Borough of Mars, PA Terminology

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ACCESSORY BUILDING: A subordinate building incidental to and located on the same lot as the principal building and used for an accessory use.

ACCESSORY BUILDING OR USE: A building or use which is subordinate and incidental to the main building or use located on the same lot or premises. For purposes of this chapter, accessory uses and buildings shall be limited to:

ACCESSORY USE: A use incidental to and subordinate to and located on the same lot occupied by the principal use to which it relates.

ALLEY: A narrow serviceway providing secondary access to abutting properties.

ALTERATIONS: As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangements in the structural parts or exit facilities or an enlargement or moving position or location or any change in use from that of one district classification to another.

APARTMENTS: A room or suite of rooms in a multifamily structure which is arranged, designed, used or intended to be used as a single housekeeping unit and which contains complete kitchen, bath and toilet facilities, permanently installed.

AREA: Size of a lot or site shall be calculated from dimensions derived by horizontal projections of the site.

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: Engine repair or reconditioning, collision and body repair, including straightening and repainting, placement of parts and incidental services.

BASEMENT: A floor level completely below grade or floor level in which more than 2/3 of the perimeter walls are below grade. A wall shall be considered below grade where the dimension from the first floor line to the finished grade is five feet or less, and the slope of the finished grade extending 10 feet from the building walls does not exceed 30°.

BED-AND-BREAKFAST: A single-family residence offering, for pay, overnight or short-term lodging and breakfast for transient guests, limited to four bedrooms, one to be occupied by the owner or manager.

BILLBOARD: Any sign for general advertising purposes, including any display by painting, posting or affixing on any surface a picture, emblem, words, figures, numbers or lettering, except as otherwise enumerated in this chapter, which is a maximum of 100 square feet in area.

BUILDING: A structure, having a roof supported by columns or walls, for housing, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.

BUILDING AREA: The total of areas taken on the horizontal plane to the outer surface of all walls at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, patios, terraces and steps.

BUILDING HEIGHT: The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finish 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 on hip and gable roofs.

BUILDING LINE: The line of that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes porches, whether enclosed or not, patios and similar construction, but excludes steps.

BUILDING OR SETBACK LINE: Imaginary line parallel to or concentric with the nearest road right-of-way line. No portion of a building foundation or wall may extend nearer the lot line than the required front yard depth.

BUSINESS SERVICE: Any business activity that renders service to other commercial or industrial enterprises.

CARPORT: A usable covered space of not less than 10 feet by 20 feet and not more than 20 feet by 20 feet for storage of private automobiles, such carport to be located on the lot so as to meet the requirements of this chapter for an accessory building or, if attached to the main building, to meet all requirements applicable to the main building.

CARTWAY: A portion of a road, street or highway actually intended for vehicular travel.

CAR WASH: An area of land and/or a structure with machine- or hand-operated facilities used principally for the cleaning, washing, polishing, or waxing of motor vehicles.

CHURCH: A place of religious instruction or public worship and where other customary activities occur, including but not limited to school, meeting halls, recreational facilities, day care, counseling, weddings and other social events, and public dinners.

CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE: A triangle defined as 35 feet back from the right-of-way on the drive or road center line and a distance 35 feet each way from the intersection of said driveway or road and the center line of the perpendicular road center line.

COMMERCIAL: Engaging in a business, enterprise, activity or other undertaking related to or connected with trade and traffic or commerce in general.

COMMERCIAL RECREATION, INDOOR: A facility that offers various indoor recreational opportunities for its patrons, including such games as pool, billiards, bowling, video games and similar pursuits.

COMMERCIAL RECREATION, INTENSIVE: Annual or seasonal festivals, held by nonprofit community organizations or lawful businesses, which may include occasional accessory or incidental outdoor performances.

CONDITIONAL USE: A use which is not specifically permitted in a particular zoning district by zoning ordinance but which may be permitted upon application to Council after recommendation of the Planning Commission, with provisions and conditions placed on the use at the discretion of Council.

CONDOMINIUM: A building or group of buildings in which the floor area is owned individually, and other parts of structures, common areas, or facilities are owned proportionally or by a separate entity, or similar arrangements regulated by the Pennsylvania Condominium Act.[1]

CONSTRUCTION: Means, for the purpose of this Code, but shall not be limited to, the erection, construction, installation, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, removal, demolition, conversion, substitution, or maintenance of all buildings or structures, their electrical or plumbing systems, or facilities, or any other facilities and shall include the maintaining of conditions hazardous to life or property from fire or explosion.

CONVERSION APARTMENT: A suite of rooms designed or intended for occupancy or housekeeping by one family which is established in a portion of a building originally designed or used for residential use by a single-family unit, whether or not separated by a partition, door or other barrier.

COVERAGE: The percentage of a lot covered by buildings, structures, parking lots, driveways, or similar impervious surfaces, measured as the total area of such impervious surfaces divided into total lot area.

DAY-CARE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN (DAY CARE): Provides out-of-home care for part of a twenty-four-hour day to children under 12 years of age, excluding care provided by relatives and day care furnished in places of worship during religious services, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Child care for less than four children will not be considered as day-care services. Day care for four adults shall be considered substantially the same use.

DWELLING: A building arranged, intended, designed or used as the living quarters for one or more families living independently of each other upon the premises. The term "dwelling" shall not be deemed to include "hotel" or "motel."

DWELLING UNIT: A building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family and an in-law suite.

EATING AND DRINKING PLACES: A business establishment whose principal business is the selling of unpackaged food to the customer in a ready-to-consume state. This definition may include retail bakeries, coffee shops, and similar facilities. The sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in Mars Borough.

ESSENTIAL SERVICE: The facilities of public utilities, municipal departments or commissions, including buildings necessary for furnishing adequate services for public health, safety, or general welfare.

FAMILY: An individual, or two or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption or foster child care, including domestic servants or gratuitous guests thereof, or a group of not more than four unrelated persons living together without supervision in a dwelling unit, or any number of persons protected by the provisions of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., as now or hereafter amended) living together in a group living arrangement with supervision, provided those persons do not have a criminal record. "Family" shall not include persons living together in a group home, assisted living facility, or nursing home, as defined herein, or any other supervised group living arrangement for persons other than those protected by the Fair Housing Act or persons who constitute a direct threat to others or their physical property.

FAMILY DAY-CARE/GROUP DAY-CARE HOME: A facility in which area is provided for no more than six children at any time when the child-care facility is being used as a family residence and no more than the number allowed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare when the facility is not a residence; one or more persons who live together as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse; may also include domestic servants and gratuitous guests.

FLOOR AREA: The sum of the gross area of the several floors of a building or buildings, measured from the face of the exterior walls or from the center line of the walls separating two buildings.

GARAGE, PRIVATE: An accessory building with an area for the housing of motor-driven vehicles, the property of and for the use of the occupants of the lot on which the garage is located.

GARAGE, PUBLIC OR REPAIR: Any garage, other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for the storage, repair, rental, lubricating, washing, servicing, or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles.

GARDEN APARTMENT: A single-family one-, two-, or three-bedroom dwelling unit, built predominantly on one level and used as a single-family housekeeping unit. Each unit is to contain a complete kitchen, bathroom, toilet facilities and living space. A garden apartment building may contain up to 12 units in one building and may be a maximum of three stories.

GASOLINE SERVICE STATION: An area of land, together with any structure thereon, used for the retail sale of motor fuel and lubricants and incidental services, such as lubrication and washing of motor vehicles, and the sale, installation or minor repairs of tires, batteries or other automobiles accessories.

GROSS FLOOR AREA (GFA): The total floor area for which the tenant pays rent and that is designed for the tenant's occupancy and exclusive use.

GROUP HOMES: A facility in which unrelated persons live in a structured atmosphere, not to exceed four residents plus facility personnel. (See "family.")

HALFWAY HOUSE: A transitional residential facility, licensed and operated by a government, contractor, or social service agency, that provides a supervised environment to residents who require psychiatric, correctional or behavioral treatment between periods of institutional and independent living.

HAZARDOUS: Any material which may cause harm to the environment or to persons, plants, or animals, or cause noxious odors, or materials generally recognized by county, commonwealth or federal agencies to be dangerous.

HEALTH CARE FACILITY: A facility licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide acute health care or some level of assisted lifestyle, including but not limited to day care, group homes, sheltered care, nursing homes, intermediate care, personal care homes, clinics and hospitals.

HEAVY INDUSTRY: The manufacture, storage, processing, and treatment of materials which are potentially hazardous or processes which produce significant amounts of smoke, noise, glare, or dust or odor as a primary or secondary effect of the principal use of the land or buildings.

HEIGHT OF BUILDING: The vertical distance measured from the highest level of finished grade along all the exterior walls of the building to the highest point of the roof and to the highest point on any structure which rises wholly or partly above the roof.

HIGH-RISE APARTMENT BUILDING: A dwelling unit within a multistory, multifamily structure, with at least four and not more than eight living floors. (This is exclusive of a basement if said basement is wholly subgrade and contains no living units.)

HOME OCCUPATION: An accessory use of a service character, customarily conducted within a dwelling unit by the residents thereof, which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use other than a small nameplate, and, in connection therewith, there is not involved the keeping of or exhibition of stock-in-trade, and compliance with the requirements of the "no-impact home-based business" definition.

HOSPITAL: An institution providing health services primarily for human inpatient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured and including related facilities, such as laboratories, outpatient departments, training facilities, central services facilities and staff offices that are an integral part of the facilities.

INDUSTRY, LIGHT: Manufacturing in which there is no significant impact from noise, dust or odor, and impacts are limited to secondary effects related to vehicular traffic, incidental noise, or movement of materials. "Light industries" include but are not limited to food processing; wood products manufacturing (without chemical treatment); production of machine tools and similar metalworking; manufacturing of plastic products; laboratories, testing and research facilities; printing; pharmaceuticals production; and similar facilities for assembling and fabricating.

JUNK: Any discarded material or article, including, but not limited to, scrap metal, scrapped or abandoned motor vehicles, machinery, equipment, paper, glass, containers and structures. It shall not include, however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper container for the purpose of prompt disposal. For the purpose of this chapter, a "proper container" shall mean a solid plastic or metal container, with a sealable lid, specifically designed for the storage of waste matter.

JUNKYARD: A lot or land, or part thereof, where waste or used or secondhand materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, collected, baled, packaged, disassembled or handled, including but not limited to scrap iron, other metals, paper, rags and rubber tires, and further includes an auto-wrecking yard, machinery or vehicle salvage and sale of parts thereof. The collection and/or storage of two or more vehicles or heavy machinery units not in running condition constitutes a junkyard within the scope of this chapter. Junkyards must be fenced by a six-foot opaque fence.

LIMITED RETAIL BUSINESS: Small-scale retail enterprises intended to benefit neighborhood residents or tourists. Limited retail businesses are distinguished from other retail businesses by smaller size (less than 5,000 square feet gross floor area) and confining all commercial activities indoors.

LOT: A parcel, tract, or area of land. It may be a single parcel, separately described in a recorded deed or plot, or it may include parts of or a combination of such parcels when adjacent to one another and used as one.

LOT AREA: The dimensions of a lot expressed in square feet or acres. For the purposes of this chapter, "minimum lot area" shall not include all lands within the rights-of-way of planned or existing public streets or highways.

LOT, CORNER: A lot at the junction of and having frontage on two or more intersecting streets. Setbacks shall be measured from the road right-of-way.

LOT DEPTH: The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line, measured in the general direction of the side lot lines. Setbacks shall be measured from the road right-of-way.

LOT LINE, FRONT: In the case of a corner lot, a line separating the narrowest frontage of the lot from the street, and, in the case of an interior lot, a line separating the lot from the street or place. Setbacks shall be measured from the road right-of-way.

LOT WIDTH: The dimensions of a lot, measured between side lot lines on the building line.

MEDIATION: The settlement of a dispute between or among interested parties in land use matters through the use of a mutually acceptable independent third party.

MINI MALL: A shopping center that may include offices, eating and drinking places, retail services and retail shops in which the total area of buildings is less than 100,000 square feet of gross floor area.

MOBILE HOME: A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, contained in one 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. Structures known as "double-wide homes" or "modular homes" shall not be considered to be mobile homes under the terms of this chapter and shall be treated as single-family residences.

MOBILE HOME LOT: 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.

MOBILE HOME PARK: A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use, consisting of two or more mobile home lots.

MOTEL: A building or group of detached or connected buildings designed or used primarily for providing sleeping accommodations for automobile travelers and having a parking space adjacent to a sleeping room. The definition includes hotels, motor lodges and similar uses.

MULTIPLE DWELLING: A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for two or more families living independently of each other, including houses separate except for common adjoining walls.

NET LOT AREA: Shall not include any portion of a lot regarded as "nonbuildable areas," including all lands within the rights-of-way of planned or existing public streets or highways or within the rights-of-way of existing or proposed overhead utility lines; all land in designated floodplains; and all land in designated wetlands or open water; and all land containing slopes greater than 25%. Due to geologic, topographic and hydrologic hazards, which require reductions in density to mitigate, the following calculations will also be made to minimum lot area where necessary: Steep slopes of 16% to 24% shall be measured; minimum lot area shall be increased by 40% for lands containing such slopes.

NO-IMPACT HOME-BASED BUSINESS

A business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which involves limited customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy the following requirements:

(1)

The business activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.

(2)

The business shall employ only one employee other than family members residing in the dwelling.

(3)

There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling of inventory of a substantial nature.

(4)

There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking signs or lights.

(5)

The business activity may not use any equipment or process which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors, or electrical interference, including interference with radio or television reception, which is detectable in the neighborhood.

(6)

The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with residential use in the neighborhood.

(7)

The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.

(8)

The business may not involve any illegal activity.

If the business meets all such requirements, it shall be considered a lawful accessory use to a dwelling.

NONCONFORMING LOT: A lot, the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of this chapter, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.

NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE: A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designated to comply with the applicable use or extent of use of this chapter or an amendment hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of this chapter or amendment or prior to the application of this chapter or amendment to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures include, but are not limited to, nonconforming signs.

NONCONFORMING USE: A building or use of land that does not conform to the use regulations for the district in which it is situated.

NURSING HOME: A facility to give long-term skilled care to geriatric or handicapped patients and licensed as such a facility by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

OFFICE: The office or studio of a physician, surgeon, dentist, lawyer, architect, artist, engineer, certified public accountant, real estate broker or salesman, insurance broker or agent, musician, teacher or similar occupation.

OFFICIAL MAP: A map adopted by ordinance pursuant to Article IV of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.[2]

PARKING SPACE: An off-street space available for parking of one motor vehicle and having a minimum dimension of nine feet by 18 feet for right angle parking and a similar square dimension for angle parking exclusive of passageways and driveways appurtenant thereto, and giving access thereto and having direct access to a street or alley.

PERSON: Includes but shall not be limited to corporations and partnerships, as well as individuals.

PERSONAL CARE HOME: A facility giving geriatric care in a home-like setting and licensed as such by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

PET, DOMESTIC: Any variety of domesticated or tamed creatures, such as birds, cats or dogs, which are commonly kept within the confines of the home and yard area.

PLANNING CODE: The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act 247 of 1968, as reenacted and amended by Act No. 170 of 1988 and Acts 67 and 68 of 2000, and as further amended from time to time.[3]

PUBLIC: For the purposes of this chapter, means land, buildings, structures or facilities owned, leased, or operated by a government entity.

PUBLIC HEARING: Public hearings are conducted to obtain, add, and provide information and a stenographic or recorded record, which are retained as transcripts for future use in an appeal or other related matter.

PUBLIC MEETING: Public meetings are conducted to obtain, add, and provide information necessary to take informed formal action. A stenographic or recorded record is not necessary.

PUBLIC PARKS AND PLAYGROUNDS: Parks and playgrounds that are owned and operated by the Borough or by an authority created for such purposes by the Borough or any government agency.

RIGHT-OF-WAY: That portion of land dedicated to the public use for street or utility purposes.

ROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY: A strip of land dedicated to public uses as a road or other public use.

SCREENING: A fence, screen planting, or wall provided in such a way that it will block a line of sight.

SCREEN PLANTING: For this chapter, means an evergreen hedge, at least six feet high at time of planting, planted in such a way that it will block a line of sight. The screening may consist of either one or multiple rows of bushes or trees and shall be at least four feet wide. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain a screen planting, replacing trees as needed. The Zoning Officer may require replacement of screening trees.

SELF-SERVICE STORAGE FACILITIES: A building consisting of individual, small, self-contained units that are leased or owned for the storage of business and household goods or contractors supplies.

SERVICE SHOPS: Any enterprise conducted for man which primarily offers services to the general public, such as shoe repair, valet services, watch repairing, barbershops, beauty parlors and related activities.

SERVICE STATION: A building, buildings, premises or portions thereof which are used or arranged, designed, or intended to be used for the retail sale of gasoline or other fuel for motor vehicles or motorboats, as well as limited minor repairs.

SHOPPING CENTER: A commercial facility developed as a mixture of uses, including retail sales, theaters, personal services and eating and drinking places, but planned, constructed, managed or promoted as an integral whole.

SIGN: Any structure arranged, intended or used as an advertisement, announcement or direction, or words or a picture which is posted, painted or placed in some fashion on a building, structure or any surface for the purpose of visual communication.

SIGN, BUSINESS: A sign that directs attention to a business, profession or industry conducted on the premises or to products sold, manufactured or assembled upon the same premises upon which it is displayed.

SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING: A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family.

SPECIAL EXCEPTION: The permission or approval expressly granted by the Zoning Hearing Board, in situations where provision therefor is made by the terms of this chapter, after written application is made therefor.

STORY: The portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there be no floor above, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it.

STREET: A public or private right-of-way which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. A street may be designated as a highway, thoroughfare, parkway, boulevard, road, avenue, lane, drive, place or other appropriate name.

STREET LINE: The line defining the edge of the legal width of a dedicated or other public street from a contiguous lot, parcel, or tract of land.

STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground. Structures shall be construed as any assembly of materials forming an enclosure, including, among others, but not limited to, buildings, dwellings, stadiums, tents, stands, platforms, staging, towers, radio towers (pursuant to state or federal regulations and approval), sheds, and garages.

SUPPLY YARD: A business that stores or maintains stocks of building materials, such as block, brick, stone, plastic pipe, culverts, concrete or wood, in an outdoor setting for sale to contractors or the general public.

TEMPORARY STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected, not permanently attached to the ground, or being constructed out of materials, such as canvas, plastic or fabric, and which is intended to be used as a garage, shed, or storage area; does not include awnings.

TOWNHOUSE: A single-family dwelling unit attached on one or two sidewalls with a single occupancy from the ground to the roof. Each unit is to have its own at-grade access. Townhouse buildings shall be limited to six units in a building.

TRAILER COURT (CAMP): Any plot of ground upon which area and provision is made for five or more house trailers occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes. The terms "trailer court or park" and "mobile home park" or similar designations shall be interpreted to have the same meaning as the term "trailer camp."

TRAILER (HOUSE OR MOBILE HOME): A vehicle so constructed as to permit its conveyance upon the public rights-of-way, and duly titled as such, and constructed in such a manner to permit occupancy thereof as a dwelling or sleeping place for one or more persons. The removal of wheels, establishment of foundations and/or similar modifications shall change the classification of such unit to that of a building.

TRAVEL TRAILER: A self-propelled or towed vehicle with sleeping and/or cooking quarters, licensed, or intended to be licensed, for travel on the highways of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

TRIPLEX: See "dwelling."

TRUCK TERMINAL: Land and buildings used as a relay station for the transfer of a load from one vehicle to another or one party to another. The terminal cannot be used for permanent or long-term accessory storage areas for trucks and buildings or areas for the repair of trucks associated with the terminal.

USE: The specific purposes for which land or a building is designed, arranged or 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.

VARIANCE: A form of relief granted by the Borough Zoning Hearing Board pursuant to Articles VI and IX of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code[4] and this chapter.

VETERINARY CLINIC: A facility used for the treatment of domestic animals for pay, with health treatment provided by a licensed veterinarian.

WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION: A use engaged in storage, wholesale and distribution of manufactured products, supplies and equipment, but excluding bulk storage of materials that are inflammable or explosive or that create hazardous or commonly recognized offensive conditions. For the purpose of this chapter, storage of explosive, inflammable, hazardous or commonly recognized offensive conditions shall be considered heavy industry.

YARD: A space on the same lot with a principal building, open, unoccupied and unobstructed by structures, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

YARD, FRONT: A yard extending across the full width of the lot, unoccupied other than by steps, walks, terraces, driveways, lampposts, and similar structures or improvements, the depth of which is the least distance between the front lot line and the building line.

YARD, REAR: A yard extending across the full width of the lot between the rear of the principal building and the rear lot line, unoccupied other than by accessory buildings, steps, walks, terraces, driveways, lampposts and similar structures and improvements.

YARD, SIDE: A yard between the principal building and the side lot line, extending from the front yard, or from the front line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard. The width of the required side yard is measured horizontally, at 90° with the side lot line, from the nearest part of the principal building.

ZONING OFFICER: The Zoning Officer of the Borough of Mars, or his/her authorized representative.

[1]:

Editor's Note: See 68 Pa.C.S.A. § 3101 et seq.

[2]:

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10401 et seq.

[3]:

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.

[4]:

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10601 et seq. and 53 P.S. § 10901 et seq., respectively.