To serve as the Nittany Valley Region's commercial, cultural and civic core;

To provide for retail, service and office uses of appropriate scale in appropriate locations.

To promote uses oriented towards pedestrian customers and create continuous shopping frontage;

To maintain Bellefonte's historic character;

To promote adaptive reuse of existing buildings;

To encourage mixed-use commercial and residential opportunities; and

To meet minimum standards of health, safety and welfare by protecting against hazards and nuisances.

All construction, alteration and/or demolition for buildings located within the Central Business District and the boundaries of the Historical Architectural Review Board District shall be subject to the guidelines, standards and approval processes of the Bellefonte Historic District and the Historical Architectural Review Board.

To maintain the unique character of historic Bellefonte, buildings should not be branded using an architectural style of a company. Therefore, franchise architecture (building design that is trademarked or identified with a particular chain or corporation and is generic in nature) shall not be permitted.

Permitted uses.

Accessory uses.

Conditional uses. Conditional uses shall conform to all applicable conditional use criteria contained within this section and chapter.

Height requirement.

Front yard setback. The front yard setback of any building constructed within the Central Business District shall be, at a minimum, zero feet from the interior edge of the sidewalk and, at a maximum, within 10% of the average setback of all buildings along the shared street front of the block within which the building is to be constructed. However, no building shall be constructed with a front yard setback that is greater than five feet.

Side yard setback: no minimum.

Rear yard setback: no minimum.

Building size. The total footprint of any building constructed within the Central Business District shall not exceed 30,000 square feet, except as provided for in the conditional use provisions of this district.

(Reserved)[1]

Facade standards. Buildings constructed on assembled lots with a total width greater than 50 feet shall have facades that vary the plane of the front facade and shall contain varied roof shapes using height and architectural features.

Building materials. All materials to be used in the construction or alteration of buildings located within, or to be constructed within, the Bellefonte Historic District shall be subject to the Bellefonte Historical and Architectural Review Board process.

Outdoor sales and storage of merchandise and/or materials shall be permitted in accordance with § 495-15, Display of merchandise on sidewalks.

The dispensing of and retail sale of gasoline products for vehicular use shall not be permitted.

Adult businesses shall not be permitted.

New ground-floor residential uses shall not be permitted (except for those developed by conditional use within residential condominium developments).

Street venders shall be permitted as an extension of an existing business, by permit only, with necessary permits, sales tax number, DEP food handler's permit, health permits, and/or insurance.

The project must meet the definition of a residential condominium, which is hereby defined as "a building dedicated for multifamily residential use within which each individual dwelling unit is owned by an individual person or persons with a requirement that the building itself and all related facilities and common areas are owned and maintained by a condominium property owners' association."

The maximum number of living units that can be constructed on the property shall be 35 units per acre.

The project must provide for various sizes of condominium living units.

Site design shall be sensitive to environmental concerns and shall minimize impervious coverage to the greatest extent possible. Blasting shall be specifically addressed and reviewed by Borough Council. Only upon determination of no adverse effect will blasting be permitted.

The design of landscaping, outdoor lighting, and outdoor space shall be a component of the plan.

Parking shall be provided at a minimum of two spaces per residential dwelling unit.

All required parking (surface, structure and/or underground) shall be located on site and subject to the requirements of Chapter 500, Subdivision and Land Development. Preference will be given to parking located to the rear of the building, except as follows:

If all required parking cannot be accommodated on site, the applicant shall provide 1.5 spaces per living unit on site, include specific conditions on providing off-site parking, include design during the subdivision and land development process for the required two spaces per unit, and post surety for the remainder (the number of parking spaces above 1.5 spaces per unit that cannot be built on site) with the stipulation that a traffic study be done to evaluate need and establish the threshold for completion of the additional spaces. Upon reaching the established and agreed upon thresholds, the developer would be required to construct the additional spaces.

A condominium association shall be formed in accordance with the Pennsylvania Condominium Act,[1] and condominium documents shall be provided to the Borough and recorded with the Centre County Recorder of Deeds.

Other provisions as are determined by the Borough Council to be necessary to provide for the general public health, safety and welfare.

Parking structures shall include space for ground-floor commercial development.

A traffic study shall be prepared to show the proposed number of parking spaces, proposed ingress and egress areas, and any associated impacts to the road network and local traffic flows.