Bath City Zoning Code

Accessory uses, buildings and structures shall conform to the front and side yard setbacks of the primary use, building or structure situate upon the lot, unless otherwise specified.

Buildings or structures attached to or forming an integral part of a primary building or structure and utilized for an accessory use shall not be considered as accessory buildings or structures.

Storage sheds shall not exceed 240 square feet in size; greenhouses shall not exceed 240 square feet in size; and animal shelters shall not exceed 16 square feet in size.

Residential sales offices are permitted accessory uses, but such uses must be discontinued within six months of completion of the last on-site residential unit offered for sale.

Amusement devices shall be permitted as accessory uses to any commercial use at a ratio of one amusement device per 400 square feet of customer service area or fraction thereof. For the purpose of this section, kitchens, storage areas, rest facilities, office areas and passageways shall not be included in computing customer service area. Each commercial use, regardless of its size, shall be permitted at least two amusement devices. No amusement device shall be audible beyond the premises within which it is located. Amusement devices shall be permitted without restriction in public and private establishments which are licensed and regulated by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Within any clear sight triangle, there shall be no obstruction between 2 1/2 feet and eight feet above grade.

No obstruction in excess of 24 inches in height shall be permitted for a depth of 10 inches from the edge of any street or road, unless such obstruction is 10 feet or more from a driveway, or any portion thereof.

Where no clear sight triangle exists, but where driveways or crosswalks enter public streets, at the discretion of the Zoning Officer, plantings and temporary structures may be treated under the provisions of the clear sight triangle restrictions to provide for public safety.

Public, local street: 75 feet;

If one intersecting street is a collector street: 100 feet;

One intersecting street is an arterial street: 150 feet.

Any building, structure or use utilized by the general public, the employer or employees shall be provided with flush-type toilet facilities.

No cesspool or drilled sinkhole shall be constructed or used for the disposal of any sewage or similar waste.

No septic tank, drainfield, sand mound or part thereof shall be located within 100 feet of any well or within 10 feet of any property line.

No well shall be located within 100 feet of any septic tank, drain field, sand mound or part thereof.

No dwelling units shall be constructed, erected or are established that are 50% below grade.

No story or floor of a building shall be more than one flight of stairs away from the main entrance unless accessible via an elevator.

Each dwelling unit shall contain complete kitchen, toilet, bathing and sleeping facilities and shall have a minimum habitable area as follows:

Storage space having a minimum of 50 square feet and no less than five feet in height shall be provided in each building for each apartment in addition to the habitable floor area requirement.

Sufficient laundry, drying, garbage pickup and other utility areas shall be provided and screened from view by a fence, wall or solid shrubbery at least six feet in height at the time of planting. Fencing and walls shall not be more than 50% open.

Each building or structure shall have no more than 36 dwelling units.

The facade of any building or structure shall not exceed 70 feet in length, unless making an angle turn or having an offset of at least five feet within each 70 feet of length.

Every building shall have a minimum setback of 10 feet from any and all interior roads, driveways and parking areas and 25 feet from any other building.

Courtyards bounded on three or more sides by the wings of a single building or by the walls of separate buildings shall have a minimum court width of two feet for each one foot in height of the tallest adjacent building.

Garages, not a part of a garden apartment dwelling structure, but intended for the use of the residents in addition to all other accessory buildings, shall be located at least 15 feet from the nearest wall of any garden apartment dwelling structure.

A strip of land at least five feet in width surrounding each building shall be kept completely open except for foundation plantings. Open space adjacent to, around or between buildings not surfaced as walkways, driveways, parking area, utility areas or other required improvements shall be graded and seeded to provide a thick stand of grass or other plant material.

Approaches to garden apartment dwelling structures and entrance areas shall be attractively shrubbed and properly maintained.

A ten-foot-wide buffer strip with screening shall be provided on all garden apartment property lines except for garden apartment property lines in common with property line(s) of a lot containing an existing garden apartment building or multifamily dwelling building. In addition to any other applicable requirements per Article XV of the Zoning Ordinance, evergreen trees starting at a minimum of six feet in height shall be planted 15 feet off center and properly maintained to provide screening on all garden apartment property lines except for garden apartment property lines in common with property line(s) of a lot containing an existing garden apartment building or multifamily dwelling building.

Driveways shall be limited to two per development or one driveway for each 150 feet of street frontage.

A minimum of 10% of the total tract area, exclusive of the normal dwelling yards, buffer strips and parking areas, shall be designated for common recreational purposes. No recreational area shall be less than 4,000 square feet in area nor less than 40 feet in width. Areas shall be located to be convenient to dwelling units. Sand boxes, swings, slides or other recreational equipment may be required. The foregoing requirements are mandatory unless and until Borough Council approves the payment of fees in lieu of required recreation land dedication in accordance with Bath's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and said fees are received by the Borough.

Driveways, parking areas, dwelling entranceways and pedestrian walks shall be provided with sufficient illumination to minimize hazards to pedestrians and motor vehicles utilizing the same. Light sources shall, where necessary, be shielded to avoid glare disturbing to occupants of apartments and of adjacent properties.

All on-site utility services shall be installed below ground level.

A garden apartment building located on a lot abutting State Route 512 may have parking spaces occupy the front yard area abutting State Route 512, provided, however, said parking spaces shall be setback at least 15 feet from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's right-of-way for State Route 512.

Any dwelling unit constructed by or subsidized by an agency of the government or government the United States or of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and which has restrictions on occupancy by reason of age, income or other unique condition, shall meet the minimum habitable floor area standards established by that agency, or, in the absence of such standard, shall meet the standards set forth in Subsection E. Any dwelling unit which, pursuant to this section, is constructed with less habitable floor area than that required by Subsection E, shall not thereafter be occupied by persons not having the unique condition upon which the special permit was based unless it is conclusively demonstrated to the Board that the intended change in occupancy will not result in overcrowding or cause an increase in density or traffic congestion.

Off-street parking.

The Board may permit an increase in the number of stories of a high-rise apartment after review of the proposal by the Planning Commission and Public Safety Officer if it is determined that the overall density of the area, the character of the area, traffic flow and congestion, and the welfare of the community-at-large will not be adversely impacted.

There shall be no dwelling located below the ground floor unless there is a seven-foot or more differential in grade between the front, rear or any side of the building.

Each dwelling unit shall contain complete kitchen, toilet, bathing and sleeping facilities and shall have a minimum habitable area as follows:

Storage space having a minimum of 50 square feet and no less than five feet in height shall be provided in each building for each apartment in addition to the habitable floor area requirement.

Sufficient laundry, drying, garbage pickup and other utility areas shall be provided and screened from view by a fence, wall or solid shrubbery at least six feet in height at the time of planting. Fencing and walls shall not be more than 50% open.

Courtyards bounded on three or more sides by the wings of a single building or by the walls of separate buildings shall have a minimum court width of two feet for each one foot in height of the tallest adjacent building.

A high-rise apartment shall not be located within 30 feet of any accessory structure or 50 feet of any building which contains dwelling units.

A fifteen-foot-wide buffer strip with screening shall be maintained on all high-rise apartment property boundary lines.

Accessways shall be limited to two per development, plus one additional accessway for each 150 feet of street frontage.

A minimum of 10% of the total tract area, exclusive of the normal dwelling yards, buffer strips and parking areas, shall be designated for common recreational purposes. No recreational area shall be less than 4,000 square feet in area nor less than 40 feet in width. Areas shall be located to be convenient to dwelling units. Sand boxes, swings, slides or other recreational equipment may be required.

All utility services shall be installed below grade.

All mobile home parks shall contain a minimum of 15 acres.

Each lot in an approved mobile home park shall contain a minimum of 2,500 square feet.

The maximum density in each mobile home park shall not exceed eight mobile homes, travel trailers, house trailers or mobile offices per acre.

Mobile home parks must have at least two points of ingress and egress separated by not less than 250 feet.

All interior streets in the mobile home park shall be paved with an approved durable paving material, shall be of adequate width to accommodate anticipated traffic, and shall meet the following minimum requirements:

All water supplied to a mobile home park shall be obtained from the Borough water system.

The sanitary sewage system serving any mobile home park shall be connected to a central sewage disposal system. All mobile homes, house trailers, travel trailers and mobile offices shall be connected to this system.

All installation of electrical, telephone and television cable service lines shall be provided for in approved underground conductors. All transformers related to these services shall be installed flush with grade level or below.

Each mobile home park shall provide fire hydrants within 300 feet of any mobile home, travel trailers, house trailers or mobile offices. These hydrants shall be at a capacity and pressure as sited in Chapter 580, Subdivision and Land Development. The requirements of this section shall apply to service buildings, recreation or other service buildings in the park, such as:

Parking requirements shall be governed by Article XVII of this chapter.

All mobile home parks shall provide screening along all sides abutting public streets or other properties.

Each mobile home parking lot shall be provided with a minimum of two off-street parking spaces.

Antennas or antenna structures shall conform to all applicable federal, state and local codes and chapters, and shall conform to the setbacks required for the primary use located on the premises.

All antennas shall be accessory to a permitted primary use on the premises, except as permitted in Article XX of this chapter, on which it is situated.

No exposed reflective-type bulb or incandescent lamp which exceeds 15 watts shall be used in a way which exposes the luminaire to any public street or to the living area of any other residential structure.

No exterior lighting utilized on private property shall transmit light beyond the property line or onto any abutting property line at an intensity greater than 0.5 footcandle.

A cemetery shall be on a lot at least two acres in area.

All structures and graves shall be set back a minimum of 50 feet from the lot line of an abutting residential use or any abutting residentially zoned lot, 25 feet from the right-of-way of any public street and five feet from the cartway of an internal driveway.

No grave sites shall be located within the one-hundred-year floodplain.

No loudspeaker or amplifying device shall be permitted which will project sound so as to disturb the peace.

Lighting perceptible beyond the property line shall be minimized.

Shall include adequate fencing surrounding any outdoor activity that may impact surrounding properties.

Wash basins, water closets, showers and similar public conveniences shall be provided and shall be in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Equestrian trails and stables are permitted, providing no part of any structure housing or intended to house more than two head of livestock may be located closer to a tract boundary than 100 feet or closer to a dwelling on an adjoining premises than 200 feet.

No projectile, including but not limited to bullets, pellets and arrows, shall be propelled in such a manner or in such a direction as to cause the projectile to leave the property.

Discharge of firearms or propelling of projectiles shall be confined to approved firing or target ranges equipped with adequate backstops and safety fences.

Firing or target ranges shall be no closer to a property line than 100 feet, except that outdoor ranges for the discharge of firearms shall be no closer than 250 feet.

Ranges for the discharge of firearms shall not be used after 10:00 p.m. nor before 7:00 a.m. and must have adequate lighting during non-daylight-use hours.

At least two access roads or driveways with a minimum width of 20 feet shall be provided from an arterial or collector street.

Adequate measures should be taken to avoid very serious noise conflicts with emergency sirens in the vicinity of a residential district.

A minimum lot size of two acres is required.

Shall be on a lot adequate to support parking requirements of § 675-120.

Weekly religious education rooms and meeting rooms are permitted accessory uses, provided that such uses are of such a character and intensity that they would be clearly customary and incidental to the place of worship. A nursery school/day-care center is also permitted, within the requirements for such use in this chapter. Noncommercial buses used primarily to transport persons to and from religious services may be parked on the lot.

A maximum of one dwelling unit may be accessory to a place of worship on the same lot.

Except as otherwise set forth in this chapter, no inoperative or unregistered motor vehicle or boat shall be parked, kept or stored outside of a garage or building on any premises. No vehicle or boat shall at any time be in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled outside of a garage or building on any premises. Painting of a vehicle or boat is prohibited unless conducted inside a spray booth approved pursuant to any applicable Borough, state and federal law.

Exception. A vehicle or boat of any type is permitted to undergo major overhaul, including body work, provided that such work is performed inside a building designed and approved for such purposes pursuant to any applicable Borough, state and federal law.

A home occupation shall occupy a space which constitutes less than 25% of the floor area of the dwelling. The occupation shall not occur in a garage or other accessory building, nor shall such structures be used for the computation of the floor area.

Outside employees.

No home occupation shall require structural alterations of an existing structure. The exterior design shall reflect the principal residential use of the structure.

Signs associated with the home occupation shall conform to the provisions of Article XIX of this chapter.

The parking needs of the home occupation shall be through the use of off-street parking areas according to the provisions of Article XVII of this chapter.

The home occupation shall not create noise, vibration, glare, odors, fumes or electrical interference beyond the bounds of the property to any extent greater or more frequent than ordinarily associated with the dwelling unit.

All storage of materials associated with the home occupation shall be in enclosed buildings.

No vehicles with commercial license plates or trailers or construction equipment associated with the home occupation shall be stored on the property in a residential zone.

A pool shall be located in either a rear or side yard and shall meet the set back requirements for the district it is proposed.

Every swimming pool shall be entirely enclosed with a good quality chain-link, wooden, or other equivalent fence of not less than four feet in height nor greater than six feet in height. A locking gate shall be provided.

No pool shall be placed under an electric utility line.

No loudspeaker or amplifying device shall be permitted which will project sound beyond the boundaries of the lot where the pool is located.

No lighting shall shine beyond the lot boundary where the pool is located.

Water for the pool supplied from a private well shall not have a cross-connection with the public water supply system. When water is supplied from the public water supply system, the inlet shall be above the overflow level of said pool.

No permit shall be granted for installing or constructing a pool with a capacity of 10,000 gallons or more unless the Borough Engineer has certified that the proposed drainage is adequate and that the drainage will not interfere with any public water supply system, with any existing sanitary facilities or with any public street.

Parking. Three off-street parking spaces shall be provided for each unit. The parking spaces shall be at least nine feet by 11 feet and shall be clearly striped. Each parking lot shall be provided with buffer strips and screening as set forth in Article XV of this chapter.

Area requirements. The following minimum floor area sizes shall be required when converting to multifamily dwellings:

No-impact home-based business shall be owned and controlled by a resident of the property on which the activity takes place. Termination of residence by the owner who establishes the no-impact home-based business shall automatically terminate zoning and occupancy permits for the no-impact home-based business.

The business activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.

The business shall employ no employees other than the family members residing in the dwelling at the site.

There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling of parts or inventory beyond that required for use or sale within a twelve-month period (as determined by demonstrated historic use and sale patterns).

The minimum lot and yard requirements are as applicable for the principal use.

Only one vehicle, not to exceed a one-ton payload capacity, may be utilized by the business.

There shall be no appearance of a business use, including but not limited to parking, signs or lights.

There shall be no tractor-trailer deliveries to the home-based business.

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 are detectable outside of the residential structure.

The business activity may not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge which, in volume or type, is not normally associated with residential uses 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.