It is the purpose of this district to provide
an area for institutional uses and to maintain as much open area for
recreational purposes as possible.
All proposed uses within the two-hundred-foot
IR District located along the Schuylkill River and the Tulpehocken
Creek shall apply for a conditional use. In all other IR District
areas, the following regulations shall apply.
A.
A building may be erected, altered or used and a lot
or premises may be used for any of the following purposes and no other:
(1)
Churches, chapels, convents, monasteries or similar
places of worship and their adjunct residential dwellings.
(2)
Medical and surgical hospitals, medical center, sanitaria
and charitable institutions.
(3)
Nursing homes, personal care facilities, children's
homes and group homes.
[Amended 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(4)
Schools, colleges, universities and other institutions
of learning, adjunct dormitories and adjunct play and recreation grounds
or facilities.
(5)
Art galleries, museums, libraries and conservatories.
[Amended 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(6)
Woodland or wildlife management or similar conservation
use.
[Amended 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(7)
Parks, golf courses and other athletic fields.
(8)
Outdoor swimming pools.
(9)
Day-care centers.
(10)
Campgrounds by conditional use, subject to the
following:
(a)
All rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection shall be complied with.
(b)
The minimum area of a campground shall be five
acres.
(c)
All buildings and structures shall be clearly
incidental to the use of the site as a campground and shall be for
the use of the occupants of the campground only.
(d)
Every campground shall be separated from a public street and from adjoining properties by an open area strip no less than 100 feet in width, which shall contain a screen no less than five feet in height (refer to Article II, "screening" definition) and be approved by the Township.
(e)
No portions of the campground shall be used
for year-round occupancy.
(f)
Certificates of use and occupancy.
[1]
All certificates of use and occupancy issued by the Township shall be issued for a period of one year. Renewal shall be according to the same requirements and procedure as made and provided for in § 184-201 for issuance of the original certificate of use and occupancy.
[2]
Prior to the issuance or renewal of a certificate
of use and occupancy, the owner of a campground shall file with and
receive approval by the Township Supervisors of a set of regulations.
Such regulations shall be prescribed, but not limited to, such controls
as maximum term of occupancy of a site by an individual tenant; temporary
or seasonal storage of travel trailers; and policing to control noises
and activities that might endanger the life, safety or general welfare
of other occupants and the owners and/or occupants of adjacent properties.
[3]
Upon due notice, the Township Supervisors may
revoke a certificate of use and occupancy for failure by the owner
of a campground to enforce such regulations, and the same shall not
be reinstated or renewed until satisfactory guaranties of future enforcement
are provided.
(g)
There shall be a maximum gross density of 12 travel trailer or tent sites per acre. Each site shall be a minimum of 1,500 square feet in area, with a minimum width of 25 feet. Each site shall provide a clear, generally level, well-drained pad for accommodating the travel trailer or tent. See § 184-173.
(h)
Sites shall be so dimensioned and arranged that
when any space is occupied, no portion of any travel trailer or tent,
including accessory attachments, shall be within 10 feet of any portion
of any other travel trailer, tent or building. Each site shall contain
at least one parking space which is clear, generally level and well-drained
and no less than 10 feet by 20 feet in area.
[Amended 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(i)
Each site shall abut and have direct access
to an internal roadway which shall be a minimum of 24 feet in width
and improved to a mud-free condition suitable for use in all weather
conditions. Suitable materials shall be applied to the roads to control
dust. Parking shall not be permitted on the roads. In all other respects,
the roads shall meet the standards of the Bern Township Subdivision
and Land Development Ordinance,[1] unless waivers are granted by the Township pursuant to
said ordinance.
(j)
A tenant shall not occupy a space in a travel
trailer park for more than nine consecutive weeks. Occupancy of any
space in the park for four or more nights in any one week shall be
considered occupancy for one week. After occupancy in the travel trailer
for nine consecutive weeks, a tenant shall not occupy a space in the
park for more than three nights in any one week for a period of four
consecutive weeks. The owner of the travel trailer park shall maintain
a daily registration list in the park office. Such list shall indicate
the tenants of the park for every night and shall be made available
to the person authorized by the supervisors. The owner shall retain
each registration list for a period of one year.
(11)
Accessory uses and structures to the above and
following permitted uses when on the same lot as the permitted use.
[Amended 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(12)
Municipal use.
[Added 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(13)
Retirement communities by conditional use, subject
to the following:
[Added 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
(a)
Living units for the elderly, including single-family
detached dwellings, single-family semidetached dwellings, townhouses
or apartment units, shall be the principal use within the community.
In addition, common facilities required to support the needs of persons
living within the community, including the elderly and disabled persons
regardless of age, shall be provided. Such common facilities may include
the following:
[1]
Dining facilities, including kitchens and accessory
facilities for residents and their guests.
[2]
Social rooms, chapels, meeting rooms and overnight
guest rooms for guests of residents.
[3]
Health care facilities, including but not limited
to clinic, rehabilitation services, nursing care, convalescent care,
intermediate care, extended care, personal care, laboratory and such
other similar facilities required to supply the health care needs
of the residents of the community.
[4]
Administrative offices used in the management
of the community and health care facilities.
[5]
Activity, craft and hobby shops, recreation
facilities, gift shops, personal services facilities and similar type
uses, exclusively for the use of residents and their guests.
[6]
Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental
to the above uses.
(b)
The density of the development shall not exceed
five dwelling units per acre.
(c)
The development shall be served by public sewage
disposal and public water supply facilities.
(d)
No more than 20% of the total area of the parcel
shall be covered by buildings.
(e)
No more than 20% of the total area of the parcel
shall be paved surface such as streets, interior access drives, parking
areas, sidewalks and courts.
(f)
Common parking areas and interior access drives
shall be located a minimum of 25 feet from the property lines of the
parcel.
(g)
All buildings shall be set back a minimum of
20 feet from all common parking areas and internal access drives and
streets, except for off-street loading areas and areas at entrances
to buildings where residents will enter and leave standing vehicles.
(h)
All principal buildings shall be separated by
a minimum horizontal distance of 50 feet.
(i)
No less than 30% of the total area of the parcel
in Bern Township shall be permanently set aside for noncommercial
common open space purposes, such as parks, recreation or conservation
of natural features. The common open space areas shall be suitable
for the designated purpose and contain no structure or parking facilities
except as related to and incidental to open space uses.
(j)
Each community shall be built as a single legal
entity and shall be retained in a single ownership. Fee simple absolute
sale of units shall be prohibited. All common facilities to support
the needs of the residents of the community shall remain under a single
ownership.
(k)
Minimum parking requirements shall be as follows:
[1]
Living units for the elderly: one space per
dwelling unit.
[2]
Nursing homes, personal care facilities and
other care facilities: one space per employee on the largest shift
plus one space for each four beds.
[3]
Gift shops, personal services facilities and
similar type uses: one space for each 200 square feet of gross floor
area.
(l)
A system of paved walkways a minimum of five
feet in width shall be provided for access between buildings and common
parking areas, open space and recreation areas and other community
facilities.
(m)
A landscaping plan for the retirement community
prepared and sealed by a registered landscape architect shall be submitted
and is subject to approval by the Township Supervisors. Provisions
for the landscaping of the perimeter and interior of all common parking
areas shall be included in such plan.
(n)
Identification signs for retirement communities
are permitted, provided that no more than one such sign shall be erected
at each exterior public street providing access to the retirement
communities. No such sign shall be closer than 10 feet to a lot line,
and the area on one side of any such sign shall not exceed 25 square
feet. No part of any sign shall exceed eight feet in height.
(o)
No more than six townhouses shall be permitted
in a continuous row and the maximum length of a continuous row of
townhouses shall be 160 feet. No more than three continuous townhouses
shall have the same front setback and the variations in front setback
shall be at least two feet.
(p)
For buildings other than townhouses, there shall
be no architecturally unbroken building face of more than 160 linear
feet. A building face shall be considered architecturally broken if
there is a deflection in the building axis of at least 30° or,
where there is no deflection in the building axis of at least 30°,
an integral architectural feature of the building projects from the
building face a minimum of 10 feet along the building face. Such architectural
feature shall extend the entire height of the building included within
stories.
(q)
Proof of state certification must be submitted
when such certification is required.
(14)
Structures with a maximum height greater than
35 feet by conditional use, subject to the following:
[Added 5-1-2007 by Ord. No. 235-2007]
(a)
The thirty-five-foot maximum building height requirement may be exceeded pursuant to the conditional use procedures set forth in § 184-210.
(b)
Any conditional use application filed pursuant to this section shall meet conditional use standards set forth in § 184-210C in the Code of the Township of Bern.
(c)
The lot on which the proposed structure or addition
thereto shall be erected shall be greater than 20 acres.
(d)
A minimum front yard shall be 200 feet measured
from the street line. The minimum rear and side yards shall be 100
feet.
(e)
The proposed roofline shall be consistent with
any adjacent structures, if any, or the original structure if the
proposed construction is an addition thereto. Consistency with the
adjacent roofline or the original structure shall be defined as a
roof line which does not exceed the roofline of the adjacent structure
or original structure by more than 15 feet.
(f)
The plan for the proposed structure or addition
thereto shall be reviewed by the Fire Marshal, and the Fire Marshal
shall certify that the fire company will have the ability to provide
adequate fire suppression services to the facility.
(15)
Wireless communications facilities by conditional use, subject to § 184-177.1 of this chapter.
[Added 8-4-2015 by Ord.
No. 298-2015[2]]
[2]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Subsection
B, added 2-1-2000 by Ord. No. 184, which permitted communications
antennas, communications towers, and communications equipment buildings
as special exception uses.
The minimum lot area shall be five acres.
The minimum front yard shall be 100 feet measured
from the street line. The minimum rear and side yards shall be 50
feet.
The maximum building height shall be 35 feet.
The minimum lot width measured at the street
line and building setback line shall not be less than 200 feet.
At least 60% of the tract shall be maintained
as open area.
C.
Any building facade which faces a patron parking area,
street or other space used or viewed by the public shall be provided
with decorative facade treatment, architecturally integrated with
all other building faces.
[Added 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
D.
Site models and/or graphic portrayals, providing a
clear perspective of the relationship of the proposed development
to the site and its visual impact on adjacent properties, shall be
submitted to the Township.
[Added 4-12-2000 by Ord. No. 186-2000]
Each use shall comply with the performance standards contained within § 184-153.
