Township of Limerick, PA Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District

[Amended 6-18-2024 by Ord. No. 428]

In addition to the conditional use requirements set forth in this chapter, specifically § 184-43, an application for conditional use pursuant to the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District shall satisfy the following standards and criteria, as applicable:

The proposed use or development must be a permitted use in the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District.

Public central water and sewer facilities shall be provided.

The tract must have direct access to an arterial or a collector street.

Transportation improvements.

(1)

The redevelopment of the Publicker Site for the uses permitted by the conditional use provisions of this article shall not be permitted to occur unless the Township receives adequate assurances that the Publicker Transportation Improvements will be substantially completed contemporaneously with the redevelopment of the various phases of the Publicker Site.

(2)

The applicant's conditional use application shall be accompanied by a traffic impact study ("TIS") prepared in accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's ("PennDOT") Policies And Procedures for Transportation Impact Studies Related to Highway Occupancy Permits. The TIS shall analyze the intersections and roadway sections agreed to by the applicant's traffic engineer and the Township's Traffic Engineer prior to the submission of the applicant's conditional use application.

(a)

The TIS shall schematically depict each of the Publicker Transportation Improvements ("schematic improvements") to be constructed or installed in each of the intersections and roadway segments agreed to be improved by the Township Traffic Engineer and the applicant's traffic engineer. Prior to submission of a conditional use application, the applicant shall submit the TIS to PennDOT and obtain the consensus of PennDOT to the schematic improvements within the TIS.

(b)

As a condition of approval of the applicant's conditional use application, the applicant shall (i) agree that the applicant's application for approval of its land development plans for the redevelopment of the Publicker Property shall be accompanied by drafts of the applicant's highway occupancy plans ("HOP") that depict the details of the schematic improvements, (ii) agree that that the HOP plans shall be reviewed, finalized, and agreed to by the Township's Traffic Engineer and the applicant's traffic engineer simultaneously with the finalization and approval of the applicant's land development plans, (iii) a declaration of covenants in form agreed to by the Township and the applicant guaranteeing the installation of the Publicker Transportation Improvements shall be recorded simultaneously with the approved final land development plan or first approved phase plan, as applicable.

(c)

When the applicant desires to commence the construction of each phase of the redevelopment of the Publicker Property and requests that the final plans for such phase be recorded, the applicant shall post financial security for such phase and for the portion of the Publicker Transportation Improvements that are required to be constructed at the same time.

(3)

The Publicker Transportation Improvements may be installed in phases as phases of the Publicker Site are redeveloped, and the phasing of specific improvements shall be mutually agreeable to the Township, applicant, and PennDOT. The approved HOP plans may contain a schedule for the construction of phases of the Publicker Transportation Improvements or a formula for determining the scope of the portions of the Publicker Transportation Improvements that are to be constructed with each phase of the redevelopment of the Publicker Property. If PennDOT requires changes in the scope of the Publicker Transportation Improvements as a condition of the issuance of the PennDOT approval it shall be the applicant's responsibility to obtain the PennDOT HOP and construct such additional or different transportation improvements required by PennDOT. Prior to recording of any land development plans for a particular phase, a PennDOT highway occupancy permit shall be issued for the required improvements of that phase.

(4)

As a condition to the recording of each land development plan that depicts the construction of a building or buildings on the Publicker Site, the applicant shall post financial security in the form acceptable to the Township Solicitor and Traffic Engineer to secure to the Township that the portion or portions of the Publicker Transportation Improvements required to mitigate the impact of the construction of the building or buildings in the Publicker Site that is depicted in each such land development plan will be substantially complete at the time that the first certificate of occupancy for improvements to the interior of the first building or buildings to be constructed on that phase of the Publicker Site as depicted on the said approved land development plan is issued.

Common open space area.

(1)

Common open space area shall be the greater of the following:

(a)

One acre of common open space area shall be provided for each 30,000 GSF of proposed building;

(b)

The total land mass comprised of the Floodplain Conservation District and contiguous protected Steep Slope Conservation Overlay District.

(2)

Common open space area shall generally conform to Montgomery County Schuylkill River Trail East route and/or Limerick Township Greenway and Trail Network Master Plan. For common open space areas 10 acres or more, the land development plan shall provide access to a suitable location to install a trail head parking lot to accommodate 10 vehicles.

(3)

The record plan shall provide an irrevocable offer to dedicate to the Township an easement over the common open space area for purposes of establishing new park, pedestrian and/or bicycle routes to link parks, open space, schools, residential areas and employment centers, as well as to connect to regional transportation and recreational trails.

It shall be demonstrated that there is an adequate second means of ingress and egress suitable for emergency access to the site.

[Amended 11-12-2024 by Ord. No. 431]

Dimensional standards shall be in accordance with § 184-170, Dimensional standards of the HI Heavy Industrial District, Class One category with the following exceptions:

[Amended 11-12-2024 by Ord. No. 431]

(1)

Maximum building height shall be 60 feet.

(2)

Maximum building height for a building housing a data center shall be 120 feet.

(3)

Except for parking located adjacent to Main Street, the minimum building setback and minimum parking and loading setback shall be 400 feet from existing residential uses. Parking located adjacent to Main Street shall be a minimum of 30 feet from the legal right-of-way of Main Street.

(a)

In the alternative, a setback of 200 feet from existing occupied residential uses shall be permitted provided it is demonstrated through the required sound studies prepared in accordance with the noise standards of § 184-83B(4) that the use does not exceed the sound limits or the installation of one or more sound reducing materials or systems effectively reduced the sound to the aforesaid sound limits.

(4)

Maximum floor area ratio standard is not applicable.

Development standards shall be in accordance with § 184-171, Development standards of the HI Heavy Industrial District, with the following additions:

(1)

Development standards for a data center shall include the following:

(a)

Data center equipment (DCE).

[1]

Ground-mounted DCE shall not be located in any front yard.

[2]

DCE shall be separated from any adjacent residential district by a principal building.

(b)

Environmental impacts associated with a data center shall be mitigated by demonstrating compliance with the industrial standards of § 184-83, with the following additions:

[1]

Applicant shall demonstrate through a sound study conducted by a professional acoustical expert that the installation of one or more sound reducing materials or systems, approved by the Township professional acoustical expert, will effectively reduce the sound generated by the data center during both normal operations and emergency operations (time of power loss) to a maximum daytime (7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) decibel level of 65 and a maximum nighttime (10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) decibel level of 50 as measured from the property line of the data center use. Such sound study or studies shall be conducted using sound level meters described in ANSI S1.4-2014. A preliminary sound study shall be conducted as part of the conditional use process which shall evaluate sound levels estimated by the applicant's professional acoustical expert using generally accepted criteria. An interim sound study shall be conducted during the building permit process based upon the proposed user or users of the data center and buildings and equipment depicted on the building plans. The noise reducing materials and/or systems recommended by the interim sound study shall be incorporated into the construction plans for the data center. An as-built sound study shall be conducted six months after issuance of the certificate of occupancy for any data center building or buildings and prior to the final escrow release for any data center land development phase evaluating both normal and emergency operations (i.e., all standby emergency equipment, including but not limited to generators running). If it is determined by the as-built sound study that there is a material violation of the aforesaid sound limits, then owner or occupant of the data center shall promptly remediate the violation.

(c)

Wireless telecommunications facilities as accessory to the data center shall be in accordance with Article XXXIV.

The provisions and requirements of the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District shall be additional and supplemental to the underlying HI Heavy Industrial Zoning District; where the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District provisions differ from the HI Heavy Industrial Zoning District provisions, and if a property or parcel(s) is proposed to be developed pursuant to the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District provisions, the Logistics Center/Warehouse Conditional Use Overlay District provisions and requirements shall control.