Homestead City Zoning Code
PART 3
Districts, Permitted Uses
§ 27-301 Establishment of district classifications.
1.
The Borough of Homestead is hereby divided into the following zoning districts:
R-1 | Single-Family Residential District |
R-2 | Medium-Density Residential District |
R-3 | Multifamily Residential District |
C-1 | Central Business District |
C-2 | Neighborhood Mixed Use Commercial District |
C-3 | Planned Commercial District |
WDD | Waterfront Development District |
POSP | Parks Open Space Public District |
2.
Purpose of each district. In addition to purpose stated in the Comprehensive Plan, the purposes of each zoning district are summarized below.
A.
An R-1 District is intended to provide suitable locations principally for single-family homes. Certain residentially related uses are also allowed as conditional uses.
B.
An R-2 District provides for single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, triplexes and quadruplexes at moderate densities and townhouses under special circumstances, along with certain residentially related conditional uses.
C.
An R-3 District includes a mix of single-family and two-family dwellings with garden apartments and townhouses, along with certain residentially related conditional uses.
D.
The C-1 District encompasses the Borough's central commercial core and provides for a wide variety of retail and service commercial uses along with business, professional and medical offices and related business uses. The orientation of this district is toward the pedestrian rather than the automobile. The preservation of historic resources and compatible reuses are encouraged in this District.
E.
The intent of the C-2 District is to provide guidance and flexibility for the development of a compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood commercial district. The purpose of this District is to provide convenience goods and services to the residents of the adjacent neighborhood. The District is ancillary and complementary to the Eighth Avenue Business District and the waterfront. The purposes of the District will be achieved through the development of a mixture of complementary land uses that include small-scale convenience retail, commercial services, civic uses and upper floor office space and residential uses in an environment that is safe, comfortable and attractive to pedestrians and encourages economic and social vitality and the linking of trips. The District shall be designed in such a way that adjacent land uses are well integrated with uses within comfortable walking distance and are connected to each other with direct, convenient and attractive sidewalks.
F.
The C-3 District provides an area of transition between the Central Business District and the Planned Economic Reuse District where certain heavier commercial uses which are not appropriate in the Central Business District are permitted and where the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and assembly of property for planned commercial developments are encouraged.
G.
The WDD is intended to facilitate the development of large, under-utilized or vacant former industrial sites along the Monongahela River which may be suitable for a variety of retail, office, recreational and/or residential uses, provided that the arrangement and design are carefully planned and implemented. It is the intent of these provisions to allow considerable flexibility within the WDD in the specific types of uses, their arrangement and their intensity while assuring that:
(1)
Uses within the WDD are either compatible in scale, intensity, visual and operational characteristics, or, if different, are so arranged that adverse impacts on adjacent properties are minimized.
(2)
All necessary utilities, facilities and site improvements are provided in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 22, Subdivision and Land Development.
(3)
Negative impacts on the natural environment are avoided.
(4)
Provision is made for the safe movement of people, goods and vehicles without increasing congestion and/or creating hazards within the WDD or within the area of impact in the larger community.
(5)
Each building site has adequate off-street parking, safe pedestrian circulation, loading and unloading, light and air, access for emergency vehicles and landscaped areas and open spaces as may be required.
(6)
The improvement of land and land uses within the WDD do not adversely affect existing development in adjacent areas.
H.
The POSP District is intended to provide areas for public uses, including public open spaces and public recreational uses that enhance the quality of life in the community.
§ 27-302 Zoning District Map and boundaries.
1.
Boundaries Established. The boundaries of the various zoning districts are hereby established on the map known as the "Official Zoning District Map of the Borough of Homestead," as amended in December 2018 (hereinafter referred to as "the Official Zoning Map"), on file in the office of the Zoning Officer/Building Inspector. The Official Zoning Map with all explanatory matter thereon is hereby made part of this chapter. The Official Zoning Map shall be dated and shall carry the Borough Seal and the signature of the President of Borough Council and the Borough Secretary certifying that it is the true map adopted by the Borough Council. All amendments shall be identified on the map and similarly certified. The boundaries between districts are, unless otherwise indicated, either the center line of streets or such lines extended, or parallel lines thereto, or property lines or other physical boundaries or features. Where streets, property lines or other physical boundaries or features are not applicable, boundaries shall be determined by the scale shown on the Official Zoning Map.
[Amended 2-14-2019 by Ord. No. 2018-10]
2.
Interpretation. Where physical boundaries or features existing on the ground are at variance with those shown on the Official Zoning Map or in other circumstances not specifically covered above, the Zoning Hearing Board shall interpret the district boundaries.
3.
Future street vacation. In the event that a street, alley or other way shown on the Zoning District Map is vacated, the property formerly in said street right-of-way shall be included within the zoning district of the adjoining property on either side of said vacated street or way. Where said street forms a zoning district boundary, the new district boundary shall be the new property line created by the former center line of said vacated street.
§ 27-303 District regulations.
1.
District regulations governing the uses and area and dimensional standards for each zoning district shall be as set forth in the regulations that follow.
2.
In the event of any conflict between the regulations contained in an article related to a specific zoning district and any other provisions of Part 16, the regulations set forth in the section related to the specific zoning district shall prevail.
3.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other ordinance, a building owned by the Borough of Homestead and which is also a public building or use shall be a permitted use in any district, and such building shall be exempt from area, dimensional and similar standards of this of this chapter and any other ordinance if the Zoning Officer determines that exemption is not contrary to the public interest or public safety.
4.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other ordinance, a building owned by the Borough of Homestead and which is also a public building or use shall be exempt from area, buffer, bulk, density, dimensional, distance, height, lot, parking, setback, space, yard and similar standards of this chapter and any other ordinance if the Zoning Officer determines that the exemption is not contrary to the public interest or public safety.
§ 27-304 Table of Permitted Uses by district.
The Table of Permitted Uses is attached to this chapter.
§ 27-305 Table of Permitted Accessory Uses by district.
1.
The Table of Permitted Accessory Uses is attached to this chapter.
2.
Permitted accessory uses in all districts. An accessory use of a dwelling is only permitted if such use is customarily incidental to the residential use. The following are permitted by right as accessory uses to a lawful principal use in all districts, within the requirements of § 27-503 and all other requirements of this Zoning Chapter:
A.
Antennas, standard (see definition in Part 2)* and antennas for emergency services.
B.
Day-care center as an accessory use, within the limits on number of children in § 27-503*.
C.
Fence or wall*.
D.
Garage sale*.
E.
Home gardening nurseries, greenhouses*.
F.
Indoor storage that is customarily accessory to a permitted use.
G.
Keeping of pets*.
H.
Recreational facilities, noncommercial, limited to use by employees of a lot or a development or residents of a development and their occasional invited guests.
I.
Residential accessory structure (see definition in Part 2).
J.
Satellite antennas*.
K.
Signs, as permitted by Part 9.
L.
Swimming pool*.
3.
Permitted accessory uses to commercial and institutional uses. The following are permitted by right accessory uses only to a lawful principal business or institutional uses, provided that all requirements of this Zoning Ordinance are met:
A.
Amusement machines, coin- or token-operated as accessory uses.
B.
Food and beverage machines, coin-operated.
C.
Newspaper sales machines, coin-operated.
D.
The following accessory uses, provided that the use is clearly limited to employees, patients, residents and families of employees of the use and their occasional invited guests:
4.
Permitted essential services. The following are essential services that are permitted by right as a principal or as an accessory use in all districts:
A.
Essential services exempt from lot area and setback requirements. The following essential services are not required to meet the accessory or principal structure setback, lot area or other lot requirements of this Zoning Chapter (unless specifically noted otherwise), except that any newly created lot shall meet the applicable lot requirements if future building or subdivision of the lot would reasonably be possible for a different use:
(1)
Oil pipelines and natural gas transmission and distribution lines and accessory compressing stations.
(2)
Electrical transformers as an accessory use to dwellings.
(3)
Electrical, telephone and streetlight poles.
(4)
Electrical transmission and distribution lines and meters.
(5)
Shelters and benches for buses that transport school children or that are owned, operated or financed by a public transit authority and that do not include off-premise signs.
(6)
Engineered retaining walls that are clearly necessary to hold back slopes. Such walls must be a minimum of five feet from the property line.
(7)
Ramps primarily intended for handicapped access.
(8)
Ground level porches. See § 27-402.6.
(9)
Construction. Temporary storage of vehicles and materials and construction office trailers that are clearly needed and being actively used for current construction on the same or an adjacent lot or within the same subdivision, provided such items are removed from the site within 30 days of completion of the portion of the construction that they relate to. These vehicles and materials shall only be stored on a lot while the related Borough construction permit is actively still in effect.
B.
Essential services required to comply with lot area and setback requirements. The following are permitted essential services that are required to meet all of the applicable requirements of this Zoning Chapter:
(1)
Electrical substations and bulk industrial or commercial transformers that are not an accessory use to dwellings. Electric substations involving outdoor structures at least 10 feet in height shall be required to provide buffer yards within the requirements of § 27-1102 on sides that are within 150 feet of a dwelling, undeveloped residentially zoned land or an expressway or an arterial street.
(2)
Water towers (see height exemption in § 27-402.8), water filtration plants and pressure stations.
(3)
Solid waste bulk dumpsters and bulk compactors.
(4)
Central sewage treatment facility meeting all Pennsylvania DEP and Borough regulations.