The purpose of establishing the CR Residential
District is to:
A.
Encourage the logical and timely development of land
for high-density residential purposes.
B.
Permit a variety of housing on the landscape.
C.
Assure the suitable design of high-density dwellings
in order to protect the surrounding environment of adjacent and nearby
neighborhoods.
D.
Ensure that the development will constitute a residential
environment of sustained desirability and stability and not produce
a volume of traffic in excess of the capacity for which access streets
are designed.
A.
In a CR Residential District, a building may be erected, altered or used and a lot or premises may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other; provided, however, that the requirements of § 205-37 are met:
B.
Parking. Off-street automobile parking, as required
in this article, shall not be leased but shall be for the sole use
of the occupants of the building and the visitors thereto.
[Amended 3-26-2019 by Ord. No. 583]
No building shall exceed the height of 35 feet
measured from the mean level of the ground surrounding the building
to a point midway between the highest and lowest points of the roof,
provided that chimneys, spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks,
pent walls, and similar projections shall not be included in calculating
the height, nor shall any building exceed three stories, exclusive
of basements.
A.
Area of district. Not less than a five-acre lot shall
be provided for every area to be used in whole or in part as a CR
Residential District development.
B.
For the purposes of calculating density, all land
is defined as developable acreage except that which is reserved for
right-of-way or ultimate right-of-way. In cases where the newly developed
street system is to be retained in private ownership and not to be
dedicated as right-of-way to the Township, the length of streets in
feet will be multiplied by 50 feet to determine an equivalent area
to right-of-way, and this area will be excluded along with any actual
right-of-way from the developable acreage used in calculating density.
C.
Density. The total number of dwelling units shall be in accordance with Subsection E of this section and shall not exceed:
D.
Parking.
(1)
Not less than two off-street automobile parking spaces
shall be required for each dwelling unit. Such parking areas may be
designed as a court or separate driveway as deemed suitable by the
Township Supervisors.
(2)
A garage shall not be counted as a parking space.
In constructing off-lot parking areas, no more than 10 adjoining parking
spaces shall be permitted. A landscaped area 10 feet by 20 feet shall
be required to separate these areas.
F.
Building size. No building or combination of adjacent
dwelling units shall exceed a total length of 200 feet.
G.
All dwelling units must have a minimum living area
of 650 square feet, excluding garage.
H.
Setbacks. In an unlotted development, all requirements
must be met as if the development were lotted, including the following
minimum building setbacks:
(1)
From the development boundary line: 40 feet.
(2)
From a road ultimate right-of-way line: 40 feet.
(3)
From a privately owned street: 25 feet to the curb of the privately
owned street.
[Amended 2-28-2017 by Ord. No. 571]
(4)
For
lotted developments where access is gained through a newly developed
street system to be retained in private ownership and not dedicated
as right-of-way to the Township, the minimum building setback from
the curb of the privately owned street shall be 35 feet.
[Added 3-26-2019 by Ord.
No. 583]
A.
Utilities. All dwelling units within the CR Residential
District shall be served by a public sanitary sewage disposal system
and by public water supply facilities. All utility lines (electric,
telephone, etc.) serving the CR Residential Districts developed subsequent
to the enactment of this chapter shall be placed underground.
C.
Access. Plans evidencing provision for safe and efficient
ingress and egress to and from the public streets and highways serving
the CR Residential District without causing undue confusion or interference
with the normal traffic flow shall be submitted to the Board of Supervisors
and must be approved by the Township Engineer, who shall make the
determination by concerning himself with the adequacy of the thoroughfare
to carry the additional traffic generated by the CR Residential District
as well as to the street frontage of the proposed district.
D.
Common areas and facilities.
(1)
A plan for the provision of certain facilities serving
the entire development, including but not limited to parking, interior
pedestrianways, driveways, lighting facilities, landscape planting
areas, buffers, open space and facilities and like items, is hereby
required by the Board of Supervisors. Provisions satisfactory to the
Board of Supervisors must be made for the perpetual maintenance and
care of all such common areas and facilities as well as the perpetual
maintenance of building exteriors. Adequate provisions for such perpetual
maintenance may include but shall not be limited to condominiums,
cooperatives, cross easements and restrictions.
(2)
Not less than 20% of the developable acres of the
site shall be maintained in nonvehicular common open space and shall
preserve or incorporate natural features such as woods, streams and
other amenities. Areas required for permanent detention basins for
stormwater management control shall not be considered part of the
required open space.
(3)
In addition to the above requirements, in developments
with 12 or more acres, common open space must be established which
is conveniently located for use by residents and which preserves and
protects environmentally sensitive features. The following requirements
must be met:
(a)
The shape of common open space areas shall not
preclude passive and/or active recreation uses. Lands shall be deemed
appropriate for permanent common open space if they contain any or
all of the following characteristics:
[1]
Lands subject to periodic flooding and delineated
as alluvial soil by the Soil Conservation Service, United States Department
of Agriculture, in the Soil Survey of Montgomery County, 1967, including
areas contained within the Floodplain Conservation District established
by this East Norriton Township Zoning Ordinance.
[2]
Lands designated as special flood hazard areas
on the Federal Insurance Administration Flood Hazard Boundary Map
of the Township of East Norriton, prepared by the Federal Insurance
Administration of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
[3]
Lands possessing slopes in excess of 15% as
delineated by the Soil Conservation Service, United States Department
of Agriculture, in the Soil Survey of Montgomery County, 1967.
[4]
Woodlands.
[5]
Lands comprising the landscape entity of historic
sites.
[6]
Lands suitable for active recreational uses
such as baseball, football and soccer, provided that the area used
is large enough to accommodate such activity without interfering with
dwelling units, parking, driveways and roads.
(b)
Whenever possible, common open space areas shall
be designed as a continuous system of usable areas which are interspersed
among groupings of residential dwelling units and shall be interconnected
with common open space areas on abutting parcels wherever possible.
(c)
Required open space may not include areas with
a horizontal dimension less than 75 feet and shall not comprise an
area containing less than 11,000 contiguous square feet.
(d)
Safe and easy access to common open space areas
shall be provided either by adjoining public road frontage, public
easements or paths. To the greatest extent possible, the common open
space areas shall not extend across public and/or private roads. Sufficient
perimeter parking shall be provided when necessary.
(e)
Accessways to the common open space areas shall
be sufficiently wide so that maintenance equipment will have convenient
access to said areas.
(f)
Fuel, power and other utility lines, whether
underground or overhead, shall comprise no more than 40% of the required
common open space area. Furthermore, land within utility corridors
may be used for common open space purposes only if the utility companies
possessing legal rights to these corridors do not prohibit their use
for such purposes.
(g)
If land set aside and permanently preserved
for common open space is to be publicly owned, the development plan
must include by dedication, or by any other reasonable means, the
total park area at the time of filing of final plan on all or any
portion of the tract or tracts.
(h)
Developments with reserved common land.
[1]
If common land is reserved for private open
space or recreational use, it shall be held in corporate ownership
by the owners of the dwelling units within the development and such
other nearby landowners who may wish to become members of the corporation
(in which case the common land may be restricted to members of the
corporation as said corporation itself may decide). The deed, title
or other legal instrument of transfer to the owners of the dwelling
units shall include a beneficial right in the use of common land.
[2]
For developments containing rental dwelling
units with common land reserved for private open space or recreational
use, the development owner (landlord) shall provide the tenants a
beneficial right in the use of the common land.
[3]
For developments containing both dwelling units
for sale and for rent with common land reserved for private open space
or recreational use, the common land shall be held in corporate ownership
by the owner of the rental dwelling units and the owners of the individual
dwelling units within the development and such other nearby landowners
who may wish to become members of the corporation (in which case the
common land may be restricted to members of the corporation as said
corporation itself may decide). The deed, title or other legal instrument
of transfer to the owners of the dwelling units and the lease for
the tenants of the rental units shall include a beneficial right in
the use of the common land.
(i)
The maintenance of common land for private open
space or recreational use shall be guaranteed by trust indenture approved
by the Board of Supervisors and shall be held with the Recorder of
Deeds of Montgomery County simultaneously with the recording of the
final plan of the subdivision. Such common land shall be set aside
by deed restrictions for a minimum period of 90 years.
E.
Lighting facilities. Lighting facilities shall be
provided as required by the Board of Supervisors and arranged in a
manner which will protect the highway and neighboring properties from
unreasonable direct glare or hazardous interference of any kind. Lighting
facilities shall be required where deemed necessary for the safety
and convenience of the CR Residential District and shall be installed
by the developer in districts developed subsequent to the enactment
of this chapter.
In districts proposed to be developed subsequent
to the enactment of and in accordance with this chapter, a general
plan for the CR Residential District shall be submitted to the Township
Supervisors and shall include evidence and facts showing that it has
considered and made provision for, and the development shall be executed
in accordance with, the following essential conditions:
A.
The proposed development shall consider the surrounding
land features of the area, including but not limited to residences,
schools, parks, other reservations, streets and location and arrangement
of parking spaces, local and regional business areas and shopping
centers, densities proposed for surrounding areas and other such features
as shall contribute to the harmonious development of the area, with
due regard to the character of the neighborhood and its peculiar suitability
for this type of use.
B.
The proposed development shall be constructed in accordance
with an overall plan and shall be designed as a unified architectural
unit with appropriate landscaping.
(1)
If the development of the CR Residential District
is to be carried out in stages, each stage shall be so planned that
the foregoing requirements and the intent of this chapter shall be
fully complied with at the completion of any stage.
(2)
In districts developed subsequent to the enactment
of this chapter, the developer shall be required where possible to
preserve or incorporate natural features, such as woods, streams and
open space areas, which add to the overall cohesive development of
the CR Residential District and overall community development. However,
all conditions deemed hazardous by the East Norriton Township Board
of Supervisors, including natural feature hazards, are to be eliminated,
or all precautions deemed appropriate by the Board of Supervisors
to reduce the hazard are to be provided by the developer.
C.
The area shall be adaptable to community development,
being located in relation to major thoroughfares, streets, railroads,
public transportation, shopping or other facilities, and as far as
possible shall have within or through it no major thoroughfare or
other physical feature which will tend to destroy the neighborhood
or community cohesiveness.
D.
Procedural requirements.
(1)
All procedural requirements of Chapter 175, Subdivision and Land Development, shall be adhered to.
(2)
Additional information to be shown. The following information shall be shown on plans submitted for approval in addition to those requirements of Chapter 175, Subdivision and Land Development:
(a)
The floor area (in square feet) of dwelling
units.
(b)
The number of bedrooms per dwelling unit.
(c)
The total number of dwelling units.
(d)
The total number of acres in the proposed plan.
(e)
The total number of all off-street parking spaces.
(f)
The exterior vertical and horizontal building
dimensions.
(g)
The ground area of buildings by acres and by
percentage of land coverage.
(h)
The buffer area by acres and by percentage of
land coverage.
(i)
Areas for common use by acres and by percentage
of land coverage.
(j)
Areas to be dedicated by acres and by percentage
of land coverage.
E.
Distance between buildings. For developments where the individual lot requirements are not applicable under § 205-38E, and in the case of two or more buildings, the horizontal distance between any two buildings shall not be less than:
(1)
For any two exterior facing walls, the buildings of
which are oriented front to front, front to rear or rear to rear,
the minimum distance apart shall be 50 feet.
All construction in this district whether or
not lotted, shall conform to the requirements of the district, regardless
of ownership.
