This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Hatfield Township Zoning Ordinance of 1966," as amended.
This chapter is enacted for the purpose of promoting
the health, safety, morals, and the general welfare of the Township,
and is designed to lessen congestion on the roads and highways, and
to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers, to provide adequate
light and air, to prevent the overcrowding of land, to avoid undue
concentration of population, to facilitate the adequate provision
of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public
requirements, to conserve the value of buildings and to encourage
the most appropriate use of land throughout the Township; as well
as preservation of the natural scenic and historic values in the environment
and preservation of forests, wetlands, aquifers and floodplains.
A.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this
chapter, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the
promotion of the health, safety, morals, and the general welfare of
the Township, and they shall embody the following objectives:
(1)
Guiding and encouraging the future development of
the Township in accordance with comprehensive planning of land use
and population density that represents the most beneficial and convenient
relationship among the residential, commercial, industrial and recreational
areas within the Township, having regard to their suitability for
the various uses appropriate to each of them and their potentiality
for such uses, as indicated by topography and soil conditions, existing
man-made conditions, and trends in population, in the direction and
manner of the use of land, in building development, and in economic
activity, considering such conditions and trends both within the Township
and with respect to the relation of the Township to surrounding areas.
(2)
Protecting the character and the social and economic
stability of each of such areas and encouraging only their orderly
and beneficial growth.
(3)
Protecting and conserving the value of land and buildings
throughout the Township appropriate to the various zoning districts
established herein.
(4)
Bringing about through proper timing the gradual conformity
of land use to these regulations and minimizing conflicts among the
uses of land and buildings.
(5)
Aiding in bringing about the most beneficial relation
between land use and the circulation of traffic throughout the Township,
having particular regard to traffic to and from the expressways, and
the avoidance of congestion in the streets and the provision of safe
and convenient access appropriate to the various land uses.
(6)
Aiding in providing a guide for public policy and
action in the efficient provision of public facilities and services,
in the provision of safe and proper sanitary sewage disposal, and
for private enterprise in building development, investment, and other
economic activity relating to land use.
It is not intended by this chapter to repeal,
abrogate, annul or interfere with any existing ordinance or enactment,
or with any rule, regulation or permit adopted or issued thereunder
except insofar as the same may be inconsistent or in conflict with
any of the provisions of this chapter; provided, that where this chapter
imposes greater restrictions upon the use of building or land, or
upon the height, and bulk of buildings, or prescribes larger open
spaces than are required by the provisions of such ordinance, enactment,
rule, regulation or permit, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
Should any section or provision of this chapter
be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such
decision shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole
or any other part thereof, nor shall the effect of such decision apply
to any other person, property or situation other than those involved
in the immediate situation.
