Horsham Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XII
R-6 Residential District
§ 230-69 Declaration of legislative intent.
The R-6 Residential District is hereby established as a district in which regulations are intended to permit and encourage low density, low lot coverage, garden apartment and townhouse type multifamily development that is compatible with a predominantly single-family residential environment.
§ 230-70 Use regulations.
[Amended 2-14-1996 by Ord. No. 1144; 12-23-2002 by Ord. No. 1153; 3-12-2003 by Ord. No. 1154; 2-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-01]
A building or a group of buildings may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes, and no other:
A.
Multiplex or apartment house.
B.
Professional offices of a doctor, dentist, architect, lawyer, engineer or similar profession.
C.
Convalescent home, nursing home, life care community for the care of the elderly, or medical or surgical hospital.
D.
Accessory use on the same lot with and customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses.
E.
Municipal building.
§ 230-71 Area and height regulations.
The following area and height regulations shall apply to every building or group of buildings hereafter erected or used as a multiple-family dwelling, apartment house, or multiple dwelling group:
A.
Lot area and width. Every multiple dwelling or permitted apartment use shall have a lot area of not less than two acres and such lot shall have a minimum lot width at the building line of not less than 125 feet. The total number of dwelling units shall not exceed eight per acre and no less than 5,400 square feet per dwelling unit.
B.
Building coverage. Not more than 25% of the area of each lot may be occupied by buildings.
C.
Building placement. No building shall be located less than 75 feet from a street right-of-way, nor less than 40 feet from a side or rear property line, and no parking, loading or service area shall be located less than 25 feet from a street right-of-way or other property line.
D.
Distance between buildings. The horizontal distance between parallel elements of buildings forming a court shall no be less than twice the height of the taller building.
E.
Height regulations. No building shall exceed three stories or 35 feet in height and accessory structures or buildings shall not exceed one story in height and in no event greater than 14 feet.
F.
Building size. The greatest dimension of an apartment building or townhouse complex shall not exceed 130 feet.
§ 230-72 Special regulations.
B.
Centralized water and sanitary sewers must be provided by a public utility.
C.
For uses permitted under § 230-70C, the following additional regulations shall apply:
[Added 2-14-1996 by Ord. No. 1144]
(1)
Lot coverage. The total area covered by buildings, parking lots and vehicular accessways shall not exceed 25% of the total lot area. The remaining area shall be used for and maintained as landscaped green area for nonvehicular purposes only.
(2)
Height. The maximum height of any building shall be 40 feet. A steeple or church tower may extend to a maximum height of 100 feet above the ground elevation.
(3)
Yard requirements.
(a)
Front yard. The minimum depth of a front yard shall be 100 feet measured from the proposed right-of-way line (but never less than the existing right-of-way) of the street on which the building fronts. In the case of a corner lot, a front yard, the depth of which shall be at least 100 feet, shall be required on each street on which the lot abuts.
(b)
Side yard. For each building or use there shall be two side yards of not less than 100 feet each.
(c)
Rear yard. There shall be established for each building or use a rear yard of at least 100 feet in depth.
(d)
Abutting a residential district. Whenever the lot line abuts a residential district, the setback for buildings and parking shall be a minimum of 200 feet from the property line and the setback for parking and paved surfaces, with the exception of required access drives, shall be a minimum of 100 feet from the property line.
(e)
Space between buildings. The minimum distance between buildings shall be 50 feet; provided, however, that the spacing between a principal and accessory building may be reduced to 35 feet.
(4)
Buffering. There shall be a buffer area of at least 50 feet along all property lines which abut residentially zoned districts, which shall be planted and landscaped in accordance with the requirements for a screen buffer as provided in § 230-31A of this chapter.
(5)
Additional parking regulations. Parking areas shall be separated from all buildings by at least 15 feet of landscaped open space. Parking areas shall be at least 15 feet from all property lines except when abutting a residential district, in which case the set back shall be at least 100 feet, and shall be screened by plantings or decorative fencing from adjacent residential uses or districts in accordance with the requirements for a screen buffer as provided in § 230-31A of this chapter.
(6)
Intensity of use. The intensity of use shall not exceed four dwelling units and equivalent dwelling units per developable acre. For the purpose of this section, two beds for patients and resident use shall be deemed the equivalent of one dwelling unit.
(7)
Dwelling unit. For the purpose of this section, a dwelling unit shall be limited to a studio, one bedroom or two bedroom arrangement only. There shall be no more than two persons occupying a dwelling unit.
(8)
Management. Each facility shall be developed and operated under the direction and control of a single owner or agent for the owner unless the Township Council, in its discretion, shall approve an alternate form of operation.