Downingtown City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIB
ARM Adaptive Reuse/Mixed-Use Overlay District
§ 287-51.4 Declaration of legislative intent.
In expansion of the declaration of legislative intent expressed in Article I, §§ 287-2, Purpose, and 287-3, Objectives, of this chapter and the vision statement and goals contained in Chapter 2 of the Borough of Downingtown Urban Center Revitalization Plan, it is hereby declared to be the specific intent of this article to provide flexible standards of design for mixed-use developments pursuant to an overlay zoning district on tracts within the C-1 and C-2 Zoning Districts that are the site and location of former industrial or mill activities that are now abandoned, containing a minimum tract size, served by public sewer and water facilities. It is the further intent of this district:
A.
To provide greater design flexibility for multifamily and commercial uses so as to promote and facilitate the redevelopment of areas within the ARM Zoning District that are no longer used for industrial or mill activities.
B.
To provide performance standards to ensure the efficient integration of mixed uses such as multifamily, retail, office and other commercial uses.
§ 287-51.5 Application of overlay district.
The ARM Zoning District shall apply as an overlay zoning district to lots or tracts of property within the C-1 and C-2 Zoning Districts that meet the following criteria:
A.
Minimum tract size: 2.5 acres. All parts of the tract shall be contiguous, and shall be in common ownership or application. The "tract area" shall mean the entire contiguous tract. Minimum tract size shall be the gross lot area and shall be determined without deduction for environmentally sensitive areas such as steep slopes, wetlands, floodplains, floodways, riparian buffers or easements, rights-of-way, easements and similar encumbrances.
B.
The tract shall contain industrial or mill facilities that are no longer in use, abandoned and in disrepair.
C.
Public sewer and public water facilities shall be required.
§ 287-51.6 Use regulations.
Within the ARM Zoning District, a building may be erected, altered or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following uses:
§ 287-51.7 Area and bulk regulations.
A.
The area and bulk regulations within the C-1 and C-2 Zoning Districts apply within the ARM Zoning District, unless modified pursuant to conditional use.
B.
Pursuant to conditional use, Borough Council may approve a development within the ARM Zoning District subject to the following area and bulk regulations:
(1)
Maximum residential density: 25 units per gross acre.
(2)
Minimum lot size: 2.5 acres.
(3)
Minimum lot width: None required.
(4)
Minimum front yard: None required.
(5)
Minimum side yards: None required.
(6)
Minimum rear yard: None required.
(7)
Maximum building coverage: 40%.
(8)
Maximum total impervious surface coverage: 90%.
(9)
Building height: five stories up to a maximum of 75 feet. In the event that a building is proposed within a floodplain and the first floor is utilized for parking, the first floor shall not be counted against the five-story maximum so long as the maximum height of 75 feet is not exceeded. In the event that greater height is permitted in the underlying C1 or C2 Zoning Districts, that greater height may be permitted by conditional use.
(10)
Mixed-use/residential regulations. In order to encourage a balanced mix of residential and commercial uses, the following standards apply to residential units within the ARM Zoning District:
(a)
Any dwelling unit permitted pursuant to the ARM Zoning District shall have a minimum floor area of 500 square feet.
(b)
Total gross floor area devoted towards residential use within the tract shall not exceed five times the total gross floor area devoted towards nonresidential uses within the tract.
(c)
Buildings containing residential and commercial uses must contain at least one entrance designated for residential use exclusively.
§ 287-51.8 Design standards.
The following design standards of this chapter shall, as applicable, govern all uses within the ARM Zoning District:
B.
Parking: The parking standards provided for in Article XVIII shall apply except as modified below:
(1)
Residential dwellings shall require one parking space per unit.
(2)
Nonresidential uses within 2,000 feet of parking facilities open to and available to the public shall require 2.3 parking spaces per 1,000 net square feet of floor area.
(3)
The parking spaces required by Subsection B(1) and (2) above may be provided off site pursuant to conditional use as authorized by § 287-107E(4).
(4)
The sum of the total number of parking spaces required pursuant to Subsection B(1) and (2) above may be reduced by 50% pursuant to conditional use as authorized by § 287-107E(3). Notwithstanding the fact that § 287-107E(3) references only property within the C-2 Zoning District, the fifty-percent reduction shall be available to property within both the C-1 and C-2 Zoning Districts that are within the ARM Zoning District.
J.
In order to encourage the adaptive reuse of former industrial and mill sites, the Borough Council may permit modification of the design standards set forth in § 287-51.8A through H pursuant to conditional use, subject to the legislative intent identified above in § 287-51.4 and the standards outlined in § 287-137.
§ 287-51.9 Nonconformities.
The ARM District is designed to facilitate the redevelopment and adaptive reuse of tracts of property that include abandoned and blighted former industrial or mill properties within the C-1 and C-2 Districts. The Borough recognizes that many of the buildings intended for adaptive reuse and the lots upon which they are situated are nonconforming and therefore subject to the provisions of Article XX of this chapter. Accordingly, modification of the provisions of Article XX for developments within the ARM shall be pursuant to conditional use granted by the Borough Council subject to the legislative intent identified above in § 287-51.4 and the standards outlined in § 287-137.