[Ord. No. 5-2005, 10/11/2005]
For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms and words are
defined as follows. Words used in the present tense shall include
the future tense. Words in the singular shall include the plural and
words in the plural shall include the singular. The word "shall" is
mandatory. The word "may" is permissive. Terms not defined in this
chapter shall have the meaning customarily assigned to them.
A building subordinate to the principal building on a lot
and used for purposes customarily incidental to those of the principal
building.
A subordinate use of a portion of a lot which is customarily
incidental to the main or principal use of the land or of a building
on a lot.
A use providing supervised care and assistance primarily
to persons who are over age 60 and not in good physical health or
suffering from dementia or are developmentally handicapped and/or
are physically handicapped and who need such daily assistance because
of such condition. This use shall not include persons who need oversight
because of behavior that is criminal or violent. This use may involve
occasional overnight stays, but shall not primarily be a residential
use. The use shall involve typical stays of less than a total of 60
hours per week per person.
Any person who can show written proof that he has authority
to act for the property owner.
An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial
production and preparation for market of crops, livestock products
and in the production, harvesting and preparation for market or use
of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and aquacultural
crops and commodities. The term includes an enterprise that implements
changes in production practices and procedures or types of crops,
livestock, livestock products or commodities produced consistent with
practices and procedures that are normally engaged by farmers or are
consistent with technological development within the agricultural
industry.
Any enlargement of a building; the moving of a building from
one location to another; any change in or addition to the supporting
members of a building or structure.
A change in the wording, context or substance of this chapter
or a change in the district boundaries upon the Zoning Map.
A dwelling unit within an apartment building. An "apartment
building" is a building on a single lot designed for and occupied
as a residence, containing three or more dwelling units which may
be separated horizontally and/or vertically.
A landowner or developer who has filed an application for
development, including his heirs, successors and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final,
required to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or
development, including, but not limited to, an application for a building
permit, for the approval of a subdivision, plat or plan or for the
approval of a development plan.
A legally established right-of-way which provides the primary
vehicular access to a lot and which has not been dedicated or deeded
to the Township of Sugarloaf.
Arterial roads are indicated on a highway classification
map which shall be maintained by the Township Zoning Officer and the
Township Planning Commission.
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 matters such as dressing,
bathing, diet, financial management, evacuation of a residence in
the event of an emergency or medication prescribed for self-administration.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the Act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[1]
A building or place of business where gasoline, oil and greases,
batteries, tires and automobile accessories are supplied and dispensed
directly to the motor vehicles trade at retail, and where the following
services may be rendered:
Sale and servicing of spark plugs and batteries.
Tire repair and servicing, no recapping.
Replacement of mufflers and tailpipes, water hoses, fan belts,
brake and transmission fluids, light bulbs, floor mats, seat covers
(where this shall not be the principal use), windshield wipers, grease
retainers and wheel bearings.
Radiator cleaning and flushing.
Washing and polishing, not including mechanical and/or automatic
car wash establishments.
Installation of fuel pumps and fuel lines.
Minor servicing and replacement of carburetors.
Adjustment and installation of brakes.
Tuning engines, except for grinding valves, cleaning carbon
or removing the head of engines and/or crankcases.
Greasing and lubrication.
Emergency wiring repairs.
Any similar minor service or repair not listed below under "major
repair."
MAJOR REPAIRIn addition to those repairs and services listed above as "minor repair," any general repair, rebuilding or reconditioning not listed above; collision service, including body, frame or fender straightening or repair; painting or paint shops; mechanical car wash establishments; but not including any operations which require the heating or burning of rubber.
The dismantling or disassembling of used motor vehicles or
trailers; or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, partially
dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts.
A story partly underground having 1/2 or less of its height
above the average level of the adjoining ground.
Such uses shall be accessory home occupations. They shall
be designed to provide sleeping, eating and bath facilities for overnight
guests on a daily or weekly basis. They shall not include restaurant
facilities open to persons who are not overnight guests.
The Board of Supervisors of Sugarloaf Township.
A building where, for compensation, provision is made for
lodging and meals for not more than 10 persons. A boardinghouse does
not include a congregate housing facility for persons housed as an
alternative to incarceration or persons afflicted with and/or being
treated for addiction to a controlled substance.
A continuous strip of landscaped land which is clear of all
buildings and parking areas.
Any structure having a roof, built for the support, shelter
or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind.
Where separated by division walls without openings from the ground
up, each portion of such structure shall be deemed a separate building.
Where this chapter requires, or where special authority, granted pursuant
to this chapter, requests that a use shall be entirely enclosed within
a building, this definition shall be qualified by adding "and enclosed
on all sides."
The total area encompassed by the setback lines on any lot.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the finished grade at the two front corners of the building to
the highest point of the roof. Chimneys, spires and other similar
projections shall not be included in calculating the height of a building.
A line parallel to and set back from the property line of
the subject property. The setback line establishes the area within
which a structure may be erected.
PRINCIPAL USEThe storage of fuel beyond what is reasonably needed for customary on-site use. This includes the storage of fuel to be sold for off-site use.
ACCESSORY USEThe storage of fuel for customary on-site use such as agricultural use, gas station, and similar uses.
The surface of a street or road available for vehicular traffic.
An area within which no vision obstructing object is permitted.
A clear sight triangle shall be provided at all street intersections
within which vegetation or other visual obstructions shall not exceed
a height of 30 inches above the street grade. Said triangle shall
be measured for a distance of 30 feet along street right-of-way lines
extending from their point of intersection which forms a corner lot.
At each point where a private axis intersects a street or road,
there shall be maintained a clear sight triangle of not less than
10 feet measured from the point of intersection of the street line
and the edge of the axis, within which vegetation and other visual
obstructions shall be limited to a height of not more than 30 inches
above the street grade.
If not obstructing the view of traffic, posts, columns, or trees
not exceeding one foot in diameter shall be permitted within the clear
sight triangle.
An association of persons for some common nonprofit service,
but not including groups organized primarily to render a service which
is customarily carried on as a business.
A commercial vehicle shall be any vehicle other than a private
passenger vehicle, including trucks, trailers, and construction equipment.
The Township Planning Commission of the Township of Sugarloaf.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination
of land or water within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas and areas set aside for public facilities.
Any device used for the transmission or reception of radio,
television, wireless telephone, pager, commercial mobile radio service
or any other wireless communications signals, including without limitation,
omnidirectional or whip antennas and directional or panel antennas,
owned or operated by any person or entity licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to operate such device. This definition
shall not include private residence mounted satellite dishes or television
antennas or amateur radio equipment, including without limitation,
ham or citizen band radio antennas.
An unmanned building or cabinet containing communications
equipment required for the operation of communications antennas and
covering an area on the ground not greater than 250 square feet.
A structure other than a building, such as a monopole, self-supporting
or guyed tower, designed and used to support communications antennas.
Establishment providing nursing, dietary and other personal
services to convalescents, invalids or aged persons.
A lot abutting two or more intersecting public or private
streets, or at the point of abrupt change of a single street (an interior
angle of less than 135° and a radius line of less than 100 feet).
The County of Luzerne, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Shall includes animals, fish, and birds, which are generally
considered to be domestic animals, such as hamsters, dogs, cats, and
birds. Farm fowl and other farm animals not specifically designated
shall not be considered as customary household pets.
CHILD DAY-CARE CENTERA premises in which child day care is provided simultaneously for seven children or more who are not relatives of the provider of the child day care home, where such facility is subject to PA Department of Public Welfare supervision or licensing under the PA Public Welfare Code.
FAMILY DAY-CARE HOMEA premises in which child day care is provided at any one time to between four and six children who are not relatives of the provider of the child day care where such facility is required to be registered with the PA Department of Public Welfare under the PA Public Welfare Code.
GROUP DAY-CARE HOMEA state-licensed facility in which care is provided for more than six but less than 12 children, at any one time, if care is provided in a facility where the child care areas are being used as a family residence.
A region within a county or counties described in a municipal
or multimunicipal plan that preferably includes and surrounds a city,
borough or village, and within which residential and mixed-use development
is permitted or planned for at densities of one unit to the acre or
more, commercial, industrial and institutional uses are permitted
or planned for and public infrastructure services are provided or
planned.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with the
permission of such landowner who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
of land, or a land developer.
The provisions for development, including a planned residential
development, a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use,
location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of
use or density of development, streets, ways and parking facilities,
common open space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of
the development plan" when used in this chapter shall mean the written
and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
A sign containing directional information about public places
owned or operated by federal, state or local governments or their
agencies, publicly or privately owned natural phenomena, historic,
cultural, scientific, educational and religious sites, and areas of
natural scenic beauty or naturally suited for outdoor recreation.
A portion of the territory of the Township of Sugarloaf within
which certain uniform regulations and requirements, or various combinations
thereof, apply under the provisions of this chapter.
Residential facilities that are only inhabited by teaching
faculty and/or full-time students of an accredited college, university
or medical training facility or state-licensed teaching hospital,
or approved care and treatment center for children (as an accessory
use to such use) or to an accredited public or private primary or
secondary school, and which are owned and operated by such principal
use to which the dormitory serves. Dwelling units shall not be regulated
as dormitories.
A building or a portion thereof designed for and used exclusively
for residential occupancy.
ATTACHED, ROW OR TOWNHOUSE UNITA residential structure containing three or more dwelling units which are separated from each other by two common walls, except for the end units.
CONDOMINIUMSA given set of dwelling units each of which is owned by an individual person or persons in fee simple, and which is assigned a proportionate interest in all common elements, as set forth in the Uniform Condominium Act, Act of the General Assembly of July 2, 1980, P.L. No 82, as amended and supplemented.[2]
CONVERSION UNITExisting residential structure which has been modified structurally in such a way as to convert it from one dwelling unit to two or more dwelling units.
DETACHED UNITA residential structure containing only one dwelling unit.
DWELLING, GARDEN APARTMENTSA group of rental units, generally under single ownership (but a condominium is not precluded) where there shall not be more than eight dwelling units contained within each structure; such structures containing garden apartment units are generally less than four stories in height, although in the municipality they shall not exceed a height of 2.5 stories or 35 feet.
DWELLING GROUPA group of two or more residential buildings on a single zone lot.
DWELLING UNITOne or more rooms having cooking and sanitary facilities and access directly outdoors or through a common entrance hall. For the purpose of this chapter, one dwelling unit shall be intended to house only one family.
MULTIPLE DWELLING OR APARTMENT UNITA residential structure of two or more stories containing three or more dwelling units (not row house or townhouse units).
SEMIDETACHED UNITA residential structural containing two dwelling units having either a common wall or a floor separating them.
"Earth extraction" is a business activity which includes
the excavation and removal of natural resources from the earth. Earth-extraction
industries include mining, quarrying, rock-crushing and similar uses.
An "earthmoving industry" is a business activity which results
in temporarily or permanently changing the contour of the earth. Earthmoving
industries include, but are not limited to, earth-extraction industries
and sanitary landfills.
Essential Services, Enclosed or Permanent Structures. Such uses
are intended to include facilities for sewage treatment, electric
substations, transformers, switches, and auxiliary apparatus, as well
as local governmental services such as police stations, fire houses
and similar uses. Where such uses are proposed to be located in a
residential district, they shall be subject to the following regulations:
Such facility shall not be located on a residential street (unless
no other site is available), and shall be so located as to draw a
minimum of vehicular traffic to and through such streets.
The location, design and operation of such facility shall not
adversely affect the character of the surrounding residential area.
Adequate fences, barriers and other safety devices shall be provided and shall be landscaped in accordance with the provisions of § 27-510 hereof.
Noise emitted from electric substations shall not be greater
than permitted in accordance with the performance standards set forth
herein.
Essential Services, Open. Such uses shall be limited to the erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance, by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supply or disposal systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies or for the public health or safety or general welfare. Such uses shall not include sanitary landfills and related uses such as staging areas or other means of solid waste disposal. Where applicable, the landscaping regulations of § 27-510 hereof shall apply.
Except for group housing for handicapped persons, there shall
be not more than seven unrelated individuals living together as a
single housekeeping unit and doing their cooking on the premises,
as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse or rooming
house or hotel.
Notwithstanding the definition in the preceding paragraph, a
family shall also be deemed to include unrelated persons occupying
a dwelling unit and living as a single, nonprofit housekeeping unit,
if said occupants are handicapped persons as defined herein. Such
unrelated individuals shall have the right to occupy a dwelling unit
in the same manner and to the same extent as any family unit as defined
in the first paragraph of this definition.
A family does not include a group living in a boardinghouse
or hotel, or fraternities, sororities, and clubs, or other forms of
congregate living arrangements, except as otherwise provided herein.
Those animals normally associated with agricultural enterprises,
such as cattle, horses, hogs, and poultry; they are normally raised
for human consumption, production of dairy products, pelts and other
commercial purposes.
The management of forests and timberlands when practiced
in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing,
cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial
purposes, which does not involve any land development.
The lot dimension measured along the right-of-way or street
line of any street or highway abutting a lot.
An area of a municipal or multimunicipal plan outside of
and adjacent to a designated growth area where residential, commercial,
industrial and institutional uses and development are permitted or
planned at varying densities and public infrastructure services may
or may not be provided, but future development at greater densities
is planned to accompany the orderly extension and provision of public
infrastructure services.
An accessory building, or an accessory portion of the main
building, designed or used only for the shelter or storage of vehicles
owned or operated by the occupants of the main building.
The Sugarloaf Township Supervisors.
A dwelling unit shared by handicapped persons, including
resident staff, who live together as a single housekeeping unit and
in long-term, family-like environment in which staff persons residing
on the premises provide care, education, and participation in community
activities for the residents with the primary goal of enabling the
residents to live as independently as possible in order to reach their
maximum potential. The term "group home for the handicapped" shall
not include alcoholism or drug treatment center, work release facilities
for convicts or ex-convicts, or other housing facilities serving as
an alternative to incarceration.
As used herein, regarding "group home for the handicapped,"
the term "handicapped" shall mean having a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life
activities so that such person is incapable of living independently;
a record of having such an impairment; or being regarded as having
such an impairment. However, "handicapped" shall not include current
illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance, nor shall it
include any person whose residency in the home would constitute a
direct threat to the health and safety of other individuals.
Any hazardous materials identified by the American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
or their successor agencies, including, but not limited to, the following:
CORROSIVE LIQUIDShall be and include acids, alkalines, caustic liquids and powders or flakes. Other corrosives that, when in contact with living tissue, cause severe damage to living tissue with contact. Leakage — chemical action liable to cause fire when in contact with organic matter.
FLAMMABLE SOLIDWhich is liable to cause fire through friction, absorption of moisture or spontaneous chemical change.
OXIDIZING MATERIALShall mean chlorates, permanent peroxides or nitrates that yield oxygen to stimulate combustion.
Health care facilities consist of several different types
of facilities such as hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes, hospice
institutions, and other similar uses where people can receive medical
treatment and related support services due to their inability to meet
their own physical care needs. Rooming houses and boardinghouses,
and drug rehabilitation facilities and drug treatment centers other
than for the medical treatment of persons requiring medical treatment
for traumatic conditions resulting from overdosing on controlled substances
are not considered to be health care facilities.
The vertical distance measured from the ground level to the
highest point on a communications tower, including antennas mounted
on the tower.
The location or place of egress from or access to a street
or highway created by a driveway, minor street or another highway.
A "home occupation" is a commercial or other nonresidential
use of a dwelling which is customarily conducted entirely within a
dwelling unit or accessory building, which is conducted by the owner-occupant
residing therein, provided that such use is clearly incidental and
secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes. The inability
of the proposed use to meet the space limitations or other requirements
herein established shall conclusively establish that such proposed
use was not intended to be a home occupation, as defined herein.
A building in which there are seven or more guest rooms where
lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation, and where
no provision is made for cooking in any individual room or suite,
but shall not include jails, hospitals, asylums, sanatoriums, orphanages,
prisons, detention homes and similar buildings where human beings
are housed and detained under legal restraint.
The coverage of land by buildings and other impervious materials
such as asphalt, which prevent the percolation of water into the ground.
Any type of structure, excavation or paved section, including
driveway or curb, planting strip or barrier to unchanneled motor vehicle
entrance or exit in commercial and industrial district.
Those physical additions and changes to the land that may be
necessary to produce usable and desirable lots.
A lot, land or structure, or part thereof, used primarily
for the collecting, storage and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal
or other scrap or discarded materials; or for the collecting, dismantling,
storage or salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition,
or for the sale of parts thereof. The deposit of storage on a lot
of two or more disabled vehicles, or the major part thereof, without
current inspection stickers shall be deemed to be a "junkyard"; provided,
however, that such use shall not be deemed to be a "junkyard" if such
vehicles are stored in an enclosed building.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or 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, buildings groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
Excluded from this definition of land development are the following:
The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling
or single-family semidetached dwelling into not more than three residential
units, unless such units are intended to be a condominium.
The addition of an accessory building, including farm buildings,
on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building.
The addition or conversion of buildings or rides within the
confines of an enterprise which would be considered an amusement park.
For the purposes of this subsection, an "amusement park" is defined
as a tract or area used principally as the location for permanent
amusement structures or rides. This exclusion shall not apply to newly
acquired acreage by an amusement park until initial plans for the
expanded area have been approved by proper authorities.
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.
RESIDENTIALA large-scale residential development shall be planned for a site of not less than 10 acres.
COMMERCIALA large-scale commercial development shall be planned for a site of not less than three acres.
MANUFACTURINGA large-scale manufacturing development shall be planned for a site of not less than 10 acres.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit, and having frontage on a dedicated street
or road.
LOT CORNERA lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection or upon two parts of the same street, such streets or parts of the same street forming an interior angle of less than 135°. The point of intersection of the street lot lines is the "corner."
LOT, DEPTHThe mean horizontal distance between the front and the rear lot lines.
LOT LINESThe property lines bounding the lot.
LOT LINE, FRONTThe ultimate right-of-way line of the street or road.
LOT LINE, REARThe lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.
LOT LINE, SIDEAny lot line other than a front or rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street is called a "side street lot line."
LOT LINE, STREETA lot line separating the lot from a street.
LOT WIDTHThe mean width of the lot measured at right angles to its depth. Such a line along which the minimum lot frontage shall be measured at a point which shall coincide with the building setback or front yard line.
LOT OF RECORDA lot as shown on an officially recorded plat or subdivision, or a parcel of land the deed to which is officially recorded, considered as a unit of property, and described by metes and bounds.
LOT SIZEThe area contained within the boundaries of a lot.
LOT, THROUGH OR DOUBLE FRONTAGEA lot with front and rear street frontage.
LOT AREAThe area contained within the property lines of a lot.
The area contained within the property lines of a lot.
A lot as shown on an officially recorded plat or subdivision,
or a parcel of land the deed to which is officially recorded, considered
as a unit of property, and described by metes and bounds.
The area contained within the boundaries of a lot.
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines as measured
along the street line it fronts.
A lot with front and rear street frontage.
An odor which causes annoyance or discomfort to the public
and which the Township determines to be objectionable to the public.
A voluntary process in which parties in a dispute mutually
select a neutral mediator to assist in jointly exploring and settling
their differences, culminating in a written agreement which the parties
themselves create and consider mutually acceptable.
"Medical centers," including "mini medical centers," are
establishments, other than hospitals, which provide medical evaluation
and treatment services to individuals; such treatment may include
day surgery, outpatient surgery, magnetic resonance imaging centers
and similar uses, but they may not include drug rehabilitation facilities
or drug treatment centers other than for the medical treatment of
persons requiring medical treatment for traumatic conditions resulting
from overdosing on illegal controlled substances. Satellite hospital
facilities which do not include facilities for the overnight stay
of patients are also included in this use category.
A use involving the treatment and examination of patients
by state-licensed physicians, chiropractors or dentists, provided
that no patients shall be kept overnight on the premises unless a
hospital is also permitted. This use may involve the testing of tissue,
blood or other human materials for medical or dental purposes.
A facility that provides testing services in accordance with
physician requirements for the evaluation and measurement of various
patient medical conditions.
A site, the primary purpose of which is to conduct projects
approved by the PA Department of Health which projects use the drug
methadone in the treatment, maintenance or detoxification of persons.
A structure which contains two or more distinctly separate
uses such as a commercial use and a residential use.
The sale of food through a mobile vending unit.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-2018, 9/11/2018]
The operator of a mobile vending unit.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-2018, 9/11/2018]
Either a street vending unit or a sidewalk vending unit.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-2018, 9/11/2018]
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or two or more units designed to
be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing, which 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 erections thereon of a single mobile home which is leased by the
park owner to the occupants of the mobile home on the lot.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so
designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots
for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
One or more attached or detached buildings containing multiple
sleeping units, where a garage is attached or a parking space is conveniently
located to each unit, for temporary use by tourists or transients.
"Motel" shall also include tourist courts and motor lodges.
A building or place of business where gasoline, oil and greases,
batteries, tires and automobile accessories are supplied and dispensed
directly to the motor vehicle trade at retail.
Land owned and maintained by the Township and including such
uses as a library, park, playground or administrative building. Sanitary
landfills are excluded from this definition.
A business or commercial activity administered or conducted
as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential
dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic,
whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions
to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with
residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy
the following requirements:
The business activity shall be compatible with the residential
use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
The business shall employ no employees other than family members
residing in the dwelling.
There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling
or inventory of a substantial nature.
There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including,
but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
The business activity may not use any equipment or process which
creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical or electronic
interference, including interference with radio or television reception,
which is detectable in the neighborhood.
The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage.
The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling
and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.
The business may not involve any illegal activity.
A lot the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to
the adoption or amendment of this chapter, but which fails to conform
to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located
by reasons of such adoption or amendment.
A structure or part thereof which does not comply with applicable
use or extent of use provisions of this chapter or amendment heretofore
enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment
of this chapter or amendment hereto, or prior to the application of
this chapter or amendment to its location by reason of annexation.
Such nonconforming structures include, but are not limited to, nonconforming
signs.
A use, whether of land or of structure, which does not comply
with the applicable use provisions of this chapter or amendment hereto
or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior
to the enactment of this chapter or subsequent amendment to its location
by reason of annexation.
A facility licensed by the state for the housing and intermediate
or fully skilled nursing care of three or more persons needing such
care because of old age or a physical illness or disability or a developmental
disability, but not including a treatment center.
OPEN SPACE, COMMONA parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of the residential development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities. Common open space includes both developed (active) and undeveloped (passive) open space.
OPEN SPACE, DEVELOPED (ACTIVE)Land that is set aside for use as active recreational areas, such as playfields, playgrounds, skating rinks, swimming pools, tennis courts, and areas for water management (storm, waste, potable supply).
OPEN SPACE, UNDEVELOPED (PASSIVE)Land used for passive recreation, agriculture, resource protection (including wildlife sanctuary), amenity, or buffers and protected from future development by the provisions of this chapter to ensure that it remains as open space.
Principal Use. The use of land for an unenclosed use involving
the storage of materials intended to be sold to the public, either
retail or wholesale.
Accessory Use. The use of materials where such storage is incidental
to the principal use of the property and such materials are to be
utilized by the principal use; e.g., raw materials for production,
waste materials generated by a production activity where such waste
materials are to be discarded or sold for recycling.
Chlorates, permanent peroxides or nitrates that yield oxygen
to stimulate combustion.
A space within a building or on a lot, used for the parking
of a motor vehicle.
Any temporary commercial activity conducted by any person
or business, including, but not limited to, engaging in peddling,
canvassing, soliciting or taking of orders, upon any of the streets
or sidewalks or from house to house within the Township of Sugarloaf,
provided the word "peddling" shall not apply to farmers selling their
own produce; the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise for charitable
or philanthropic purposes or sales to any manufacturer or producer
in the sale of bread and bakery products, meat and meat products,
or milk and milk products.
Act of 1968, July 31, P.L., 805, as amended (53 P.S. § 10101
et seq).
Customary household pets shall include animals, fish and
birds which are generally considered to be domestic animals, such
as hamsters, dogs, cats, and birds, including ducks, which shall not
be for human consumption. Farm fowl such as chickens and turkeys and
other farm animals not specifically designated shall not be considered
as customary household pets.
An area of land controlled by a landowner, to be developed
as a single entity for a number of dwelling units, or combination
of residential and nonresidential dwelling units, or combination of
residential and nonresidential uses, the development plan for which
does not correspond in lot size, bulk, type of dwelling, or use, density,
or intensity, lot coverage and required open space to the regulations
established in any one district created, from time to time, under
the provisions of this chapter.
Sugarloaf Township Planning Commission.
A pool which is capable of being relocated and stored during
nonswimming seasons.
All improvements, buildings and land on or within a lot.
Land used for agricultural purposes that contains soils of
the first, second or third class as defined by the United States Department
of Agriculture Natural Resource and Conservation Services County Soil
Survey.
A building in which is conducted the principal use of the
lot on which it is situated.
The main or primary purpose for which any land, structure
of building is designed, arranged or intended, and for which it may
be occupied or maintained under this chapter.
The office of a member of a recognized profession. When conducted
in a residential district, a professional office shall be incidental
to the residential occupancy, shall be conducted by a member of the
residential family entirely within a residential building, and shall
include only the offices of doctors, or physicians, dentists, optometrists,
ministers, architects, landscape architects, professional engineers,
lawyers, artists, authors and such other similar professional occupations
which may be so designated by the Zoning Hearing Board upon finding
by the Board that such occupation is truly professional in character
by virtue of the need for similar training and experience as a condition
for the practice thereof and that the practice of such occupation
shall in no way adversely affect the safe and comfortable enjoyment
of property rights in any zone to a greater extent than for the professional
activities listed herein. The issuance of a state or local license
for regulation of any gainful occupation need not be deemed indicative
of professional standing.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the Board
of Supervisors, Zoning Hearing Board or Planning Commission, intended
to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance
with this chapter.
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 hearing.
A public thoroughfare, including a street or road, which
has been dedicated or deeded to the Township and which affords the
principal means of access to the abutting property; provided, however,
that the municipality has accepted such deed of dedication.
A structure, owned and operated by a public utility electric
company regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, designed
and used to support overhead electricity transmission lines.
Activities which remove from the earth surface minerals and
materials or elements of economic value by mechanical excavation,
not including subsurface mining nor the removal of topsoil.
Recreation, Nonresidential. Recreation facilities operated as
a business and open to the general public for a fee. Private or commercial
recreation uses such as amusement arcades, amusement parks, golf driving
ranges, private or commercial golf courses, miniature golf, racing
tracks, etc.
Recreation, Private. Clubs or recreation facilities operated
by a nonprofit organization and open only to bona fide members of
such organizations and their guests.
Recreation, Public, Open Space. Public open space recreation
shall include any open space recreation use, such as a park, a playground,
a swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, and other similar
recreational uses; provided, however, that such facilities are owned
and operated by a unit of government or a private, nonprofit charitable
organization, and provided that such uses are open to the public,
and provided further that accessory uses such as concession stands
are also included in this category.
Any method, process or substance whose supply is rejuvenated
through natural processes and, subject to those natural processes,
remains relatively constant, including, but not limited to, biomass
conversion, geothermal energy, solar and wind energy and hydroelectric
and excluding those sources of energy used in fission and fusion processes.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated as a street,
road or crosswalk.
Rights relating to the bank of a stream or lake.
The same as a boardinghouse, except that no meals shall be
provided.
A "sanitary landfill" is considered to be any facility devoted
to the storage and/or disposal of solid wastes pursuant to the regulations
of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection governing
sanitary landfills. Sanitary landfills may include staging areas,
as defined herein. Sanitary landfills shall be subject to all regulations
contained herein governing earthmoving activities.
Vegetative material, fence, etc., planted or constructed
to block from view the structures and uses on the lot of which the
screen is located from the view of people on adjoining properties.
A mobile food vending business in which food that is prepared
elsewhere and ready for consumption at the point of sale is sold from
or out of a nonmotorized mobile piece of equipment or nonmotorized
vehicle that is removed each day from the location where the food
is sold.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-2018, 9/11/2018]
A "sign" is a name, identification, description, display,
or illustration which is affixed to, or painted, or represented directly
or indirectly upon a building, structure, or piece of land, vehicle,
equipment or other portable gear, and which directs attention to an
object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization
or business. However, a "sign" shall not include any display of official
court, or public office notices, nor any official traffic control
device, nor shall it include the flag, emblem or insignia of a nation,
state, county, municipality, school or a religious group. A "sign"
shall not include a sign located completely within an enclosed building
except for illuminated or animated signs within show windows. Each
display surface of a sign shall be considered to be a "sign."
A "business sign" is a sign which directs attention to a
business or profession conducted or to a commodity, service, or entertainment
sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located, or to
which it is affixed.
A "flashing sign" is any illuminated sign on which the artificial
light is not maintained stationary or constant in intensity and color
at all times when such sign is in use. For the purpose of this chapter,
any revolving, illuminated sign or traveling message panel shall be
considered a "flashing sign."
The "gross surface area" of a sign shall be the entire area
within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits
of such and in no case passing through or between any adjacent elements
of same. However, such perimeter shall not include any structural
or framing elements, lying outside the limits of such sign and not
forming an integral part of the display. The gross surface area of
freestanding signs shall include the area of one side of such sign
even if display information is included on both sides of the sign.
An outdoor sign or billboard which directs attention to a
business, profession, commodity or entertainment conducted, sold,
or offered elsewhere than upon the same lot. Under the provisions
of this chapter, outdoor advertising can be erected on the premises
in any of the nonresidential districts.
A double outdoor advertising sign shall be a sign constructed
with separate framing elements which are structurally connected at
their sides. No half of such a double sign shall, however, exceed
2/3 of the maximum permitted gross surface area of an individual sign,
and the combined gross surface area shall not exceed the maximum permitted
for a single sign.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial, lunchroom or office waste
or other material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous materials, resulting from the operation of residential, municipal,
commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities.
The term shall also include any garbage, refuse, other discarded material
or other waste, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous
materials, resulting from industrial, mining, agricultural operations,
local facilities or any other by product or effluent from an industrial
mining, agricultural or water supply treatment facility, wastewater
treatment facility or air pollution control facility.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste
and other material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous material, resulting from operation of residential, municipal,
commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities
and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous
waste in the Solid Waste Management Act[3] from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply
treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control
facility. The term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
A "special exception" is a use which because of its unique characteristics requires individual consideration in each case by the Zoning Hearing Board as specified in Parts 8 and 9, before it may be permitted in the district enumerated in Part 3. In accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the Zoning Hearing Board may require certain conditions and safeguards before such a use is permitted.
Any existing tree with a caliper that is 75% or more of the
record tree of the same species in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A staging area is an area designated for motor vehicles or
other means of transportation or any other types of refuse container
containing solid waste materials which are to be deposited at a sanitary
landfill site. Loaded vehicles awaiting their opportunity to deposit
such wastes shall wait for their turn in a designated staging area
on the sanitary landfill site. All staging areas shall be subject
to all regulations contained herein governing sanitary landfills.
The Township has adopted a stormwater ordinance as set forth in Chapter 26 of the Township's Code.
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 the floor and the ceiling
above it.
STORY, HALFA partial story under gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than four feet above the floor of such story; provided, however, that any partial story shall not be used for residential purposes, other than for a janitor or caretaker or his family.
STORY, FIRSTThe lowest story or the ground story of any building the floor of which is not more than 12 inches below the average contact ground level at the exterior walls of the building.
A public or private thoroughfare not less than 30 feet in
width if in existence prior to the passage of this chapter nor less
than 50 feet in width if established subsequent to the passage of
this chapter which affords the principal means of access to abutting
property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway,
road and any other thoroughfares. The word "street" includes the entire
right-of-way; it is not limited to the width of the cartway.
SIDE STREETAny street, the length of which shall be not more than 50% of the length of the largest street line of the municipality's blocks of which it is part.
RESIDENTIAL STREETA street between two intersecting streets upon which an R-District abuts, or where 50% or more of the abutting street frontage is in predominantly residential use.
"Approach highways" are those which intersect with and have
interchange connection with limited access arterial highways.
"Arterials" are those serving large volumes of comparatively
high-speed and long-distance traffic, and include facilities classified
as main and secondary highways by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation,
and include streets classified as arterial thoroughfares or primary
streets in the traffic plan set forth in the municipality's Comprehensive
Plan.
"Collector streets" are those which, in addition to giving access
to abutting properties, intercept facilities and provide routes, to
community facilities and to major traffic streets, and include streets
classified as secondary streets in the traffic plan set forth in the
municipality's Comprehensive Plan.
"Local access streets," including minor streets, are those used
primarily to provide access to abutting property.
"Major streets" are all streets other than local access streets.
The dividing line between a lot and the outside boundary
of a public street, road or highway right-of-way legally open or officially
plotted by a municipality or higher governmental authority, or between
a lot and a private street, road or way over which the owners or tenants
of two or more lots held in single and separate ownership have the
right-of-way. Where a future right-of-way width for a street has been
established, the street line shall be in the line of such future right-of-way.
A mobile food-vending business in which food that is prepared
and made ready for consumption at the point of sale is sold from or
out of a motor vehicle that does not exceed eight feet in width or
25 feet in length and that is removed each day from the location where
the food is sold.
[Added by Ord. No. 4-2018, 9/11/2018]
Any change in the structural members of a building, such
as walls, beams, columns or girders.
Anything build, constructed or erected which requires location
on the ground or attachment to something located on the ground.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether
immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution
of heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership for building or lot development;
provided, however, that the subdivision by lease or 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.
The Township has adopted a subdivision and land development ordinance as set forth in Chapter 22 of the Township's Code.
Where, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, at least 90% (based on the cost of the required improvements for which financial security was posted pursuant to the Sugarloaf Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 22) of those improvements required as a condition for final approval have been completed in accordance with approved plan, so that the project will be able to be used, occupied or operated for its intended use.
Any pool or open tank, not including a pond, not located
within a completely enclosed building, and containing or normally
capable of containing water to a depth at any point greater than 1 1/2
feet, intended for swimming.
A device attached to a building, structure, or telecommunications
tower principally intended for receipt or transmission of signals
for such uses as commercial or public VHF or UHF television, FM radio,
two-way radio, commercial carriers, cellular telephone, fixed-point
microwave, lower power television or AM radio, including accessory
equipment related to telecommunications. Not included are antennas
for private, noncommercial and amateur purposes, including but not
limited to ham radios and citizens band radios.
Facilities used for transmitting or retransmitting electronic
signals, including, but not limited to, the transmission of commercial
radio or television signals or cellular telephone communications.
Television satellite dish antennas are not included under this category
of use.
Antennas for private, noncommercial and amateur purposes, including TV satellite dish antennas as regulated in § 27-547.
The building in which electromagnetic receiving and relay
equipment for a telecommunications tower is housed.
A freestanding structure, including any guy wires, principally
intended to support facilities for receipt or transmission of signals
for uses such as commercial or public VHF or UHF television, FM radio,
two-way radio, commercial carriers, cellular telephone, fixed point
microwave, low power television, or AM radio, including accessory
equipment related to telecommunications. Not included are towers and
supportive structures for private, non-commercial and amateur purposes
including but not limited to ham radios and citizens band radios.
Activity which shall be conducted for a period of not more
than 31 consecutive days; provided, however, that such use is not
accessory to a permanently permitted business use.
General. Temporary uses shall include those activities which
will be undertaken for a period of time specified in the application
for a permit for such a use. Said period of time shall be one year
or less. If additional time is required, a new application shall be
submitted. No application for temporary uses shall be for a period
of more than one year.
Business. Uses such as a circus, carnival, flea market, etc.
with or without a structure such as a tent.
Residential. Temporary residential uses include temporary rental
offices on development sites, including development signs and other
such uses.
Township of Sugarloaf, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
An area of land developed for a compatible mixture of residential
units for various income levels and nonresidential commercial and
workplace uses, including some structures that provide for a mix of
uses within the same building. Residences, shops, offices, workplaces,
public buildings, and parks are interwoven within the neighborhood
so that all are within relatively close proximity to each other. Traditional
neighborhood development is relatively compact, limited in size and
oriented toward pedestrian activity. It has an identifiable center
and a discernible edge. The center of the neighborhood is in the form
of a public park, commons, plaza, square or prominent intersection
of two or more major streets. Generally, there is a hierarchy of streets
laid out in a rectilinear or grid pattern of interconnecting streets
and blocks that provides multiple routes from origins to destinations
and are appropriately designed to serve the needs of pedestrians and
vehicles equally.
Transient housing facilities shall include emergency shelters
or missions, and other types of housing facilities which are to be
occupied on a temporary basis, such as a fixed period of time. Such
housing shall be distinguished from housing occupied by a family in
that family occupancy equates to an indefinite occupancy period.
A modification of the specific regulations of this chapter
in accordance with the terms of this chapter for the purpose of assuring
that no property, because of special circumstances applicable to it,
shall be deprived of privileges commonly enjoyed by other properties
in the same vicinity and district.
The open unoccupied space, on the same lot with a building,
which shall be open and unobstructed from the ground upward, except
as otherwise provided in this chapter, and not less in depth or width
that the minimum required in each zoning district. Driveways are permitted
within required yard areas.
FRONT YARDThe required open space extending the full width of a lot, between the street line and the front of a building.
REAR YARDThe required open space extending the full width of a lot, between the rear lot line and the back of a building.
SIDE YARDThe required open space extending from the front yard line to the rear yard line, between a side lot line and the side of a building.
Sugarloaf Township Zoning Hearing Board.
Sugarloaf Township Zoning Officer.
This Chapter 27.
