The purpose of this district is to encourage the innovative design and development of planned commerce park areas where multiple yet distinct land uses are combined into a single unified development project; to encourage a planned arrangement of individually-owned and operated uses within complementary functional categories, including professional and business offices, retail sales and commercial services, lodging, recreation/leisure time and specialized commercial-business; to provide a planned development that serves existing and foreseeable needs of the Township and surrounding service areas; to carefully plan traffic circulation and off-street parking in order to avoid traffic congestion and inadequate parking; and to encourage the planning and utilization of land and the harmonious design, erection and use of buildings in a diversified commerce-business community that will contribute to the economic base of Bensalem Township and otherwise further the purposes of this chapter as set forth in section 232-1.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1000), 6-3-96)

Any application filed for preliminary PCD plan approval shall include a feasibility and land use market study done by an independent professional consulting firm. The study shall include or be supplemented with documentation indicating the impact of the completed planned commerce park development upon public facilities, utilities, services, roadway systems and existing development.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1001), 6-3-96)

(a)

A building or buildings shall be erected and used and a lot shall be used and occupied in a PCD district, to insure that uses exist within the following formula:

(1)

No less than 65 percent of the gross useable tract area shall be used for professional and/or business office and/or college and university purposes, and

(2)

No more than 35 percent of the gross usable tract area may be used for one or more of the following ancillary functions:

a.

Retail sales and commercial services

b.

Lodging

c.

Recreation/leisure time

d.

Specialized commercial - business

Such ancillary functions shall include building coverage, related off-street parking and loading areas and access drives, but excluding existing adjacent street rights-of-way.

(b)

Permitted uses in a PCD district shall be defined as follows:

(1)

Professional and business. Agencies and offices rendering specialized and general services such as accounting, addressing, letter and copy service advertising, bookkeeping, bonding, brokerage, detective, financing, trust and banking, insurance, real estate, travel bureaus, corporate, regional and local administrative offices, and local state and federal administrative government facilities.

A scientific research, testing or experimental laboratory or similar establishment for research or product development, provided there is no commercial production or storage of any hazardous, flammable, or corrosive commodity or substance except for storage necessary for such scientific research.

Professional and consultant services such as engineering, planning, legal, secretarial, financial, architectural, medical and dental.

(2)

College and university. Educational use conducted by colleges and universities, including medical and technological classroom program facilities, excluding any facilities used as dormitories and/or for student or staff housing. Colleges and universities that are exempt from the payment of Township Real Property Taxes and/or Township Business Privilege Taxes are not permitted.

(3)

Retail sales and commercial services. Stores for retail purposes only, provided no goods shall be displayed on the exterior of the premises excluding areas displaying supplies used for landscaping and gardening and all storage shall be within the confines of the building. The maximum area used for displaying supplies for landscaping and gardening shall be limited to ten percent of the square footage of such building. Personal service shops dealing directly with customers such as beauty parlors, barber shops, clothes cleaning or pressing agency, shoe repair shop, dressmaking, millinery, clothing and costume rental, tailor and fur shop, dancing dressmaking, millinery, clothing and costume rental, tailor and fur shop, dancing and musical instruction, providing latter are adequately soundproofed, general sales, serving or repair shop such as jewelry, bicycle, watch or clock, radio, television or home appliance repair.

(4)

Lodging. Lodging to include a complete service facility of no less than three stories and a minimum of 100 rooms, including accessory retail, dining, leisure and service facilities incidental to said use.

(5)

Recreation/leisure time uses. Indoor recreation and leisure time uses, unless noted otherwise, including theater for presentation of films or stage performances, permanent sit-down type restaurants, health spas, indoor or outdoor tennis and swim clubs, marinas and boat docking facilities, or any use of the same general character as the above permitted uses, provided that no such use that is noxious or hazardous shall be permitted, and further provided that any such uses that are exempt from the payment of Township Real Property Taxes and/or Township Business Privilege Taxes shall not be permitted.

Drive-in theaters and adult entertainment theaters are not permitted.

Facilities for the docking, loading, unloading, and/or servicing of commercial shipping vehicles or equipment are not permitted.

(6)

Specialized commercial - business. Bakery, pastry, candy, confectionery, ice cream or custom shop making goods only for retail sales on the premises. Telephone and telegraph office, specialty card printing, specialized optical, dental, pharmaceutical, electronic facilities, research and development testing or experimental laboratory and similar establishment for product applications providing that any specialized commercial application shall not be permitted which may violate the performance standards set forth in section 232-464 of this article.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1002), 6-3-96; Ord. No. 99-17, § 1A, 5-25-99; Ord. No. 2010-06, § I, 10-4-10; Ord. No. 2021-04, §§ 29, 30, 8-23-21)

(a)

All proposed PCD development shall be constructed in accordance with an overall plan and shall include the planned phasing and schedule of construction. The overall plan shall be designed as a single architectural scheme with appropriate common landscaping, and shall provide, initially, for the construction of a minimum of 12,000 square feet of ground floor area. If the development of the center is to be carried out in progressive stages, each stage shall be planned so that the previous and following requirements and intent of this chapter shall be fully complied with at the completion of any stage.

(b)

No PCD tract shall be less than 20 acres except in accordance with the provisions of section 1004 of this article and no individual lot shall be less than one acre. In all cases a cross-easement agreement shall be recorded with the final plan providing for reciprocal rights for individual lots within a PCD development which shall contain suitable provisions for ingress and egress, utilities, stormwater management, parking and maintenance of common areas. Maximum building area shall not exceed 35 percent of the net lot area. Impervious surface coverage which shall be defined to include the building area, shall not exceed 50 percent of the net lot area.

(c)

Front, side and rear yards shall be provided on each lot as follows:

(1)

One front yard not less than 100 feet in depth, except that single story structures may be constructed no less than 75 feet from the street lines.

(2)

Two side yards not less than 75 feet in width provided that in the case of a corner lot, the yard abutting any street shall not be less than 100 feet in width or depth. This requirement shall not prevent the erection of a series or row of attached buildings, provided that the series or row meets side yard requirements if treated as a single unit.

(3)

One rear yard not less than 100 feet in depth. There shall be a landscaped area of at least 20 feet in width between any rear lot line and any off-street parking area or access drive.

(d)

Lot width: Each lot shall have a width of not less than 400 feet.

(e)

There shall be adequate means of fire protection such as, but not limited to, fire lanes of acceptable surface and width, hydrants, fire department connections or any other method or combination approved by the Bensalem Township Fire Marshal.

(f)

Spacing of structures on the same lot: Any building shall be located at least 50 feet from any other building on the same lot, unless such buildings are attached by a common roof structure.

(g)

Vehicular access points and road frontage improvements; vehicular access points to the development and any road frontage improvements including widening and directional turning lanes shall be an integral part of the development.

(h)

No sign on the structure shall be erected unless it fully complies with the requirements of article XIV of this chapter and unless all signs conform to an overall coordinated design scheme which shall be subject to approval or disapproval by the Bensalem Township Council.

(i)

The district shall be serviced by public water and sewer, or by sewage disposal and water facilities, certified as adequate by the appropriate governmental health agency.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1003), 6-3-96; Ord. No. 99-17, § 1A, 5-25-99)

To provide for reasonable expansion of a PCD district, the Bensalem Township Council shall have the authority to approve or disapprove the inclusion of adjacent land areas bounding a PCD district. Such inclusions shall be deemed to constitute a rezoning of the adjacent land and shall be subject to any procedures applicable to a rezoning amendment. The minimum requirements in this section shall be used by the Board to make a decision on every request to expand a PCD district. Documented evidence shall be submitted for every PCD district. An expansion request in the form of a feasibility and land use market study as outlined in section 232-462, justifying the need and impact of the proposed expansion plan shall also be submitted. A site plan shall also be submitted with the market study to indicate how the proposed expansion will be integrated with the existing PCD district. An expansion proposal shall be reviewed upon its own merits without limit to the area of expansion proposed. The newly created tract shall comply with all provisions of section 232-463.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1004), 6-3-96)

No structure shall be any higher than six habitable stories nor any hotel or motel less than three habitable stories in height, exclusive of basement, parking stories, roof mounted mechanical systems and telecommunications equipment. In addition to those items set forth in section 105 pertaining to the height of structure or building. In no event shall the height of such telecommunications equipment exceed the limits set forth in section 232-598(d)(2) of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1005), 6-3-96; Ord. No. 99-17, § 1A, 5-25-99)

After the final development plan has been approved and when, in the course of carrying out this plan, adjustments or rearrangements of buildings, parking areas, entrances, heights or yards are requested by the developer, and such requests conforms to the standards established by the approved final development plan for the area to be covered by buildings, parking spaces, entrances, heights, functions, setbacks and lot area requirements, such adjustments may be approved by the Township Council upon application.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1006), 6-3-96)

Bufferyards shall be provided where a building is erected or used in a PCD district in accordance with article XIII, subsection 232-592(8) of this Code.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1007), 6-3-96)

Fire lanes shall be provided and marked in accordance with Bensalem Township Fire Prevention Ordinance No. 93-15.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1008), 6-3-96)

All land which had been in a planned commerce unit development district, and for which a final land development plan had been approved prior to the effective date of Ordinance No. 92-09, shall be developed in accordance with the rules, standards and conditions applicable thereto pursuant to the zoning ordinance in effect immediately before the adoption of Ordinance No. 92-09.

(Ord. No. 96-05, Art. X(1009), 6-3-96)

When the total area of any tract being developed in accordance with an overall plan for a planned commerce unit development contains a minimum of 100 acres, the following modifications to the PCD district area regulations may be applied:

(1)

Maximum building area as defined in section 232-6 shall not exceed 35 percent as set forth in section 232-464(b). However, parking garages or structures shall not be included in this calculation but may not exceed an additional 25 percent of the net lot area.

(2)

Impervious surface coverage shall not exceed 75 percent of the net lot area.

(3)

Height shall not exceed 15 habitable stories and parking garage/structures shall not exceed six stories in height.

(4)

Minimum overall tract width at the legal right-of-way shall be 1,000 feet.

(5)

Off street parking for all permitted uses shall be based on five per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area.

(6)

Individual lots or parcels which are created for the purpose of establishing separate ownership shall not be required to meet the yard and lot width requirements of section 232-464(c) and 232-464(d) provided such requirements have been met for the overall tract being developed.

(7)

All other requirements set forth in section 232-461 through 232-469 shall remain applicable.

(Ord. No. 99-17, § 1A, 5-25-99; Amd. of 1-29-01)