L.
Recreational facilities and common open spaces shall be distributed
more or less equally throughout the campground development in relationship
to the campsite they are intended to serve and consistent with good
design principles. Open spaces shall not be isolated in one corner
of the campground, but shall be accessible to all campsites within
the campground.
A.
All campgrounds shall comply with the requirements of the Department
of Environmental Protection and with the rules and regulations of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, as set forth
in Article 413, Chapter 4, Regulations for Control of Sanitation in
Organized Camps and Campgrounds, adopted April 25, 1968, as amended
and with the Pa. Code Title 28, Article 19, Organized Camps and Campgrounds.
B.
All campgrounds must have approval from the Township's Sewage
Enforcement Officer (SEO).
C.
Every campground shall contain an electrical wiring system consisting
of wiring, fixtures, equipment and appurtenances which shall be installed
and maintained in accordance with local electric power company specifications,
National Electrical Code, and local and state codes and ordinances.
Inspection by a qualified electrical inspection agency shall be made
of all private electrical systems.
D.
Violation of the above shall constitute a violation of this chapter,
and such violator shall be subject to penalties described herein.
In addition to compliance with the standards set forth in this
chapter, the Township Supervisors may make additional requirements
as deemed necessary to protect the health, safety, morals and general
welfare of the public. Such additional requirements shall be included
in the plan for the campground and shall be complied with prior to
issuance or renewal of a permit.
A.
Any person operating a campground at the time of adoption of this
chapter shall make application for a permit, including a plan of the
existing campground.
B.
The Supervisors shall examine the plan to determine which violations
of this chapter, if any, necessitate immediate correction, and proof
of such correction shall be required prior to issuance of a permit.
C.
Any person operating a campground at the time of adoption of this
chapter shall, within one year, submit a plan for this campground
complying with the requirements of this chapter and shall, within
two years of the date of this chapter, comply with the requirements
and standards herein.
Upon receipt of evidence that compliance with the requirements
and standards of this chapter would render undue hardship, the Zoning
Hearing Board may grant a variance to those requirements and standards,
provided that such variance does not violate the intent of this chapter
and/or endanger the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the
public. Any application for a variance must follow the guidelines
in Ordinance No. 99-1, Zoning Ordinance.[1]
The Township Engineer or duly authorized Township officer of
the Township shall make a thorough inspection of all campgrounds located
within the Township, who shall thereupon make a report to the Board
at its next meeting on the health and sanitary conditions found in
each campground.
Primitive camps, defined as unimproved, limited access with
nondelineated campsites, shall be limited in use to three nights during
21 consecutive days. These campsites are excluded from the provisions
of this chapter.
Each campground shall have an office in which shall be kept
copies of all records pertaining to the management and supervision
of the campground. Such records shall be available for inspection
by the authorized officers of the Township. The permit from the Township
shall be on display in a conspicuous place on the premises at all
times.
It shall be the duty of the owner or his agent to keep a register
of the "head of the family" accommodated in the campers or tents,
their regular home address and the number and description of their
automobiles or other vehicles. Said register shall be open at all
times to inspection by any authorized official of the Township. The
owner or his agent shall prescribe rules and regulations for the management
of the campground and make adequate provision for the enforcement
of such rules.
A.
No more than two recreational vehicles may be stored or maintained
outside of an enclosed structure on a lot except in approved and properly
permitted campgrounds. For purposes of this section, contiguous lots
owned by the same persons shall be considered one lot.
B.
No recreational vehicle which is not registered, licensed and inspected
in accordance with the requirements of the laws of Pennsylvania, or
in accordance with the requirements of the laws of the state of residence
of the owner, shall be stored or maintained outside of an enclosed
structure on any premises. For the purposes of sale or repairs a vehicle
will be exempt from this requirement for no longer than 90 days.
C.
No recreational vehicle which is not registered, licensed and inspected,
in accordance with the requirements of the laws of Pennsylvania, or
in accordance with the requirements of the laws of the state of residence
of the owner, shall be used or occupied for living quarters or residential
purposes, whether temporary or permanent.
D.
No structural additions shall be constructed onto or attached to
a recreational vehicle, and no recreational vehicle shall be physically
attached to or become a part of any other building.
E.
No recreational vehicle shall be permanently anchored or set on a
permanent foundation; it shall remain mobile.
F.
No recreational vehicle shall be used as a dwelling for residential
use or for living quarters, whether permanent or temporary, except
under the following circumstances:
(1)
In an approved and properly permitted campground.
(3)
Where located adjacent to a dwelling which provides occupants of
the recreational vehicle with sewage, water, and utility services,
provided that it is used as temporary living quarters for periods
of time not exceeding 15 consecutive days and 30 cumulative days in
any calendar year.
