From and after the passage and approval of this ordinance, the several classes of districts specified herein shall be established and the following regulations shall be in full force and effect.

This ordinance shall be known as the Zoning Ordinance, and the map referred to herein and made a part of this ordinance shall be known as the Zoning District Map.

The effective date of this ordinance shall be the date of its signature of approval by the Mayor, and as provided in the Municipal Code and its amendments.

Should any section or provision of this ordinance be declared invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole nor any part thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid. Where a provision of this ordinance is found to be in conflict with a provision of any building or housing code or in any applicable health regulation or in any other ordinance of the Municipality existing on the effective date of this ordinance, or in any regulation issued under the authority of such code or ordinance, the provision, which establishes the higher standard for the protection of health, safety and welfare shall prevail.

The purposes of this ordinance are set forth in general terms in the act of Legislature which enables the Municipality to enact this ordinance, and in the preamble to this ordinance. The provisions of this ordinance shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the protection of health, safety and welfare of the people at large, and to be designed to encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable community standards of physical environment.

It is fundamental to the purpose of this ordinance to recognize that many existing lots or properties throughout the Municipality are less adequate than others because of their location, size, odd shape or difficult topography, or any combination of these limitations. A claim of hardship under this ordinance, therefore, shall not be allowed on behalf of any lot because the physical characteristics of the lot prevent it from being built upon exactly as in another lot abutting or close to it or in the same zoning district. The regulations herein permit most such lots to be satisfactorily built upon. There can be some alleviation for other lots through variances (minor concessions) granted by the Zoning Hearing Board when special physical conditions make literal enforcement of the regulations either unsatisfactory in the interest of the people at large or actually impossible. It is not the ordinance but the physical conditions that prevent a lot from accommodating a type or area or bulk of structure unsuited to it. For typical example, it is not intended that each lot in a Multiple-Family Dwelling District automatically become the prospective site for a multiple-family dwelling and use. If a lot in such a district after provision of the yards and other spaces prescribed for its own and adjacent property protection has a buildable area too small in area or dimensions for a multiple-family dwelling, then the lot may be used under its district regulations for another type of dwelling or building permitted in that district.

This ordinance, including the Zoning District Map, together with any succeeding amendments thereto, shall be on file and may be viewed by any interested party in the municipal office.