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Township of Thornbury, PA
Chester County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
It is the purpose of this district to provide guidelines for the development of country clubs, and associated housing opportunities for residential development consistent with existing densities and scale of that existing within the Township. In addition, it is the intent of this district to achieve the applicable purposes and community development objectives of Article I.
A. 
Single-family detached dwelling.
B. 
Agriculture per § 155-1601.
C. 
Non-tower-based wireless communications facilities per § 155-1615.
The following uses shall be permitted by special exception, when authorized by the Zoning Hearing Board, subject to the provisions of § 155-2005 and the specific sections listed below:
A. 
(Reserved)
The following uses shall be permitted by conditional use, when authorized by the Board of Supervisors, subject to the provisions of § 155-2105 and the specific sections listed below:
A. 
Country club single-family attached residential development in accordance with the provisions of § 155-606.
B. 
Golf club or other outdoor recreational use customarily located in natural woodland and/or agricultural areas, including a country club or similar use in conjunction with any permitted outdoor recreational or agricultural use.
Except as otherwise indicated in this chapter, accessory uses customarily incidental to any of the principal uses in this district shall be permitted by right on the same lot as the principal use and subject to the applicable provisions for accessory uses of Article XVI. The following specific accessory uses shall also be permitted by right subject to the applicable provisions of Article XVI:
A. 
Home-based business per § 155-1612.
B. 
Renewable energy systems per § 155-1619.
C. 
The following accessory uses shall be permitted within a country club or golf club tract as part of conditional use approval subject to § 155-603:
(1) 
Golf course, including driving ranges and practice areas.
(2) 
Outdoor tennis courts; outdoor pool.
(3) 
Outdoor paddle tennis courts.
(4) 
Lawn sports.
(5) 
Clubhouse; pro shop; ninth hole facility.
(6) 
Maintenance buildings; storage sheds; cart storage building.
(7) 
Patio dining and social activities.
D. 
Within the clubhouse facilities of a country club or golf club tract, the following accessory uses and no others are permitted as part of conditional use approval subject to § 155-603:
(1) 
Dining.
(2) 
Bar-and-grill rooms.
(3) 
Golf course administration.
(4) 
Lounge areas.
(5) 
Locker room facilities.
(6) 
Guest facilities.
(7) 
Conferences.
(8) 
Banquets.
(9) 
Weddings.
(10) 
Dinner dances and similar social functions.
The area and bulk regulations as set forth in § 155-405 or § 155-505 of this chapter shall be applicable to all uses within the CC-R District, with the exception of the development area of a Country Club Residential development, which shall be governed by the regulations set forth in § 155-606.
A. 
Eligibility and density. As a conditional use in the CC-R Zoning District, a developer may be allowed to modify area and bulk regulations in order to develop townhouse residential uses in conjunction with permanently restricting the balance of the tract to outdoor recreational and agricultural uses, such as a country club, provided that the following procedures and conditions are met:
(1) 
The gross area of the tract to be subdivided or developed, including the area to be devoted to outdoor recreational or agricultural use, shall be not less than 100 acres. In such event, the overall tract shall be divided as follows:
(a) 
Not more than 15% of the overall tract shall constitute the development area to be utilized for townhouse lots, common drives and private streets, parking areas, individual driveways and common landscape areas as specified in § 155-606B(12).
(b) 
Not less than 85% of the overall tract shall constitute a deed-restricted country club area, permanently restricted to outdoor recreational or agricultural uses and accessory buildings and structures, as herein defined. Within the country club area:
[1] 
Not more than 12.5 acres shall constitute accessory buildings (such as clubhouse facilities, maintenance facilities and the like), paved parking areas, stormwater management facilities and/or wastewater management structures; and
[2] 
The balance thereof shall constitute outdoor recreational/agricultural open space as herein defined.
(2) 
The density of development shall not exceed 0.62 dwelling unit per acre, based upon the total gross acreage of the tract, nor 0.68 dwelling unit per acre, based upon the net acreage of the tract (after deducting from gross acreage ponds, water line and stormwater and sewer easements and drives, parking areas and building footprint areas within the restricted outdoor recreational or agricultural use portion of the tract).
(3) 
The site shall be suitable for development in the manner proposed without hazards to persons or property, on or off the site, due to flooding, erosion, subsidence or slipping of the soil or other dangers or inconvenience. Conditions of soil, groundwater level, drainage and topography shall be compatible with proposed site design.
(4) 
In granting or denying a conditional use or establishing conditions on such grant, the standards set forth in § 155-2105, as applicable to special exceptions, shall be applied. The burden of establishing compliance with the objective standards set forth herein shall be on the applicant, and the burden of establishing noncompliance with the general standards of § 155-2105 shall be upon any opponents to the conditional use application.
B. 
Single-family attached dwelling units. For Country Club Residential developments, all dwelling units shall be single-family attached dwelling units (townhouses), conforming to the following area and bulk regulations:
(1) 
Maximum number of dwelling units within a building: six.
(2) 
Minimum spacing between building façades:
(a) 
Side-to-side: 35 feet.
(b) 
Rear-to-rear: 60 feet.
(c) 
Front-to-front: 80 feet (not including garages).
(3) 
Minimum setback from tract boundaries, with buffer area acceptable to the Board of Supervisors: 30 feet.
(4) 
Minimum setback from internal property boundaries of the country club or outdoor recreational use: 20 feet.
(5) 
Minimum setback from the cartway of a common drive or private street where on-street parking is not provided for: 20 feet.
(6) 
Minimum setback from the edge of guest parking spaces adjacent to a common drive or private street: 15 feet.
(7) 
Minimum lot (unit) width of attached single-family dwellings: 24 feet.
(8) 
Maximum building height: 35 feet.
(9) 
Minimum cartway width for common drives or private streets, in addition to any adjacent parking areas: 18 feet (plus curb and gutter).
(10) 
All single-family attached dwelling units shall be served with public or community water and sewer. The backup generator for the sewage system and the pump located at the treatment plant shall be located at least 250 feet away from the nearest residence, and the noise levels from the generator and pump shall not exceed 60 dB at any of the residences.
(11) 
There shall be a minimum of 2.4 off-street parking spaces each measuring at least nine feet by 18 feet for each single-family attached dwelling unit, which spaces may be placed within garages, individual driveways and perpendicular parking stalls adjacent to internal drives or private streets (or in any combination thereof).
(12) 
The single-family attached (townhouse) development shall be located within an area or areas of the overall country club residential tract ("overall tract") to be subdivided from the overall tract. Such area(s) of the overall tract shall be delineated as the development area(s), and shall be in conformity with the following standards:
(a) 
The development area(s) shall not exceed 15% of the overall tract.
(b) 
The development area(s) may include, in addition to housing sites (within individual lots or "building footprint" lots, at the developer's election), internal common drives or private streets, parking spaces and/or individual driveways and common areas to be owned and maintained by an association of unit owners, in conformity with the maintenance of open space standards set forth for planned residential developments in § 155-709C; the documents governing the development area(s) shall be subject to the review and approval of the Township Solicitor.
(13) 
Impervious-surfaced sidewalks meeting the requirements of the ADA shall be installed throughout the development area.
C. 
Restrictions on future use and development. Not less than 85% of the overall tract shall be permanently restricted to future use as a golf course (with or without accessory country club facilities, such as tennis courts, platform tennis courts or swimming pools) and accessory buildings and structures or for other outdoor recreational or agricultural uses. Such area(s) shall be delineated as the "country club area(s)," and shall be in conformity with the following standards:
(1) 
As part of any conditional use approval for country club residential development in the CC-R District, the Board of Supervisors shall approve appropriate conditions restricting both the country club area(s) and the common areas within the development area(s) against any future resubdivision or development and limiting the uses of each. Within the country club area, the Board shall review and approve a plan delineating the limits within which any future expansion of the country club facilities (buildings, structures and parking areas) shall be confined. Accessory uses within the country club areas shall be limited to those set forth above in the definition of country club accessory uses; provided, however, that the Board may, by amendment to such definition, authorize in the future additional or alternative accessory uses.
(2) 
The country club area(s) are not intended to be dedicated to the homeowners' association, but shall remain in private ownership (i.e., as either a business or investment entity or as a nonprofit association or corporation), subject to the required declaration of restrictive covenants which shall be recorded in the Chester County Recorder of Deeds Office, and, where a portion of the country club area(s) extends into Delaware County, the declaration shall also be recorded in the Delaware County Recorder of Deeds office. The declaration shall limit the uses of the country club areas in perpetuity to outdoor recreational and agricultural use not to be further subdivided or developed, except for buildings and structures accessory to permitted golf course, country club or other outdoor recreational or agricultural uses, as hereinabove defined; the declaration shall be subject to the review and approval of the Township Solicitor.
(3) 
In the event that, at any time in the future, the owner of the country club area shall wish to change the originally approved outdoor recreational use to another type of such use or outdoor agricultural use, such change shall be presented to the Board of Supervisors in the form of an application to modify the conditional use approval, and the Board shall review such proposed change as set forth in § 155-606A(4) above.
D. 
Minimum outdoor recreational/agricultural open space. Within the county club area(s), not more than 12.5 acres shall constitute accessory buildings (such as clubhouse facilities, maintenance facilities, golf cart storage facilities and the like), paved parking areas, stormwater management facilities and/or wastewater management structures, and the balance thereof shall constitute outdoor recreational/agricultural open space. Future development up to this maximum shall be authorized to take place only within the limited areas specified as part of conditional use approval, referred to in § 155-606C(1) and in accordance with the area and bulk regulations in § 155-605 above.
The following design standards as applicable for permitted uses in this district shall include:
A. 
Supplemental Use Standards, per Article XVI.
B. 
Signs, per Article XVII.
C. 
Natural Resource Protections, per Article XIV.
D. 
Historic Resources Protection, per Article XIII.
E. 
General Standards, per Article XV.
F. 
Off-Street Parking and Loading, per Article XVIII.
G. 
Fences, Walls and Screens, per Chapter 76.
H. 
Floodplain Management, per Chapter 83.
I. 
Stormwater Management, per Chapter 116.