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Clifton Township Lackawanna County
City Zoning Code

PART 3

Definitions

§ 27-301. General Interpretation.

   Words used in the present tense include the future. Words in the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter. The singular includes the plural, and the plural the singular. The word “shall” is always mandatory; the word “may” is permissive.
(Ord. 1-1989, 11/18/1989, §3.1)

§ 27-302. Definitions.

   When used in this Chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless expressly stated otherwise, or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
   Abut - includes the words “directly across from.”
   Academic clinical research center - an accredited medical school within this Commonwealth that operates or partners with an acute care hospital licensed within this Commonwealth. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Accessory building - a building (such as a private garage, private swimming pool and appurtenant bathhouse, private toolhouse or children’s playhouse or a non-commercial greenhouse) which is subordinate and accessory to a principal building on the same lot and which is used for purposes customarily incidental to those of the principal building.
   Accessory structure - a structure serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building and located on the same lot(s) as the principal building.
   Accessory use - a use subordinate to the principal use of land or a building on a lot and customarily incidental thereto.
   Adjusted tract area - the gross tract area minus the constrained land. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Adult business - any activity, business or use as defined and regulated by the Clifton Township Adult Business Regulation Ordinance, as amended [Chapter 13, Part 1A]. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Advertising sign - a sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, or entertainment conducted, sold, or offered elsewhere than upon the premises where the sign is located, or to which it is affixed.
   Agriculture products processing - an industry that involves the processing of raw agricultural products; and transforming those products into a more refined, prepared or marketable state. Includes, but is not limited to, such uses as sawmills, tanneries, dairies and food canning and freezing operations. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Airport - a tract of land, with or without buildings, where airplanes, jets, and/or helicopters land and take off. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Alley - a public or private way affording only secondary means of access to abutting property.
   Alterations - as applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the existing facilities, or a enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another.
   Alterations, structural - any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
   Amusement arcade - a building or part of a building in which five or more pinball machines, video games, or other similar player-operated amusement devices are maintained. The use of less than five such devices shall be permitted as an accessory use to any lawful principal commercial use. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Amusement park - a commercially operated park or facility with various devices for entertainment including, but not limited to, rides, games, electronic games and similar devices, food stands and other associated facilities. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Animal husbandry - the commercial breeding and commercial use of household pets and the keeping for commercial breeding, raising, or use of larger animals such as cattle, horses, goats, pigs, sheep, fowl, etc. The keeping of a reasonable number of customary household pets is not considered within the definition of animal husbandry. Commercial exhibition of animals to the public or commercial use of animals by the public shall not be included within the definition of animal husbandry, but shall be considered an entertainment or recreational land use.
   Antenna, household - a device, partially or wholly exterior to a residential building, that is used for receiving and/or transmitting electronic signals or short wave or citizens band radio frequencies for household members. This does not include “commercial or public utility communications antenna and towers” which are considered a distinct and separate use and facility. [Ord. 1-1996]
   Array - any configuration of antenna elements or portions thereof on a tower used to receive, transmit or enhance a radio frequency signal. [Ord. 3-2004]
   Auditorium - a building containing a stage and seating for meetings and performances.
   Basement - a story in a building which has a structural ceiling 4 feet or more above the average level of finished grade abutting the exterior walls or which has finished grade of any one exterior wall at or below the floor level. A basement shall be counted as one story in determining the permissible number of stories.
   Bed and breakfast establishments -
   (1)   Bed and Breakfast Home. An owner-occupied, single-family dwelling, in which no more than three rooms are rented for lodging and serving of breakfast (but no other meals), designed primarily for casual and transient roomers, and where no restaurant is maintained and no cooking facilities are provided in any room.
   (2)   Bed and Breakfast Inn (Tourist Inn). A building or structure containing one or more rooms for the rooming or boarding of casual and transient guests for compensation. No cooking facilities are provided in any rental room. Meals may or may not be provided and full restaurant may be included.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Betting use - a use where lawful gambling activities are conducted, including, but not limited to, off-track pari-mutuel betting. This term shall not include betting under the State Lottery programs or betting under the small games of chance provisions of State law, which shall instead be regulated under the regulations applicable to the principal use of the property. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Block - property bounded on one side by a street, and on the other three sides by a street, railroad right-of-way, public park, waterway, Township line, or any combination thereof.
   Block frontage - that part of a block which fronts on a single street.
   Board - the Zoning Hearing Board of Clifton Township.
   Board of Supervisors - the Board of Supervisors of Clifton Township.
   Boarding house - a dwelling in which the owner or tenant rents at least one but not more than six rooms for residential purposes and furnishes meals for compensation.
   Buffer strip - a strip of land at least 20 feet in width which may be a part of the minimum setback distance and which is free of any principal or accessory building driveway, parking, outdoor storage or any other use than open space.
   Building - any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, used for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals, or property. “Building” is interpreted as including “or part thereof.”
   Building coverage - the ratio obtained by dividing the ground floor area of all principal and accessory buildings on a lot (including covered porches, carports and breezeways, but excluding open patios) by the total area of the lot upon which the buildings are located.
   Building height - the vertical distance of a building measured from the lowest point of finished grade of ground or paving along the building perimeter to the highest point of the building.
   Building line or building setback line - a line, established by this Chapter, within the lot and defining the minimum distance between any structure or portion thereof to be erected or altered, and an adjacent right-of-way or street line, or property line.
   Business services - services benefitting or assisting businesses, including such activities as advertising services, credit reporting and collection, duplicating, mailing and stenographic services, employment services and storage, research and development and other similar services. [Ord. 2-2024]
   Business sign - a sign which directs attention to a business, profession or industry conducted on the premises or to products sold, manufactured or assembled upon the same premises upon which it is displayed or to which it is affixed. Signs offering premises for sale, rent or development, or advertising the services of professionals or advertising building trades during construction or alteration are business signs.
   Camp - a business or organization offering dormitories, cottages, cabins, or similar accommodations, eating facilities, sanitary facilities, and recreational or education facilities to the public at large or any segment of the public on other than a transient basis, but does not include “trailer camp.”
   Campground - any lot, parcel, or tract of land upon which space is rented for two or more tents, recreation vehicles, camping trailers, travel trailers, pick-up coaches, motor homes, or any combination thereof for temporary occupancy. Any such land development intended for permanent occupancy or involving the sale of lots, parking space for location of tents, recreation vehicles, travel trailers, pick-up coaches, or other similar accommodations shall be considered as a residential subdivision and shall meet all standards and requirements in this Chapter and the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance [Chapter 22].
   Caregiver - the individual designated by a patient to deliver medical marijuana. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Carport - a building open on two or more sides and used in conjunction with a dwelling for the storage of private motor vehicles.
   Cellar - a story partly underground but having at least one-half of its height (measured from finished floor to finished ceiling) below the average height of the finished grade where such grade abuts the exterior walls of the building and the floor level of which is below finished grade at all points on the periphery of the building. A cellar shall not be counted as one story in determining the permissible number of stories.
   Certified medical use - the acquisition, possession, use or transportation of medical marijuana by a patient, or the acquisition, possession, delivery, transportation or administration of medical marijuana by a caregiver, for use as part of the treatment of the patient’s serious medical condition, as authorized by certification by the Commonwealth. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Children day care (nursery) center - an establishment operated for profit or not for profit in which child day care is provided at any one time to more than six children who are not relatives of the care giver. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Church or place of religious worship - an institution or structure that people attend to participate in or hold religious services, meetings and other religious related activities. The term “church” shall include any building in which the religious services of any denomination or faith are held. [Ord. 1- 1996]
   Clinical registrant - an entity that:
   (1)   Holds a permit both as a grower/processor and a dispensary; and
   (2)   Has a contractual relationship with an academic clinical research center under which the academic clinical research center or its affiliate provides advice to the entity, regarding, among other areas, patient health and safety, medical applications and dispensing and management of controlled substances. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Commercial boarding home - a type of residential living facility providing only food and shelter, or other services normally provided by a hotel, for payment, to three or more adults who are unrelated to the owner and require no services beyond food, shelter and other services usually found in hotel or apartment rental. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Commercial communication device - any structure or equipment which is intended for commercial or governmental use in transmitting or receiving television, radio, telephone or other electronic communications, including internal or agency communications, but excluding the following which are not appropriate subjects of this Chapter:
   (1)   Industrial, scientific and medical equipment as regulated by the Federal Communications Commission in 47 CFR 18.
   (2)   Military and government radar antennas and associated communication towers used for navigational purposes as regulated by 47 CFR 87.
   (3)   Amateur (ham) and citizen band transmitting and receiving antennas and associated communication towers as regulated by 47 CFR 97 and 47 CFR 95.
   (4)   Radio transceivers normally hand-held or installed in a vehicle, such as an automobile, truck, trailer or watercraft.
   (5)   A radio frequency machine which is designated and marketed as a consumer product, such as auditory assistance devices, biomedical telemetry devices, carrier current systems, Class A or B digital devices, field disturbance sensors, perimeter protection systems, power line carrier systems, microwave ovens or radio controlled devices regulated by 47 CFR 15.
   (6)   Privately owned antennas for receiving commercial television or radio serving a dwelling.
[Ord. 3-2004]
   Commercial communication device support structure - any pole, telescoping mast, tower, tripod, or any other structure which supports a commercial communication device. [Ord. 3-2004]
   Commercial communication device support structure height - the vertical distance measured from the base of the support structure at grade to the highest point of the structure. If the support structure is on a sloped grade, then the average between the highest and lowest grades shall be used in calculating the height. [Ord. 3-2004]
   Commission - the Planning Commission of Clifton Township.
   Common facilities - all the real property and improvements, owned in common by residents within the development, which is served by the facilities. Common facilities include, without limitation, landscaped areas, buffers, Conservation Open Space not included within title lines of any privately owned lot, and street rights-of-way not dedicated to the Township. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Common green - an area of Conservation Open Space, surrounded by streets on at least 2 and often 3 or 4 sides, around which dwellings are organized. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Common open space - a parcel or parcels of land or a combination of land and water within a development site which is designed and intended for the use of residents of a development. Common open space does not includes streets, off-street parking areas, private yard space and areas set aside for public facilities. Common open space shall be substantially free of structures but may contain such improvements as are in the development plan as finally approved by the Board of Supervisors and as are appropriate for recreational use by the residents.
   Community association - a non-profit organization comprised of homeowners or property owners, the function of which is to maintain and administer property owned in common by members of the association or by the association, to protect and enhance the value of the property owned individually by each of the members. Homeowners Associations and Condominium Associations are types of community associations. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Comprehensive Plan - the document entitled Clifton Township Comprehensive Plan, or any part thereof, prepared by the Clifton Township Planning Commission and adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
   Conditional use - certain specified uses which are allowed are denied by the Board of Supervisors after recommendation by the Planning Commission pursuant to express standards and criteria set forth in this Chapter.
   Condominium - real estate, portions of which are designated for separate ownership and the remainder of which is designated for common ownership solely by the owners of those separate portions, in accord with the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act 1980-82, as amended. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Conservancy lot - a large, privately owned and maintained lot, containing an existing dwelling, farm complex, or historic structure, comprising part of the required Conservation Open Space in a conservation subdivision. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Conservation areas, primary (PCA) - lands containing primary resources that are conserved as a part of Conservation Open Space. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Conservation areas, secondary (SCA) - lands containing secondary resources that are conserved as a part of Conservation Open Space. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Conservation open space - see “open space, conservation”. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Constrained land - selected resources listed in Chapter 27 (Zoning), multiplied by a protection factor and totaled. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Construction - includes the placing of construction materials in permanent position and fastening in a permanent position; and the demolition of a pre-existing, provided that further construction be diligently carried on.
   Conversion - to change or adapt land or structures to a different use, occupancy or purpose.
   Crop farming - the raising and keeping of field, truck and tree crops, but does not include animal husbandry.
   Corner lot - a lot situated at and abutting the intersection of two streets having an interior angle of intersection not greater than 135 degrees.
   County - the County of Lackawanna, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
   County Planning Commission - the Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission.
   Crematorium - a furnace or establishment for the incineration of corpses. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Crop production - an agricultural use involving the use of land for the raising of cultivated plants or agricultural produce such as grain, vegetables, silage, or fruit. The definition excludes commercial greenhouses and commercial nurseries as defined by this Chapter. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Cultural center - a building open to the public which contains exhibits of a cultural interest, such as a museum, art gallery, etc.
   Curative amendment - a proposed zoning amendment made to the Board of Supervisors by any landowner who desires to challenge on substantive grounds the validity of an ordinance which prohibits or restricts the use or development of land in which he has an interest.
      Data center - a facility used primarily for or intended to be used primarily for the housing, operation and/or co-location of computer and communications equipment and for handling, storing and backing up the data necessary for the operation of a business or organizational entity. Data center may also include “data center equipment (“DCE”)” and/or “data center accessory uses” when located on the same parcel or assemblage of adjacent parcels developed as a unified development.
      Data center accessory uses - generally include utilities, utility lines, electrical substations, pump stations, water towers, mechanical equipment and environmental controls (air conditioning or cooling towers, fire suppression, etc.), redundant/backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, and security operations when located on the same parcel or assemblage of adjacent parcels developed as a unified development for a data center.
      Data center equipment (“DCE”) - includes any data center accessory uses which in an un-muffled state generate noise in excess of the permitted maximum dB(A) in § 27-602.C(38)b)8) at the point of generation. DCE shall be accessory to the data center and be located on the same parcel or assemblage of adjacent parcels developed as a unified development for a data center.
   Day care, adult - a use providing supervised care and assistance primarily to persons to persons who are over age 60 and not in good physical health or suffering from Alzheimer disease or are developmentally handicapped and/or are physically handicapped and who need such daily assistance because of such condition. This use shall not include persons who need oversight because of behavior that is criminal or violent. This use may involve occasional overnight stays, but shall not primarily be a residential use. The use shall involve typical stays of less than a total of 60 hours per week per person. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Day care, child - a use involving the supervised care of children under age 16 outside of the children’s own home primarily for periods of less than 18 hours during the average day. This use may also include educational programs that are supplementary to State required education, including a “nursery school.” The following three types of day care are permitted without regulation by this Chapter: 1) care of children by their own relatives,
2) care of children within a place of worship during regularly scheduled weekly religious services and 3) care of one to three children within any dwelling unit, in addition to children who are relatives of the care giver. (See also the definition of “adult day care center.”)
   (1)   (Child) Day Care, as a Home Occupation. A type of “day care” use that provides care for six or fewer children at one time who are not relatives of the caregiver.
   (2)   (Child) Day Care Center, as a Principal Use. A type of “day care” use that provides care for seven or more at any one time who are not relatives of the primary operator.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Detention facility - a facility used to house and/or rehabilitate adults or juveniles detained, sentenced or adjudicated delinquent by the criminal justice system including, but not limited to, jails, prisons, penitentiaries, reformatories, half-way houses, transitional living facilities, juvenile detention facilities, and similar facilities. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Detached dwelling - a dwelling with yards surrounding all sides.
   Developer - any landowner, agent of such landowner or tenant with permission from a landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of land or land development.
   Development plan - a proposal for the development of a planned residential development, prepared in accordance with this Chapter, including a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of use or density of development, streets, ways, and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities. The phrase “provisions of the development plan,” when used in this Chapter, shall mean both the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.
   Dispensary - a person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, which holds a permit issued by the Department of Health (DOH) of the Commonwealth to dispense medical marijuana. [Ord. 2-2025]
   District or zoning district - a portion of the territory of the Township within which certain uniform regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of this Chapter.
   Drive-in theater - an area of land which may include accessory uses such as the sale of snacks and which is devoted to the showing of motion pictures which are viewed by persons in vehicles. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Dwelling (residence, residential structure) - any building, vehicle, or portions thereof, designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one or more persons. The term “dwelling” shall not be deemed to include automobile court, rooming house, tourist home, hotel, motel, hospital, nursing home, dormitory, fraternity, sorority house, or other group residence.
   (1)   Dwelling, single-family - a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family, except for a mobile home.
   (2)   Dwelling, two-family - a detached or semi-detached building where not more than two individual family dwelling units are entirely separated by vertical walls or horizontal floors, unpierced except for access to the outside or to a common cellar.
   27-15      (3)   Dwelling, multi-family - a building designed for occupancy of families living independently of each other, and containing three or more dwelling units per building. Low-rise multi-family dwelling structures shall include townhouses, garden apartment, and other housing types not exceeding three stories in height.
   (4)   Townhouse row dwelling - three or more dwelling units accommodating three or more families which are attached side by side through the use of common party walls and which shall have side yards adjacent to each end unit. Each dwelling unit is generally two stories in height, but may conceivably be either one or two and one half stories, but may conceivably be built to a height of only two stories. Each dwelling unit is accessible by a common stairwell.
   (5)   Garden apartment - three or more dwelling units accommodating three or more families which are located one over the other and which, when more than three units are utilized, are attached side-by-side through the use of common party walls, and which shall have side yards adjacent to each first story end unit. Single-family dwelling units are generally built to a height of two and one-half stories, but may conceivably be built to a height of only two stories. Each dwelling unit is accessible by a common stairwell.
   Dwelling unit (housing unit) - one or more rooms intended to be occupied by one family as separate living quarters containing sanitary facilities, kitchen facilities, and having direct access from the outside or through a common hall.
   Essential services - essential services are those services and facilities, including the provision of gas, electrical, water, sewer, public safety, communications (including radio, television and telephone) and other similar services and facilities, which are provided primarily to the Clifton Township area. Commercial and public utility communications towers which provide services to the traveling public or to a broader regional or larger area are considered a separate and distinct use and facility within this Chapter. Household antennas and towers, antennas and masts which are accessory to and part of a local Township public utility or public service are considered to be within the definition of essential services. [Ord. 1-1996]
   (1)   “Limited facilities” are equipment which does not require enclosure within a building or which can be constructed within a public right-of-way (including poles, towers, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals and hydrants).
   (2)   “Major facilities” are equipment which requires enclosure within a building or construction on its own site (including has storage areas, substations, telephone exchanges, and telephone booths).
   Family - one or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption living together in a single dwelling or single dwelling unit and maintaining a common household, or a group of not more than four persons who are not related by blood or marriage, living together in one dwelling unit. No more than four unrelated persons shall occupy a single family dwelling or housing unit as a family or part of a family, except as provided for group homes by this Chapter. Foster children shall be considered part of the family. [Ord. 2-2003]
 
   Fast food drive-through restaurant - an establishment whose principal business is the sale of pre- prepared or rapidly prepared food directly to the customer in a ready-to-consume state for consumption either within the restaurant building or off the premises and includes facilities that enable customers to obtain food while remaining in their vehicles.
   Fence - a structure which permanently or temporarily prohibits or inhibits unrestricted travel between properties or portions of properties or between street or public right-of-way and a property.
   Flea market - any sales activity conducted under any pavilion or other building or structure which is not fully enclosed where stalls or sales areas may be set aside and rented or otherwise provided which are intended for use by various unrelated individuals at which articles that are either homemade, homegrown, handcrafted, old, obsolete, or antique are sold, and which may include the selling of goods at retail by businesses or individuals who are generally engaged in retail trade. (Note: Any sales or service activity which is conducted in the open air shall be considered a temporary commercial use as governed by §8 .5000 of this Chapter. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Floodplain - a relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, or water course which is subject to partial or complete inundation once in every 100 years.
   Floodway - the designated area of a floodplain required to carry the discharge waters of a flood of 100-year magnitude.
   Floor area or gross floor area - the total area of all floors as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls, or from the centerline of party walls separating two buildings, but excluding crawl spaces, garages, carports, attics without floors, open porches, balconies, and terraces.
   Forestry - the management of forests and timberlands when practiced in accord with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial purposes, which does not involve any of the following: a land development, the operation of a sawmill or the operation of any other wood manufacturing business. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Form of medical marijuana - the characteristics of the medical marijuana recommended or limited for a particular patient, including the method of consumption and any particular dosage, strain, variety and quantity or percentage of medical marijuana or particular active ingredient. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Fuel storage and wholesale - any facility where any of the following apply: (1) gasoline is stored in bulk for distribution by delivery truck; (2) fuel, including but not limited to kerosene, home heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, or propane, is stored in large volume tanks for distribution. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Funeral home - a building or part thereof used for human funeral services. Such building may contain space and facilities for: (1) embalming and the performance of other services used in preparation of the dead for burial; (2) the performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures; (3) the storage of caskets, funeral urns, and other related funeral supplies; and (4) the storage of funeral vehicles, but shall not include facilities for cremation. Where a funeral parlor is permitted, a funeral chapel shall also be permitted. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Garage, public - a structure or portion thereof, other than a private garage, used for the storage, sale, hire, care, repair or refinishing of automobiles.
   Government services and facilities - municipal, County, State, or Federal government buildings or facilities designed and intended to be occupied by the government or designed and intended for public use sponsored by such governments.
   Grade - the elevation of finished ground or paving which adjoins a building.
   Green, common - an area of Conservation Open Space, surrounded by streets on at least 2 and often 3 or 4 sides, around which dwellings are organized. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Gross tract area - the total amount of land contained within the limits of the legally described property lines bounding the tract. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Group home - the use of any lawful dwelling unit which meets all of the following criteria:
   (1)   Involves the care of the maximum number of persons permitted by the “group home” standards of §27-602.3.A, and meets all other standards of such Section.
   (2)   Involves persons functioning as a common household.
   (3)   Involves providing non-routine support services and oversight to persons who need such assistance to avoid being placed within an institution, because of physical disability, old age, developmental disability or other “handicap” as defined by applicable Federal law.
    NOTE: As of 1992, the Federal Fair Housing Act defined “handicap” as follows: 1) a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities, 2) a record of having such an impairment, or 3) being regarded as having such an impairment, but such term does not include current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance as defined in §802 of Title 21.”
   (4)   Does not involve the housing or treatment of persons involved with drug or alcohol abuse or addiction.
   (5)   Does not involve the housing or treatment of persons who could reasonably be considered a threat to the physical safety of others.
   (6)   Does not involve housing or rehabilitation of individuals detained, sentenced by, or under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system.
   A use that would otherwise meet the definition of “group home” but which includes more than the permitted number of residents shall be considered “group quarters” which is a distinct use.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Group quarters - all buildings used primarily for the housing of persons non-related by blood or marriage including, but not limited to, dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and all other structures occupied by groups of persons sharing a dwelling. Rooming houses, boarding houses, hotels, motels, and resorts, group homes, jails, prisons and detention facilities, drug and alcohol treatment facilities, health facilities, transitional living facilities, and any use specifically listed in a zoning district in Part 5 shall not be considered “group quarters .” [Ord. 2-2003]
   Governing Body - the Board of Supervisors of Clifton Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
   Grower/processor - a person, including a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, trust or other entity, or any combination thereof, which holds a permit from the DOH to grow and process medical marijuana. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Hedgerow - a linear plant community dominated by trees and/or shrubs. Hedgerows often occur along roads, fence lines, property lines, or between fields, and may occur naturally or be specially planted (e.g., as a windbreak). [Ord. 2-2011]
   Historic structure - any structure that is:
   (1)   Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
   (2)   Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
   (3)   Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or
   (4)   Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
   (a)   By an approved State program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or
   (b)   Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without an approved program. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Home occupations - any use conducted entirely within a dwelling which is carried on only by the inhabitants of such dwelling or one additional person and which is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change its character.
   Homeowners association - a non-profit organization comprised of homeowners or property owners, planned and operated under negotiated and approved rules and regulations, for the purpose of administering the needs of residents through the maintenance of community owned property. This term is synonymous with property owners association. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Hospital - an institution providing primary health services and medical or surgical care to persons, primarily inpatients, suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity and other abnormal physical or mental conditions, and including, as an integral part of the institution, related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient facilities or training facilities, but excluding treatment centers/clinics. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Hotel - a building or group of buildings with an outside entrance in common, which contains six or more rooms, is designed, arranged and used for overnight lodging of travelers or for the temporary occupancy of transients, and the business conduct of which is licensed under applicable laws.
   Hub height - the distance measured from the surface of the tower foundation to the height of the wind turbine hub to which the blade is attached. [Ord. 2-2007]
   Identification card - a document issued by the DOH that permits access to medical marijuana. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Impervious surface - a surface that limits the percolation of water into the ground such as rooftops, pavement, sidewalks, driveways, gravel drives, roads and parking, and compacted fill, earth or turf. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Interior lot - a lot other than a corner lot whose sides do not abut a street.
   Invasive plant species - predominantly non-native tree, shrub, vine, or herbaceous species that grow or reproduce aggressively, usually because they have few or no natural predators, and which can so dominate that they out-compete many native plant species. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Junkyard -
   (1)   A lot, land or structure, or part thereof, upon or within which more than 5 tons or 5 cubic yards, whichever is lesser, of any combination of: machinery or equipment which is unused or unusable for its manufactured intended purpose: used buildings and construction materials; damaged or worn household and office furniture and furnishings; rags or other used, soiled or damaged textile fabrics; scrap paper products; bottles and other used glass products; plastics and plastic products; all types of scrap metal; and all other items not usable or not in good repair or not intended to be repaired for reuse or collected, accumulated, stored, disassembled, treated or processed.
   (2)   The accumulation on any one parcel of land of not more than one motor vehicle or portion thereof including, but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, vans, buses, truck trailers, recreation vehicles, and other vehicles intended for highway use which do not bear a current Pennsylvania inspection sticker and are not fit for immediate highway use.
   Kitchen facilities - all of the following: sink with piped water, a permanent cookstove and a refrigerator.
   Kennel - any establishment wherein dogs, cats and other animals are kept for the purpose of breeding, hunting, training, renting, research, buying, boarding, sale, show or any other similar purpose and is so constructed that such animals cannot stray therefrom.
   Land development - any of the following activities:
   (1)   The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
   (a)   A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or tenure.
   (b)   The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
   (2)   A subdivision of land.
   Land disturbance - any activity which exposes soil, alters topography and/or alters woody vegetation, except for removal of a safety hazard, diseased trees, or invasive vegetation. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Landowner - the owner of a legal or equitable interest in land, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option or contract is subject to any condition) or a lessee if he is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner.
   Live entertainment establishment - an establishment, whether a restaurant, tavern, nightclub, club, hotel, lounge, or other building where live entertainment, in the form of music, dancing, sporting events or exhibitions which involve live performance, is provided on a commercial basis. [Ord. 1-1992]
   Long-term care nursing facility - a facility licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health that provides skilled or intermediate nursing care or both levels of care to two or more patients, who are unrelated to the nursing home administrator, for a period exceeding 24 hours. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Lot - land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, or by a dwelling group and its accessory building, together with such open spaces as are required under the provisions of this Chapter, having not less than the minimum area and width required by this Chapter for a lot in the district which such land is situated, and having its principal frontage on a street or on such other means of access as may be determined in accordance with the provisions of law to be adequate as a condition of the issuance of a zoning permit for a building on such land.
   (1)   Lot area - the area contained within the lot lines, excluding space within all road rights- of-way and excluding the space of all permanent rights-of-way or permanent easements for drainage facilities or utilities not located within the building setback areas.
   (2)   Lot depth - the mean average horizontal distance between the front and the rear lot lines.
   (3)   Lot lines - the property lines bounding the lot.
   (a)   Lot line, front - the line separating the lot from an existing or proposed street right- of-way. In case of a corner lot, both street frontages are considered to be front lot lines and the remaining lines are side lot lines.
   (b)   Lot line, rear - the lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.
   (c)   Lot line, side - any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.
   (d)   Lot line, street or alley - a lot line separating the lot from a street or alley.
   (4)   Lot width - the horizontal distance between side lot lines measured at the minimum prescribed front yard setback line as set forth in this Chapter.
   Lot coverage - the ratio obtained by dividing the ground floor of all principal and accessory buildings plus the area of streets and parking areas plus other impervious paved or covered areas, but excluding walkways, uncovered patios, porches and decks, playgrounds and play apparatus areas on a parcel or lot by the area of the parcel or lot upon which located. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Low-rise apartment - a multi-family dwelling in a building not exceeding three stories or 35 feet in height, where individual dwelling units share a common outside access. Each unit shares with other units a common yard area, which is the sum of the required lot area of all of the dwelling units within the building.
   Manufacturing and industry - establishments engaged in the basic mechanical, chemical or other transformation of extracted or raw materials or substances into new products or materials including, but not limited to, the assembly of component parts, the manufacturing or transformation of products for use by other manufactures, the blending of materials such as lubricating oils, plastics, resins or liquors, other basic industrial processes, and any facility involving processes resulting in the storage of hazardous materials or the generation of hazardous waste products, or other environmentally regulated processes. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Manufacturing, light - facilities involving generally unobtrusive processes not resulting in the storage of hazardous materials or the generation of hazardous waste products, or other environmentally regulated processes. Uses producing products predominately from previously prepared materials, finished products and parts including, but not limited to, research, engineering or testing laboratories, assembly from components, fabrication of products, textile and clothing manufacturing, furniture or other wood products production and the like, but excluding basic industrial processing. [Ord. 2-2003; as amended by Ord. 2-2024]
   Massage facility, therapeutic - a personal service establishment which is not an adult business and where the person conducting the massage is licensed by the State as a health care professional or is a therapeutic massage therapist, or is certified by a recognized therapeutic massage organization that requires substantial professional training. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Mechanical equipment - any device associated with a solar energy system, such as an outdoor electrical unit control box, that transfers the energy from the solar energy system to the intended on-site structure. [Ord. 1-2023]
   Medical clinic - an establishment where patients are admitted for examination and treatment by one or more physicians, dentists, psychologists or social workers and where patients are not lodged overnight. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Medical marijuana - marijuana for certified medical use as legally permitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pursuant to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, 35 P.S. §§10231.101, et seq., as amended. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Medical marijuana delivery vehicle office - any facility used to house delivery vehicles for supplying marijuana plants or seeds to 1 or more marijuana grower/processors and/or dispensaries. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Medical marijuana organization or facility - a dispensary or a grower/processor of marijuana for medical purposes. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Membership club and camp - an association of persons which owns, leases, or occupies an establishment operated solely for a recreational, social, fraternal, religious, political or athletic purpose, and whose activities are confined to the members and guests and are not extended to the general public (including the establishment so operated). But it does not include such clubs and camps whose chief activity is a service carried on primarily for business gain.
   Mineral - any aggregate or mass of mineral matter, whether or not coherent. The term includes, but is not limited to, limestone and dolomite, sand and gravel, rock and stone, earth, fill, slag, iron ore, zinc ore, vermiculite and clay, anthracite and bituminous coal, coal refuse, peat and crude oil and natural gas. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Mineral extraction - the mining, removal or recovery by any means whatsoever (including, but not limited to, excavations and quarries, and subsurface mining) of minerals as defined in this Chapter and including the incidental screening, washing, crushing and grading of materials originating on the site. Mineral extraction shall not include:
   (1)   The salvage removal of already quarried stone from existing quarries where no additional blasting, ripping or other mechanical operations are required.
   (2)   The extraction of minerals by a landowner for the landowner’s noncommercial use from land owned or leased by the landowner.
   (3)   The extraction of sand, gravel, rock, stone, earth or fill from borrow pits for public road construction undertaken by a public entity or the extraction of minerals associated with a public construction contract.
   (4)   The handling, processing or storage of slag on the premises of a manufacturer as a part of the manufacturing process.
   (5)   The extraction, handling, processing or storing of minerals from a building construction excavation on the site of the construction if the minerals removed are incidental to the building construction excavation, regardless of the commercial value of the minerals. The minerals removed are incidental if the excavator demonstrates that:
   (a)   Extraction, handling, processing or storing are conducted concurrently with construction.
   (b)   The area mined is limited to the area necessary to construction.
   (c)   The construction is reasonably related to the use proposed for the site.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Mineral processing - the refinement of minerals to specifications for sale including, but not limited to, the crushing, screening, washing or grading of minerals; and the use of minerals in any manufacturing process such as, but not limited to, concrete or cement batching plants, asphalt plants and manufacture of concrete and clay products. See “Manufacturing.” [Ord. 2-2003]
   Mobile home - a transportable, single family dwelling designed so that is can be transported on a highway, be used for permanent occupancy, office or place of assembly contained in one unit, or in two units designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor in or and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that is may be used without a permanent foundation. Except for a “recreation vehicle” or “travel trailer,” as defined herein, and excluding such mobile home dwellings or prefabricated homes or sections thereof which, when assembled, are combined into a single unit of 20 feet or more in width.
   Mobile home lot - a parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single mobile home, which is leased by the park owner to the occupants of the mobile home erected on the lot.
   Mobile home park - a parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned and improved for the placement of two or more mobile homes for non-transient use.
   Modular home - a single family dwelling 20 feet or more in width designed for transportation after fabrication in one or more units, and arriving at a site where it is assembled on a permanent foundation and connected to utilities.
   Motel - a building or group of buildings containing individual rooms or accommodations, each of which is provided with a separate exterior entrance, a parking space, and is offered principally for temporary occupancy by motor vehicle travelers (including auto courts, motor courts, motor inns, motor lodges or roadside hotels).
   Motor freight terminal - a building or group of buildings on the same lot used for the purpose of loading or unloading materials or goods from trucks or trailers, for the primary purpose of transferring materials and goods, either for distribution or changing from one transportation carrier to another. This use may also involve parking, storage, and incidental repairs and maintenance of primarily tractor-trailers. A motor freight terminal may include as accessory uses if they are closely related to the principal use: repair, washing, refueling, and maintenance facilities for trucks using the terminal, administrative uses for the terminal. [Ord. 2-2024]
   Municipality - the municipal corporation known as the Township of Clifton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
   No-impact home-based business - a business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy the following requirements as set forth in §107 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code:
   (1)   The business shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
   (2)   The business shall employ no other employees other than family members residing in the dwelling.
   (3)   There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.
   (4)   There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
   (5)   The business may not use any equipment or process, which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical or electronic interference, including interference with radio or television reception, which is detectable in the neighborhood.
   (6)   The business shall not generate any solid waste or sewage discharge, in volume or type, which is not normally associated with residential use in the neighborhood.
   (7)   The business shall be conducted only within the dwelling and may not occupy more than 25 percent of the habitable floor area.
   (8)   The business shall not involve any illegal activity. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Nonconforming lot - a lot which does not conform with the minimum width, depth, or area of dimensions specified for the district where such lot is situated but was lawfully in existence at the time of enactment of this Chapter or is legally established through the granting of a variance by the Board.
   Nonconforming structure - a structure which lawfully exists on the effective date of this Chapter that could not be built under this Chapter by reason of restrictions on area, lot coverage, height, yards, or other characteristics of the structure or its location on the lot. Nonconforming structures include nonconforming signs.
   Nonconforming use - a use of land or building which does not comply with the applicable use provisions of this Chapter, but which was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment of this Chapter.
   Official Zoning Map - the map enacted by the Board of Supervisors which designates the location and boundaries of zoning districts.
   Open space, common - see “common open space”. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Open Space, Conservation - a parcel or parcels of land and/or water, within a conservation subdivision, set aside for the protection of natural and cultural resources. It
consists of Primary and Secondary Conservation Areas and is permanently restricted against further development. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Open space, public - open space that is dedicated or reserved for the use of the general public. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Ordinance - the Clifton Township Zoning Ordinance [this Chapter], or any provision or amendment thereof, enacted by the Board of Supervisors, including the Official Zoning Map.
   Outdoor exhibitions, assembly for sports, entertainment and amusements - includes stadiums, outdoor theaters and concerts, arenas and field houses, miniature golf amusement parks, zoos and similar nonparticipating sports, and amusement uses. [Ord. 2-2010]
   Outdoor sports - includes golf, tennis, horse riding, siding, and similar sports participation activities. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Parking facilities - paved outdoor areas or specially designed buildings or garages used for the storage of vehicles.
   Patio - an area or courtyard which is not covered by a roof or permanent awning, and is designed for outdoor living purposes as an accessory use to a structure.
   Performance guarantee - security which may be accepted by the Township in lieu of a requirement that certain improvements be made by a developer before a plat is approved (including performance bonds, escrow agreements, and other similar collateral or surety agreements).
   Permit - a document issued by Clifton Township authorizing an applicant to undertake certain activities.
   (1)   Building permit - a permit indicating that a proposed construction, alteration, or reconstruction of a structure is in accordance with the construction provisions of any building permit ordinance or building code which may be adopted by the Township and authorizing an applicant to commence with said construction, alteration or reconstruction. Such a permit shall not be confused with a zoning permit or with an occupancy permit as required under the terms of this Chapter.
   (2)   Zoning permit - a permit issued indicating that a proposed use, building or structure is in accordance with to provisions of this Chapter and authorizing an applicant to proceed with said use, building or structure.
   (3)   Occupancy permit - a permit issued upon completion of the construction, alteration or reconstruction of a structure, or change in use of structure or parcel of land indicating that the premises comply with the provisions of this Chapter and may be used for the purposes set forth in the occupancy permit.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Permitted use - any use which does not require special action by the Zoning Hearing Board or by the Board of Supervisors before a zoning permit is granted by the Zoning Officer.
   Person - an individual, partnership, organization, association, or corporation. When used in a penalty provision, “person” shall include the members of such partnership and the officers of such organization, association or corporation.
   Personal care home - a premises in which food, shelter and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours for four or more adults who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of a licensed long-term care facility, but who do require assistance or supervision in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial management, evacuation of a residence in the event of an emergency or medication prescribed for self- administration. Homes for four or more handicapped persons shall be defined as personal care homes within this Chapter. “Handicapped” shall not include current use or addiction to a controlled substance. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Personal services - establishments engaged in providing services involving the care or needs of a person or his or her apparel such as cleaning and garment services, beauty and barber shops, shoe repair, dry cleaning and laundries, photographic studios, etc., and which is not otherwise listed as a use in the use regulations. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Plat - the map or plan of a subdivision or land development whether preliminary or final.
   Porch - a roofed or unroofed structure projecting from the front, side, or rear wall of a building.
   Primary conservation area - see “conservation area, primary”. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Professional office - an office maintained for the conduct of a recognized profession (including but not limited to a physician, dentist, optometrist, architect, landscape architect, community planner, engineer, accountant, or lawyer).
   Public notice - notice given not more than 30 days and not less than 7 days in advance of any public hearing required by this Chapter. Such notice shall be published once each week for 2 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. [Ord. 3-2008]
   Public utility - a private or municipal corporation organized and existing for the distribution and sale of water, electricity, communication services, gas, or the collection or disposal of sanitary waste or sewage in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or other appropriate governing body. [Ord. 1-1996]
   Public utility building - a building or part of a building used for public utility purposes, provided that in agricultural or residential districts such use shall not include the transaction of business with the public, storage of materials, trucks or repair facilities or housing of repair crews. [Ord. 1-1996]
   Race track - a road course, either oval, circuitous or straight, or any other area where motor vehicles, including but not limited to automobiles, trucks, go-carts, motorcycles, motor scooters, dune buggies and the like, are driven for pleasure, testing or competition; or any course where animals are raced for competition. [Ord. 2-2010]
   Recreation vehicle - a vehicle of any size which is designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational and vacation uses, and which is self-propelled or is designed to be towed or carried by another vehicle (including campers, pick-up coaches, travel trailers, motor homes).
   Registry - the registry established by the DOH for all medical marijuana organizations and practitioners. [Ord. 2-2025]
   Resort - a building or group of buildings located on a lot containing 10 acres or more combining lodging of members and guests, service of food to lodgers and/or non lodgers,
retail sale of commodities and services and facilities for educational activities and recreation for lodgers and/or non-lodgers.
   Resources, primary - resources consisting of 100-year floodplain (including the floodway), wetlands and prohibitive steep slopes (above 25 percent). In conservation subdivisions, all lands containing primary resources are called Primary Conservation Areas. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Resources, secondary - natural or cultural features outside Primary Conservation Areas that are worthy of conservation by inclusion in Conservation Open Space. Lands containing secondary resources that are conserved are called Secondary Conservation Areas. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Restaurant - a building in which food is prepared and served to the public for consumption within the building.
   Retail business - an establishment engaged in selling goods or merchandise to the general public for personal or household consumption and rendering services incidental to the sale of such goods, and which is not otherwise listed as a use in the use regulations. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Right-of-way - land reserved for the public or the abutting owners for use as a street, alley, interior walk, or for other public purposes.
   Rooming or boarding house - a building that is the primary residence of the owner and in which rooms are provided by the owner to no more than two adult persons not related by blood, marriage or adoption to the owner. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Screening - screenings required by this Chapter shall consist of a visual screen or obstruction, of sufficient height (but not less than 6 feet high) to effectively obscure the area being screened from adjoining uses. Such a screen or obstruction shall consist of a suitable fence or wall or of appropriate planting materials such as shrubs, hedges or trees located within a buffer strip having a minimum width of 5 feet.
   Secondary conservation area - see “conservation area, secondary”. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Semi-public building or use - buildings or uses operated by non-profit, community-based organizations for the general use of Township residents, including churches, firehouses, ambulance buildings, private schools, libraries and the like, but excluding institutional uses such as nursing homes, hospitals, sanitariums and clinics. It shall also include essential services and public utilities that require enclosure within any structure or building. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Service station or gas station - buildings and land areas where gasoline, oil, grease, batteries, tires or automobile accessories are supplied and dispensed at retail. Uses permissible at a service station do not include major mechanical and body work, straightening of body parts, painting, welding, or other work involving noise, glare, fumes, smoke, or other characteristics to extent greater than customary. Storage of inoperable or unlicensed vehicles at service stations is limited to a maximum 2-day period of time.
   Sewage - any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals and any noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life, or to the use of water for domestic water supply or for recreation, or which constitutes pollution under the act of June 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, No.394), known as The Clean Streams Law, as amended. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Sewage collection and conveyance system - the system of pipes, tanks, pumps and other equipment used to carry sewage from individual lots or dwelling units to an off-site sewage disposal system. Septic tanks and grinder pumps serving individual lots or dwelling units connected to an off-site sewage disposal system shall be considered part of the collection and conveyance system. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Sewage disposal, central, off-site or community - a sanitary sewage collection system in which sewage is carried from individual lots or dwelling units by a system of pipes to a central treatment and disposal system or sewage treatment plant which may be publicly or privately owned and operated. A system designed to serve a 2-family dwelling or 2 dwelling units located on the same property or adjacent properties shall not be considered as off-site sewage and in such a case all development standards will apply the same for each dwelling or unit as any single family unit. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Sewage disposal, individual or on-site or on-lot - a utility system or other system designed for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage from a single lot into the soil or into waters of the Commonwealth, or for conveyance to another site for final disposal. A system designed to serve a 2-family dwelling or 2 dwelling units located on the same property or adjacent properties shall be considered on-site sewage and all development standards will apply the same for each dwelling or unit as any single family unit. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Sign - a visual display which is affixed to, painted, or represented directly or indirectly on a building, structure, wall, or land and which directs attention to an object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization, or business.
   Sign, gross surface area of - the gross surface area of a sign shall be the entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of such sign and in no case passing through or between any adjacent elements of the same. However, such perimeter shall not include any structural or framing elements lying outside the limits of such sign and not forming an integral part of the display.
   Site alteration - includes regrading the existing topography, filling lakes, ponds, marshes or floodplains, clearing vegetation or altering water courses.
   Slaughter house - a agricultural products processing use involving the killing of animals for the production of food or some other commercial product. A commercial stockyard or similar facility that primarily involves the bulk storage or transferring of animals on the way to slaughter shall also be considered a slaughter house. This shall not include a custom butcher shop that does not involve killing of animals (which is a retail sales use). See “agricultural products processing.” [Ord. 2-2003]
   Soil surveys - a scientific survey of soil conditions and characteristics prepared by an engineer or soil scientist and approved or certified by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.
   Solar access - a property owner’s right to have sunlight shine on the owner’s land. (The enforcement of this right is through the zoning ordinance that established height and setback requirements.) [Ord. 1-2023]
   Solar energy system - an energy conversion system, including appurtenances which convert solar energy to a usable form of energy to meet all or part of the energy requirements of the on-site user. This definition shall include the terms passive solar and active solar systems. [Ord. 1-2023]
   Solar glare - the effect produced by light reflecting from a solar panel with an intensity sufficient to cause annoyance, discomfort, or loss in visual performance and visibility. [Ord. 1-2023]
   Solar panel - that part or portion of a solar energy system containing 1 or more receptive cells or modules, the purpose of which is to convert solar energy for use in space heating or cooling, for water heating and/or for electricity. [Ord. 1-2023]
   Solar related equipment - items including a solar photovoltaic cell, module, panel, or array, or solar hot air or water collector device panels, lines, pumps, batteries, mounting brackets, framing and possibly foundations or other structures used for or intending to be used for collection of solar energy. [Ord. 1-2023]
   Solid waste or waste - any garbage, refuse, industrial, lunchroom or office waste or other material including solid, liquid, semi-solid or contained gaseous material, resulting from the operation of residential, municipal commercial, or institutional establishments and from community activities. The term shall also include any garbage, refuse, other discarded material or other waste, including solid, liquid, semi-solid or containing gaseous materials resulting from industrial, mining, agricultural operations. Local facilities or any other by product or effluent facility, waste water treatment facility or air pollution control facility.
   Solid waste facility, commercial - any facility operated by a private individual or firm pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania governing the management, incineration and disposal of solid waste including, but not limited to, liquid, solid, toxic, hazardous, infectious and medical waste.
   Solid waste facility, public - any facility operated by a municipality or other public body pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania governing the management, incineration and disposal of solid waste including, but not limited to, liquid, solid, toxic, hazardous, infectious and medical waste.
   Staging area - any area where vehicles containing solid waste are parked or located prior to depositing said solid waste at a solid waste disposal facility.
   Special exception use - a use for which the Zoning Hearing Board may grant permission following a public hearing and findings of fact consistent with this Chapter, and provided the use complies with the conditions and standards required by this Chapter.
   Steep slopes - areas of land, 3,000 square feet or greater, where the grade is 15 percent or greater. Slope shall be measured as the change in elevation over the horizontal distance between consecutive contour lines. Slope shall be measured over 3 consecutive 2-foot contour intervals (6 cumulative vertical feet of slope). All slope measurements shall be determined by a topographic survey signed and sealed by a registered surveyor or engineer licensed to practice in Pennsylvania. Steep slopes are divided into 2 categories:
   (1)   Precautionary slopes are those areas of land where the grade is 15 to less than 25 percent.
   (2)   Prohibitive slopes are those areas of land where the grade is 25 percent or more. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Storage yard for forest products and stone - an area, not on the same parcel where the products are initially harvested or gathered, to which trees, forest products, flag stone, landscaping stone, wall stone or other minerals are hauled and stored, and which does not involve any land development, the operation of a sawmill, the operation of any other wood manufacturing business, or the operation of any natural resources processing. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Story and half-story - that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor, and the ceiling next above it and having a vertical distance of not less than 7 feet shall be considered a full story. Any such portion of a building having a distance of less than 7 feet shall be considered a half- story. Basements shall be considered full stories while cellars shall not be considered as being stories or half stories.
   Street - a strip of land including the entire right-of-way intended for use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation.
   (1)   Arterial street - designed primarily to carry traffic and generally should not provide access to land which would interfere with their primary traffic functions. They are designated as “limited,” “controlled,” or “partial” access streets. Arterial streets serve an unlimited number of dwelling units and unlimited average daily traffic.
   (2)   Connector street - collects traffic from minor, local access and collector streets and also provides a connection to arterial streets and expressways and between connector streets and serves an unlimited average daily traffic.
   (3)   Collector street - gathers traffic from minor and local access streets and feed this traffic to connector and arterial streets and expressways. Collector streets carry heavier traffic volumes than local streets although they also provide direct access to individual uses located along them. Collector streets serve up to an ultimate 500 dwelling units or up to an ultimate average daily traffic count of 4,000 vehicles.
   (4)   Minor street - provides direct access to individual uses or gathers traffic from local access streets and feed this traffic to collector streets. Minor streets serve up to an ultimate 150 dwelling units or up to an average daily traffic count of 1,250 vehicles.
   (5)   Local access street - primarily provides direct access to individual uses. They serve to provide the connecting link between the beginning or end point of a trip and the higher categories of streets. Local access streets are further classified as:
   (a)   Cul-de-sac street - permanently terminated at one end by a vehicular turnaround and intersects another street at the other end. Cul-de-sac streets shall not normally exceed 800 feet in length, and if the cul-de-sac is intended to service commercial properties it shall not be permitted if the reasonable anticipated traffic count is in excess of 200 vehicles daily.
   (6)   Marginal access street - minor street parallel and adjacent to major traffic streets. They provide access to abutting properties and control of intersections with major traffic streets.
   (7)   Private access drive - provides access to a single residential lot only, from an approved street where the residential lot does not have frontage on an approved street. The private access drive shall have a minimum right-of-way of 20 feet. Construction and maintenance of private access drives shall be the sole responsibility of owners benefitting from the use thereof and shall never be offered or accepted by the Township for public maintenance.
   Structure - any manmade object having ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land. The term “structure” shall include buildings, signs, fences, walls, towers, swimming pools, porches, garages, and similar structures. “Structure” shall be interpreted as including the words “or part thereof.”
   Subdivision - the division or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels, or other divisions of land including changes in lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building or lot development. The subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new dwelling, street, easement, sewage system or connection is not a subdivision.
   Swimming pool - a body of water or receptacle for water having a depth at any point greater than 2 feet, which is used or intended to be used for swimming or bathing and constructed or maintained in or above the ground.
   Telephone central office - a building or a part of a building used for the transmission and exchange of telephone or radio telephone messages; provided that in Agriculture or Residential Districts, such use shall not include the transaction of business with the public, storage of materials, trucks, or repair facilities, or housing of repair crews. [Ord. 1-1996]
   Temporary structure - a structure which is not designed to last or to be used for a specific use for a long time.
   Through lot - an interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
   Tourist home - a dwelling in which at least one but not more than six rooms are offered for overnight accommodations for transient guests, for compensation.
   Township - the Township of Clifton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
   Tract area, adjusted - the gross tract area minus the constrained land. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Tract area, gross - the total amount of land contained within the limits of the legally described property lines bounding the tract. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Trailer - see “mobile home.”
   Transitional housing facility (halfway house) -
   (1)   A residential facility providing food and shelter on a 24-hour basis to more than four battered or abused persons or homeless persons at any one time.
   (2)   A residential facility providing food and shelter for one or more inmates or persons on release or work release from more restrictive custodial confinement in rehabilitation centers, detention centers or correctional institutions or initially placed in lieu of such more restrictive confinement, wherein supervision, rehabilitation, and counseling are provided to mainstream residents back into society, enabling them to live independently.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Travel trailer - see “recreation vehicle.”
   Treatment center/clinic - a use (other than a detention facility or a permitted accessory use in a hospital) providing housing facilities for persons who need specialized housing, treatment and/or counseling for stays in most cases of less than 1 year and who need such facilities because of:
   (1)   Chronic abuse of or addiction to alcohol and/or a controlled substance.
   (2)   A type of mental illness or other behavior that could cause a person to be a threat to the physical safety of others.
[Ord. 2-2003]
   Truck stop - a commercial use open to any customer which primarily provides fuel for tractor trailer and other trucks and which may include related food service, retail sales, shower facilities, and vehicle repair services. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Turbine height - the distance measured from the surface of the tower foundation to the highest point of the turbine rotor plane. [Ord. 2-2007]
   Usable open space - open space of a lot or tract used for residential purposes, exclusive of required front and side yard areas, which is suitable for specified use(s) or as outdoor open space for the residents.
   Use - the purpose for which land, sign, structure or building is arranged, designed, or intended, or for which it may be occupied or maintained, or any activity, occupation, business, or operation which may be carried on.
   Variance - a granting of permission to alter land or structures which requires a variation or adaptation from the strict application of a requirement of this Chapter. Variances are granted only in the case of exceptionally irregular, narrow, shallow or steep lots, or other exceptional physical conditions whereby strict application of regulations would result in practical difficulty and unnecessary hardship. Variances are granted only if specific requirements are met. A variance shall not be granted to permit a use which is not permitted in the zoning district involved.
   Warehouse/logistics facility- a building or group of buildings on the same lot used for the indoor storage of goods, products and materials and/or receipt of bulk products and separation and distribution of those products to another facility or to individual end-user consumers. A warehouse/logistics facility may include value-added services between a supplier and its customers such as breaking down of large orders from a single source into smaller orders (break-bulk functions), product mixing, sorting, packaging, cross-docking, order fulfillment, order returns, the consolidation of several orders into one large order for distribution to several recipients and/or vice versa but shall not include retail or manufacturing uses. Warehouse/logistics facilities shall be sub-classified as:
   (1)   Small warehouse/logistics facility - a warehouse/logistics facility that does not exceed 25,000 square-feet of gross floor area per lot.
   (2)   Large warehouse/logistics facility - a warehouse/logistics facility that exceeds 25,000 square feet of gross floor area per lot, or that incorporates 10 or more tractor trailer loading/unloading docks, or that would generate more than 50 tractor-trailer trips or 100 non-tractor trailer truck trips in any 24-hour period based on the latest edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Trip Generation Handbook. [Ord. 2-2024]
   Water extraction and bottling - any use which involves the pumping or removal of water from groundwater sources, with or without bottling, for retail or wholesale sale. Water extraction and bottling shall be considered manufacturing for the purposes of regulation by this Chapter. [Ord. 2- 2003]
   Water supply, central, off-site or community - a drinking water supply system in which drinking water is carried to individual lots or dwelling units by a system of pipes from a central source not located on any of the served lots and which may be publicly or privately owned and operated. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Water supply, on-site or individual - a single system of piping, tanks or other facilities serving only a single lot and providing drinking water from a source on the lot. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Wholesale business - establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users, or to other wholesalers; or acting as agents brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Wind energy facility - a facility where one or more wind turbines and/or other accessory structures and buildings, including substations, meteorological towers, electrical infrastructure, transmission lines and other appurtenant structures and facilities are located and are used for the generation of electricity which is used on-site for commercial height and limited to one per parcel, which is accessory to a principal structure and which is sized and intended to be used to generate electricity primarily for the principal structure to which it is accessory shall not be considered a wind energy facility. [Ord. 2-2007]
   Wind farm - a facility where one or more windmills are located and are used for the generation of electricity which is used on-site for commercial purposes or which is sold on the open market. A windmill accessory to a principal structure which is sized and intended to be used to generate electricity primarily for the principal structure to which it is accessory shall not be considered a wind farm. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Windmill - a machine that runs on the energy generated by a wheeled array of blades or slats rotated by the wind. [Ord. 3-2004]
   Windmill, accessory - a wind energy conversion system that converts wind energy into electricity through the use of a wind turbine generator, and includes the nacelle, rotor, tower, and pad transformer, if any, and which is sized and intended to be used to generate electricity primarily for the principal structure to which it is accessory. [Ord. 2-2009]
   Wind turbine generator - a wind energy conversion system that converts wind energy into electricity through the use of a wind turbine generator, and includes the nacelle, rotor, tower, and pad transformer, if any. [Ord. 2-2007]
   Woodlands - a tree mass or plant community in which tree species are dominant or co-dominant and the branches of the trees form a complete, or nearly complete, aerial canopy. Any area, grove, or stand of mature or largely mature trees (larger than 12 inches dbh) covering an area of 1/4 acre or more, or consisting of 10 individual trees larger than 6 inches dbh, shall be considered a woodland. The extent of any woodland plant community or any part thereof shall be measured from the outer-most drip line of all the trees in the plant community. [Ord. 2-2011]
   Yard - an open space on the same lot with a building or group of buildings which lies between the principal building or group of buildings and the nearest lot line and which is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as herein permitted.
   (1)   Yard, front - a yard extending the full width of the lot between a building and the front lot line or side street lot line.
   (2)   Yard, rear - a yard extending the full width of the lot between a building and a rear lot line.
   Yard, side - a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a building and the nearest side lot line.
   Youth camp - a tract of land with buildings where children stay for temporary periods of time, typically for the summer, where meals and activities are provided as part of an overall recreation or learning program. [Ord. 2-2003]
   Zoning Officer - the administrative officer charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of this Chapter.
(Ord. 1-1989, 11/18/1989, §3.2; as amended by Ord. 1-1992, 2/8/1992, §I; by Ord. 1-1996, 4/13/1996, §1; by Ord. 1-2002, 11/15/2002, §1; by Ord. 2-2003, 10/11/2003, §1; by Ord. 3-2004, 9/11/2004, §§1, ; by Ord. 2-2007, 6/14/2007, §1; by Ord. 3-2008, 11/13/2008; by Ord. 2-2009, 7/16/2009, Item 1; by Ord. 1-2010, 9/9/2010, Item 1; by Ord. 2-2011, 11/10/2011, Item 1; by Ord. 1-2023, 3/9/2023, §1; by Ord. 2-2024, 9/19/2024, Items 1 - 5; by Ord. 2-2025, 2/20/2025, Items 1 - 12; and by Ord. 3-2025, 5/22/2025, Items 1 - 3)