Harrisburg City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 7
305 Designation of Zoning Districts
§ 7-305.1 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish separate zoning districts within the City of Harrisburg in order to promote the City's community development objectives and to protect the general health, welfare, and safety of its residents. This chapter creates separate zoning districts with distinct purposes in each and describes the land uses that are permitted in each district. Each zoning district describes whether a specific land use is permitted by right, by special exception, or is prohibited. Determination of boundaries for specific zoning districts are shown on the Official Zoning Map for the City of Harrisburg.
§ 7-305.2 Applicability.
This chapter applies to all properties located within the City of Harrisburg.
§ 7-305.3 Designation of zoning districts.
For the purposes of this Zoning Code, the City of Harrisburg is hereby divided into zoning districts which shall be designated as follows:
A.
Open space district.
OSR | Open Space Recreation District |
B.
Residential districts.
RL | Residential Low Density District | |
RM | Residential Medium Density District |
C.
Commercial and downtown districts.
CN | Commercial Neighborhood District | |
CG | Commercial General District | |
DC | Downtown Center District |
D.
Special districts.
RF | Riverfront District | |
INS | Institutional District |
E.
Industrial districts.
IND | Industrial District |
F.
Overlay districts.
FP | Floodplain Overlay District | |
AZOD | Airport Zoning Overlay District | |
HD | Historic Overlay District | |
ACOD | Architectural Conservation Overlay District |
§ 7-305.4 Purpose of zoning districts.
[Amended 4-13-2021 by Ord. No. 6-2021]
In addition to the overall purpose and community development objectives stated in Chapter 7-301, the purpose for each designated zoning district is as follows:
A.
OSR Open Space Recreation: to preserve important open space and environmental resources, to maintain flood-prone areas in open space to minimize flood damages and hazards, to provide for a range of recreation-oriented facilities to serve residents and to attract visitors to the City, and to provide for certain water-related public utilities.
B.
RL Residential Low Density: to provide for neighborhoods of primarily single-family detached housing at low densities; to protect neighborhoods from incompatible uses and other activities that would adversely affect the stability of the area.
C.
RM Residential Medium Density: to provide for neighborhoods at medium densities; to protect neighborhoods from incompatible uses and other activities that would adversely affect the stability of the area.
D.
CN Commercial Neighborhood: to encourage and preserve corridors with a mix of medium- and high-density residential and neighborhood retail activities; to encourage pedestrian-oriented uses, while avoiding auto-related uses.
E.
CG Commercial General: to provide for a wide range of commercial, office, and service uses, and some residential uses that serve local and regional needs and are located on major arterials.
F.
DC Downtown Center: to promote a balanced mix of retail, office, service, entertainment, institutional, and high-density residential uses in the downtown; to promote expansion of the Downtown Center around the Harrisburg Transportation Center and further east along Market Street.
G.
RF Riverfront: to recognize the historical importance of Riverfront Park and to preserve the character of development along Front Street and the portion of State Street between Riverfront Park and the Capitol. Development standards, signage, and off-street parking requirements are designed to minimize impacts and are more restrictive than other zoning districts as a result.
H.
INS Institutional: to facilitate and protect institutional development including, but not limited to, government facilities, educational institutions, and hospitals.
I.
IND Industrial: to encourage all types of light industries, offices, warehousing, and wholesale sales uses; to also provide for a broad range of commercial uses, including retail sales, to provide a broad market for reuse of buildings and land; to permit heavy industrial uses by special exception to avoid conflicts with neighboring uses.
J.
FP Floodplain Overlay District: to promote the general health, safety and welfare of the community; to encourage the utilization of appropriate construction practices in order to prevent or minimize flood damage in the future; to minimize danger to public health by protecting water supply and natural drainage; to reduce financial burdens imposed on the community, its governmental units, and its residents, by preventing excessive development in areas subject to flooding; to comply with federal and state floodplain management requirements. See Chapter 7-315.
K.
AZOD Airport Zoning Overlay District: to create an overlay district that considers safety issues around the Capital City Airport (CXY) and Harrisburg International Airport (MDT); to regulate and restrict the heights of established uses, constructed structures, and objects of natural growth; to create a permitting process for certain uses, structures, and objects within said related zones.
§ 7-305.5 Official Zoning Map.
A.
The boundaries of zoning districts shall be as shown upon the map attached to and made a part of this Zoning Code, which shall be designated "Zoning Map - City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania."[1] The date of adoption and the dates of any revisions of the Zoning Map shall be noted on the Zoning Map. The Zoning Map and all notations, references, and other data shown thereon are hereby incorporated by reference into this Zoning Code and shall be as much a part of this Zoning Code as if all were fully described herein.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said map is on file in the City offices.
B.
At least one official copy of the Zoning Map shall be located in the Planning Bureau in the Department of Building and Housing Development and shall be the final authority on boundaries and districts. If the official copy of the Zoning Map becomes damaged, destroyed, lost, or difficult to interpret, or needs to be updated or needs correction, a new official copy of the Zoning Map may be created if certified as accurate by the Zoning Officer.
§ 7-305.6 District boundaries.
Where uncertainty exists as to the boundaries of any district as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply:
A.
Unless otherwise stated on the Zoning Map, zoning district boundary lines are intended to follow or be parallel to the center line of street or alley rights-of-way, railroad rights-of-way, or waterways or to follow lot lines as each existed as of January 1, 2013. A subsequent change to or deletion of a lot line shall not by itself cause a change to a zoning district boundary; and
B.
Where a district boundary is not fixed by information on the Zoning Map and where the line does not approximately follow lot lines, then the location of such boundary shall be determined by the use of the scale of the Zoning Map.
§ 7-305.7 Permitted uses by zoning district.
A.
Unless otherwise provided by law or specifically stated in this Zoning Code, including but not limited to Chapter 7-309, Specific Criteria, land or a structure shall only be used as or occupied by a use specifically listed in this chapter as being permitted in the respective zoning district, as listed in the following tables.[1]
[Amended 4-13-2021 by Ord. No. 6-2021]
[1]
Editor's Note: The use table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
Any use shall only be permitted if it complies with all other requirements of this Zoning Code. Where different requirements are stated for the same use or structure in this Zoning Code, the most restrictive requirement upon the use or structure shall apply.
C.
For the purpose of this section, the following abbreviations shall have the following meanings:
P | = | Permitted by right (zoning decision by Zoning Officer) |
SE | = | Special exception use (decision by Zoning Hearing Board, after an opportunity for review by the Planning Commission) |
N | = | Not permitted |
7-309 | = | See specific criteria |
D.
Any list of prohibited uses in this Zoning Code is intended to provide examples but is not intended to be exhaustive.
§ 7-305.99 Penalty.
Chapters 7-701 and 1-305 shall apply.