Chadds Ford Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE X
PBC District Planned Business Center
§ 135-68 Purpose.
The PBC Planned Business Center Districts are designed for the following purposes:
A.
To provide opportunities for well-designed business uses in the form of a Shopping Center; a planned office or Professional Office center; or a clustering of otherwise conventional, Detached, individual business uses;
B.
To create a safe, efficient, convenient, functional and attractive business center wherein Buildings, Structures and open areas are well integrated into the Lot and well related to one another;
C.
To provide for large Lot, low-lot coverage Development to project a campus-like setting where Buildings and landscaping are unified;
D.
To promote the sensitive Development of the Baltimore Pike and Wilmington-West Chester Pike corridors for uses that will be visually compatible with the character of the Brandywine Gateway area, noted for its historic, topographic, architectural, cultural and artistic heritage;
E.
To meet special requirements for the design, Development and maintenance of the district, and to ensure compatibility with adjoining districts; and
F.
To promote excellence in the design, Development and maintenance of details pertaining to layout, circulation, grading, landscaping, signage, drainage and related improvements.
§ 135-69 Uses permitted by right.
A Building may be erected, altered or used and a Lot or Premises may be used or occupied for any of the following uses and for no other:
A.
A planned Shopping Center of less than 50,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area, that integrates such uses as retail shops and stores, banks, Personal Service Shops, general service or repair shops, Restaurants without drive-through service, and offices, within a Building or group of Buildings.
B.
Professional, business, medical and administrative offices.
C.
Business, trade, public or private schools.
D.
Restaurants without drive-through service.
E.
Active recreation and active recreation facilities.
F.
Passive recreation and passive recreation facilities.
§ 135-70 Conditional uses.
The following uses may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors subject to criteria and procedures for Conditional Uses as set forth in Article XXVI:
B.
Public garage.
C.
Movie theater.
D.
A planned Shopping Center of 50,000 square feet or greater of Gross Floor Area that integrates such uses as retail shops and stores, banks, Personal Service Shops, general service or repair shops, Restaurants with or without drive-through service, and offices, within a Building or group of Buildings, subject to § 135-72L.
E.
Educational, philanthropic or religious use.
F.
Restaurant with drive-through service.
§ 135-71 Area and bulk regulations.
A.
Area and bulk regulations. The following area and bulk regulations shall apply:
PBC General Requirements | ||
|---|---|---|
Standard | Parameter | |
(1) | Lot area | 4 acres, minimum |
(2) | Street frontage | 300 feet, minimum |
(3) | Front yard | See Subsection B below |
75 feet, minimum, from any side or rear Property Line of a Lot that adjoins residential zoning district | ||
(4) | Rear/side yard | 50 feet, minimum, of any perimeter side or rear Property Line abutting a nonresidential zoning district |
(5) | Parking/driveway | Subject to Article XXIV |
(6) | Building coverage | 25%, maximum |
(7) | Impervious coverage | 65%, maximum |
(8) | Building height | |
(9) | Green area | 30%, minimum |
(10) | Landscape, buffering and setbacks for accessory uses | See § 135-72, Design Standards |
B.
Front yard setbacks.
(1)
No Building shall be located within 85 feet of any Street Line of an Arterial Highway and 65 feet of any other Street Line. However, the Board of Supervisors may allow the reduction of the above Setbacks as follows:
(a)
The sixty-five-foot Setback may be reduced to 50 feet where a Corner Lot is particularly shallow, angular or otherwise irregularly shaped, provided that such reduction does not adversely affect Sight Distance to or from the Lot.
(b)
The eighty-five-foot Setback may be reduced to 50 feet, provided that:
[1]
The Landscaped Area is increased from 25 feet to 40 feet.
[2]
No off-street parking is placed in the fifty-foot Setback.
[3]
The Height of Buildings shall not exceed the maximum height as set forth in § 135-192 between the fifty- and eighty-five-foot Building Lines.
[4]
A Berm is installed in the Landscaped Area to improve screening.
§ 135-72 Design standards.
A.
Ownership. The Lot shall be either:
(1)
Held by a single Owner; or
(2)
Held by multiple Owners, in which case the Applicants shall submit into evidence an agreement among all Owners that the Development and management of the property will be in accordance with a single Plan and subject to an association of Owners established in accordance with Pennsylvania law.
B.
Lot and building design.
(1)
The physical design of the Plan shall provide for control of vehicular and pedestrian traffic; make adequate provisions for water supply, Sewage disposal, soil erosion and sedimentation control, stormwater management, fire protection and other public services; and promote the amenities of light, air and visual enjoyment.
(2)
All Buildings shall be designed and sited to reflect a sensitivity to existing natural features; to be responsive to solar orientation, wind exposure and energy efficiency; and to relate to similar Buildings on adjoining properties in terms of size and scale.
(3)
Buildings and other Structures shall be planned, designed, constructed and maintained in response to the natural features of a Lot such as topographic features, surface and groundwater resources, and Vegetation.
C.
Buffer areas and buffer planting strips. Buffer Areas and Buffer Plantings Strips shall be in accordance with Article XXV.
D.
Landscaping. In addition to the requirements of Article XXV, the following shall apply:
(1)
All uses in the PBC District shall provide and maintain attractively landscaped grounds.
(2)
A Landscape Plan shall be prepared and approved prior to the issuance of a building permit.
(3)
All landscaping shall be completed and approved prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy, unless approved otherwise by the Township contingent upon a satisfactory escrow of funds in lieu of completion, when seasonal conditions inhibit the installation of landscaping.
(4)
Landscaped Areas shall be provided as follows:
(a)
A twenty-five-foot-wide Landscaped Area shall be provided along the entire Frontage of any use in the PBC District, except in areas where there is an access road or driveway needed for ingress and egress.
(5)
Whenever a PBC use is constructed on an individual Lot, where no Subdivision or Land Development is proposed, a Landscape Plan shall be provided, implemented and approved prior to issuance of any permits or certificates as set forth above. Such Plan shall conform to all requirements for landscaping in Article XXIV and Article XXV.
E.
Utilities. All utility lines servicing the site shall be placed underground.
F.
Outdoor storage and display.
(1)
No used or new, retail, wholesale or leased, goods or products that are offered for sale or other exchange, shall be stored, set out or displayed within 50 feet of a Street Line except for vehicle sales uses where no such items shall be within 75 feet of a Street Line.
I.
Off-street parking and motor vehicle access. In addition to the regulations of Article XXIV, the following shall apply:
(1)
Garage facilities or parking places for the free accommodation of motor vehicles of the patrons or Occupants of all establishments shall be provided in connection with any Building or other Structure hereafter erected, constructed, or altered, and any Lot hereafter prepared, opened or brought into operation, to be used in whole or in part as a place of public entertainment and amusement or as a Hotel, Restaurant, or eating place, or public market. Any such garage facilities shall be provided and maintained either on the same Lot or an adjacent Lot, located not over 100 feet from the main or other entrance to said Building or place of public entertainment or accommodation.
(2)
All garage facilities shall be of a capacity sufficient to accommodate the number of automobiles likely to be used by patrons attending such places of amusement, or the Occupants, guests and visitors of such Hotel, Restaurant or eating place, or public market, as may be determined by the Board of Supervisors from an inspection of the Plans of such proposed establishments, and from any other available evidence, prior to the issuance of any permit for the erection, Construction, Alteration, operation or use thereof, and prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
(3)
Each separate use or grouping of attached uses shall no have more than two accessways along the required Street Frontage.
L.
Special "Main Street" environment requirements when combined Gross Floor Area of all Buildings equals or exceeds 50,000 square feet.
(1)
No individual Building shall exceed 50,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area. If more than 50,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area is proposed, then separate Buildings shall be constructed. Each separate Building shall be 60 feet from any other Building.
(2)
If separate Buildings are constructed, the sixty-foot space between them shall have twelve-foot sidewalks adjoining each Building; eight-foot parking/dropoff/loading/unloading space adjoining each sidewalk; and ten-foot accessways straddling the center of the sixty-foot space.
(3)
The "Main Street" environment to be created under this Subsection L shall be landscaped with shade trees within the required twelve-foot-wide sidewalks.
(4)
At least one centrally located pedestrian plaza area, comprising an area of at least 10,000 square feet, shall be provided. The pedestrian plaza shall include shade trees, planters, benches, and plaza surfacing of brick, flagstone or like unit pavers.
(5)
The building shall have vertical articulations. The vertical articulations shall include such features as columns, archways, porticos, and a vertical bay form of gabled roof with twenty-four-foot-wide bays.
§ 135-73 Additional regulations.
A.
Staging.
(1)
The Development of a Lot carried out in either a single phase or in stages shall be executed in accordance with a Development agreement. The Owner, Developer, and Township shall enter into said agreement embodying all details regarding compliance with this chapter to ensure the binding nature thereof on the overall Lot and its Development, which agreement shall be recorded with the Final Plan.
(2)
Whenever the Development is in stages, Plans for each stage shall require Preliminary and Final Plan approval and shall comply with an overall Sketch Plan for the Lot and the Developer's agreement.
(3)
All improvements within a particular stage shall be completed contemporaneously with the completion of the Construction of the Buildings in such stage, together with all site improvements essential to the function of the improvements in the said stage.
B.
Any change in ownership of a use in a PBC District or change in type of business shall require a review by the Building Inspector and issuance of a new Certificate of Occupancy. A new Certificate of Occupancy is to be issued only if the new business complies with all ordinances and any prior conditions of approval.