East Rockhill Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
PART 5
AGRICULTURE PRESERVATION DISTRICT
§ 27-500 Statement of Purpose and Intent for the District.
[Ord. 5/26/1987; as added by Ord. 194, -/-/2000, Art. XII; as amended by Ord. 201 5/13/2003, § II]
a.
The purpose of the Agriculture Preservation District is to recognize and protect those areas of the Township where farming predominates. Within the district, areas with Class I, II and II agricultural soils, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agricultural Soils Survey, shall be protected in accordance with the standards established herein. This district recognizes that farmland is being used to produce a product and has a positive purpose in utilizing the prime agricultural soils for the benefit of the entire community. Residents of the AP District are advised that there may be noise, odors, dust, fumes or other disturbances associated with agricultural practices which are considered to be acceptable effects of farming and shall not be regulated by Township nuisance laws.
b.
Intense residential development adjacent to farming operations are found to have severe, detrimental impacts on agricultural operations due to recognized conflicts between new residents in a farming area and existing farming operations. These residential/agricultural conflicts consist of increased trash in farm fields, increased traffic on country roads which impede the moving of farming equipment in an agricultural area, increased complaints and land use conflicts between new residents and farming operations, and increased pressure to extend public water and public sewer infrastructure into existing agricultural and rural areas. The minimum lot size in the AP District is to provide limited residential development compatible with agricultural operations, and to provide sufficient area for onlot water and onlot sewer facilities while at the same time providing an adequate buffer on the individual lots from farming operations.
c.
Within the Agriculture Preservation District, a building may be erected, altered or used, and a lot or premises may be used when in conformance with the conditions of this chapter and the specific use, area and design regulations of this district.
§ 27-501 Use Regulations.
[Ord. 5/26/1987; amended by Ord. 148, 10/20/1992; by Ord. 168, 2/18/1997, Art. VIII; by Ord. 194, -/-/2000, Art. XII; and by Ord. 259, 1/18/2011]
a.
Uses Permitted by Right.
(1)
A1 General Farming.
(2)
A2 Nursery.
(3)
A3 Intensive Agriculture.
(4)
A4 Forestry.
(5)
A5 Riding Academy.
(6)
A7 Agricultural Retail.
(7)
A8 Farm Unit.
(8)
A9 Farm Support Facility.
(9)
A10 Kennel - Non-commercial.
(10)
B1 Detached Dwelling.
(11)
B10a Accessory Professional Office.
(12)
B10b Accessory Personal Services.
(13)
B10c Accessory Instructional Services.
(14)
B10d Accessory Home Crafts.
(15)
B11 Residential Accessory Building.
(16)
B12 Garage Sales.
(17)
C7 Municipal Building.
(18)
D1 Recreational Facility.
(19)
I1 Nonresidential Accessory Building.
(20)
I3 Temporary Structure.
(21)
I9 Off-Street Parking.
(22)
I10 Signs.
b.
Uses Permitted by Conditional Use.
§ 27-502 Area and Dimensional Requirements.
[Ord. 5/26/1987; as added by Ord. 194, -/-/2000, Art. XII; as amended by Ord. 201, 5/13/2003, § I]
Unless a greater area or dimensional regulation is stated in § 27-304, "Use Regulations," for a specific use, all permitted uses shall comply with the following requirements:
a.
Sites Containing Less than 10 Acres.
A parcel or tract of land less than 10 acres in area shall comply with the following standards: | ||
minimum lot size: | 80,000 square feet | |
minimum lot width: | 200 feet | |
minimum yards: | ||
front: | 75 feet | |
side: | 30 feet | |
rear: | 100 feet | |
maximum height: | 35 feet | |
maximum impervious surface: 10% | ||
b.
Sites Containing 10 Acres or More. A parcel or tract of land which is 10 acres or greater shall comply with the following provisions:
(1)
All proposals for subdivisions and land developments shall complete a site analysis as specified by Part 19 of this chapter.
(2)
No more than 40% of prime farmland and farmland of statewide importance may be developed.
(3)
All proposed lots and development must be located on the portion of the tract which is situated outside the nonbuildable site area.
(4)
Lot Area. Each lot permitted on the buildable portion of a tract of land shall contain a contiguous area of at least 32,000 square feet. Larger lot area may be necessary to accommodate onlot sewage disposal systems if proposed.
(5)
Building Envelope.
(a)
All residential lots shall have a contiguous building envelope of at least 7,500 square feet. The purpose of the identification of the building envelope is to provide sufficient area and flexibility for the general location of a building, driveway, parking, patios and other improvements and site alterations while meeting the natural resource protection standards and minimum setback requirements. For uses with onlot sewage disposal systems, a minimum contiguous area of 3,000 square feet in addition to the building envelope specified above shall be identified for the sewage disposal system. Such additional area shall also meet the Natural Resource Protection Standards of § 27-1900.
(b)
The building envelope may include woodlands, steep slopes and agricultural soils areas that are not part of the non-buildable site area. The building envelope may not contain any of the following resources:
floodplains or floodplain soils | |
wetlands, lakes, ponds or watercourses | |
wetland margins or lake and pond shorelines |
(6)
Dimensional Requirements.
minimum lot width: | 125 feet | |
front yard: | 50 feet | |
side yard: | 30 feet | |
rear yard: | 50 feet | |
maximum height: | 35 feet | |
maximum impervious surface | 15% |
(7)
Exceptions. Lot Line Changes. Lot line changes which do not result in the creation of an additional building lot shall be exempt from the above provisions if the property is immediately conveyed to the adjacent parcel. However, in the case of a lot line change, each resulting lot shall comply with the area and dimensional requirements specified in § 27-502(b)(6) above.
c.
Standards for Farmland Preservation. All farmland set aside areas as required by the natural resource protection standards in Part 19 of this chapter shall comply with the following standards:
(1)
The farmland tract shall consist of a contiguous area which includes all protected farmland soils and shall not be less than 300 feet in length, width or any other dimension at any point except as permitted in subsection (3) below.
(2)
The farmland tract shall be of such shape so as to be suitable for the convenient use of modern farm equipment and machinery.
(3)
The farmland tract shall have suitable access, including frontage on a public street of not less than 150 linear feet. In the case where the farmland tract does not have road frontage due to the location of preserved prime farmland and agricultural soils, the tract shall be provided with direct access to a public street. Such accessway shall not be less than 25 feet in width or greater than 45 feet in width.
(4)
A Class D buffer shall be provided between the farmland tract and residential lots in accordance with the requirements of § 27-1905 and shall be located on the residential lots and not on the farmland tract.
(5)
The preserved farmland tract may include the existing farmhouse and accessory farm buildings for the continued use of the individual(s) and their family members engaged in the agricultural operation on the property, provided the farmland tract consists of a minimum of 10 acres. The existing farmhouse and accessory farm buildings must comply with the required setback provisions of § 27-502(b)(6) of this chapter.
One single-family detached dwelling, and accessory farm buildings may be constructed on a vacant farmland tract for the use of the property owner, and/or their family members engaged in the agricultural operation on the property, provided the farmland tract consists of at least 20 acres. The proposed structure must comply with the setback requirements of § 27-502(b)(6) of this chapter.
(6)
To the greatest extent possible, farmland resulting from subdivision shall be situated adjacent to one another to form large contiguous farm tracts.