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Chadds Ford Township
City Zoning Code

ARTICLE XII

POC District Planned Office Center

§ 135-81 Purpose.

The POC Planned Office Center Districts are designed for the following purposes:
A. 
To provide opportunities for well-designed business uses in the form of a planned office or Professional Office center;
B. 
To create a safe, efficient, convenient, functional and attractive business center wherein Buildings, Structures and open areas are well integrated onto 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.

§ 135-82 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. 
Professional, business, medical, and administrative offices.
B. 
Active Recreation and Active Recreation Facilities.
C. 
Passive Recreation and Passive Recreation Facilities.
D. 
Accessory Uses on the same Lot with and customarily incidental to any of the above Principal Permitted Uses, subject to Article XXVI.

§ 135-83 Conditional uses.

The following uses, as defined in Article II, may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors subject to criteria and procedures for Conditional Uses as set forth in Article XXVI:
A. 
Public garages.
B. 
Philanthropic or religious uses.
C. 
Business, vocational, public or private schools.
D. 
A planned office center when combined Gross Floor Area of all Buildings equals or exceeds 50,000 square feet, subject to § 135-85L.

§ 135-84 Area and bulk regulations.

A. 
Area and bulk regulations. The following area and bulk regulations shall apply:
POC General Requirements
Standard
Parameter
(1)
Lot area
4 acres, minimum
(2)
Street frontage
300 feet, minimum, for the entire Lot, and 150 feet minimum for any individual Lots therein
150 feet, minimum, for any Lots contained within the property
(3)
Front/rear/side yard
See requirements of § 135-71A(3) and (4) of the PBC District
(4)
Parking/driveway
Subject to Article XXVI
(5)
Building coverage
25%, maximum
(6)
Impervious coverage
65%, maximum
(7)
Building height
40 feet, maximum, subject to §§ 135-192 and 135-193
(8)
Green area
30%, minimum
(9)
Buffer
See requirements of § 135-72 of the PBC district

§ 135-85 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 plantings strips.
(1) 
Buffer Areas and Buffer Planting 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 POC 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 POC District, except in areas where there is an access Road or driveway needed for ingress and egress.
(b) 
Landscaping within parking areas shall be in accordance with Article XXIV and Article XXV.
(c) 
Landscaping between Buildings shall be in accordance with Subsection L.
(5) 
Whenever a POC 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 Lot 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 55 feet of a Street Line.
G. 
Sewage disposal in accordance with the Code of Chadds Ford Township Chapter 95, Sewers, and § 110-32, Sanitary sewers, of Chapter 110, Subdivision and Land Development.
H. 
Water supply in accordance with Township Code § 110-33.
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 or 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 or Premises 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 not have more than two accessways along the required Street Frontage.
J. 
Crosswalks and sidewalks.
(1) 
All areas of major pedestrian circulation shall have sidewalks.
(2) 
All areas where pedestrian and vehicular circulation may conflict shall be line-striped to indicate a pedestrian crosswalk.
K. 
Signs. All Signs shall comply with Article XXIII.
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 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.
(6) 
All of the requirements of this Subsection L shall be presented in drawings at the time of application for Conditional Use approval.

§ 135-86 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 Lot improvements essential to the function of the improvements in the said stage.
B. 
Any change in ownership of a use in a POC 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.