A.Â
ACCESSORY BUILDINGS/STRUCTURES
ACCESSORY USE
ADULT STORE
AGRICULTURAL OPERATION
ALTERATION
BED-AND-BREAKFAST ESTABLISHMENT
BOARDING OR TOURIST HOME
BUFFER AREA
BUILDING HEIGHT
BULK FUEL
CAMPGROUND
CHURCH OR OTHER PLACE OF WORSHIP
CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
CONDITIONAL USE
CONDOMINIUM
CONSERVATION AREA, PRIMARY
CONSERVATION AREA, SECONDARY
CONSERVATION DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
CONSERVATION OPEN SPACE
CULTURAL FACILITY
DAY-CARE CENTER
DETENTION FACILITY
DWELLING
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
(1)Â
(2)Â
(3)Â
(4)Â
(5)Â
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
DWELLING UNIT
FACADE IMPROVEMENT
FAMILY
FARM STAND
FOOD PROCESSING, BREWING AND DISTILLING
FORESTRY
GASOLINE SERVICE STATION
HEALTH FACILITIES
HOME OCCUPATION
HOTEL
INDOOR THEATERS
JUNKYARD
KENNEL
LIGHT MANUFACTURING
LIMITED LIGHT MANUFACTURING USES
LIVESTOCK OPERATION
LOT
LOT COVERAGE
LOT WIDTH
MECHANICAL AND BODY REPAIR USE
MINERALS
MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOME
MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOME PARK
MOBILE/MANUFACTURED HOME PARK LOT
MODULAR CONSTRUCTION
MOTEL
NONCONFORMING LOT
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE
NONCONFORMING USE
NURSING HOMES
OFF-SITE SEWAGE AND WATER SUPPLY
ON-SITE SEWAGE AND WATER SUPPLY
PERMANENT FOUNDATION
PRIVATE RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
PUBLIC USES
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
RESEARCH OR CRAFT ENTERPRISE
RESTAURANT
RETAIL AND SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS
RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS, SERVING NEED OF IMMEDIATE AREA
SELF-STORAGE FACILITIES
SEMIPUBLIC USES
SERVICES, ESSENTIAL
SHOPPING CENTER/MALL
SIGN
SPECIAL EXCEPTION
STABLE (COMMERCIAL)
STABLE (PRIVATE)
STRUCTURE
SUPERMARKET
SWIMMING POOL (PRIVATE)
TRANSIENT USE
USE
VARIANCE
VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT SALES OPERATION
YARD
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words,
terms and phrases have the meanings herein indicated:
A subordinate building or portion of the main building on
a lot, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the main
building, including fences, and all swimming pools as herein defined.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
A use of land or of a building or portion thereof customarily
incidental and subordinate to a current or future principal use of
the land or building and located on the same lot with such principal
use, including accessory buildings and structures.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
Use of a building or land for a business which has obscene
materials as a significant portion of its stock-in-trade or which
involves the sale, lease, trade, gift or display of drug paraphernalia.
Obscene materials include any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet,
newspaper, paper, comic book, drawing, photograph, figure, image,
motion picture, sound recording, article, instrument or any other
written or recorded matter which depicts or describes sexual conduct
and which, taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value. Drug paraphernalia includes any objects,
devices, instruments, apparatus or contrivances, whose primary and
traditionally exclusive use is involved with the illegal use of any
and all controlled substances under the Pennsylvania statutes.
An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial
production and preparation for market of crops, livestock and livestock
products and in the production, harvesting and preparation for market
or use of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and
aquacultural crops and commodities. The term includes an enterprise
that implements changes in production practices and procedures or
types of crops, livestock, livestock products or commodities produced
consistent with practices and procedures that are normally engaged
by farmers or are consistent with technological development within
the agricultural industry.
Any change in supporting members of a building or structure
such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, joists, rafters
or enclosing walls. Any renovation to a building which would change
its use.
A single-family detached dwelling, where between one and
six sleeping accommodations are rented to overnight guests on a daily
basis for periods not exceeding two weeks. Meals may be offered only
to registered overnight guests.
See "bed-and-breakfast establishment."
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
An area of land along a property line which is specifically
designed and landscaped to limit the impacts, such as noise, light,
stormwater runoff, or other adverse effects of one use upon another
use in the same area.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deckline of mansard
roofs, and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip
and gambrel roofs.
Petroleum products stored in containers for subsequent resale
to distributors or retail dealers or outlets.
A plot of ground upon which two or more campsites are located,
established or maintained for temporary occupancy by persons using
tents or recreational vehicles.
A building or structure, or groups of buildings or structures,
which by design and construction are primarily intended for the conducting
of organized religious services and accessory uses associated therewith.
An area of unobstructed vision for purposes of vehicular
safety at a street intersection(s), defined by lines of sight between
points at a given distance from the intersecting street right-of-way
lines.[1]
The Honesdale Borough Comprehensive Plan, including all maps,
charts and textual matter.
A use permitted in a particular zoning district when specific
conditions and factors prescribed for such cases within this chapter
are present. Conditional uses are acted upon by the Honesdale Borough
Council after recommendations by the Honesdale Borough Planning Commission.
A building, or group of buildings, in which dwelling units,
offices, or floor area are owned individually and the structure, common
areas, and facilities are owned by all the owners on a proportional,
undivided basis. The owner has title to his or her interior space
in the building and an undivided interest in parts of the interior,
the exterior, and other common elements. The common elements usually
include the land underneath and surrounding the building, certain
improvements on the land, and such items as plumbing, wiring, and
major utility systems, the interior spaces between walls, public interior
spaces, exterior walls, parking areas, private roads, and recreational
facilities.
[Added 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 622]
Those areas of a development tract which are comprised of
environmentally sensitive lands on which development is restricted.
[Added 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 622]
Those areas, as specified by the Subdivision and Land Development
Ordinance,[2] of a development tract which are somewhat less sensitive
than primary conservation areas and which may be critical to the effect
the development will have on both the natural environment and the
rural character of the community.
[Added 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 622]
A development or subdivision designed at the dwelling unit
density specified in this chapter for the zoning district in which
the development or subdivision is located where individual lots are
reduced in size, important natural resources are conserved, and the
resultant open space is preserved in perpetuity.
[Added 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 622]
That part of a particular conservation design development
set aside for the protection of sensitive natural features, farmland,
scenic views and other primary and secondary conservation areas identified
by this chapter and which meets the conservation open space requirements
of the Borough Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[3] A minimum proportion of the conservation open space must
be accessible to the residents of the development and/or the Borough,
or it may contain areas of farmland or forestland which are not accessible
to project residents or the public.
[Added 8-13-2007 by Ord. No. 622]
Building structures or uses designed and/or operated for
purposes of displaying the crafts of artisans, not including theaters
or adult stores.
The premises in which supervision or care is provided at
any one time for five or more individuals, unrelated to the operator.
The maximum stay of an individual shall not exceed 12 hours in one
day. If applicable, a day-care center must be licensed or certified
by the appropriate agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A facility used for the detainment of individuals who have
been arrested and are awaiting court action and/or the incarceration
of individuals assigned prison terms by the court or juveniles alleged
to have committed a delinquent act and who have been detained in accord
with the law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Added 12-30-2003 by Ord. No. 598]
A structure or portion thereof which is used exclusively
for human habitation.
A building or buildings designed for occupancy by three or
more families living independently of each other in separate dwelling
units. The term "multifamily dwelling" shall include condominium as
well as noncondominium housing units, including the following construction
types:
RESIDENTIAL CONVERSION TO APARTMENTSConversion of an existing single-family detached dwelling having been used as such for 10 or more years into three to five dwelling units and not exceeding 2Â 1/2 stories in height.
GARDEN APARTMENTMultifamily dwelling originally designed as such; containing three or more dwelling units and not exceeding 2Â 1/2 stories in height, not including townhouses.
TOWNHOUSEMultifamily dwelling of three or more dwelling units of no more than 2Â 1/2 stories in height in which each unit has its own front and rear accesses to the outside, no unit is located over another unit and is separated from any other unit by one or more common fire-resistant walls.
MEDIUM HIGH-RISE APARTMENTMultifamily dwellings of more than 2Â 1/2 stories but not exceeding the height limitations (in feet) of this chapter.
HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLYMultifamily dwellings designed and intended for use exclusively by persons 60 years of age or older.
A dwelling unit accommodating a single family and having
two side yards.
Dwelling accommodating two families either with units which
are attached side by side through the use of a party wall and having
one side yard adjacent to each dwelling unit, or upstairs/downstairs
units.
One or more rooms in a dwelling structure, including a kitchen,
sleeping facilities, bath and toilet, designed as a household unit
for extended periods of occupancy for living and sleeping purposes
by not more than one family at a time.
The renovation, restoration or redesign of any exterior front
face of a commercial building, extended from grade to the top of the
parapet, wall or eaves, and extending the entire width of the front,
side or rear building face.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
Either an individual or two or more persons related by blood,
or marriage, or adoption, or a group of not more than six persons,
living together as a single housekeeping unit.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
A booth or stall from which produce and farm products are
sold to the general public.
A commercial establishment where food is processed for human
consumption on or off the premises, including brewing, winemaking
and distilling, together with ancillary activities such as tasting
rooms and associated retail sales; but not including restaurants that
incorporate limited food processing, brewing, winemaking or distilling
on-site where the primary use remains a restaurant.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
The management of forests and timberlands when practiced
in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing,
cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial
purposes, which does not involve any land development.
A structure, building, or area of land, or any portion thereof,
that is used for the sale of gasoline and oil or any other motor vehicle
fuel and/or other lubricating substance, which may or may not include
facilities for lubricating, washing, sale of accessories, and otherwise
servicing motor vehicles, but not including the painting and/or body
work thereof. Any business or industry dispensing gasoline and servicing
vehicles only for its own use will not be deemed to be a gasoline
service station.
Establishments primarily engaged in providing services for
human health maintenance, including hospital facilities, nursing and
adult homes and medical clinics and offices, whether publicly or privately
operated.
Any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling
or in a building accessory thereto and carried on by the inhabitants
residing therein, providing that the use is clearly incidental and
secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes, the exterior
appearance of the structure or premises is constructed and maintained
as a residential dwelling, and no goods are publicly displayed on
the premises other than signs as provided herein; including, but not
limited to, the following occupations: the professional practice of
medicine, accounting, dentistry, architecture, law, engineering, artists,
beauticians, barbers, day care and veterinarians, excluding stables,
kennels or motor vehicle or small engine repair shops; does not permit
the employment of more than two persons not living on the premises.
A facility which provides lodging to boarders for compensation
(generally for periods of two weeks or less), which contains more
than six rooms with less than 25% of all rooms having direct access
to outside without the necessity of passing through the main lobby
of the building, and providing additional services such as restaurants,
meeting rooms and recreational facilities.
Facilities operated for the purpose of showing films inside
a closed structure, not including adult stores.
An area of land, with or without buildings, used for the
storage, outside a completely enclosed building, of used and discarded
materials, including but not limited to wastepaper, rags, metal, building
materials, house furnishings, machines, vehicles, or parts thereof,
for purposes of dismantling, processing, salvage, sale or other commercial
use or disposition of the same. A mechanical and body repair operation,
vehicle and equipment sales operation or service station which fails
to meet performance standards contained herein for those uses and
involving the above shall be considered a junkyard and only be permitted,
subject to those standards applicable to junkyards.
An establishment in which more than four dogs or other domesticated
animals, six months or older in age, are housed, groomed, bred, boarded,
trained, or sold.
Industries involving generally unobtrusive processes. These
include but are not limited to research, engineering or testing laboratories,
assembly from components, fabrication of products, textile and clothing
manufacturing, warehousing, distribution centers, wood products industries
and the like.
Light manufacturing uses involving no outside storage other
than legally parked light-duty delivery vehicles, and that are conducted
entirely inside a building with no air emissions and entirely in conformance
with commercial and industrial performance standards herein.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
The fattening or raising of beef cattle, hogs, poultry or
other animals for the purposes of obtaining meat, eggs, or wool for
marketing.
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.
That portion or percentage of the lot area which is covered
by buildings, roads, driveways, parking areas, pavement or other impervious
surfaces.
The average of the width of a lot at the building setback
line and rear of the property.
A facility where repairs or body work are performed on automobiles
or other vehicles or equipment for remuneration. No facility operating
in the manner of a junkyard shall qualify as a mechanical and body
repair use.
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 building used for up to four upper story apartments combined
with permitted commercial and/or nonresidential uses on the ground
floor.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
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.
This is not intended to include modular construction housing.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
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.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
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.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
The process where buildings are constructed off-site, under
a controlled environment, using the same codes and standards of building
as that of a conventional building where each individual step is performed
entirely (or largely) on-site.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
A facility which provides lodging to boarders for compensation
(generally for periods of two weeks or less), which contains more
than six rooms with at least 25% of all rooms having direct access
to the outside without the necessity of passing through the main lobby
of the building, and providing additional services such as restaurants,
meeting rooms, and recreational facilities.
A lot the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to
the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance but which fails to
conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is
located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.
A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed
to comply with the applicable use or extent of use provisions in a
zoning ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where
such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such ordinance
or amendment or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment
to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures
include but are not limited to nonconforming signs.
A use, whether of land or of a structure, which does not
comply with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendments
heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence
prior to the enactment of this chapter or amendment or prior to the
application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason
of annexation.
See "health facilities."
A sewage system or water supply system designed to serve
more than one dwelling unit or building, not including the use of
a single well or disposal system for two dwellings on the same parcel
of land.
A single system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving
only the water and sewage needs of a single lot within the boundaries
of an individual lot.
A cement, concrete, treated wood or cinder block walled foundation
erected on a poured concrete footing. A solid concrete slab will also
be considered a permanent foundation.
Outdoor or indoor areas or structures, operated by private
nonprofit or private commercial entities, open to the public, which
contain entertainment and amusement devices or attractions, including
animal farms, zoological parks, tennis and racquetball courts, ski
areas, golf courses and the like, but excluding theaters, public parks
and playgrounds.
Medical doctors, dentists, eye doctors, lawyers, accountants,
engineers, architects, and other similar licensed professionals. This
shall not involve manufacturing, fabrication, production, processing,
assembling, cleaning, testing, repair, or storage of materials, goods,
or products, or the sale or delivery of any materials, goods, or products
which are physically located on the premises.
A building or a structure owned and operated by a governmental
agency to provide a governmental service to the public.
A vehicle with or without motor power which may be towed
on the public highways by a passenger automobile or truck without
a special hauling permit, or which may be driven under its own power.
This definition includes, but is not limited to, campers, travel trailers,
buses, camping trailers, pickup trucks with slide-in campers, recreational
vehicle homes and motor homes.
An establishment or other facility for carrying on investigation
and testing in the natural, physical or social sciences, including
engineering and development as an extension of the same. Pilot plant
production limited to 25% of the floor area may also be permitted,
along with other craft production such as 3D printing operations,
electronic assembly and similar low-impact manufacturing conducted
indoors and involving less than 5,000 square feet of floor area.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
An eating and drinking place where food is prepared, served
and consumed primarily within the principal building.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
Retail stores and services, including grocery stores, clothing
shops, bakeries, pharmacies and the like, but excluding mobile home
sales, shopping centers and vehicle/equipment sales and repair.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
Retail stores and services operated primarily for the purposes
of serving local clientele, including grocery stores, clothing shops,
bakeries, pharmacies and the like, but excluding mobile home sales,
shopping centers and other facilities oriented primarily toward highway-related
trade and/or regional markets.
A structure, or combination of structures, containing separate
storage spaces of varying sizes leased or rented on an individual
basis. These units shall be used for dead storage, and no processing,
manufacturing, sales, research, and development testing, service and
repair or other nonstorage activities shall be permitted.
A building or structure operated by a nonprofit agency or
group providing services to the general public which are closely related
to government.
Public utility uses and public or semipublic providers of
emergency services such as fire and ambulance uses.
A group of architecturally unified commercial establishments
built on a site that is planned, developed, owned and managed as an
operating unit with on-site parking sufficient for all its needs as
provided herein.
[Added 11-1-2021 by Ord.
No. 709]
Any object, device, display or structure, or part thereof,
situated outdoors or indoors, which is used to advertise, identify,
display, direct, or attract attention to an object, person, institution,
organization, business, product, service, event, or location by any
means, including words, letters, figures, design, symbols, fixtures,
colors, illumination or projected images. Objects not included in
this definition are national or state flags, window displays, graffiti,
athletic scoreboards, or the official announcements or signs of government.
A use permitted in a particular zoning district which may
be suitable in certain localities within the district only when specific
conditions and factors prescribed for such cases within this chapter
are present. Special exceptions are acted upon by the Honesdale Borough
Zoning Hearing Board after recommendations by the Honesdale Borough
Planning Commission.
A structure or area used for the shelter, care, and/or riding
of donkeys, horses or mules for hire, remuneration, or sale.
An accessory structure or use which involves the keeping
of donkeys, horses or mules not for hire, remuneration or sale.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
A retail establishment offering food and kindred products,
which contains more than 5,000 square feet of shopping area.
Any structure, whether of temporary or permanent nature,
either above or below ground which contains water to a depth of 1.5
feet, or more, and is used for swimming purposes, which is not available
for public use.
Occupancy of a dwelling by three or more families at separate
times over the course of a year; not including persons who may, during
such period, be temporarily staying at the location as a guest of
the principal occupant.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to
include any nonconforming use.
Relief granted by the Zoning Hearing Board, following a public
hearing that has been properly advertised as required by the appropriate
municipal code, for an adjustment to some regulation which if strictly
adhered to would result in an unnecessary hardship, and where the
permission granted would not be contrary to the public interest and
would maintain the spirit and original intent of this chapter.
The use of any building, land area or other premises for
the display and sale of new and used automobiles of operable condition;
panel trucks or vans; mobile homes or trailers; recreational vehicles;
or farm or construction equipment including any warranty repair work
and other repair service as an accessory use. No business or facility
which generates less than 50% of its gross sales from the actual sale
of new or used vehicles or equipment of the type herein described
(excluding parts and repairs) shall be considered a vehicle and equipment
sales operation. No facility operating in the manner of a junkyard
shall qualify as a vehicle and equipment sales operation.
An open, unoccupied space which shall extend the full depth
or width of a lot which shall not be occupied by any building. Front
yards shall be measured from the edge of the highway right-of-way
or curb if one exists and other yards from property lines. Where the
highway right-of-way cannot be established, it shall be assumed to
be 50 feet in width.
[Amended 11-1-2021 by Ord. No. 709]
B.Â
The above definitions are also supplemented by those
contained in other Honesdale Borough ordinances. Where there is any
conflict between definitions or provisions contained in this chapter
and other ordinances, the definitions or provisions contained herein
shall apply insofar as they affect the regulations part of this chapter.
