The purpose and intent of this district is to provide reasonable standards
for the harmonious development of office space for health and other professionals,
to provide standards which encourage the development of a character compatible
with other adjacent uses and of a design to create minimum interference with
streets and to otherwise create conditions conducive to carrying out the purpose
of this district.
The following uses shall be permitted in the Professional District:
A. Professional services limited to offices of physicians
(but not veterinarians), lawyers, clergymen, teachers, dentists, architects,
engineers, insurance agents, opticians and professional consultants if such
professional services do not involve the actual storage, exchange or delivery
of merchandise on the premises, or the care or treatment of animals, or the
practice of fortune-telling, card-reading or similar occult services.
B. Accessory uses customary and incidental to the foregoing
professional uses.
C. Federal, state, and local government offices and accessory uses,
and other municipal essential services (i.e., fire, police, nonprofit recreational
facilities, etc.).
[Added 1-25-2005 by Ord. No. 291]
Professional and related uses permitted in the Professional District
shall be subject to the following conditions:
A. Streets.
(1) Must follow standards set forth in Chapter
125, Subdivision
and Land Development.
(2) All lots and/or buildings in this district shall provide
vehicular access to said lot and/or building by a private street separated
from Grindstone Hill Road extended by a minimum of 50 feet. Said street shall
run parallel to Grindstone Hill Road extended and shall connect to Grindstone
Hill Road at intervals of not less than 1,000 feet from the nearest public
street and/or parallel street connection point with Grindstone Hill Road extended.
The private street shall be built on the east and west side of Grindstone
Hill Road Extension (said street may be referred to herein as the "parallel
street"). The owner of the lot and/or building shall be responsible for constructing
the private street on said owner's property. Said private street shall be
constructed pursuant to the specifications as set forth in Chapter
125 of
the Code of the Township of Antrim, Pennsylvania. An owner of a lot and/or
building shall be allowed to obtain temporary access to Grindstone Hill Road
extended until the private parallel street providing access to the owner's
lot and/or building is constructed to a point connecting said private street
with Grindstone Hill Road extended. At this time the owner shall abandon the
temporary access and the only means of ingress/egress to his building and/or
lot shall be by the private parallel street. The subdivision and/or land development
plans for all lots in this district shall provide a right-of-way to adjoining
lot owners for use of the parallel street. The owner of the lot where the
private parallel street connects to Grindstone Hill Road extended shall be
responsible for constructing the street connecting the parallel street to
Grindstone Hill Road extended. Said connecting street shall be constructed
pursuant to the specifications set forth in Chapter
125 of the Code of the
Township of Antrim, Pennsylvania. The parallel street shall only be required
in the districts that are located south of Leitersburg Road.
(3) Pedestrian crosswalks must be located at all stop intersections
and integrated with traffic flow and other throughways in a manner that promotes
the optimum level of public safety. They must follow approved PennDOT specifications.
(4) Sidewalks/curbing/stormwater. Sidewalks and curbing are
required on all lands adjacent to Grindstone Hill Road: eight-foot grass area
between sidewalk and curbing with six-foot sidewalks in accordance with PennDOT
and ADA regulations. Stormwater shall be managed through a system of draining
gutters and stormwater retention areas in accordance with §
125-57
of the Antrim Township Code of Ordinances.
B. Parking.
(1) All parking areas must follow all standards set forth
in Chapter
125, Subdivision and Land Development.
(2) Parking must be landscaped and subject to the following:
All parking areas required to be landscaped shall be landscaped pursuant to
the definition of landscaping contained in this chapter. In addition, landscaped
areas shall provide visual and climatic relief from broad expanses of pavement,
channel and define areas for pedestrian and vehicular circulation, reduce
stormwater runoff, and provide groundwater recharge.
(3) Loading and unloading areas. Whenever the normal operation
of any business, enterprise or use requires that goods, merchandise or equipment
be routinely delivered to or shipped from that business, enterprise or use,
a sufficient paved off-street loading and unloading area must be provided
in accordance with this section to accommodate the delivery or shipment operations
in a safe and convenient manner.
(a) The loading and unloading area must be of sufficient
size to accommodate the numbers and types of vehicles that are likely to use
this area given the nature of the business, enterprise or use in question;
(b) Loading and unloading areas shall be so located and designed
that the vehicles intended to use them can maneuver safely and conveniently
to and from a public right-of-way or interior roadway and complete loading
and unloading operations without obstructing or interfering with any public
right-of-way or interior roadway or any parking space or parking lot aisle;
(c) No area allocated to loading and unloading facilities
may be used to satisfy the area requirements for off-street parking, nor shall
any portion of any off-street parking area be used to satisfy the area requirements
for loading and unloading facilities; and
(d) All loading and unloading areas and platforms shall be
landscaped and shielded from direct view from any public street and adjacent
residential districts or uses. Such screening shall be an extension of a building,
a fence, planting or combination thereof, and shall be a minimum of six feet
in height.
(4) Whenever the normal operation of a business, enterprise
or use requires a maintenance area or building, then said area or building
shall be required to comply with the loading and unloading requirements as
set forth in §
150-22B(3)(a),
(b),
(c) and
(d) above.
(5) All parking, driveways, and storage areas are to be paved
in accordance with the Township standards.
C. Landscaping and screening.
(1) Landscaped areas shall be landscaped pursuant to the
landscaping definition contained in this chapter and shall provide visual
and climatic relief from broad expanses of pavement, channel and define areas
for pedestrian and vehicular circulation, reduce stormwater runoff, and provide
groundwater recharge.
(2) Open space/green space: All required yard area (front,
rear, and side yards) will be designated open space/green space. Ten percent
shall be landscaped and the remaining area shall be vegetative ground cover
(grass). The eight-foot planting strip grass area between the sidewalks and
street curbing shall not be included in calculating the ten-percent landscaping
requirement as set forth in this section.
(3) Street trees. One shade tree shall be planted and perpetually
maintained every 40 feet of frontage on a street located in the planting strip
between the curb and sidewalk. The varieties of trees are to be selected from
the approved street tree list.
(4) Landscaping of parking areas. A minimum of 5% of total
parking areas shall be landscaped. A minimum of one shade tree shall be planted
for every 15 parking spaces. Shade trees shall be a minimum four feet high
at the time of planting and must be planted on an island or planting strip.
Islands or planting strips must be a minimum of five feet in width containing
a vegetative ground cover (grass). Shade trees shall be planted and perpetually
maintained in surface parking areas, landscaped areas, with at least one shade
tree per 3,000 square feet of landscaped area. The varieties of trees are
to be selected from the approved street tree list.
D. Building orientation.
(1) Architectural design/control. All buildings must have
front and rear entrances with the main entrance being in the front. The front
of the building must face public or private street right-of-way.
(2) Lighting. Lighting shall be arranged and designed so
that no source of light is directed toward any neighboring lots. Lighting
shall be designed to shield public and private streets and all other adjacent
lands from distracting glare or hazardous interference of any kind. Vehicular
use areas shall not be lighted at any time other than the hours of operation
of the use that the parking is intended to serve, except for necessary security
lighting.
(3) Performance standards as noted in industrial district
performance standards of the Antrim Township Code of Ordinances shall also
apply (§
150-39).
E. Utility location. All utilities are to be located underground
(i.e., water, sewer, electric, gas, cable, communications, etc.).
F. Signs.
(1) Architecture/type. All signs shall be ground-mounted
monument style, nonilluminated. Freestanding pole signs and roof signs are
prohibited.
(2) Illumination. Illumination of signs shall be permitted
with a stationary shielded light source. Lighting shall be arranged and designed
so that no source of light is directed toward any neighboring lots. Lighting
shall be designed to shield public and private streets and all other adjacent
lands from distracting glare or hazardous interference of any kind. Vehicular
use areas shall not be lighted at any time other than the hours of operation
of the use that the parking is intended to serve, except for necessary security
lighting.
(3) Size. The total area of any sign shall not exceed 50
square feet.
(4) Site-related signs not associated with the site or use
thereof shall not be permitted.
(5) Amortization. A nonconforming sign must be changed if
the site's use changes or the property undergoes approval for significant
land development changes.
(6) Signs mounted on the structure shall be as follows:
(a) Size shall not to exceed 25% of the wall it is erected
on.
(b) Wall signs may only be placed on two walls.
G. Pedestrian pathways must be constructed around the entire
tract of land to be rezoned along Grindstone Hill Road extended phase II.
(See Exhibit B for location of the pedestrian pathway around the perimeter
of Grindstone Hill Road extended phase II.) In addition, a fifteen-foot wide pedestrian pathway must be constructed
connecting the pathway along Interstate 81 with lands identified as N/F U.S.A.
on Exhibit B. Said pathway shall run in an east-to-west direction on the boundary
line of the Community Commercial II fifty-acre tract and the Highway Commercial
II 53.37-acre tract. The pedestrian pathway shall be privately owned and maintained
and opened at all times for pedestrian use. Pedestrian pathways shall have
a minimum of a fifteen-foot right-of-way and eight-foot width walkway constructed
in accordance with §
150-69E of the Code of the Township of Antrim.
The pathways shall be constructed in a way that integrates with other throughways
and in a manner that promotes the optimum level of public safety.