The C-3 Highway Commercial District is hereby
established as a district in which regulations are intended to make
appropriate provision for a wide range of highway oriented retail,
automotive, and heavier service type commercial activities which generally
require main highway locations and cater to transient as well as to
local customers. Among the purposes of this district are:
A detached building may be erected or used and
a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes, and
no other:
A.
Drive-in or automobile service establishment as follows:
public garage and automobile sales agency, or similar use, provided
that:
B.
General service or contractor's shop including carpenter,
cabinet making, furniture repair, light metal working, tinsmith, plumbing,
or similar shop, provided that the floor area devoted to such use
shall in no case exceed 10,000 square feet.
C.
Wholesale business establishment.
D.
Indoor storage building or warehouse.
E.
A laundry, dry-cleaning or clothes pressing establishment,
provided that the equipment and materials used will not involve danger
from fire or explosion.
G.
The following uses when authorized as a special exception
by the Zoning Hearing Board:
(1)
Outdoor place of amusement, recreation or assembly,
such as a drive-in theater on a lot not less than two acres in area.
(2)
Trucking or hauling station.
(3)
Motor vehicle repair shop.
(4)
Used car lot.
(5)
Car wash establishment.
(6)
Yard for storage and sale of coal, fuel oil, or building
materials, provided that the area used for such use is enclosed and
suitably screened from the surrounding area by fence or other barrier
not less than six feet in height.
(7)
Commercial greenhouse or nursery.
(8)
Wholesale dairy or bakery.
(9)
Motor vehicle service station.
(10)
Hotel, motel, tourist, rooming or boarding house.
(11)
Restaurant.
[Amended 9-28-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-07]
(12)
Quick-service restaurant.
[Added 9-28-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-07]
H.
Accessory use on the same lot with or customarily
incidental to the above permitted uses.
I.
Day school.
[Added 5-13-2015 by Ord.
No. 2015-3]
[Amended 9-16-1998 by Ord. No. 1147; 5-13-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-3]
B.
Building coverage. Except for the day school use, not more than 50%
of the developable area of each lot may be occupied by buildings.
C.
Front yard. Except for the day school use, there shall be a setback
on each street on which a lot abuts which shall not be less than 50
feet in width.
D.
Rear yard. Except for the day school use, there shall be a rear yard
on each lot which shall be not less than 30 feet in depth.
E.
Side yard. Except for the day school use, for any building or use
there shall be two side yards not less than 25 feet in depth.
F.
Height regulations. All buildings shall comply with the regulations as contained in Article V, Performance Standards.
G.
Notwithstanding any other regulations in this chapter, each day school
shall comply with the following regulations:
(1)
Minimum lot size. The minimum lot size for each day school in
the C-3 Zoning District shall be 15 acres.
(2)
Front yard setback. There shall be a setback on each street
which a lot abuts which shall not be less than 100 feet in depth.
(3)
Read yard setback. There shall be a rear yard setback on each
lot which shall not be less than 100 feet in depth.
(4)
Side yard setbacks. There shall be two side yards, each of which
shall be not less than 100 feet in depth.
(5)
Parking setbacks. All parking areas shall be located at least
25 feet from any property line and 10 feet from the ultimate right-of-way
of any public street.
(6)
Sports structure setback. All sports structures, including,
but not limited to bleachers, dugouts, storage buildings, snack stands,
and scoreboards, shall be located at least 50 feet from the ultimate
right-of-way of any street and 100 feet from all other property lines.
(7)
Outdoor play area setbacks. All outdoor play areas shall be
located at least 50 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of any public
street and 70 feet from any property line.
(8)
Building coverage. Not more than 15% of the site area may be
occupied by buildings.
(9)
Impervious surface coverage. Not more than 40% of the site area
may be covered by impervious materials.
(10)
Height. The height of the principal building shall not exceed 45 feet in height, exclusive of mechanical equipment, which shall be shielded from view of adjacent streets and properties. All accessory buildings shall comply with the regulations as contained in Article V, Performance Standards.
(11)
Parking. The following parking regulations shall apply to all
day schools:
(a)
Nursery school or kindergarten: one off-street parking space
for each faculty member and employee, plus one additional space per
classroom.
(b)
Elementary school: one off-street parking space for each faculty
member and employee, plus one space per two classrooms and offices.
(c)
Junior high school or middle school: one off-street parking
space for each faculty member and employee, plus one space per two
classrooms and offices, or one off-street parking space for each 10
auditorium seats, whichever requires the greater number of off-street
parking spaces.
(d)
Senior high school: one off-street parking space for each faculty
member and employee, plus one space per 10 classroom seats, or one
off-street parking space for each 10 auditorium seats, whichever requires
the greater number of off-street parking spaces.
(e)
College and junior college: one off-street parking space per
faculty member and employee, plus one space for each 10 classroom
seats, or one off-street parking space for each 10 auditorium seats,
whichever requires the greater number of off-street parking spaces.
(f)
Stadium parking. In addition to the above parking requirements,
any day school which proposes a sports stadium on school property
shall provide an additional one off-street parking space for each
eight seats.
(g)
The applicant shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the
Township, the ability to provide parking for special events.
(12)
Buffer requirements. All day schools shall meet the following
buffer requirements:
(b)
There shall be a buffer area around all parking areas which
shall, in the discretion of the Township, be sufficient to shield
the adjacent neighborhood from glare and inappropriate noise.
(c)
There shall be a buffer area around all sports fields/courts
and outdoor play areas which shall, in the discretion of the Township,
be sufficient to protect the neighborhood from inappropriate noise
and other disturbances.
(13)
Sports field or stadium lighting. The following regulations
shall apply to all lighting for stadiums, tennis courts, basketball
courts, and sports fields, including scoreboards and practice fields:
(a)
Lighting shall be shielded wherever possible. Lighting shall
have directional and glare control devices to minimize light trespass
and sky glow.
(b)
All lighting, excluding security lighting, shall be equipped
with automatic shutoff control devices to extinguish light no more
than one hour past the expiration of an event.
(c)
Lighting levels and ratios shall comply with IESNA standards,
and all applicable regulations specified by the governing agency of
the sport (i.e., PIAA, NCAA, etc.)
(d)
No direct lighting shall project off the property.
(e)
No scoreboard shall have video or moving images.
[Amended 5-13-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-3]
A.
In addition to the requirements listed in § 230-144, all day schools shall meet the following requirements:
(1)
Each day school shall be served by public water and public sewer.
(2)
Each day school shall have at least two means of ingress and
egress for emergency service vehicles, and shall have access to an
arterial or collector street as defined by the Horsham Township Subdivision
and Land Development Ordinance.[1] Access roads shall be perpendicular to the street from
which access is taken.
(3)
The applicants for each day school shall provide plans that
show designated student pickup and dropoff areas. Adequate stacking
shall be provided so that vehicles entering the site will not interfere
with traffic flow on the adjacent public streets. The plans for parking
layout, pickup and dropoff areas and stacking areas are subject to
the approval of the Township. The plans shall also show a dropoff
area for bus traffic which is separate from the dropoff area for automobile
traffic.
(4)
There shall be a minimum of one off-street loading area which
shall be separate from area(s) where school students are dropped off
for school.
(5)
Signage. Each day school may have one monument sign, with landscaping,
at each access point from a public street, plus the name of the school
in one location on the principal building. The monument sign(s) at
each access point may be digital. The sign on the principal building
must be earthtone in color, consistent with the color of the building.
B.
In addition to the requirements of this article, the plan for development of all uses in the C-3 Zoning District, except the day school use, shall comply with the applicable regulations contained in Article IV, General Provisions, and Article V, Performance Standards. For security purposes, woodland areas may be removed for day school uses, and there shall be no requirement to replace trees which are removed for a day school.
