This chapter is enacted and ordained under the grant of powers
contained in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Zoning
Ordinance of Mount Holly Springs Borough."
This Zoning Ordinance is enacted for the following purposes:
A.
To promote, protect and facilitate one or more of the following:
the public health, safety, morals, general welfare, the provision
of adequate light and air, and other public requirements.
B.
To prevent one or more of the following: overcrowding, blight, loss
of health, life or property from fire, flood or other dangers.
C.
To adopt a Zoning Map dividing Mount Holly Springs Borough into zoning
districts with varying regulations.
D.
To permit, prohibit, regulate and determine the uses of land, watercourses
and other bodies of water, the size, height, bulk, location, erection,
construction, repair, expansion, razing, removal and use of buildings
and structures, as well as yards and other open areas to be left unoccupied.
E.
To establish the maximum density and intensity of uses.
F.
To provide for the protection of natural and historic features and
resources.
G.
To encourage the viability of agricultural operations.
H.
To protect existing residential neighborhoods.
I.
To promote innovative residential design and encourage the creation
of a sense of community.
J.
To provide diverse housing opportunities, including housing that
is affordable.
K.
To encourage adaptive reuse and infill development.
L.
To provide for the reasonable development of minerals.
M.
To act as an overall plan for the orderly growth and development
of Mount Holly Springs Borough and as such seek to implement the Mount
Holly Springs Borough Comprehensive Plan.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
In interpreting and applying this chapter, its provisions shall
be held to be the minimum requirements for promotion of health, safety,
morals and general welfare of Mount Holly Springs Borough. Any use
permitted subject to the regulations prescribed by the provisions
of this chapter shall conform with all the regulations of the zoning
district in which it is located and with all other pertinent regulations
of this chapter and other related ordinances. This chapter is not
intended to interfere with, abrogate, annul, supersede, or cancel
any easements, covenants, restrictions or reservations contained in
deeds or other agreements, but if this chapter imposes more stringent
restrictions upon the use of buildings, structures and land than are
elsewhere established, the provisions of this chapter shall prevail.
Wherever and whenever the requirements of this chapter are at variance
with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted laws, rules, regulations
or ordinances, the most restrictive or that imposing the higher standards
shall govern. In interpreting the language of this chapter to determine
the extent of the restriction upon the use of property, the language
shall be interpreted, where doubt exists as to the intended meaning
of the adopted language, in favor of the property owner and against
any implied extension of the restriction.
A.
Any of the following activities or any other activity regulated by
this chapter shall only be carried out in conformity with this chapter.
(1)
Use, occupation, erection, construction, reconstruction, movement,
alteration, razing, demolition, removal, placement of extension (vertical
or horizontal) of a structure, building or sign, unless relief is
granted by the Zoning Hearing Board.
(2)
Change of the type of use or expansion of the use of a structure,
building or area of land.
(3)
Creation of a lot or alteration of lot lines.
(4)
Creation of a new use.
B.
This chapter shall not apply to an existing or proposed building
or extension thereof, used or to be used by a public utility corporation,
if, upon petition of the corporation, the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission shall, after a public hearing, decide that the present
or proposed situation of the building in question is reasonably necessary
for the convenience or welfare of the public. It shall be the responsibility
of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to ensure that both
the corporation and Mount Holly Springs Borough have notice of the
hearing and are granted as opportunity to appear, present witnesses,
cross-examine witnesses presented by other parties, and otherwise
exercise the rights of a party to the proceedings.
The granting of a Zoning Permit for the erection and/or use
of a structure, building or kit shall not constitute a representation,
guarantee or warranty of any kind or nature by Mount Holly Springs
Borough, or an official or employee thereof, of the safety of any
structure, building, use or other proposed plan from cause whatsoever,
and shall create no liability upon or a course of action against such
public official or employee for any damage that may be pursuant thereto.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
It is recognized that: the Act of June 22, 1937 (P.L. 1987,
No. 394) known as the "Clean Streams Law"[1]; the Act of May 31, 1945 (P.L. 1198, No. 418) known as
the "Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act"[2]; the Act of April 27, 1966 (Special Session, P.L. 31,
No. 1) known as the "Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation
Act"[3]; the Act of September 24, 1968 (P.L. 1040, No. 318) known
as the "Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act"[4]; the Act of December 19, 1984 (P.L. 1140, No. 219) known
as the "Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act"[5]; the Act of June 30, 1981 (P.L. 128, No. 43) known as
the "Agricultural Area Security Law"[6]; the Act of June 10, 1982 (P.L. 454, No. 133) entitled
"An act protecting agricultural operations from nuisance suits and
ordinances under certain circumstances"; and the Act of July 6, 2005
(P.L. 112, No. 38), known as the "Nutrient Management and Odor Management
Act," 3 Pa.C.S.A. § 501 et seq., preempt zoning ordinances.
Therefore, suggestions, recommendations, options or directives contained
herein are intended to be implemented only to the extent that they
are consistent with and do not exceed the requirements of those Acts.
Nothing contrary to those Acts shall be mandated by this chapter.
It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that if a
court of competent jurisdiction declares any provisions of this chapter
to be invalid or ineffective in whole or in part, the effect of such
decision shall be limited to those provisions which are expressly
stated in the decision to be invalid or ineffective, and all other
provisions of this chapter shall continue to be separately and fully
effective.
The preexisting Mount Holly Springs Borough Zoning Ordinance,
as amended, is hereby expressly repealed; provided, further that nothing
in this chapter shall be construed to affect any suit or proceeding
pending in any court, or any rights acquired or liability incurred,
or any permit issued or approval granted or any cause or causes of
action arising prior to the enactment of this chapter. All ordinances
or parts of ordinances and all resolutions or parts of resolutions
which are inconsistent herewith by virtue of references or incorporation
of requirements contained in the preexisting Zoning Ordinance as amended
shall, as nearly as possible, be construed to reference this chapter.
This chapter shall take effect upon its enactment by the Mount
Holly Springs Borough Council.
