In expansion of the statement of community development objectives contained in §
300-2 of this chapter, it is hereby declared to be the intent of this article with respect to the Village Commercial and Office District to encourage the development or redevelopment of limited commercial and office uses while preserving the neighborhood character and residential nature to areas of Upper Providence Township. The permitted uses will meet personal service needs of the village areas within the Township and will reflect the magnitude of development needed to support the surrounding residential village areas.
The retention of existing residential buildings in the VCO District for reuse in accordance with the provisions of the district is encouraged. In instances where this is done, the applicable building coverage requirement in §
300-492B(4) may be increased up to 10% and the applicable impervious coverage in §
300-492B(5) may be increased up to an additional 5%; provided that the following conditions are met:
A. A minimum of 80% of the building
exterior structure is retained; any facade paralleling a public right-of-way
shall be included in the percentage of the building that is retained.
B. Any building which faces a public
street shall not be expanded toward that street, except for the addition
of a front porch consistent with the architectural style of the original
building. All applicable setbacks for the porch shall be met.
C. Expansion may be permitted to
the side or rear of the building, if it does not parallel a public
road right-of-way and provided that any expansion to the side begins
a minimum of 10 feet back from the front of the building and further
provided that all applicable setback requirements shall be met.
D. The design of any building expansion
and the proposed roofline shall be architecturally compatible with
the existing building.