For the purposes of this chapter, the following rules of usage
and interpretation shall apply, unless the context indicates otherwise.
In the interpretation of this chapter, the provisions and rules of
this chapter shall be observed and applied, except when the context
clearly requires otherwise.
A.
Words in the present tense include the future.
B.
Words in the singular include the plural, and the plural the singular.
C.
The word "shall" is intended to be mandatory.
D.
The word "lot" shall include the word "plot" or "parcel."
E.
The word "person" includes a firm, company, corporation, partnership,
trust, organization or association, as well as an individual.
F.
A building or structure includes any part thereof.
G.
The word "and" indicates that all connected items, conditions, provisions
or events shall apply.
H.
The word "or" indicates that the connected items, conditions, provisions
or events may apply singly or in any combination.
I.
The words "either . . . or" indicate that the connected items, conditions,
provisions or events may apply singly but not in any combination.
J.
The word "Borough" means the Borough of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.
K.
The word "county" means the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
L.
Any use of the gender-specific words (his, hers, him, her) shall
imply both genders.
M.
In case of any difference of meaning or implication between the text
of this chapter and any caption, illustration or table, the text shall
control.
N.
When a word or phrase is not specifically defined in this chapter
or referenced in another chapter, then the common meaning of the word
or phrase, or the definition contained in Webster's Dictionary,
most current version, shall apply.
When used in this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless expressly stated otherwise or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise (for definitions related to signs, see Article VII):
A structure the use of which is customarily accessory to
and incidental to that of the principal structure and which is located
on the same lot.
Property that is contiguous with, or directly across a public
street or other right-of-way from, the boundaries of any side of the
subject property.
Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein
coin-operated, slug-operated, or for any form of consideration, or
electronically, electrically, or mechanically controlled still or
motion-picture machines, projectors, videos, or other image-producing
devices are maintained, not located within viewing booths, to show
images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where
the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by the
depicting or describing of specified sexual activities or specified
anatomical areas.
Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs,
films, motion pictures, videocassettes or video reproductions, slides,
CD ROM or DVD discs or other computer software, or other visual representations
which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Instruments, devices, or paraphernalia which are designed for
use in connection with specified sexual activities.
Any commercial establishment, including but not limited to adult
bookstores, adult motion-picture theaters, adult mini motion-picture
theaters, adult entertainment cabaret, adult arcade or other adult
entertainment establishments, in which is offered for sale as a substantial
or significant portion of its stock-in-trade videocassettes, movies,
books, magazines, or other periodicals or other media which are distinguished
or characterized by their emphasis on nudity or sexual conduct or
activities which if presented in live presentation would constitute
adult entertainment;
Any commercial establishment that offers for a consideration
physical contact in the form of wrestling or tumbling between persons
of the opposite sex;
Any commercial establishment that offers for a consideration
activities between male and female persons and/or persons of the same
sex when one or more persons are nude or seminude; and
Any commercial establishment that offers for a consideration
nude human modeling. An establishment shall include any of the following:
The opening or commencement of any sexually oriented business
as a new business.
The conversion of an existing business, whether or not a sexually
oriented business, to any sexually oriented business.
The addition of any sexually oriented business to any other
existing sexually oriented business or to a non-sexually oriented
business.
The relocation of any sexually oriented business.
A nightclub, bar, restaurant, or other commercial establishment
which regularly features:
Persons who appear in a state of nudity or seminudity.
Live performances which are characterized by the exposure of
specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities.
Films, motion pictures, videocassettes, DVDs, slides, or other
photographic reproductions or visual presentations of any other kind
which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
An enclosed building or structure offering video presentations
or other visual media distinguished or characterized by an emphasis
or matter depicting, describing, or relating to "sexual activities"
or "nudity," as defined herein, for observation by patrons within
private viewing booths.
A commercial establishment where, for any form of consideration,
films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, or similar photographic
reproductions or visual presentations of any kind are regularly shown
which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
A theater, concert hall, auditorium, or similar commercial
establishment which regularly features persons who appear in a state
of nudity or seminudity, or live performances which are characterized
by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual
activities.
A use that permits the consumption of alcoholic beverages
by five or more unrelated persons between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and
6:00 a.m. and that involves some form of monetary compensation paid
by such persons for the alcohol or for the use of the premises.
Activities including, but not limited to, livestock and poultry
raising; field, row and tree crops; forest and tree products; the
sale of products produced on the premises; and other customary farm
structures. Not included are farm-oriented commercial or industrial
activities or operations, such as food or livestock processing plants,
holding pens, slaughterhouses, or similar uses which handle products
not produced on the immediate premises.
Any area of land or water, whether of public or private ownership,
designed and set aside for the landing and taking off of aircraft,
including all contiguous property that is held or used for airport
purposes.
A public or private right-of-way which has a width of 15
feet or less and which is designed to provide secondary access to
a lot or lots.
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.
An oval or round structure having tiers of seats rising gradually
outward from a central open space or arena.
Any mechanical, electrical or electromechanical device, machine
or apparatus whatsoever for the playing of games and amusements, which
devices or apparatus are commonly known as "pinball machines," "video
games" and "jukeboxes," or upon which games are played, or any device
on which music is played after the insertion therein of a coin or
other disc, slug or token or for which fees are paid to an attendant.
An establishment existing primarily for entertainment purposes
and offering rides and exhibitions for a fee.
Any site containing at least one burial, marked or previously
marked, dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent
burial of animals.
A facility that cares for pet animals for less than 12 consecutive
hours in the absence of the pet owner or a facility that cares for
pet animals in training with or without the facility owner receiving
compensation for such services (see also "kennel").
A place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical
treatment and the boarding of animals is limited to short-term care
incidental to the hospital use (also see "kennel").
The American National Standards Institute.
An exterior device or apparatus designed for cellular, digital,
telephone, radio, pager, commercial mobile radio, television, microwave
or any other wireless communications through the sending and/or receiving
of electromagnetic waves, including, without limitation, omnidirectional
or whip antennas and directional or panel antennas. Unless otherwise
stated, this term shall not include a standard antenna.
The vertical distance from the base of the antenna support
structure at grade to the highest point of the structure, including
any antennas attached thereto or forming a part thereof. If the support
structure is on a sloped grade, then the average between the highest
and lowest grades shall be used in calculating the antenna height.
A device, partially or wholly exterior to a building, that
is used for receiving television or radio signals for use on site
or for transmitting shortwave or citizens band radio signals. See
also "commercial communications tower or antenna."
A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has
filed an application for development including his heirs, successors
and assigns.
Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final,
required to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or
development, including but not limited to an application for a building
permit, for the approval of a subdivision plat or plan or for the
approval of a development plan.
The visible, functional, or ornamental objects accessory
to and part of buildings.
The farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans,
mollusks and aquatic plants.
An architect registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The total horizontal plane area of the building from outside
wall to outside wall. This is exclusive of patios and stairways.
The total area of the lot or lots comprising a site.
The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute.
A structure, or part thereof, devoted to the exhibition of
visual works of fine art. Art galleries generally include accessory
services, such as the sale or purchase of displayed works, custom
framing or encasement of art works and services related to art appraisal,
display, preservation or restoration.
Any premises in which food, shelter, assisted living services,
assistance or supervision and supplemental health care services are
provided for a period exceeding 24 hours for four or more adults who
are not relatives of the operator, who require assistance or supervision
in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial management,
evacuation from the residence in the event of an emergency or medication
prescribed for self-administration.
The American Society for Testing and Materials.
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[1]
Any building, premises, or land in which or upon which a
business or individual performs or renders a service involving the
detailing and servicing of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Detailing
and servicing shall include any cleaning, buffing, striping, glass
replacement, and audio installation or repair. Automobile detail shall
not include any service defined as "automobile repair."
Any building, premises, and land in which or upon which a
business, service, or industry performs or renders a service involving
the maintenance, servicing, repair, or painting of vehicles, not including
commercial motor vehicle repair.
A place for preparing, baking and selling baked goods and
products prepared on the premises.
That portion of a building which is partly or completely,
or having a floor, below grade on all sides.
An owner-occupied single-family dwelling that contains not
more than five guest bedrooms in which lodging, long- or short-term,
is provided for compensation and in which meals for lodgers may also
be provided. This use shall not include group homes.
Any person or establishment engaged in the sale of beverages
to the public where no consumption or only minor consumption incidental
to the principal use of the site is permitted. Taverns, bars and restaurants
that serve alcohol are not considered beverage distributors. Grocery
stores, six-pack shops and similar establishments that sell beverages
and that may permit consumption on site shall be considered a beverage
distributor. Beverage distributors may include any manufacturer who
engages in these sales at the location where the beverage is manufactured.
Any body granted jurisdiction under a land use ordinance
or by the PA MPC to render final adjudications.[2]
A building other than a hotel where lodging is provided for
compensation.
A retail establishment devoted primarily to selling or renting
any of the following: newspapers, magazines, books, and other printed
material and video recordings.
The Borough of Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, PA.
A freestanding support structure, attached antenna, and related
equipment intended for transmitting, receiving or retransmitting commercial
television, radio, telephone, cellular or other telecommunication
services.
A landscaped area of a certain depth specified by this chapter
which shall be planted and maintained in trees, grass, ground cover,
shrubs, bushes or other natural landscaping material or an existing
natural or constructed natural barrier which duplicates the effect
of the required buffer area.
A structure used for sheltering any use or occupancy.
The Wilkinsburg Borough Uniform Construction Code Ordinance.[3]
That portion of any exterior elevation on the building extending
from finished grade to top of the parapet, wall, or eaves and the
entire width of the building elevation.
The wall of the building where the principal entrance is
located, usually fronting on a public street.
A line parallel to the street right-of-way line at a distance
there from equal to the depth of the front yard required for the zoning
district in which the lot is located. No portion of any building shall
encroach over the building line except as otherwise permitted in this
chapter.
A permit for activities regulated by the Uniform Construction
Code as adopted by Wilkinsburg Borough, including construction, alteration,
repair, demolition or an addition to a structure.
The building or buildings on a lot in which the principal
use or uses are conducted.
That portion of a street or alley intended for vehicular
use.
A structure where chairs, conveyors, blowers, steam cleaners,
or other mechanical devices are used for the purpose of washing motor
vehicles and where the operation is generally performed by an attendant.
A structure where the washing, drying, and polishing of vehicles
is generally on a self-service basis without the use of chain conveyors,
blowers, steam cleaning, or other mechanical devices.
Any site containing at least one burial, marked or previously
marked, dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent
interment of the human dead, including perpetual care and non-perpetual
care cemeteries.
A building or buildings, other than a dwelling, used primarily
as a place of worship on a regular basis by a religious denomination
that may also include, as accessory uses, rooms for religious education,
social and recreational activities and administrative offices, rectories,
parsonages, convents, preschool programs and elderly or child day-care
centers.
A public or private not-for-profit use, such as a meeting
hall, fire station, mail facility, post office, school, church, library,
museum or other like-type place, that is a community facility.
Natural wood that has been seasoned to reduce its water content
and provide more efficient combustion. The term "clean wood" does
not include wood coated with paint, stain, oil, resin or any other
preservative, fire retardant or decorative materials; impregnated
with preservatives or fire retardants; exposed to salt water; nor
manufactured with the use of adhesives, polymers or resins, such as
strand, particle and veneer lumber and recycled lumber.
A triangular area of unobstructed vision as defined by PennDot
Publication No. 70M, Guidelines for the Design of Local Roads and
Streets.
A mechanism for heat exchange which consists of the following
basic elements: underground loops of piping; heat transfer fluid;
a heat pump; an air distribution system. An opening is made in the
earth. A series of pipes is installed into the opening and connected
to a heat exchange system in the building. The pipes form a closed
loop and are filled with a heat transfer fluid. The fluid is circulated
through the piping from the opening into the heat exchanger and back.
The system functions in the same manner as the open loop system except
there is no pumping of groundwater. A horizontal closed loop system
shall be no more than 20 feet deep.
A borehole that extends beneath the surface. Pipes are installed
with U-bends at the bottom of the borehole. The pipes are connected
to the heat exchanger and heat transfer fluid is circulated through
the pipes.
A development design technique used in planned residential
development that concentrates buildings on a part of the site to allow
the remaining land to be used for recreation, common open space, and
preservation of environmentally sensitive areas.
The placement and arrangement of multiple antenna and equipment
on a single support structure and equipment pad area.
A structure, partially or wholly exterior to a building,
used for transmitting or retransmitting electronic signals through
the air and that does not meet the definition of a "standard antenna."
Commercial communications antennas shall include, but are not limited
to, antennas used for transmitting commercial radio or television
signals, or to receive such signals for a cable system, or to retransmit
wireless telecommunications. A commercial communications tower shall
be a structure over 30 feet in height that is primarily intended to
support one or more antenna. This term shall not include a standard
antenna.
Any building, premises, and land in which or upon which a
business, service, or industry performs or renders a service involving
the maintenance, servicing, repair, or painting of a commercial motor
vehicle.
An establishment operated by a profit-making corporation,
partnership or other business entity for the pursuit of sports, amusement
and recreational activities, available to the general public for a
fee, where the principal use is conducted entirely within a completely
enclosed building, including but not limited to such principal uses
as health or racquet and/or swim clubs, fitness centers, roller or
ice rinks, karate schools, gymnasiums, arenas, sports courts or playing
fields, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, virtual reality and simulation
gaming parlors, billiard parlors, shooting ranges, dance halls, live
or motion-picture theaters, but not including any adult business.
An establishment operated by a profit-making corporation,
partnership or other business entity for the pursuit of sports, amusement
and recreational activities, available to the general public for a
fee, where the principal use is outdoors, but which may include accessory
uses that are indoors, including but not limited to such principal
uses as miniature golf courses, golf or batting practice facilities,
ice rinks, roller blade parks, swimming pools, sports playing fields,
ballparks, stadiums, amphitheaters, drive-in theaters, amusement parks,
racetracks and similar facilities.
A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water or a combination
of land and water within a development site and designed and intended
for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including
streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public
facilities.
Any structure, whether freestanding or attached to a building,
designed to support multiple communications antennas, including monopole,
self-supporting and guyed towers and one or more of the following
mounts for antennas: rotatable platform, fixed platform, multipoint
or side-arm mounts and pipe mounts for microwave dish antennas.
The Comprehensive Plan of the Borough which guides the physical
development of the Borough and which consists of maps, charts and
textual matter in accordance with the provisions of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code.
An authorized use which may be granted only by the Borough
Council pursuant to express standards and criteria prescribed in this
chapter, after review and recommendation by the Borough Planning Commission
and public hearing by the Borough Council.
The Council members of Wilkinsburg Borough, Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
A facility, licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
located within a building which is not used as a dwelling unit, for
the care during part of a twenty-four-hour day of children under the
age of 16 or handicapped or elderly persons.
A facility, licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
located within a home for the purposes of providing child-care services
for up to six children unrelated to the operator during part of a
twenty-four-hour day.
A unit of measurement of the intensity (loudness) of sound.
Sound level meters which are employed to measure the intensity of
sound are calibrated in decibels.
A business that demolishes structures, including houses and
other buildings, in order to salvage building materials, and that
stores those materials before disposing of them.
The number of dwelling units per acre.
Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the
permission of such landowner who makes or causes to be made a subdivision
of land or a land development.
Any man-made change to an improved or unimproved land or
water area, including, but not limited to, construction of buildings
or structures or additions thereto, mining, dredging, filling, grading,
paving, excavation or drilling operations.
Any land development that because of its character, magnitude,
or location will have substantial effect upon the health, safety,
or welfare of citizens in more than one municipality.
The provisions for development, including a planned residential
development, a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use,
location and bulk of buildings and other structures, designated growth
area where residential, commercial, industrial and institutional uses
and development are permitted or planned at varying densities and
public infrastructure services may or may not be provided, but future
development at greater densities is planned to accompany the orderly
extension and provision of public infrastructure services.
The area of surface operations surrounding the surface location
of a well or wells.
A restaurant with or without a drive-through, where the food
is primarily brought to and consumed within a patron's vehicle.
An outdoor seating area may be provided.
A structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection
booth and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed
area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their
cars.
Drive-through facilities shall be considered principal uses
which are attached to another authorized principal use which involves
a window, service lane, bay or other facility where customers are
provided services either inside or outside their vehicles and where
cars may or may not wait in line to access these services, including,
but not limited to, drive-in or drive-through windows at fast-food
restaurants, banks, drugstores or other businesses, exterior automated
teller machines (ATMs), quick oil change facilities, car washes and
similar automotive services and other such facilities.
A fast-food restaurant characterized by a limited menu and
catering to drive-through traffic.
A private area which provides vehicular access to a parking
space, garage, dwelling or other structure.
A building that contains dwelling units, intended or designed
to be used, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied for living
purposes.
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ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT — A dwelling unit that
is either attached to the principal permitted building or to a permitted
accessory building on a lot that serves as a mother-in-law suite and
primarily intended to be occupied by a relative of the occupant of
the principal structure or use on the lot or site.
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APARTMENT — A residential building comprised
of multifamily dwelling units containing four or more stories.
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CONVERSION DWELLING — A dwelling unit or units
created from a larger existing residential dwelling, whether entirely
from the existing structure or by building additions or combinations
thereof. Conversion dwellings involve the creation of additional dwelling
units in a structure from existing dwellings, not initially intended
or designed when the dwelling was initially constructed. Conversion
dwellings are primarily intended to serve as rental units and are
defined separately from accessory dwellings units or mother-in-law
suites, which are primarily intended to house family members.
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GARDEN APARTMENT — A multifamily residential
building no more than three stories in height containing three or
more dwelling units that share a common entrance to the outside, usually
through a common corridor, and which dwelling units may have other
dwelling units either above or below them.
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MODULAR DWELLINGS — A factory-fabricated single-family
dwelling that is delivered to its site in at least two sections that
are set upon a permanent foundation and the sections joined together.
Such dwellings shall be certified as meeting the minimum standards
for manufactured housing in Pennsylvania. Modular dwellings shall
be permitted wherever single-family dwellings are allowed, provided
that they are installed on a permanent foundation and connected to
all available utilities.
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MULTIFAMILY — A residential building designed
exclusively for occupancy by three or more families living independently
of each other and containing three or more separate dwelling units
but not including single-family attached dwellings.
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SINGLE-FAMILY — A detached residential building
that is the only principal structure on the lot, designed exclusively
for occupancy by one family, as defined herein, and containing one
dwelling unit.
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SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED — Two or more dwelling
units with common walls between the units. Single-family attached
units may include duplex or townhouse dwellings.
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SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED — A single-family dwelling
that is not attached to any other dwelling by any means and is surrounded
by open space or yards.
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TOWNHOUSE — A single-family attached dwelling
unit constructed in a group of three or more attached units in which
each unit extends from the foundation to roof and with open space
on at least two sides.
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TWO-FAMILY (DUPLEX) — A detached house designed
for and occupied exclusively as the residence of not more than two
families, each living as an independent housekeeping unit.
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A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities
for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
A structure, part of a structure, or structures designed
and used for training and teaching of children, youths or adults,
including laboratories appurtenant thereto.
A notice as provided in Section 616.1 of the MPC, 53
P.S. § 10616.1, sent by the Borough to the owner or occupant
of record of a parcel on which a violation of this chapter has occurred,
to any person who has filed a written request to receive enforcement
notices regarding that parcel, and to any other person requested in
writing by the owner or occupant of record, the purpose of which is
to initiate enforcement proceedings.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency or any
agency successor thereto.
A person who, for consideration, agrees or offers to act
as a companion, guide, or date for another person or who agrees or
offers to privately model lingerie or to privately perform a striptease
for another person.
A person or business association which furnishes, offers
to furnish, or advertises to furnish escorts as one of its primary
businesses for a fee, tip, or other consideration.
Utility or municipal uses that are necessary for the preservation
of the public health and safety and that are routine, customary and
appropriate to the character of the area in which they are to be located.
Essential services shall include the following and closely similar
facilities: sanitary sewage lines, waterlines, electric distribution
lines, stormwater management facilities, cable television lines, natural
gas distribution lines, fire hydrants, streetlights and traffic signals.
Essential services shall not include a central sewage treatment plant,
a solid waste disposal area or facility, commercial communications
towers, a power-generating station, septic or sludge disposal, offices,
storage of trucks or equipment or bulk storage of materials.
An individual; two or more persons related by blood, marriage
or adoption; or not more than three unrelated persons living as a
single housekeeping unit. A family may also include domestic servants
and gratuitous guests. The foregoing restrictions do not apply to
persons with disabilities as defined in the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 3601 et seq.
A retail establishment at which fruits, vegetables, breads,
eggs, milk, cheese, meat, flowers, and the like are sold by persons
who typically grow, harvest, or process such items from their farm
or agricultural operation.
Includes any barrier, screen or other structure constructed
of materials other than shrubbery, trees or other vegetation and erected
for the purpose of protection, confinement, enclosure, separation
or privacy.
Banks, savings-and-loan associations and similar institutions
that lend money or are engaged in a finance-related business.
Areas adjoining any rivers, streams, ponds or lakes subject
to the one-hundred-year-recurrence-interval flood as delineated by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or subject to erosion caused by a
one-hundred-year-recurrence-interval flood, as well as any areas identified
in the future by anyone else expert and experienced in the preparation
of hydrological studies and the determination of flood lines subject
to the review and approval of a professional engineer selected by
the Borough.
The sum of all the horizontal floor areas of a building,
measured between exterior faces of walls.
The total floor area of a building designed for tenant occupancy,
or areas accessible to the customers, clients or general public, but
excluding storage areas, equipment rooms, food preparation areas in
a restaurant and common areas such as halls, corridors, stairwells,
elevator shafts, restrooms, interior vehicular parking and loading
areas and similar common areas, expressed in square feet and measured
from the center line of joint partitions and exteriors of outside
walls.
A building used for the embalming of deceased human beings
for burial and for the display of the deceased and ceremonies connected
therewith before burial or cremation and which may include a crematorium
as an accessory use.
An accessory building or a portion of the principal building,
not accessible to the general public and designed or used for shelter
or storage of private vehicles and personal property of the occupants
of the principal building and that may include the shelter or storage
of no more than one private vehicle owned and used by others.
A building or structure available to the general public in
which motor vehicles are temporarily stored but which is not used
for the repair or maintenance thereof.
A building, site or structure used for the sale of flowers,
plants, shrubs, trees and other natural flora and associated products.
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. Gas stations may include
the operation of a convenience food store in conjunction with the
retail sale of petroleum products.
A hole drilled or bored into the earth into which piping
is inserted for use in a closed vertical loop geothermal system.
An energy-generating system that uses the Earth's thermal
properties in conjunction with electricity to provide greater efficiency
in the heating and cooling of buildings.
Any golf course, publicly or privately owned, on which the
game of golf is played, including accessory uses and buildings customary
thereto, but excluding golf driving ranges as defined herein.
A limited area on which golf players do not walk but onto
which they drive golf balls from a central driving tee.
A structure for storing bulk materials such as grain or fermented
feed known as "silage." Other items often used for bulk storage include
coal, green feeds and wood chips.
A facility for the growing of flowers, plants, shrubs, trees
and other natural flora and products that aid their growth and care
and that may include a greenhouse and/or the growing of plant material
outside on the lot. Greenhouses do not include retail sales of items
grown or produced although greenhouse structures may be permitted
with uses where the sale of the material grown and produced on site
is permitted (e.g., garden center).
A facility which provides room and board and specialized services
for:
More than eight residents who are mentally or physically handicapped;
Any number of permanent residents who are dependent and/or delinquent
children under the age of 18 adjudicated by the court system;
Mentally disturbed persons of any age; or
Persons assigned by a court of law or public or semipublic agency
on a short-term basis for supervision, care and counseling for a specified
period of time, including alcoholic recovery, shelters for battered
persons and their children, community reentry services following incarceration
and other such transitional and/or supervised short-term assignments.
Staff shall be qualified by the sponsoring agency, which staff
may or may not reside at the facility and who provide health, social
and/or rehabilitative services to the residents. The services shall
be provided only by a governmental agency, its licensed or certified
agents or any other responsible nonprofit social services corporation,
and the facility shall meet all minimum requirements of the sponsoring
agency.
A dwelling unit where room and board is provided to not more
than eight permanent residents who are mentally or physically handicapped
persons of any age, who are in need of supervision and specialized
services, and no more than two caretakers on any shift, who may or
may not reside in the dwelling and who provide health, social and/or
rehabilitative services to the residents. The service shall be provided
only by a governmental agency, its licensed or certified agents or
any other responsible nonprofit social services corporation, and the
facility shall meet all minimum requirements of the sponsoring agency.
A commercial recreation and entertainment facility or private
club which has as a principal use a gymnasium, swimming pool or other
sports facility and which may offer massages, whirlpool baths, steam
rooms, saunas or medical facilities as accessory uses to the principal
use.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade of the building to the eaves. For the
purpose of determining maximum permitted height for principal buildings,
such measurement shall be made from the average finished grade at
the front setback. For the purpose of side or rear yard determination,
such measurement shall be made from the average finished grade of
the wall extending along such side yard or rear yard.
For structures other than buildings or signs, the vertical
distance measured from the average elevation of the finished grade
around the structure to the highest point on the structure.
Any area of land, water or structure which is used or intended
to be used for the landing and takeoff of helicopters and any appurtenant
areas which are used for heliport buildings or helicopter facilities
or rights-of-way, together with all heliport buildings and facilities
thereon.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places
or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting
the requirements for individual listing on the National Registry;
Certified or preliminary determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered
historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to quality as a registered historic district;
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places
in states with historic preservation programs that have been approved
by the Secretary of the Interior; or
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
The entire twenty-four-hour period of the days of New Year's
Day (January 1), Good Friday, Election Day (both primary and general
elections), Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and
Christmas Day.
Any use customarily carried on entirely within a dwelling,
by the occupant thereof, which use is clearly incidental and subordinate
to the use of the dwelling. Examples include, but are not limited
to, professional services such as legal, financial, accounting or
engineering, barber- and beauty shops, music and tutoring instruction.
Home occupations are limited to one student, customer or client at
a time.
An institution providing acute medical or surgical care and
treatment for sick or injured humans, as defined in current state
licensure requirements.
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used
or that are used, rented, or hired out to be occupied or that are
occupied for sleeping purposes by guests. Hotels generally have more
than 10 rooms available for rent and have a common reception area
on premises which is staffed 24 hours a day where clients check in
to obtain access to a room. Dwellings which are converted for the
purpose of, or where rooms are rented to individuals shall not be
considered a hotel.
The process of injecting water, customized fluids, sand,
steam, or gas into a gas well under pressure to improve gas recovery.
The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association.
Any material which prevents the absorption of stormwater
into the ground.
A device used to burn waste substances and in which all the
combustion factors, temperature, retention time, turbulence, and combustion
air can be controlled.
An area of land occupied by a group of two or more industrial
uses arranged and constructed in accordance with a plan, each use
contained on a separate lot having direct access to a public road.
A facility that provides nursing care and related medical
or other personal health services to human patients on a planned program
of care and administrative management, supervised on a continuous
twenty-four-hour basis in an institutional setting, as defined in
current state licensure requirements.
Any premises devoted wholly or in part to the storage, buying
or selling, sorting, exchanging, salvaging, recycling or otherwise
handling or dealing in junk, as defined by this chapter.
A use of land and structures in combination wherein four
or more domestic animals or pets six months or older are groomed,
bred, trained, and/or boarded for compensation.
A building or part of a building devoted to the testing and
analysis of any product or animal. No manufacturing is conducted on
the premises except for experimental or testing purposes.
Includes any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of or for the purpose of streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
A disposed site in which refuse and earth, or other suitable
cover material, are deposited and compacted in alternative layers
as required by the federal and/or state agency having jurisdiction.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in land.
A plan prepared identifying each tree and shrub by size,
type and scientific name; the location of each, including a planting
diagram; and such other diagrams or reports as are necessary to show
the method of planting, staking and mulching, grass seeding specification
and mixtures and existing trees to be preserved, if any.
An area of land or other area used for a solar collection
system principally used to capture solar energy and convert it to
electrical energy. Large solar energy production facilities consist
of one or more freestanding ground- or roof-mounted solar collector
devices, solar-related equipment and other accessory structures and
buildings, including light reflectors, concentrators, and heat exchangers,
substations, electrical infrastructure, transmission lines and other
appurtenant structures and facilities. A facility is considered a
large solar energy production facility if it supplies electrical or
thermal power solely for off-site use.
An area of land or other area used for a wind energy conversion
system principally used to capture wind energy and convert it to electrical
energy. Large wind energy production facilities consist of one or
more wind turbines, tower, and associated control or conversion electronics
and other accessory structures and buildings, including substations,
electrical infrastructure, transmission lines and other appurtenant
structures and facilities. A facility is considered a large wind energy
production facility if it supplies electrical power solely for off-site
use.
A corporation or association or other business entity that,
in exchange for the payment of entrance and monthly fees, provides:
Residential accommodations meeting the minimum standards for
residents set forth by law and ordinances and providing a design to
meet the physical, social and psychological needs of older people;
Medical and nursing care covering, under ordinary circumstances,
the balance of a resident's life;
Prepaid medical consultation opportunities through independent
professionals selected by the organization or through some equivalent
arrangement; or
Financial self-sufficiency, not dependent on outside support
to any significant degree, with entrance and monthly fees adjusting
to meet changing costs.
A space within the main building or on the same lot therewith
providing for the standing, loading, or unloading of vehicles.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit.
The total area of the lot or lots comprising a site.
A lot bounded on at least two sides by streets.
That percentage of the lot area covered by all principal
structures, accessory structures and impervious surfaces, excluding
the following which may be existing or proposed on the lot:
Up to 400 square feet of impervious surface which is designated
for a parking pad if no other private garage, carport or parking pad
is available on the lot; or
Up to 200 square feet of impervious surface designated for a
parking pad, if one private garage carport or parking pad is available
on the lot.
A lot other than a corner lot or through lot.
A line of record bounding a lot that divides one lot from
another lot or from a public or private street or other public space.
A lot line or lines which separates a lot from a public street
or streets.
That lot line that is generally opposite the front lot line.
Any lot line that is not a front lot line or rear lot line.
A lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel
streets and which is not a corner lot.
The straight line distance between the point of intersection
of the minimum required building setback line with the side lot lines.
A public street which serves large volumes of high-speed
and long-distance traffic, including and limited to Route 51.
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
in the traveling mode is eight body feet (2,438 body mm) or more in
width or 40 body feet (12,192 body mm) or more in length, or, when
erected on site, is 320 square feet (30 m2) or more, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed
to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when
connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating,
air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein, except
that such term shall include any structure that meets all the requirements
of this paragraph except the size requirements and with respect to
which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required
by the secretary (HUD) and complies with the standards established
under this title. For mobile homes built prior to June 15, 1976, a
label certifying compliance to the Standard for Mobile Homes, NFPA
501, in effect at the time of manufacture is required. For the purpose
of these provisions, a mobile home shall be considered a manufactured
home.
The process of making wares by hand, by machinery or by other
agency, often with the provision of labor and the use of machinery.
Manufacturing, including the production, processing, cleaning,
testing and distribution of materials, goods, foodstuffs and products,
which, due to the nature of the materials, equipment or process utilized,
the manufacturing operation is considered to be unclean, noisy, or
hazardous or is associated with other objectionable elements.
Manufacturing, including the production, processing, cleaning,
testing and distribution of materials, goods, foodstuffs and products,
which by the nature of the materials, equipment and process utilized
is to a considerable measure clean, quiet, and free of any objectionable
or hazardous element.
Any establishment or business which provides the services
of massage and body manipulation, including exercises, heat and light
treatments of the body, and all forms of physiotherapy, unless operated
by a medical practitioner, chiropractor, or professional physical
therapist licensed by the State of Pennsylvania. This definition does
not include an athletic club, school, gymnasium, reducing salon, spa,
or similar establishment where massage or similar manipulation of
the human body is offered as an incidental or accessory service.
A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute
mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring
and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement
which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.
Any establishment where human patients are examined and are
treated by or under the care and supervision of doctors, dentists
or other medical practitioners, but where patients are not hospitalized
overnight.
A facility licensed by the Department of Health to use the
drug methadone in the treatment, maintenance, or detoxification of
persons.
Any aggregate or mass of mineral matter, whether or not coherent.
The term includes, but is not limited to, limestone and dolomite,
sand and gravel, rock and stone, earth, fill, slag, iron ore, zinc
ore, vermiculite and clay, anthracite and bituminous coal, coal refuse,
peat and crude oil and natural gas.
A storage enterprise dealing with the reception of goods
of residential or commercial orientation that lie dormant over extended
periods of time. Separate storage units are rented to individual customers
who are entitled to exclusive and independent access to their respective
units.
The conduct of two or more principal uses within one principal
building or one lot or site.
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined 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.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so
designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots
for the placement thereon of mobile homes.
A building which is operated by a duly licensed mortician
and which is exclusively used for the preparation of dead bodies for
burial or cremation.
A building or group of detached, semidetached, or attached
buildings on a lot containing guest dwellings, each of which has a
separate outside entrance leading directly to rooms, with a garage
or parking space conveniently located with each unit, and which is
designed, used, or intended to be used primarily for the accommodation
of automobile transients. Motels may include bed-and-breakfast inns
or boardinghouses if they meet the above-defined criteria.
A small apartment attached to or carved out of a nominally
single-family house, ostensibly intended for occupancy by a mother-in-law
or other relative, and normally has its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom
and living area.
A venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures
("movies" or "films").
A body politic and corporate created pursuant to the act
of May 2, 1945 (P.L. 382, No. 164), known as the "Municipality Authorities
Act of 1945."[4]
Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended
(53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.).
A compressor engine facility designed and constructed to
compress natural gas that originates from an oil and gas well or collection
of such wells for continued delivery of oil and gas to a transmission
pipeline, distribution pipeline, processing facility, or storage facility
or field.
A facility designed and constructed to remove materials such
as ethane, propane, butane, and other constituents or similar substances
from natural gas to allow such natural gas to be of such quality as
is required or appropriate for transmission or distribution to commercial
markets but not including facilities or equipment that is designed
and constructed primarily to remove water, water vapor, oil or naturally
occurring liquids from the natural gas.
An establishment primarily for evening, late-night to early
morning entertainment that typically serves food and/or alcoholic
beverages and may provide either live or prerecorded music or video,
comedy acts, floor shows, with or without the opportunity for dancing.
A nightclub may not include any aspects of adult entertainment or
an adult-oriented establishment, as either are elsewhere defined and
regulated in this chapter.
A business or commercial activity administered or conducted
as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential
dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic,
whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions
to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with
residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy
the following requirements:
The business activity shall be compatible with the residential
use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
The business shall employ no employees other than family members
residing in the dwelling.
There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling
or inventory of a substantial nature.
There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including,
but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
The business activity may not use any equipment or process which
creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical or electronic
interference, including interference with radio or television reception,
which is detectable in the neighborhood.
The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage
discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with
residential use in the neighborhood.
The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling
and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.
The business may not involve any illegal activity.
Any lot which does not comply with the applicable area and
bulk provisions of this chapter or an amendment thereafter enacted,
which lawfully existed prior to the enactment of this chapter or any
subsequent amendment.
A structure or part of a structure that does not comply with
the applicable area and bulk provisions of this chapter or amendment
heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed
prior to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto, or
prior to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location
by reason of annexation. Nonconforming signs are included in this
definition.
A use, whether of land or of a structure, that does not comply
with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore
or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior
to the enactment of this chapter or an amendment thereto, or prior
to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location by
reason of annexation.
Any place where a person who appears seminude, in a state
of nudity, or who displays specified anatomical areas and is provided
to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed,
or similarly depicted by other persons who pay money or any form of
consideration. "Nude model studio" shall not include a proprietary
school licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or a college,
junior college, or university supported entirely or in part by public
taxation; a private college or university which maintains and operates
educational programs in which credits are transferable to a college,
junior college, or university supported entirely or partly by taxation;
or in a structure:
That has no sign visible from the exterior of the structure
and no other advertising that indicates a nude or seminude person
is available for viewing.
Where in order to participate in a class a student must enroll
at least three days in advance of the class.
Where no more than one nude or seminude model is on the premises
at any one time.
As completely without clothing; or the showing of the human
male or female genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks with less than a
fully opaque covering, or the showing of the female breasts with less
than a fully opaque covering of any portion of the nipple, or the
depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
A facility where plants are grown for transplanting, for
use as stocks for budding and grafting, including but not limited
to the growing of flowers, plants, shrubs, trees and other natural
flora. Nurseries do not include retail sales of items grown or produced
at the site.
A school designed to provide daytime care or instruction
for two or more children of preschool age.
An institution licensed by the commonwealth for the care
of human patients requiring either skilled nursing or intermediate
nursing care or both levels of care for a period exceeding 24 hours.
The physical possession upon, on or within any lot or structure
for a use.
A permit for the occupancy of a building, structure or lot
indicating compliance with all provisions of this chapter.
Any office of recognized professions, other than medical,
such as lawyers, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance
agents and others who, through training, are qualified to perform
services of a professional nature and other offices used primarily
for accounting, corresponding, research, editing or other administrative
functions, but not including banks or other financial institutions.
Crude oil, natural gas, methane gas, coal bed methane gas,
propane, butane and/or any other constituents or similar substances
that are produced by drilling an oil or gas well.
The well site preparation, construction, drilling, redrilling,
hydraulic fracturing, and/or site restoration associated with an oil
or gas well of any depth; water and other fluid storage, impoundment
and transportation used for such activities; and the installation
and use of all associated equipment, including tanks, meters, and
other equipment and structures whether permanent or temporary; and
the site preparation, construction, installation, maintenance and
repair of oil and gas pipelines and associated equipment and other
equipment and activities associated with the exploration for, production
and transportation of oil and gas. The definition does not include
natural gas compressor stations and natural gas processing plants
or facilities performing the equivalent functions.
The drilling site authorized by a permit from the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the extraction of
oil or gas resources or the drilling site for the production of potable
water supply.
A pierced or bored hole drilled or being drilled in the ground
for the purpose of, or to be used for, producing, extracting or injecting
gas, oil, petroleum or another liquid related to oil or gas production
or storage, including brine disposal.
The location where facilities, structures, materials and
equipment, whether temporary or permanent, necessary for or incidental
to the preparation, construction, drilling, production or operation
of an oil or gas well.
Water is pumped from a water well or other water source into
a heat exchanger located in a surface building. The water drawn from
the Earth is then pumped back into the ground through a different
well or in some cases the same well, also known as "reinjection."
Alternatively, the groundwater could be discharged to a surface water
body also known as a "pump and dump." In the heating mode, cooler
water is returned to the Earth, and in the cooling mode, warmer water
is returned to the surface water body or well.
The person or persons having the right of legal title to,
beneficial interest in, or a contractual right to purchase a lot or
parcel.
The drilling of multiple wells from a single location.
A facility designed for patrons to park their private vehicle
and transfer to other private or public transportation.
A portion of a lot designated for the parking of motor vehicles
in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
A principal use the purpose of which is the parking of motor
vehicles, including a public garage.
Any lot, parcel, or yard used in whole or in part for the
parking of two or more vehicles where such usage is not incidental
to or in conjunction with a single-family or a two-family dwelling.
A paved area, other than a driveway, on a residential lot
intended for the parking of one or more motor vehicles owned by the
owners or tenants of the lot, which is accessory to the principal
use of the lot.
An area or structure area used exclusively for the temporary
parking of motor vehicles.
A parcel of land integrated within a subdivision or land
development that is dedicated, either publicly or privately, specifically
for use as a park, open space and/or active recreation area.
An establishment engaged in retail sales of secondhand merchandise
and that offers personal loans secured by consumer goods, jewelry
and other personal property held by the pawn shop.
A document issued by the Borough of Wilkinsburg authorizing
an applicant to undertake certain activities.
BUILDING PERMITA permit indicating that a proposed construction, alteration or reconstruction of a structure is in accordance with the construction provisions of any building code that may be adopted by the Borough and authorizing an applicant to commence with construction, alteration or reconstruction.
OCCUPANCY PERMITA statement signed by the Zoning Officer setting forth either that a building or structure complies with this chapter or that a building, structure or parcel of land may lawfully be employed for specified uses, or both.
ZONING PERMITA permit issued indicating that a proposed use, building or structure is in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and authorizing an applicant to proceed with said use, building or structure.
A dwelling or institution licensed by the commonwealth in
which food, shelter, and personal assistance or supervision are provided
for a period exceeding 24 hours, for four or more adults who are not
relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of
a licensed long-term care facility, but who do require assistance
or supervision in activities of daily living or instrumental activities
of daily living.
Any enterprise providing services pertaining to the person,
his or her apparel or personal effects commonly carried on or about
the person, including but not limited to shoe repair, tailoring, clothes
cleaning, watch repairing, barbershops, beauty parlors and related
activities.
A retail store which primarily sells prescription drugs,
patent medicines, and surgical and sickroom supplies.
An outdoor hydronic heater that has been certified or qualified
by the EPA as meeting a particulate matter emission limit of 0.32
pounds per million British thermal units (BTUs) output and is labeled
accordingly, with a white "hang" tag.
A semipublic use, including any of the following: church,
manse, rectory, convent, synagogue, parish, school or similar building
incidental to the particular use, but this term does not include business
offices, except administrative offices incidental to the operation
of the particular use, rescue missions or the occasional use for religious
purposes of properties not regularly so used.
The Planning Commission of Wilkinsburg Borough.
The map or plan of a subdivision or land development, whether
preliminary or final.
A roofed or uncovered accessory structure without enclosing
walls that is attached to or part of the principal building and which
has direct access to and from the principal building.
A licensed professional engineer registered by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
Uses operated by a public or semipublic body, such as schools,
public libraries, public safety buildings, museums, public meeting
halls and community centers. This definition shall not include hospitals
and continuing care facilities.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing
body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment,
prior to taking action in accordance with this act.
All roads, streets, walkways, sidewalks, gutters, curbs,
sewers, waterlines, stormwater management facilities, landscaping,
streetlighting, traffic control devices and other facilities to be
dedicated to or maintained by the Borough.
A forum held pursuant to notice under 65 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter
7 (relating to open meetings).
A notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not
be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.
Facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids
from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure
systems, such as the supply of water to and the removal of sewage
to processing sites.
A single-axle or multiple-axle structure mounted on wheels
or otherwise capable of being made mobile, either with its own motive
power or designed to be mounted on or drawn by an automotive vehicle,
for the purpose of travel, camping, vacation and recreational use,
including but not limited to travel trailers, mobile homes, motor
homes, tent trailers, boats, boat trailers, pickup campers, horse
trailers, snowmobiles, jet skis, wave runners, motorcycles and all-terrain
vehicles.
Land and structures which are privately or commonly owned
and which are devoted to outdoor recreational or athletic purposes,
including active recreation areas within developments, country clubs
and golf courses, none of which use artificial lighting to extend
play of golf or other recreational activity after daylight hours.
Recreational facilities also include riding stables and other private
noncommercial outdoor recreation areas and facilities or recreation
centers, including but not limited to community or club swimming pools,
tennis courts and ballparks, but excluding entertainment facilities
as hereinbefore defined.
An enterprise operated by an individual, group of individuals
or nonprofit association or corporation, other than a public entity,
for the pursuit of sports and recreational activities, which may be
advertised to the general public, but the use of which is limited
to members and their guests, including, but not limited to, such establishments
as country clubs, golf courses, sportsmen's club, golf practice
facilities, playing fields, tennis or racquet clubs, swimming pools
and similar facilities.
An enterprise owned and operated by a public entity, available
to the general public, whether or not an admission fee is charged,
including either indoor or outdoor facilities for the pursuit of sports,
recreation or leisure activities, including, but not limited to, parks,
playgrounds, playing fields, golf courses, golf or batting practice
facilities, ice rinks, tennis courts, swimming pools and similar facilities.
A business that is 1) primarily engaged in converting ferrous
or nonferrous metals or other materials into raw material products
having prepared grades and having an existing or potential economic
value or 2) using raw material products of that kind in the production
of new products, or obtaining or storing ferrous or nonferrous metals
or other materials for a purpose described by Item 1) or 2) above.
Center for the acceptance of recyclable material from the
public by donation, redemption, or purchase. A collection facility
may include reverse vending machines, a small recycling collection
facility, and a large recycling collection facility.
A recycling collection facility which occupies an area of
more than 500 square feet and may include permanent structures.
A recycling collection facility occupying an area of not
more than 500 square feet and which may include:
Any method, process or substance whose supply is rejuvenated
through natural processes and, subject to those natural processes,
remains relatively constant, including, but not limited to, biomass
conversion, geothermal energy, solar and wind energy and hydroelectric
energy and excluding those sources of energy used in the fission and
fusion processes.
Any establishment which carries on investigation in the natural,
physical or social sciences or engineering and development as an extension
of such investigation with the objective of creating end products
and which may include pilot manufacturing as an accessory use where
concepts are tested prior to full-scale production.
An establishment designed and operated for the express purpose
of providing food and beverage service within the confines of a structure
and generally excluding any encouragement, orientation or accommodation
of services or products to the patrons' automobiles, on or within
the premises.
A fixed small retail facility in which food or drink is offered
or prepared primarily for retail sale where no consumption takes place
inside the establishment. Such facilities may include takeout pizza
shops, delicatessen, and ice cream stands.
Any establishment not otherwise specifically defined in this
article that sells commodities and/or services on the premises directly
to consumers, but not including the on-site manufacturing or processing
of any product or any wholesale sales.
Land reserved or dedicated for use as a street, crosswalk
or other means of travel, or other public or private purposes, including
existing and future rights-of-way.
See "boardinghouse."
A structure, part of a structure, or structures designed
and used for the training and teaching of children, youths or adults,
whether public or private.
An enclosed area or structure used for the storage of items
not belonging to the owner of the land on which such enclosed area
or structure is located, in exchange for rent paid for the use of
said enclosed area or structure.
The state of dress in which clothing partially or nonopaquely
covers specified anatomical areas.
A facility designed to receive the wastewater from domestic
sources and to remove materials that damage water quality and threaten
public health and safety when discharged into receiving streams or
bodies of water.
Shall be defined as:
Acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or
physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals,
pubic area, buttocks, or, if such person is female, breast;
The condition of human or female genitals when in a state of
sexual stimulation or arousal; and/or
Flagellation or torture by or upon a person in undergarments,
a mask or a bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound,
or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.
A business or commercial enterprise that, as one of its principal
business purposes, offers for any form of consideration:
An adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult novelty store, adult
video store, adult cabaret, adult motion-picture theater, adult theater,
escort agency, nude model studio, or sexual encounter center.
Includes any of the following:
The opening or commencement of any sexually oriented business
as a new business.
The conversion of an existing business, whether or not a sexually
oriented business, to any sexually oriented business.
The addition of any sexually oriented business to any other
existing sexually oriented business or to a non-sexually oriented
business.
The relocation of any sexually oriented business.
A use devoted primarily to the sale of a service or a product
or products.
One or more retail store(s) and other authorized uses in
the zoning district in which it is an authorized use, developed as
a single entity on a site, whether developed at one time or in phases
or by different owners
Housing consisting of single-room dwelling units that are
the primary residence of its occupant or occupants. The unit must
contain either food preparation or sanitary facilities (and may contain
both) if the project consists of new construction, conversion of nonresidential
space, or reconstruction. For acquisition or rehabilitation of an
existing residential structure or hotel, neither food preparation
nor sanitary facilities are required to be in the unit. If the units
do not contain sanitary facilities, the building must contain sanitary
facilities that are shared by tenants.
The original tract of land which exists prior to any subdivision activity and which is the subject of a preliminary application for development, as defined by § 229-11 of the Borough's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
A solar collection system consisting of one or more roof-
and/or ground-mounted solar collector devices and solar-related equipment
and is intended to primarily reduce on-site consumption of utility
power. A system is considered a small solar energy system only if
it supplies electrical or thermal power solely for on-site use, except
that when a property upon which the facility is installed also receives
electrical power supplied by a utility company, excess electrical
power generated and not presently needed for on-site use may be used
by the utility company.
A wind energy conversion system consisting of a wind turbine,
tower, and associated control or conversion electronics and is intended
to primarily reduce on-site consumption of utility power. A system
is considered a small wind energy system only if it supplies electrical
power solely for on-site use, except that when a parcel on which the
system is installed also receives electrical power supplied by a utility
company, excess electrical power generated and not presently needed
for on-site use may be used by the utility company.
A solar photovoltaic cell, panel, or array, or solar hot
air or water collector device, which relies upon solar radiation as
an energy source for collection, inversion, storage, and distribution
of solar energy for electricity generation or transfer of stored heat.
An electric generating facility, with the purpose of electricity
supply, consisting of one or more solar panels and other ancillary
associated buildings and structures, including substations, meteorological
towers, electrical infrastructure, transmission lines, and other appurtenant
structures and facilities.
Items including a solar photovoltaic cell, panel, or array,
or solar hot air or water collector device panels, lines, pumps, batteries,
mounting brackets, framing and possibly foundations used for or intended
to be used for collection of solar energy.
All continuous land and structures, other appurtenances,
and improvements on the land, used for the processing, storing, or
disposing of solid waste or used for the purpose of processing, extracting,
converting, or recovering energy or materials from solid waste. A
facility may be publicly or privately owned and may consist of several
processing, storage, or disposal operational units.
The intensity of sound, measured in decibels, produced by
the operation of a permitted use.
An instrument standardized by the American Standards Association
for measurement of intensity of sound.
Human genitals, pubic region, anus, buttocks, female breast(s)
below a point immediately above the top of the areola, or human male
genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely covered.
Any of the following offenses: prostitution or promotion of
prostitution; dissemination of obscenity; sale, distribution or display
of harmful material to a minor; sexual performance by a child; possession
or distribution of child pornography; public lewdness; indecent exposure;
indecency with a child; engaging in organized criminal activity; sexual
assault; molestation of a child; gambling; or distribution of a controlled
substance; or any similar offenses to those described above under
the criminal or penal code of other states or countries, for which:
Less than two years have elapsed since the date of conviction
or the date of release from confinement imposed for the conviction,
whichever is the later date, if the conviction is of a misdemeanor
offense.
Less than five years have elapsed since the date of conviction
or the date of release from confinement for the conviction, whichever
is the later date, if the conviction is of a felony offense.
Less than five years have elapsed since the date of the last
conviction or the date of release from confinement for the last conviction,
whichever is the later date, if the convictions are of two or more
misdemeanor offenses or combination of misdemeanor offenses occurring
within any twenty-four-month period.
The fact that a conviction is being appealed shall have no effect
on the disqualification of the applicant or a person residing with
the applicant.
Includes any of the following:
The keeping of horses and/or ponies for personal use and
enjoyment of the residents of the lot, not involving any profit-making
activity.
Any vertical structure enclosing a flue(s) that carries off
smoke or exhaust from a furnace or other fuel-burning device, especially
that part of a structure extending above a roof.
Land area where the inclination of the land's surface
from the horizontal plane is 15% or greater. Man-made slopes shall
not be considered steep slopes.
A well used for and in connection with the underground storage
of natural gas, including injection into or withdrawal from an underground
storage reservoir for the monitoring or observation of reservoir pressure.
That portion of a building between the surface of any finished
floor and the surface of the finished floor next above it or, if there
shall be no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the
ceiling next above it. In determining the number of stories for purposes
of height measurement, a basement shall be counted as a story if the
ceiling is more than five feet above the average adjoining ground
level at the front setback, and a mezzanine shall be counted as a
story if it covers 50% or more of the area of the story underneath
such mezzanine. An attic or a cellar shall not be counted as a story.
Any public or private recorded right-of-way used or intended
to be used by vehicular traffic and pedestrians, including avenue,
boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, alley, thoroughfare
or viaduct.
A public street that serves large volumes of high-speed and
long-distance traffic. The street classified as arterial in Wilkinsburg
Borough for the purposes of interpreting this chapter is Route 51.
A public street that, in addition to giving access to abutting
lots, intercepts local streets and provides a route for carrying considerable
volumes of local traffic to community facilities and arterial streets.
Any public street not defined herein as an arterial or a
collector street.
A street, including the entire private right-of-way, that
is privately owned and maintained and that is intended for private,
rather than public, use.
A public right-of-way dedicated and open for public use that
has been adopted by the Borough, county, commonwealth or other governmental
body.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for
distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership or building
or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease
of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres,
not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential
dwelling, shall be exempted.
A man-made enclosure, designed to impound water for the purpose
of creating depth of water suitable for swimming, or other types of
water recreation or therapy, including but not limited to water slides,
lap pools, whirlpools, soaking tubs, or hot tubs.
Any use in which the primary purpose is the sale of alcoholic
beverages for on-premises consumption, which may or may not include
dancing.
Means and includes every person that directly or indirectly
owns, controls, operates or manages plant, equipment or property within
the Borough used or to be used for the purpose of offering or providing
telecommunications services.
Any person providing fiber optics communications system service,
telecommunications service, or open video system service in the Borough.
The plant, equipment and property, including, but not limited
to, cables wires, conduits, ducts, pedestals, antennas, towers, electronics,
and other appurtenances used or to be used to transmit, receive, distribute,
provide or offer fiber optics communications system service, telecommunications
services, or open video system service.
Includes every person who provides telecommunications service
over, through, and by means of telecommunications facilities without
having any ownership, management or control of the facilities.
Any transmission of interactive switched and nonswitched
signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, messages, data or other information
of any nature by wire, radio light wave, or any other electromagnetic
means (including access services), which originate or terminate in
the Borough and are offered to or for the public, or some portion
thereof for compensation.
A structure, including any guy wires, principally intended
to support facilities for receipt or transmission of broadcast for
commercial or public VHF and UHF television, FM radio, two-way radio,
common carriers, cellular telephone, fixed-point microwave, low-power
television, or AM radio, including accessory equipment related to
telecommunications. Not included are antennae and supportive structures
for private, noncommercial, and amateur purposes including, but not
limited to, ham radios and citizen band radios.
Any use or structure which may be a principal use on a lot
or accessory to an existing principal use on a lot intended to be
used for less than 12 consecutive months. Structures intended to be
used for more than 12 months shall be considered permanent and shall
meet the use and structure requirements for permanent structures.
The attaching of development rights to specified lands which
are desired by a municipality to be kept undeveloped, but permitting
those rights to be transferred from those lands so that the development
potential which they represent may occur on other lands where more
intensive development is deemed to be appropriate.
An intermediate location between a "from" warehouse and a
"to" warehouse for warehouse transfers. Items in a transit warehouse
are in the process of being transferred to a different warehouse (transfer
order) and therefore cannot be picked for other orders during transportation.
The distance measured from the highest point of the wind
turbine rotor plane to the ground level.
Small-scale agricultural activities conducted on a lot or
site in conjunction with an authorized principal use.
Agricultural activities intended primarily for the growing
of crops and in which no livestock, poultry or other farm animals
are kept or raised. Limited agricultural uses are intended to allow
for the growing of agricultural products on vacant lots or properties
as a permissible principal use.
Any purpose for which a building or other structure or a
tract of land may be designed, arranged, intended, maintained or occupied,
or any activity, occupation, business or operation carried on in a
building or other structure or on a tract of land.
A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use and located on the same lot as the principal use.
An authorized use which may be granted only by the Zoning
Hearing Board in accordance with express standards and criteria.
The primary or predominant use to which the property is or
may be devoted.
A departure from the strict letter of the Zoning Ordinance
as it applies to specific properties, as authorized by the Zoning
Hearing Board in accordance with the terms of this chapter and the
MPC.
The services supplied by a doctor of veterinary medicine.
A structure primarily used for the storage of goods and materials.
The area used for development and production of oil and gas,
including buildings and structures and all activities associated with
an oil and gas well after drilling activities are complete.
A wind-driven, direct-current generator used for charging
storage batteries.
A device such as a wind charger, wind turbine or windmill
and/or other electric generation facility whose main purpose is to
convert wind power into another form of energy such as electricity
or heat, consisting of one or more wind turbines and other structures
and buildings, including substations, meteorological towers, electrical
infrastructure, transmission lines and other appurtenant structures
and facilities.
A device that runs on the energy generated by a wheel of
adjustable blades or slats rotated by the wind.
A device that converts wind energy into electricity through
the use of a wind turbine generator and includes the nacelle, rotor,
tower and pad transformer, if any.
The vertical component of a wind energy conversion system
that elevates the wind turbine generator and attached blades above
the ground.
A yard extending between side lot lines across the full lot
width from the front lot line to a line parallel to the front face
of the structure of the principal use of the lot (see Figure 1).
A yard extending between the side lot lines across the full
lot width from the rear lot line to a line parallel to the rear face
of the structure of the principal use of the lot (see Figure 1).
A yard extending from the front yard line to the rear yard
line parallel to the side lot line (see Figure 1).
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Figure 1, Yard Type Illustration
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An area in the Borough in which regulations under this chapter
uniformly apply, including overlay districts.
The Zoning Hearing Board of Wilkinsburg Borough, Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania, as defined by and appointed in accordance with
the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, as
amended by Act 170 of 1998 (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as
may be amended from time to time).
The Official Map delineating the zoning districts of Wilkinsburg
Borough, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, together with all amendments
subsequently adopted.
The designated official or authorized representative appointed
by the Borough Council whose duty it shall be to administer this chapter
and as identified in Section 614 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code,[5] Act 247 of 1968, as amended by Act 170 of 1998 (53 P.S.
§ 10101 et seq., as may be amended from time to time).
[1]
Editor's Note: The Municipality Authorities Act of 1945 was
repealed by 2001, June 19, P.L. 287, No. 22, § 3; see now 53
Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.
[2]
Editor's Note: The Municipalities Planning Code; see 53 P.S.
§ 10101 et seq.
[4]
Editor's Note: The Municipality Authorities Act of 1945 was
repealed by 2001, June 19, P.L. 287, No. 22, § 3; see now 53
Pa.C.S.A. § 5601 et seq.
[5]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10614.
