Borough of Spring Grove, PA Article III Districts

§ 400-11 Designation of districts and purposes.

A. For the purposes of this chapter, Spring Grove Borough is hereby divided into the following zoning districts, with the following abbreviations:

	LDR	Low-Density Residential District
	TR	Town Residential District
	V	Village District
	GC	General Commercial District
	I	Industrial District

B. For the purposes of this chapter, the zoning districts named in this section shall be of the number, size, shape and location shown on the Official Zoning Map.

C. Overlay districts. The floodplain area, as defined by Article V, shall serve as an overlay district to the applicable underlying districts.

D. Purposes of each district. In addition to the overall purposes and objectives of this chapter and the Comprehensive Plan, the purposes of each zoning district are summarized below:

(1) LDR - Low-Density Residential District: to provide for low-density residential neighborhoods that are primarily composed of single-family detached dwellings; to protect these areas from incompatible uses; to encourage owner-occupancy and neighborhood stability; to promote traditional patterns of development to extend the best features of older development into newer development; and to include the permanent preservation of significant open space as part of larger new developments.

(2) TR - Town Residential District : to provide for medium-density residential neighborhoods with a mix of housing types; to protect these areas from incompatible uses; to encourage one home on one lot (which may be attached to another home) in order to promote home ownership and neighborhood stability; and to make sure that infill development is consistent with neighboring development.

(3) V - Village District: to promote pedestrian-oriented commercial activities; to promote an appropriate mix of retail, service, office, public, institutional and residential uses; to avoid heavy motor vehicle-related commercial uses that are most likely to conflict with nearby homes and the pedestrian-orientation, and which are most likely to cause demolition of historic buildings; and to primarily provide for smaller-scale uses that utilize existing historic buildings, as opposed to uses that would involve substantial demolition.

(4) GC - General Commercial District : to provide for a wide range of commercial uses, including motor vehicle-related uses that are prohibited in other areas of the Borough.

(5) I - Industrial District: to provide for a range of industrial uses; to recognize that there are no appropriate locations within the Borough of Spring Grove for the heaviest types of industrial uses, because of the proximity of homes to all areas of the Borough, the locations of creeks and other important natural features, the importance of preserving historic buildings, the congestion of the street system and the very limited amounts of undeveloped land; and to carefully control the types of industrial operations to avoid nuisances (such as excessive noise) and hazards.

§ 400-12 Application of district regulations.

A. The regulations set in this chapter shall apply uniformly to each class or kind of structure or land, except as provided for in this chapter.

B. No structure shall hereafter be erected, used, constructed, reconstructed, structurally altered or occupied and no land shall hereafter be used, developed or occupied unless it is in conformity with the regulations in this chapter specified for the use and district in which it is located.

C. No yard or lot existing at the time of passage of this chapter shall be reduced in dimension or area below the minimum requirements set forth in this chapter. Lots created after the effective date of this chapter shall meet at least the minimum requirements established by this chapter.

D. Any territory which may hereafter become part of the Borough through annexation or a boundary adjustment shall be classified as the LDR Zoning District of Spring Grove Borough until or unless such territory is otherwise classified by Borough Council.

§ 400-13 Zoning Map.

A. A map entitled "Spring Grove Borough Zoning Map" is appended to the Zoning Ordinance and is declared a part of this chapter. The Official Zoning Map of the Borough of Spring Grove with the words "Official Zoning Map" shall be retained in the Borough offices.

B. Changes to the boundaries and districts of the Official Zoning Map shall only be made in conformity with the amendment procedures specified in the PA Municipalities Planning Code.

C. If the Official Zoning Map becomes damaged, destroyed, lost or difficult to interpret because of changes and additions, or needs to have drafting errors or omissions corrected, Borough Council may, by resolution, adopt a new copy of the Official Zoning Map which shall supersede the prior Official Zoning Map. Unless the prior Official Zoning Map has been lost or has been totally destroyed, the prior map or any remaining parts shall be preserved together with all available records pertaining to its previous adoption or amendment.

§ 400-14 District boundaries.

The following rules shall apply where uncertainty exists as to boundaries of any district as shown on the Official Zoning Map.

A. District boundary lines are intended to follow or be parallel to the center line of street rights-of-way, creeks, railroads and lot lines as they existed at the time of the adoption of this chapter, unless such district boundary lines are fixed by dimensions as shown on the Official Zoning Map.

B. Where a district boundary is not fixed by dimensions and where it approximately follows lot lines, such boundary shall be construed to follow such lot lines unless specifically shown otherwise.

C. The location of a district boundary that divides a lot shall be determined by the use of the scale appearing on the Zoning Map unless indicated otherwise by dimensions.

D. Where a municipal boundary divides a lot, the minimum lot area shall be regulated by the municipality in which the principal use(s) are located, unless otherwise provided by applicable case law. The land area within each municipality shall be regulated by the use regulations and other applicable regulations of each municipality.

§ 400-15 Setbacks and buffers across municipal boundaries.

A. It is the intent of the Borough to continue the objective of compatible land uses across municipal boundaries.

B. This chapter requires additional setbacks and the provision of buffer yards when certain uses would abut an existing dwelling or a residential zoning district. These same additional setback and buffer yard provisions shall be provided by uses proposed within Spring Grove Borough regardless of whether such abutting existing dwelling or primarily residential zoning district is located in an abutting municipality and/or in Spring Grove.

§ 400-16 Table of Permitted Uses by district. [1]

A. For the purposes of this section, the following abbreviations shall have the following meanings:

P = Permitted by right use (zoning decision by Zoning Officer)

SE = Special exception use (zoning decision by Zoning Hearing Board)

C = Conditional use (zoning decision by Borough Council)

N = Not permitted

See additional requirements in § 400-21

See additional requirements in § 400-22

B. Unless otherwise provided by law or specifically stated in this chapter (including § 400-4B), any land or structure shall only be used or occupied for a use specifically listed in this chapter as allowed in the zoning district where the land or structure is located. Any use shall only be permitted if it complies with all other requirements of this chapter.

C. Except as provided in § 400-4B, any use that is not specifically listed as P, C or SE in the applicable district in this table[2] is prohibited in that district.

[2] Editor's Note: Said table is included as an attachment to this chapter.

D. See § 400-54 for temporary uses.

E. See § 400-8B regarding number of uses and buildings per lot.

F. Permitted accessory uses in all districts. An accessory use of a dwelling is only permitted if such use is customarily incidental to the residential use and is specifically permitted by this chapter. The following are permitted by right as accessory uses to a lawful principal use in all districts, within the requirements of § 400-22, and all other requirements of this chapter:

(1) Standard antennas, including antennas used by contractors to communicate with their own vehicles;

(2) Fence or wall;

(3) Garage, household;

(4) Garage sale [see § 400-22D(5)];

(5) Keeping of pets;

(6) Off-street parking or loading, only to serve a use that is permitted in that district;

(7) Recreational facilities, limited to use by residents of a development, and their occasional invited guests;

(8) Residential accessory structure (see definition in Article II);

(9) Signs, as permitted by Article VII;

(10) Swimming pool, household; or

(11) Such other accessory use or structure that the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Zoning Officer is clearly customary and incidental to a permitted by right, special exception or conditional principal use.

G. Permitted accessory uses to business and institutional uses. The following are permitted by right accessory uses only to a lawful principal commercial, industrial or institutional use, provided that all requirements of this chapter are met:

(1) Storage of fuels for on-site use or to fuel company vehicles;

(2) The following accessory uses, provided that the use is clearly limited to employees, patients, residents, students and families of employees of the use and their occasional invited guests:

(a) Cafeteria without drive-through service,

(b) Day-care center; or

(c) Recreational facilities;

(3) Shelters for persons waiting for buses;

(4) Automatic transaction machine (ATM); or

(5) Storage sheds meeting the requirements of § 400-17A.

[1] Editor's Note: The Table of Permitted Uses is included as an attachment to this chapter.

§ 400-17 Dimensional requirements in each district.

A. The following area, yard and building requirements shall apply for the specified zoning district, unless a more restrictive requirement for a specific use is required by §§ 400-21 or 400-22 or another section of this chapter. See definitions of terms in § 400-10.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: The Schedule of Area, Yard and Building Requirements is included as an attachment to this chapter.

B. Height. The following height provisions shall apply unless specifically stated otherwise for a specific use:

(1) The maximum height for structures shall be 2.5 stories or 40 feet, whichever is more restrictive, except as follows:

(a) A maximum height of four stories or 50 feet, whichever is more restrictive, shall apply in the I and V Districts. This maximum height shall be increased to six stories or 120 feet, whichever is more restrictive, within the Industrial District, if the portion of the building that is taller than 50 feet will have a minimum setback from a residential district boundary that is equal to the building height. Therefore, if a building is 100 feet high, it shall be setback at least 100 feet from any residential district.

(b) Structures that are accessory to dwellings shall have a maximum height of 1.5 stories (with the 1/2 story limited to nonhabitable storage areas) or 25 feet, whichever is more restrictive.

(c) For height exceptions, see § 400-49.

C. Lot area without public sewage and water services. If a lot will not be served by both public sewage service and public water service prior to occupancy of any principal building, then a minimum lot area of one acre shall apply.

§ 400-18 Cluster/traditional neighborhood development.

A. Purposes. This optional form of development is primarily intended to:

(1) Encourage new development to occur in a manner that will be consistent with the traditional patterns and scale of development and mix of uses that occurred in Spring Grove Borough before 1946;

(2) Promote a mix of diverse but compatible types of neighborhood development;

(3) Avoid development that would be inconsistent with the character of the community, and could cause inefficient patterns of sprawled development;

(4) Encourage a blending of recreation areas, preserved natural features, compatible institutional uses, and a mix of housing at a medium density, including housing intended to be affordable to middle-income persons;

(5) Provide for reasonably safe and convenient pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle circulation, with an emphasis on avoiding conflicts between vehicles backing out of garages across sidewalks;

(6) Encourage persons to live, work, shop, attend religious services and enjoy recreation within Spring Grove Borough;

(7) Encourage the creation of a sense of place, feelings of belonging and a community spirit that promotes social interaction and volunteerism; and

(8) Encourage the location of places of worship and other principal nonresidential uses with distinguished architectural features at prominent locations around a central commons, to serve as a focal point for the development.

B. Master plan for a traditional neighborhood development.

(1) A traditional neighborhood development shall be limited to the LDR and TR Zoning Districts and shall need conditional use approval from Borough Council, after review by the Planning Commission. As part of the conditional use application, the applicant shall submit an overall master plan. Such master plan shall show a conceptual coordinated land use, road, stormwater and infrastructure system for all adjacent lands owned, equitably owned or otherwise controlled by the applicant, as opposed to a single phase of development.

(2) The overall master plan shall show proposed streets, alleys, cartway widths, lots, common open spaces, recreation areas, major pedestrian and bicycle pathways, parking areas, major detention basins and proposed types of housing and nonresidential uses. The master plan is intended to be similar to what is commonly termed a "sketch plan." The master plan is not required to include all of the detailed submission requirements that will later be required for a subdivision/land development plan.

(a) An applicant may voluntarily submit a preliminary subdivision or land development plan at the same time as a conditional use application, and thereby have the conditional use application be considered during a time period that overlaps with review and approval of the subdivision or land development plan.

(3) Once conditional use approval is granted for the traditional neighborhood development, then individual lots may be submitted for approval under Chapter 350, Subdivision and Land Development, and allowed uses may occur as permitted by right uses, provided the lots and uses comply with the approved master plan.

(4) If the Zoning Officer determines that a zoning or subdivision or land development application represents a significant divergence from the approved master plan, then the master plan shall be changed to conform to the application, and the amended master plan shall need new conditional use approval. However, the Zoning Officer may permit minor deviations from the master plan, without needing a second conditional use approval, if the differences are minor changes that do not affect zoning or subdivision ordinance matters, such as adjustments in street alignments and detention basin designs to reflect more detailed engineering.

(5) All other requirements of this chapter and other chapters of the Code shall apply to a cluster/traditional neighborhood development, except for provisions that are specifically modified by this section.

C. Overall requirements. Conditional use approval shall be granted for a traditional neighborhood development only if the applicant proves that the following minimum requirements will be met, in addition to other applicable Borough requirements:

(1) The existing street system shall be extended into the new development. Streets shall be interconnected through the development. The use of a traditional grid street system divided into blocks is encouraged, with modifications for natural features. The community should have a central focal point, such as a central recreation area. Streets or trails should lead towards this focal point. A cul-de-sac shall be permitted only where the applicant proves that there are no feasible alternatives. Street linkages shall be provided to allow connections with future phases of development or adjacent tracts. Where direct street access is not practical between two areas, then the Borough Council may require the provision of bicycle and pedestrian access using an easement.

(2) A minimum of 60% of the principal residential buildings shall include a front door accessing onto an unenclosed front porch with a minimum floor area of 60 square feet. Such porch shall be covered by a permanent roof. Such porch shall not be enclosed in the future.

(3) Within a traditional neighborhood development, dwelling units shall not have garages or carports with entrances within 40 feet of the street right-of-way that face onto the front of the lot, and shall not have off-street vehicle parking spaces between the street and the dwelling, except within a landscaped parking court as provided below. No off-street vehicle parking, garage or carport shall be permitted within five feet from the right-of-way of an alley. However, on-street parallel parking may be approved along an alley pursuant to Subsection H.

(a) However, a maximum of 10% of the lots within a subdivision may have a front entry garage without needing a 40 feet setback if the applicant proves to the satisfaction of Borough Council as part of the conditional use approval that such front entry garage is unavoidable to make a reasonable use of the land.

(b) If the Zoning Hearing Board should grant a variance to this Subsection C(3), then the minimum lot width shall be increased as a condition of the variance, to prevent the majority of the front yard from being covered by paving.

(c) All streets and alleys shall have a right-of-way, whether public or private. The right-of-way for a private street or alley shall be the width of the cartway from curb to curb; or if no curbs are provided, the width of the cartway plus all berms or parking areas.

(d) See Subsection H which allows on-street parking to be counted towards off-street parking requirements under certain conditions. Vehicle parking, carports and garages shall be placed to the rear or side of principal buildings, preferably with rear or side access. The following alternative methods of providing parking are permitted and encouraged:

[1] A rear landscaped shared parking court or shared carport structure;

[2] Detached rear garages or rear individual parking pads accessed from alleys;

[3] Detached rear garages or rear individual parking pads or side-entry garages accessed from a driveway running along the side of the dwelling from the front, with such driveway having the minimum possible width within the front yard;

[4] Decks built extending over attached rear garages; or

[5] A landscaped shared parking court connected to a street or alley, provided that parked vehicles do not need to back out onto a through street, and provided that all paving is setback a minimum of 25 feet from any dwelling.

(e) If driveways pass through the front of the lot (such as to reach detached rear garages), then driveways of abutting dwellings shall abut each other to allow the driveway on each lot to be more narrow than would otherwise be possible. However, each property owner shall still be responsible for their own half of the driveway, and each half shall be wide enough to allow a passenger car to travel on each lot. For this purpose, the side setback requirement shall be waived.

(4) No principal building shall include a flat roof as viewed from street. Significant roof pitches and variations in roof lines are specifically encouraged.

(5) Sidewalks shall be provided along both sides of each street.

(6) The only dwellings that shall be located adjacent to or across the street from single-family detached dwellings that existed at the time of adoption of this chapter shall be new single-family detached dwellings.

(7) Alleys shall be designed to discourage through traffic.

(8) All streets and alleys, whether public or private, shall be constructed to the same road bed construction standards as would apply to a public street within the Borough.

(a) Alleys shall have a minimum paved width of 10 feet if serving one-way traffic and 14 feet if serving two-way traffic. Additional width shall be required if any parallel parking is provided. The right-of-way for an alley shall be at least two feet wider than the cartway on each side.

(b) If the Borough does not agree in advance to accept dedication of alleys, they shall be maintained by a legally binding homeowners' association.

(9) New streets shall be sufficient in width to allow on-street parking along at least one side of each street.

(10) One or more prominent sites in the development are encouraged to be used for an allowed principal nonresidential use, such as a place of worship. The conditional use approval for the traditional neighborhood development may specifically allow for two or more alternative uses for a particular site to allow a developer with reasonable flexibility to attract different uses.

(11) The applicant shall provide evidence that they have contacted the provider of public transit services and school bus services to coordinate the development with any proposed bus stops. Borough Council may require the provision of a bus shelter.

(12) The applicant shall install streetlights meeting minimum requirements of the Borough and the electric provider. Such streetlights shall be of sturdy construction, decorative design, be dark in color (such as black, dark gray or dark green), and have a maximum total height of 25 feet.

(13) In the event that there are any public or community improvements, or private streets or alleys, or a homeowners' associates, then the Borough shall require and approve appropriate covenants and/or maintenance agreements which shall include enforcement provisions, authorizing the Borough to provide required maintenance at the expense of individual owners if the association fails to do so, and providing for the imposition of municipal liens in such event.

D. Allowed uses.

(1) The following uses shall be permitted by right within a cluster/traditional neighborhood development after the development has received conditional use approval, provided all uses are consistent with the master plan approved as part of the development:

(a) Crop farming or orchards;

(b) Christmas tree farm or plant nursery, with retail sales limited to plants primarily grown on the premises;

(c) Nature preserve, publicly owned recreation uses or Borough owned uses;

(d) Light home occupations, meeting § 400-22;

(e) Customarily accessory uses to allowed principal uses;

(f) Group home within a lawful existing dwelling unit;

(g) Single-family detached dwellings;

(h) Twin dwellings, side-by-side, with each dwelling on its own lot or a condominium lot;

(i) Townhouses, with each dwelling on its own lot or a condominium lot, which shall be limited to the TR District;

(j) Places of worship*;

(k) Public transit passenger shelters;

(l) Libraries* and museums*;

(m) Child or adult day care as a principal use* meeting § 400-21 or as an accessory use meeting § 400-22;

(n) Nursing home* or assisted living/personal care center*, which shall not exceed 20% of the total tract area of the development, and which shall be limited to the TR District;

(o) Offices* which shall be limited to the TR District;

(p) Meeting facility for a membership club*; and

(q) Bed-and-breakfast inn with a maximum of 20 guest rooms*.

* NOTE: These uses shall only be permitted adjacent to one single central commons recreation area within a traditional neighborhood development or within 500 feet of the right-of-way of Main Street. Uses adjacent to the central commons shall have their main pedestrian entrance facing the central commons. It is encouraged that these uses be placed as close to Main Street as may be practical. No outdoor storage shall be permitted.

(2) The following use shall need special exception approval:

(a) General home occupation, see § 400-22.

(3) Allowed commercial uses and related parking shall not occupy more than 10% of the total lot area of the development.

E. Common open space.

(1) A minimum of 30% of the total lot area of the tract shall be permanently preserved as common open space. This requirement shall apply in place of any requirement for recreation land or fees in Chapter 350 of the Code, Subdivision and Land Development. A landscaping plan for the common open space should be prepared by a registered landscape architect.

(2) All or part of the common open space shall be provided within at least one central commons unless in discretion of Borough Council determines not practical or appropriate. The majority of any central commons shall be planted so as to eventually result in a canopy of deciduous trees over areas of the commons that are not planned for active recreation. Any central commons shall include benches of durable construction and pathways. Pathways should include decorative materials, such as brick, paving block or patterned concrete.

(3) Stormwater detention basins and drainage channels shall not be used to meet the minimum common open space requirements, except for areas that the applicant proves to the satisfaction of Borough Council would be able to be attractively maintained and be reasonably dry and usable for recreation during storms less severe than a five-year storm.

(4) Areas with a width less than 50 feet shall not be used to meet the minimum common open space requirements. The applicant shall provide evidence that a suitable legally binding method to own and maintain the common open space will be established. The Borough may require that the common open space be dedicated to the Borough. However, the Borough shall be under no obligation to accept ownership of the common open space. The Borough may require that a formal homeowners' association be established, with all homeowners legally bound to pay fees to maintain the land. Borough Council, at its option, may also approve alternative methods of ownership, such as ownership as a horse riding academy or Christmas tree farm.

(5) In any case, the common open space shall be protected from subdivision and development of buildings by a permanent conservation easement enforceable by Borough Council.

(6) If applicable, a draft set of homeowners' association or condominium association provisions shall be submitted for legal acceptance by the Borough Solicitor prior to recording of the final subdivision plan.

F. Dimensional requirements. The minimum lot widths stated below shall be measured at both the proposed principal building setback line and the street right-of-way line, except that the width at the street right-of-way line may be reduced by 20% around curves in a street.

(1) Single-family detached dwellings:**

(a) The minimum lot area shall be 6,000 square feet in the LDR District, 4,000 in the TR District;

(b) The minimum lot width shall be 40 feet.

(2) Twin dwelling unit:**

(a) The minimum lot area shall be 5,000 square feet in the LDR District, 3,000 in the TR District;

(b) The minimum lot width shall be 30 feet.

(3) Townhouse dwelling unit:**

(a) The minimum lot area shall be 2,000 square feet which shall only be allowed in the TR District;

(b) The minimum dwelling unit width at the front of the enclosed dwelling unit shall be 20 feet.

(4) Principal nonresidential use (a lot may include more than one allowed nonresidential use):

(a) The minimum lot area shall be 15,000 square feet;

(b) The minimum lot width shall be 70 feet.

(5) Maximum coverage for all uses** per lot:

(a) The maximum building coverage shall be 55%;

(b) The maximum impervious coverage shall be 70%.

(6) Building setbacks for principal buildings**, except as modified by § 400-50 (along a street, minimum yards shall be measured from the proposed right-of-way):

(a) Front or side setback from a local or collector street: minimum 10 feet, maximum 30 feet.

(b) Any setback from an arterial street: minimum 30 feet.

(c) The minimum setback shall apply to the front of an unenclosed front porch. The maximum setback shall apply to the front of the actual enclosed principal building.

(d) Side setback: minimum five feet each. For each detached principal building, the total of both side setbacks shall be a minimum of 15 feet. Each twin dwelling unit shall have one side setback, and a side setback shall be required for each end townhouse unit. For a detached building, one side setback wider than the other to allow wider use by the residents of the larger side setback and/or to provide for a side driveway to rear parking.

(e) Rear setbacks: minimum 25 feet. However, if shown as part of the approved subdivision plan creating the lot, then attached garages may have a rear setback of 15 feet.

(f) For accessory structures, the provisions of § 400-16 shall apply.

(g) Off-street vehicle parking spaces shall not be allowed in any front yard.

** NOTE: In place of individual lots meeting these dimensional requirements, an applicant may choose to utilize a condominium form of ownership. In such case, the lots shall be laid out so that the dimensional and coverage requirements would be met. However, the actual lot lines do not need to be legally established.

(7) Parking setback. No parking area of five or more spaces shall be located within 30 feet of a contiguous lot line of an existing dwelling.

(8) Maximum overall density. The maximum overall density of the traditional neighborhood development shall be determined as follows, as calculated in acres (and decimals):

(a) Start with the total land area of the development tract, after deleting existing rights-of-way of existing streets.

(b) Delete land area within lots of nonresidential principal uses from Subsection F(8)(a).

(c) Delete 50% of the area of lands with a slope over 15% from Subsection F(8)(b).

(d) Delete 50% of the area of lands within the one-hundred-year floodplain from Subsection F(8)(c).

(e) Multiply the resulting acreage by five dwelling units per acre in the LDR District and 10 dwelling units per acre in the TR District to result in the maximum number of permitted dwelling units within the development.

(f) For the purposes of determining density, every three nursing home or personal care beds shall be considered equal to one dwelling unit.

(g) This method of calculating density does not require the deletion of stormwater detention basins, shared parking areas, new streets, new common recreation areas, new alleys or similar features. Therefore, the actual density achieved pursuant to this subsection could be higher than five or 10 dwelling units per acre.

(9) The applicant shall establish and record covenants controlling the overall styles and site layouts within the development. Such provisions shall control the styles of architecture, rooflines and the exterior materials in such as manner as to replicate the best features of pre-1946 architecture.

(a) Such provisions shall be prepared by a registered architect and be provided to the Borough in writing.

(b) Such provisions shall not be designed to require excessive uniformity in design, nor to restrict home purchasers to a single design, but instead to encourage high-quality design with a consistent character.

(10) Maximum building height: § 400-17B shall apply.

G. Landscaping and street trees. See § 400-51. A grass strip of four feet minimum shall be provided to accommodate street trees between the curb and the sidewalk, unless an alternative location for street trees is specifically approved by the Borough. Areas that are between the dwelling and the street curb and that are not used for approved sidewalks shall be maintained in a vegetative ground cover and landscaping. A minimum of one deciduous street tree shall be required for an average of each 50 feet of street frontage. The site design of a traditional neighborhood development shall carefully consider and maximize the preservation of existing healthy attractive trees with a trunk width of six inches or more at a height of 3.5 feet above the ground level.

H. Parking incentive. An applicant may meet a maximum of 50% of the off-street parking space requirements for each dwelling unit by counting on-street spaces parallel to the curb along a local street or along an alley. This provision shall be permitted only:

(1) For spaces along the same side of a street along curb that is directly contiguous to the set of lots being served, or a new alley within a traditional neighborhood development, and provided the spaces are within 200 feet of each dwelling they serve; and

(2) If the applicant proves to the satisfaction of Borough Council that the street or alley would be sufficiently wide to allow the parking, and that there are no unusual safety hazards involved, compared to typical on-street parking at other locations;

(3) If the applicant proves that such number of parking spaces could be legally accommodated along the street, considering the locations of driveways, fire hydrants and street corners; and

(4) In such case, the cartway shall be of sufficient width to allow travel lanes of 11 feet in each direction.

I. Design controls and maintenance. The applicant shall submit a written statement of the proposed substance of deed restrictions or similar controls that would affect matters addressed in this chapter.

§ 400-19 Additional requirements in V Village District.

Under the authority of Article VII-A and other sections of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, and to carry out the Borough Comprehensive Plan, the following additional requirements shall apply within the V Village Zoning District:

A. New building placement. If a new principal building is proposed on a lot that abuts Main Street in the V District, then the majority of the front wall of such building shall have a maximum front setback of 25 feet, and no new off-street parking spaces on the lot shall be placed between the principal building and Main Street.

B. Any principal commercial building shall have a primary pedestrian entrance and windows along Main Street if the building is adjacent to that street. If desired for security purposes, the windows may be display windows or have curtains in front of an interior wall, without the windows opening directly to the inside of the building.

C. Height. If a new principal building is constructed adjacent to Main Street, it shall have two or more aboveground stories, or shall be constructed with an appearance of having two or more aboveground stories. Such appearance may utilize parapet walls, fake windows and similar design features.

D. Demolition waiting period for older buildings.

(1) Purposes: to provide a mechanism to discourage thoughtless and unnecessary destruction of valuable historic resources; to provide a mechanism that allows interested parties an opportunity to encourage a property owner to consider alternatives to demolition, such as sale to another person, movement of the building or rehabilitation; to provide opportunities for historic resources to be documented before they may be demolished, and allow historic features to be salvaged before demolition.

(2) This § 400-19D shall apply to any principal building in the V Zoning District that the Zoning Officer has reason to believe was primarily constructed prior to January 1, 1940.

(3) No building regulated by this § 400-19D shall be partially or entirely demolished unless a minimum of 80 days has passed from the date a complete valid permit application has been duly submitted to the Borough staff for the demolition. After such time period, the permit may be issued by the Borough for the demolition if all requirements of Borough ordinances have been met.

(4) The Zoning Officer may issue a permit for the demolition immediately if the person responsible for enforcement of the Borough Building Code[1] certifies, in writing, that the building represents a clear and immediate hazard to public safety, and that no other reasonable alternative exists to immediate demolition.

[1] Editor's Note: See Ch. 175, Building Construction.

(5) This subsection shall not regulate:

(a) Interior renovations nor removal of features (such as a rear porch) that are not necessary to support the principal building and that are not visible from a public street or adjacent public sidewalk;

(b) Removal of features that were added to the building after its original completion, such as a modern porch or aluminum siding.