Duncannon, PA Zoning Ordinance

The following is a list of definitions:

ABANDONED VEHICLES: One or more motor vehicles which had been at one time licensed for use on public highways, but which are not presently so licensed and which do not presently have a current inspection sticker and registration as required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including trailers, semitrailers, and parts thereof.

ABUT: To physically touch or border upon; or to share a common property line.

ACCESS DRIVE: A paved surface, other than a street, which provides vehicular access from a street or private road to a lot.

ACCESSORY BUILDING: A building subordinate to and detached from the main building on the same lot and used for purposes customarily incidental to the main building.

ACCESSORY USE: A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the main building and located on the same lot with such principal use or main building.

ADULT BOOKSTORE: An establishment having as a substantial or significant proportion of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas (as defined in this section), or an establishment with a segment or section devoted to the sale or display of such material.

AGRICULTURE: The cultivating of the soil, producing crops and raising livestock and, in varying degrees, the processing and marketing of products raised on the premises.

AIR RIGHTS: The right to use space above ground level.

ALLEY: A public thoroughfare other than a minor street which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

ALTERATIONS: As applied to a building or structure, any change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the existing facilities, or an 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.

ALTITUDE: The angular distance from the horizon to the sun.

AMENDMENT: A change in use in any district which includes revisions to the zoning text and/or the Official Zoning Map; and the authority for any amendment lies solely with the Borough Council.

AMUSEMENT ARCADE: An establishment which has as its principal business offering to patrons mechanical or electrical amusement devices or games such as pinball machines, ping pong, darts, shooting galleries or similar devices and games.

ANIMAL HOSPITAL: A building used for the treatment, housing or boarding of small domestic animals, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds or fowl, by a veterinarian.

APARTMENT: A dwelling unit within a multiple dwelling. This classification includes apartments in apartment houses, bachelor apartments, studio apartments, and kitchenette apartments. Conversion apartments are not included in this classification.

APARTMENT (CONVERSION): An existing dwelling unit that is or was converted to a dwelling for more than one family, without substantially altering the exterior of the building.

APARTMENT (GARDEN): A two-story multifamily dwelling, containing one-story dwelling units, under one ownership.

APARTMENT HOUSE: A building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied by three or more families living independently of each other.

APPLICANT: A landowner or developer who has filed an application for development, including his heirs, successors and assigns.

APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT: Every application, whether preliminary or final, required to be filed and approved prior to the start of construction or development, including, but not limited to, an application for a building permit for the approval of a subdivision plan or for approval of a development plan.

AREA (BUILDING): The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces, and steps.

AREA (LOT): The area contained within the property lines of a lot as shown on a subdivision plan, excluding space within any street, but including the area of any easement.

AUTO BODY SHOP: Any structure or any building or part thereof that is used for the repair or painting of bodies, chassis, wheels, fenders, bumpers and/or accessories of automobiles and other vehicles of conveyance.

AUTOMOBILE AND/OR MOBILE HOME SALES GARAGE: A building on a lot designed and used primarily for the display or sale of new and used cars and mobile homes where mechanical repairs and body work may be conducted as an accessory use incidental to the primary use.

AUTOMOBILE AND/OR MOBILE HOME SALES LOT: An open lot used for the outdoor display or sales of new or used automobiles or mobile homes and where minor and incidental repair work (other than body and fender) may be done.

AUTOMOBILE GARAGE: A building on a lot designed and/or used primarily for mechanical and/or body repairs, storage, rental, servicing, or supplying of gasoline and oil to automobiles, trucks, or similar motor vehicles.

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION: Any area of land, including any structures thereon, or any building or part thereof, that is used for the retail sale of gasoline, oil, other fuel, or accessories for motor vehicles and which may include facilities used for polishing, greasing, washing, dry cleaning, or otherwise cleaning or servicing such motor vehicles.

AUTOMOBILE WASHING (CAR WASH): A building on a lot, designed and used primarily for the washing and polishing of automobiles and which may provide accessory services set forth herein for automobile service stations.

AUTOMOBILE WRECKING: The dismantling or wrecking of used automobiles or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts.

AZIMUTH: The angular distance between true south and the point on the horizon directly below the sun (also referred to as "bearing").

BAFFLE: A freestanding randomly located structure, fence-like in nature and materials of construction, except that it is not normally attached to any building, does not particularly follow lot lines, nor enclose a particular area, but rather screens one segment of one property from another for the primary purpose of assuring privacy; a baffle or screen of this nature may also be utilized for the support of various types of living plant materials, such as vines, climbing roses or espaliered trees and shrubs.

BASEMENT: A story partly underground but having at least 1/2 of its height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement if the vertical distance between the ceiling and the average level of the adjoining ground is more than five feet or is used for business or dwelling purposes, other than a game or recreation room.

BLOCK: An area bounded by streets.

BOARDINGHOUSE: A building arranged or used for the lodging, with or without meals, for compensation, by more than five and not more than 20 individuals.

BUFFER YARD: See "yard, buffer."

BUILDING: Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattels, and including covered porches or bay windows and chimneys.

BUILDING, DETACHED: A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.

BUILDING, FRONT LINE OF: The line of that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.

BUILDING, HEIGHT OF: The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deckline of mansard roofs and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.

BUILDING LINE: A line parallel to the front, side, or rear lot line so as to provide the required yard.

BUILDING, MAIN: A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located.

BUILDING, NONCONFORMING: A building, the size, dimensions or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment to a zoning ordinance, but which fails, by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment, to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.

BUILDING PERMIT: Written permission issued by the proper municipal authority for the construction, repair, alteration or addition to a structure.

BUILDING, PRINCIPAL: A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located.

BUILDING SETBACK LINE: The line within a property defining the required minimum distance permitted between any enclosed structure and the adjacent right-of-way.

CAMPING GROUND: A parcel of land used by campers for seasonal, recreational, or other similar temporary living purposes, in buildings of a moveable, temporary, or seasonal nature, such as cabins, tents, or shelters.

CARPORT: A covered space, open on three sides, for the storage of one or more vehicles and accessory to a main or accessory building.

CARTWAY: That portion of a street or alley which is improved, designed, or intended for vehicular use.

CELLAR: A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its clear height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar shall not be considered in determining the required number of stories.

CLEAR SIGHT TRIANGLE: An area of unobstructed vision at street intersections. It is defined by lines of sight between points at a given distance from the intersection of the street(s) center line(s).

CONDITIONAL USES: Conditional uses shall be allowed or denied by the governing body after recommendations 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 the owners of those portions. Real estate is not a condominium unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners.

COURT: An unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a building, which is bounded on two or more sides by the walls of such building.

COURT, INNER: A court enclosed on all sides by exterior walls of a building or by exterior walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable, and the court does not extend to a street, alley, yard or other outer court.

COURT, OUTER: A court enclosed on not more than three sides by exterior walls and lot lines on which walls are allowable, with one side or end open to a street, driveway, alley or yard.

COVERAGE: That portion or percentage of the lot area covered by the building area.

CURB LEVEL: The officially established grade of the curb in front of the midpoint of the lot.

CUT: An excavation; the difference between a point on the original ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade; also, the material removed in excavation.

DAY-CARE FACILITY: A facility that offers day care and supervision to children and operates in accordance with Article XII, § 225-71A(25).
[Added 5-17-2005 by Ord. No. 360]

DECIDUOUS: Plants that drop their leaves before becoming dormant in winter.

DENSITY: The number of families, individuals, dwelling units, or housing structures per unit of land.

DEVELOPMENT: Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, filling, grading, excavation, mining, dredging, or drilling operations and the subdivision of land.

DISTRICT, ZONE: A district includes all buildings, lots, and surface areas within certain designated boundaries as indicated on the Zoning Map.
Editor's Note: The Zoning Map is on file in the Borough offices.

DOG KENNEL: A structure where three or more dogs that are more than six months old are kept for commercial purposes.

DRIVE-IN USE: An establishment which, by design, physical facilities, service, or by packaging procedures, encourages or permits customers to receive services, obtain goods, or be entertained while remaining in their motor vehicles.

DRUGSTORE: A store where the primary business is the filling of medical prescriptions and the sale of drugs, medical devices and supplies and nonprescription medicines, but where nonmedical products are sold as well.

DUMP: A lot or land or part thereof used primarily for disposal by abandonment, dumping, burial, or other means and for whatever purpose of garbage, sewage, trash, refuse, junk, discarded machinery, vehicles or part thereof, or waste material of any kind.

DWELLING: A building or structure designed for living quarters for one or more families, including mobile homes which are supported either by a foundation or are otherwise permanently attached to the land, but not including hotels, rooming houses or other accommodations used for transient occupancy.

DWELLING GROUP: A group of two or more single-family, two-family, or multifamily dwellings occupying a lot in one ownership.

DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY: A building used by three or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking, including apartment houses.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED (ROW): A building used for one family, having one side yard and one party wall in common with another building.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED: A building used by one family, having only one dwelling unit and having two side yards.

DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY SEMIDETACHED: A building used by two families, with one dwelling unit arranged over the other, having one side yard and one party wall in common with another building.

DWELLING UNIT: A single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

EASEMENT: A grant of one or more of the property rights by the property owner to and/or for the use by the public, a corporation, or another person or entity.

ELECTRIC SUBSTATION: An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation or utilization, through which electric energy in bulk is passed for the purpose of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet the needs of the general public.

ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES: Electric public utilities transmission distribution facilities, including substations.

ENGINEER: A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the Engineer for the Borough.

ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS: The engineering specifications of the municipality regulating the installation of any required improvement or for any facility installed by any owner, subject to public use.

EROSION: The removal of surface materials by the action of natural elements.

EXCAVATION: Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other similar material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or bulldozed and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.

FACADE: The exterior wall of a building exposed to public view or that wall viewed by persons not within the building.

FAMILY: One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, or a group of not more than five persons, excluding servants, who need not be related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit.

FENCE: Any freestanding and uninhabitable structure constructed of wood, glass, metal, plastic materials, wire, wire mesh, or masonry, singly or in combination, erected for the purpose of screening or dividing one property from another to assure privacy or to protect the property so screened or divided or to define and mark the property line when such a structure is erected on any front, side or rear lot line; for the purpose of this chapter, a freestanding masonry wall, when so located, is considered to be a fence; also, for the purpose of this chapter, when the term "lot line" is used in relation to fences, it shall be synonymous with rear lot lines, side yard lot lines and front yard lot lines. Fences are not synonymous with garden structures, which are defined elsewhere herein.

FILL: Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, transported, or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom; the difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade; the material used to make a fill.

FLOOD: A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.

FLOOD, BASE (ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD): A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every 100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year, although the flood may occur in any year).

FLOOD FRINGE: That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway.

FLOODPLAIN

A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation;

An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

FLOODPROOFING: Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to proposed or existing structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.

FLOODWAY: The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of the one-hundred-year magnitude without increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot at any point.

FLOOR AREA, HABITABLE: The aggregate of the horizontal areas of all rooms used for habitation, such as a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, but not including hallways, stairways, cellars, attics, service rooms or utility rooms, bathrooms, closets, nor unheated areas such as enclosed porches, nor rooms without at least one window or skylight opening onto an outside yard or court. At least 1/2 of the floor area of every habitable room shall have a ceiling height of not less than seven feet, and the floor area of that part of any room where the ceiling height is less than five feet shall not be considered as part of the habitable floor area.

FLOOR AREA OF A BUILDING: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building and its accessory buildings on the same lot, excluding cellar and basement floor areas not used as primary living and sleeping quarters, but including the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces. All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.

FLOOR AREA, RETAIL, NET: All that space relegated to use by the customer and the retail employee to consummate retail sales and to include display area used to indicate the variety of goods available for the customer but not to include office space, storage space, and other general administrative areas.

GARAGE, PRIVATE: An enclosed or covered space for the storage of one or more vehicles, provided that no business, occupation, or service is conducted for profit therein nor space therein for more than one car is leased to a nonresident of the premises.

GARAGE, PUBLIC: Any garage other than a private garage and which is used for storage, repair, rental, servicing, or supplying of gasoline or oil to motor vehicles.

GARDENING: The cultivation of herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables, excluding the keeping of livestock.

GARDEN STRUCTURES: Any accessory structure which may be occupied for other than sleeping or general housekeeping purposes, or which serves as a shelter primarily for human beings, except a permitted garage, porch or carport, which is located in any side or rear yard not closer than three feet to any side or rear lot line; included in this category of structures are arbors, aviaries, pergolas, trellises, barbecue shelters, lathe house, private greenhouse and freestanding screens or baffles and similar structures as however called. No such structure may be located in any required front yard between the building setback line and the street line. Such structures may be solidly roofed and walled or open to the sky and on the sides, but if solidly roofed or solidly walled on more than two sides, they must be located within the building line of the lot and may not invade any required yard. Unscreened, unroofed, unwalled, or unfenced patios, birdbaths, ornamental pools and swimming pools are not considered as garden structures. Permitted structures may be attached to or be detached from a dwelling.

GOVERNING BODY: The Borough Council of Duncannon, Perry County, Pennsylvania.

GRADE, ESTABLISHED: The elevation of the center line of the streets as officially established by the municipal authorities.

GRADE, FINISHED: The completed surfaces of lawns, walks, and roads brought to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.

GROUND FLOOR: The floor of a building nearest the mean grade of the front of the building.

HABITABLE SPACE: Space in a structure for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking. Bathrooms, toilet compartments, closets, halls, storage or utility space, and similar areas are not considered habitable space.

HEIGHT OF BUILDING: The vertical distance measured from the mean level of the ground surrounding the building to a point midway between the highest and lowest point of the roof, but not including chimneys, spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks, and similar projections.

HOME OCCUPATION: Any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling or in a building accessory thereto and carried on by the inhabitants residing therein, providing that the use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes, the exterior appearance of the structure or premises is constructed and maintained as a residential dwelling, and no goods are publicly displayed on the premises other than signs as provided herein.

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.

HOTEL: A facility offering transient lodging accommodations to the general public and providing additional services such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreation facilities.

INCINERATOR: An approved device in which combustible material, other than garbage, is burned to ashes.

INDUSTRY: The manufacturing, compounding, processing, assembly, or treatment of materials, articles, or merchandise.

JUNKYARD: A lot, land, or structure, or part thereof, used primarily for the collecting, storage, and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal, or discarded material, or for the collection, dismantling, storage, and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition, and for the sale of parts thereof.

LAND DEVELOPMENT

The improvement of one or more contiguous lots, tracts, or parcels of land for any purpose involving:

(1)

A group of two or more buildings; or

(2)

The division or allocation of land or space 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;

A subdivision of land.

LANDOWNER: The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option or contract is subject to any conditions). A lessee having a remaining term of not less than 40 years, or other person having a proprietary interest in land, shall be deemed to be a landowner for the purpose of this chapter.

LAUNDERETTE: A business premises equipped with individual clothes-washing and/or -drying machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment house or an apartment hotel.

LIGHTING

DIFFUSED

— That form of lighting wherein the light passes from the source through a translucent cover or shade.

DIRECT or FLOOD

— That form of lighting wherein the source is visible and the light is distributed directly from it to the object to be illuminated.

INDIRECT

— That form of lighting wherein the light source is entirely hidden, the light being projected to a suitable reflector from which it is reflected to the object to be illuminated.

LOADING BERTH/SPACE: An off-street area on the same lot with a building or contiguous to a group of buildings, for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials, and which abuts on a street or other appropriate means of access.

LODGING HOUSE (ROOMING HOUSE): Any building or portion thereof containing not more than five guest rooms which are used by not more than five guests where rent is paid in money, goods, labor, or otherwise.

LOT: Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, or by a dwelling group and its accessory buildings, together with such open space as is 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 in which such land is situated and having its principal frontage on a street.

LOT, CORNER: A lot at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting streets or at the point of abrupt change of a single street, where the interior angle is less than 135° and the radius of the street line is less than 100 feet.

LOT, DEPTH OF: The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE: An interior lot having frontage on two streets.

LOT, INTERIOR: A lot other than a corner lot.

LOT LINES: The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

LOT, MINIMUM WIDTH: The minimum lot width at the building setback line.

LOT, NONCONFORMING: A lot of record prior to the enactment of this chapter, which, by reason of area or dimension, does not conform to the requirements of the district in which it is located.

LOT OF RECORD: A lot which has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Perry County, Pennsylvania.

LOT, REVERSE FRONTAGE: A lot extending between and having frontage on an arterial street and a minor street, and with vehicular access solely from the latter.

LOT WIDTH: The horizontal distance between the sidelines of a lot, measured at right angles to its depth along a straight line parallel to the front lot line at the minimum required building setback line.

MAJOR THOROUGHFARE: A street or highway designated as an existing or planned major thoroughfare.

MANUFACTURING: The processing and/or converting of raw unfinished or finished materials or products, or any or either of them, into an article or substance of different character or for use for a different purpose; industries furnishing labor in the case of manufacturing or the refinishing of manufactured articles.

MASSAGE: Any method of pressure on or friction against or stroking, kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating, or stimulating of the external parts of the human body with the hands or with the aid of any mechanical electrical apparatus or appliances, with or without such supplementary aids as rubbing alcohol, liniments, antiseptics, oils, powder, creams, lotions, ointment, or other such similar preparations commonly used in the practice of massage, under such circumstances that it is reasonably expected that the person to whom the treatment is provided or some third person on his or her behalf will pay money or give any other consideration or any gratuity therefor.

MASSAGE PARLOR: Any establishment having a source of income or compensation derived from the practice of massage and which has a fixed place of business where any person, firm, association, or corporation engages in or carries on the practice of massage.

MIXED OCCUPANCY: Occupancy of a building or land for more than one use.

MOBILE HOME: A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, office, or place of assembly, contained in one unit, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.

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 mobile homes for nontransient use, consisting of two or more mobile home lots.

MOTEL: A building or group of buildings, whether detached or in connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units, designed with separate entrances and designed for year-round occupancy, primarily for transient automobile travelers and providing for accessory off-street parking facilities. The term "motel" includes buildings designated as tourist courts, tourist cabins, motor lodges, and similar terms.

NURSERY, HORTICULTURE: Any lot or parcel of land used to cultivate, propagate, and grow trees, shrubs, vines, and other plants, including the buildings, structures, and equipment customarily incidental and accessory to the primary use.

NURSING OR CONVALESCENT HOME: A building with sleeping rooms where persons are housed or lodged and furnished with meals, nursing care for hire and which is approved for nonprofit agencies licensed for profit-making operations by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare for such use.

OBSCENE MATERIALS: Any literature, book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper, story paper, paper, comic book, writing, drawing, photograph, figure, image, motion picture, sound recording, article, instrument, or any other written or printed matter which:

OBSTRUCTION: Any wall, dam, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, projections, excavation, channel, rectification, culvert, building, fence, stockpile, refuse, fill, structure, or matter in, along, across, or projecting into any channel, watercourse, or flood-prone area, which may impede, retard, or change the direction of the flow of water either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water or is placed where the flow of the water might carry the same downstream to the damage of life and property.

OCCUPANCY PERMIT: A required permit allowing occupancy of a building or structure after it has been determined that the building meets all the requirements of applicable ordinances.

OFFICE BUILDING: A building designed or used primarily for office purposes, no part of which is used for manufacturing.

OFFICE, PROFESSIONAL: A room or rooms used for the carrying on of a profession, to include physicians, dentists, architects, engineers, accountants, attorneys, real estate brokers and insurance agents entitled to practice under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

OPEN SPACE: The unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with the building, not including parking lots.

OPEN SPACE, COMMON: Land within or related to a development, not individually owned or dedicated for public use, which is designed and intended for the common use or enjoyment of the residents of the development and may include such complementary structures and improvements as are necessary and appropriate.

OUTDOOR STORAGE: The keeping in an unroofed area of any goods, junk, material, merchandise, or vehicles in the same place for more than 24 hours.

PARKING LOT: Any lot, municipally or privately owned for off-street parking facilities, providing for the transient storage of automobiles or motor-driven vehicles. Such parking services may be provided as a free service or may be provided for a fee.

PARKING SPACE: The space within a building, or on a lot or parking lot, for the parking or storage of one automobile.

PARTY WALL: A common shared wall between two separate structures, buildings, or dwelling units.

PERSON: Any individual or group of individuals, partnership, or corporation.

PORCH: A covered area in excess of four feet by five feet or 20 square feet in area at a front, side, or rear door.

PREMISES: Any lot, parcel, or tract of land and any building constructed thereon.

PRIVATE: Not publicly owned, operated, or controlled.

PRIVATE PROPERTY: Any property not owned or leased by the government of the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any political subdivision thereof.

PRIVATE ROAD: A legally established right-of-way, other than a public street, which provides the primary vehicular and/or pedestrian access to a lot.

PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION: The practice of a profession by any attorney, physician, surgeon, osteopath, chiropractor, dentist, optician, optometrist, chiropodist, engineer, surveyor, architect, landscape architect, or planner entitled to practice under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

PRURIENT INTEREST: Is to be judged with reference to average adults, unless it appears from the nature of the material or the circumstances of its dissemination, distribution, or exhibition that it is designed for clearly defined deviant sexual groups, in which case the predominant appeal of the matter shall be judged with reference to its intended recipient group.

PUBLIC: Owned, operated, or controlled by a government agency (federal, state, or local, including a corporation created by law for the performance of certain specialized governmental functions and the Board of Public Education).

PUBLIC GROUNDS: Includes the following:

PUBLIC NOTICE: Notice given not more than 30 days and not less than 14 days in advance of the date of any public hearing required by this chapter. Such notice shall be published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing.

PUBLIC UTILITY FACILITIES: Public utility transmission distribution facilities, including substations and the like.

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: A vehicular-type unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, which has its own motor power or is mounted or drawn by another vehicle, having a body width of no more than eight feet and a body length of no more than 35 feet when factory equipped for the road and licensed as such by the Commonwealth, to include, but not be limited to, travel trailers, truck campers, camping trailers, and self-propelled motor homes.

RIGHT-OF-WAY

A strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, forced dedication, prescription or condemnation and intended to be occupied or occupied by a road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipeline, waterline, sanitary storm sewer, and other similar uses;

Generally, the right of one to pass over the property of another.

RIGHT-OF-WAY, STREET: A public thoroughfare for vehicular traffic and/or pedestrian traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, alley, or however designated.

ROW HOUSE: See "dwelling, single-family attached."

RUNOFF: The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil but runs off the surface of the land.

SADOMASOCHISTIC ABUSES: Flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.

SANITARIUM: A private hospital, whether or not such facility is operated for profit.

SCHOOL: Any place offering instruction in any branch of knowledge under the supervision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or a lawfully constituted ecclesiastical governing body, person, partnership, or corporation meeting the requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

SCHOOL, NURSERY: Any place designed and operated to provide regular instruction and daytime care for two or more children under the age of elementary school, including day-care centers.

SCHOOL, VOCATIONAL: Same as elementary and secondary school, except that the primary activity is training in a trade or vocation.

SCREEN PLANTING: A vegetative material of sufficient height and density to conceal from the view of property owners in adjoining residential districts the structures and uses on the premises on which the screen planting is located.

SEDIMENTATION: The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated or deposited by moving wind, water, or gravity. Once this matter is deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred to as "sediment."

SEXUAL CONDUCT: Actual or simulated acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, or any touching of the clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks of the human male or female or the breasts of the female, whether alone or between members of the same or opposite sex, or between humans and animals.

SEXUAL EXCITEMENT: The condition of human male or female genitalia when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

SHOPPING CENTER: A group of stores planned and designed to function as a unit for the lot on which it is located, with off-street parking provided as an integral part of the unit.

SIGHT DISTANCE: The length of roadway visible to the driver of a passenger vehicle at any given point on the roadway when the view is unobstructed by traffic.

SIGN: Any structure or device for visual communication that is used for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the attention of the public.

SIGN, ADVERTISING: A sign intended for the painting, posting, or otherwise displaying of information inviting attention to any product, business, service or cause not located on or related to the premises on which the sign is situated.

SIGN, BUSINESS: A sign which directs attention to a use conducted, product or commodities sold or service performed upon the premises.

SIGN, IDENTIFICATION: A sign or nameplate, indicating the name of noncommercial buildings or occupants thereof or describing the use of such buildings or, when displayed at a residence, indicating a home occupation legally existing thereat.

SIGN, NONCONFORMING: Any sign lawfully existing on the effective date of an ordinance, or an amendment thereto, which renders such sign nonconforming because it does not conform to all the standards and regulations of the adopted or amended ordinance.

SIGN, OFF-PREMISES ADVERTISING: A sign intended for the painting, posting, or otherwise displaying of information inviting attention to any product, business, service, or cause not located on or related to the premises on which the sign is situated.

SIGN, REAL ESTATE: A sign relating to the property upon which it is located, offering such property for sale or lease, announcing improvements or changes in connection therewith, warnings, or other similar notices concerning such property.

SIGN, ROOF: Any device or structure erected for advertising or identification purposes upon or above the roof of any building or structure or part thereof.

SIGN, SERVICE: A sign which is incidental to a use lawfully occupying the property upon which the sign is located, which sign is necessary to provide information to the public such as direction to parking lots, location of restrooms; or other such pertinent facts.

SIGN, TEMPORARY: Any sign, banner, cardboard, or other material carrying an advertisement or announcement which is displayed or intended to be displayed for a period not exceeding ordinance requirements.

SIGN, WALL: A sign painted on or affixed to and paralleling the outside wall of building and extending not more than 12 inches from such wall.

SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN: A scaled graphical depiction of the proposed development of a lot, parcel, or tract of land, describing all covenants assigned, as well as accurately depicting the use, location, and bulk of all buildings and structures, intensity of use or density of development, streets, driveways, rights-of-way, easements, parking facilities, open space, public facilities and utilities, setbacks, height of buildings and structures, and other such data necessary for municipal officials to determine compliance with this chapter and appropriate provisions of other such ordinances, as they may apply.

SLOPE: The face of an embankment or cut section, and ground whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per 100 feet of horizontal distance.

SOIL STABILIZATION: Chemical or structural treatment designed to increase or maintain the stability of a mass of soil or otherwise to improve its engineering properties.

SOLAR ACCESS: A property owner's right to have the sunlight shine on his land.

SOLAR SKYSPACE: The space between a solar energy collector and the sun which must be free of obstructions that shade the collector to an extent which precludes its cost-effectiveness operation.

SOLAR SKYSPACE EASEMENT: A right, expressed as an easement, covenant, condition, or other property interest in any deed or other instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner, which protects the solar skyspace of an actual, proposed, or designated solar energy collector at a described location by forbidding or limiting activity or land uses that interfere with access to solar energy.

SPECIAL EXCEPTION: The Zoning Hearing Board shall hear and decide requests for special exceptions in accordance with standards and criteria established by the governing body. In granting a special exception, the Zoning Hearing Board may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition to those expressed in this chapter, as it may deem necessary to implement the purpose of Act 247
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
and this chapter.

STORAGE FACILITY: A structure intended for lease for the sole purpose of storing household goods, motor vehicles, or recreational equipment.

STORY: That portion of any building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it.

STORY, HALF: A story under a gabled, hipped, or gambreled roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not over three feet above the finished floor of such story.

STREET: A public right-of-way constructed to municipal standards which affords primary vehicular traffic or pedestrian access to abutting properties; includes avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, and viaduct, but shall not include a lane or an alley for the purpose of this chapter.

STREET, CUL-DE-SAC: A street intersecting another street at one end and terminating at the other in a vehicular turnaround.

STREET GRADE: The officially established grade of the street upon which a lot fronts or, in its absence, the established grade of the other streets upon which the lot abuts, at the midpoint of the frontage of the lot thereon. If there is no officially established grade, the existing grade of the street at such midpoint shall be taken as the street grade.

STREET LINE: The dividing line between the street and the lot, also known as the "right-of-way line."

STREET, MAJOR

ARTERIAL STREET

— A major street or highway with fast or heavy traffic of considerable continuity and used primarily as a traffic artery for intercommunications among large areas.

COLLECTOR STREET

— A major street or highway which carries traffic from minor streets to arterial streets, including the principal entrance streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within such a development.

STREET, MARGINAL ACCESS: A minor street which is parallel and adjacent to a limited-access highway or arterial street, which provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic. Also known as a "service road."

STREET, MINOR: A street used primarily for access to abutting properties.

STREET WIDTH: The distance between street lines, measured at right angles to the center line of the street.

STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground, including but not limited to buildings, fences, factories, sheds, cabins, mobile homes, and other similar items.

STRUCTURE, NONCONFORMING: A structure, the size, dimensions, or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision, or amendment to a zoning ordinance, but which fails by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.

STRUCTURE, TEMPORARY: A structure without any foundation or footings and which is removed when the designated time period, activity, or use for which the temporary structure was erected has ceased.

STUDIO: A building or portion of a building used as a place of work by an artist, photographer, or artisan, or used for radio or television broadcasting.

STUDIO, DANCING OR MUSIC: The use of a premises by a teacher of music or dancing where students are taught these arts for a fee. This term is synonymous with "dancing school" and "music school" and other similar expressions.

SUBDIVISION (see "land development"): 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 existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership or buildings or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access or residential dwellings, shall be exempted.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT: Any repair, alteration, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure and/or use, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of its market value either:

SURFACE DRAINAGE PLAN: A plan showing all present and proposed grades and facilities for stormwater management.

SWALE: A low-lying stretch of land characterized as a depression used to carry surface water runoff.

SWIMMING POOL: A portable or permanent structure designed to hold water for wading or swimming purposes, beginning at a height of 24 inches or an area of 125 square feet or greater and located above or recessed at ground level, shall, for the purpose of this chapter, be defined as a "swimming pool."

THEATER: A building or part of a building devoted to the showing of moving pictures or theatrical productions on a paid admission basis.

TOWNHOUSE: See "dwelling, single-family attached."

TRANSFORMER SUBSTATION: An electric substation containing an assemblage of equipment for the purpose other than generation or utilization, through which electrical energy in bulk is passed for the purpose of switching and modifying its characteristics to meet the needs of the general public.

UNDEVELOPED LAND: Any lot, tract, or parcel of land which has not been graded or in any other manner prepared for the construction of a building.

USE: The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained. The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to include any nonconforming use.

USE, NONCONFORMING: A use or activity which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision, or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails, by reason of such adoption, revision, or amendment, to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.

USE, PRINCIPAL: The primary or predominant use of any lot.

USE, TEMPORARY: A use established for a fixed period of time with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of the time period.

VARIANCE: The permission granted by the Zoning Hearing Board for an adjustment to some regulation which, if strictly adhered to, would result in an unnecessary physical hardship, where the permission granted would not be contrary to the public interest, and would maintain the spirit and original intent of this chapter.

WADING POOL: A portable or permanent structure designed to hold water for wading purposes, not to exceed 24 inches in height and area, governed by its location and located above or recessed at ground level is for the purpose of this chapter a wading pool.

WALLS

The vertical exterior surface of a building;

Vertical surfaces that divide a building's space into rooms.

WATERCOURSE: A stream of water, river, brook, creek, or a channel or ditch for water, whether natural or man-made.

WIND-ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM (WECS): A device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy.

WIND ROTOR: The blades, plus hub to which the blades are attached, that are used to capture wind for purpose of energy conversion. The wind rotor is used generally on a pole or tower and, along with other generating and electrical storage equipment, forms a wind energy conversion system.

YARD: An unoccupied space, other than a court, open to the sky, on the same lot with a building or structure.

YARD, BUFFER: A strip of required yard space adjacent to the boundary of a property or district, not less than the width designated in this chapter, and on which is placed (planted) year-round shrubbery, hedges, evergreens, or other suitable plantings of sufficient height and density to constitute an effective screen and give maximum protection and immediate screening to an abutting property or district and may include a permissible wall.

YARD, EXTERIOR: An open, unoccupied space between the buildings of a dwelling group or its accessory buildings and the project boundary or street line.

YARD, FRONT: An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the street line and the front line of the building projected to the sidelines of the lot. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building and the street line. Covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, shall be considered as part of the main building and shall not project into a required front yard.

YARD, INTERIOR: An open, unoccupied space between the buildings of a dwelling group or its accessory buildings; not a front, side, or rear yard.

YARD, REAR: An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main budding, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the sidelines of the lot. The depth of the rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building. A building shall not extend into the required rear yard.

YARD, SIDE: An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the buildings situated between the building and the sideline of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a rear line or a front line shall be deemed a sideline. A building shall not extend into the required side yards.

ZONING MAP: The map setting forth the boundaries of the zoning districts of the Borough which shall be part of this chapter.
Editor's Note: The Zoning Map is on file in the Borough offices.

Duncannon City Zoning Code

ARTICLE II

§ 225-4 Interpretation.

§ 225-5 Word usage.

§ 225-6 Definitions.