Township of Washington, PA Article IX C Commercial District

§ 131-30 Purpose.

This district has been established and the regulations of this article enacted in support of the following purposes:

A. To provide an area for unified commercial development, providing goods and services to the surrounding area.

B. To encourage high-quality design of commercial facilities which will support and enhance the character of the community.

C. To accommodate safely those commercial uses which require access to a high-volume roadway in order to be economically viable.

D. To protect the health and welfare of the community.

§ 131-31 Permitted uses.

A. A building or combination of buildings (including shopping centers) may be erected or used and a lot area may be used or occupied for any one or combination of the following purposes and no others:

(1) Uses by right. Uses by right shall be as follows:

(a) Retail sales of goods and services, including retail outlets or showrooms for uses permitted by Subsection A(1)(i) below. Sexually oriented businesses are excluded.

(b) Eating and drinking establishments.

(c) Facilities providing personal services, including beauty parlors, barbershops, dry-cleaning and laundry service (excluding cleaning and dyeing plants), self-service laundries and laundromats and similar facilities.

(d) Financial service establishments, including banks, savings and loans and brokerages.

(e) Business offices.

(f) Transit facilities.

(g) Sales of motor vehicles and related services, including gas stations and automobile service stations.

(h) Utility installations, including electric substations and telecommunications offices.

(i) The following uses, provided that if located on the ground floor, they shall not be located within 20 feet of the front of the building, and further provided that they shall be effectively screened from the front portion of the building by a wall or partition:

[1] Upholstering.

[2] Carpentry or woodworking shops.

[3] Repair of electronic appliances, including audio equipment, telephones, televisions, VCRs and similar devices.

[4] Hand laundering, dry cleaning and pressing.

[5] Tailoring and dressmaking.

[6] Bakeries and confectioneries.

[7] Similar uses involving the repair, processing or storage of consumer goods.

(j) Uses customarily accessory to any of the above uses, including signs in conformance with § 131-78; and alternative energy systems in conformance with § 131-70G.

[Amended 8-26-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-01]

(k) Other accessory uses and structures necessary for the conduct of any use by right when located upon the same lot as the principal use.

[Added 8-26-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-01]

(l) Communications antennas mounted on an existing public utility transmission tower, building or other structure, including existing communications towers and communications equipment buildings.

[Added 7-9-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-6; amended 5-24-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-02]

(m) Retirement homes.

[Added 3-3-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]

(2) Uses by special exception. Uses by special exception shall be as follows:

(a) Public or private schools, including facilities for the instruction and/or rehabilitation of delinquents.

(b) Any use of the same general character as any of the uses by right, subject to such reasonable restrictions as may be imposed by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with § 131-105B of this chapter.

(c) Sexually oriented businesses in conformance with Chapter 97, Sexually Oriented Businesses, commonly known as the "Obscenity Ordinance," and further subject to such reasonable restrictions as may be imposed by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with § 131-105B of this chapter.

(d) Communications towers, subject to the standards for communications towers set forth at Article XXI, §§ 131-115 and 131-116, and communications equipment buildings and subject to the provisions of Article XVIII, § 131-105B of this chapter.

[Added 7-9-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-6]

(e) Medical marijuana dispensary, which must meet the following specific requirements:

[Added 7-27-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-1]

[1] The lot or property line of such business shall not be located within 1,000 feet of the lot or property line of a public, private or parochial school or day-care center, as provided for by 35 P.S. § 10231.802. Only the Department of Health through the dispensary permitting process may adjust or waive this prohibition.

[2] Provide a copy of the permit for the dispensary issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

[3] Provide a copy of the security information for the dispensary permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

(f) Pharmacy, which must meet the following specific requirements:

[Added 7-27-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-1]

[1] Provide a copy of the permit for the pharmacy issued by the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy.

B. If the development of a shopping center is to be carried out in stages, each stage shall be so planned that the foregoing requirements and the intent of this article shall be fully complied with at the completion of each stage.

§ 131-32 Area and bulk regulations.

A. The area and bulk requirements for all uses shall be as follows:

[Amended 4-24-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1]

(1) Minimum lot size: 1.0 acre of the adjusted tract area.

(2) Minimum lot width: 200 feet.

(3) Minimum yard setback:

(a) Front yard: 70 feet.

(b) Minimum side yard (each side): 25 feet.

(c) Minimum rear yard: 25 feet.

(4) Maximum area of building coverage: 20% of the adjusted tract area.

(5) Maximum area of impervious surface: 45% of the adjusted tract area.

(6) Maximum building height: 35 feet.

B. Exception to yard requirement. Where the property in question abuts the Agricultural District, a conservation district or a residential district, no building shall be erected within 50 feet of such district.

C. Exception to maximum building height limit. Structures may be erected to a height of 65 feet when approved by the Board of Supervisors, provided that for every foot of height in excess of 35 feet, there shall be added to each yard requirement one corresponding foot of width or depth.

§ 131-33 Design requirements.

A. Access and traffic control.

(1) All points of access to public streets shall be located not less than 200 feet from the intersection of any street lines and shall be designed in a manner conducive to safe ingress and egress. The developer shall be responsible for the construction of any and all necessary traffic control devices, acceleration lanes and deceleration lanes required by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

(2) Points of access shall not be located along Route 100 (SR 0100) unless the property in question has no other street frontage.

(3) No points of access shall have a curb cut in excess of 35 feet. Points of access to accommodate two-way traffic shall have a minimum width of 24 feet.

(4) Interior circulation shall be designed to prevent blockage of vehicles entering or leaving the site.

B. Parking and loading.

(1) Parking spaces and loading areas shall be provided and landscaped in accordance with § 131-77 of this chapter.

(2) No parking area, loading area, service area or access drive shall be located within 25 feet of a conservation district or residential district.

(3) Areas provided for loading and unloading of delivery trucks and other vehicles and to accommodate refuse collection, fuel delivery and similar services shall be appropriately sized and shall be so arranged that such areas may be used without blocking or interfering with the use of accessways or parking areas.

C. Lighting. Parking areas, loading areas and points of ingress and egress shall be illuminated. All lighting shall be completely shielded from traffic, public rights-of-way, residential properties and nearby residential districts.

[Amended 3-25-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-1[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the repeal of former Subsection C, Landscaping, and the redesignation of former Subsection D as Subsection C.

§ 131-34 Additional requirements for shopping centers.

[Amended 3-25-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-1]

A. In addition to the other requirements established by this article, shopping centers shall be designed and constructed in accordance with the provisions of this section. A shopping center is a type of land development and shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter 107, Subdivision and Land Development. The procedures and requirements established by said chapter shall be followed by persons wishing to obtain approval for a shopping center. The plan for a shopping center shall include evidence and facts showing that the developer has considered and made provision for the following conditions and that the development shall be executed in accordance with such conditions.

(1) The shopping center shall consist of a selection of uses and a grouping of buildings, service areas, parking areas, vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems and open areas planned and designed as an integrated unit in such manner as to constitute a safe, efficient and convenient retail center.

(2) The proposed development shall be constructed in accordance with an overall plan and shall be designed as a single architectural unit with appropriate landscaping.

(3) All buildings shall be arranged in a group or groups.

(4) No building shall be located within 30 feet of another building.

(5) Shopping centers shall be served by both public water supply and public sewage disposal unless authorized otherwise by the Board of Supervisors upon submission of evidence satisfactory to the Board of Supervisors demonstrating that public sewerage and water supply are not feasible in the particular location in question. Such evidence shall include but shall not be limited to a specific recommendation from the Township Engineer, the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, an official representative of the State Health Department or an official representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.