Article IV: Allowed Uses in Primarily Nonresidential Zoning Districts

§ 550-15 Allowed uses in primarily nonresidential districts.

[Amended 3-9-2022 by Ord. No. 1-2022; 7-9-2025 by Ord. No. 3-2025; 12-10-2025 by Ord. No. 5-2025]

Only the following uses are allowed in each respective zoning district, except as may be allowed by § 550-14:

See also the WO Waterfront Overlay District in Article VIII, which offers additional options in that area.

See also the DPO Deshong Park Overlay District in Article IX, which offers additional options in that area.

For manufacturing uses, the types of uses listed in this article correspond approximately to the categories of the North American Classification System, administered by the US Department of Commerce. In case of question about the categorization, such system shall be consulted.

Types of Uses (See definitions in Article XIX)	Zoning Districts
Types of Uses (See definitions in Article XIX)	C-1/R *****	C-2/R	CBD	U/O	LIC	MIC	HIC	W-1
Residential Uses
Single-family detached dwelling	P	P****	P	P	N	N	N	N
(Note: Manufactured/mobile homes shall meet the additional requirements of § 550-44)
Single-family semidetached dwelling (side-by-side)	P	P****	P	P	N	N	N	P
Townhouse (single-family attached dwelling) (see § 550-44)	P	P****	P	P	N	N	N	P
Multifamily (apartment) dwellings (see § 550-44)	P*	P,***	P*	P	N	N	N	P
Boardinghouse (includes rooming house) (see § 550-44) (other than uses listed separately in this table)	N	SE	SE*	N	N	N	N	N
Manufactured/mobile home park (see § 550-44)	N	SE	N	N	N	N	N	N
Dormitories or other housing owned or operated by a college or university and limited to occupancy by students or staff of the college or university	N	N	P*	P	N	N	N	N
(Note: Students and staff may also occupy other allowed housing types)
Fraternity or sorority house	N	N	N	P**	N	N	N	N
Group home within a lawful existing dwelling unit (see § 550-44), not including a treatment center	P	P	P	P	N	N	N	N
Live work unit (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	SE***	N	N	P
Single room occupancy use with on-site supervision (see § 550-44)	N	SE	SE*	SE	N	N	N	N
Commercial Uses
Adult use (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
After-hours club, to the extent this use is not already prohibited by State Act 219 of 1990[1]	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Airport (see § 550-44) (see also "Heliport")	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Amusement arcade	P	P	P	P	P	N	N	P
Amusement park or water park******	N	SE	SE	N	P	P	P	P
Animal cemetery (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Animal day care (see § 550-44)	N	SE	P	N	P	P	P	P
Arena, auditorium (commercial), performing arts center or exhibition-trade show center	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Auto body shop or auto repair garage (see § 550-44), and provided that parking shall be prohibited on a sidewalk within the right-of-way	N	P**	N	N	P	P	P	N
Auto, boat or mobile/manufactured home sales (see § 550-44)	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P**
Auto service station, which may occur with a convenience store, and which may also include fueling of vehicles using hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, propane or similar fuels; for a use that primarily serves tractor-trailer trucks, see "truck stop" in this table.	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Bakery, retail	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Bed-and-breakfast inn (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	N	N	N	P
Beverage distributor (wholesale and/or retail)	P	P	P	N	P	P	P	P
Bus maintenance or storage yard	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Bus, taxi or passenger rail terminal	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
BYOB club (see § 550-44) (Note: definition is limited to a use that is open after 12:00 midnight)	N	SE	N	N	N	N	N	N
Car wash (see § 550-44)	P	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Catering, custom, for off-site consumption	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Communications antennae, commercial (see § 550-44), limited to accessory antenna attached to specified types of structures	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Communications tower, commercial (see § 550-44), or other antennae that are not allowed under the above provision	N	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	P	SE
Conference center or exposition center	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Construction company or tradesperson's headquarters (including but not limited to landscaping, building trades or janitorial contractor); see also as home occupation; accessory outdoor storage shall be permitted, provided it meets the screening requirements of § 550-90D	N	N	N	N	P*	P	P	N
Convenience store, which may be combined with a gas station if the requirements for a gas station are met and if a gas station is allowed in the district	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Crafts or artisan's studio	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Custom printing, copying, faxing, mailing or courier service and similar services to businesses	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Exercise club	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Financial institution (see § 550-44); includes banks, with drive-through facilities only allowed in the CBD District if the applicant proves to the City Planning Commission that the access has been designed to minimize conflicts with pedestrian traffic along sidewalks; see drive-through facilities regulations in § 550-45	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Flea market/auction house	P	P	P	N	P	P	P	P
Food truck (see § 550-45)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Funeral home (see "crematorium" listed separately under institutional uses)	P	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Gaming facility, licensed (see § 550-44), other than small games of chance allowed under state law and the state lottery	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	P
Gas station - see "auto service station" in this table
Heliport (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	SE	SE	P	P	P
Hotel or motel (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Kennel (see § 550-44)	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Laundromat	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Laundry, commercial or industrial	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Lumber yard	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Marina, watercraft storage and repair, or rental of watercraft	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Micro-brewery or micro-distillery (which may be in combination with a restaurant)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Motor vehicle racetrack, outdoor (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Nightclub (see § 550-44)	N	SE	SE	N	SE	SE	N	P
Office (may include medical clinics or labs)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Pawn shop	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	N
Personal services (includes tailoring; check cashing; custom dressmaking; hair cutting/styling; travel agency; dry cleaning; shoe repair; massage therapy, certified; and closely similar uses)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Plant nursery (other than a retail store)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Propane retail distributor, other than pre-packaged sales, with a 150 feet minimum setback required between any storage or dispensing facilities and any residential district, and with Fire Department review	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Recording studio, music	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Recreation, commercial indoor (see § 550-44) (includes bowling alley, roller or ice skating rink, batting practice, and closely similar uses); other than uses listed separately in this article	N	P	N	P	P	P	P	P
Recreation, commercial outdoor (including miniature golf course, golf driving range, archery, horseback riding, paintball and closely similar uses); other than uses listed separately in this Article IV	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Repair service, household appliance	P	P	P	N	P	P	P	P
Restaurant or banquet hall (see § 550-44), other than a tavern or nightclub
With drive-through service (see § 550-45)	SE**	P**	SE	N	P	P	N	SE
Without drive-through service	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
For sidewalk cafes as an accessory use to a restaurant, or accessory food carts, see § 550-45D
Retail Store (not including uses listed individually in this § 550-15); any drive-through facilities shall meet § 550-45; may include rental of items or check cashing	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Self-storage development (see § 550-44)	N	N	SE*	N	P	P	P	N
Shopping center (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	N	P	P	N	P
Sidewalk cafe or food court (see § 550-45)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Smoke shops, tobacco stores, significant tobacco retailer and mixed retail establishments (by conditional use only)	N	N	P	N	N	P	N	N
Stadium	N	N	N	P	P	P	P	P
Target range, firearms
Completely indoor and enclosed	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	P
Other than above (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Tattoo parlor that involves permanent tattoos	P	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Tavern, other than a nightclub (see § 550-44)	SE	SE	SE	N	SE	SE	N	P
Television or radio broadcasting studios	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Theater, indoor movie or live theater, other than an adult establishment	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Trade/hobby school	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Truck stop that primarily serves tractor-trailer trucks	N	N	N	N	SE	P	P	N
Veterinarian office (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Visitor center providing education and promotional information	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Wholesale sales - see under industrial uses
Institutional/semi-public uses
Cemetery (See § 550-44); see crematorium listed separately	N	N	N	P	N	N	N	N
College or university - educational, recreational, office or support uses (see also residential uses, which are addressed separately)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Community recreation center (limited to a government sponsored or nonprofit facility) or library	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Crematorium (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	SE	N
Criminal halfway house (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Cultural center or museum	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Day-care center, adult or child (see § 550-44) (see also as an accessory use)	P	P	P	P	P	SE	SE	P
Dormitory - see under residential uses in this table
Emergency services station or training facility	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Hospital or surgery center or related testing and treatment facilities	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Membership club meeting and non-commercial recreational facilities, provided that such use shall not be open between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM, and provided that such use shall only be allowed in combination with another use if the other use is allowed in that district and if the requirements for that use are also met (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	N	P
Nursing home or personal care home/assisted living or hospice (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	N	P
Place of worship (see § 550-44) (includes church)	P	P	SE	P	P	P	P	N
School, public or private, primary or secondary (see § 550-44)	SE	P	P	P	SE	SE	N	P
Temporary shelter (see § 550-14)	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	N
Treatment center (see § 550-14)	N	N	N	SE	SE	SE	SE	N
Public/Semi-Public Uses
City government uses and facilities, such as public works facilities; see also § 490-7	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Government facility, other than offices and other than uses listed separately in this article	SE	P	P	SE	SE	SE	P	SE
Prison or similar correctional institution	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N
Publicly owned or operated park	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Public utility facility, other than City-owned facilities and other than uses listed separately in this article. See also § 550-110	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	P	SE
Sewage pump stations	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Swimming pool, non-household (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
U.S. postal service facility or substation	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Industrial Uses
Asphalt plant	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Assembly or finishing of products using materials produced elsewhere (such as products from plastics manufactured off-site)	N	SE	N	N	P	P	P	N
Building supplies and building materials, wholesale sales of	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Distribution as a principal use (other than trucking company terminal)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Electric power generating plant (other than putrescent solid waste to energy, solar energy or wind turbines)	N	N	N	N	N	SE	P	N
Industrial equipment sales, rental and service, other than involving trucks and trailers primarily intended to be operated on public streets	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Incineration of hazardous or toxic waste, other than may have been previously approved within an existing waste-to-energy plant	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Junk - outdoor storage, display or processing of, other than within an approved junkyard or solid waste disposal facility	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Junkyard (see § 550-44) (includes scrapyard)	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Liquid or gas fuel storage, bulk, for off-site distribution, which shall require a 150-foot setback from a residential district and review by the Fire Department of any proposed facilities; other than: auto service station, propane distributor as listed separately, pre-packaged sales or fuel tanks for company vehicles	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Manufacture and/or bulk processing of the following, provided manufacturing occurs only indoors:
Agricultural chemicals, fertilizers or pesticides	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Apparel, textiles, shoes and apparel accessories (see also crafts studio)	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Cement manufacture	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Ceramics products (other than crafts studio)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Chemicals, manufacture or bulk processing of, other than pharmaceuticals and types listed separately	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Clay, brick, tile and refractory products	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Computers; electronic and microelectronic products	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Concrete, lime and gypsum products, other than actual manufacture of cement	N	N	N	N	N	SE	P	N
Electrical equipment, appliances and components	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Explosives, fireworks or ammunition	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Fabricated metal products (except explosives, fireworks or ammunition) and/or machine shops	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Food and beverage products, at an industrial scale as opposed to a clearly retail scale (which may include aquaculture)	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Glass and glass products (other than crafts studio)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Jewelry and silverware	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Leather and allied products (other than crafts studio or tannery)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	P
Machinery or gaskets	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Manufactured or modular housing manufacture	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Medical equipment and supplies	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	P
Medical marijuana (by conditional use)
Metal products, primary	N	N	N	N	SE	P	P	N
Mineral products, non-metallic (other than mineral extraction)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Paper and paper products (including recycling, but not including manufacture of raw paper pulp)	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Paper - raw pulp	N	N	N	N	N	P	P	N
Paving materials, other than bulk manufacture of asphalt	N	N	N	N	N	SE	P	N
Pharmaceuticals and medicines	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Plastics, polymers, resins, vinyl, coatings, cleaning compounds, soaps, adhesives, paints, or ink	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	P	N
Products from previously manufactured materials, such as glass, leather, plastics, cellophane, textiles, rubber or synthetic rubber	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Roofing materials and asphalt saturated materials or natural or synthetic rubber	N	N	N	N	SE	P	P	N
Scientific, electronic and other precision instruments	N	P	P	SE	P	P	P	P
Sporting goods, toys, games, musical instruments or signs	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	P
Transportation equipment, including installing mechanical additions to trucks and trailers	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Wood products and furniture (not including raw paper pulp)	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	N
See § 550-12 for uses that are not listed
Mineral extraction (see § 550-44) and related processing, stockpiling and storage of materials removed from the site, other than as part of preparation of a development site	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Packaging	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	N
Package delivery services distribution center	N	P	N	N	P	P	P	N
Petroleum refining or manufacture or bulk storage of ethanol or similar fuels for off-site use	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Pipeline compressor station (such as for natural gas), which shall be constructed within an enclosed structure with sound absorbing walls	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Port facilities, not involving bulk loading of liquefied natural gas or similar hazardous substances	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Port facilities involving bulk loading of liquefied natural gas or similar hazardous substances	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Printing or bookbinding	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	P
Recycling center, bulk processing, provided all operations of an industrial scale occur within an enclosed building (this use does not include a solid waste disposal or transfer facility)	N	N	N	N	SE	P	P	N
Research and development, engineering or testing facility or laboratory (other than medical laboratory, which is considered an office use) and related manufacture of prototypes	N	N	N	P	P	P	P	P
Sawmill/planing mill	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N
Slaughterhouse, stockyard or tannery, with a 400-foot minimum setback from all lot lines	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Solid waste landfill (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Solid waste transfer facility or putrescent waste to energy facility (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	N	N	SE	N
Trucking company terminal	N	N	N	N	SE	P	P	N
Warehousing or storage as a principal use	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Warehousing or storage as an on-site accessory use	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Welding	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Wholesale sales (other than motor vehicles)	N	SE	SE	N	P	P	P	P
Accessory uses
See list of additional permitted uses in Subsection C, such as "Residential accessory structure or use"
See additional requirements in § 550-45 for specific accessory uses
Bus shelter	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Composting, other than leaves, vegetation or materials generated on-site which are permitted by right	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	P	N
Day-care center accessory to and on the same lot as an existing lawful place of worship	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Day care (see § 550-45) as accessory to a lawful dwelling, of the following number of persons, in addition to children or grandchildren of the on-site caregiver:
Day care of a maximum of 3 persons; this use does not need a zoning permit	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Group day care home (7 to 12 children)	P	P	P	P	P	P	N	P
Family day care home (4 to 6 children)	P	P	P	P	P	P	N	P
Furnace, outdoor (see § 550-45)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Home occupation, general or low impact (see § 550-45)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Outdoor storage and/or display as accessory to a business use (see buffer yard provisions)	P**	P	P**	P	P	P	P	P
Outdoor storage and/or display as principal use, other than uses listed separately in this table (see buffer yard provisions)	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	P	N
Retail sales as accessory to a principal industrial use, limited to items produced or distributed on the premises, and limited to a maximum of 5% of the floor area of the principal use	N	P	P	N	P	P	P	N
Temporary commercial uses; see § 550-98G(3)
Unit for care of relative (see § 550-45) on the lot of an existing dwelling	P	P	P	P	N	N	N	N
Miscellaneous Uses
Crop farming, community garden (see § 550-45), greenhouse, hoophouse or hydroponics	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Forestry (see § 550-44)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Livestock or poultry, raising of (see § 550-44)	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Nature preserve/environmental education center	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Parking lot or structure as an accessory or principal use:
Rental of a parking area for customers of sports, concerts or special events within the City (see § 550-45)	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Parking of trucks that haul putrescent or hazardous waste	N	N	N	N	N	SE	SE	N
Parking that primarily serves tractor-trailer trucks and/or their trailers	N	N	N	N	P	P	P	N
Other than above, such as municipal parking lots and customary accessory parking for on-site uses	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Recycling collection center	N	P	N	P	P	P	P	N
Solar energy collection systems
Which cover areas equal to a maximum of 20% of the lot area, plus areas on top of building roofs and parking areas	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Which cover larger areas than above, and which include evergreen vegetation with an initial height of 3 feet between ground-mounted solar collectors and any abutting dwelling	N	N	N	N	N	P	P	N
Wastewater treatment plant (other than customarily accessory pre-treatment facilities)	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N
Wind turbines:	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Maximum of 1 on a lot that is an accessory use and is designed primarily for on-site electricity use (see § 550-44)
One or more wind turbines, other than above (see § 550-44)	N	SE	SE	SE	SE	P	P	P
All uses that will be unable to comply with the performance standards of this chapter; see the environmental protection requirements of Article XIV	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N

*	=	A maximum of 25% of lot shall be used for outdoor storage.
**	=	Limited to an area bounded by E. 15th St., Walnut St., the railroad right-of-way, Upland St. and Providence Ave.
***	=	Shall only be allowed if: a) the lot that is adjacent to a residential district and b) the use is in a building that does not contain principal industrial uses.
****	=	A new subdivision or land development involving such housing types shall not be allowed within 800 feet from the edge of the right-of-way of an interstate highway.
*****	=	See limits on hours of operation in § 550-19.
P	=	Permitted by right use (zoning decision by Zoning Officer).
SE	=	Special exception use (zoning decision by Zoning Hearing Board).
N	=	Not permitted.
(See § 550-44 or 550-45)	=	See additional requirements in § 550-44 or 550-45

[1]

Editor's Note: See 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 7327.

§ 550-17 Permitted accessory uses to business and institutional uses.

The following are permitted by right accessory uses only to a permitted by right or special exception commercial, industrial or institutional use, provided that all requirements of this chapter are met:

Storage of fuels for on-site use or to fuel company vehicles.

The following accessory uses, provided that the use is clearly limited to employees, patients, residents and families of employees of the use and their occasional invited guests:

(1)

Internal cafeteria without drive-through service;

(2)

Day-care center; or

(3)

Recreational facilities.

Automatic transaction machine

§ 550-18 Uses not specifically regulated.

Section 550-100B shall apply.

Similar uses in the HIC District. As a special exception, the Zoning Hearing Board in the HIC District may approve an industrial use of the same general character as the uses permitted, provided that the application for special exception shall include evidence satisfactory to the Zoning Hearing Board that the use will be conducted without creating nuisance conditions beyond the limits of its lot by reason of the emission of smoke, dust, odor, or other air pollutants, noise, vibration, light, electrical disturbance, or water pollutants. Such evidence may include the proposed use of proven special structural or technological innovations. In no case, however, shall any uses that are specifically listed as prohibited in the HIC District in Article IV be approved under this section.

§ 550-19 Limits on hours of operation in C-1/R District and for nonconforming commercial uses in residential districts.

A commercial use or membership club in the C-1/R District shall not be open to customers or patrons for business purposes between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 AM unless it was already regularly open to the public during those hours immediately prior to the effective date of this chapter. A commercial use or membership club may be approved to be open after 12:00 midnight as a special exception use if the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Zoning Hearing Board that such business hours will not negatively impact dwellings in the vicinity.

A nonconforming commercial use or membership club in a residential district shall not be open to customers or patrons for business purposes between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 AM, unless the use was already regularly open to the public during those hours immediately prior to the effective date of this chapter.