Franconia Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXVIII
VC Village Commercial District
§ 145-190 Legislative intent.
In expansion of the community development objectives contained in § 145-3 of this Code and in support of the goals and implementation techniques of Chapter IX of the 1987 Comprehensive Plan update, it is hereby declared to be the intent of the VC Village Commercial District to establish reasonable standards to permit and regulate limited commercial, office and residential uses within the Village Commercial District. Furthermore, it is the intent of this article:
A.
To encourage retention of the village atmosphere of Elroy by preserving the existing buildings to the greatest extent possible.
B.
To encourage retention of existing buildings by permitting a variety of commercial, office and residential uses which are compatible with the existing structural types, lot sizes and other physical characteristics of the Village Commercial District.
C.
To permit uses which allow conversion of existing buildings in a manner which maintains the visual character and architectural scale of existing development within the district.
D.
To encourage those types of commercial and office uses which do not attract large volumes of traffic and continuous customer turnover.
E.
To discourage development of strip-type, highway-oriented commercial uses with incongruous architectural styles, excessive paved areas and numerous curb cuts.
F.
To encourage consolidation of driveways, parking and curb cuts to provide more efficient and economical access and parking.
G.
To encourage a coordinated pedestrian path system to provide efficient, pleasant and convenient pedestrian access from parking areas to and among the various permitted uses.
H.
To minimize visual and functional conflicts between residential and nonresidential uses within and abutting the district.
I.
To discourage overdevelopment of lots by limiting the maximum permitted development and the maximum impervious coverage.
§ 145-191 Applicability.
In a VC Village Conservation District, the following regulations shall apply.
§ 145-192 By-right use regulations.
[Amended 5-19-2025 by Ord. No. 430]
A building may be erected, altered and used, and a lot may be used and occupied, for any one of the following purposes and no other.
A.
Agriculture.
B.
Open space.
C.
(Reserved)
D.
One single-family detached dwelling.
E.
One two-family detached dwelling, being either a two-family duplex or a single-family semidetached dwelling.
F.
Apartments within an existing structure.
G.
One business office.
H.
One professional office.
I.
Retail shop of a maximum of 5,000 square feet.
J.
Personal service shop.
K.
Studio dealing in art, music, dance and photography.
L.
Bed-and-breakfast.
M.
Restaurant without drive-through facilities.
N.
Confectionery and/or bakery making product for retail sale on the premises.
§ 145-193 (Reserved) [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 145-193, Special exception use regulations, was repealed 5-19-2025 by Ord. No. 430.
§ 145-194 Conditional use regulations.
A building may be erected, altered or used, and a lot may be used and occupied, as a conditional use, for any one of the following purposes and no other.
A.
Commercial/residential mixed use development.
§ 145-195 Dimensional regulations for by-right use.
A.
Lot area. A lot area of not less than 17,500 square feet shall be provided for every use or building erected thereon.
B.
Lot width. A lot width of not less than 75 feet shall be provided at the building setback line for every use or building erected thereon.
C.
Front yard. There shall be a front yard on every lot which shall be not less than 10 feet in depth and not more than 25 feet.
D.
Side yards. There shall be two side yards on every lot, each of which shall be not less than 10 feet in width, with a combined width requirement of not less than 30 feet.
E.
Rear yards. There shall be a rear yard on every lot which shall not be less than 20 feet in depth.
F.
Corner lots. There shall be a front yard on every street frontage and all remaining yards shall be rear yards.
G.
Accessory structures. Accessory structures shall be subject to the dimensional restrictions cited herein above.
H.
Building coverage. The maximum building coverage on a lot shall be 30%.
I.
Impervious coverage. The maximum impervious coverage on a lot shall be 70%.
J.
Height restrictions. The maximum height for buildings or structures erected or enlarged in the VC District shall be 40 feet, not exceeding three stories.
§ 145-196 Dimensional regulations for conditional uses.
[Amended 4-12-2010 by Ord. No. 367]
The dimensional regulations cited herein above in § 145-195 shall apply as minimums for conditional uses; however, the Board of Supervisors shall have the option of increasing the restriction by up to 100% as a part of the conditional use process.
§ 145-197 Additional regulations for all uses.
A.
Public water and public sewerage.
E.
Floodplain regulations: in accordance with Article XVIII.
F.
Natural resource regulations: in accordance with Article XXVI.
[Amended 11-19-2018 by Ord. No. 400]
I.
Detention basin regulations: in accordance with the Land Development and Subdivision Ordinance.
§ 145-198 Conditional use standards.
A.
Additional standards for conditional uses. In granting or denying a conditional use or establishing conditions with respect to such grants, the following standards shall be applied. The burden of establishing compliance with all of the hereinafter enumerated standards shall be upon the applicant.
B.
Development regulations for mixed use development.
(1)
The dimensional regulations for a by-right use as stated in § 145-195 shall apply subject to amendment as provided for in the review and approval process below.
(2)
In a mixed use development, the ground floor of a building may contain one or more retail shops of up to 5,000 square feet, one or more business offices, one or more professional offices or any combination of the above. All floors may contain dwelling units. All first floor nonresidential uses shall front on existing roads.
(3)
Review and approval process. The conditional use application procedure for a mixed use under these regulations shall include a draft plan. Failure to include such draft plan shall render the conditional use application incomplete, and it shall be rejected as such. The Township Board of Supervisors and/or its assignees may offer mandatory guidance on revision of such plan and/or modify the requirements of this section if, in its opinion, such guidance and/or modification would result in an improved plan.
(4)
Specific conditions for properties which contain buildings that existed at the time of the passing of this article.
(a)
The proposed use will preserve, utilize and maintain an existing building that is consistent with the village character for its purposes. If an existing building is demolished, then no conditional use will be permitted at any time.
(b)
The proposed use must preserve and maintain the front and side facades and the front porch of the existing building. Any expansion done from the rear of the building must conform in scale to the existing building. Any expansion done from the side of the building must conform in scale and building materials to the existing building. Expansion from the front of the building is not permitted.
(5)
Specific conditions for properties which do not contain buildings that existed at the time of the passing of this article.
(a)
Any new buildings shall be of such size, scale, general appearance and building materials so as to conform to the general nature of surrounding buildings and not detract from the intent of this Code to preserve the village conservation appearance.
(b)
A conditional use for a new building will not be permitted for buildings erected on lots which are formed by combining an existing empty lot with a lot upon which an existing building has been demolished.
§ 145-199 Development regulations.
[Amended 1-20-2020 by Ord. No. 409; 5-19-2025 by Ord. No. 430]
A.
Parking regulations.
(1)
Setbacks. All parking areas including parking spaces, aisles, and driveways serving the spaces, are to be setback from all property lines and buildings a minimum of five feet; however shared parking may cross the property line and parking adjacent to a residentially zoned property must be setback a minimum of 20 feet. Ingress and egress may be excluded from this setback requirement.