The following rules of construction shall apply
to this chapter:
A.
The particular shall control the general.
B.
In case of any difference of meaning or implication
between the text of this chapter and any caption or illustration,
the text shall control.
C.
The word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary.
The word "may" is permissive.
D.
Words used in the present tense shall include the
future; words used in the singular number shall include the plural,
and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicates
the contrary.
E.
The phrase "used for" includes "arranged for," "designed
for," "intended for," "maintained for," and/or "occupied for."
F.
The word "structure" shall include the word "building."
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A building or use customarily incidental and subordinate
to the principal building or use and located on the same lot with
such principal building or use. For the purposes of this section,
a trailer, van or any vehicle which was transported to a site cannot
be used as an accessory building. An accessory use includes, but is
not limited to, the following:
Children's playhouse, garden house, doghouse
or private greenhouse.
Garage, shed or building for domestic storage.
Storage of merchandise normally carried in stock
on the same lot with any commercial use unless such storage is excluded
by the district regulations.
Off-street motor vehicle parking area; loading
and unloading facility.
Home occupation.
See Article XIII.
A service way at least 15 feet wide, providing a secondary
public means of access to abutting properties.
As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement
in the structural parts or in the exit facilities, or an enlargement,
whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height or the moving
from one location to another, or any change in use from that of one
zoning district classification to another.
Any change in the supporting members of a building such as
bearing walls, columns, beams, girders or foundations.
A room or suite of rooms in a multiple-family structure which
is used as a single housekeeping unit and which contains complete
kitchen, bath and toilet facilities permanently installed.
A building consisting of guest rooms, suites of rooms or
dwelling units which are occupied more or less permanently wherein
the occupants are furnished so-called hotel services, including dining
room and mail service.
A building used by three or more families living independently
of each other and containing dwelling units.
The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main
level of the principal building exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces,
steps, garages and other accessory buildings.
Engine rebuilding or major reconditioning of worn or damaged
motor vehicles or trailers; collision service, including body, frame
or fender straightening or repair; overall painting of vehicles.
Incidental repairs; replacement of parts; motor service to
automobiles; state inspection; but not including any operation specified
under automobile repair, major above.
A substructure for a main building partly below the finished
grade but having at least one-half of its height (measured from finished
floor to finished ceiling) above the average level of the finished
grade where such grade abuts the exterior walls of the building.
The provision of overnight accommodations for transient guests
on a daily or weekly basis as an accessory use to a residence. The
owner of the dwelling must live on the premises, and food service
shall be provided for guests only.
A structure, building wall or other outdoor surface used
to display lettered, pictorial, sculptured or other matter which directs
attention to any product, commodity or service offered only elsewhere
than on the premises or as a minor and incidental service on the premises.
The duly elected/appointed Supervisors of Richland Township.
A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of
a property or district, not less in width than is designated in this
chapter, which is landscaped for the full width (or as otherwise specified)
and on which is located a screen of sufficient density not to be seen
through and of sufficient height to constitute an effective screen
and give immediate visual screening to an abutting property or district.
The required screen shall be permanently maintained and shall constitute
a planting of dense evergreens or a compact evergreen hedge or, where
otherwise specifically designed, an appropriate wall, fence, suitable
planting, natural vegetation, or combination thereof. All planting
shall comply with the provisions of the Township of Richland Subdivision
and Land Development Ordinance,[1] if such ordinance provides for the same.
A structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for
the shelter of persons, animals, chattels or property. When separated
by walls which are common with the walls of adjoining dwellings, each
portion of such structure shall be considered a separate building.
The aggregate of the maximum horizontal cross section areas,
excluding steps, cornices, eaves and gutters, of all buildings on
a lot.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard
roofs and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip
and gambrel roofs.
A line parallel to the street right-of-way line at a distance
therefrom equal to the depth of the front yard or setback required
for the district in which the lot is located, except in the case of
an interior lot not fronting on a street or highway for its full width,
in which case the building line shall be a line parallel to the right-of-way
at a distance from the property line nearest to the highway or street
equal to the depth of the front yard required for the district in
which the lot is located. If the property or lot abuts more than one
street or highway, the front of the lot shall, in the case of an existing
building, be deemed to be that part or portion of the lot toward which
the main entrance of the building faces and, in the case of a building
proposed to be constructed, the part or portion of that lot toward
which the main entrance of the building is proposed to face.
An official document or certificate issued by the Codes Enforcement
Officer or agency appointed by the township, pursuant to the Richland
Township BOCA Building Codes, as amended, authorizing the construction
of a specific building or structure or performance of a specific activity.
An unfinished structure having one-half or more of its height
below the average grade of the adjoining ground. In a dwelling, a
cellar may not contain living quarters.
That percentage of the lot area covered by the building area.
Standard eight inches by 18 inches concrete
curbs.
The standard concrete curb shall be constructed
with PennDot Class A cement concrete and shall be a minimum of eight
inches thick and 18 inches high with a minimum of 10 inches below
grade, except the top eight inches shall be seven-inches thick to
permit rolling.
The top of the curb shall be 2 inches higher
than the finish grades at the center line of the street. Approved
forms shall be used and, when completed, the curbs shall be in a neat
and finished condition.
The curbs shall be constructed in accordance
with a standard detail plan prepared by Richland Township and shall
conform to Section 630 of Form 408, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-Specifications,
latest edition.
Integral cement concrete curbs and gutters.
The integral cement concrete curb and gutter shall be constructed
with PennDot Class A cement concrete and shall be constructed in accordance
with a standard detail prepared by Richland Township and shall conform
to Section 631 of Form 408, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-Specifications,
latest edition. The top of the curb shall be two inches lower than
the finish grade at the center line of the street. When completed,
the integral curbs shall be in a neat and finished condition.
State highway curbs. When located on a state
highway, the concrete curbs and gutters shall conform to the types
as permitted in Form 408, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-
Specifications, latest edition, which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, at no time shall bituminous concrete curbs be permitted.
A section of the township for which uniform regulations governing
the use, height, area and intensity of use of buildings and land and
open spaces about buildings are herein established.
A building designed or used exclusively or primarily for
the housing of students of an educational institution, faculty, staff
and paying and nonpaying guests utilizing university facilities for
university-sponsored or university-supported activities, which buildings
are owned by the educational institution. The term "dormitory" shall
include, but shall not be limited to, fraternity and sorority houses.
A building designed or used exclusively as the living quarters
for one or more families.
A group of two or more one-family, two-family or multiple-family
dwellings occupying a lot in one ownership and having a yard in common.
A dwelling or group of dwellings on one plot or lot containing
separate living units or dwelling units for three or more families,
but which may have joint services or facilities, or both.
A multiple-family dwelling of more than three stories.
A detached building designed for or occupied exclusively
by one family.
A multiple-family dwelling divided by party walls into distinct
and noncommunicating units, each dwelling unit of which has direct
access to the outdoors.
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families
living independently of each other, with separate dwelling unit entrances.
A building or portion thereof providing one or more rooms
arranged for the use of one or more individuals living together as
a single housekeeping unit and having no cooking or sanitary facilities
in common with any other dwelling unit.
One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption
or three unrelated persons living as a household in a dwelling unit,
except as modified by the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.
Family may also include domestic servants and gratuitous guests.
The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors
of a building or buildings, measured from the exterior faces of exterior
walls or from the center line of common walls separating buildings.
For purposes of determining parking and loading space requirements
for the several zoning districts herein, the floor area of a building
or buildings shall include: basement space, penthouses, attic space
providing structural headroom of seven and one-half feet or more,
interior balconies and mezzanines, enclosed porches, accessory uses
other than accessory off-street parking, lobbies and hallways. For
determination of parking and loading space requirements, the following
areas shall not be included:cellar space, elevator shafts and stairwells,
floor space for mechanical equipment as necessary to service the needs
of the building, uncovered steps, terraces, breezeways, open spaces
unroofed unless specifically required in the parking regulations herein
and fitting and dressing rooms.
The total floor area of the building or buildings on a lot
divided by the area of such lot, or in the case of group dwellings
or multiple dwelling plan, by the net site areas.
An accessory building, housing only motor-driven vehicles,
the property of and for the use of the occupants of the lot on which
the private garage is located.
A building, not a private garage, used for the repair, servicing
and/or storage of motor vehicles, but not to include a marshaling
yard, trucking facility or facility for the storage and repair of
earth moving or construction equipment.
Group home facilities are hereby deemed as a type of residential
use and not as an institutional use. Regulations are adopted in the
interest of protecting the residents of such facilities, to ensure
the residential character of the structure and of the surrounding
neighborhood and to prevent other types of facilities (specifically
nonvoluntary and penal living arrangements) which are likely to be
disruptive to the residential character of the neighborhood from being
classified as a group home.
The floor area of a building or structure which is furnished
to the extent that it is customarily occupied by residents or users
of the buildings or structure.
HOME BUSINESS:
An accessory use of a service character within
a dwelling by residents which is clearly secondary to the use of the
dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof
or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use other than a small
name plate, measuring not more than 144 square inches and in connection
therewith there is not involved the exhibition of stock in trade.
The secondary use shall not be carried on in an adjacent separate,
attached or integral structure not designed for living space such
as a garage or other out building, shall not constitute more than
25% of the habitable living area and shall not employ more than one
other person other than resident family members.
A home business shall be permitted by special exception according to the criteria stated in § 240-104I. Instructions in violin, piano or other musical instruments limited to a single person at a time shall be deemed a home business. The business of dressmaker, seamstress or other persons who offer skilled services to clients, clergyman, tax preparer, consultant, writer and similar professions shall be deemed a home business. The following are not permitted as home businesses: dancing instruction, band instrument instructions in groups, tourist homes, real estate offices, physicians, dentists, architects, attorneys or any other professional, convalescent homes, mortuary establishments, stores, trades or auto body workshops.
HOME OFFICEAn accessory use of a service character within a dwelling by the residents of the structure which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof or have any evidence of such secondary use. A limited business or commercial activity which meets all of the following criteria is considered a home office and is permitted by approval by the Zoning Officer in any dwelling unit:
No exterior evidence (e.g., noise, light, heat,
dust, odor, signs, electromagnetic interference, etc.) of the home
office shall be permitted that is uncharacteristic of a residential
setting.
No retail sales or display of goods, exclusive
of telephone, Internet or other electronic network solicitation, is
permitted.
Only residents of the dwelling may be engaged
in the home office activity.
The home office activity may be conducted only
within the dwelling unit and may not occupy more than 10% of the habitable
floor area.
The use shall not require the delivery of materials
and goods by trucks larger than standard panel trucks
The use shall not involve regular visitations
by customers, clients, salespersons or suppliers.
Includes sanitarium, sanatorium, preventorium, clinic for
the diagnosis, treatment or other care of human ailments and shall
be deemed to be limited to such places. This term shall also include
the term "medical facility."
A building in which lodging is provided and offered to the
public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from
rooms is made from an inside lobby or office supervised by a person
in charge at all hours and which is open to transient quests, in contradistinction
to a boardinghouse, lodging house or rooming house.
A building in which lodging is provided and offered to the
transient public for compensation and in which egress and ingress
to and from rooms may be made either through an inside lobby or office
supervised by a person in charge at all times or directly from the
exterior.
The right-of-way obtained for the installation of the cartway
of said road or street adjacent to the property in question. Said
right-of-way shall not include rights-of-way obtained for other purposes
including, but not limited to, retention ponds, required slope grading
or directional signs.
[Added 12-16-2013 by Ord. No. 327]
A space within a main building or on the same lot therewith
providing for the standing, loading or unloading of vehicles.
A parcel of land on which a principal building or, where
authorized by this chapter, a unified group of buildings are or may
be placed, together with the required open space. The use of a lot
for more than one principal building shall be considered a subdivision,
and the use of a lot for a unified group of buildings shall be considered
a land development; the plan for any such use shall be subject to
approval in accordance with the Township of Richland Subdivision and
Land Development Ordinance.[2] For the purposes of these definitions, unified group of
buildings shall include a single commercial building designed to house
more than one commercial use or entity and shall include also a multidwelling
group.
A lot at the point of intersection of and abutting on two
or more intersecting streets and which has an interior angle of less
than 135º at the intersection of two street lines.
The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and
the rear lot line, measured midway between the side lot lines.
A lot other than a corner lot or a through lot.
In the case of an interior lot, the line separating the lot
from the street right-of-way line. In the case of a corner lot, the
line separating the narrowest frontage of the lot from the street
right-of-way line.
A lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel
streets and which is not a corner lot.
The dimension of a lot, measured between the side lot lines
on the building line.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, office or place of assembly contained in one unit or in
two units designed to be jointed into one integral unit capable of
again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site
complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking
and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used without
a permanent foundation.
A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the
necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for
the erection thereon of a single mobile home, which is leased by the
park owner to the occupants of the mobile home erected on the lot.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use
consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
See "hotel, motor."
A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed
to comply with the applicable use provisions in a 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.
A use, whether of land or of structure, which does not comply
with the applicable use provisions in a 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.
A school designed to provide daytime care or instruction
for two or more children of preschool age.
Facilities designed for the housing, boarding and dining
associated with some level of nursing care.
Any lot, parcel or yard used in whole or in part for the
storage or parking of two or more vehicles where such usage is not
incidental to or in conjunction with a one-family dwelling.
An off-street space available for the parking of one motor
vehicle and having a width of not less than nine feet and a length
of not less than 20 feet, exclusive of passageways and driveways appurtenant
thereto, and given access thereto and having direct access to a street,
alley, passageway or driveway.
The Planning Commission of Richland Township appointed pursuant to Chapter 42, Planning Commission, of the Richland Township Code.
Publicly owned elementary. junior high or high schools or
privately owned elementary, junior high or high schools having a curriculum
similar to that ordinarily given in a publicly owned school, but which
may also include religious or other instruction.
Any establishment where horses are kept for riding, driving,
stabling for compensation or incidental to the operation of any club,
association, ranch or similar establishment.
A business that provides home-type washing, drying or ironing
machines or dry-cleaning machines for hire to be used by customers
on the premises.
A building(s), premises or portions thereof which are used,
arranged, designed or intended to be used for the retail sale of gasoline
or other fuel for motor vehicles, boats or aircraft, as well as for
minor automobile repair, including state inspection.
An adult arcade, adult book store, adult novelty store, adult video store, adult cabaret, place of adult entertainment, adult theater, escort agency, massage establishment, nude model studio or sexual encounter center, as further defined in Chapter 71, Adult Entertainment, of the Richland Township Code.
Any surface, fabric or device bearing lettered, pictorial,
sculptured or other matter designed to convey information visually
and exposed to public view; any structure designed to carry the above
visual information; and any structure or device designed or installed
principally to direct or attract attention, except traffic signs or
devices.
A drawing prepared to scale which indicates all lot lines, adjacent streets, easements, rights-of-way, the size and location of all buildings, including setbacks, parking areas, driveways, and other prominent features, and a list of all reference drawings with their drawing numbers. The engineering site plan shall be prepared by a registered architect, professional engineer or registered surveyor and approved by the Township Planning Commission in accordance with § 240-19 prior to the start of construction.
An accessory building in which horses are kept for riding,
driving, stabling for private use and not for hire or sale.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there
is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling
next above it.
A public street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway,
parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or intended
to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians.
The edge or side limit line of the legal right-of-way of
a road or street.
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires
location on the ground or attachment to something having location
on the ground.
A publicly or privately owned post-secondary educational
institution which offers, at a minimum, bachelor of arts or bachelor
of science degrees. The term "university" shall include college.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged, intended or for which it may be occupied or maintained.
The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to
include any nonconforming use.
A space on the same lot with a principal building, open,
unoccupied and unobstructed by structures, except as otherwise provided
in this chapter.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, unoccupied
other than by steps, walks, terraces, driveways, lampposts, overhanging
eaves or gutters, the depth of which is the least distance between
the lot line and the building line.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot between
the rear of the principal building and the rear lot line, unoccupied
by other than accessory buildings which do not occupy more than 30%
of the space, and steps, walks, terraces, driveways, lampposts, overhanging
eaves, gutters, cornices and similar structures and the depth of which
is the least distance between the rear lot line and the rear of such
building.
A yard between the principal building and the side lot line,
extending the full depth of the lot, exclusive of steps, walks, terraces,
driveways, lampposts, overhanging eaves, gutters, cornices and similar
structures. The width of the required side yard is measured horizontally
and at 90º with the side lot line from the nearest part of the
principal building.
Under the provisions of this chapter the Zoning Administrator,
who shall be appointed by the Township Supervisors, shall administer
and enforce this chapter, including the receiving of applications,
the inspection of premises and the issuing of permits. The Zoning
Administrator may also from time to time be referred to as the" Zoning
Officer."
A statement issued by and signed by the Zoning Officer authorizing
the use or construction of a structure and indicating on its face
that the proposed use or structure complies with this chapter or with
a decision and order of the Zoning Hearing Board or a court of competent
jurisdiction, rendered in connection with an application relative
to use of the premises involved. No approval shall be issued for any
use or construction unless the applicant shall submit written proof
that the designated authorities have granted approval of required
sanitary sewage and water facilities.
