For the purpose of this chapter, words used in the present tense
shall include the future. The singular number shall include the plural
and the plural shall include the singular. The masculine shall include
the feminine and the neuter. The word "shall" is always mandatory.
The word "building" includes "structure" and shall be construed as
if followed by the words "or any part thereof." The phrase "used for"
includes "arranged for," "person" includes an individual, corporation,
partnership, incorporated association, or any other legal entity.
The word "includes" or "including" shall not limit the term to the
specified example, but is intended to extend its meaning to all other
instances of like kind and character.
Definitions contained herein shall be interpreted as consistent
with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, and
the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, as adopted by the Borough
of Edgewood. Otherwise, all words and phrases as defined within this
chapter shall have their normal meanings and usage. Definitions taken
from the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code are noted as "MPC"
and Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code are noted as "UCC."
The following words and phrases shall have the meaning given
in this section:
A subordinate building, incidental to, and located on the
same lot as, the principal building, and used for an accessory use.
A dwelling unit of one bedroom or less located above a garage
or similar accessory building, or a portion thereof.
A use incidental to, and subordinate to, and located on the
same lot occupied by the principal use to which it relates.
For the purposes of this chapter, refers to a structure of
a lot that would be adjoining, but may be separated by a right of
way, easement, stream, or a single vacant lot.
A lot that shares a property line with another and has no
intervening street or alley right-of-way.
Area of a lot or site shall be calculated from dimensions
derived by horizontal projections of the site.
Any premises in which food, shelter, assisted living services,
assistance or supervision and supplemental health care services are
provided for a period exceeding 24 hours for four or more adults who
are not relatives of the operator, who require assistance or supervision
in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial management,
evacuation from the residence in the event of an emergency or medication
prescribed for self-administration, and licensed and regulated as
such by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. For the purpose
of this chapter, assisted living facilities shall be considered as
nursing homes.
A floor level completely below grade or floor level in which
more than two-thirds of the perimeter walls are below grade. A wail
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°.
An owner-occupied residence offering, for pay, overnight
or short-term lodging and breakfast for transient guests.
A sign that identifies or communicates a commercial or non-commercial
message related to an activity conducted, a service rendered, or a
commodity sold at a location other than where the sign is located.
An establishment operated for profit or pecuniary gain, which
has a capacity for the assemblage of 20 or more persons and in which
alcoholic liquors, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages are not legally
sold but where alcoholic liquors, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages
are either provided by the operator or agents or employees of the
operator for consumption on the premises or are brought into or kept
at the establishment by the patrons or persons assembling there for
use and consumption. The term shall not include a licensee under the
act of April 12, 1951, (P.L. 90, No. 21), known as the Liquor Code,
or any organization as set forth in § 6 of the Act of December
19, 1990, (P.L. 1200, No. 202), known as the Solicitation of Funds
for Charitable Purposes Act.
A roofed structure, whether or not enclosed by walls, to
be used for the shelter, enclosure or protection of persons, goods,
materials or animals.
The line to which a building or structure may encroach toward
a yard or setback.
The storage of material in outdoor yards for retail sale,
including lumber, pipe, culverts block, landscaping supplies, mulch,
stone, and similar bulk items.
Any business activity that renders service to other commercial
or industrial enterprises, including banks, credit unions, commercial
printing enterprises, and other financial services.
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.
Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the dead
and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including columbariums, crematories,
mausoleums, and mortuaries when operated in conjunction with and within
the boundaries of such cemetery.
A facility which offers various indoor recreational opportunities
for its patrons including such games as: pool, billiards, bowling,
video or computer games, other electronic simulation games, card and
board games and similar pursuits.
A use to be allowed or denied by the Borough Council pursuant
to public notice and hearing and recommendations by the Borough Planning
Commission and pursuant to the express standards and criteria set
forth in this chapter. In allowing a conditional use, the Borough
Council may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition
to those expressed in this chapter, as it may deem necessary to implement
the purposes of the Municipalities Planning Code and of this chapter.
The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension,
expansion, alteration or relocation of a building or structure.
A small store, selling a limited variety of food and nonfood
products, including prepared food but with limited or no patron seating,
typically with extended hours of operation. Convenience stores may
also sell gasoline or other motor vehicle fuels.
An open, uncovered space, unobstructed to the sky, bounded
on three or more sides by exterior building walls or other enclosing
devices. (UCC)
The percentage of a lot covered by buildings or structures,
measured as gross floor area divided into lot area.
A facility that provides lodging, meals, counseling, treatment,
and rehabilitation to adjudicated delinquents, parolees, and individuals,
with security to confine said persons. This definition includes community
corrections centers as well as other similar transitional housing
for offenders.
Facilities in which care is provided for seven or more children,
at any one time, where the child care areas are not used as a family
residence.
Provides out-of-home care for part of a twenty-four-hour
day to children less than 16 years of age, excluding care provided
by relatives and excluding day care furnished in places of worship
during religious services. This chapter identifies three levels of
day care services for children, family day care, group day care and
day care centers, childcare for less than four children will not be
considered as day care services. The definition of day care services
shall be subject to licensing changes by the Pennsylvania Department
of Public Welfare. Adult day care will be considered as essentially
the same use.
A building housing a dwelling unit, including the following
subcategories:
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGA building containing only one dwelling unit.
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGA building containing two dwelling units, collectively defined under this chapter as a duplex, regardless of configuration.
MULTI-FAMILY DWELLINGA building containing three or more dwelling units, including apartment houses, townhouses, flats, and garden apartments. Class one multiple family dwelling has six or fewer dwelling units per building, and class two have seven or more dwelling units per building.
DETACHED DWELLINGA dwelling with yards on all four sides.
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities
for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living,
sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation. (UCC)
A business establishment whose principal business is the
selling of unpackaged food to the customer in a ready-to-consume state.
The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by
public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies of underground
or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution
systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes conduit
cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants,
and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith;
reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate services by such
public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies or for
the public health and safety or general welfare, but not including
buildings.
Businesses involved in the sale, rental, or servicing of
motor vehicles or machinery not necessarily intended for registration,
licensing, and travel on highways, including those used for agriculture,
forestry, and construction.
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 three 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 residence with supervision, provided those persons
do not have a criminal record. Family shall not include persons living
together in a halfway house, 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.
Facilities in which day care services are provided at any
one time to four, five, or six children who are not relatives of the
care giver, or any facility defined as such by the Pennsylvania Department
of Public Welfare.
A business which leases outdoor, tent or partially enclosed
space to persons who wish to vend a variety of new and used goods
for sale to the general public by displaying those goods on tables,
in or on motor vehicles, or on the ground. This definition does not
include farmers' markets, which sell produce, flowers, and similar
agricultural products.
The sum of the gross area of the several floors of a building
or buildings measured from the exterior face of the exterior walls,
or from the center line of the walls separating two buildings.
The management of forests and timberlands when practiced in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial purposes, pursuant to § 603f of the PA Municipalities Planning Code, forestry shall be a permitted use by right in all zoning districts wherein harvesting of timber is not conducted pursuant to any land development. While permitted, forestry is subject to the standards of Article V.
A reference plane representing the average of finished ground
level adjoining the building at exterior walls. Where the finished
ground level slopes away from the exterior walls, the reference plane
shall be established by the lowest points within the area between
the building and the lot line or, where the lot line is more than
six feet from the building, between the building and a point six feet
from the building.(UCC)
Facilities in which care is provided for more than six but
less than 12 children, at any one time, where the child care areas
are being used as a family residence, or any facility defined as such
by the PA Department of Public Welfare. [Care of one to 12 children
where the child care areas are not used as a family residence will
be considered a day care center.]
A permanent, family-like living arrangement for persons who
may have a disability or other limitation that requires additional
care or supervision in daily living. This definition does not include
group housing for persons who claim to be disabled solely on the basis
of having been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, having a criminal
record, or have a status as a sex offender, persons who currently
use illegal drugs, persons who have been convicted of the manufacture
or sale of illegal drugs, or persons with or without disabilities
who present a direct threat to the persons or property of others.
A temporary event to sell used household goods from a single
family dwelling, an accessory building, or a yard area.
The total floor area for which the tenant pays rent and that
is designed for the tenant's occupancy and exclusive use.
A transitional residential facility licensed and operated
by a government 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.
The vertical distance from grade plane to the average height
of the highest roof surface. (UCC)
A personal service business or outpatient clinic carried
on within a home, including therapists, barber and beauty salons,
and medical practice. The use must be carried on within the home,
by the occupants thereof, which use is clearly incidental and subordinate
to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change
the residential character of the exterior of the structure.
An accessory use, other than a home occupation, conducted
entirely within a dwelling by the residents thereof, which use is
clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and
which occupies no more than 25% of the usable floor area of the dwelling
and which use is limited to an office of an engineer, attorney, architect
or similar recognized profession or the office of a consultant, reactor,
insurance agent, manufacturer's representative, broker, writer,
computer programmer, data processor, word processor, telemarketer
or similar occupation. The Home office differs from a no-impact home
based business in that one employee is permitted who is also not a
resident of the dwelling, and a sign is permitted.
An institution providing health services primarily for human
medical or surgical care for the sick or injured and including related
facilities such as laboratories, out-patient departments, training
facilities, central services facilities and staff offices that are
an integral part of the facilities.
Manufacturing, predominantly from previously prepared materials,
of finished products or parts, including processing, fabrication,
assembly, treatment and packaging of such products, and incidental
storage and sales, and distribution of such products; provided all
manufacturing activities are contained entirely within a building
and noise, odor, smoke, heat, glare and vibration resulting from the
manufacturing activity are confined entirely in the building.
Any discarded material or article, and shall include, but
not be limited to, scrap metal, wood, 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.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is
authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the land owner,
or other per son having a proprietary interest in land. (MPC)
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed
or built upon as a unit. (MPC)
The computed area contained within the lot lines. (UCC)
A line dividing one lot from another or from a street or
any public place. (UCC)
Any aggregate or mass of mineral matter, whether or not coherent.
The term includes, but is not limited to, limestone and dolomite,
sand and gravel, rock and stone, earth, fill, slag, iron ore, zinc
ore, vermiculite and clay, anthracite and bituminous coal, coal refuse,
peat and crude oil and natural gas. (MPC)
Mineral extraction shall include all activity which removes
from the surface or beneath the surface of the land some material
mineral resource, natural resource or other element of economic value,
by means of mechanical excavation necessary to separate the desired
material from an undesirable one; or to remove the strata or material
which overlies or is above the desired material in its natural condition
and position.
A building or group of detached or connected buildings designed
or used primarily for providing sleeping accommodations for travelers.
The definition includes hotels, motor lodges, cottages with full bath
and toilet, and similar uses.
Small-scale retail enterprises intended to benefit neighborhood
residents or tourists. Limited retail businesses are distinguished
from other retail businesses by a smaller size of less than 5,000
square feet gross floor area and confining all commercial activities
indoors.
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 no 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:
The business activity shall be compatible with the residential
use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
The business shall employ up to one employee other than family
members residing in the dwelling.
There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling
or inventory of a substantial nature.
There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including,
but not limited to, parking signs or lights.
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.
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.
The business activity shall be conducted only within the dwelling
and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area.
The business may not involve any illegal activity. (MPC)
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. (MPC)
A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed
to comply with the applicable dimensional or extent of use provisions
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. (MPC)
A use, whether of land or structure, which does not comply
with the applicable use provisions of this chapter or amendment hereafter
enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence 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. (MPC)
A facility to give long-term skilled care to geriatric or
handicapped patients and licensed as such a facility by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. For the purposes of this chapter, a nursing home,
as licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania may also include personal
care or assisted living options.
Buildings or portions thereof used to provide medical care
on less than a twenty-four-hour basis to persons who are not rendered
incapable of self-preservation by the services provide. (UCC)
An at-grade non-building structure or land improved for the
purpose of storing automobiles.
An open space with a mud free all-weather surface, or space
in a private garage or other structure with an effective length of
at least 18 feet and a uniform width of at least nine feet for the
storage of one automobile and accessible from a public way.
An official document or certificate issued by the authority
having jurisdiction which authorizes performance of a specified activity.
(UCC)
A premise in which food, shelter and personal assistance
or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours, for four
or more people who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require
the services in a licensed long-term care facility, but who do require
assistance or supervision in activities of daily living or instrumental
activities of daily living. The term includes a premise that has held
or greatly holds itself out as a personal care home and provides food
and shelter to four or more adults who need personal care services,
but who are not receiving the services.
Any enterprise conducted for people who primarily offer services
to the general public, such as: shoe repair, valet services, watch
repairing, barber shops, beauty parlors, personal fitness instruction,
massage therapy and related activities.
A place of religious instruction or public gathering, which
may include incidental instruction, office and charitable activities.
Examples include churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, government
assembly halls, indoor museums and libraries. This definition does
not include a public school, university, college, trade or commercial
school, day care services, or any form of group residence or halfway
house.
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.
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.
Buildings and related facilities owned and operated by an
association or group of individuals established for fraternal, social,
educational, conservation, recreational or civic benefit of members.
Full access to facilities is typically restricted to members and their
guests. For the purposes of this chapter, this definition does not
include miniature golf, golf driving ranges, paintball, or other uses
defined by this chapter as various forms of commercial recreation.
It also may not include any sexually oriented business or bottle club.
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.
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, or another organization, such as a nonprofit,
where the use is principally to provide open and free access to the
general public for the purposes of recreation, or to preserve natural
historic or scenic features of site.
A building utilized to shelter activities and materials necessary
to maintain essential services as defined by this chapter.
An establishment that offers items for sale within a building
(except for incidental and accessory items) and includes hardware,
general merchandise, food products, apparel, and clothing accessories,
furniture, home furnishing and similar equipment, sporting goods,
drugs, specialty food shops, paint stores, electrical supplies, variety
stores, department stores, bakeries, dairy products, household appliances,
and similar retail or general commercial outlets.
A private enterprise that sells distilled spirits. This definition
does not include a state owned and operated liquor store, wholesaler,
licensed bar or tavern, stores selling only malted beverages, or a
licensed limited winery (or retail outlet thereof) or brewery.
Screening shall mean an opaque fence, screen planting or
wall, six feet high, provided in such a way that it will block a line
of sight.
A building consisting of individual, self-contained units
that are leased or owned for the storage of business and household
goods or contractors supplies.
A form of equipment service or repair which may include vehicle
or machinery repair, and incidental fabrication or retail sales of
items.
Businesses which require a license and meet the definitions
contained in the Edgewood Borough Sexually Oriented Business Licensing
Ordinance.
Any structure, building, wall, or other outdoor surface,
or any device or part thereof, which displays or includes any letter,
word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device, or other representations
used for announcement, direction, advertisement or identification.
The actual area of any sign shall be measured in square feet and determined
by the sum of the geometrically computed area(s) encompassing separate
individual letters, words, or graphic elements on the background.
A sign that directs attention to a business by identifying
the name and/or logo of the business and the principal good or service
available.
A sign or portion thereof which has a reader board for the
display of text information in which each alphanumeric character,
graphic or symbol is defined by objects, not consisting of an illumination
device and may be changed or re-arranged manually with characters,
letters, or illustrations that can be changed or rearranged without
altering the face or the surface of the sign.
A sign or portion thereof that displays electronic alphanumeric,
video or graphic information using different combinations of single
color light emitting diodes (LED's), fiber optics, light bulbs
or other illumination devices within the display area, and capable
of changeable copy or images. Electronic signs include computer programmable,
microprocessor or other remotely controlled electronic displays. Electronic
changeable copy signs do not include official or time and temperature
signs with no other content. Electronic changeable copy signs include
projected images or messages with these characteristics onto buildings
or other objects.
Any sign composed in whole or in part of a series of vertical
or horizontal slats or cylinders that are capable of being rotated
at intervals so that partial rotation of the group of slats or cylinders
produces a different image and when properly functioning allows, on
a single sign structure, the display at any given time, one of two
or more images.
A sign that is in any manner affixed to any exterior wall
of a building or structure and that projects not more than 18 inches
from the building or structure wall. Also includes signs affixed to
architectural projections that project from a building provided the
copy area of such signs remains on a parallel plane to the face of
the building facade or to the face or faces of the architectural projection
to which it is affixed.
A sign principally supported by one or more columns, poles,
or braces placed in or upon the ground.
A freestanding sign where the supporting structure of the
sign face is architecturally and aesthetically integrated into the
overall design of the sign and the base of supporting structure is
often embellished to conceal all structural or support members. Either
80% of the base supporting structure shall be in contact with the
ground, or the lowest portion of the sign face shall be no greater
than three feet six inches from the ground. The sign face should be
solid and not intended to be a pole type design.
A sign erected, supported, mounted on a pole or poles which
is wholly independent of any building or other structure for support.
A sign other than a wall sign that is attached to or projects
more than 18 inches from a building face or wall or from a structure
whose primary purpose is other than the support of a sign.
A sign mounted on the main roof portion of a building or
on the uppermost edge of a parapet wall of a building and which is
wholly or partially supported by such building. Signs mounted on mansard
facades, pent eaves, and architectural projections such as canopies
or marquees shall not be considered to be roof signs.
A temporary sign created by attaching two sign faces along
a hinge line, intended to be self-supporting.
A sign affixed to the surface of a window with its message
intended to be visible to exterior environment.
A use permitted with special permission granted by the Zoning
Hearing Board, to occupy or use land and/or a building for specific
purposes in accordance with the criteria set forth in this chapter
when such use is not permitted by right.
That portion of a building located between the surface of
any floor and the next floor above; if there is not more than one
floor the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it shall
be considered a story. However, an intermediate level or levels between
the floor and ceiling of any story and in accordance with § 505
of the Uniform Construction Code, otherwise known as a mezzanine,
shall be considered as part of the story below.
Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway,
parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or in tended
to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians whether public or private.
(MPC)
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land. (MPC)
Any structure intended for swimming, recreational bathing
or wading that contains water over 24 inches (610 mm) deep. This includes
in-ground, above-ground and on-ground pools; hot tubs; spas and fixed-in-place
wading pools. (UCC)
A business that inscribes any indelible design, letter, scroll,
figure, symbol, or other mark placed with the aid of needles or other
instruments; or any design, letter, scroll, figure or symbol done
by scarring upon or under the skin or the perforation of any human
body part other than an earlobe for the purpose of inserting jewelry
or other decoration or for some other nonmedical purpose.
A structure whose principal use is to provide shelter for
more than a twelve-hour period to two or more persons who are homeless,
subject to abuse, under a protection from abuse order, or whom otherwise
need transitional housing, but are not persons in group housing due
to being adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, having a criminal record,
or have a status as a sex offender, or persons who currently use illegal
drugs, or persons who have been convicted of the manufacture or sale
of illegal drugs, or persons with or without disabilities who present
a direct threat to the persons or property of others. (See also "halfway
house").
A dwelling unit that is located above the ground floor of
commercial, retail or office uses and contains a separate entrance.
An open space, other than a court, unobstructed from the
ground to the sky, except where specifically provided by this code,
on the lot on which a building is situated (UCC).
A yard extending the full width of the lot extending from
the any lot line abutting a street to the front line of a principal
building, as defined herein, and measured perpendicular to the building
at the closest point to the front lot line.
A yard extending the full width of a lot between the rear
wall of a principal building and the rear lot line measured perpendicular
to the building at the closest point to the rear lot line. In the
case of a corner lot, the rear yard shall be opposite to the front
yard which adjoins the street which defines the street address of
the lot.
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard between
the principal building and the side lot line, or in the case of a
corner lot, the yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard
between the principal building and the line separating the lot from
the side street.
See "garage sale."
The Zoning Officer of the Borough or his/her authorized representative,
assistant or deputy.
