Horsham Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXII
C-3 Highway Commercial District
§ 230-142 Declaration of legislative intent.
The C-3 Highway Commercial District is hereby established as a district in which regulations are intended to make appropriate provision for a wide range of highway oriented retail, automotive, and heavier service type commercial activities which generally require main highway locations and cater to transient as well as to local customers. Among the purposes of this district are:
A.
To encourage the sound and appropriate commercial development of compact segments of major highway frontage.
B.
To provide locations for important highway oriented type business.
C.
To protect major highways as thoroughfares.
§ 230-143 Use regulations.
[Amended 5-13-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-3; 9-28-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-07; 11-12-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-05]
A detached building may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes, and no other:
A.
Retail stores, with a gross floor area not in excess of 10,000 square feet.
B.
Restaurant, provided that quick-service restaurants shall not be permitted.
C.
Personal service shop, such as barbershop, beautician, or clothes cleaning and pressing pickup point, but not including laundry, dry-cleaning or clothes-pressing establishment.
D.
Retail service shop, such as a bakery, ice cream, or similar shop, custom tailoring or millinery shop, clock, watch, or jewelry shop, or household appliance repair shop, provided that:
(1)
Any processing activity shall be not less than 15 feet from the front of the building and shall be screened by a wall or partition from the front portion of the building used by customers;
(2)
Any article made shall be sold at retail from the premises; and
(3)
The area devoted to processing shall constitute not more than 30% of the gross floor area.
E.
Office or studio.
F.
Bank or similar financial institution.
G.
Office or clinic for medical or dental examinations or treatment of persons as outpatients, including laboratories incidental thereto, but not including methadone treatment facilities.
H.
Day school.
I.
Accessory use on the same lot with or customarily incidental to the above permitted uses.
J.
Municipal building.
K.
Utility line, or any necessary governmental or public utility use.
§ 230-144 Area and height regulations.
[Amended 9-16-1998 by Ord. No. 1147; 5-13-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-3]
A.
Lot area and width. Except for the day school use and uses listed in § 230-143A and G(1), every lot shall have a lot area of not less than 30,000 square feet, and such lot shall be not less than 100 feet in width at the building line.
B.
Building coverage. Except for the day school use, not more than 50% of the developable area of each lot may be occupied by buildings.
C.
Front yard. Except for the day school use, there shall be a setback on each street on which a lot abuts which shall not be less than 50 feet in width.
D.
Rear yard. Except for the day school use, there shall be a rear yard on each lot which shall be not less than 30 feet in depth.
E.
Side yard. Except for the day school use, for any building or use there shall be two side yards not less than 25 feet in depth.
F.
Height regulations. All buildings shall comply with the regulations as contained in Article V, Performance Standards.
G.
Notwithstanding any other regulations in this chapter, each day school shall comply with the following regulations:
(1)
Minimum lot size. The minimum lot size for each day school in the C-3 Zoning District shall be 15 acres.
(2)
Front yard setback. There shall be a setback on each street which a lot abuts which shall not be less than 100 feet in depth.
(3)
Read yard setback. There shall be a rear yard setback on each lot which shall not be less than 100 feet in depth.
(4)
Side yard setbacks. There shall be two side yards, each of which shall be not less than 100 feet in depth.
(5)
Parking setbacks. All parking areas shall be located at least 25 feet from any property line and 10 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of any public street.
(6)
Sports structure setback. All sports structures, including, but not limited to bleachers, dugouts, storage buildings, snack stands, and scoreboards, shall be located at least 50 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of any street and 100 feet from all other property lines.
(7)
Outdoor play area setbacks. All outdoor play areas shall be located at least 50 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of any public street and 70 feet from any property line.
(8)
Building coverage. Not more than 15% of the site area may be occupied by buildings.
(9)
Impervious surface coverage. Not more than 40% of the site area may be covered by impervious materials.
(10)
Height. The height of the principal building shall not exceed 45 feet in height, exclusive of mechanical equipment, which shall be shielded from view of adjacent streets and properties. All accessory buildings shall comply with the regulations as contained in Article V, Performance Standards.
(11)
Parking. The following parking regulations shall apply to all day schools:
(a)
Nursery school or kindergarten: one off-street parking space for each faculty member and employee, plus one additional space per classroom.
(b)
Elementary school: one off-street parking space for each faculty member and employee, plus one space per two classrooms and offices.
(c)
Junior high school or middle school: one off-street parking space for each faculty member and employee, plus one space per two classrooms and offices, or one off-street parking space for each 10 auditorium seats, whichever requires the greater number of off-street parking spaces.
(d)
Senior high school: one off-street parking space for each faculty member and employee, plus one space per 10 classroom seats, or one off-street parking space for each 10 auditorium seats, whichever requires the greater number of off-street parking spaces.
(e)
College and junior college: one off-street parking space per faculty member and employee, plus one space for each 10 classroom seats, or one off-street parking space for each 10 auditorium seats, whichever requires the greater number of off-street parking spaces.
(f)
Stadium parking. In addition to the above parking requirements, any day school which proposes a sports stadium on school property shall provide an additional one off-street parking space for each eight seats.
(g)
The applicant shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Township, the ability to provide parking for special events.
(12)
Buffer requirements. All day schools shall meet the following buffer requirements:
(a)
A twenty-five-foot buffer area, with vegetative materials as described in the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance,[1] shall be provided along all side and rear property lines.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 198, Subdivision and Land Development.
(b)
There shall be a buffer area around all parking areas which shall, in the discretion of the Township, be sufficient to shield the adjacent neighborhood from glare and inappropriate noise.
(c)
There shall be a buffer area around all sports fields/courts and outdoor play areas which shall, in the discretion of the Township, be sufficient to protect the neighborhood from inappropriate noise and other disturbances.
(13)
Sports field or stadium lighting. The following regulations shall apply to all lighting for stadiums, tennis courts, basketball courts, and sports fields, including scoreboards and practice fields:
(a)
Lighting shall be shielded wherever possible. Lighting shall have directional and glare control devices to minimize light trespass and sky glow.
(b)
All lighting, excluding security lighting, shall be equipped with automatic shutoff control devices to extinguish light no more than one hour past the expiration of an event.
(c)
Lighting levels and ratios shall comply with IESNA standards, and all applicable regulations specified by the governing agency of the sport (i.e., PIAA, NCAA, etc.)
(d)
No direct lighting shall project off the property.
(e)
No scoreboard shall have video or moving images.
§ 230-145 Special regulations.
[Amended 5-13-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-3]
A.
In addition to the requirements listed in § 230-144, all day schools shall meet the following requirements:
(1)
Each day school shall be served by public water and public sewer.
(2)
Each day school shall have at least two means of ingress and egress for emergency service vehicles, and shall have access to an arterial or collector street as defined by the Horsham Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1] Access roads shall be perpendicular to the street from which access is taken.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 198, Subdivision and Land Development.
(3)
The applicants for each day school shall provide plans that show designated student pickup and dropoff areas. Adequate stacking shall be provided so that vehicles entering the site will not interfere with traffic flow on the adjacent public streets. The plans for parking layout, pickup and dropoff areas and stacking areas are subject to the approval of the Township. The plans shall also show a dropoff area for bus traffic which is separate from the dropoff area for automobile traffic.
(4)
There shall be a minimum of one off-street loading area which shall be separate from area(s) where school students are dropped off for school.
(5)
Signage. Each day school may have one monument sign, with landscaping, at each access point from a public street, plus the name of the school in one location on the principal building. The monument sign(s) at each access point may be digital. The sign on the principal building must be earthtone in color, consistent with the color of the building.
B.
In addition to the requirements of this article, the plan for development of all uses in the C-3 Zoning District, except the day school use, shall comply with the applicable regulations contained in Article IV, General Provisions, and Article V, Performance Standards. For security purposes, woodland areas may be removed for day school uses, and there shall be no requirement to replace trees which are removed for a day school.
