[Ord. No. 376, 7/24/2018]
All words used in this chapter shall carry their customary dictionary
definitions as provided in the most recent edition of Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, except where specifically defined herein. Words used in
the present tense shall include the future. The singular number shall
include the plural, and the plural the singular. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not permissive; the word "may" is permissive.
The words "used" or "occupied," as applied to any land or structures,
shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged or designed
to be used or occupied." The word "person" shall include the individual,
corporation, partnership, incorporated association or any other entity.
Words in the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender. The
words "includes" and "including" shall not limit the defined term
to the specific examples but are intended to extend the term's meaning
to other instances of like kind and character.
[Ord. No. 376, 7/24/2018]
The following words and phrases shall have the particular meanings
specified for the purpose of interpreting this chapter:
A means of providing vehicular or pedestrian ingress and
egress to and from a property.
The roadway used for ingress and egress from a Township or
state road providing private access to an oil and gas development
and/or related operations.
A dwelling unit accessory to the principal residence of the
landowner for the housing of relatives or close friends who are in
need of economic or health benefits provided by persons who are concerned
about their well-being, while allowing them to live independently
in an apartment converted within an existing single-family dwelling
or detached garage or in a mobile home located on the same lot with
an existing single-family dwelling.
Any equipment serving or being used in conjunction with a
wireless communications facility or wireless support structure. The
term "accessory equipment" includes, but is not limited to, utility
or transmission equipment, power supplies, generators, batteries,
cables, equipment buildings, cabinets and storage sheds, shelters
or similar structures.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A structure, located on the same lot with the principal structure,
that is subordinate and incidental to the principal structure of the
property and which may occupy a separate structure and/or area on
or in the ground, including but not limited to storage sheds or other
storage structures, off-street parking, signs, off-street loading,
gazebos, children's playhouses, greenhouses for personal use, garages,
swimming pools, detached decks, fences and similar structures.
A use of land, located on the same lot as the principal use,
that is subordinate and incidental to the principal use of that lot.
See "recreation, active, high-impact."
See "recreation, active, low-impact."
For small wireless communications facilities, any similarly
situated infrastructure within a two-hundred-fifty-foot radius that
is of the same design, construction, or use as the proposed structure.
Adjacent structures may include, but are not limited to, utility poles
and streetlight poles. The height of an adjacent structure is the
vertical distance measured from the ground level to the highest point
on a structure, not including antennas mounted on the tower and any
other appurtenances.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Any place where the public is permitted or invited wherein
coin-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled
still or motion-picture machines, projectors or other image- producing
devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per
machine at any one time and where the images displayed are sexually
explicit or depict nudity or sexual conduct, as defined herein.
An establishment having a substantial or significant portion
of its stock-in-trade, including but not limited to videocassettes,
movies, books, magazines and other periodicals, which is distinguished
or characterized by its emphasis on matters depicting, describing
or relating to nudity or sexual conduct, as defined herein, or an
establishment with a segment or section devoted to the sale or display
of such material.
An adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult motel, adult mini
motion-picture theater, adult motion-picture theater, adult news rack,
adult nightclub, body-painting studio, bathhouse, escort service,
massage parlor, or any other business establishment offering adult
entertainment, as defined herein.
Movies, videos, still or motion pictures, photographs, slides,
films or other visual representations, books, magazines or other printed
material or live dramatic, musical or dance performances that are
sexually explicit or depict nudity or sexual conduct, as defined herein.
An enclosed building, with a capacity for accommodating fewer
than 50 persons, used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined herein,
for observation by patrons therein.
A hotel or motel presenting adult motion pictures by means
of closed-circuit television, the material being presented having
as a dominant theme or presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to nudity
or sexual conduct, as defined herein, for observation by patrons therein.
An enclosed building, with a capacity for accommodating 50
or more persons, used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to nudity
or sexual conduct, as defined herein, for observation by patrons therein.
Any coin-operated machine or device that dispenses printed
material substantially devoted to the depiction of nudity or sexual
conduct, as defined herein.
Any nightclub, as defined herein, that offers adult entertainment,
as defined herein.
Hybrids of the African honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata)
with various European honeybees that are aggressive compared to the
European subspecies.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
A residential development in which residency is qualified
by age and other related characteristics specific to the development
in accordance the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 3601 et
seq.) and which complies with the criteria of the Township's Code
of Ordinances.
The sale of products raised, grown or produced on a farm,
provided that the sales are conducted on the farm property where the
products are raised, grown or produced and where products sold that
are not raised, grown or produced on the farm shall be a minor percentage
of the total sales.
Any principal or accessory use of land or structures for
farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, kennels, horticulture,
floriculture, arboriculture, or animal or poultry husbandry. Accessory
uses permitted in conjunction with agriculture may include barns,
stables, corn cribs, silos and other uses or structures that are clearly
related to an agricultural operation.
A place where fixed-wing aircraft land and take off on designated
and/or improved runways, including hangars, facilities for refueling
and repair and which may include accommodations for passengers, licensed
as such by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of
Aviation.
An unimproved area of land designated for fixed-wing aircraft
to land and take off, licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
Bureau of Aviation.
A paved area, of a minimum width specified by this chapter,
that provides direct access to one or two rows of parking spaces and
connects those parking spaces with the driveways that provide circulation
through a parking area.
See "structural alteration."
See "zoning amendment."
A retail business that offers services for the bathing, trimming
and conditioning of domestic pets and that may offer the sale of pet-care
products as an accessory use.
Any system of wires, rods, discs, panels, flat panels, dishes,
whips, or other similar devices used for the transmission or reception
of wireless signals. An antenna may include an omnidirectional antenna
(rod), directional antenna (panel), parabolic antenna (disc) or any
other wireless antenna. An antenna shall not include tower-based wireless
communications facilities defined herein. An antenna shall not include
private residence-mounted satellite dishes or television antennas
or amateur radio equipment including, without limitation, ham or citizen
band radio antennas.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Any place where one or more colonies of bees are kept at
a single location.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
An individual, corporation, entity that fills out the application.
A formal request submitted to the municipality to site, construct,
operate, remove or modify a wireless support structure, equipment
compound, or a wireless telecommunications facility.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A registered professional architect licensed as such by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A public street that serves large volumes of high-speed and
long-distance traffic streets classified as arterial in the Township
include Interstate 79, U.S. Route 19, PA Route 136, PA Route 519 and
PA Route 980.
A retail establishment that provides for one or more of the
following activities:
[Amended by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
The servicing of motor vehicles and operations incidental thereto
and limited to the retail sale of petroleum products, and that may
include one or more of the following activities: providing electric
vehicle supply equipment for customers, retail sales and installation
of automotive accessories; automobile washing by hand; undercoating
and rustproofing; waxing and polishing of automobiles; tire changing
and repairing (excluding recapping); battery service, changing and
replacement, excluding repair and rebuilding; radiator cleaning and
flushing, excluding steam cleaning and repair; installation of accessories;
and state inspection;
The following operations, if conducted within a completely enclosed
building, as defined by this chapter: lubrication of motor vehicles;
replacement of exhaust systems; brake servicing, limited to servicing
and replacement of brake cylinders, lines and brake shoes; wheel balancing;
the testing, adjustment and replacement or servicing of carburetors,
filters, generators, points, rotors, spark plugs, voltage regulators,
water and fuel pumps, water hoses and wiring; and/or
The operation of a convenience food store, provided that retail
sale of petroleum products is a part of the operation.
A retail establishment that sells baked goods, including
the baking of goods when prepared for retail sales on the premises
only and not for distribution to another retail outlet.
A business, licensed by the commonwealth, that sells alcoholic
beverages for consumption on the premises as the principal use and
that may offer food for consumption on the premises as an accessory
use.
That portion of the foundation of a building between the
floor of the foundation and the floor of the first story of the building,
having a portion of its height below grade but at least 1/2 of its
height above the average grade of the adjoining ground.
An establishment that provides baths of all kinds, including
methods of hydrotherapy involving nudity or sexual conduct, but not
including hydrotherapy treatment practiced by or under the supervision
of a medical practitioner, such as a medical doctor, physician, chiropractor
or similar professional licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A dwelling, that is the principal residence of the operator,
where no more than four sleeping rooms are offered to transient overnight
guests for compensation and where the only meal served and included
with the overnight accommodations is breakfast.
Any stage of the honeybee (Apis mellifera).
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
Disease such as American Foulbrood or other actionable disease
as determined by the Department of Agriculture.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
A person who owns or has charge of one or more colonies of
honeybees.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
A commercial business licensed by the commonwealth to sell
beer in quantity entirely for off-premises consumption.
A business establishment where bets are taken on activities
for which gambling on the outcome is legal, including facilities on
the site of a racetrack as well as off-track facilities.
Any off-premises sign with a changeable or permanent advertising
face that advertises an establishment, person, activity, product or
service that is unrelated to or not available on the premises on which
the sign is located.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of North Strabane,
Washington County, Pennsylvania.
The keeping of horses and ponies owned by persons other than
the owner of the stable, or the rental of horses owned by the owner
of the stable for a fee or other form of compensation. (See also "riding
academy.")
Any establishment that provides the service of applying paint
or other substance, whether transparent or nontransparent, to or on
the human body in a state of nudity, as defined herein.
A landscaped area, of a certain depth specified by this chapter,
that shall be planted and maintained in trees, grass, ground cover,
shrubs, bushes or other natural landscaping material and shall consist
of a mix of types and sizes of plant material that, within three years
of planting, meets the standard of providing a compact year-round
visual screen at least six feet in height or an existing natural barrier,
such as vegetation and/or topography, that duplicates the effect of
the required buffer area, provided that the natural barrier is maintained
with vegetation or landscaping at all times.
A roofed structure, whether or not enclosed by walls, to
be used for shelter, enclosure or protection of persons, goods, materials,
animals, things or an area of land. (See also "completely enclosed
building.")
The vertical distance measured from the average of the elevations
of the finished grade at the four corners of the building to the highest
point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs,
and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and
gambrel roofs.
A line parallel to or concentric with the front lot line,
the minimum measurement of which is the front yard depth required
by this chapter.
The minimum distance between two buildings on the same lot,
measured from the outermost wall or projection, excluding bay windows,
chimneys, flues, columns, ornamental features, cornices and gutters
that project beyond the wall of the building no more than two feet.
Any office of recognized professions, other than medical,
such as lawyers, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance
agents and others who, through training, are qualified to perform
services of a professional nature and other offices used primarily
for accounting, corresponding, research, editing or other administrative
functions, but not including banks or other financial institutions.
Establishments engaged in providing services to business
offices on a fee or contract basis, including but not limited to advertising
and public relations; management and consulting services; employment
services; building security and maintenance services, equipment servicing,
rental/leasing and sales; computer and data processing services; mailing,
photocopying, quick printing and fax services; sale of office supplies;
and similar business services, but not including the rental, sale
or repair of vehicles or heavy equipment.
A facility, whether automatic, semiautomatic or manual, for
washing and polishing vehicles.
A structure to house or protect motor vehicles that is open
to the weather for at least 40% of the total area of its sides.
See "restaurant, carry-out."
That portion of the street right-of-way that is surfaced
for vehicular use, excluding curbs and shoulders.
A business establishment where the principal use is legal
gambling activities and that may also include a restaurant or nightclub
as an accessory use.
A business establishment that provides meals and/or refreshments
for public or private events that are consumed on the premises.
That portion of the foundation of a building between the
floor of the foundation and the floor of the first story of the building,
having 1/2 or more of its height below the average grade of the adjoining
ground.
Property used for interring of dead persons or domestic pets,
including mausoleums, columbariums, crematoriums, and mortuaries operated
in conjunction with and within the boundaries of such property.
A document issued by the Zoning Officer indicating that the
premises for which a building permit and/or a zoning certificate has
been issued is ready for occupancy and is in compliance with the provisions
of this chapter and the Township Building Code, if applicable.
For the purposes of this chapter, MLVTs include any aboveground,
fully enclosed tank field assembled from multiple uniform factory-prepared
components which provides primary containment for 100,000 barrels
or more of fluids. By this definition, MLVTs are typically field assembled
on an oil and gas location for temporary use or are dismantled for
movement to a different location following their use. This shall include
modular large volume tanks (MLVTs) that meet American Water Works
Association (AWWA) standards or standards deemed to be acceptable
by the Township. For use in association with oil and gas development
and related operations.
An aboveground assembly of fluid storage containers that
are each certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or
organization such as the ASA, American Petroleum Institute, ASTM International,
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or the American Water
Works Association and used to hold fresh water and/or re-use water
for use in oil and gas development and related operations.
A sign that is designed so that characters, letters or illustrations
can be changed or rearranged, either manually or electronically, to
change the message on the sign without altering the face or surface
of the sign. An electronic sign panel when used as part of a billboard
is not a changeable-copy sign.
A facility used for cleaning or dyeing of fabrics, textiles,
wearing apparel, or articles of any sort. The cleaning of such articles
shall be by immersions only, in volatile solvents including, but not
by way of limitation, solvents of the petroleum-based type, and/or
the chlorinated hydrocarbon type, and the processes incidental hereto.
A triangular area of unobstructed vision at the intersection
of two streets or of a driveway and a street, defined by line of sight
a given distance from the intersection of the center lines of two
streets or the center lines of the driveway and the street. (See illustration
in Appendix A.[1])
Any establishment, including mobile diagnostic units, where
persons receive medical, dental, chiropractic and surgical diagnosis,
treatment and counseling under the care of a group of licensed medical
doctors and dentists and their supporting staff, where said patients
are not provided with board or room or kept overnight on the premises.
Any establishment where persons receive medical and psychological
diagnosis, treatment (including methadone or similar type of treatment)
and counseling under the care of a group of licensed medical practitioners
and their supporting staff, where such patients are not provided with
room or board or kept overnight on the premises.
See "veterinary clinic."
See "private club."
A support facility, not a coal mining facility, required
for and used only in connection with an underground coal mine that
is to:
Structures and installations necessary to the operation of
an underground coal mine, which shall include slopes shafts or portals
for the primary purpose of gaining access from the surface to an underground
coal mine by persons or equipment to mine and removal coal, coal preparation
and cleaning plants and related equipment, ponds, and treatment facilities,
coal refuse disposal areas, silos for storage of coal, coal tipples,
access roads, aboveground repair and personnel areas and structure
and transport facilities.
All underground areas within a continuous barrier of undisturbed
coal from which such coal is extracted.
Diagnosis, assessment and/or treatment of certain cognitive
(thinking) and behavior difficulties such as those that can result
from brain injury and/or dementia. Behavioral therapy can take many
forms, but usually involves counseling or therapy for an individual
with brain injury and his/her family.
A public street that, in addition to giving access to abutting
lots, intercepts local streets and provides a route for carrying considerable
volumes of local traffic to community facilities and arterial roads.
For the purposes of this chapter, streets are deemed collector streets
because of their current function; other streets are anticipated they
will be collector streets as identified as part of the Township's
comprehensive transportation planning and build-out analyses conducted
as part of the North Strabane Comprehensive Plan based upon their
need to be improved as development occurs and incrementally brought
to said status.
[Amended 10/27/2020[2]]
|
Current Collector Streets
|
Anticipated Collector Streets
|
|---|---|
|
Boone Avenue, Chartiers Street, Conklin Road, Galley Road, Johnson
Road, Latimer Avenue, Linden Road, Linden Creek Road, Linwood Road,
Lindley Road, McClelland Road, McDowell Lane, Thomas Road, Thomas/Eighty-Four
Road, Waterdam Road, Weavertown Road, West McMurray Road
|
Christy Road
North/South Connector (South Beltway)
Brown Lee
|
The mounting of one or more wireless communications facilities,
including antennas, on a preexisting structure, or modifying a structure
for the purpose of mounting or installing a wireless communications
facility on that structure.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
An aggregate of honeybees consisting of workers, drones and
a queen.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
A business, enterprise, activity or other undertaking engaged
in for a profit.
A retail business that sells flowers, plants, shrubs, trees
and other natural flora and products that aid their growth and care
and that may include a greenhouse and/or the growing of plant material
outside on the lot.
See "riding academy, commercial."
See "school, commercial."
A motor vehicle licensed by the Department of Transportation,
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, having a gross vehicle weight in excess
of 10,000 pounds; or any other vehicle, either motorized, self-propelled
or designed to be towed by another vehicle, for use in commercial
or industrial enterprises, such as air compressors, welding units
and the like; or any and all earthmoving equipment, such as bulldozers,
hi-lifts, backhoes, ditching equipment and the like.
The terms and pricing that are reasonably consistent with
similar wireless communications facility leases and agreements within
a twenty-five-mile radius of the municipality.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A lot or portion thereof or body of water, or a combination
thereof, within a development site for the use and enjoyment of the
residents of a development, including stormwater management facilities,
but not including streets, off-street parking areas and other areas
set aside for facilities for the general public.
Any structure designed for transmitting or receiving wireless
communications of video, voice, data and similar transmissions, including
but not limited to omnidirectional or whip antennas, directional or
panel antennas and satellite or microwave dish antennas that may be
mounted on an existing building, an existing public utility storage
or transmission structure or an existing communications tower, excluding
transmission and receiving devices licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) exclusively for private use by citizens. A communications
antenna shall not include wireless communications facilities, defined
herein, or any antenna for the purpose of providing commercial mobile
wireless service.
[Amended by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A manned or unmanned structure that contains the equipment
necessary to maintain and operate communications antennas and that
covers an area on the ground in excess of 200 square feet.
An unmanned structure that contains the equipment necessary
to maintain and operate communications antennas and that covers an
area on the ground of no more than 200 square feet.
Any structure, whether freestanding or attached to a building,
designed to support multiple communications antennas, including monopole,
self-supporting and guyed towers and one or more of the following
mounts for antennas: rotatable platform, fixed platform, multipoint
or sidearm mounts and pipe mounts for microwave dish antennas. A communications
tower shall not include wireless communications facilities, defined
herein, or any wireless support structure for the purpose of providing
commercial mobile wireless service.
[Amended by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A building designed and constructed so that all exterior
walls shall be solid from the ground to the roofline, containing no
openings except for windows and doors that are designed so that they
may be closed and any other small openings required for the ventilation
system.
A device that raises the pressure of natural gas and/or byproducts.
Compressors are any devices that create a pressure differential to
move or compress vapor or a gas. Any such device used alone or in
series to adequately move a vapor or a gas is considered a compressor.
A facility designed and constructed to compress natural gas
that originates from a single well site or a collection of well sites
and to remove water or water vapor from the natural gas, which operates
as a midstream facility for delivery of gas to a transmission pipeline,
distribution pipeline, processing plant or underground storage field,
including one or more natural gas, electric compressors, associated
buildings, pipes (other than regulated or unregulated local distribution
system, gathering system or transportation lines served by the compressor
station), valves, tanks and other equipment.
The site and/or fenced compound which will be developed and
constructed for use as a compressor station containing buildings,
compressors and related equipment necessary for the operations as
a compressor station for the transportation and treatment of gas that
will be traveling through a pipeline network. This site shall not
be used for the storage of pipeline, equipment, or construction trailers
during normal operations.
A use authorized by this chapter that may be granted only
by the Board of Supervisors following review by the Planning Commission
and a public hearing, subject to express standards and criteria contained
in this chapter.
A residential development in which the dwelling units are
clustered on the portion of the site most suitable for development
and the remaining property is preserved as undivided common open space.
A structure designed, used or constructed to provide temporary
offices for construction supervision on the site of an approved subdivision
or land development during the time that a valid building permit or
grading permit is in effect.
The administrative offices of a business that provides landscaping,
construction, remodeling, home improvement, land development and related
services on a contractual basis and that may include the storage of
materials, equipment and vehicles, provided that all materials, equipment
and vehicles are stored within a completely enclosed building.
An establishment that may or may not include administrative
offices for a business that provides construction, remodeling, home
improvement, land development and related services on a contractual
basis, but that involves the outdoor storage of all or part of the
materials, equipment or vehicles used in the business.
A retail store, primarily servicing customers residing within
a two-mile radius, with a gross floor area of 4,000 square feet or
less, offering a limited selection of grocery, household and personal
items for quick purchase and that may include the dispensing of gasoline.
A conventional gas well, also known as a traditional well,
is a well that produces oil or gas from a conventional formation.
Conventional formations are variable in age, occurring both above
and below the Elk Sandstone. While a limited number of such gas wells
are capable of producing sufficient quantities of gas without stimulation
by hydraulic fracturing, most conventional wells require this stimulation
technique due to the reservoir characteristics in Pennsylvania. Stimulation
of conventional wells, however, generally does not require the volume
of fluids typically required for unconventional wells.
A lot at the intersection of and fronting on two or more
street rights-of-way.
See "golf or country club."
Washington County, Pennsylvania.
See "lot coverage."
The angle formed by a line drawn from the direction of light
rays at the light source and a line perpendicular to the ground from
the light source, above which no light is emitted. (See Appendix B[3])
A facility, licensed by the commonwealth, located within
a building that is not used as a dwelling unit, for the care, on a
regular basis, during part of a twenty-four-hour day, of children
under the age of 16 or handicapped or elderly persons.
See "family day-care home."
Diameter at breast height (DBH) is the standard method of
expressing the diameter of a trunk or bole of a standing tree.
Any uncovered outdoor living area, without a roof, constructed
on or above the surface of the ground.
A municipal-owned pole that is specially designed and placed
for aesthetic purpose and on which no appurtenances or attachments,
other than a small wireless communications facility, lighting, or
municipal attachments have been placed or are permitted to be placed.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Wells used to inject fluids associated with the production
of oil and natural gas or fluids and compounds used for enhanced hydrocarbon
recovery. These wells normally inject below the deepest underground
source of drinking water (USDW) except in cases where the USDW contains
producible quantities of oil or gas and are defined as Class II wells
by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A retail establishment, other than a restaurant, that sells
ready-to-eat food products such as cooked meats, sandwiches and prepared
salads, primarily for consumption off the premises, but which may
provide a few table or a counter for on premises consumption as an
accessory use and that may include off-premises catering.
See "dwelling unit density."
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),
the commonwealth agency responsible for overseeing and administering
environmental laws and regulations within Pennsylvania.
Refers to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau
of Plant Industry.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
An individual landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant
with the landowner's written permission who causes development to
occur upon a lot and who is responsible for compliance of such development
with the terms of this chapter and the Township Subdivision and Land
Development Ordinance.[4]
Any man-made change to an improved or unimproved land or
water area, including but not limited to construction of buildings
or structures or additions thereto, mining, dredging, filling, grading,
paving, excavation or drilling operations.
A graphic and written presentation of a proposed development,
including a plat of subdivision and all provisions relating to use,
location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of
use or density of development, streets, parking facilities, common
open space and public facilities.
A curb cut on or a private driveway leading directly to a
public street right-of-way. In the case of the requirement for direct
vehicular access to an arterial or collector street, the point of
access shall be onto the arterial or collector street without traversing
any other public street right-of-way.
Lighting, as determined by the Township Code Enforcement
Officer and/or Township Police Department, that impairs visibility
and creates a potentially hazardous situation for either pedestrians
or motorists.
See "zoning district."
Animals, fish or birds customarily found in a dwelling and
kept for company or pleasure, including dogs and cats, provided that
there is not a sufficient number to constitute a kennel, as defined
herein, hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, parakeets, canaries and similar
small animals or birds; however, the term "domestic pets" excludes
exotic animals, as defined by Ordinance No. 286,[5] as now or hereafter amended, and any horses, pigs (except
for Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs) or other fowl or livestock customarily
found on a farm.
Any digging or boring activity of a new well or reworking
of an existing well to explore, develop or produce oil, gas or other
hydrocarbons or to inject gas, water or any other fluids or substances
into the earth.
Any principal use or accessory use that involves a window,
service lane, bay or other facility where customers are provided services
either inside or outside their vehicles and where cars may or may
not wait in line to access these services, including but not limited
to drive-in or drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants, banks
or other businesses, exterior automated teller machines (ATMs), quick
oil change facilities, car washes and similar automotive services
and other such facilities.
A private vehicular way providing access between a street
and a parking area or garage located on a lot.
A business establishment engaged in the retail sale of prescription
drugs, nonprescription medicines, cosmetics, and related supplies.
A business establishment in which articles of clothing and
the like are dropped off, sorted, and picked up but are typically
laundered and/or cleaned at a separate establishment.
Any building designed or used as permanent living quarters
for one or more families, but not including hotels, motels or boardinghouses.
The following dwelling types are included in this chapter
and shall be placed on permanent foundation:
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGA detached residential building that is the only principal structure on the lot, designed exclusively for occupancy by one family, as defined herein, and containing one dwelling unit.
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGA multifamily residential building that is the only principal structure on the lot, unless authorized by this chapter to be subdivided along the common wall for fee-simple ownership of each dwelling unit, designed exclusively for occupancy by two families living independently of each other and containing two dwelling units, each with a separate entrance directly to the outside, including double houses, duplexes and carriage homes.
TRIPLEXA residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by three families living independently of each other, containing three dwelling units, each having independent access directly to the outside and having no other units above or below, which units are attached at right angles to one another with the entrance to each unit facing a different direction, including patio homes.
QUADRUPLEXA residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by four families living independently of each other, containing four dwelling units, each having independent access directly to the outside and having no other units above or below, which units are attached at right angles to one another with the entrance to each unit facing a different direction, including patio homes.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA residential building designed exclusively for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other and containing three or more separate dwelling units, including triplexes, quadruplexes, townhouses and garden apartments.
NON-FAMILY FACILITY, TYPE 1A living arrangement that may or may not be restricted by identified age(s) of residents who are primarily non-family members, whereas said arrangement, as licensed in accordance with by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health, provides dwelling units for residents of varying abilities of mobility and/or disability and provides on-site supervision and assistance available to said residents on an occasional, as-needed basis and that may include certain design features and/or therapy-centered programming associated with resident needs that are not customary in the construction of conventional dwelling units, such as but not limited to emergency call systems, common dining facilities, common laundry facilities, minimal housekeeping services, cognitive support services and/or memory care, common leisure and recreational facilities, transportation services and similar supporting services for residents.
NON-FAMILY FACILITY, TYPE 2A living arrangement that may or may not be restricted by identified age(s) of residents who are primarily non-family members, whereas said arrangement, as licensed in accordance with by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health, provides dwelling units for residents of independent mobility and not in need of supervision but provides on-site supervision and assistance available to said residents on an occasional, as-needed basis and that may include certain design features and/or therapy-centered programming associated with resident needs that are not customary in the construction of conventional dwelling units, such as but not limited to emergency call systems, common dining facilities, common laundry facilities, minimal housekeeping services, cognitive support services and/or memory care, common leisure and recreational facilities, transportation services and similar supporting services for residents.
GARDEN APARTMENTA multifamily residential building no more than four stories in height, containing three or more dwelling units that share a common entrance to the outside, usually through a common corridor, and which dwelling units may have other dwelling units either beside, above or below them.
GROUP-CARE FACILITYAny supervised long-term group living arrangement licensed by the commonwealth for any of the following:
Persons who do not meet the definition of "mentally or physically
handicapped" provided in the Fair Housing Amendments Act or the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
Persons who do meet the definition of "mentally or physically
handicapped" provided in the Fair Housing Amendments Act or the Americans
with Disabilities Act living in an institutional setting and not maintaining
a common household.
Persons who, whether handicapped or not, are criminal offenders,
juvenile offenders or delinquents or who have been found by any governmental
tribunal, court or agency to be a danger to society or who are under
the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system, a governmental bureau
of corrections or a similar agency or institution.
PERSONAL-CARE BOARDING HOMEUnless otherwise defined in Pennsylvania Code Chapter 2600, Personal Care Homes, as amended, a premises in which food, shelter and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours, for four or more adults who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of a licensed long-term care facility, but who do require assistance or supervision in activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living. The term includes a premises that has held or presently holds itself out as a personal care home and provides food and shelter to four or more adults who need personal care services, but who are not receiving the services.
TOWNHOUSEA multifamily residential building other than a triplex or quadruplex that contains at least three but no more than eight dwelling units, each of which is separated from the adjoining unit or units by a continuous, unpierced vertical wall extending from the basement to the roof, each unit having independent access directly to the outside and having no other units above or below.
TRANSITIONAL DWELLINGA dwelling unit occupied on a short-term basis by persons assigned by a court of law, or who are self-referred, or referred by a public, semipublic or nonprofit agency, and managed by a public, semipublic or nonprofit agency responsible for the occupants' care, safety, conduct, counseling and supervision for a specified period of time, including alcoholic recovery, shelters for battered persons and their children, maternity homes, community reentry services following incarceration, prison assignment, house arrest or other court-ordered treatment, and other such short-term supervised assignments.
One or more rooms that are used as living quarters for one
family and that have permanent facilities for sleeping, cooking and
eating, as well as sanitary facilities.
The number of dwelling units authorized by this chapter per
acre of land.
A grant of one or more property rights by the property owner
to and for use by the public, a utility, a corporation or any other
person, the use of which shall not be inconsistent with the rights
of the grantee and in which no permanent structure shall be erected.
This shall mean the edge of the disturbed area associated
with the operations.
An establishment that provides training to individuals or
groups in specialized recreational activities or avocations, including
but not limited to dance, gymnastics, martial arts, photographs, music,
arts and crafts and similar pursuits.
The date on which this chapter is duly adopted by the Township
or as specified in the ordinance so adopted.
Any vehicle that is licensed and registered for operation
on public and private highways, roads and streets; either partially
or exclusively, on electrical energy from the grid, or an off-board
source, that is stored onboard via a battery for motive purpose. "Electric
vehicle" includes:
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
Any equipment or electrical component used in charging electric
vehicles at a specific location. "EVSE" does not include equipment
located on the electric vehicles themselves.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
An application for modification of an existing wireless communications
facility or base station that involves collocation of new transmission
equipment; removal of transmission equipment; or replacement of transmission
equipment.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A condition that constitutes a clear and immediate danger
to the health, welfare, or safety of the public; or has caused or
is likely to cause facilities in the public rights-of-way to be unusable
and result in loss of the services provided. The municipal government
or municipal manager may declare an emergency.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A registered professional engineer licensed as such by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any area which has more than a 25% slope, is part of a floodplain,
wetland, riparian buffer as defined by the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection, and/or possesses landslide-prone soils.
An area of land devoted to the storage, whether temporary
or permanent, of construction equipment, farm equipment or other heavy
equipment or vehicles in excess of 26,000 pounds GVW.
Includes "built," "constructed," "reconstructed," "moved
upon" or any physical operations on the land required for the building.
Excavation, fill, drainage and the like shall be considered part of
the erection.
A business that provides a service, by appointment or upon
request, where individuals leave one premises and go to another premises
for a specified period of time for the purpose of engaging in nudity
or sexual conduct, as defined herein.
The provision of distribution and collection systems by public
utilities, regulated by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) or any
agency, franchisee or authority of North Strabane Township of underground
or overhead gas, electrical, telephone, steam, or water lines, sewers,
fire alarm boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, cable TV (not including
towers) and accessories in connection therewith, reasonably necessary
to furnish adequate services within North Strabane Township to the
general public.
Includes any of the following:
The opening or commencement of any adult business as a new business.
The conversion of an existing business, whether or not an adult
business, to any adult business.
The addition or change of any adult business to any other existing
adult business or to a non-adult business.
The relocation of any adult business.
Temporary geologic or geophysical activities such as drilling
in context with the zoning definition in this chapter, including seismic
surveys related to the search for natural gas or other subsurface
hydrocarbons.
The act or process of separating, obtaining or removing a
substance, such as a mineral, including but not limited to coal, sulfur,
petroleum, oil and/or gas, and including oil and gas development.
An individual, or two or more persons related by blood, marriage,
adoption or foster child care, including domestic servants or gratuitous
guests thereof; or a group of not more than three unrelated persons
living together without supervision in a dwelling unit, or not more
than 12 persons living together in a group living arrangement with
supervision, provided that the group living arrangement meets all
of the following criteria:
It provides nonroutine support services, including supervision,
personal care, social or counseling services, and transportation,
to persons who need such assistance in order to use and enjoy a dwelling
or to avoid being placed within an institution, because of physical
disability, old age, mental retardation, or other handicap or disability,
as defined by the Fair Housing Amendments Act or the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
It provides for the joint occupancy of a dwelling unit where
the residents maintain a common household and practice, on a permanent
or long-term basis, a joint economic, social and cultural life.
It does not involve the housing of persons on a transient basis.
It does not involve the housing or treatment of persons accepted
for residence in the group living arrangement on the basis of their
status as criminal offenders, juvenile offenders or delinquents, or
who would otherwise qualify for residence by virtue of having been
found by any governmental tribunal, court or agency to be a danger
to society or are on release or under the jurisdiction of the criminal
justice system, a government bureau of corrections or similar institution.
Family shall not include persons living together in a group-care
facility, personal-care boarding home or transitional dwelling, as
defined herein, or any other supervised group living arrangement for
persons not protected by the Fair Housing Act or for any persons who
constitute a direct threat to others or their physical property.
A facility, licensed or approved by the commonwealth, as
required by the laws of the commonwealth, located within a dwelling
in which the operator resides, for the care on a regular basis, during
part of a twenty-four-hour day, of not more than six children under
16 years of age, including care provided to children who are relatives
of the provider, where such use shall be secondary to the use of the
dwelling for living purposes and shall meet all applicable requirements
for a home occupation.
A site of 10 acres or more used for the pursuit of agriculture,
as defined herein.
See "restaurant, fast-food."
The Federal Communications Commission.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
An artificially constructed barrier of wood, masonry, stone,
wire, metal or any other manufactured or natural material, or combination
of materials, erected for the enclosure of land and/or dividing one
area of land from another. This definition shall not include agricultural
fences erected for the purpose of enclosing livestock in areas properly
used for agricultural purposes, nor shall it include retaining walls
that are designed and approved in accordance with the Township Grading
Ordinance.[6]
A partition that provides zero- to five-percent transparency
and lacks significant void spaces in the vertical surface.
A partition that provides greater than five-percent transparency
through the void of space.
An enclosure used to beautify or to enrich or improve the
appearance of a property and/or a structure.
A bank, savings and loan association or similar institution
that lends money or is engaged in a finance-related business.
Facilities, owned and operated by a public agency or nonprofit
corporation, used for the storage of fire trucks, firefighting equipment,
ambulances and other emergency medical equipment and for the training
of firefighters, paramedics and other medical rescue personnel, and
that may or may not include offices, meeting rooms, exercise rooms,
sleeping quarters for the employees and volunteers, kitchen facilities
and a social hall.
Any building designed to accommodate a combination of office
and warehousing or office and manufacturing or assembly.
The sum of all the horizontal floor areas of a building,
measured between exterior faces of walls.
The total floor area of a building designed for tenant occupancy,
or areas accessible to the customers, clients or general public, but
excluding storage areas, equipment rooms, food preparation areas in
a restaurant and common areas such as halls, corridors, stairwells,
elevator shafts, rest rooms, interior vehicular parking and loading
areas and similar common areas, expressed in square feet and measured
from the center line of joint partitions and exteriors of outside
walls.
The process of flowing a completed/fractured well for the
purposes of recovering water and residual sand from the gas stream
prior to sending gas down a sales line.
A wall, fence, vegetation, hedge or combination thereof that
forces bees to fly at a higher elevation above ground level over the
property lines in the vicinity of the apiary.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
A facility in which preprocessed food products are delivered
to the site and are packaged and stored until eventually being distributed
to stores, cafeterias, etc.
A retail establishment that has a gross floor area of no
more than 10,000 square feet and that offers for sale specialty or
gourmet food items or meats or groceries that are packaged and are
not available for consumption on the premises.
The management of forests and timberlands, when practiced
in accordance with accepted silviculture principles, through developing,
cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial
purposes that do not involve any land development.
Any water obtained from a water purveyor or portion of the
generally recognized hydrologic cycle which occupies the pore spaces
and fractures of saturated subsurface materials. Fresh water does
not include exploration and production fluids such as produced water,
flowback fluids, or re-use water.
See "building line, front."
The area of the public right-of-way directly in front of
a structure, identified by drawing a perpendicular line from each
corner of the structure to the public rights-of-way.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
See "lot line, front."
A building used for the embalming of the deceased for burial,
but not including cremation, and for the display of the deceased and
ceremonies connected therewith before burial or cremation.
A room or rooms used for legal gambling activities.
An accessory building or a portion of the principal building,
not accessible to the general public and designed or used for shelter
or storage of private vehicles and personal property of the occupants
of the principal building, and that may include the shelter or storage
of no more than one private vehicle owned and used by others.
A building, other than a private garage, containing two or
more parking spaces, accessible to the general public, used for the
storage or parking of motor vehicles, or where such vehicles are kept
for remuneration, hire or sale, but not including the repair of vehicles
or the storage of dismantled or wrecked motor vehicles.
See "vehicle repair garage."
See Subsection H under "dwelling types."
Brightness in the field of view that is sufficiently greater
than that to which the eyes are adapted, to cause annoyance or loss
in visual performance and visibility, so as to jeopardize health,
safety or welfare.
A recreational facility that has a course, with a minimum
of nine regulation-size holes, for playing golf as its principal use
and that may have a clubhouse, locker rooms, restaurant, swimming
pool, pro shop, facilities for racquet sports, maintenance facilities
and similar facilities as accessory uses.
A recreational facility, operated by a public or private
entity, that has as its principal use a golf course, as defined herein,
and that may include one or more of the following accessory uses:
a clubhouse and/or restaurant, locker rooms, pro shops, swimming pool
and facilities for racquet sports.
A retail establishment in excess of 10,000 square feet of
gross floor area that primarily sells meat, food and household products
but that may also include as accessory uses a pharmacy, a florist,
a travel agency, a video rental (excluding an adult video store),
a coffee shop, a delicatessen, banking and copy/fax services.
The total acreage of land applicable to a lot(s).
See "floor area, gross."
See Subsection I under "dwelling types."
Any material designated as a hazardous material under the
terms and provisions of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act
of 1980 and/or any regulations promulgated thereunder by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection and designated as "hazardous
materials."
A commercial recreational enterprise or private club that
has as a principal use a gymnasium, swimming pool or other sports
facility and that may offer massages, whirlpool baths, steam rooms,
saunas and/or medical facilities as accessory uses to the principal
use.
The mechanical or chemical transformation of raw materials
or substances into new products or other raw materials or any manufacturing
process not included in the definition of "light manufacturing" or
"high-technology industries."
The vertical distance measured from the ground level, including
any base pad, to the highest point on a tower-based wireless communications
facility, including antennas mounted on the tower and any other appurtenances.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
The vertical distance measured from the ground level, including
any base pad, to the highest point on a communications tower, including
communications antennas mounted on the tower and any other appurtenances.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
See "building height."
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade around the sign to the highest point on the
sign and its supporting structure, including the foundation of the
sign, if it is elevated above the ground level.
For structures other than buildings or signs, the vertical
distance measured from the average elevation of the finished grade
around the structure to the highest point on the structure.
The assembly of component parts or the production of finished
products, excluding any process that involves toxic or highly volatile
substances, including computer components and accessories; electrical
parts, accessories and equipment; laboratory apparatus; robotics;
optical instruments; precision instruments; surgical, medical and
dental instruments and supplies; timers and timepieces; search detection
and navigational equipment; musical instruments; and photographic
equipment and accessories.
A receptacle or container, that includes modern moveable
frames or combs, in which an active colony inhabits and exceeds a
volume of 50 liters (i.e., a single standard Langstroth 9Â 5/8
inch deep body with 10 frames plus one additional hive body).
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
Raising flowers, ornamental plants, fruits and vegetables
for personal use and enhancement of a residential lot.
An accessory use of a service character, other than a no-impact
home-based business, conducted entirely within a dwelling by the residents
thereof, which use is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling
for living purposes and does not, in any way, change the character
of the dwelling.
A business or commercial activity administered or conducted
as an accessory use that is clearly secondary to the use of a dwelling
for residential purposes and that involves no customer, client or
patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, and no pickup, delivery
or removal functions to or from the premises in excess of those normally
associated with residential use.
All life stages of the common domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera
species ("European" honeybee).
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
Care designed to give supportive care to people in the final
phase of a terminal illness and focus on comfort and quality of life,
rather than cure. This definition is per the World Health Organization.
A business or institution, licensed as such by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, having an organized medical staff and providing equipment
and services primarily for inpatient care to persons who require definitive
diagnosis or treatment, or both, for mental or physical injury, illness,
pregnancy, or other disability. A hospital may also involve medical
research and training for health care professionals.
See "motel or hotel."
The process of injecting water, customized fluids, sand,
steam, gas or other agents into a gas well under pressure to improve
gas recovery.
Surfaces with a coefficient of runoff greater than 0.85,
including all buildings, roofed areas, parking areas, driveways, streets,
sidewalks and areas paved in concrete and asphalt and any other areas
determined by the Township Engineer to be impervious within the meaning
of this definition.
The percentage of the total lot area covered by impervious
surfaces, as defined herein.
A facility or part of a facility which is a natural topographic
depression, manmade excavation, or diked area formed primarily of
earthen materials although it may be lined with synthetic materials,
and which is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or
wastes containing free liquids. The term includes holding, storage,
settling and aeration pits, ponds and lagoons. The term does not include
injection wells.
See "development."
A commercial establishment located within a completely enclosed
building, as defined by this chapter, where customers or patrons engage
in non-athletic leisure activities as spectators or participants,
including but not limited to theaters (live and motion-picture), bowling
alleys, pool halls, virtual reality and simulation gaming parlors,
video arcades, dance halls and similar facilities, but excluding any
adult business, as defined herein.
Any premises devoted wholly or in part to the storage, buying
or selling, salvaging, recycling or otherwise handling or dealing
in scrap metals, building materials, scrapped or used appliances or
other household goods, fixtures, vehicles and vehicle parts, machinery
and machinery parts or other forms of discarded materials.
A facility, operated under the laws of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, for up to 120 juveniles that provides for the twenty-four-hour
incarceration and confinement of juveniles adjudicated to be delinquent
by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court system or juveniles requiring incarceration
and confinement by virtue of having been determined to be prosecuted
as adults while committing crimes as a juvenile, and limited to juveniles
to be incarcerated or confined for serious criminal offenses and not
including juveniles eligible to reside in a juvenile personal-care
home/child residential facility or other such less restrictive residential
setting.
A premises or part thereof for housing of up to 50 juveniles,
operated in a twenty-four-hour living setting, in which care is provided
for one or more children who are not relatives of the facility operator,
as governed by the Pennsylvania Code, Title 55, Public Welfare, Chapter
3800, Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities.
A structure and/or premises where four dogs and/or cats that
are six months or older are kept, bred, trained and/or boarded at
any one time, whether for profit or not.
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively;
A single nonresidential building on a lot or lots, regardless
of the number of occupants or tenure;
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of or for the purpose of streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
Development in accordance with Section 503(1.1) of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code.
A plan, prepared in accordance with the application requirements
of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance,[7] for approval of a land development, as defined herein.
Any site licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PA DEP) for the disposal of solid waste, other than hazardous
waste, as defined and regulated by federal statute.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A registered professional landscape architect licensed as
such by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A retail business that includes the growing and/or selling
of flowers, plants, trees, shrubs and other natural flora and the
products that aid their growth and care and that may include one or
more of the following activities as accessory uses only: storage of
decorative landscaping materials, such as landscaping ties, decorative
rocks, marble chips, sandstone or limestone chips; storage of mulch,
reddog, sand or gravel to be used in landscaping; and/or shredding,
screening or storage of topsoil.
A plan, prepared by a registered architect or a registered
landscape architect, identifying each tree and shrub by size, type
and scientific name, indicating balled and burlapped or bare root,
and location. The plan shall include a planting diagram and such other
diagrams or reports necessary to show the method of planting, staking
and mulching, grass seeding specifications and mixtures and existing
trees over 10 inches in diameter at breast height.
Areas of moderate to high susceptibility to landsliding produced
by the influence of natural and/or man-made activity.
A retail business equipped with a number of individual clothes
washing machines and clothes dryers and that may include individual
dry-cleaning machines for use by the general public, excluding laundry
facilities provided as an accessory use in a multifamily residential
building.
The assembly, processing or fabrication of certain materials
and products where no process involved will produce noise, vibration,
water pollution, fire hazard or noxious emissions that will disturb
or endanger neighboring properties. Light manufacturing includes but
is not limited to the production of the following goods: home appliances,
electrical instruments, office machines, precision instruments, electronic
devices, timepieces, jewelry, optical goods, musical instruments,
novelties, wood products, printed material, lithographic plates, type
composition, machine tools, dies and gauges, ceramics, apparel, lightweight
nonferrous metal castings, film processing, light sheet metal products,
plastic goods, pharmaceutical goods, food products, not including
animal slaughtering, curing or rendering of fats, and similar activities.
An area within a principal building or on the same lot with
the principal building designed in accordance with the requirements
of this chapter and used for the standing, loading or unloading of
tractor-trailer trucks and other vehicles.
Any street in the Township not defined by this chapter as
an arterial street or a collector street.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law to be used, developed or built
upon as a unit.
The total area within the lot lines, excluding the area within
any street right-of-way.
That portion of the lot area covered by all principal and
accessory structures, expressed as a percentage.
The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and
the rear lot line.
That portion of the lot that adjoins the street right-of-way
or through which access is provided to a public street.
A line of record bounding a lot that divides one lot from
another lot or from a public or private street or other public space.
That lot line that is contiguous with the street center line
or the street right-of-way line. In the case of a lot that has no
frontage on a street, the front lot line shall be the lot line through
which vehicular access is provided, regardless of which way the dwelling
faces.
That lot line that is generally opposite the front lot line.
Any lot line that is not a front lot line nor a rear lot
line.
Any lot that, individually or as part of a subdivision, has
been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Washington
County.
The straight-line distance between the point of intersection
of the front building line with the side lot lines.
See "corner lot."
A lot that fronts on two parallel streets or that fronts
on two streets that do not intersect at the boundaries of the lot.
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body
feet or more in length, or when erected on site is 320 or more square
feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be
used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected
to the required utilities, and includes plumbing, heating, air conditioning
and electrical systems contained therein. A manufactured home which
is erected on a permanent foundation, as defined herein, and which
is connected to all available utilities shall be considered a single-family
dwelling for the purposes of this chapter. A manufactured home without
a permanent foundation, as defined herein, shall be considered a mobile
home as defined by this chapter and shall only be permitted to be
located in a mobile home park as authorized by this chapter.
The mechanical or chemical transformation of raw materials
or substances into new products or other raw materials, including
the assembling of component parts, the manufacturing of products and
the blending of materials into finished or semifinished products.
See "heavy manufacturing."
See "light manufacturing."
Any establishment that provides services of massage or body
manipulation, including exercises, heat and light treatments of the
body, and all forms of physiotherapy, unless operated by a medical
practitioner, chiropractor or professional physical therapist licensed
by the commonwealth, not including any athletic club, health club,
school, gymnasium, reducing salon, spa or similar establishment where
massage or similar manipulation of the human body is offered as an
incidental or accessory service to the principal service.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties to a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
that the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
See "clinic, medical."
Marijuana for certified medical use as set forth in Act 16
of 2016.[8]
Use of the premises by a natural person, corporation, partnership,
association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, holding
a permit issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of
Health to dispense medical marijuana.
The use of the premises by a person, including a natural
person, corporation, partnership, association, trust or other entity,
or any combination thereof, holding a permit from the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania Department of Health to grow and/or process medical
marijuana, with all growing and processing activity to be conducted
indoors.
One or more administrative offices of individual doctors,
dentists, chiropractors or other medical practitioners and their supporting
staffs, where human patients receive diagnosis, treatment and counseling.
A distinct form of long-term skilled nursing that specifically
caters to patients with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other types
of memory problems. Also called special care units (SCUs), memory
care units usually provide twenty-four-hour supervised care within
a separate wing or floor of a residential facility.
Any extraction of any mineral for sale or other commercial
purpose that involves removal of the surface of the earth or exposure
of the mineral or subsurface of the earth to wind, rain, sun or other
elements of nature. The term "mineral" includes, but is not limited
to, anthracite and bituminous coal, lignite, including mining activities
carried out beneath the surface of the earth by means of shafts, tunnels,
other underground mine openings, limestone and dolomite, sand, gravel,
rock, stone, earth, slag, ore, vermiculite, clay and other mineral
resources.
A building or group of buildings in a controlled-access and
fenced compound that contains various sizes of individual, compartmentalized
and controlled-access stalls and/or lockers leased to the general
public for a specified period of time for the dead storage of personal
property. Stalls and/or lockers may be accessed from exterior and/or
interior access.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing, that arrives at a site complete and ready for
occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations,
and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land that have been so
designated and improved that they contain two or more mobile home
lots for the placement of mobile homes.
An establishment engaged in the retail sales of mobile homes,
including the servicing and on-site storage of mobile homes offered
for sale.
The temporary use of a dwelling unit in an approved plan
that is under construction for the purpose of marketing dwelling units
to be constructed.
The improvement, upgrade or expansion of existing wireless
communications facilities or base stations on an existing wireless
support structure or the improvement, upgrade, or expansion of the
wireless communications facilities located within an existing equipment
compound, if the improvement, upgrade, expansion or replacement does
not substantially change the physical dimensions of the wireless support
structure.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
An establishment that offers transient overnight lodging
accommodations, including extended stays, to the general public and
that also may provide additional supporting services such as restaurants,
meeting rooms, recreation facilities and living quarters for a resident
manager or proprietor.
See Subsection E under "dwelling types."
North Strabane Township, Washington County, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended
(53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.).
Components of natural gas that are liquid at the surface
of in-field facilities or in processing plants. Natural gas liquids
can be classified according to their vapor pressures as low (condensate),
intermediate (natural gasoline) and high (liquefied petroleum gas)
vapor pressure. Natural gas liquids include ethane, propane, butane,
pentane, hexane and heptanes. The term is commonly abbreviated as
NGL.
A facility designed and constructed to remove materials such
as ethane, propane, butane and other constituents or similar substances
from natural gas, to allow such natural gas to be of such quality
as is required or appropriate for transmission or distribution to
commercial markets, but not including facilities or equipment that
are/is designed and constructed primarily to remove water, water vapor,
oil or naturally occurring liquids from natural gas.
The land area for development calculated by 1) deducting
the required open space allocation for the lot's gross acreage and
2) deducting other identified environmentally sensitive resources
otherwise pursuant to the chapter's requirements that cannot be calculated
as part of the applicable open space calculation.
Net acreage divided by number of dwelling units.
See "floor area, net."
A restaurant, or portion thereof, or any other establishment
serving food and/or drink, whether or not the consumption of alcoholic
beverages is permitted or allowed on the premises, that offers, on
a monthly or more-frequent basis, live entertainment on a stage or
bandstand and/or dancing to music, either live or recorded, and that
has a maximum permitted occupancy authorized by the Township Building
Code of 50 or more persons.
See "home-based business, no-impact."
See Subsection F under "dwelling types."
See Subsection G under "dwelling types."
See "riding academy, noncommercial."
A facility to convert wind movement into electricity, with
a rated capacity of not more than 50 kilowatts, and that is incidental
and subordinate to another use on the same parcel. A facility shall
be considered noncommercial only if it supplies electrical power solely
for on-site use; except that when a parcel on which a noncommercial
WECS is installed also receives electrical power supplied by a utility
company, excess electrical power generated by the WECS and not presently
needed for on-site use may be used by the utility company in exchange
for a reduction in the cost of electrical power supplied by that company
to the parcel for on-site use, as long as no net revenue is produced
by such electrical power.
Any lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior
to the adoption or amendment of this chapter but that fails to conform
to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located
by reasons of such adoption or amendment.
Any sign that was lawfully erected and maintained prior to
the adoption or amendment of this chapter but that fails to conform
to all applicable regulations and restrictions of this chapter.
A structure or part of a structure that does not comply with
the applicable area and bulk provisions of this chapter or amendment
heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed
prior to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto or
prior to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location
by reason of annexation. Nonconforming signs are included in this
definition.
A use, whether of land or of a structure, that does not comply
with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore
or hereafter enacted, where such use way lawfully in existence prior
to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto or prior
to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location by
reason of annexation.
All non-tower wireless communications facilities, including
but not limited to antennas and related equipment. Non-tower WCF shall
not include support structures for antennas and related equipment.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A hive that does not exceed the volume of 50 liters (i.e.,
a single ten-frame standard 9Â 5/8 inch deep body or less).
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
The exposure of human bare buttocks, anus, male or female
genitals or female breast or the appearance thereof.
Any activity or condition that unreasonably annoys and disturbs
a person, rendering the ordinary use of his/her property physically
uncomfortable, and/or anything that essentially interferes with enjoyment
of life and property or that may constitute a threat to the health,
safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township.
Lighting, as determined by the Township Code Enforcement
Officer and/or Township Police Department, that creates an annoyance
or aggravation but does not create a potentially hazardous situation.
See "disabling glare."
A business or an institution, licensed by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, for the care of human patients requiring skilled
or intermediate nursing care as defined in Chapter 201, Section 201.3,
of the Pennsylvania Code, Applicability, Definitions, Ownership, and
General Operation of Long-Term Care Nursing Facilities, but not including
facilities for major surgery or care and treatment of drug or alcohol
addiction.
See "certificate of occupancy."
Any building, structure, appurtenances to buildings and structures,
land, water or air vehicle, or similar place adapted for overnight
accommodation of persons, or occupied by persons for the purpose of
carrying on business or other activity therein. Proof that said structure
is not actually being occupied or used for such purpose is required
in order for the structure to not be considered occupied.
The storage of vehicles on a lot separate from the vehicles
sales lot intended for the sale or use by the vehicle sales owner.
See "business or professional offices."
See "medical offices."
The date of the Planning Commission meeting at which an application
is first considered after the filing of an application that is determined
to be complete and properly filed.
Crude oil, natural gas, methane gas, coal bed methane gas,
propane, butane and/or any other liquid hydrocarbons, constituents
or similar substances that are produced by drilling an oil or gas
well.
The well site preparation, well site construction, drilling,
hydraulic fracturing and/or site restoration associated with an oil
and/or gas well of any depth; water and other fluid storage, impoundment
located on the same parcel as a well site; and the installment and
use of all associated equipment, including tanks, meters and other
equipment and structures, whether permanent or temporary. This also
includes the site preparation, construction, installment, maintenance
and repair of other equipment and activities associated with the exploration
for and production of oil and gas. This does not include oil and gas
pipelines, compressor stations and natural gas processing plants or
facilities performing the equivalent functions that operate as midstream
facilities that are only authorized consistent with this chapter as
a conditional use.
All parts of those physical facilities regulated by federal,
state or local agencies such as PHMSA, the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection and/or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
through which oil and/or natural gas moves in transportation, including
pipe, valves, and other appurtenances attached to pipes, compressor
units, metering stations, regulator stations, delivery stations, holders,
launcher/receiver stations and fabricated assemblies.
A bore hole, drilled under a permit issued by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), for the purpose of
producing, extracting or injecting any gas, petroleum or other liquid
related to oil or gas production or storage, including brine disposal,
but excluding bore holes drilled to produce potable water to be used
as such.
See "common open space."
Any person, partnership, company, corporation, and its subcontractors
and agents who has an interest in real estate for the purpose of exploring
or drilling for, producing, developing or transporting oil or gas.
A zoning district that encompasses property in one or more
underlying zoning districts and that imposes additional requirements
above that required in the underlying zoning district.
See "landowner."
A facility in which products are wrapped, enveloped, boxed
and or bundled and then transported to other business establishments
for sale.
A portion of a lot designated for the parking of motor vehicles
in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
A portion of a garage or parking area designated for the
parking of one motor vehicle in accordance with the requirements of
this chapter.
The distance specified by this chapter from the entire boundary
of a site proposed for a development, as required by this chapter.
A permanent foundation must be constructed in accordance
with the prescriptive provisions of the adopted building code or,
when required, designed by a licensed professional engineer. It shall
have attachment points to anchor and stabilize the home to transfer
all code required loads to the underlying soil or rock. In either
case, it shall be designed for the following:
Vertical Stability:
Footings properly sized to prevent overloading of the soil.
Minimum depth of footings below undisturbed ground surface shall
be 12 inches or as required by the local code, whichever is greater.
Shallow foundation footings shall be constructed of cast-in-place
concrete.
Masonry walls and piers shall be mortared.
Be constructed of durable materials, i.e., concrete, mortared
masonry, or treated wood (including precast foundation systems).
A permanent foundation does not include any alternative systems
or components labeled only for use under one or more of the following
standards:
An individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation,
association or other legal entity.
Any enterprise providing services pertaining to the person,
their apparel, or personal effects commonly carried on or about the
person, including but not limited to shoe repair, tailoring, clothes
cleaning, watch repairing, barbershops, beauty parlors and related
activities, but not including any adult business, as defined herein.
See Subsection J under "dwelling types."
A business establishment that sells pet food and other pet
care products to the general public and that may offer animal grooming
and limited veterinary services as accessory uses; or a business establishment
that offers care during part of a twenty-four-hour day of domestic
pets as a principal use and that may sell food or other pet care products
as an accessory use; provided that the uses shall not include an animal
hospital or kennel, as otherwise regulated by this chapter.
A business establishment where drugs and medicines are prepared
and dispensed.
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of
the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates the design and
installation of pipelines.
An establishment or part thereof used to test concepts and
ideas, determine physical layouts, material flows and processes, types
of equipment required, costs and other information necessary prior
to undertaking full-scale production.
All parts of those physical facilities through which gas,
hazardous liquids, fresh water, salt water, or chemicals move in transportation,
including but not limited to, pipe, valves and other appurtenance
attached to pipe, whether or not laid in public or private easement
or public or private right-of-way within the Township, including,
but not limited to, gathering lines, production lines, and transmission
lines.
An indoor or outdoor space without fixed seating used for
public gatherings for recreational, educational, cultural, political,
social or entertainment purposes.
A building or buildings, other than a dwelling, used primarily
as a place of worship on a regular basis by a religious denomination
that may also include, as accessory uses, rooms for religious education,
social and recreational activities and administrative offices, rectories,
parsonages, convents, preschool programs and elderly or child day-care
centers.
A development comprised of authorized industrial uses on
a site that is under single ownership and control at the time of an
application for development and that is planned and developed as a
single unit wherein several buildings or lots utilize a common means
of access and may share other common facilities, such as parking and
signs.
A site under single ownership and control that is developed
as a unit for two or more buildings containing medical offices or
clinics or professional or business offices in a campus environment
utilizing common means of access, parking and loading facilities and
uniform signage and that may include other shared features.
An area of land controlled by a single landowner and developed
as a single entity for a number of dwellings, the plan for which does
not necessarily correspond in lot size, bulk, type of dwelling unit
or use, density or intensity, lot coverage or required open space
to any one district in this chapter.
A site under single ownership and control that is developed
as a unit for two or more buildings containing high technology industries
and/or research-and-development establishments in a campus environment,
utilizing common means of access, parking and loading facilities and
uniform signage, and may include other shared features.
A site under single ownership and control that is developed
as a unit for two or more retail businesses in one or more buildings
and designed with shared parking, loading and access facilities and
uniform signage.
The Planning Commission of North Strabane Township, Washington
County, Pennsylvania.
A roofed or uncovered structure without enclosing walls that
is attached to or part of the principal building and that has direct
access to and from the principal building.
An establishment that offers private educational services
to children who are under the minimum age for education in public
schools.
The building or structure in which the principal use is conducted.
The primary or predominant use to which the property is or
may be devoted and to which all other uses on the premises are accessory.
An establishment engaged in commercial or job printing, including
offset printing, engraving, photolithographing, and publishing and
binding books, newspapers, pamphlets and other printed materials.
Owned, operated or controlled by an individual, group of
individuals, association or corporation, not for profit, and restricted
to members and their guests.
Any establishment, other than a sportsmen's club or adult
business, as defined herein, operated by a private organization for
social, recreational, educational, fraternal or sororal purposes,
which is open only to members and their guests and not to the general
public.
See "garage, private."
See "school, public or private."
The keeping or raising of horses and/or ponies as an accessory
use to a single-family dwelling, for the personal use and enjoyment
of the residents of the lot, not involving any profit-making activity.
A street, including the entire private right-of-way, that
is privately owned and maintained and that is intended for private,
rather than public, use.
A helicopter landing pad, licensed by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation, Bureau of Aviation, and regulated by the Federal
Aviation Administration, that is owned by a private entity and restricted
to use by helicopters owned by such entity.
A facility designed and constructed to remove materials such
as ethane, propane, butane, and other constituents or similar substances
from natural gas to allow such natural gas to be of such quality as
is required or appropriate for transmission or distribution to commercial
markets but not including facilities or equipment that is designed
and constructed primarily to remove water, water vapor, oil, or naturally
occurring liquids from the natural gas, including dew point control
facilities. When used in this chapter, the term shall include any
similar facilities performing the equivalent or similar functions.
See "business or professional offices."
Any (public/private) hospital, school, cemetery, religious
institution or other public building located within 1,000 feet of
an oil and gas development site.
Owned, operated or controlled by a government agency, federal,
state, county or local.
Any building owned or operated by a government agency, federal,
state, county or local, used to provide services to the public, including
administrative offices, public works buildings and storage yards,
libraries, museums, fire companies, senior centers, recreation buildings,
government service centers and similar facilities.
See "garage, public."
A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of July 3,
1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the "Sunshine Act."[9]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
See "school, public or private."
A parking area that is located in a parking structure or
parking garage, that is the principal use on the lot, and that may
be operated by either a public agency or private entity, whether for
profit or not, and that is available for use by the general public,
usually for a fee.
A parking area on the surface of the ground that is the principal
use on the lot, that may be operated by either a public agency or
private entity, whether for profit or not, and that is available for
use by the general public, usually for a fee.
The surface of and space above and below any real property
in the municipality in which the municipality has a regulatory interest,
or interest as a trustee for the public, as such interests now or
hereafter exist, including, but not limited to: the total extent of
land reserved or dedicated as a street way/alley/lane for public or
private purpose; all streets, highways, avenues, roads, alleys, sidewalks,
tunnels, viaducts, bridges, skyways, or any other public place, area
or property under the control of the municipality; any unrestricted
public or utility easements established, dedicated, platted, improved
or devoted for utility purposes, but excluding lands other than streets
that are owned by the municipality. The phrase "in the right(s)-of-way"
means in, on, over, along, above and/or under the right(s)-of-way.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
See "street, public."
Any administrative building, maintenance building, garage
or other structure intended for human occupancy or storage of movable
equipment or any part of the essential public utility installation,
as defined herein, other than the general transmission distribution
system provided by public utilities, regulated by the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) or any agency, franchisee or authority of North Strabane
Township, that is reasonably necessary to furnish adequate services
to the general public both within North Strabane Township and outside
the Township, including but not limited to long-distance transmission
facilities such as electrical power lines or high-pressure natural
gas or petroleum lines, switching facilities, substations, treatment
plants, reservoirs, water towers, transmission towers and similar
facilities.
See Subsection D under "dwelling types."
A course on which races are run, where the competitors include
animals (usually horses), vehicles or people, or a combination thereof,
and, in the case where gambling on the outcome is legal, that may
include a betting parlor as an accessory use. A racetrack may also
include a restaurant, grandstands or other spectator viewing areas
and facilities for preparing for competition as accessory uses.
The act of re-entering an approved oil and gas development
to re-frack, stimulate, etc., drilled wells and/or to drill additional
wells within the number of wells the site has been approved for. (Example:
John Doe Site approved for eight wells and only four wells have been
drilled. If operator comes back to drill an additional four, this
shall be considered re-entry drilling.)
The conduct of any related operations at a Township-approved
site that were not included in a previous approval (permitted or conditional).
Water which has been previously used for industrial, municipal,
domestic or other purposes including those associated with fracking,
drilling flowback, and other drilling related activities, and cannot
be returned to a surface water or groundwater source.
Indoor or outdoor leisure-time pursuits that draw in excess
of 200 spectators and/or participants at any one time and any indoor
or outdoor leisure-time pursuits that draw fewer than 200 spectators
or participants that have operational characteristics that have a
significant impact on surrounding properties, including but not limited
to motocross or dirt bike trails, paintball facilities, arenas, amusement
parks, water parks, ski resorts, campgrounds, fairs, truck and tractor
pulls, off-road vehicle courses and trails, amphitheaters and similar
uses that have significant environmental, noise, traffic or lighting
impacts. (This definition excludes betting parlors, casinos, gaming
facilities, racetracks and boarding stables; golf courses, golf or
country clubs; health clubs; indoor entertainment; private stables;
riding academies; shooting ranges; and sportsmen's clubs, which are
separately defined and regulated by this chapter.)
Indoor or outdoor leisure-time pursuits involving activities
that customarily raise the heart rate of participants above the resting
level, including participation by individuals, groups of individuals
or teams and any spectators, usually requiring the use of special
equipment and/or a prescribed site, field or facility, including but
not limited to soccer fields, football, baseball and softball fields,
basketball courts, tennis courts, handball or racquetball courts,
swimming pools, community centers and similar facilities of a size
and operational character that they have a low impact on surrounding
properties. (This definition excludes boarding stables; golf courses,
golf or country clubs; health clubs; indoor entertainment; private
stables; riding academies; shooting ranges; and sportsmen's clubs,
which are separately defined and regulated by this chapter.)
Outdoor leisure-time pursuits involving activities that do
not raise the heart rate significantly above the resting level but
rather provide refreshment through furnishing a visual and/or psychological
release from the pressure of everyday life for individuals or small
groups of individuals, including but not limited to bridle trails,
trails with exercise stations, Nordic ski trails, hiking, biking,
walking, fishing, picnicking, children's playgrounds, table games,
observation areas, bird watching, botanical gardens, historical or
archaeological sites, scenic areas, nature preserves and similar facilities
for relaxing in a natural environment.
A single-axle or multiple-axle structure mounted on wheels
or otherwise capable of being made mobile, either with its own motive
power or designed to be mounted on or drawn by an automotive vehicle,
for the purpose of travel, camping, vacation and recreational use,
including but not limited to travel trailers, mobile homes, motor
homes, tent trailers, boats, boat trailers, pick-up campers, horse
trailers, snowmobiles, jet skis, wave runners, motorcycles and all-terrain
vehicles.
Any piece of equipment related to, incidental to, or necessary
for the operation of a wireless communications facility. By way of
illustration, not limitation, "related equipment" includes generators
and base stations.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
The activities and operations that are ancillary to oil and
gas drilling, such as processing plants, compressor stations, certified
water storage, temporary work and bunk trailers, storage depots, traffic
control sites and truck staging areas.
A service establishment providing maintenance and repairs
of personal and household items that can be carried in by hand, including
personal effects (such as jewelry, watches, bicycles), small household
appliances, office equipment, small gasoline engines and similar items,
but not including repair of large appliances, motorized vehicles or
heavy equipment.
Any establishment, including laboratories, that carries on
investigation in the natural, physical or social sciences or engineering
and development as an extension of such investigation, with the objective
of creating end products and that may include supporting storage and
transportation facilities, but not including the mass production of
such products.
A dwelling unit located in the same building with an office
and/or retail business.
Residual waste is nonhazardous industrial waste. It includes
waste material (solid, liquid or gas), impaired fluids and flowback
produced by industrial, mining and agricultural operations. It excludes
certain coal mining wastes and wastes from normal farming activities.
An establishment that offers food and beverages for sale
and consumption either on or on and off the premises as the principal
use and may serve alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises
as an accessory use.
A restaurant where refreshments, beverages, meals or frozen
desserts or the like are served for consumption primarily outside
of the premises and where no more than 12 permanent seats are provided.
A restaurant principally devoted to the retail sale of prepared
or premeasured food items, where such food items are ordered by the
customer at a window, counter or vehicle rather than from a table,
and that is designed to facilitate quick service and take-out orders.
An establishment where orders are placed with waitpersons
by customers seated at tables and food and beverages are served at
the table by waitpersons and where the usual length of stay is one
hour or more. A sit-down restaurant may or may not serve alcoholic
beverages for consumption on the premises as an accessory use and
may or may not offer take-out service as an accessory use but shall
not include a pickup window or drive-through window.
Any establishment, not otherwise specifically defined in
this Part, that sells, on the premises, commodities and/or services
directly to consumers, but not including the manufacturing or processing
of any products.
An establishment that includes a boarding stable, as defined
herein, and where instruction in riding, jumping and showing is offered
for a fee and where horses may be hired for riding.
A riding academy where instruction is provided to owners
who do not board their horses on the premises and/or where invitational
shows and/or competitions are held.
A riding academy where instruction is provided using only
horses that are kept or boarded on the premises and where horses that
are hired for riding are limited to the horses that are kept or boarded
on the premises.
A temporary use for the purpose of marketing the dwelling
units in a residential development or the leasable space or other
occupancy in a nonresidential development.
A privately operated, for-profit establishment providing
technical or skilled training, vocational or trade educational courses
and programs.
An accredited institution of learning that offers elementary
and secondary level instruction or which offers associate, bachelor
or higher degrees in the several branches of learning required by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The area required for one individual to sit on, as regulated
by the Township Building Code.
A building or group of buildings with controlled access to
various sizes of individual, compartmentalized and controlled-access
stalls and/or lockers accessible only from the interior of each building
where as stalls and/or lockers are leased to the general public for
a specified period of time for the dead storage of personal property.
See "automobile service station."
Patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate
sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, and patently
offensive representations, descriptions or acts of masturbation, excretory
functions, homosexuality, sodomy, sexual intercourse or physical contact
with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks,
or, if such person be female, breast.
An outdoor facility that may or may not include a clubhouse
but which includes facilities for one or more of the following activities:
archers, target shooting, skeet or trap shooting, marksmanship and
similar activities.
A furnished dwelling unit in a single-family home or duplex
that is offered for lease in its entirety by the day, by the week,
or for period of up to 30 consecutive days.
[Added by Ord. No. 402, 10/25/2022]
Federal regulation 47 CFR 1.6003 defines the "reasonable
periods of time to act on siting applications" as the "shot clock"
time frames. At regulation, "[t]he shot clock date for a siting application
is determined by counting forward, beginning on the day after the
date when the application was submitted." 47 C.F.R. § 1.6003(e).
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Any structure or device used to attract attention by word
or graphic display. (See Part 16 for regulations governing signs.).
See definitions for various types and classes of signs in
Part 16.
See Part 16 for definition.
See Subsection A under "dwelling types."
See "restaurant, sit-down."
A tract of land or one or more contiguous lots proposed for
development.
The total area within the boundary lines of a site proposed
for development, expressed in acres or square feet.
The degree of rise or descent of the land surface, calculated
by dividing the number of feet of vertical rise/descent in elevation
by the number of feet of horizontal distance, expressed as a percentage.
A wireless communications facility that meets the following
criteria:
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
The structure on which antenna facilities are mounted:
Each antenna associated with the deployment (excluding the associated
equipment) is no more than three cubic feet in volume; and
All antenna equipment associated with the facility (excluding
antennas) are cumulatively no more than 28 cubic feet in volume;
The facilities do not require antenna structure registration
under 47 CFR Part 17;
The facilities are not located on tribal lands, as defined under
36 CFR 800.16(x); and
The facilities do not result in human exposure to radio frequency
radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards specified in
47 CFR 1.1307(b).
Pennsylvania Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act (2021
Pa. ALS 50, 2021 Pa. Laws 50, 2021 Pa. HB 1621).[10]
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Related terms:
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ARRAY — Any number of electrically connected
photovoltaic (PV) modules providing a single electrical output.
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BUILDING-INTEGRATED SYSTEM — A solar photovoltaic
system that is constructed as an integral part of a principal or accessory
building or structure and where the building-integrated system features
maintain a uniform profile or surface of vertical walls, window openings,
and roofing. Such a system is used in lieu of a separate mechanical
device, replacing or substituting for an architectural or structural
component of the building or structure that appends or interrupts
the uniform surfaces of walls, window openings and roofing. A building-integrated
system may occur within vertical facades, replacing view glass, spandrel
glass or other facade material; into semitransparent skylight systems;
into roofing systems, replacing traditional roofing materials; or
other building or structure envelope systems.
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BUILDING-MOUNTED SYSTEM — A solar photovoltaic
system attached to any part or type of roof on a building or structure
that has an occupancy permit on file with the Township and that is
either the principal structure or an accessory structure on a recorded
lot/property. This system also includes any solar-based architectural
elements.
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CELL — The smallest basic solar electric device
which generates electricity when exposed to light.
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DRIP LINE — The outermost edge of a roof including
eaves, overhangs and gutters.
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GROUND-MOUNTED SYSTEM — A solar photovoltaic
system mounted on a structure, pole or series of poles constructed
specifically to support the photovoltaic system and not attached to
any other structure.
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HVAC — Equipment used to heat, cool or ventilate
a structure.
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INTERCONNECTION — The technical and practical
link between the solar generator and the grid providing electricity
to the greater community.
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KILOWATT (kW) — A unit of electrical power
equal to 1,000 watts, which constitutes the basic unit of electrical
demand. A watt is a metric measurement of power (not energy) and is
the rate (not the duration) at which electricity is used. 1,000 kW
is equal to 1 megawatt (MW).
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MODULE — A module is the smallest protected
assembly of interconnected PV cells.
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NET METERING AGREEMENT — An agreement with
a local electric utility that allows customers to receive a credit
for surplus electricity generated by certain renewable energy systems.
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PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) — A semiconductor based
device that converts light directly into electricity.
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SOLAR-BASED ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT — Structural/architectural
element that provides protection from weather that includes awnings,
canopies, porches or sunshades and that is constructed with the primary
covering consisting of solar PV modules, and may or may not include
additional solar PV related equipment.
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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) AND/OR THERMAL RELATED EQUIPMENT
— Items including a solar photovoltaic and/or thermal cell,
panel or array, lines, mounting brackets, framing and foundations
used for or intended to be used for collection of solar energy.
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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) AND/OR THERMAL SYSTEM —
A solar collection system consisting of one or more building-and/or
ground-mounted systems, solar photovoltaic and/or thermal cells, panels
or arrays and solar related equipment that rely upon solar radiation
as an energy source for collection, inversion, storage and distribution
of solar energy for electricity generation. A solar PV system is a
generation system with a nameplate capacity of not greater than 50
kilowatts if installed at a residential service or not larger than
3,000 kilowatts at other customer service locations and do not produce
excess on-site energy greater than currently permitted by Pennsylvania
Public Utility Commission guidelines.
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TRACKING SYSTEM — A number of photovoltaic
modules mounted such that they track the movement of the sun across
the sky to maximize energy production, either with a single-axis or
dual- axis mechanism.
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UNREGULATED YARD AREA — Area not within a
building and not in a defined setback or yard area.
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See "use by special exception."
The raising of livestock and poultry as an accessory use
to a single-family dwelling for the personal use and enjoyment of
the residents on property that does not meet the minimum lot area
requirements. for agriculture, provided that the raising of the animals
is not the principal economic activity of the residents. Specialized
animal raising shall not include any exotic animals, as defined in
Ordinance No. 286,[11] as hereafter amended. Kennels, private stables, boarding
stables or commercial or noncommercial riding academics, as herein
defined and otherwise regulated, are excluded from this definition.
A surfaced outdoor area accessory to a dwelling or dwellings,
used for playing sports, including but not limited to tennis, handball,
basketball and similar sports.
A legally chartered organization for the pursuit of hunting,
fishing, marksmanship and related activities, that may or may not
include a clubhouse, and that has a roster of membership and a regular
calendar of activities limited to members and their guests.
See "boarding stable."
See "private stable."
Camouflaging methods applied to wireless communications facilities
and accessory equipment which render them more visually appealing
or blend the proposed facility into the existing structure or visual
backdrop in such a manner as to render it minimally visible to the
casual observer. Such methods include, but are not limited to, architecturally
screened roof-mounted antennas, building-mounted antennas painted
to match the existing structure and facilities constructed to resemble
trees, shrubs, and light poles.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A covered or uncovered porch located at a front, side or
rear door to a dwelling unit.
A permanent off-street facility designed as a point for collection
and/or storage of materials, supplies, equipment, and/or other solid
by-products from oil and gas development.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling
next above it, excluding cellars.
A public or private recorded right-of-way that affords primary
means of vehicular access to abutting property, but not including
alleys.
The legal right-of-way line that forms the dividing line
between the street and the lot.
A public right-of-way dedicated and open for public use that
has been adopted by the Township, county, commonwealth or governmental
body.
A change or rearrangement of the structural parts or in the
means of ingress and egress, or an enlargement or diminution of the
structure, whether by extending on the side or increasing the height
or depth, or the moving from one location or position to another.
The material whose primary function is to provide structural
stability and/or framing of any fence/wall barrier and/or to support
an exposed set of vertical surfaces that can be seen from public and/or
private lots and/or rights-of-way.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
See "height of structure."
The division of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means
into two or more lots, tracts or parcels or other divisions of land,
including any changes in existing lot lines, for the purpose, whether
immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution
to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development;
provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural
purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new
street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be
exempted.
A modification to an existing wireless communications facility
substantially changes the physical dimensions of a tower or wireless
support structure if it meets any of the following criteria:
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
For wireless communications facilities outside the public rights-of-way,
it increases the height of the facility by more than 10%, or by the
height of one additional antenna array with separation from the nearest
existing antenna, not to exceed 20 feet, whichever is greater; for
wireless communications facilities in the rights-of-way, it increases
the height of the facility by more than 10% or 10 feet, whichever
is greater;
For communications towers outside the public rights-of-way,
it protrudes from the edge of the tower by more than 20 feet, or more
than the width of the tower structures at the level of the appurtenance,
whichever is greater; for those wireless communications facilities
in the public rights-of-way, it protrudes from the edge of the structure
by more than six feet;
It involves installation of more than the standard number of
new equipment cabinets for the technology involved, but not to exceed
four cabinets;
It entails any excavation or deployment outside the current
site of the communications tower; or
It does not comply with conditions associated with prior approval
of construction or modification of the wireless communications facility
unless the noncompliance is due to an increase in height, increase
in width, or addition of cabinets.
A commercial establishment engaged in storing and selling
building supplies, industrial supplies or feed and grain primarily
to businesses, rather than the general public.
See "sign, surface area of."
Any extraction of any mineral for sale or other commercial
purpose that involves removal of the surface of the earth or exposure
of the mineral or subsurface of the earth to wind, rain, sun or other
elements of nature. The term "mineral" includes but is not limited
to anthracite and bituminous coal, lignite, limestone and dolomite,
sand, gravel, rock, stone, earth, slag, ore, vermiculite, clay and
other mineral resources, excluding mining activities carried out beneath
the surface of the earth by means of shafts, tunnels, or other underground
mine openings.
A professional surveyor registered in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
Any body of water or receptacle for water, having a depth
at any point greater than two feet and a surface area greater than
100 square feet, used or intended to be used for swimming or bathing
and constructed, installed or maintained outside any building, including
aboveground and in-ground swimming pools.
See "bar or tavern."
See "construction trailer, temporary."
Any use or structure that is intended to be used either on
a seasonal basis, during the time of construction and completion of
an approved development or for any other period of time that is six
months or less.
A temporary pipeline in place for a period not to exceed
12 months, typically located above ground and used to transport water
to and from various oil and gas development, drilling and related
operations.
See "lot, through."
A self-supporting lattice tower, guyed tower, monopole, or
any other pole, that is constructed primarily to support an antenna
for receiving and/or transmitting wireless service.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
A tower and its supporting antennas, including, but not limited
to, self-supporting lattice towers, guyed towers and monopoles. Distributed
antennas system hub facilities are considered to be tower-based WCFs.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
See Subsection K under "dwelling types."
The Township of North Strabane, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
An area used as a stopping place or assembly point designed
to accommodate trucks during their course of travel to an oil and
gas development and intended to be used for four months or fewer during
a twelve-month period. This definition does not include the transfer
of loads to, from or between trucks.
An analysis prepared, signed and sealed by a qualified traffic
engineer analyzing the expected trip generation expected to result
from a proposed development based on the ratios and methodology contained
in the current edition of the manuals of the Institute of Transportation
Engineers (ITE), including current and projected capacities and levels
of service of all streets and intersections within 1,000 feet of the
site proposed for development or the next nearest intersection and
recommendations for improvements to streets and/or traffic-control
devices within the site or immediately adjacent to the boundaries
of the site.
See Subsection L under "dwelling types."
The degree to which an object is able to be seen through.
Something with high transparency would be a glass window, which allows
one to see through it. Something with low transparency would be a
concrete wall, which does not allow one to see through it.
See Subsection C under "dwelling types."
An establishment engaged in the rental, sale and/or service
of vehicles in excess of 26,000 pounds GVW and/or any other heavy
equipment, including but not limited to construction or farm equipment,
whether or not the equipment is classified as a motor vehicle.
An off-street facility used for the transfer of loads to,
from or between trucks for oil and gas development or a traffic control
site.
A facility to accommodate the fueling, routine maintenance
and storage of trucks and other motorized equipment and trailers and
that may provide warehousing and transfer facilities as accessory
uses.
See Subsection B under "dwelling types."
An unconventional gas well is a well that is drilled into
an unconventional formation, which is defined as a geologic shale
formation below the base of the Elk Sandstone or its geologic equivalent
where natural gas generally cannot be produced except by horizontal
or vertical well bores stimulated by hydraulic fracturing (for example:
Marcellus, Utica, Mandata, Huron, Rhinestreet, and Upper Devonian).
A zoning district, or subarea thereof, including, but not
limited to, planned developments, in which utility installations are
required to be installed underground on a nondiscriminatory basis.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
The purpose, business or activity for which any land or structure
is utilized.
A use authorized by this chapter that may be granted only
by the Zoning Hearing Board following a public hearing, subject to
express standards and criteria contained in this chapter.
A departure from the specific regulations of this chapter
that may be granted by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with
the criteria established by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning
Code (Act 247, as amended) for a particular piece of property that,
because of special circumstances applicable to it, cannot be developed
in compliance with the literal terms of this chapter without undue
physical hardship.
An establishment engaged in the retall sales and installation
of accessories for trucks, automobiles and motorcycles, including
but not limited to such items as tires, hubcaps, mirrors, seat covers,
floor mats, tonneau covers, truck caps, windshield wipers, trim packages,
running boards and the like, but not including any mechanical parts.
The rental, sales and service of automobiles, motorcycles
and trucks under 26,000 pounds GVW, but not including any heavy equipment
or any other vehicle or equipment that is not classified as a "motor
vehicle" under the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code.
A building, or part thereof, used for the servicing and repair
of motor vehicles, including engine overhaul, body work and recapping/retreading
of tires, and where all storage of parts and dismantled vehicles and
all repair work are conducted entirely inside a completely enclosed
building, as defined by this chapter.
An establishment for the medical or surgical treatment of
animals, including the boarding of hospitalized animals, excluding
outdoor kennels.
A business establishment which specializes in the sale and/or
rental of videos and digital video discs, or applicable technology,
and secondary products such as digital video player and cleaners,
snacks, posters, and the like. The sale of any adult films, as in
those which are X-rated, shall be prohibited at the establishment.
An open area of air, clear of solid, opaque materials that
would obscures one's view beyond; often the area is between one picket,
rail, post, and/or another on a fence, wall, and/or barrier
A building used for the storage and handling of freight or
merchandise, but not including the maintenance or fueling of commercial
vehicles. Warehousing that is incidental to retail sales and that
does not constitute in excess of 30% of the total floor area of the
retail establishment shall be excluded from this definition.
The owner or operator of a public water system as defined
in Section 3 of the Act of May 1, 1984 (P.L. 206, No. 43), known as
the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act, or any person subject to
the act of June 24, 1939 (P.L. 842, No. 365), 2 referred to as the
Water Rights Law.[12]
The area of the limits of the surface of the perimeter used
for drilling operations as shown on the site plan.
The area of surface operations surrounding the surface location
of a well or wells. The site can include facilities, structures, materials,
water containment devices and equipment whether permanent or temporary,
necessary for or incidental to the preparation, construction, drilling,
production or operation of an oil or gas well. Such area shall not
include an access road to the well site.
An establishment engaged in selling merchandise to retailers,
institutional, commercial or professional business customers or other
wholesalers, rather than to the general public, or acting as a broker
for such merchandise sales.
A facility consisting of a tower, wind turbine generator
with blades, guy wires or other support structures and anchors, access
roads and associated control and conversion equipment to convert wind
movement into electricity.
A term used for a wind energy conversion system (WECS) that
produces electricity, typically having one, two or three blades.
An opaque, transparent, or somewhat transparent mesh fabric
material affixed onto a fence, wall, or barrier to reduce wind flow,
create a visual barrier, or serve an informational or aesthetic function.
Transmissions through the airwaves including, but not limited
to, infrared line of sight, cellular, PCS, microwave, satellite, or
radio signals.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
An apparatus designed for the purpose of emitting radio frequency
(RF) radiation, to be operated or operating from a fixed location
pursuant to FCC authorization, for the provision of wireless service
and any commingled information services.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Pennsylvania Wireless Broadband Collocation Act (53 P.S.
§ 11702.1 et seq.).
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
The antennas, nodes, control boxes, towers, poles, conduits,
ducts, pedestals, electronics and other equipment used for the purpose
of transmitting, receiving, distributing, providing, or accommodating
wireless communications services.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Any person that applies for a wireless communications facility
building permit, zoning approval and/or permission to use the public
rights-of-way or other municipal-owned land or property.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
For the purposes of wireless communications, any man-made
object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or
water, whether or not affixed to the land, upon or to which wireless
communications facilities may be attached, if approved by the municipality.
[Added by Ord. No. 406, 7/25/2023]
Areas, groves or stands of mature or largely mature trees
that are greater than six inches caliper (diameter) at a height of
14 inches above the ground, that cover a land area greater than 0.25
of an acre; or any grove of more than 10 individual trees that are
mature having a caliper. (diameter) greater than 12 inches at a height
of 14 inches above the ground.
A required open space located on a lot that is unobstructed
by any portion of a principal structure, other than certain projections
expressly permitted by this chapter.
A yard extending between side lot lines across the full lot
width from the street right-of-way line to a line parallel to the
front lot line known as the "front building line," the minimum horizontal
distance required by this chapter.
A yard extending across the rear of the lot between the required
side yard lines parallel to the rear lot line, the minimum horizontal
distance required by this chapter.
A yard extending from the required front building line to
the rear lot line parallel to the side lot line, the minimum horizontal
distance required by this chapter.
A change to the text of this chapter or to the Zoning District
Map, proposed for adoption by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to
the procedures specified in this chapter.
A document issued by the Zoning Officer indicating that approval
of a conditional use has been granted by the Board of Supervisors,
or approval of a use by special exception has been granted by the
Zoning Hearing Board, or approval has been granted by the Zoning Officer
for a permitted use by right, pursuant to the procedures of this chapter,
indicating compliance with all applicable requirements of this chapter,
which approval is prerequisite to the issuance of a building permit
and/or certificate of occupancy.
An area accurately defined as to boundaries and location
on the Zoning District Map and within which area only certain types
of land uses are permitted and within which other types of land uses
are excluded, as set forth in this chapter.
The official map delineating the zoning districts of North
Strabane Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, together with
all amendments subsequently adopted, which is incorporated in and
made a part of this chapter by reference thereto.
The Zoning Hearing Board of the Township of North Strabane,
Washington County, Pennsylvania.
That person appointed by the North Strabane Township Board
of Supervisors and charged with the responsibility of administering
and enforcing this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment to this chapter.
[2]
Editor's Note: The Board of Supervisors voted to remove Brehm
Road from the list of collector streets 10/27/2020.
[3]
Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment to this chapter.
[8]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 10231.101 et seq.
[9]
Editor's Note: See 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701.
[10]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 11704.1 et seq.
[12]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 721.2 et seq. and 32
P.S. § 631 et seq., respectively.
