It shall be, and is hereby declared to be, the objective of the Bethel Township to provide for the orderly development of the community through Chapter 480, Zoning, of the Code of the Township of Bethel and Chapter 395, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of Bethel as presently in effect or hereafter amended in order to carry into effect the purposes, plans and guidelines as set forth in the Bethel Township Comprehensive Plan, which plan is herein incorporated by reference.
A.Â
This chapter is enacted in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipal
Planning Code, for the following purposes:
(1)Â
To promote, protect and facilitate one or more of the following:
(a)Â
The public health;
(b)Â
Safety;
(c)Â
Morals;
(d)Â
General welfare;
(e)Â
Coordinated and practical community development;
(f)Â
Proper density of population;
(g)Â
Civil defense;
(h)Â
Disaster evacuation;
(i)Â
National defense facilities;
(j)Â
The provisions of adequate light and air;
(k)Â
Police protection;
(l)Â
Vehicle parking and loading space;
(m)Â
Transportation;
(n)Â
Water;
(o)Â
Sewerage;
(p)Â
Schools;
(q)Â
Public grounds;
(r)Â
Other public requirements; and
(s)Â
Protect the environment.
B.Â
This chapter shall be made in accordance with the spirit and intent
of the Comprehensive Plan, and with consideration for the character
of the municipality, its various parts and the suitability of the
various parts for particular uses and structures.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter,
they shall be held to the minimum requirements for the promotion of
the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.
Where the provisions of this chapter impose greater restrictions than
those of any statute, other ordinance, or regulation, the provisions
of this chapter shall be controlling. Where the provisions of any
statute, other ordinance or regulation impose greater restrictions
than this chapter, the provisions of such statute, other ordinance
or regulation shall be controlling.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Bethel
Township Zoning Ordinance of 2008."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases
shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meaning herein
indicated. The singular shall include the plural, and the plural shall
include the singular. The word "used" shall include the words "arranged,"
"designed," "or intended to be used." The word "building" shall include
the word "structure." The present tense shall include the future tense.
The word "shall" is always mandatory.
A building subordinate to the main building on a lot and
used for purposes customarily and clearly incidental to those of the
main building.
A use subordinate to the main use of land or of a building
on the same lot and customarily and clearly incidental thereto.
A store, shop and/or other commercial establishment with
more than 15 square feet of floor area devoted primarily to the display,
sale and/or rental of and/or with 10% or more of its gross income
attributable to sale and/or rental of pornographic materials. Pornographic
materials, for the purposes of this ordinance, are defined as pictures,
drawings, photographs, movies and/or other visual images and/or paraphernalia
which, if sold knowingly to a child under 18 years of age, would violate
the then-current criminal laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The display, sale and/or rental of pornographic materials shall not
be permitted in any zoning district other than the Tank Farm Zoning
District.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 221]
The display of pornographic movies, videos, pictures and/or
other visual images, and/or display of live human stripping, topless,
and/or nude person(s), and/or any other live display of the human
body where female breasts and/or male or female buttocks and/or genitalia
are exposed to patrons, business invitees, guests and/or club members
as part of a private club, entertainment establishment, bar, tavern
and/or other commercial business or activity. Adult entertainment
uses shall not be permitted in any zoning district other than the
Tank Farm Zoning District. All such adult entertainment uses shall
constitute a separate use and shall require separate use approval
(e.g., by zoning use permit) whether or not they are an accessory
use.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 221]
An alteration, as applied to a building, is any change or
rearrangement in the structural parts, or any enlargement, whether
by extending on any side by increasing in height, or moving from one
location or position to another.
A story, partly underground, but having more than half of
its clear height above average level of adjoining ground.
A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of
a property or district, not less in width than is designated in this
chapter, and on which is placed year-around shrubbery, hedges, evergreens,
or other suitable plantings.
Any structures, including a trailer, having a roof supported
by columns, piers, or walls used for the housing or enclosure of persons,
animals.
The aggregate of the maximum horizontal cross-section areas
of all buildings on a lot, excluding cornices, eaves, gutters, or
chimneys projecting not more than 30 inches; steps, one-story open
porches, or chimneys not extending more than one story and not projecting
more than five feet; and balconies and terraces.
The line parallel to the street line at a distance there
from at least equal to the depth of the front yard required for the
district in which the lot is located.
See "basement."
A line midway between and parallel to the two street or road
property lines, or as otherwise defined by the Township Supervisors.
The business or operating location of construction and related
trades, which may include heavy equipment storage and maintenance.
These uses may include office facilities indoor fabricating and storage
space and/or large outdoor storage space and/or large outdoor storage
areas for equipment and materials. Such establishments may include,
but are not limited to, electrical contractors, masonry and concrete
contractors, framing and carpentry contractors, and similar trades
and businesses.
A lot fronting on two streets at their intersection.
The total number of dwelling units on a given tract divided
by the total number of acres in the tract, not including existing
dedicated roads, but including all residential streets to be built
in conjunction with subdivision development and all land set aside
and dedicated for public use.
SINGLE-FAMILYA building, on a lot, designed and occupied exclusively as a residence for one family.
TWO-FAMILYA building, on a lot designed and occupied exclusively as a residence for two families with one family living wholly or partly over the other.
MULTIFAMILYA building, on a lot, designed and used exclusively as a residence for three or more families.
SINGLE-FAMILY SEMIDETACHEDA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family and having a party wall in common with an adjacent building; a single-family twin dwelling. Where a private garage is structurally attached to such building, it shall be considered as a part thereof.
TWO-FAMILY DETACHEDA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for two families living independently of each other with one family living wholly or partly over the other and having no party wall in common with an adjacent building; a detached duplex dwelling. Where a private garage is structurally attached to such building, it shall be considered as a part thereof.
TWO-FAMILY SEMIDETACHEDA building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for two families living independently of each other with one family living wholly or partly over the other and having a party wall in common with an adjacent building; a semidetached duplex dwelling. Where a private garage is structurally attached to such building, it shall be considered as a part thereof.
TOWNHOUSEOne of a structurally connected series of three or more buildings arranged in a row, each designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family, and each having a party wall in common with one or more of the other buildings in a series adjacent to it, any or all of which buildings may be under different ownership.
One or more rooms designed and equipped for one family, or
persons living together as one family, to occupy as a residence, but
shall not include tourist homes, or cabins, lodging, houses, hotels,
motels, or other similar places offering overnight accommodations
for transients.
An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation
or utilization, through which electric energy in bulk is passed for
the purposes of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet
the needs of the general public, provided that in residence districts
an electric substation shall not include rotating equipment, storage
of materials, trucks or repair facilities, or housing of repair crews.
The greatest number of persons to be employed on the premises
in question at any one time of the day or night.
A tract of land comprised of at least 10 acres used for agricultural
purposes.
Any building used for storing agricultural equipment or farm
produce, housing livestock or poultry, and processing dairy products.
The term "farm building" shall not include dwelling.
The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors
of all buildings on the lot, measured from the exterior faces of exterior
walls and from the center line of walls separating two buildings.
The term shall include basement, elevator shafts and stairwells at
each story, floor space used for mechanical equipment (with structural
headroom of six feet six inches or more), penthouses, attic space
(whether or not a floor has actually been laid providing structural
headroom of six feet six inches or more), interior balconies, and
mezzanines. It shall not include stair and elevator penthouses or
cellars unless said cellars are utilized for anything other than storage
rooms, utility rooms, mechanical equipment rooms, etc.
A building's vertical measurement from the main level of
the ground abutting the building to the highest point in the roof
line of a flat roof or a roof having a slope of less than 15°
from the horizontal, and to a point midway between the peak and the
eaves of a roof having a slope of 15° or more; provided that chimneys,
spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, and similar projections
of the building shall not be included in calculating the height.
An occupation or professional use, which is carried on in
a dwelling unit, or a structure accessory thereto, clearly secondary
and incidental to the dwelling in which the practitioner resides.
The manufacturing, predominantly from previously prepared
materials, of finished products or parts, including the processing
fabrication, assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, sales
and distribution of such products or parts, but excluding basic industrial
processing of raw materials.
A parcel of land which conforms to the zoning requirement
for the zone in which it is located and has frontage on a street.
Lot area shall not include any public easement, public rights-of-way,
and does include wetlands and floodplains.
Any area of land, including structures thereon, or any building
or part thereof, that is used for sale of gasoline or other vehicle
fuel or accessories, and which may or may not include facilities for
lubrication, washing, or otherwise servicing motor vehicles, but which
shall not include painting, body and fender repairs, or sale, rental
and storage of vehicles.
An area of a building, or a building designed for use either
as office, assembly, warehouse/storage or light manufacturing. Each
multiuse space area shall have not less than 10% of the area used
for office space. Assembly of parts or other like use shall occupy
no more than 90% of the individual multiuse area.
A building or other structure, use or lot, lawful when created
which for reason of design, size, or use does not conform to the requirements
of the district or districts in which it is located.
An on-the-property space for the standing, loading, and unloading
of vehicles to avoid undue interference with the public use of streets
and alleys. Such space shall be not less than 14 feet in width, 15
feet in height, and 55 feet in length, exclusive of access aisles
and maneuvering space.
A space containing a minimum area of 200 square feet with
a minimum width of 10 feet, for the parking of an automobile. In determining
the dimension of such space, access drives and aisles shall not be
included. Minimum vertical clearance shall be 6Â 1/2 feet.
A building in which is conducted, or is intended to be conducted,
the principal use of the lot on which it is located. In residential
districts, only one principal building may be erected on each lot.
An accessory building used for the storage of motor vehicles
and farm equipment, which may include one commercial vehicle, and
for the storage of not more than two private noncommercial vehicles
owned and used by persons other than the owner or tenant of the premises.
See "home occupation."
A building, not a private garage, used for the repair or
servicing of motor vehicles owned and used by persons other than the
owner-tenant of the premises and/or for the storage of more than two
motor vehicles owned and used by persons other than the owner or tenant
of the premises, excluding a truck depot.
A public sewer is any municipal or privately owned sewer
system in which sewage is collected from buildings and piped to an
approved sewage disposal plant or central septic tank disposal system
and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Any municipally or privately owned water system for the distribution
and sale of water, in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
Establishments engaged in selling goods or merchandise to
the general public for personal or household consumption and rendering
services incidental to the sale of such goods, such as, but not limited
to hardware store, pharmacy, grocery, vehicles sales, magazine/bookstore,
florist, or clothing store. Such uses are primarily housed in buildings,
but may include limited outdoor retail space.
The seating capacity of a particular building as determined
by the specifications and plans and filed with the Zoning Officer;
in the event individual seats are not provided, each 20 inches of
benches or similar seating accommodations shall be considered as one
seat for the purpose of this chapter.
Any structure, device, display, or part thereof, or device
attached thereto, or painted or represented thereon, located outside,
on, or within the building in such a manner that the sign is viewed
from outside the building, which shall be used for the purpose of
bringing the subject thereof to the attention of the public or which
displays or includes any letter, work, motto, banner, flag, insignia,
device or representation which is in the nature of an advertisement,
announcement, direction, or attraction, but not including the flag,
insignia of the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or any political subdivision thereof.
The ownership of a lot by one or more persons, partnerships,
or corporations, which ownership is separate and distinct from that
of any adjoining lot.
Any device associated with a solar energy system, such as
an outdoor electrical unit/control box, that transfers the energy
from the solar energy system to the intended on-site structure.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 220]
An energy conversion system, including appurtenances, which
converts solar energy to a usable form of energy to meet all or part
of the energy requirements of the on-site user. This definition shall
include the terms passive solar and active solar systems.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 220]
Large collections of interconnected solar panels that work
together to capture sunlight and turn it into electricity on a grand
scale. They can be government-owned or privately owned. Private solar
farms can be large facilities owned by power companies, or small arrays
set up on extra acreage in the Tank Farm Zoning District. In either
case, the power generated is sold to electric companies for distribution
throughout the power grid.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 220]
The effect produced by light reflecting from a solar panel
with an intensity sufficient to cause annoyance, discomfort, or loss
in visual performance and visibility.
[Added 12-21-2016 by Ord.
No. 220]
That part of a building located between a floor and the floor
or roof next above. The first story of a building is the lowest story
having 75% or more of that wall area above grade level.
A public street, road, highway which is legally open or officially
plotted by the Township or a private street, road, or way, over which
the owners or tenants of two or more lots held in single and separate
ownership have the right-of-way. Maximum of two houses is permitted
on a private street.
The division line between a lot and a street. The street
line shall be determined by the legal right-of-way of street, provided
that no street line shall be considered to be less than 25 feet from
the center line of said street.
Anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on
the ground, or attached to something having a fixed location on the
ground, including trailer.
A swimming pool (above or below ground level), excluding
any container designed to hold 18 inches in depth or less of water,
and the apparatus and equipment pertaining to the swimming pool maintained
by an individual for the sole use of his household and guests without
charge for admission and not for the purpose of profit or in connection
with any business operated for profit, located on a lot as an accessory
use to a residence.
Specifications duly adopted by the Board of Supervisors by
formal resolution for a specific purpose.
A lot or premises used for occupancy by two or more house
trailers or mobile home units for any length of time.
Any vehicle designed, intended, arranged, or used for living,
eating, sleeping, business or other similar purposes, whether arranged
to stand on wheels or rigid supporters.
A structure for the temporary storage of merchandise or commodities.
Such use may include the storage of goods and equipment for other
businesses or storage of articles for private individuals. Warehouse
uses do not include retail activities.
FRONT YARDThe required open space, the full width of the lot extending from the street line to the nearest structure on the lot, exclusive of overhanging eaves, gutters, or cornices.
SIDE YARDThe required open space, from front to rear, extending from the side line of the lot to the nearest structure on the lot, exclusive of steps, overhanging caves, gutters, or cornices.
REAR YARDThe required open space, the full width of the lot extending from the rear property line of the lot to the nearest structure on the lot, exclusive of steps, overhanging eaves, gutters, or cornices.
INTERIOR YARDThe open space separating any buildings situate on a lot held single and separate ownership.
