Horsham Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE X
R-4 Medium Density Residential District
§ 230-62 Declaration of legislative intent.
§ 230-63 Use regulations.
[Amended 12-23-2002 by Ord. No. 1153; 3-12-2003 by Ord. No. 1154; 7-24-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-3; 11-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]
A building or group of buildings may be erected, altered or used, or a lot may be used or occupied for one principal use for any of the following purposes:
A.
Municipal park or recreation area owned and operated by a governmental or quasi-governmental agency.
B.
single-family detached dwelling.
C.
Utility line, or any necessary governmental or public utility use.
D.
Accessory use on the same lot with and customarily incidental to the above uses.
E.
Municipal building.
F.
No-impact home-based businesses when accessory to a single-family dwelling in accordance with the standards set forth in § 230-23.
§ 230-64 Development regulations.
[Amended 9-16-1998 by Ord. No. 1147; 7-24-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-3; 11-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]
For all permitted buildings and uses, and special exception uses allowed, the following regulations shall apply:
A.
Lot area.
(1)
Public water and sewers. A lot area of not less than 12,000 square feet shall be provided for every principal building hereafter erected or used in this district.
C.
Building coverage. Not more than 20% of the lot area shall be occupied by buildings.
D.
Lot coverage. Not more than 25% of the lot area may be covered by buildings, parking lots, vehicular accessways or other impervious material.
E.
Yard requirements.
(1)
Front yard. There shall be a front yard on each street which the lot abuts, measured from the ultimate right-of-way to the building, the depth of which shall be at least 50 feet.
(2)
Side yard.
(a)
Public water and sewer. There shall be two side yards for any building or use not less than 25 feet in aggregate width and neither less than 10 feet in width.
(3)
Rear yard. There shall be a rear yard, the depth of which shall be at least 30 feet.
F.
Height requirements. The height of any principal building shall not exceed 35 feet and notwithstanding § 230-16 the height of any accessory structures or buildings shall not exceed one story in height and in no event greater than 14 feet. Accessory structures shall be permitted in rear yards only not less than seven feet from a side or rear lot line.
G.
Density. The maximum achievable number of lots on a parcel shall be calculated through the environmental resource protection density determination contained in § 230-49B.
H.
Contiguous building envelope area. The minimum contiguous building envelope area shall consist of not less than 2,000 square feet.
§ 230-64.1 Suburban Transition Community (STC) regulations.
[Added 11-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]
For a suburban transition community (STC), the following regulations shall apply:
A.
STCs are permitted in qualifying areas within the R-4 Residential District in order to improve public safety and community facilities. An STC must create and construct at least one major infrastructure improvement that, in the sole discretion of the Horsham Council, benefits stormwater management or traffic flow in a large portion of the Township. Examples of such improvements are as follows:
(1)
The construction of a public collector road to mitigate existing traffic congestion.
(2)
The construction of off-site improvements.
(3)
The provision of stormwater management improvements that, in the sole discretion of Horsham Council, provide a significant improvement to the regional stormwater management systems.
B.
Site area. There shall be a minimum site area of not less than 50 acres. No more than 20% of the site area may contain resources requiring open space ratios of 100%, as contained in § 230-49.B(4)(b).
C.
Lot width. The site shall have at least 1,000 feet of frontage on either an existing or proposed collector or arterial road.
D.
Building coverage. Not more than 20% of the site area shall be occupied by buildings.
E.
Perimeter buffer requirements. There shall be a perimeter buffer of 35 feet where an STC abuts existing single-family dwellings or residentially zoned land, provided that access roads may cross the perimeter buffer. The perimeter buffer shall be owned by the Township or, with the approval of Township Council, may be owned and maintained by a homeowners' association.
F.
Building setbacks.
(1)
No building shall be located less than 40 feet from an existing public street or to a proposed collector or arterial street.
(2)
Single-family dwellings shall have a minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet; a front yard on each street which the lot abuts, measured from the right-of-way to the building, the depth of which shall be at least 30 feet; two side yards not less than 25 feet in aggregate, with neither less than 10 feet in width; and a rear yard of at least 30 feet.
(3)
The horizontal distance between parallel elements of buildings shall be no less than 20 feet for twin dwellings. Twin dwellings shall have at least 20 feet between the building and the right-of-way line of a street; and shall have at least 40 feet from the rear of any building to another building. Decks shall be permitted within the 40-foot distance between buildings.
G.
Height requirements. The height of any principal building shall not exceed 40 feet. Notwithstanding § 230-16, the height of any accessory structures or buildings shall not exceed one story in height and in no event greater than 14 feet. Accessory structures shall be permitted in rear yards only and not less than seven feet from a side or rear lot line.
H.
Density. The overall density within a STC shall not exceed seven dwelling units per acre of developable area, but in no event shall there be more than 2.4 dwelling units per acre of gross tract area.
I.
Common open space. A minimum of 50% of the site area shall be preserved as permanent common open space and shall be permanently restricted from future development. Common open space shall comply with the applicable provisions of § 230-49. Common open space shall include walking trails that connect to existing or proposed parks and internal sidewalk systems, tot lots, or other recreational features.
J.
Active open space. A minimum of five acres of land not restricted by environmental features or stormwater facilities shall be provided for active recreation or, in the alternative, the applicant shall construct a pedestrian trail to a public park in the Township and shall make a contribution of not less than $25,000 to the Township for improvement of the park to which the trail leads.
K.
An STC shall be serviced by public water and public sanitary sewers.
L.
Street design. Interior streets within an STC (not including roads or streets within the development which are classified as arterial or collector streets in the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance) shall provide a minimum 38-foot-wide right-of-way and a minimum 26-foot-wide cartway. Culs-de-sac shall have a 50-foot paved radius, and the cul-de-sac bulb right-of-way radius shall be 56 feet. The length of a cul-de-sac shall not exceed 700 feet as measured along the centerline. There shall be a minimum two-foot grass strip between the sidewalk and the face of the curb. Clear sight triangles of 60 feet, as measured from the center line of the intersecting streets, shall be provided at all street intersections.
M.
Parking. Overflow parking areas may be perpendicular to an interior street. One garage spot per lot may be counted toward required off-street parking, provided a restriction against utilizing the garage as living space is recorded against the lot.
N.
Driveway separation. The minimum required driveway separation to an intersection, measured from the near edge of the driveway to the near edge of the cartway, shall be 30 feet. In instances where a driveway is opposite a street intersection, the driveway can be directly opposite with no setback.
O.
Community signs. In order to identify the development, every STC which includes the construction of a public collector road may construct one 32-square-foot community sign at both ends of the collector road (for a total of two signs) where the collector street intersects with an existing street.
§ 230-64.2 Base Revitalization Transitional Community (BRTC) regulations.
[Added 11-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]
A.
A Base Revitalization Transitional Community ("BRTC") shall be permitted in the R-4 Zoning District only on tracts of land designated by the Final Preferred Land Use Plan and Horsham Township Comprehensive Plan as part of the redevelopment of the former Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove ("Base") to allow single-family detached dwellings on medium density lots to serve as a transitional use between low-density residential housing and higher density housing and non-residential uses as part of the implementation of the base redevelopment plan.
(1)
Minimum gross tract area: 15 acres.
(2)
Dwelling units. Only single-family detached dwellings shall be permitted in a BRTC.
(3)
Public water and sewers. A BRTC shall be serviced by public water and public sanitary sewers.
(4)
Density. The maximum density for the number of lots on a parcel shall be calculated through the environmental resource protection density determination contained in § 230-49B.
(5)
Minimum lot area. A lot area of not less than 7,000 square feet shall be provided for every principal building hereafter erected or used in this district. Utility easements for storm sewer, sanitary sewer or water supply essential for the proposed development must not be included as part of the required lot area.
(6)
Minimum lot width. A lot width of not less than 60 feet shall be provided.
(7)
Maximum building coverage. Not more than 25% of the lot area shall be occupied by buildings.
(8)
Maximum lot coverage. Not more than 40% of the lot area may be covered by buildings, parking area, vehicular accessways, or other impervious material.
(9)
Yard requirements:
(a)
Front yard. There shall be a front yard on each street which abuts, measured from the ultimate right-of-way to the building, the depth of which shall be at least 15 feet.
(b)
Side yard. There shall be two side yards for any building or use not less than 25 feet aggregate width and neither less than 10 feet in width.
(c)
Rear yard. There shall be a rear yard, the depth of which shall be at least 30 feet. Decks or patios without roofs, when not greater than five feet in elevation above ground level, may extend a maximum of 15 feet into the minimum required rear yard. Any deck or patio without a roof greater than five feet in elevation above ground level may extend not more than five feet into the minimum required rear yard.
(10)
Height regulations. The height of any principal building shall not exceed 35 feet and, notwithstanding § 230-16, the height of any accessory structures or buildings shall not exceed one story in height and in no event greater than 14 feet.
(11)
Accessory structures. Accessory structures shall be permitted in rear yards only, not less than five feet from a side or rear lot line.
(12)
Contiguous building envelope. The minimum contiguous building envelope area shall consist of not less than 2,000 square feet.
(13)
Common open space. The minimum open space requirements shall be 25%. Common open space may contain stormwater management facilities and passive and active recreation spaces (tot lots, playgrounds, walking trails, sports courts, etc.) as approved by Township Council during the subdivision/land development process. Required perimeter buffers may be included in the minimum open space requirements only if the perimeter buffer is permanently deed restricted as such, and physical delineations are created (such as fencing, walls, hedgerows, etc. as approved by Township Council) to prevent any use of the perimeter buffer for anything other than preserved open space.
(14)
Perimeter buffer requirements. There shall be a perimeter buffer of 30 feet where a BRTC abuts land zoned residentially or improved with single-family dwellings. Except in areas where the perimeter buffer is located in an environmental resource protection area (See § 230-49), the perimeter buffer shall include a berm and dense vegetation sufficient to prevent the use of the perimeter buffer by homeowners in the BRTC. Any and all required yard setbacks may be contained within the perimeter buffer requirements and shall not be required to be in addition thereto. In the case where residential units or lots are proposed to be located adjacent to an existing public right-of-way or street, the provisions of § 230-31B shall be applicable. There shall be no structures, including fencing, sheds, playsets, etc., permitted within any perimeter buffer, except in accordance with § 230-31B.