[Amended 3-10-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-03]
For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms or words used
herein shall be interpreted as follows: the word "person" includes
a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or
corporation as well as an individual; the present tense includes the
future tense; the singular number includes the plural, and the plural
number includes the singular; the word "shall" is mandatory, the word
"may" is permissive; the words "used" or "occupied" include the words
"intended, designed, or arranged to be used or occupied"; the word
"lot" includes the words "plot or parcel," and the particular shall
control the general.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Building or use customarily incidental and subordinate to
the principal building or use and located on the same lot with such
principal building or use. If an accessory building is attached to
the main building by a common wall or roof, such accessory building
shall be considered a part of the main building.
Includes, but not limited to the following:
Children's playhouse, garden house, or private greenhouse.
Civil defense shelter serving not more than two families.
Garage, shed, or building for domestic storage.
Incinerator incidental to residential use.
Storage of merchandise normally carried in stock on the same
lot with any commercial use unless such storage is excluded by the
zoning district regulations.
Storage of goods used in or produced by manufacturing activities,
on the same lot or parcel of ground with such activities, unless such
is excluded by the district regulations.
Off-street motor vehicle parking area.
Loading and unloading facility.
Home occupation.
Fences or signs.
Agricultural buildings and structures, including fences for
livestock containment, storage of grain hay or silage, and shelters
for livestock or machinery.
A landowner or developer, including his or her heirs, successors
and assigns, who has filed an application for development, including
a conditional use or zoning variance.
Any application, whether preliminary or final, required to
be filed and approved prior to start of construction or development,
including but not limited to an application for a building permit,
for the approval of a subdivision plan, or for the approval of a development
plan.
A parcel of land bounded by streets, railroad rights-of-way,
waterways, parks, unsubdivided acreage, or a combination thereof.
Open spaces, landscaped area, fence, wall, berm or any combination
thereof to physically separate or screen one use of property from
another so as to shield or block noise, light or other nuisances.
Buffers differ from screening by providing both distance and height
to achieve desired mitigation.
A roofed structure whether or not enclosed by walls, to be
used for the shelter, enclosure or protection of persons, goods, materials
or animals.
Imaginary line parallel to or concentric with the front lot
line.
That portion of the street right-of-way surfaced for vehicular
use. Width is determined from face of curb to face of curb, or from
one edge of driving surface to the other edge of driving surface.
A system, whether publicly or privately owned, for the collection
and disposal of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature, or
both, including various devices for the treatment of such sewerage
or industrial wasters serving three or more individual lots.
The adopted land use and growth management plan of the Township,
as defined, prepared, and adopted pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code.[1]
A short street having one end open to traffic and being terminated
at the other end by a vehicular turnaround.
An excavation; the material removed in excavation; the difference
between a point on the original ground and a designated point of lower
elevation on the final grade.
The deliberate appropriation of land by its owner for any
general or public use, reserving unto himself no other rights than
such as are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the
public use to which the property has been appropriated.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
including use of the acronym PA DEP or DEP, or its predecessor, the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources or its acronym
PA DER or DER, includes any state regulatory agency which is the designated
successor to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
An individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership,
corporation, trust or legal agent thereof, being a landowner, agent
of such landowner or a tenant with the written permission of such
landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of land or
a land development on the land he or it owns or on which he or it
has an equitable interest.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate.
The provision for development, including a Traditional Neighborhood
District, a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location
and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of use or density
of development, streets, ways and parking facilities, common open
space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of the development
plan" when used in this chapter shall mean the written and graphic
material referred to in this definition.
[Amended 7-13-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-01]
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."
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.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA building containing three or more dwelling units, including apartment houses, townhouses, flats, and garden apartments.
DETACHED DWELLINGA dwelling with yards on all four sides.
A building or portion thereof containing one or more rooms
for living purposes together with separate and exclusive cooking and
sanitary facilities, accessible from the outdoors either directly
or through an entrance hall shared with other dwelling units, and
used or intended to be used by one family.
A grant by a property owner to specific persons or to the
public of the right to use that property for a specific purpose, such
as utilities and drainage.
An individual who is licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
to practice engineering and who is retained by the Township to represent
it in the review of proposed plans, inspection of public improvements
under construction, and the preparation of reports and recommendations
thereon.
The natural process by which the surface of the land is worn
away by the action of water, wind or chemical action.
A plan setting forth the methods to prevent accelerated erosion
and sedimentation resulting from earthmoving activities including,
but not limited to, excavations, embankments, land development, subdivision
development, and the moving, depositing or storing of soil, rock or
earth.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed and shall include the conditions resulting
therefrom.
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to
a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of
the stripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
The area along a natural watercourse which is periodically overflowed by water from the watercourse, and mapped as one-hundred-year floodplains by the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Maps, and being so designated in Chapter 71, Floodplain Management.
[Amended 7-13-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-01]
Continuous masonry foundation built of concrete, brick, stone
or cement block, bonded tightly together with no open spaces except
for adequate ventilation, and extending below the average frost levels
as described in the 2015 IBC (International Building Code) and subsequent
amendments.
[Amended 7-13-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-01]
Those physical changes to the land necessary to produce usable
and desirable land from acreage including but not limited to grading,
paving, curb, gutter, storm sewers and drains, improvements to existing
watercourses, sidewalks, street signs, crosswalks, shade trees, sodding
or seeding, monuments, water supply facilities, and sewerage disposal
facilities.
Land development includes any of the following:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively;
A single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless
of the number of occupants or tenure; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features; or
A subdivision of land.
Pursuant to permissible exclusions in the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, [2]land development in Clinton Township does not include the addition of accessory buildings, including farm buildings, on a lot or lots subordinate to an existing principal building. However, exemption from land development requirements does not exempt any developer from meeting all relevant requirements of Chapter 185, Zoning.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (even if a conditional
contract), a lessee if he is authorized under the lease to exercise
the rights of the landowner, or other person having a proprietary
interest in land.
A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by
an approved and recorded plan, or otherwise permitted by law, having
owned access to a public street and enclosed by a boundary described
by precise bearing and distance that closes on itself and to be used,
developed or built upon as a unit, the term "lot" shall also mean
"parcel," "plot," "site" or similar term.
A lot that represents land severed from a larger lot for expansion of a neighboring lot when such nonbuildable lot lacks adequate area and/or width to meet or otherwise does not meet minimum standards established in Chapter 185, Zoning,
The following diagram illustrates terminology used in these
regulations with reference to corner lots, interior lots, cul-de-sac
lots and through lots:
CORNER LOTA lot at the point of intersection of and abutting on two or more intersecting streets.
 |
CUL-DE-SAC LOTA lot that fronts on the circular turning portion of a cul-de-sac street. For the purposes of this chapter, and Chapter 185, Zoning, the minimum frontage of a cul-de-sac lot shall be measured at the setback line.
INTERIOR LOTA lot other than a corner lot with only one frontage on a street other than an alley.
THROUGH LOTA lot other than a corner lot with frontage on more than one street other than an alley. Through lots with frontage on two streets may be referred to as "double frontage lots." See diagram.
FLAG LOTThe "flag" shall include that portion of the lot that is the location of the principal and accessory buildings. The "pole" shall be considered that portion of the site that is used for vehicular access between the site and the adjoining road.
A transportable single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, 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.
A leased parcel of land in a mobile home park, provided with
the necessary utility connections and other improvements as required
by this chapter, for the placement thereon of a single mobile home.
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.
Any lot, parcel, or yard used in whole or part for the storage
or parking of two or more vehicles where such usage is not incidental
to or in conjunction with a one-family or two-family dwelling.
An off-street space available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having an area of space as required by Chapter 185, Zoning, exclusive of passageways and driveways appurtenant thereto and giving access thereto and having direct access to the street or alley.
The Planning Commission of Clinton Township.
A complete and exact subdivision plan, prepared for official
recording as required by statute, to define property rights, streets
and all other improvements.
A tentative subdivision plan, in lesser detail than a final
plan, showing approximate street and lot layout as a basis for consideration
prior to preparation of a final plan.
A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing
body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment,
prior to taking action in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code.[3]
Notice published once each week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper with general circulation in the Township. Such notice
shall state the date, time and place of the hearing and the particular
nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication
shall not be more than 30 days before, and the second publication
shall not be less than seven days before the date of the hearing.
The Board may post the development property in question.
A portion of land dedicated or acquired by a public body
for the purposes of improving or maintaining public travel, or access.
The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given
watershed after a fall of rain or snow, or snowmelt that does not
enter the soil but runs off the surface of the land.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving wind, water or gravity. Once this matter is
deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as "sediment."
The face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose
surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually
expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per
100 feet of horizontal distance.
A method of determining the ability of soil to absorb moisture
under certain conditions. It is used to measure the amount of water
assimilated by the soil in inches of drop per time interval, and indicates
the problems that will occur in utilization of on-lot sewage disposal.
The chemical or structural treatment of a mass of soil to
increase or maintain its stability or otherwise insure its resistance
to erosion, sliding or other movement.
An avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane,
alley, viaduct and any other ways used by vehicular traffic or pedestrian
traffic whether public or private. Classes of streets are as follows:
Major traffic streets are those serving large volumes of comparatively
high-speed and long-distance traffic;
Collector streets are those which, in addition to giving access
to abutting properties, intercept minor streets and provide routes,
carrying considerable volumes of traffic, to community facilities
and to major traffic streets;
Local streets are those used primarily to provide access to
abutting properties;
Marginal access streets are minor streets, parallel and adjacent
to major traffic streets, providing access to abutting properties
and control of intersections with and access on the major traffic
streets.
Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other subdivisions
of land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether
immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution
to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development.
The subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels
of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of
access or any residential dwelling shall be exempted and not considered
a subdivision for the purposes of this chapter. The enumerating of
lots shall include as a lot that portion of the original tract or
tracts remaining after the other lots have been subdivided therefrom.
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface
water runoff.
Surface soil and subsurface soil which presumably is fertile
soil and soil material ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus
debris.
A permanent stream, intermittent stream, river, brook, creek,
or channel or ditch for water whether natural or man-made.
