[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 401]
Temporary structures used in conjunction with construction work shall be permitted only during the period that the construction work is in progress. Permits for temporary structures shall be issued for a six-month period. Residing in a basement, a foundation, or a temporary structure before completion of the total structure shall not be permitted.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 402]
1. 
Off-street loading and parking spaces shall be provided in accordance with the specifications in this section, in all districts, whenever any new use is established or an existing use is enlarged.
A. 
Every building which requires the receipt or distribution by vehicles of materials or merchandise shall provide off-street loading berths in accordance with the following table:
Off-Street Loading Space Requirements
Uses
Square Feet of Floor Area
Required Off-Street Loading Space
All nonresidential uses in the B-1 and B-2 District
10,000 to 25,000
1
25,001 to 40,000
2
40,001 to 60,000
3
60,001 to 100,000
4
For each additional
50,000 or major fraction thereof
1 additional
All resident and placement treatment
10,000 to 300,000
1
For each additional
300,000 or major fraction thereof
1 additional
Each loading space shall not be less than 14 feet in width, 55 feet in length, and 14 feet in height.
B. 
Each off-street parking space shall have an area of not less than 162 square feet exclusive of access drives or aisles and shall be in nine feet by 18 feet. Except in the case of dwellings, no parking area shall contain less than three spaces. There shall be adequate ingress and egress to all parking spaces. Parking areas shall be designed to provide sufficient turnaround area so that vehicles are not required to back into roads. Where a lot does not abut on a public or private alley or easement of access, there shall be provided an access drive leading to the parking or storage areas or loading spaces. Such access drive shall not be less than 15 feet wide for one-way drives. For two-way drives, such access drives shall not be less than 20 feet wide. Access to off-street parking areas shall be limited to well-defined locations, and in no case shall there be unrestricted access along the length of a street or alley.
C. 
The number of off-street parking spaces required is set forth below. Where the use of the premises is not specifically mentioned, requirements for a similar use shall apply as determined by the Zoning Officer.
Off-Street Parking Requirements
Uses
Required Parking Spaces
Animal hospital and boarding of animals
1 for each 5 kennels, minimum 3 spaces
Automobile sales and service garages
1 for each 400 square feet of floor area
Banks or professional offices
1 for each 100 square feet of floor area
Bowling alleys
7.5 for each alley
Car wash
5 for each wash line
Churches or schools
1 for each 3.5 seats in an auditorium or 1 for each 17 classroom seats, whichever is greater
Community buildings and social halls
1 for each 50 square feet of floor area
Driving ranges and miniature golf
1 for each tee
Dwellings
2 for each family or dwelling unit
Food supermarket
1 for each 100 square feet of floor area
Funeral homes, mortuaries
10 for first parlor, 5 for each additional parlor
Furniture or appliance stores
1 for each 100 square feet of floor area
Hotels and motels
1 for each living or sleeping unit
Manufacturing plant, research or testing laboratories
1 for each 500 square feet of floor area
Medical or dental offices
5 for each doctor or dentist
Restaurants, taverns and nightclubs
1 for each 2.5 seats
Retail stores and shops
1 for each 100 square feet of floor area
Rooming, housing and dormitories
1 for each bedroom
Service stations
4 for each service bay
Sports arenas, auditoriums, theaters, assembly halls
1 for each 3.5 seats
Trailer or monument sales
1 for each 2,500 square feet of lot area
Wholesale establishments
1 for each 2 employees on maximum shift. The total parking area shall not be less than 25% of the building floor area.
D. 
Required parking spaces shall be located on the same lot with the principal use.
(1) 
If the Zoning Officer determines that it is impractical to provide all of the required parking spaces on the same lot with the principal use, an off-site parking area may be allowed not more than 400 feet from the nearest point of the lot of the principal use.
(2) 
The Zoning Officer may allow a principal use in a business district to have an off-site parking area located in a residential district, only on a lot of record that is immediately adjoining the business district, which shall be considered a transitional use.
(3) 
Business district off-street loading areas and parking areas shall be screened on each side that adjoins a residential district lot of record, with a solid fence or wall six feet in height at the property line.
(4) 
Residential district off-street loading areas and parking areas for more than five vehicles shall be at least seven feet from any adjoining property.
(5) 
All off-street loading areas, and parking areas for more than five vehicles, shall be paved, and graded and drained to properly dispose of all surface water, and designed to provide orderly and safe loading and parking.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 403]
1. 
Any facility for water recreation, such as permanent private swimming pools, swimming clubs, or any other water storage facility, such as reservoirs, fish hatcheries, sewage lagoons and stormwater retention facilities, shall comply with the following regulations:
A. 
The facility must meet the setback requirements of the district.
B. 
The facility must be enclosed by a fence not less than four feet height to prevent uncontrolled access by small children for safety reasons.
C. 
The facility, if operated to attract visitors, must provide ample parking space, as will be determined by the Zoning Officer.
D. 
Before a permit shall be issued to the operator or owner of the facility, other than a private swimming pool, a plan shall be submitted to the Zoning Officer, showing size of the facility, proposed use, parking arrangements and use of the buildings of the site, surrounding properties and their usage, and any other pertinent information.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 404; as amended by Ord. No. 6/9/2004]
1. 
All permanent signs require a zoning certificate before erection, and the following conditions shall apply to the issuance of said certificate.
A. 
Signs shall not be illuminated or positioned in any manner which would cause undue distraction, confusion, or hazard to vehicular traffic.
B. 
Signs shall not be placed within public rights-of-way.
C. 
Signs in residential districts shall be limited to temporary real estate signs not to exceed four square feet; temporary garage sale signs not to exceed two square feet; temporary political signs not to exceed four square feet; and permanent home occupation signs not to exceed one square foot in the R-1 District, two square feet in the R-2 District, and four square feet in the R-3 District, all of which shall be flush-mounted. All temporary signs must be removed immediately after the expressed activity has terminated.
D. 
Signs in business districts shall relate only to the business or activity conducted on the premises. The total area in square feet of all such signs, including signs on marquees and canopies, shall not exceed the number of lineal feet of street frontage. No projecting sign shall exceed 20 square feet in area, subject to the following provisions:
(1) 
No sign shall exceed the height of the building wherein the use is housed, or 30 feet, whichever is greater.
(2) 
No sign shall extend to more than one foot within the curbline, and no support within sidewalks.
E. 
In addition to signs allowed in § 27-404D, the following signs shall be permitted within business districts: temporary real estate signs not to exceed 10 square feet; temporary political signs not to exceed 10 square feet; temporary garage sale signs not to exceed two square feet; and self-illuminating and moving signs related only to the business or activity conducted on the premises. All temporary sign must be removed immediately after the expressed activity has been terminated.
F. 
Signs or boards for churches, schools or similar public structures are allowed in all districts, not to exceed 10 square feet in size.
G. 
Signs erected at intersections shall not impair the visibility of the motoring public. Where signs are placed at intersections, they shall project off the ground horizontally from the principal structures and maintain a minimum clearance of 12 feet from the bottommost portion of the sign to the ground level. No flashing or distracting signs or devices which may be confused with traffic signals or warning devices are allowed.
H. 
A sign pertaining to the political candidacy of any person shall be limited to 10 square feet in any district and shall not be placed in the public right-of-way nor be situated within clear sight areas of any intersection of the Borough unless it is utilized on permitted billboards. Signs may be placed on private property with the owner's permission and are the responsibility of the candidate or his or her agent.
[Amended by Ord. No. 6/9/2004, 11/9/2005]
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 405; as amended by Ord. No. 072199B, 7/21/1999; and by Ord. No. 6/9/2004, 11/9/2005]
Subject enclosures for side yards and rear yards shall not exceed a height of six feet in any residential district, and both shall be measured from grade level. Front yards in any district may have ornamental and security fencing limited to four feet above grade and be no more than 50% solid. Within any residential district, no enclosure will be permitted to cause physical harm, such as barbed wire, razor wire, electric fences, spiked or broken-glass-topped fences and walls, etc. Within the B-1 District, the height may increase to no more than 12 feet above grade. No enclosure shall project beyond the front setback in any district. There are no minimum setback distances established for side or rear yards, and normal landscaping structures do not require a permit. Stockade fences will be erected with the finished side of the fence facing out from the fenced-in property.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 406]
1. 
These resident structures are subject to the following requirements:
A. 
Apartment buildings, condominiums and townhouses are considered unit building(s) regardless of ownership, rental or lease status, and the standards governing development of each within the R-3 and B-1 Districts shall be the same as is prescribed for multifamily units in § 27-213 of this chapter.
B. 
Prior to the approval of such structures, the Zoning Officer shall be provided with an approval copy of the declaration plan required for condominiums by current state law, if applicable. Any other requirements that are applicable to these required structures, such as Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry regulations, must also be complied with, and any permit required by the commonwealth must be provided to the Zoning Officer.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 407]
1. 
A single-family dwelling within the R-2, R-3 and B-1 Districts existing at the time of the chapter becomes effective may be converted into two- and three-dwelling-unit structures, respectively, providing the following requirements are met:
A. 
All district requirements (§§ 27-213 and 27-214) shall be met, as well as any other pertinent supplementary regulations of this Part.
B. 
All Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry standards shall be complied with and accompanied by an approved plan by said agency.
C. 
There shall be two entrances for each unit for potential emergency situations.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 27-408 was omitted from this chapter in the 1989 Code of Ordinances.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 409]
1. 
A home occupation shall be clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes. The following additional requirements shall be met:
A. 
The area devoted to the home occupation, whether carried out in the principal or in an accessory structure, shall not exceed 30% of the floor area of the principal structure.
B. 
There shall be no exterior display, exterior sign other than permitted under Subsection 1C of § 27-404, no exterior storage of materials and no exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the principal structure.
C. 
No noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat, glare or excessive traffic shall be produced.
D. 
A home occupation shall not be interpreted to include commercial kennels, motor vehicle or auto body shops, restaurants, or medical and dental offices.
E. 
Not more than the following employees who do not reside on the premises or in the house shall be employed in said occupation: none in the R-1 District, one in the R-2 District, and two in the R-3 and B-1 Districts.
F. 
The parking needs generated by the conduct of a home occupation shall be met off the street and other than the required front yard.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 410]
1. 
The following requirements are established for such uses in B-1 and B-2 Districts:
A. 
The site shall have a minimum frontage of 100 feet.
B. 
All areas that are not landscaped shall be paved, graded and drained to properly dispose of all surface water.
C. 
Separate entrance and exit driveways shall be provided, and these shall be limited to a maximum of one on each abutting street. The entrance and exit driveways shall not be less than 30 feet apart at the street right-of-way.
D. 
Entrance and exit driveways shall be located no closer than 50 feet from the intersecting right-of-way lines of street intersections, and these access driveways shall not exceed 20 feet in width nor be less than 10 feet in width within 10 feet of the street right-of-way.
E. 
The owner shall provide a site plan of the proposed operation, showing the location of entrances and exits, the building housing the equipment, the parking areas, the distance to the nearest street intersection, property lines and setbacks.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 411]
1. 
Such uses are permitted in the R-2 and R-3 Districts, if the following requirements are met:
A. 
All basic development standards of §§ 27-213 and 27-214 shall be met for single-family detached dwellings.
B. 
Chapter 14, Mobile Homes and Mobile Home Parks, regulating development and standards for mobile home and mobile home parks, shall be complied with.
C. 
For existing nonconforming parks, replacement of mobile homes that have been removed will be allowed on a one-to-one basis not to exceed the density established within the park at the effective date of this Part. A permit for replacement must be obtained by the park management from the Zoning Officer. A copy of the removal permit that is filed with the Tax Collector shall be forwarded to the Zoning Officer by the Tax Collector upon approval. No existing mobile home park shall increase its overall density of units per acre beyond that already established within the park at the effective date of this chapter unless, however, its established density level is below the maximum density permitted in § 27-213. In such cases, the park will be allowed to increase its density, exclusive of street rights-of-way, up to an overall density of ten- and eight-foot units per acre in the R-3 and R-2 Districts, respectively, but not beyond. Also, a minimum side distance between mobile homes of 10 feet and a minimum rear distance between mobile homes of seven feet shall be maintained in nonconforming parks for the replaced mobile homes.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 412]
Such uses as motor vehicle salvage, junkyards and recycling facilities shall be completely screened on all sides with a visually solid fence or wall at least eight feet in height and not more than 12 feet in height. All fencing or walls shall be maintained in sound condition. All material shall be stored or arranged so as to permit access by firefighting equipment and to prevent the accumulation of water, and with no material piled at a height above the level of the fence or wall. No oil, grease, tires, gasoline, interiors of vehicles or other similar material shall be burned at any time. Any such facility shall be maintained in such a manner as to cause no public or private nuisance, nor to cause any offensive or noxious sounds or odors, nor to cause the breeding or harboring of rats or other vectors.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 413]
1. 
Resident treatment facilities are permitted in the R-3 and B-1 Districts. Placement treatment facilities are permitted in the B-1 District. Such uses shall meet the following requirements:
A. 
Evidence that all applicable federal, state, county and local laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances (including those dealing with fire protection and other safety requirements, the number and qualifications of personnel required, etc.) have been met and will be complied with concerning the use of an existing structure or construction of a new facility and the operation of the facility, once occupied.
B. 
Evidence that all necessary permits, licenses, certifications and other approvals for the facility and for its operator, and/or personnel or employees, have been obtained from federal, state, county and local government agencies and/or courts, as applicable, and will be kept in effect.
C. 
A paved parking area(s) with one off-street parking space for each employee and/or operator on maximum attendant shift, and one off-street parking space for every two care recipient beds, which may be utilized for recipients or visitors parking, as applicable.
[Ord. No. 11/8/1989, 11/8/1989, § 414]
1. 
The purpose of these performance standards is to protect the health, safety and well-being of adjacent residential district property owners and the community as a whole by regulating the potential objectionable, nuisance or hazardous effects of business operations, such as noise, vibration, odor, glare, heat, explosive materials, and electrical disturbance.
A. 
The Zoning Officer may require the applicant to submit further information and evidence as needed to make a final determination, including but not limited to any of the following:
(1) 
Plans of the proposed construction and development.
(2) 
A description of the proposed machinery manufacturing processes, raw material products and by-products.
(3) 
Specifications for the techniques proposed to be used in restricting the emission of any of the hazardous or objectionable elements controlled by the performance standards.
(4) 
Measurements of the amount or rate of emission of hazardous or objectionable elements controlled by the performance standards.
(5) 
Evidence of compliance with applicable state and federal laws covering air and water pollution and solid and hazardous waste disposal, including a description of type and amount of liquid, solid and hazardous wastes generated and plans for their safe disposal.
B. 
The Zoning Officer may require the applicant to retain an expert consultant to study and report as to compliance or noncompliance with the performance standards and to advise how a proposed use can be brought into compliance with the standards. The consultant or consultants shall be persons or firms mutually agreeable to the Borough and the applicant. In the event of inability to select a mutually agreeable consultant, the Borough Council shall select the consultant. The cost of the consultant's services shall be borne by the applicant.
C. 
The Zoning Officer shall investigate any purported violation of the performance standards, relying on the resources and enforcement authority of state and federal regulatory agencies, if applicable. In extreme cases or cases over which the Borough has sole authority, the Zoning Officer may retain the services of expert consultant or certified environmental testing laboratories. The service of any consultants retained in the Zoning Officer's investigation shall be paid by the violator if the violation is established; otherwise, by the Borough. If the Zoning Officer determines that a violation has occurred or exists, a copy of his findings shall be sent to the business owner or operator with instruction to correct the violation within a specified time period. If, after the conclusion of the time granted for compliance with the performance standards, the Zoning Officer determines the violation is still in existence, any permits previously issued shall be required to cease operation until the violation is remedied.
D. 
The following performance standards shall be met and maintained by all business uses after the effective date of this chapter:
(1) 
Noise.
(a) 
At no point on the boundary of any business district with a residential district line or beyond shall the sound pressure level of any individual business operation or plant exceed the decibel levels in the designated octave bands shown in the following table:
Octave Band
Sound Level (Decibels)
(Frequency in Cycles per Second)
At or Beyond Industrial Property Line
0 to 75
72
75 to 150
67
300 to 600
52
600 to 1,200
46
1,200 to 2,400
40
2,400 to 4,800
34
4,800* to 10,000
32
(b) 
These standards also apply to truck or vehicle noise on residential roads between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
(2) 
Vibration. At no point at a residential district boundary or beyond shall any vibration emanating from an individual operation or point be discernible without the use of instruments.
(3) 
Odor. At no point at a residential district boundary or beyond shall any odor emanating from an individual operation or plant exceed the odor threshold. The odor threshold is the concentration in the air of a gas or vapor which will just evoke a response in the human olfactory system.
(4) 
Glare. Any business operation or activity producing glare shall be performed within a completely enclosed building and be conducted so that direct and indirect illumination from the source of light on the lot shall not cause illumination in excess of 1/2 footcandle when measured at a residential district boundary line. Exposed sources of light shall be shielded and flickering or intense sources of light shall be controlled so as not to cause illumination in excess of 1/2 footcandle when measured at a residential district line.
(5) 
Heat. Any operation producing intense heat shall be performed within a completely enclosed building in such a manner as not to create a public nuisance or hazard at the district boundary or beyond.
(6) 
Electrical Disturbances. The proposed use shall not cause any electrical disturbance that would create visual or audible interference in radio or television reception off the premises.
(7) 
Fire Protection. Fire protection equipment and firefighting equipment acceptable to the Board of Fire Underwriters shall be readily available when any activity involving the handling or storage of flammable or explosive materials is carried on.
(8) 
Air and Water Pollution. The applicant shall demonstrate compliance with all applicable standards and regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry concerning allowable air emissions, disposal of wastewater and solid waste and control and safe disposal of hazardous materials. In monitoring the applicant's compliance with these standards, the Borough will rely on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to investigate potential violations and take enforcement action, if necessary.
(9) 
Radioactivity. No activity shall be permitted which emits radioactivity at any point. Applicable federal regulations will be enforced.
(10) 
Dust and other airborne particulate pollution from such sources as storage areas, yards, roads, construction sites or operations shall be minimized at all times through landscaping, paving, fencing or other effective means.
(11) 
Screening. The Borough reserves the right to require screening by solid fencing and/or walls or other means at appropriate heights and distances should there be a need for aesthetic or function screening from adjacent districts.