Downingtown City Zoning Code

Recreation and open space.

Municipal.

Commercial including any use permitted in § 287-37(A)(1) through (6) and § 287-37C(2), except that the dwelling unit use outlined in (C)(2) shall be permitted as a conditional use, not as a special exception.

Neighborhood Community Center, which may or may not contain residential dwelling units above, so long as they have independent access and rear parking.

Single-family detached dwelling.

Two-family dwelling (twin; duplex).

Four-family dwelling (four-plex; quadraplex).

Townhouse (single-family attached).

Traditional neighborhood townhouse multiplex.

Traditional neighborhood multiplex.

Any combination of the above.

Uses as provided for in the Floodplain District as per § 287-12.

Uses customarily accessory to the above uses.

Uses customarily accessory and incidental to uses in retail and services uses on lots used for such uses, such as but not limited to off-street parking, outside cafe eating areas and any use of the same general character.

Maximum residential density: 9.0 dwelling units per gross acre, not including live-work loft units.

Maximum number of dwelling units per building: 10.0.

Minimum open space area: 10% of the gross residential tract area.

Maximum building coverage: 40% for the overall tract.

Maximum impervious coverage: 70% for the overall tract.

Minimum perimeter setback: 20 feet. Stormwater management structures, pavement, and landscaping shall be permitted in the perimeter setback.

Minimum lot width: 16 feet for residential building width and mixed-use uses, and 65 feet for nonresidential use lot widths.

Minimum building separation distance: zero feet for nonresidential buildings, provided that appropriate fire protections are provided per the International Building Code.

Eight feet for residential buildings up to three stories in height, and 10 feet for residential buildings of four stories or more.

Maximum height of buildings: four stories or 48 feet, whichever is less.

Minimum height of buildings: two stories or 20 feet, whichever is less. For purposes of this definition, detached or attached garages shall be excluded.

Floodplains. All standards of § 287-12, Floodplain District, shall apply.

Wetlands. All standards of the Pennsylvania DEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall apply, and all standards of § 287-14 shall apply.

Vegetation. All standards of § 287-15 shall apply, except as may need to be adjusted to permit remediation of environmental contamination identified on the site.

Soil quality. All standards of the Pennsylvania DEP shall apply to the disturbance and reuse of soils.

Water quality. All regulations pertaining to the protection of groundwater in § 287-85 shall apply.

The following standards of § 256-56.1 of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance shall apply:

Sidewalks. Sidewalks shall be in accordance with § 256-56.1B(8) and § 256-56.1J(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6), except that sidewalks may be five feet in width in residential districts.

Struble Trail. Access to the Struble Trail shall be maintained throughout the district, so that a trail runs from Pennsylvania Avenue to the Struble Trail.

Crosswalks. Crosswalks shall be in accordance with § 256-56.1J(7) and (8).

Park and recreation structures. All preexisting monuments or other park and recreation structures shall be protected and, along with preexisting trails, incorporated into all proposed land development plans.

Municipal structures. Any municipal grounds or structures that may be shown on the Official Map of the Borough of Downingtown shall be shown in any land development plan.

Street trees. Street trees shall be designed, installed and maintained in accordance with § 256-56.1L.

Buffer adjoining existing residential and nonresidential development. A landscaped buffer of at least 20 feet in width shall be designed, installed and maintained to continuously screen views of the proposed development from any existing residential and nonresidential development.

Street lights. Street lights shall be in accordance with § 256-56.1M(1), (2) except that reference to Lancaster Avenue shall be removed and the "Visco or equivalent" standard shall apply throughout the development, and (4).

Master Plan. An overall site plan or Master Plan may be prepared to depict the proposed concept for redevelopment. Such plan shall be at a scale of one inch equals 100 feet or better.

Street cross-section drawings.

Street and alley interconnected network plan.

Sidewalk, trail, and crosswalk interconnected network plan.

Land disturbance. All land disturbance shall comply with Pennsylvania DEP conditions for brownfield site redevelopment, and all Act 2 closure letters from the Pennsylvania DEP.

Stormwater management/flood control. All stormwater management/flood control shall comply with § 256-54 and Chapter 246, Stormwater Management, with the exception of § 246-21E. The applicant shall also demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Borough Engineer that the post-development one-hundred-year storm can be effectively routed. In addition, all DEP and FEMA requirements shall be met with such modifications as may be necessitated by the presence of hazardous substances within soils on the property.

Staging of land development program. A plan depicting all proposed phases or stages of development shall be prepared and submitted.

Informal, voluntary submission. An informal, voluntary submission is strongly encouraged, whereby the proposed land development plans are submitted for review and comment by the Borough prior to formal land development plan application. Such submission is intended to provide the applicant and the Borough with an opportunity to review and analyze the proposal. The submission of a Concept Master Plan is not a submission under the SALDO and gives the applicant no entitlements or structured review requirements.

Uses. All applications for conditional use approval shall demonstrate compliance with the design standards of this article.

Restrictions. All applications for conditional use approval shall demonstrate procedures for intended compliance with all Act 2 closure letters from the Pennsylvania DEP.