Regulate the location and use of buildings, structures and land for residence, agriculture, commerce, industry and other purpose;

Control the height, number of stories, size and placement of buildings and other structures;

Divide the Township into districts of such size, shape and area as may be deemed best suited to serve the needs of all the residents and property owners; and

Establish procedures for the administration, enforcement and amendment of this chapter.

Promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare;

Secure safety from fire, flood, mudslide, panic and other dangers, and to provide adequate open spaces for light, air and amenity;

Conserve and stabilize property values through the most appropriate uses of land in relation to one another;

Preserve and protect agricultural lands for agricultural use;

Preserve forests, agricultural lands, floodplain areas, stream corridors, recreation lands, and other sensitive environmental lands from conflict with urban development;

Facilitate the economic provision of adequate transportation, water supply, sewage disposal, public schools, parks and other public requirements;

Prevent overcrowding or improper development of land, blighting conditions, and congestion in travel and transportation;

Preserve and protect the rural and agricultural character of the community by directing new development to appropriate locations and minimizing the visual, traffic, and other impacts of such development;

Encourage innovative residential development so that the growing demand for housing may be met by greater variety in type, design, and layout of dwellings, and by conservation and more efficient use of open space ancillary to such dwellings;

Encourage nonresidential development that preserves and protects the rural character of the community, and that minimizes objectionable noise, glare, odor, traffic and other impacts of such development, especially when adjacent to residential uses; and

Manage overall community growth, including population and employment growth, to benefit the community and to encourage orderly development.

Adams Township is essentially a residential/agricultural community with growth potential and opportunities for future limited commercial and industrial development.

Future development shall result in a compatible blending of residential, commercial, and industrial activities in which conditions created by commercial and industrial growth do not prohibit residential or potentially residential growth.

Future development shall occur such that residential and nonresidential activities, and the conditions or impacts created by such activities, do not prevent or hinder viable agricultural pursuits in the community.

Large-scale residential development shall be channeled into areas where public sewage disposal and water supply systems either exist or where extension of service is scheduled pursuant to the Township's Comprehensive Plan, or the utility extension program of the municipal authority with jurisdiction, and should occur where access to arterial highways is available or in close proximity. Residential developments should also be encouraged that provide a variety of housing choices and mix of dwelling types.

As identified in the Comprehensive Plan, commercial and industrial growth shall be concentrated at selected locations along the Township's two major roadway corridors (the Route 228 and the Callery-Mars-Valencia corridors) rather than in a sprawling linear pattern. Adequate parking and safe ingress and egress shall be required to maintain the safety and capacity of the highways; by requiring access roads rather than permitting permanent direct access from major arterials.

A variety of neighborhood and Township scaled commercial uses shall be available through an optional overlay zoning procedure established in order to mitigate the impact of increased traffic volumes generated by developing areas in the State Route 228 Corridor, and to maintain the Township's rural character.

All future development in the community shall be sited and developed in such ways as to maximize preservation and protection of the Township's rural and agricultural character and its natural and scenic resources, including, but not limited to, floodplains, stream corridors, wetlands, open fields, meadows and other open space, existing trees and vegetation, historic structures and existing farm buildings.

Areas susceptible to flooding and high water table conditions shall be left undeveloped, graded to minimize flooding problems without constricting stream flow, or developed with uses that suffer minimum damage and cause minimum downstream damage if inundated.

Development of steep slopes shall be discouraged and every effort shall be made to prevent erosion and pollution of water resources as the result of development. Township approval of any development activity within areas subject to flooding or with problems related to underlying soils or slopes should be given only after consent from the State Department of Environmental Protection and/or other appropriate county, state or federal review agencies.

The regulations contained in this chapter shall be held to be the minimum regulations required to uphold the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.

Where the regulations or standards imposed by any provision of this chapter are either more restrictive or less restrictive than comparable conditions imposed by any other provision of this chapter, or any other applicable law, ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation of any kind, the regulations or standards that are more restrictive and impose higher standards or requirements shall be applied.