[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Official
Zoning Ordinance of the Township of Canton."
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
This chapter should take effect immediately following adoption
of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
This chapter is enacted and ordained under the grant of powers
by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
These zoning regulations are enacted for the purpose of promoting
and facilitating the public health, safety and the general welfare;
coordinated and practical community development and proper density
of population, emergency management preparedness and operations; the
provision of adequate light and air, access to incident solar energy;
police protection; vehicle parking and loading space; reliable sewage
facilities, stormwater facilities, recreational facilities and public
use; the provision of a safe, reliable and adequate water supply for
domestic, commercial, agricultural, industrial and fire-fighting use;
the preservation of natural, scenic and historic values in the environment;
the preservation of forests, wetlands, aquifers, and floodplains.
Furthermore, this chapter has been developed to prevent the overcrowding
of land, blight, danger and congestion in traveling and transportation
loss of health, life or property from fire, flood, panic and other
dangers. This chapter further strives to accommodate the preservation
of prime agricultural and sensitive environmental areas; to provide
for the use of land for residential housing of all basic forms; to
accommodate reasonable overall community growth; and to provide for
opportunities for development of a variety of nonresidential uses.
This chapter has been developed in accordance with the Multi-Municipal
Comprehensive Plan as adopted by the Township Board of Supervisors.
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
In interpreting and applying this chapter, its provisions shall
be held to the minimum requirements for promotion of health, safety,
morals and general welfare of the Township. This chapter is not intended
to interfere with abrogate, annul, supersede or cancel, any easements,
covenants, restrictions or reservations contained in deeds or other
agreements. Any use permitted subject to the regulations prescribed
by the provisions of this chapter shall conform with all regulations
for the zoning district in which it is located and with other pertinent
regulations of this and other related ordinances, but if this chapter
imposes more stringent restrictions upon the use of buildings and
land than are elsewhere established, the provisions of this chapter
shall prevail. In using the language of this chapter to determine
the extent of the restriction upon the use of the property, the language
shall be interpreted, where doubt exists as to the intended meaning
of the language adopted by the Township Board of Supervisors, in favor
of the property owner and against any implied extension of the restriction.
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
1.
No building, structure, or land shall hereafter be used or occupied
and no building or structure or part thereof shall hereafter be erected,
constructed, reconstructed, moved, altered or expanded horizontally
or vertically, except in conformity with all regulations contained
herein, unless relief is granted by the Township Zoning Hearing Board
by granting a variance.
2.
This chapter shall not apply to an existing or proposed building,
or extension thereof, used or to be used by a public utility corporation,
if, upon petition of the corporation, the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission shall, after a public hearing, decide that the present
or proposed situation of the building in question is reasonably necessary
for the convenience or welfare of the public. It shall be the responsibility
of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to ensure that both
the corporation and the Township have notice of the hearing and are
granted an opportunity to appear, present witnesses, cross-examine
witnesses presented by other parties and otherwise exercise the rights
of a party to the proceedings.
[Ord. No. 4-2022, 6/9/2022]
The provisions of this chapter are severable, and if any section,
sentence, clause, part, or provision hereof shall be held to be illegal,
invalid, or unconstitutional, by a court exercising proper jurisdiction,
such decision of the court shall not affect or impair the remaining
sections, sentences, clauses, parts or provisions of this chapter.
It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Supervisors
that this chapter would have been enacted if such illegal, invalid,
or unconstitutional section, sentence, clause, part, or provision
had not been included herein.
