Township of Carroll, PA Background Provisions

Word usage. Words and phrases shall be presumed to be used in their ordinary context unless such word or phrase is defined differently within this section.

Language interpretation. In this chapter, when not inconsistent with the context:

(1)

Words in the present tense imply also the future tense.

(2)

The singular includes the plural.

(3)

The male gender includes the female gender.

(4)

The word "person" includes an individual, incorporator's association, member(s) of a partnership or the officers of a corporation, as well as any similar entity.

(5)

The term "shall," "will," or "must" is always mandatory.

(6)

If a word or term is defined in the MPC, then it shall have the meaning defined in the MPC.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.

Specific words and phrases. The following words and phrases shall have the particular meaning assigned by this section in the appropriate sections of this chapter:

100-YEAR FLOOD

The highest level of flooding that, on the average, is likely to occur every 100 years, that is, that has a 1% chance of occurring each year.

100-YEAR FLOOD BOUNDARY

The outer boundary of an area of land that is likely to be flooded once every 100 years (i.e., that has a 1% chance of being flooded each year). A study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service, the United States Geological Survey, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, or a licensed surveyor or professional engineer, registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is necessary to define this boundary.

100-YEAR FLOOD ELEVATION

The water surface elevations of the 100-year flood.

ACCESS DRIVE

An improved surface, other than a street, shared driveway, or driveway, designed and constructed to provide access from a street to any use other than agriculture and other than an individual residential dwelling unit, or to a parking lot.

ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE

A use or structure closely incidental or subordinate to the principal use of a building on the same lot and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or land use.

ACT

See MPC.

ADJUSTED TRACT AREA

The net buildable land area of a proposed development site, determined by deducting specific percentages of various categories of constrained land from the gross tract area as described in Chapter 435, Subdivision and Land Development.

ADJUSTED TRACT AREA APPROACH

One of two methods of determining the maximum number of permitted dwelling units in a conservation subdivision where the adjusted tract area of the site equals the gross tract area minus the constrained land on the site. A worksheet for the methodology is provided in Exhibit A.[2]

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT FACILITY

(1)

A business or club which engages in one or more of the following areas of sales, services or entertainment related to specified sexual activities:

(a)

ADULT BATHHOUSEAn establishment or business which provides the services of baths of all kinds, including all forms and methods of hydrotherapy during which specified anatomical areas are displayed or specified sexual activity occurs. This section shall not apply to hydrotherapy treatment practiced by, or under the supervision, of a medical practitioner. A medical practitioner, for the purpose of this chapter, shall be a medical doctor, physician, chiropractor, or similar professional licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

(b)

ADULT BODY PAINTING STUDIOAny establishment or business, including, but not limited to, a tattoo parlor, which provides the service of applying paint or other substance, whether transparent or nontransparent, to or on the human body when specified anatomical areas are exposed.

(c)

ADULT BOOKSTOREAny establishment which has 20% or more of its stock-in-trade consisting of:

[1]

Books, films, videotapes, video storage media, magazines, or other periodicals or other forms of audio or visual representation which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas;

[2]

Instruments, devices, or paraphernalia (excluding prophylactics) which are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.

(d)

ADULT CABARETA nightclub, theater, bar, or other establishment which features live or media representations of performances by topless or bottomless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers, where such performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(e)

ADULT MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTAny establishment or business which provides the services of massage and body manipulation, including exercises, heat and light treatments of the body, and all forms and methods of physiotherapy, unless operated by a medical practitioner, chiropractor, or professional physical therapist licensed by the commonwealth. This definition does not include an athletic club, health club, school, gymnasium, reducing salon, tanning salon, spa, or similar establishment where massage or similar manipulation of the human body is offered as an incidental or accessory service.

(f)

ADULT MINI MOTION-PICTURE THEATERAn enclosed building with a capacity of more than five, but less than 50, persons used for presenting any form of audio or visual material, and in which a substantial portion of the total presentation time measured on an annual basis is devoted to the showing of material which is distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(g)

ADULT MODEL STUDIOAny place where, for any form of consideration or gratuity, figure models who display specified anatomical areas are provided to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed, or similarly depicted by persons paying such consideration or gratuity, except that this provision shall not apply to any figure studio or school of art or similar establishment which meets the requirements established in the Education Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the issuance or conferring of, and is in fact authorized thereunder to issue and confer, a diploma.

(h)

ADULT MOTELA motel or similar establishment offering public accommodations, for any consideration, which provides patrons with material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(i)

ADULT MOTION-PICTURE ARCADEAny place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin- or slug-operated or electronically 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 so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(j)

ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATERAn enclosed or unenclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons used for presenting any form of audio or visual material and in which a substantial portion of the total presentation time measured on an annual basis is devoted to the showing of material which is distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(k)

ADULT NEWS RACKAny card- or coin-operated machine or device which dispenses material which depicts, describes or relates to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(l)

ADULT OUT-CALL SERVICE ACTIVITYAny establishment or business which provides an out-call service which consists of individuals leaving the premises upon request or by appointment to visit other premises for a period of time for the purpose of providing any service during which time specified anatomical areas are displayed or specified sexual activity occurs.

(m)

ADULT SEXUAL ENCOUNTER CENTERAny business, agency, or person who, for any form of consideration or gratuity, provides a place where two or more persons may congregate, assemble or associate for the purpose of engaging in specified sexual activity or exposing specified anatomical areas, excluding psychosexual workshops operated by a medical practitioner licensed by the commonwealth to engage in sexual therapy.

(n)

ADULT THEATERA theater, concert hall, auditorium or other similar establishment, either indoor or outdoor, which regularly features live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.

(o)

ADULT VIDEO STOREAny establishment which has 20% or more of its stock-in-trade consisting of videotapes, video discs, or both, which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis, depiction, or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(2)

Any other business or establishment which offers its patrons services or entertainment characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

The outdoor display of any writing, printing, picture, painting, emblem, drawing, sign or similar device intended to invite or draw the attention of the public to any goods, merchandise, property, business, service, entertainment, amusement or industrial activity or establishment.

ADVERTISING STRUCTURE

Any rigid or semirigid material with or without advertisement displayed thereon, situated upon or attached to or which is part of real property for the purpose of furnishing a background, base surface or support upon which an advertisement may be posted or displayed outdoors.

AGRICULTURAL OPERATION

An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial production and preparation for market of crops, livestock and 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.

AGRICULTURAL TOURISM or AGRITOURISM

Recreation, entertainment, education, and tourism events and activities that are associated with and provide support for the ongoing conduct of agricultural operations on a farm or farm property.

AGRICULTURE

The tilling of the soil, the raising of crops, forestry, horticulture and gardening, including the keeping or raising of livestock, such as cattle, cows, hogs, horses, sheep, goats, poultry, rabbits, birds, fish, bees, and other similar animals. This definition includes greenhouses for stock to be distributed wholesale, but excludes greenhouses with retail sales and intensive animal operations as defined herein. Agriculture can involve the incidental slaughter for personal consumption of livestock which have been raised on the site. (See also "farm.")

AIRPORT

A place use where aircraft are stored, maintained, repaired, and refueled, and where aircraft take off and land. Airports may also include other accessory accommodations for aircraft passengers, cargo, or both.

AISLE

The traveled way contiguous to parking spaces by which vehicles enter and depart parking spaces within a parking lot.

ALLEY

A minor right-of-way, privately or publicly owned, for secondary access to the rear and/or side of properties.

ALTERATIONS

An action involving any of the following:

(1)

A change in the size of a building, structure, or both;

(2)

A change in the use of property; or

(3)

A rearrangement or relocation of a building, structure, use, or any combination thereof, upon a property.

AMUSEMENT ARCADE

An indoor commercial establishment which provides as a principal use amusement devices, games of skill or chance, or both (e.g., pinball machines, video games, electronic or water firing ranges and other similar devices). This definition does not include the use of three or fewer such devices as an accessory use.

AMUSEMENT PARK

Commercially operated park having various devices and events for entertainment purposes (including rides, outdoor paintball, snow tubing, go-carts and similar).

ANIMAL HOSPITAL

Any establishment offering veterinary services that includes outdoor and overnight boarding of animals.

APARTMENT

A living unit in a multiple-dwelling structure.

APARTMENT CONVERSION

Creation of two or more living units by conversion of an existing structure.

APPLICANT

A landowner or developer or his agent who has filed an application for any permit required by this chapter or an application for site development plan review, use by special exception, conditional use, or a variance as allowed by this chapter, including his heirs, successors and assigns.

AUCTION HOUSE

A building used for the conduct of public auctions of goods by a licensed auctioneer or apprentice auctioneer. Three types of auction houses are defined:

(1)

LIVESTOCK AUCTIONA building used solely for the conduct of public auctions of livestock.

(2)

AUTOMOBILE AND TRUCK AUCTIONA building used solely for the conduct of public auctions of motor vehicles.

(3)

AUCTION HOUSE FOR HOUSEHOLD AND OTHER GOODSA building used solely for the conduct of public auctions of household and other goods, specifically excluding livestock and automobiles and trucks.

AUTOMOBILE BODY SHOP

A building or structure on a lot that is used for the repair or painting of bodies, chassis, wheels, fenders, bumpers and/or accessories of automobiles and other vehicles for conveyance.

AUTOMOBILE FILLING STATION

A building or lot or part thereof supplying and selling gasoline or other equivalent fuel for motor vehicles at retail direct from pumps and storage tanks.

AUTOMOBILE REPAIR GARAGE

A building or structure on a lot designed and/or used primarily for mechanical and/or body repairs, storage, or servicing to automobiles, trucks and similar vehicles.

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION

A building or lot or part thereof supplying and selling gasoline or other equivalent fuel for motor vehicles at retail direct from pumps and storage tanks and which may include accessory facilities for rendering services, such as lubrication, washing and minor repairs.

BANK

(See "financial institution.)

BANQUET HALL

An establishment which is rented by individuals or groups to accommodate private functions, including, but not limited to, banquets, weddings, anniversaries and other similar celebrations. Such use may or may not include:

(1)

Kitchen facilities for the preparation or catering of food;

(2)

The sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, only during scheduled events and not open to the general public; and

(3)

Outdoor gardens or reception facilities.

BED-AND-BREAKFAST INN

An owner-occupied dwelling in which a room or rooms are rented on a nightly basis for periods of not more than 30 days. Meals may or may not be provided.

BEEKEEPING

An agricultural use or an accessory residential use in which bees are raised, kept, or both.

BILLBOARDS

Any structure or part thereof or any device attached to a structure for the painting, posting or otherwise displaying of information for the purpose of bringing to the attention of the public any product, business, service or cause not necessarily located on or related to the premises on which the sign is situated.

BOARD

The Carroll Township Zoning Hearing Board duly appointed by the Township Board of Supervisors.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

The duly elected governing body of the Township of Carroll.

BOARDINGHOUSE

A dwelling or part thereof where lodgings, with or without meals, are provided for compensation for at least two but not more than six persons, not transients, and no public restaurant is maintained.

BUILDING

Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls or other elements supporting a roof or other covering, and designed or used for the shelter or enclosure of any person, animal, or property of any kind, including tents, awnings, or vehicles situated on private property and used for purposes stated above.

BUILDING AREA

The horizontal area measured around the outside of the foundation walls plus the floors of roofed porches and roofed terraces, and including the area of accessory buildings if any. In the case of split-level dwellings, the "first floor area" shall be deemed to include floor areas on two nonoverlapping levels, separated by a partial story of height.

BUILDING HEIGHT

For all uses other than single-family attached dwellings (townhouses), building height shall be the vertical distance from the finished grade at the building's corners to the highest point of the roof, structure, or building. For single-family attached dwellings (townhouses), building height shall be the vertical distance from the finished grade at each dwelling unit's corners to the highest point of the roof, structure, or building at each dwelling unit's corners.

BUSINESS

Any enterprise, occupation, trade or profession engaged in, either continuously or temporarily, for profit. The term business shall include the occupancy or use of a building or premises or any portion thereof for the transaction of business or the rendering or receiving of professional or personal service.

CAMP

Any one or more of the following, other than a hospital, place of detention, school offering general instructions, or a trailer camp or trailer court:

(1)

TYPE 1Any area of land or water of a design or character suitable for seasonal, recreational or other similar temporary living purposes; or

(2)

TYPE 2Any building or group of buildings of a movable, temporary or seasonal nature, such as cabins, tents, or shelters, which are located in a Type 1 camp area; or

(3)

TYPE 3Any land and buildings thereon, used for any assembly of persons for what is commonly known as "day camp" purposes, whether or not conducted for profit and whether occupied by adults or by children, either as individuals, families, or groups.

CAR WASH

A principal or accessory use whereby structures equipped with apparatuses for the washing, waxing, vacuuming, or any combination thereof, of vehicles are provided.

CARE BED

Includes licensed bed and/or long-term care bed as defined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or other regulatory authority.

CARPORT

An unenclosed structure for the storage of one or more vehicles in the same manner as a private garage, which may be covered by a roof supported by columns or posts except that one or more walls are the walls of the main building to which the carport is accessory.

CARTWAY

The portion of a street right-of-way intended for vehicular travel and parking.

CEMETERY

Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the deceased, including columbariums, crematoriums, mausoleums, and mortuaries, when operated in conjunction with the cemetery and within the boundaries thereof.

CHURCH or OTHER RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION, AND RELATED USES

A building, structure, or group of buildings or structures, including accessory uses, designed or intended for public worship. This definition shall include rectories, convents, schools and day-care facilities related to religious institutions, athletic facilities, recreation facilities, or any combination thereof.

CLEAN WOOD

Natural wood which has not been painted, varnished or coated with a similar material; has not been pressure treated with preservatives; and does not contain resins or glues as in plywood or other composite wood products.

COMMERCIAL CONVENIENCE CENTER

A planned center designed and located to primarily serve those employed within the immediate vicinity.

COMMERCIAL SOLAR POWER FACILITY

Commercial facilities engaged in the use of solar panels to convert energy from the sun into electrical energy (including, without limitation, power inverters and transformers) specifically for the purpose of the sale of electricity to others.

COMMERCIAL SPORTS FIELD/FACILITY

Any activity related to sports, operated on a commercial basis, open to the public for a fee, for the purpose of public recreation, including, but not limited to, sports fields, stadiums, skating rinks, skateboard/stunt bicycle parks or courses, gymnasiums, gymborees, weight and fitness rooms, tennis courts, basketball courts, indoor recreation facilities, swimming pools, miniature golf courses, bowling alleys and other similar uses.

COMMERCIAL TRUCK

A vehicle, other than a recreational vehicle, that exceeds an actual vehicle weight of 9,000 pounds.

COMMON OPEN SPACE

Any area of land or water, or a combination of land and water, within a development site designed and intended for use by all residents of the development or the general public. Land included within the right-of-way lines of streets, required setbacks between buildings and stormwater detention basins shall not be classified as common open space. Common open space shall comply with § 450-354 requirements for open space.

COMMUNICATIONS ANTENNA

Any exterior transmitting or receiving device mounted on a tower, building or structure and used in communications that radiate or capture electromagnetic waves, digital signals, analog signals, radio frequencies (excluding radar signals), wireless telecommunications signals, or other communications signals. The term "communications antenna" does not include a receiving facility for the sole use of an individual consumer and located on the property in which such individual consumer resides.

COMMUNICATIONS TOWER

Any structure that is designed and constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one or more antennas for telephone, radio, and similar communications purposes, including self-supporting lattice towers, guyed towers, or monopole towers, common-carrier towers, cellular telephone towers, alternative tower structures, and the like. The terms includes the structure and any support thereto.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The most recently adopted version of the Northern York Region Comprehensive Plan, York County, PA, or any other adopted Comprehensive Plan, including any amendments.

CONDITIONAL USE

A use which may be appropriate to a particular zoning district, only when specific conditions and criteria prescribed for such uses are satisfied. Conditional uses are reviewed by the Board of Supervisors after recommendations by the Planning Commission, in accordance with this chapter.

CONDOMINIUM

A form of property ownership providing for individual ownership of a specific dwelling unit, or other space, together with an undivided interest in the land or other parts of the structure in common with other owners.

CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY (CCRC)

A series of improvements on a parcel of land used to provide housing, boarding and health care for persons of retirement status, extending from independent living to skilled nursing accommodations, whether by rental or contract for services.

CONTRACTOR'S OFFICE OR SHOP

Offices and shops for tradesmen, such as those contractors engaging in landscaping, hardscaping, plumbing, welding, heating, air conditioning, electrical, roofing, flooring, glass, and swimming pools and hot tubs, and/or other structural components of buildings.

CONVENIENCE STORE

(1)

A retail sales business which specializes in providing household products and foods. Convenience stores may also provide for any or all of the following as an accessory use:

(a)

The rental of video storage media, excluding an adult bookstore;

(b)

The preparation and sales of delicatessen sandwiches and foods provided that no patron seating is provided; and

(c)

The use of no more than three amusement devices (e.g., pinball machines, video games, and other similar devices).

(2)

Convenience stores shall not include the dispensing of gasoline or other vehicle fuels, unless the appropriate approvals for an automobile filling station (as defined herein) have been obtained.

CONVENTION CENTER

A facility in a completely enclosed building used for civic corporate, trade and professional meetings, seminars training, trade shows and/or exhibition of products and technology and which may include supporting care, dining, lodging, and recreational facilities as accessory uses.

CORNER LOT

A lot which has an interior angle of less than 135° at the intersection of two street lines. A lot abutting upon a curve street shall be considered a corner lot if the tangents to the curve at the points of the side lot lines with the street line intersect at an interior angle less than 135°.

COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

A land use and growth management plan prepared by the County Planning Commission and adopted by the County Commissioners which establishes broad goals and criteria for municipalities to use in preparation of their Comprehensive Plan and land use regulation.

DAY CARE

The offering of care or supervision over minors or special needs adults in lieu of care or supervision by family members. This definition does not include the offering of overnight accommodations.

(1)

ADULT DAY CAREA facility that is not also used as a residence that provides or arranges to assist in meeting the needs, including personal care, social, nutritional, health and educational needs, of adult clients for a portion of a twenty-four-hour day. These are provided, as appropriate for each client, through a planned program of social, educational, recreational, therapeutic, rehabilitative, and developmental activities.

(2)

COMMERCIAL DAY CAREA day-care facility that offers care and supervision to more than six nonresidents of the site during any calendar day. Commercial day-care facilities can be operated as principal uses or as accessory uses associated with other uses (e.g., schools, religious institutions, industries, residential complex, etc.); however, in no case shall a commercial day care be considered an accessory use to one dwelling unit. Commercial day-care facilities shall include "group child day-care homes" and "child day-care centers," as defined and regulated by the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All commercial day-care centers must obtain a valid certificate of compliance from the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, prior to operation.

(3)

FAMILY DAY CAREA day-care facility that is operated as an accessory use to a dwelling unit, in which the care and supervision are offered to between one and six nonresidents of the site during any calendar day. Family day-care facilities must be registered by the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

DEVELOPMENT

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, expansion, or alteration of buildings or other structures; the placement of manufactured homes; streets, and other paving; utilities; filling, grading and excavation; mining; dredging; drilling operations; storage of equipment or materials; and the subdivision of land.

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY

A disability of a person which has continued or can be expected to continue indefinitely; a disability which is:

(1)

Attributable to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, injury, trauma, or any combination thereof.

(2)

Found to be attributable to any other conditions found to be closely related to mental retardation because such condition results in similar impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior to that of mentally retarded persons or requires treatment and services similar to those required for such persons.

(3)

Attributable to dyslexia resulting from a disability described in Subsections 1 and 2 of this definition.

DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED PERSON

A person with a developmental disability.

DIESEL-POWERED MOTOR VEHICLE

A self-propelled vehicle designed for transporting persons or property which is propelled by a compression-ignition-type of internal combustion engine. The definition does not include nonroad diesel vehicles, but does include construction equipment.

DISTRIBUTION

A process whereby materials, goods, or products are obtained, stored by one person, and then delivered to another.

DISTRIBUTION/FULFILLMENT CENTER

A freight movement (logistics) facility that stores finished goods before they are picked and packed to fulfill orders directly to the consumer or retail locations. Materials within a distribution/fulfillment center are usually stored short-term. Office space associated with each distribution/fulfillment center building may be included.

[Added 9-11-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-254]

DOMESTIC PETS

The noncommercial keeping of no more than six adult animals that are locally available for purchase as pets as an accessory use to a dwelling unit. Domestic pets shall not include farm animals, horses, or any animal or bird for which a permit is required under the Pennsylvania Game and Wildlife Code, 34 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq., or the regulations of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

DOUBLE FRONTAGE LOT

A lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

DRIVEWAY

An improved surface, other than a street, access drive, or shared driveway, designed and constructed to provide vehicular access from a street to an individual residential dwelling unit or an agricultural use. A driveway may also be used to provide access from an access drive to an individual semidetached or semiattached residential dwelling unit.

DWELLING

Any building or portion thereof designed and used exclusively for residential occupancy, including those listed below, but not including hospitals, hotels, boardinghouses, rooming and lodging houses, dormitories, institutional houses, tourists courts, tourist homes and the like, offering transient occupancy or accommodations for guests or patients. In addition, all dwellings shall be properly connected to approved and permanently designed public or on-lot sewer, public or on-lot water, electrical and other utility systems.

(1)

SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHEDA freestanding building containing more than two dwelling units for more than two families, arranged in a side-by-side configuration. If constructed on individual lots, each unit shall have one front yard, one side yard, and one rear yard (no yard along the common lot lines). Also commonly known as a "townhouse."

(2)

SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHEDA freestanding building containing one dwelling unit for one family, and having two side yards, one front yard, and one rear yard; in the case of a corner lot, the building will have two front and two rear yards. Mobile homes can be considered single-family detached dwellings if, in addition to the requirements listed for all dwellings, they are permanently affixed to a completely enclosed foundation constructed of currently accepted materials that shall be an entire perimeter wall and extend from below the frost line to the first floor of the building. Such foundation shall be constructed to provide sufficient structural integrity to prevent the building from heaving, shifting, or settling unevenly, due to frost action. "Travel trailers," as defined herein, shall not be construed as dwellings. Modular homes can be considered single-family detached dwellings so long as they comply with the general requirements of a dwelling.

(3)

SINGLE-FAMILY SEMIDETACHEDA freestanding building containing two dwelling units for two families, arranged in a side-by-side configuration. Each unit shall be constructed on individual lots and shall have one front yard, one side yard, and one rear yard (no yard along the common lot line).

EARTHMOVING ACTIVITY

Any construction or other activity which disturbs the surface of the land including, but not limited to, excavations, embankments, land development, subdivision development, mineral extraction, and the moving, depositing or storing of soil, rock or earth, excluding the tilling of the soil.

EASEMENT

A grant of one or more property rights by the property owner to and/or for the use by the public, a corporation or another person or entity; and within which the owner of the property shall not erect any permanent structures, but shall have the right to make any other use of the land which is not inconsistent with the rights of the grantee.

ESSENTIAL SERVICES

The erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies providing gas, electric, telephone, water transmission or distribution, sanitary sewer service, including buildings, enclosures, wells, standpipes and towers, pumping stations, poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic light signals and hydrants reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal or other agencies for the public health, safety or general welfare, excluding power generation facilities.

FAMILY

An individual or individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption (including persons receiving foster care) that maintain one common household and live within one dwelling unit and those individuals residing in a group home.

FAMILY PLOT

A burial plot or family cemetery accessory to a single-family detached dwelling for the burial of deceased individuals who are related by blood, marriage or adoption.

FARM

A parcel or parcels of land which are used for a principal agricultural use, including, but not limited to, one single-family detached dwelling and other necessary farm structures, and the use, repair, maintenance, and storage of equipment associated with the principal agricultural use.

FILL

Material placed or deposited so as to form an embankment or raise the surface elevation of the land, including, but not limited to, levees, bulkheads, dikes, jetties, embankments, and causeways.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

A bank, savings-and-loan association, credit union, finance or loan company, etc.

FIREWOOD PROCESSING

The process of converting logs into cut and split firewood. This process pertains to logs that do not originate on the subject property and are imported, processed and then exported for sale or distribution.

FLOODPLAIN/FLOODPLAIN AREA

An area of land adjacent to the channel of a watercourse which has been or is likely to be flooded, or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

FLOOR AREA, HABITABLE

The sum of the floor areas of a dwelling unit as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls and including all rooms used for habitation, such as living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, closets, hallways, stairways, but not including unfinished basements or attics, or service rooms or areas such as utility rooms, nor unheated areas such as enclosed porches.

FORESTRY

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.

FRONT BUILD-TO LINE

An area establishing the required location for all, or a portion of a building's front facade, as measured from the street right-of-way line.

FRONTAGE

The continuous linear distance taken along a property's common boundary with an adjoining street right-of-way.

FUEL STORAGE

Storage of combustible fuels whether aboveground or below-ground, including, but not limited to, propane, gasoline, natural gas, kerosene, diesel, and heating oil. Excluded from this definition are fuels stored in quantities for normal residential use.

FUNERAL HOME

A principal use for the preparation and viewing of the dead prior to burial or cremation. Funeral homes shall not include cemeteries, columbariums, mausoleums, nor entombments, but do include mortuaries and crematoriums.

GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS

A geothermal heat pump (GHP) or ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a central heating and/or cooling system that transfers heat to or from the ground.

GOLF COURSE

A golf course with a minimum of 2,800 yards of play in nine holes.

GROUP HOME

A single-family dwelling operated with a program to provide a supportive long-term living arrangement for individuals where special care is needed by the individual served due to age, emotional, mental, or physical handicap.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL

A substance or combination of substances that, because of the quantity, concentration, physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, if not properly treated, stored, transported, used, or disposed of, or otherwise managed, would create a potential threat to public health through direct or indirect introduction into groundwater resources and the subsurface environment which includes the soil and all subsequent materials located below. Such hazardous substances include substances regulated under DEP regulations. Also included are floatable materials with the potential to cause physical or chemical damage, such as storage tanks, logs, and the like.

HAZARDOUS WASTE

Any substance defined as a "hazardous waste" under the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq., the Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, 35 P.S. § 6020.101 et seq., the Clean Streams Law, 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq., the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq., and the regulations of the PA DEP and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITY

Any structure, group of structures, aboveground or underground storage tanks, or any other area or buildings used for the purpose of permanently housing or temporarily holding hazardous waste for the storage or treatment for any time span other than the normal transportation time through the Township.

HEALTH AND FITNESS CLUB

A commercial business that offers active recreational activities, fitness activities, or both. Such activities are provided only to club members and their guests. Such facilities do not include golf courses.

HEAVY EQUIPMENT

Machinery, vehicles and other devices that are not normally used for domestic purposes upon a residential dwelling lot. Examples include, but are not limited to, farm machinery, excavation equipment, commercial trucks and trailers, yachts, industrial machinery, etc.

HELIPORT

A principal use where one or more helicopters may land/take off and be stored. Such use may also include support services such as fueling and maintenance equipment, passenger terminals and storage hangars.

HISTORIC STRUCTURE

Any structure that is:

(1)

Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;

(2)

Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

(3)

Listed in the Northern York Region Comprehensive Plan as a historic structure;

(4)

Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or

(5)

Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:

(a)

By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or

(b)

Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

HOME OCCUPATION

A business or commercial activity, other than a no-impact home-based business, that is conducted as an accessory use to and within a principal single-family detached dwelling.

HOSPITAL

An institution, licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a hospital, which renders inpatient and outpatient medical care on a twenty-four-hours-per-day basis; and provides primary health services and medical/surgical care to persons suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity and other abnormal physical or mental conditions. A hospital use can also include attached and detached accessory uses provided that all accessory uses are contained upon the hospital property.

IDLING

The operation of an engine in the operating mode where the engine is not engaged in gear, where the engine operates at a speed at the revolutions per minute specified by the engine manufacturer, or when the accelerator is fully released and there is no load on the engine.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

A surface made of materials which prevent the percolation of water into the ground. These materials include semi-impervious materials, such as gravel, stone and block.

INTENSIVE ANIMAL OPERATION

An agricultural use involving more than 75 livestock or more than 200 birds, such as, but not limited to, chickens and turkeys.

JOINT-USE DRIVEWAY

An improved cartway designed and constructed to provide for vehicular access between a street or access drive and two or more dwelling units, or their respective lots.

JUNK

Used materials, discarded materials, or both, including, but not limited to, wastepaper, rags, metal, building materials, house furnishings, machinery, vehicles, or parts thereof, which are being stored awaiting potential reuse, recycling or ultimate disposal.

JUNKYARD

An area of land with or without buildings, used for the storage, outside of a completely enclosed building, of used or discarded materials, including, but not limited to, wastepaper, rags, metal, building materials, house furnishings, machinery, vehicles, part thereof, with or without the dismantling, processing, salvage, sale, or other uses or disposition of the same. The deposit or storage on a lot of one or more unlicensed, wrecked, or disabled vehicles, or the major part thereof, shall be deemed to constitute a "junkyard." For the purpose of this definition, a "disabled vehicle" is:

(1)

A vehicle intended to be self-propelled that shall not be operable under its own power for any reason; or

(2)

Where inspection and/or registration is required, a vehicle that does not have a valid current registration plate or that has a certificate of inspection which is more than 60 days beyond the expiration date.

KENNEL

Any lot on which six or more animals that are older than six months (except relating to a farm) are kept either for the day or overnight, boarded, raised, bred, treated, or trained, for a fee, or for sale, including, but not limited to, a dog or cat kennel, also including the use of land, building, enclosed area, and/or structure having six or more animals.

LAND APPLICATION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE

The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land surface; the injection of sewage sludge below land surface or the incorporation of sewage sludge into the soil.

LANDSCAPE BUFFER

A strip of land outside of a street right-of-way, and usually along the perimeter of the lot, designed, constructed, and maintained to separate uses or activities on a lot from other uses or activities through the use of trees, shrubs, hedges, perennials and ground cover.

LANDSCAPE SCREEN

A strip of land outside of a street right-of-way, and usually along the perimeter of the lot, designed, constructed, and maintained to form a visual separation from one side to the other side through the combined use of low-level and high-level planting elements (such as deciduous and coniferous trees, shrubs, hedges, perennials and ground cover).

LAUNDROMAT

A facility where patrons wash, dry, or dry clean clothing or other fabrics in machines operated by the patron.

LIGHT INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

Manufactured products that use moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight. Product production requires only small amounts of power and raw materials.

LIVE-WORK UNIT

A first floor professional office, retail sales, or restaurant use of no more than 2,000 square feet within the same structure as a residential dwelling.

LOADING SPACE

An off-street paved space suitable for the loading or unloading of goods and having direct usable access to a street or alley.

LOT

Any parcel, plot, or tract of land intended as a single unit for purposes of ownership, transfer of ownership, use, rent, improvement, or development. A "lot" herein defined must coincide with a single lot of record. A "lot" not otherwise specified is defined as having frontage along a:

(1)

Public street; or

(2)

A street that has been dedicated to the Township; or

(3)

A private street that has been improved to the standards in the SALDO[3] for a public street.

LOT COVERAGE

Any portion of a lot occupied by an impervious surface.

LOT DEPTH

The horizontal distance measured between the street right-of-way line and the closest rear property line. On corner and reverse frontage lots, the depth shall be measured from the street right-of-way line of the street of address to the directly opposite property line.

LOT LINE

A line of record which divides one lot from another lot, or from a public or private road or any other public space. Where a lot abuts a public right-of-way, the lot line for regulatory purposes shall be the right-of-way line.

LOT OF RECORD

A lot identified on a subdivision plan or on a deed or other instrument of conveyance recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for York County, Pennsylvania.

LOT WIDTH

The horizontal distance measured between side property lines. On corner lots, lot width shall be measured between the street right-of-way line for the nonaddress street and the directly opposite property line. Unless otherwise noted, lot width shall be measured at the required minimum building setback line.

LOWEST FLOOR

The lowest floor of the lowest fully enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished, flood-resistant, partially enclosed area, used solely for parking of vehicles, building access, and incidental storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered the lowest floor of a building, provided that such space is not designed and built so that the structure is in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.

MANUFACTURE

A function involving either the processing, changing of shape, conversion or production of materials, goods, or products.

MANURE

The fecal and urinary excrement of livestock and poultry, often containing some spilled feed, bedding or litter.

MANURE STORAGE FACILITY

A detached structure or other improvement built to store manure, produced only on the premises, for future use, or disposal. Types of storage facilities are as follows: underground storage, in-ground storage, earthen bank, stacking area, and aboveground storage. The construction and subsequent operation of the waste storage facility shall be in accordance with all applicable state and federal regulations.

MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

A location (whether business or nonprofit) where patients or consumers can access cannabis in accordance with Pennsylvania law and regulations.

MARIJUANA GROWING AND/OR PROCESSING FACILITY

A facility where cannabis growing and/or preparation of marijuana or its by-products for commercial retail and/or wholesale in accordance with Pennsylvania law and regulations, including, but not limited to, drying, cleaning, curing, trimming, packaging, testing, and extraction of active ingredients to create marijuana-related products and concentrates.

MEDICAL CLINIC

Any building or group of buildings occupied by licensed medical practitioners and related services for the purpose of providing health services to people on an outpatient basis.

METHADONE TREATMENT FACILITY

A facility licensed by the Department of Health to use the drug methadone in the treatment, maintenance or detoxification of persons.

MINERALS

Any aggregate or mass of mineral matter, whether or not coherent. The term includes, but is not limited to, limestone and dolomite, sand and gravel, rock and stone, earth, fill, slag, iron ore, zinc ore, vermiculite and clay, anthracite and bituminous coal, coal refuse, peat, and crude oil and natural gas.

MINI WAREHOUSE

One or more buildings divided into separate storage units for personal property, property associated with some business or other organization, or both. These units shall be used solely for dead storage and no processing, manufacturing, sales, research and development testing, service and repair, or other nonstorage activities shall be permitted.

MINOR REPAIR

The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, but not including the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the structural modification of any nonconforming sign, the addition of any sign, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or bearing support, or the removal or change of any required means of egress, or rearrangement of parts of a structure affecting the exit way requirements; nor shall minor repairs include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation of any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas, oil, waste, vent, or similar piping, electric wiring, or mechanical or other work affecting public health or general safety.

MOBILE FOOD FACILITY (MFF)

A movable retail food facility, such as a stand, vehicle, cart, basket, box or similar structure, from which food is stored, prepared, processed, distributed or sold, and the facility:

(1)

Within all zoning districts physically locates at one site or location for no more than 14 consecutive or cumulative days, in one calendar year, regardless of whether or not the facility operates continuously during that time period;

(2)

Within Commercial (C) and Mixed-Use 1 and Mixed-Use 2 (MU-1 and MU-2) Zoning Districts physically locates at one site or location for no more than 120 consecutive or cumulative days, in one calendar year, regardless of whether or not the facility operates continuously during that time period. MFFs exceeding 14 days will be required to obtain and maintain a solicitation permit for all periods of operation.

MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME

Any structure intended for or capable of permanent human habitation, with or without wheels, and capable of being transported or towed from one place to the next, in one or more pieces, by whatsoever name or title it is colloquially or commercially known, but excluding transport trucks or vans equipped with sleeping space for a driver or drivers and travel trailers. Manufactured homes placed on individual lots shall be considered "dwellings," and be bound by the requirements there-imposed. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "manufactured home" shall mean a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis, and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The term includes park trailers, recreational vehicles and other similar vehicles which are placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days. For the purposes of this chapter, all manufactured homes, except those contained within manufactured home parks, shall be governed by all regulations applicable to single-family detached dwellings of this chapter.

MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME LOT

A parcel of land in a manufactured home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single manufactured home, which is leased by the park owner to the occupants of the manufactured home erected on the lot.

MOBILE OR MANUFACTURED HOME PARK

A parcel of land under single ownership, which has been planned and improved for the placement of two or more manufactured homes for nontransient use.

MOTOR FREIGHT TERMINAL

A building or group of buildings on the same lot used for the purpose of parking, storage, and incidental repairs and maintenance of primarily tractor-trailers and/or commercial vehicles. A motor freight terminal may include as accessory uses, if they are closely related to the principal use: repair, washing, refueling, and maintenance facilities for vehicles using the terminal, and administrative uses for the terminal. A motor freight terminal that exceeds 25,000 square feet in gross floor area shall be required to satisfy the requirements of § 450-385 (Warehouse and/or distribution/fulfillment centers).

[Added 9-11-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-254]

MOTOR VEHICLE

All vehicles propelled other than by muscular power, except such vehicles that run only on rail or tracks.

MOTOR VEHICLE SALES

Any building or land utilized for the retail sales or leasing of vehicles, including accessory service and repair facilities if conducted within a wholly enclosed building.

MOTOR VEHICLE SERVICE

The retail repair, servicing, maintenance and reconstruction of vehicles, but not including "car washes" as defined herein.

MOTOR VEHICLE SERVICE, DRIVE-THROUGH

The retail servicing of motor vehicles within a wholly enclosed building where the customer driving the vehicle does not leave the vehicle while waiting for or obtaining service. This type of service facility would specialize in one aspect of vehicle service such as changing/replacing motor vehicle lubricants and fluids.

MPC

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as amended and reenacted by the Act of December 21, 1988, P.L. 1329, No. 170, and as amended, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.

MULTIPLE-FAMILY DWELLING

A freestanding building containing three or more dwelling units, arranged such that one or more dwelling unit is above another dwelling or dwellings. Commonly referred to as an "apartment building."

MUNICIPAL USE

Any use customarily incidental to the entities of Carroll Township or Dillsburg Area Authority.

NIGHTCLUB

Any building used for on-site consumption of alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages where live entertainment is offered. For the purposes of this definition, "live entertainment" is meant to include the use of disc jockeys for the purposes of supplying musical entertainment, but excluding adult-related uses. Nightclubs may also provide for on-site consumption of food. Additionally, nightclubs can offer the retail sale of carryout beer and wine as an accessory use. This is also meant to include an under 21 club which features entertainment.

NO-IMPACT HOME-BASED BUSINESS

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 the residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy all of the following requirements:

(1)

The business activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.

(2)

The business shall employ no employees other than family members residing in the dwelling.

(3)

There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.

(4)

There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.

(5)

The business may not use any equipment or process which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical interference, including interference with radio or television reception, which is detectable in the neighborhood.

(6)

The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with residential use in the neighborhood.

(7)

The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.

(8)

The business may not involve any illegal activities.

NONCOMMERCIAL KEEPING OF LIVESTOCK

An accessory use to a principal detached single-family dwelling, that is not contained upon a farm, whereupon livestock are kept exclusively by the residents of the site.

NONCONFORMING LOT

A lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zone in which it is located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.

NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE

A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed to comply with the applicable use or extent of use provisions in the Zoning Ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such ordinance or amendment or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures include, but are not limited to, nonconforming signs. Nonconformities are regulated by Article 5 of this chapter.

NONCONFORMING USE

A use, whether of land or of structure, which does not comply with the applicable use provisions in the Zoning Ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment of such ordinance, or amendment, or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason of annexation.

NONCONFORMITY, DIMENSIONAL

Any aspect of a land use that does not comply with any size, height, bulk, setback, distance, landscaping, coverage, screening, or any other design or performance standard specified by this chapter, where such dimensional nonconformity lawfully existed prior to the adoption of this chapter or amendment thereto. Nonconformities are regulated by Article 5 of this chapter.

NURSING, REST OR RETIREMENT HOMES

Facilities designed for the housing, boarding, and dining associated with some level of nursing care.

OFFTRACK BETTING PARLOR

A commercial use at which persons can visit to wager upon, and observe by remote display, the outcomes of events that are taking place elsewhere.

ON-LOT SEWER SERVICE

The disposal of sewage generated by one principal use with the use of safe and healthful means within the confines of the lot on which the use is located, or within an approved sewage effluent easement, as approved by the PA DEP.

ON-LOT WATER SERVICE

The provision of a safe, adequate and healthful supply of water to a single principal use from a private well.

OPEN SPACE

Any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved, open to the percolation of rainwater.

OUTDOOR WOOD-FIRED BOILER

A wood-fired boiler, stove or furnace that is not located within a building or structure intended for habitation by humans or domestic animals.

PA DEP

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

PARENT TRACT

When used in determining the permissible number of driveways, each individual York County Tax Map parcel in existence on August 18, 2003, shall be considered a parent tract.

PARKING LOT

An accessory use in which required, and possibly additional parking spaces and aisles are provided.

PARKING SPACE

A delineated off-street space with an improved surface available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having usable access to a street.

PENNDOT

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

PERSON

An individual, partnership, public or private association or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit, public utility, or any other legal entity whatsoever, which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.

PERSONAL CARE FACILITY

Coordinated and centrally managed rental housing, including self-contained units designed to provide a supportive environment to accommodate a relatively independent lifestyle. Such a development may contain a limited number of supportive services, such as meals, transportation, housekeeping, linen, and organized social activities for residents and their invited guests. Such a use shall primarily serve persons 55 years of age and older and may serve persons with memory and physical handicaps and/or the developmentally disabled. A personal care facility does not include a nursing home, halfway house, drug and alcohol abuse treatment or similar facilities but may also include an assisted-living facility as defined by the State of Pennsylvania. Personal care facilities shall be licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

PERSONAL CARE HOME

A facility in which food, shelter, and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours, for up to two adults who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of a nursing home, but who do require assistance or supervision in "activities of daily living" or "instrumental activities of daily living" as those terms are defined in 55 Pa. Code § 2600.4. A Personal care home may include a component for memory, physical handicap and/or developmentally disabled services. A personal care home does not include a nursing home, retirement community, halfway house, drug and alcohol abuse treatment or similar facilities. Personal care homes shall be licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

PLANNED CENTER

A group of uses planned and designed as an integrated unit with controlled ingress and egress and shared off-street parking provided on the property as an integral part of the unit. Such centers also may include a planned center signs as regulated herein.

PLANNING COMMISSION

The Planning Commission of Carroll Township.

PLAYHOUSE

A structure, detached from the primary structure, which may include walls, a roof, or a platform elevated off of the ground, designed or used for occasional occupation.

PREMISES

The property upon which the activity is conducted as determined by physical facts rather than property lines. It is the land occupied by the buildings or other physical uses that are necessary or customarily incident to the activity, including such open spaces as are arranged and designed to be used in connection with such buildings or uses. The following are not considered to be a part of the premises on which the activity is conducted, and any signs located on such land are to be considered off-premise advertising:

(1)

Any land which is not used as an integral part of the principal activity, including land which is separated from the activity by a roadway, highway, or other obstruction, and not used by the activity; and extensive undeveloped highway frontage contiguous to the land actually used by a commercial facility, even though it might be under the same ownership.

(2)

Any land which is used for, or devoted to, a separate purpose unrelated to the advertised activity.

(3)

Any land which is in closer proximity to the highway than to the principal activity and developed or used only in the area of the sign site or between the sign site and the principal activity and whose purpose is for advertising purposes only. In no event shall a sign site be considered part of the premises on which the advertised activity is conducted if the site is located on a narrow strip of land which is nonbuildable land, or is a common or private roadway, or is held by easement or other lesser interest than the premises where the activity is located.

PRIVATE CLUB

An organization catering exclusively to members and their guests, or premises or buildings for social, recreational, and administrative purposes which are not conducted for profit, provided there are not conducted any vending stands, merchandising, or commercial activities, except as required for the membership of such club. Clubs shall include, but not be limited to, service and political organizations, labor unions, as well as social and athletic clubs. Private clubs shall not include adult-related facilities, offtrack betting parlors, golf courses, shooting ranges, nightclubs, campgrounds, or airports, unless the respective requirements of this chapter are satisfied.

PROCESSING

A function which involves only the cleaning, sorting, sizing, packaging, or any combination thereof, of products and materials.

PROFESSIONAL OFFICE

Offices where services are provided that require specialized training or professional certification, including, but not limited to, accountant, appraiser, attorney, architect, landscape architect, engineer, surveyor, stockbroker, physician, dentist, chiropractor, massage therapist, psychologist, and optometrist. No goods or merchandise are sold or exchanged.

PUBLIC

Owned, operated, or both, by the Township, a Township-supported fire company, Township-supported ambulance association, or library or public library association.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. 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. Public notice for rezoning, special exception, and variance, or any combination thereof, requests shall also include the posting of a sign(s) at a conspicuous location(s) upon the site to notify potentially interested citizens; this sign(s) shall be posted at least one week prior to the hearing and will exhibit the nature, date, time and location of the hearing.

PUBLIC PARK

An area owned or operated by a governmental unit or public utility maintained principally for active or passive outdoor recreation which is open to the public. A park may include amenities such as ball fields, tennis courts, trails, restrooms, picnic tables, cooking grills, and similar facilities. A park shall not include improvements for or permit motorized recreation, such as go-carts, or arcade games, carnival rides, or similar activities.

PUBLIC SEWER

A municipal or municipal authority's sanitary sewer system.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION DEPOT

A building, structure, or area designed and used for and used by persons utilizing and/or changing public transportation modes.

PUBLIC UTILITIES

Use or extension thereof which is operated, owned, or maintained by a municipality or municipal authority or which is privately owned and approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for the purpose of providing public sewage disposal, treatment, or both; or public water supply, storage, treatment, or any combination thereof.

PUBLIC WATER

A municipal, municipal authority's, or public utility's water supply system.

RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

Any natural or artificially produced substance which emits radiation spontaneously.

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE

A portable structure, primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreation, camping, or travel purposes.

REGULATED FISHING GROUND

A public fishing ground meeting all requirements of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission Law.

REGULATED HUNTING GROUND

A public hunting ground meeting all requirements of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

RENTAL

A procedure by which services or personal property are temporarily transferred to another person for a specific time period for compensation.

REPAIR

A function involved in correcting deficiencies of products that affect their performance, appearance, or both.

RESIDENTIAL ZONE

The AC, RA, RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, and MU-1 and MU-2 Zones.

RESTAURANT

An establishment that serves prepared food primarily on nondisposable tableware, but can provide for incidental carryout service so long as the area used for carryout service does not exceed 5% of the total patron seating area or 120 square feet (whichever is less). Included in this definition is the production and sale of food and beverage as an accessory use. Caterers shall be included in this definition.

RESTAURANT, DRIVE-THROUGH

An establishment that primarily serves foods, confections or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state, and whose method of operation includes a drive-up window so that foods or beverages are served directly to motorist customers or by means which eliminate the need for the customer to exit the motor vehicle.

RESTAURANT, FAST-FOOD

An establishment that primarily serves rapidly prepared foods, confections, or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state, and whose method of operation is such that customers normally order the product at a central location separate from the tables or counters used for consumption. Cafeteria service establishments in which a customer serves himself while passing along a food-service line are also considered fast-food restaurants.

RETAIL SALES

Those businesses whose primary activities involve the display and sales of goods and products to the general public. This term shall not include adult-related uses as defined herein.

RETAIL SERVICE BUSINESSES

An establishment that provides a service oriented to personal needs of the general public and which does not involve primarily retail, wholesale, or services to businesses; a business that offers retail services and does not offer/sell any tangible products and or merchandise. These businesses do not include adult-related uses.

RIDING STABLE

A principal use whereby equestrian instruction is offered and/or horses are kept, bred, trained, exercised, or any combination thereof, upon land not occupied by the owner of the horse(s).

RIGHT-OF-WAY

A corridor of publicly owned or leased land for purposes of maintaining primary vehicular and pedestrian access to abutting properties, including, but not limited to, roads, streets, highways and sidewalks. Abutting property owners are prohibited from encroaching across the right-of-way line.

SALDO

The latest version of the Township's Code Chapter 435, Subdivision and Land Development, as may be amended.

SATELLITE DISH ANTENNA

A device incorporating a reflective surface which is solid, open mesh or bar configured and is in the shape of a shallow dish, cone, horn, or cornucopia. Such device shall be used to transmit, receive, or both, radio or electromagnetic waves between terrestrially based uses, orbitally based uses, or both. This definition is meant to include, but not be limited to, what are commonly referred to as "satellite earth stations," "TVROs," and "satellite microwave antennas."

SAWMILL OPERATIONS

A principal use consisting of a building, structure, or area where timber is cut, sawed, or planed, either to finished lumber, or as an intermediary step, and may include facilities for the kiln drying of lumber and may include the distribution of such products on a wholesale or retail basis. The processing of timber may be from the property on which it is located, from adjoining property, or from other properties removed from the sawmill.

SCHOOL, COMMERCIAL

A postsecondary school that may offer a wide range of educational or instructional activities that may, or may not, be operated as a gainful business by some person or organization other than the public school district.

SCHOOL, PRIVATE

A school that offers elementary, secondary, or any combination thereof, education that may, or may not, be operated as a gainful business.

SCHOOL, PUBLIC

A school licensed by the Department of Education for the purpose of providing elementary, secondary, and adult education, and operated by the Northern York School District.

SEASONAL RESIDENCE

A dwelling, cabin, lodge or summer house which is intended for occupancy less than 180 days of the year.

SEMI-IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

A surface, such as stone, rock, or other material, which prevents some percolation of water into a ground.

SENIOR RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS

A coordinated development of residential, medical, commercial, service, civic, and recreation uses that are blended to create a comprehensive living environment offering housing primarily for persons 55 years of age and older and/or persons with physical or mental disabilities, and offering various levels of supportive care to the residents.

SEPTAGE COMPOSTING

Process of converting septage into stable useable material for soil amendment.

SETBACK

The required horizontal distance between a setback line and a property or street right-of-way line.

(1)

SETBACK, FRONTThe distance between the street right-of-way line and some particular use projected the full width of the lot.

(2)

SETBACK, REARThe distance between the rear lot line and some particular use, projected the full width of the lot.

(3)

SETBACK, SIDEThe distance between the side lot line and some particular use projected from the front yard to the rear yard.

SETBACK LINE

A line within a property and parallel to a property or street right-of-way line which delineates the required minimum or maximum distance between some particular use of property and that property or street right-of-way line.

SEVERE DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINTS

Slopes in excess of 15%, soils with severe limitations for development as described by the SCS Soil Survey for York County, floodplain, wetlands, rock outcrops, streams, watercourses, or drainageways.

SHARED DRIVEWAY

An improved surface other than a street, access drive, or driveway, designed and constructed to traverse one or more properties via an easement or right-of-way which is limited in nature (as opposed to the broad nature of a street right-of-way) to provide access to a different residential property or agricultural use.

SHOOTING RANGE, INDOOR

A completely enclosed building where firearms and other projectile-type weapon (e.g., guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols, air guns, archery crossbows, etc.) can be shot for recreation competition, skill development, training, or any combination thereof. Nothing within this definition shall be construed to include hunting when conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

SHOOTING RANGE, OUTDOOR

The use of land outside of a completely enclosed building where firearms and other projectile-type weapons (e.g. guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols, air guns, archery crossbows, etc.) can be shot for recreation competition, skill development, training, or any combination thereof. Nothing within this definition shall be construed to include hunting when conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

SHOPPING CENTER

One store, or a planned center of stores, or stores and offices containing more than 40,000 square feet of gross floor area designed for the site on which it is built, functioning as a unit, with shared off-street parking provided on the property as an integral part of the unit.

SINGLE AND SEPARATE OWNERSHIP

The ownership of a lot by one or more persons which ownership is separate and distinct from that of any abutting or adjoining lot.

SLUDGE

Solid, semisolid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility or water treatment facility. Sludge includes, but is not limited to, domestic septage; scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes; and material derived from sewage sludge. Sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.

(1)

Domestic sewage is waste and wastewater from humans or household operations that is discharged to or otherwise enters treatment works.

(2)

Industrial wastewater is wastewater generated in a commercial or industrial process.

(3)

Grit (sand, gravel, cinders, or other materials of high specific gravity).

(4)

Screenings (relatively large materials such as rags) generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.

(5)

The sewage treatment residues may consist of viscous semisolid mixture of bacteria and virus-laden organic matter, toxic metals, synthetic organic chemicals, and settled nonbiodegradable solids removed from domestic and industrial wastewater at a sewage treatment plant.

SLUDGE SITE

An area of land used for the application of sludge.

SOIL SURVEY

The latest published version of the United States Department of Agriculture's Soil Survey for York County, Pennsylvania.

SPECIAL EXCEPTION

A use that is generally compatible with a particular zone once specified criteria have been met. Special exception uses are listed by zone and approved by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with Article 6 of this chapter.

SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS

Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus, female breasts below a point immediately above the top of areolae, human male genitals in a discernible turgid state, or any combination thereof, even if completely and opaquely covered. (See "adult entertainment facility.")

SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES

For the purposes of this chapter, this term shall include any of the following (see "adult entertainment facility"):

(1)

Actual or simulated sexual intercourse, oral copulation, anal intercourse, oral anal copulation, bestiality, direct physical stimulation of unclothed genitals, flagellation or torture in the context of a sexual relationship, or the use of excretory functions in the context of a sexual relationship, and any of the following depicted sexually oriented acts or conduct: anilingus, buggery, coprophagy, coprophilia, cunnilingus, fellatio, necrophilia, pederasty, pedophilia, piquerism, sapphism, zooerasty; or

(2)

Clearly depicted human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation, arousal or tumescence; or

(3)

Use of human or animal masturbation, sodomy, oral copulation, coitus, ejaculation; or

(4)

Fondling or touching of nude human genitals, pubic region, buttocks or female breast; or

(5)

Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, beating, or the infliction of pain; or

(6)

Erotic or lewd touching, fondling or other contact with an animal by a human being; or

(7)

Human excretion, urination, menstruation, vaginal or anal irrigation.

STOCKYARD

A use whereby livestock are kept temporarily until slaughtered or shipped elsewhere.

STORAGE

A function involving the deposition of materials, goods, products, or any combination thereof, for safekeeping.

STOREFRONT

The wall of a unit of occupancy which faces the front yard within a planned commercial center, as defined herein.

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT BASIN

Any facility used to retain or detain stormwater that is part of a stormwater management system, including the berms, embankments, outlet structures, and emergency spillway.

STREAMS

Naturally occurring bodies of surface water, flowing in defined beds or channels. Flow may be either continuous or only during wet periods.

STREET

An existing or planned (with Township approval according to law) cartway, which may include the following: shoulders, curb, together with adjacent sidewalk, treelawn and other items appurtenant thereto, and its associated right-of-way. Access drives, shared driveways, and driveways are not streets. The terms and requirements of the right-of-way provided for a street shall allow and not exclude access, the installation of utilities, sidewalk, stormwater drainage facilities, and other appurtenances necessary and proper for the functioning of the street. A street includes avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, or alley, used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians, stormwater drainage facilities, and utilities whether public or private, including the street right-of-way.

STREET CENTER LINE

The horizontal line parallel to and bisecting the street right-of-way into two equal widths. In those instances where the street right-of-way cannot be determined, the street center line shall correspond to the center of the cartway.

STRUCTURE

Any man-made object having an ascertainable location on or in land or water whether or not affixed to the land.

STRUCTURE, ACCESSORY

A structure on the same lot with, and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal use or structure.

SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE

Damage from any cause sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% or more of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT

Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however include either:

(1)

Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions, or;

(2)

Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure."

SWIMMING POOL

Any pool, not located within a completely enclosed building, and containing, or normally capable of containing, water to a depth at any point greater than two feet. Farm ponds, ornamental ponds, and lakes are not included, provided that swimming was not the primary purpose for their construction.

TAVERN

An establishment which serves primarily alcoholic beverages for mostly on-premises consumption. Taverns may also serve food, offer live entertainment and may offer the retail sale of carryout beer and wine as an accessory use, but excluding adult-related uses. Includes brewery, distillery, winery, etc.

TESTING

A function involving the examination and assessment of qualities, performances, capabilities, or any combination thereof, of a product, good or material.

THEATER

A building, room, or outdoor structure for the presentation of live performances or motion pictures.

TOWNSHIP

Carroll Township.

TRAILER

An unpowered vehicle towed by another.

TRUCK STOP

A planned center in which two or more different truck- and transport-related uses are provided on a common site.

TWO-FAMILY CONVERSION

The conversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling unit to contain two separate dwelling units.

USE

The specific purpose for which land or a structure is designed, arranged, intended, occupied or maintained.

(1)

USE, ACCESSORYA use on the same lot with, and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal use or structure.

(2)

USE, PRINCIPALThe main or primary use of property or structures.

VARIANCE

A modification of any provision of this chapter, Chapter 450, Zoning, granted by the Zoning Hearing Board subject to the requirements of this chapter.

VETERINARIAN'S OFFICE

A building used primarily for the treatment, by a veterinarian, of small domestic animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds or fowl. No outdoor boarding of animals is permitted.

VIDEO GAMING TERMINAL (VGT)

Machines that are "available to play or operate one or more gambling games, the play of which utilizes a random number generator."

WAREHOUSE

A building or group of buildings primarily used for the long-term indoor storage, transfer, and distribution of materials that have been manufactured, assembled, or harvested, or are being stored for manufacture, assembly, or processing, by the owners of the warehouse. Office space associated with each warehouse building may be included. Materials within a warehouse are usually supplied to manufacturers or wholesalers rather than directly to consumers.

[Amended 9-11-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-254]

WASTE

Garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials including, but not limited to, solid, semisolid, contained gaseous and liquid materials resulting from municipal, industrial, institutional, commercial, agricultural, residential, and other activities. Such wastes shall also include biological excrement and hazardous waste materials, as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 261, dated July 1, 1984, or as amended. Waste shall expressly include those materials defined, at any given time, as waste by the PA DEP and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. For the purposes of this chapter, the difference between waste and junk or recyclables is that waste shall include materials that have entered a reasonably continuous process by which their ultimate disposal is imminent; whereas, junk includes materials that may be stored for longer periods of time awaiting potential reuse or ultimate disposal; and whereas, recyclables include materials that have entered a reasonably continuous process whereby their reuse is imminent.

WASTE HANDLING FACILITY, PRINCIPAL

A principal use whereby waste is brought to the site for storage, processing, treatment, transfer, or disposal.

WATERCOURSE

A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook, run, creek, channel, swale, pond, lake, or other body of surface water carrying or holding surface water permanently or intermittently, whether natural or artificial.

WATERSHED

All the land from which water drains into a particular watercourse.

WECS UNIT (WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM)

WECS UNIT (WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM), COMMERCIAL

Any device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy and shall include blades, hubs to which blades are attached, controls and associated electronics, and any device, such as a tower, used to support the hub, rotary blades, etc., or any combination thereof which has a rated capacity of more than 100 KW.

WECS UNIT (WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM), SMALL

WETLAND

Area with the characteristics of wetland, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, PA DEP, and the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Wetland areas are not limited to the locations delineated on wetland maps prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

WHOLESALE

Any distribution procedure involving persons who, in the normal course of business, do not engage in sales to the general public.

WINDOW

An opening to the outside other than a door which provides all or part of the required natural light, natural ventilation or both to an interior space. The glazed portion of a door in an exterior wall may be construed to be a window in regard to provision of natural light.

WOODLANDS

An area or stand of trees, 1/4 acre or more in extent, having a continuous canopy and located on an individual lot.

YARD

An area between permitted structures or a particular use, and the property lines.

ZONING

The designation of specified districts within the Township, reserving them for certain uses together with limitations on lot size, heights of structures and other stipulated requirements.

ZONING OFFICER

The duly constituted municipal official designated to administer and enforce this chapter in accordance with its literal terms.

[2]

Editor's Note: See § 450-211H(3).

[3]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 435, Subdivision and Land Development.