A.
Certain uses are permitted within the Township as
conditional uses under the several articles of this chapter. By so
providing, the Board of Supervisors recognizes that these uses may
or may not be appropriate at every location within any specific district,
and where it appears that a conditional use fails to comply with all
of the definitional aspects thereof or would be contrary to the public
health, safety, morals or welfare of the community at a specific location
within a district, then the use would not there be permitted.
B.
It is the intention that these uses shall first be
reviewed by the Planning Commission and then shall be subjected to
public hearing by the Board of Supervisors, prior to the grant or
denial thereof. It is further intended that all standards for conditional
uses hereinafter set forth shall, where relevant, apply to all conditional
uses within the Township and are deemed definitional in character
so that the failure to comply with any standards shall be deemed a
failure to bring the applicant within that definitional aspect for
which a conditional use may be granted; or in the discretion of the
Board of Supervisors, such failure to comply with the standards may
be deemed a basis for the imposition of appropriate conditions to
such grant. The burden of meeting the standards herein shall rest
with the applicant.
C.
It is further the intention of the Board of Supervisors
that the standards hereinafter described shall be deemed additional
standards and shall in no way impair any other applicable standard
described elsewhere in this chapter. Where there is a conflict between
the standards set forth in this article and other standards established
by this chapter or other applicable ordinances, it is intended that
the more stringent thereof shall apply, and it is not the intent of
this article to abrogate or impair any other such standards or requirements.
The lot and yard requirements described in the
several zoning districts shall be the initial minimum lot and yard
standards with respect to the conditional uses sought within the respective
districts. However, where owing to the particular nature of the proposed
conditional use or the particular conditions and circumstances at
the proposed location, more stringent area and yard requirements are
necessary in the judgment of the Board of Supervisors in order to
properly protect the public health, safety, morals and welfare of
the community, the Board of Supervisors may impose reasonable additional
area and yard requirements as conditions to the grant of an application
for a conditional use or may deny such conditional use on the basis
that and to the extent that such use permitted within the area and
yard requirements of the application would violate any other specific
standard hereinafter or elsewhere enumerated.
A.
Additional standards for conditional uses. In granting
or denying a conditional use or establishing conditions with reference
to such grants, the following standards, where relevant, shall be
applied. The burden of establishing compliance with all of the hereinafter
enumerated standards shall be upon the applicant.
(1)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the use intended at the location intended shall not be contrary
to the public health.
(2)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the use intended at the location intended shall not be contrary
to the public safety.
(3)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the use intended at the location intended shall not be contrary
to the public morals.
(4)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the use intended at the location intended shall not be contrary
to the public welfare.
(5)
The applicant shall establish by a traffic study prepared
by a traffic engineer that the capacity of the road network providing
access to the premises in question, when the incremental increase
in traffic attributable to the proposed use is superimposed upon the
existing use of the road network, shall not result in a level of service
of the roads or any portions thereof below level of Service C (Highway
Capacity Manual, Highway Research Board, 1965, as revised).
(6)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the interior traffic circulation for the proposed use at the
proposed location, including but not limited to acceleration and deceleration
lanes where required at the proposed entrances to the location, shall
be adequate to provide safe convenient circulation for users of the
facility, visitors to the facility, employees of the facility and
all emergency vehicles that may require entrance thereon.
(7)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that the facility provides safe and convenient pedestrian access and
internal circulation within the grounds of the facility and particularly
for points of access from the facility to the parking areas.
(8)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that adequate screening is provided between the lands in question
and the surrounding residential uses and residentially zoned districts
to screen the facility from view and preclude any glare from lighting
or noise from being ascertainable beyond the boundaries of the property.
(9)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence,
which shall include but not be limited to a certificate from the Chief
of a fire company providing services to the facility, that the said
company has adequate facilities to reach the highest points of the
building with ladders and hoses or, in the alternative, that such
facilities satisfactory to the fire company will be provided by the
owner or operators of the facility.
(10)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that adequate domestic water supply and adequate water storage is
available at the facility for fire-fighting purposes, without impairing
the uses of the water supply for ordinary purposes on the premises,
and shall be in compliance with all applicable governmental regulations.
The evidence shall include but not be limited to a water supply plan,
a fire plan and a certificate of the adequacy of both, executed by
the Chief of the fire company providing services to the facility,
and the plans shall be prepared and certified as correct by a registered
professional engineer and approved by the Township Engineer.
(11)
Where the facility's operation and purpose,
in the opinion of the Board of Supervisors, require supervision and
protection, the applicant shall establish by credible evidence, the
adequacy of security and supervision, including but not limited to
information of an adequate supervisor-inmate, -student or -patient
ratio and such other evidence as may be required to establish this
condition to the satisfaction of the Board of Supervisors.
(12)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
the adequacy of public sanitary sewer facilities, the availability
of capacity within the public sanitary sewer facility to service the
proposed development or construction or lack of actual or planned
public sanitary sewer facilities to service the proposed development
or construction.
(13)
The applicant shall establish by credible evidence
that there will be no increase in surface water runoff at the boundaries
of the facility beyond that runoff presently existing. There shall
not be a point discharge of water into an adjacent property.
B.
The standards required in this section or elsewhere
within this chapter shall be deemed a part of the definitional aspect
under which a conditional use may be granted, and the failure of the
applicant to establish his compliance with all of the standards shall,
in the discretion of the Board of Supervisors, be deemed either a
basis for the establishing of conditions or limitations on an approval
or the basis for a determination that the applicant has not brought
himself within the definitional use for which a conditional use may
be granted.
C.
The Board of Supervisors may also require that the
applicant for a conditional use clearly establish by credible evidence
that:
(1)
The proposed conditional use is not and will not be
affected by any floodplain or flood hazard.
(2)
Any easements or rights-of-way required of the conditional
use are available.
(3)
The fiscal impact upon Township and School District
revenues and service roles will be positive.
(4)
There is no other viable alternative site within Skippack
Township for the proposed conditional use.
A.
The rules of procedure for the filing and processing
of conditional use applications, as well as the fees to be charged
therefor, shall be established by the Board of Supervisors by resolution
and may be amended by the Board of Supervisors by resolution.
B.
The conduct of the public hearing and all related
activities shall comply with the provisions of the PA MPC.
C.
Time limitation for conditional uses.
(1)
Time limit. Unless otherwise specified in the decision of the Board of Supervisors or subject to Subsection C(1)(b) below, a conditional use approved by the Board of Supervisors shall be valid for a period of six months after the date of approval. However, if a conditional use approval must be followed by subdivision or land development approvals, the Board of Supervisors may extend this requirement for up to 12 additional months.
(a)
Any conditional use which has not been acted
upon by the issuance of a building permit within such time specified
above shall lapse and become void and of no effect.
(b)
In those instances where land development or
subdivision approval is a necessary prerequisite prior to obtaining
a building permit, the conditional use shall expire if the applicant
fails to make a diligent effort to obtain such approval within six
months following the date of conditional use approval. Upon receipt
of land development approval, the conditional use shall expire if
a building permit is not obtained within six months of the date of
land development approval.
[Amended 1-5-2009 by Ord. No. 325]
(2)
Procedures when conditional use has lapsed. The owner
or holder of such conditional use which has lapsed must reapply to
the Township in the same manner as new applicants for such relief.
