The relinquishment of property, or a cessation of the use of the property, by the owner for a period of one year or more with the intention neither of transferring rights to the property to another owner nor of resuming the use of the property.

A paved surface, other than a street, which provides vehicular access from a street or private road to a lot.

A dwelling unit created within an existing dwelling that is smaller than and accessory to the principal dwelling unit in the same building.

A subordinate building or structure serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or structure and located on the same lot as the principal structure or use.

A solar energy system whose main purpose is to generate and supply electricity to the property on which the facility is located.

A use of land or of a building customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the land or building and located on the same lot with the principal use.

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended.[1]

The net usable land area of a proposed development site, determined by deducting specific percentages of various categories of constrained land from the gross tract area as described in this chapter.

One of two methods for determining the maximum number of permitted dwelling units in conservation subdivisions, where the adjusted tract area of the site equals the gross tract area minus the constrained land on the site. The actual methodology is provided in this chapter. The other method is the yield plan.

A business or club, which engages in one or more of the following areas of sales, services or entertainment:

An enterprise that is actively engaged in the intensive commercial production and preparation for market of livestock, livestock products, animal husbandry, and poultry. There are four categories and requirements for an agribusiness operation that are based on their potential to cause environmental harm. All categories must obtain and implement a nutrient management, erosion and sediment control plan and obtain a certification/permit from the County Conservation District or the State Conservation Commission and Department of Environmental Protection.

An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial production and preparation for market of crops, livestock products and in the production, harvesting and preparation for the market or use of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and aquacultural crops and commodities. The term includes an enterprise that implements changes in production practices and procedures or types of crops, livestock, livestock products or commodities produced consistent with practices and procedures that are normally engaged by farmers or are consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry. (Note: MPC Section 107,[2] "agricultural operation" definition.)

A special zoning district regulating the area around an airport. The following definitions apply to the Airport Safety Overlay Zone.

A public thoroughfare primarily for service access to the rear or sides of properties and is not intended for general traffic circulation

As applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the existing facilities, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, of the moving from one location or position to another.

An accessory structure or device, partially or wholly exterior to a building that is used for receiving and/or transmitting electronic signals or shortwave or citizens band radio frequencies, including ham radios. Amateur radio antennas are not considered communication towers and antennas as regulated in this chapter.

A revision to this chapter text and/or the Official Zoning Map and meeting the process requirements of Article VI, Administration and Enforcement, of this chapter.

An outdoor commercial recreation facility, primarily outdoors, that may include structures and buildings, where there are various devices for entertainment, including rides, booths for the conduct of games or sale of items, buildings for shows and entertainment, and restaurants, and souvenir sales; however, under no circumstances shall amusement parks include adult-related facilities.

Any establishment offering veterinary services. Animal hospitals can treat all types of animals and can include outdoor and overnight boarding of animals.

The vertical distance measured from the base of the antenna support structure at grade to the highest point of the structure. If the support structure is on a sloped grade, then the average height between the highest and lowest grades shall be used in calculating the antenna height. The vertical distance shall not include the antenna (which shall not exceed 15 feet in height) located on top of the antenna support structure.

Any pole, telescoping mast, tower, tripod, or any other structure, which supports a device used in the transmitting or receiving of radio frequency energy.

A landowner or developer, as hereinafter defined, who has filed an application for development including his heirs, successors, and assigns.

Every application, whether preliminary, tentative or final, required to be filed and approved prior to start of construction or development, including but not limited to an application for a building permit, for the approval of a subdivision plat or plan or for the approval of a development plan.

An indoor commercial recreation facility or part of a building in which pinball machines, video games, or other similar player-operated amusement devices are present and maintained as the primary use. For the purpose of this definition, "primary use" means 51% or more of the gross floor area of the portion of the structure being use (not to include any area of a structure being used as storage).

That part of a building which is immediately below and wholly or partly within the roof framing. Within a dwelling unit, an attic shall not be counted as floor area unless it is constructed as or modified into a habitable room by the inclusion of dormer windows, an average ceiling height of seven feet or more, and a permanent stationary interior access stairway to a lower building story.

Any area of land, including structures thereon, that is used for the sale of gasoline or any other motor vehicle fuel and oil and other lubricating substances, including any retail sales of motor vehicle accessories, which may not include major repairing, body and fender work, painting, vehicular sales, nor rental or automatic car washes.

An establishment where repairs, improvements, and installation of parts and accessories for motor vehicles are conducted that involves work that is more intense in character than work permitted under the definition of automobile filling station. A repair garage shall include, but not be limited to, any use that involves any of the following work: major mechanical or body work, straightening of body parts, painting, welding or rebuilding of transmissions.

Any place of business maintained, in whole or in part, for public rental for the purpose of private party events, whether family, group, or corporate in nature, where access by the general public is restricted, and with or without the sale, serving, or consumption of alcoholic beverages. A banquet hall may have a dance floor located in the room where the meals for events are consumed.[6]

A story partly underground but having at least 1/2 of its height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement if the vertical distance of the basement ceiling is five feet over the average adjoining grade or ground level or if used for business or dwelling purposes, other than a game or recreation room.

A single-family detached dwelling, not to exceed 10 rooms that are rented to overnight guests on a daily basis. Meals may be offered only to registered overnight guests.

The Zoning Hearing Board of Liberty Township.

The Board of Supervisors of Liberty Township.

A detached building or portion thereof arranged or used for sheltering or feeding, or both, as a gainful business, for more than three and not more than 10 individuals that do not constitute a family.

Open spaces, landscaped areas, fences, walls, berms, or any combination thereof used to physically separate or screen one use or property from another so as to visually shield or block noise, lights, or other nuisances.

A line which dictates the placement of a building or structure from the edge of sidewalk on which the building fronts. On the corner lot, there shall be a build-to-line on both sides of the lot which have street frontage.

Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosures of persons, vehicles, animals, or belongings, and including covered porches or bay windows and chimneys.

The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, awnings, terraces, and steps.

The horizontal area measured with the outside of the exterior walls of the ground floor of all principal and accessory buildings on a lot.

The portion of a lot that designates the area on a lot where buildings and structures may be constructed.

The mean grade at the front of the structure to the highest point of the structure, excluding chimneys, spires, towers, elevator penthouses, tanks and similar projections.

The line within a property defining the required minimum distance between any structure and the adjacent right-of-way or property line.

A plot of ground upon which one or more campsites are located, established, or maintained for regular occupancy by camping units as temporary living quarters for recreation, education, or vacation purposes. Pennsylvania Department of Health requires a permit for campgrounds which meet the following definition: a portion of land used regularly for the purpose of providing a space for a camping unit regardless of whether a fee has been charged for the leasing, renting or occupying of the space, in accordance with the Pennsylvania Code, Title 28, Chapter 19. The campground may be an organized camp that includes a combination of programs and facilities established for the primary purpose of providing an outdoor living experience for children, youth, and adults with social, recreational, and educational objectives and operated and used for five or more consecutive days during one or more seasons a year. There must be a named individual who has responsibility for the campground.

A tent, trailer, lean-to or recreation vehicle established or maintained as temporary living quarters for recreation, education, or vacation purposes.

Any plot of ground within a campground intended for exclusive occupancy by a camping unit or units under the control of a camper.

An unenclosed structure for the storage of one or more vehicles in the same manner as a private garage, which may be covered by a roof supported by columns or posts except that one or more walls may be the walls of the main building to which the carport is accessory.

The area of a road or other street within which vehicles are permitted, including travel lanes but not including shoulders, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, or drainage swales.

A building designed and used primarily for the washing and polishing of vehicles and which may provide accessory services related to washing and polishing.

A tract or parcel of land that contains the cellular phone antenna, its support structure, accessory buildings, and parking, and may include other uses associated with and ancillary to cellular phone transmission.

A space with less than 1/2 of its floor-to-ceiling height above the average finished grade of the adjoining ground or with a floor-to-ceiling height of less than 6 1/2 feet. Within a dwelling unit, a cellar shall not be counted as floor area or as a story of permissible building height.

Property used for the interring of the dead

A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks, which confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.

A building or structure, or group of buildings or structures, that by design and construction are primarily intended for conducting organized religious services and associated accessory uses, including cemeteries but not including campgrounds, which shall be considered a primary use and shall meet the campground requirements herein.

An organization catering exclusively to members and their guests, or premises or buildings for social, recreational and administrative purposes which are not conducted for profit, provided there are not conducted any vending stands, merchandising or commercial activities except as required for the membership of such club. Clubs shall include but not be limited to service and political organizations, labor unions, as well as social and athletic clubs. Private clubs shall not include adult-related facilities as defined herein.

An activity operated as a business, open to the public, for the purpose of public recreation or entertainment. This does not include adult-related uses, as defined herein.

The Planning Commission of Liberty Township.

A use permitted in a particular zoning district pursuant to the provisions in § 350-603 of this chapter.

A form of ownership providing for individual ownership of a specific dwelling unit, or other space not necessarily on ground level, together with an undivided interest in the land or other parts of the structure in common with other owners.

The area in the conservation subdivision (Conservation and Agriculture Rural Districts) that is devoted to open space and constrained areas. The use table in the district describes the type of uses permitted in the conservation area. The conservation area is delineated at the time of subdivision and land development and may only be used for conservation purposes and not further subdivided.

The grant of a property right stipulating that the described land will be permanently protected in its natural state or permitted state prescribed in the ordinance and precluding any future subdivision and land development.

A plan including a map(s) and narrative that, at the very least, outlines erosion and sedimentation control plan for an identified parcel of land.

A land development process that seeks to identify and permanently protect special natural and/or environmental features and open space in designated conservation areas or preserves.

Areas of a parcel identified when performing the adjusted tract area calculation in conformance with this chapter. The calculation is required for conservation design subdivisions and represents all rights-of-way of existing public or private streets and overhead utilities and floodways and portions of the 100-year floodplain, wetlands, and steep and moderate slopes.

A community licensed by the Commonwealth Department of Insurance and offering a range of housing, support and health care services so older people do not have to move when their needs change. Many offer independent living (single or multifamily units) and personal care units as well as long-term care nursing centers, all at one campus and developed as a planned unit development.

A shop for contractors of plumbing, heating, air conditioning, electrical, roofing, flooring, glass and windows, insulation, carpentry and cabinet making, and other structural components of buildings.

A multifamily dwelling constructed by converting an existing single-family dwelling into no more than two additional dwelling units, which does not substantially altering the exterior of the building.

Adams County, Pennsylvania.

Care provided for individuals, either children or adults, by an unrelated individual. Care is provided for part of a twenty-four-hour day. The following definitions apply to different types of child and adult day care in accordance with Chapter 3270, Child Day Care Centers, of Title 55, Human Services, of the Pennsylvania Code and Pennsylvania Department of Aging, Pennsylvania Code, Title 6, Chapter 11, as revised or amended.

Final adjudication of any board or other body granted jurisdiction under any land use ordinance or this chapter to do so, either by reason of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction or by reason of appeals from determinations. All decisions shall be appealable to the Adams County Court of Common Pleas.

The number of dwelling units permitted per acre of land.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Final action by an officer, body or agency charged with the administration of any land use ordinance or applications thereunder, except the governing body or the Zoning Hearing Board. Determinations shall be appealable only to the boards designated as having jurisdiction for such appeal.

Any landowner, agent of such landowner, or tenant with the permission of such landowner, who makes or causes to be made a subdivision of land or a land development.

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.

The area in a conservation subdivision (Conservation and Agriculture Rural Districts) that is set aside for development of cluster residential and other uses permitted in the development area of the zone. The development area is delineated at the time of subdivision and land development.

The provisions for development, including a planned residential development, a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures, intensity of use or density of development, streets, ways and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of the development plan" when used in this chapter shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.

An accessory use involving a customer being able to order and receive food or other items or make financial transactions while the customer remains within their vehicle.

An improved cartway designed and constructed to provide vehicular movement between a public road and a tract of land serving one single-family dwelling unit or a farm.

A single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

Lots in a conservation subdivision that larger than five or 10 acres depending on the zoning district. The estate lots may encompass the entire parcel as long as identified constraints are preserved and not built upon.

A single individual living alone as a separate housekeeping unit and doing his/her own cooking, or a collective body of people living together in a domestic relationship which may or may not be based upon birth, marriage, custodianship, adoption or other domestic bond as a single housekeeping unit based on an intentionally structured relationship providing organization and stability and doing their own cooking with or without assistance from others. This definition does not include persons occupying a hotel, dormitory, lodge or boardinghouse.

Any parcel of land with 10 or more acres which is used for gain in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry or dairy products, including necessary farm structures and the storage of equipment customarily incidental to the primary use.

An accessory/secondary use to the primary agricultural use of a property in which residents engage in a secondary occupation conducted on the farm.

A business that supports the farm activity provided in Liberty Township and meets the regulations of Article IV.

Any freestanding and uninhabitable structure constructed of wood, glass, metal, plastic materials, wire mesh or masonry, composite materials, single or in combination, erected for the purpose of screening or dividing one property from another to assure privacy, or to protect the property so screened or divided, or to define and mark the property line, when such structure is erected or within two feet of any front, side or rear lot line.

Material placed or deposited so as to form an embankment or raise the surface elevation of the land, including but not limited to levees, bulkheads, dikes, jetties, embankments, and causeways.

A bank, savings-and-loan association, credit union, finance or loan company, etc.[7]

The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building and its accessory building on the same lot, excluding basement floor areas not used as a primary living, sleeping quarters and commercial space, but including the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces. All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.

The sum of the gross horizontal area of the floors of a building or structure, measured from the exterior face of exterior walls, or from the center line of a common wall separating two buildings. Any space where the floor-to-ceiling height is less than five feet is excluded from the floor area.

The aggregate of the horizontal area of all rooms used for habitation, such as living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, but not including hallways, stairways, cellars, attics, service rooms or utility rooms, bathrooms, nor unheated areas such as enclosed porches, nor rooms without at least one window or skylight opening onto an outside yard or court. At least 1/2 of the floor area of every habitable room shall have a ceiling of not less than seven feet and the floor area of that part of any room where the ceiling height is less than five feet shall not be considered as part of the habitable floor area. The minimum total window area, measured between stops shall be 10% of the habitable floor area of such room.

The total of all floor areas of a building, excluding stairwells, hallways, elevator shafts, equipment and utility rooms, interior vehicular parking or loading areas and all floors below the first or ground floor, except when intended to be used for human habitation or service to the public.

The management of forests and timberlands when practiced in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial purposes, which does not involve any land development. Forestry shall be allowed in any district. The following definitions relate to forestry activities:

A building used for the preparation of the deceased for burial and the display of the deceased and rituals connected therewith before burial or cremation, including the sale of funeral equipment as an accessory activity.

A sale of personal possessions conducted by an individual, group, or organization generally conducted in a residential garage or yard for a day or weekend; in the case of an organization or group the sale may be conducted in public or nonprofit property.

A building or group of buildings primarily used for the indoor storage, transfer, and distribution of products and materials.

A tract of land laid out for a least nine holes for playing the game of golf and improved with tees, greens, fairways, and hazards and that may include a clubhouse, shelters, maintenance and storage facilities, and a driving range.

An area within the conservation subdivision's conservation area which is devoid of building and structures and lies in a natural state.

A dwelling inhabited by handicapped persons as identified and provided for by the Fair Housing Act.[8] This definition does not include persons occupying a hotel, dormitory, lodge, halfway house, boarding house or institution. They are allowed wherever single-family homes are permitted.

With respect to a person, a physical or mental impairment, as hereinafter defined, which substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment. This term does not include current, illegal use of or addition to a controlled substance, as that term is defined in 21 U.S.C. § 802. For the purpose of these guidelines, an individual shall not be considered to have a handicap solely because that individual is a transvestite or because of that individual's sexual preference, sexual activities or sexual proclivities.

A commercial business that offers active recreational and/or fitness activities. Such activities are provided only to club members and their guests. Such facilities do not include golf courses.

A building's vertical measurement from the average ground level at the corners of the building to the highest point of the roof.

A structure's vertical measurement from the mean level of the ground abutting the structure to the highest point of the structure.

An accessory use where no more than one helicopter may land/takeoff and be stored.

A principal use where one or more helicopters may land/takeoff and are stored. Such use may also include support services such as fueling and maintenance equipment, passenger terminals and storage hangers.

The routine use of a portion of a dwelling or its accessory buildings for the conduct of business that routinely includes visits by customers, clients, salespersons and suppliers.

A business which sells supplies and building materials for homes and meets the requirements of Article IV, herein.

An organization of property owners within a development established for the ownership, administration and maintenance of the common open space within the development. Such organizations are generally consistent with the requirements for unit owners associations found in the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S.A. § 3101 et seq.

An institution providing primary health services and medical or surgical care to persons, primarily inpatients, suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity, and other abnormal physical or mental conditions and including, as an integral part of the institution, related facilities, such as laboratories, outpatient facilities, training facilities, medical offices, and staff residences.

A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and where only a general kitchen and dining room are provided within the building as an accessory use or where no kitchen and/or dining facilities are provided.

A surface that prevents the infiltration of water into the ground. Impervious surfaces (or cover) shall include, but are not limited to, roofs, additional indoor living spaces, decks, patios, garages, storage sheds and similar structures, parking or driveway areas and any new streets or sidewalks. Any area initially designated to be gravel or crushed stone shall be assumed to be impervious surface.

Any on-site vehicular movement lane(s) that is associated with a use other than a single-family dwelling.

Used materials, discarded materials, or both, including, but not limited to, wastepaper, rags, metal, building materials, house furnishings and appliances, machinery, vehicles or parts thereof, all of which are being stored awaiting potential reuse or ultimate disposal.

A lot, land or structure, or part thereof, used primarily for the collecting, storage and sale of junk as defined herein.

A state-licensed facility through the Department of Agriculture containing indoor and outdoor housing facilities for dogs in accordance with the Pennsylvania Code, Title 7, Chapter 21, as amended or revised.

Any of the following activities:

The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other person having proprietary interest in land, including an individual, partnership, association, limited partnership association or corporation.

A completely planted visual barrier composed of evergreen shrubs and trees arranged to form both a low-level and a high-level screen.

The following definitions shall apply to the artificial illumination of areas of parcels and/or buildings.

An off-street paved space suitable for the loading or unloading of goods and having direct usable access to a street or alley.

A facility defined and licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health in accordance with Title 28 of the Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 201. The facility provides skilled or intermediate nursing care services 24 hours a day and seven days a week to individuals who do not require more intensive hospital-based care.

A designated parcel, tract or area of land established by a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used, developed or built upon as a unit which is recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Adams County by deed description or is described by an approved subdivision plan recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Adams County.

The area contained within the property lines of individual parcels of land, excluding any area within a street right-of-way, but including the area of any easement.

A percentage of the lot area, which may be covered with an impervious surface (e.g., buildings, driveways, parking area, sidewalks).

The horizontal distance measured between the street right-of-way line and the closest rear property line. On corner and reverse frontage lots, the depth shall be measured from the street right-of-way line of the street of address to the directly opposite property line.

The horizontal distance measured between side property lines. On corner lots, lot width shall be measured between the right-of-way line for the non-address street and the directly opposite property line.

Function such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.

A process whereby substances, raw materials, and/or semifinished materials are chemically, mechanically, or otherwise transformed to goods and products that have some economic value.

The fecal and urinary excrement of livestock and poultry, often containing some spilled feed, bedding or litter.

A detached structure or other improvement built to store manure for future use, or disposal. Types of storage facilities are as follows: underground storage, in ground storage, earthen bank, stacking area, and aboveground storage.[9]

The average height of the sea for all stages of the tide, using the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.

Any building or group of buildings occupied by licensed medical practitioners and related services for the purpose of providing health services to people on an outpatient basis.

A building and/or series of buildings divided into separate storage units for personal property and/or property associated with some business or other organization.

A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.

A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single mobile home, which a parcel is leased by the park owner to the occupants of the mobile home erected on the lot.

A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which have been so designated and improved to contain two or more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.

A facility which provides lodging to boarders for compensation, which contains more than eight rooms with at least 25% of all rooms having direct access to the outside without the necessity of passing through the main lobby of the building, and which may provide meals and other services as a part of the compensation.

Area in which human activities are very limited and where the natural environment is protected from man-made changes by a conservancy or conservation easement. The nature preserve includes woodland preservation, game preserves, and wildlife sanctuaries.

Any building used for on-site consumption of food and alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages where live entertainment is offered. For the purposes of this definition, "live entertainment" is meant to include the use of disc jockeys for the purposes of supplying musical entertainment. Additionally, nightclubs can offer the retail sale of carry out beer and wine as an accessory use. This is meant to include an "under 21" club which features entertainment.

A business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use.

A lot the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.

A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed to comply with the applicable use or extent of use provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such ordinance or amendment or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures include, but are not limited to, nonconforming signs.

A use, whether of land or of structure, which does not comply with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment of such ordinance or amendment, or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason of annexation.

Any aspect of a land use that does not comply with any size, height, bulk, setback, distance, landscaping, coverage, screening, or any other design or performance standard specified by this chapter, where such dimensional nonconformity lawfully existed prior to the adoption of this chapter or amendment thereto.

Any use that is not a residential use as defined herein.

The showing of the human male or female genitals or pubic area or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering or the showing of female breast with less than fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple or the depiction of covered male genital in a discernibly turgid state.

Facilities designed for the housing, boarding, and dining associated with some level of nursing care. These may include continuing care retirement communities, long-term care and personal care centers, as defined herein.[10]

A place where the primary use is conducting the affairs of a business, professional, service, or government, including administration, recordkeeping, clerical work, and similar business functions. An office shall not involve manufacturing, fabrication, production, processing, assembling, cleaning, testing, repair, or storage of materials, goods or products; or delivery of any materials, goods, or products, which are physically located on the premises. Office supplies used in the office may be stored as an incidental use.

The disposal of sewage generated by one principal use within the confines of the lot on which the use is located or on a easement in a common open space area in a conservation subdivision, as approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The provision of a safe, adequate and healthful supply of water to a single principal use from a private well.

An event conducted as part of an attempt to sell or lease a property, whereby the property is open for public inspection. A paid advertisement in the local media and the on-site supervision by the property owner or his/her agent is required.

A space unoccupied by buildings or paved surface and open to the sky on the same lot with the building.

A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including streets, off-street parking areas, and areas set aside for public facilities.

Any establishment in which conduct, activity of the sale, distribution or exhibition of printed or drawn material which is pornography within the meaning ascribed to that work in this section is the source of a substantial and significant portion of gross business receipts. Such other adult uses shall include, but not be limited to, nude wrestling, male or female erotic dancers or strippers, escort centers and erotic massage parlors.

An area as part of a sporting or outdoor club in which skeet shooting, rifle shooting, or archery is practiced.

A zoning district that encompasses one or more underlying zones and deals with special situations specified in the district regulations. The overlay district imposes additional requirements above that required by the underlying district.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The original tract of land prior to subdivision.

A primary business where vehicles may be stored for short-term, daily, or overnight off-street parking, and connected to a street by an access drive.

An accessory use in which required, and possibly, additional parking spaces are provided subject to the requirements of this chapter.

An off-street space available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having usable access to a street or alley.

A recreational facility owned or operated by a nonpublic agency and/or conducted as a private gainful business.

Those facilities designed and used for recreation purposes by the general public that are 1) owned and operated by a government or governmental agency/authority, or 2) are operated on a nonprofit basis. This definition is meant to include the widest range of recreational activities, excluding adult entertainment uses and amusement arcades.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

An individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other entity.

A personal care home that requires a building larger than a single-family residential unit to accommodate the number of residents served and special and accessory commercial services provided, often called an assisted-living center. The personal care center may be a stand-alone facility or may be part of a continuing care retirement community.

A facility defined and licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in accordance with Title 55 of the Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 2600. A personal care home is a premises in which food, shelter and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours for four or more adults who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of a licensed long-term care facility, but who do require assistance or supervision in matters such as dressing, bathing, diet, financial management, evacuation of a residence in the event of an emergency or medication prescribed for self-administration. A halfway house is not a personal care home.

A small business provided in a total service area of less than 3,600 square feet including but not limited to barber, beauty tanning and health salons, tailors, and repair shops, excluding adult-related facilities.

Any substance or mixture of substances intended for use in preventing, destroying, repelling, sterilizing, or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, predatory animals, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life.

Oil petroleum of any kind and in any form, including crude oil and derivatives of crude oil. It may be alone, as sludge, as oil refuse, or mixed with other wastes.

An impairment including the following disorders:

A group of uses planned and designed as an integrated unit with controlled ingress and egress and shared off-street parking provided on the property as an integral part of the unit.

The Planning Commission of Liberty Township.

The depiction or dissemination of nudity, sexual conduct, sadomasochistic abuse or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse which, to the average person applying contemporary community standards, has as its dominant theme, taken as a whole, an appeal to prurient interest.

The property upon which the activity is conducted as determined by physical facts rather than property lines. It is the land occupied by the buildings or other physical uses that are necessity or customarily incident to the activity, including such open spaces as are arranged and designed to be used in connection with such buildings or uses. The following are not considered to be a part of the premises on which the activity is conducted, and any signs located on such land are to be considered off-premises advertising:

Land used for agricultural purposes that contains soils of the first, second or third class as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource and Conservation Services Adams County Soil Survey.

A building or buildings in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.

A solar photovoltaic system constructed as an electricity-generating facility and whose main purpose is to generate and supply electricity to properties and uses beyond the property on which the facility is located, and which consists of one or more solar arrays and other accessory structures and buildings, including substations, electrical infrastructure, transmission lines, and other appurtenant structures and facilities.

The main or primary use of land or structures.

Owned, operated, or controlled by a governmental agency (federal, state, or local, including a corporation created by law for the performance of certain specialized governmental functions, and the Board of Education).

A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment prior to taking action on zoning-related matters. A forum held pursuant to notice under the Act of October 15, 1998 (P.L. 729, No. 93), 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701 et seq., known as the "Sunshine Act," and subsequent amendments.

Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication shall not be more than 30 days, and the second publication shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.

A municipal sanitary sewer or a comparable common or package sanitary facility approved and permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Such systems are capable of serving multiple users.

Includes public and semipublic uses of a welfare and educational nature, such as schools, parks, fire stations, municipal buildings and garages.

Use or extension thereof which is operated, owned or maintained by a public utility corporation, municipality or municipal authority or which is privately owned and approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for the purpose of providing public sewage disposal and/or treatment; public water supply, storage and/or treatment; or for the purpose of providing the transmission of energy or telephone service.

A municipal water supply system, or a comparable common water facility approved and permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Such systems are capable of serving multiple users.

A place where rock, ore, stone, and similar materials are excavated for sale or for off-tract use.

Any natural or artificially produced substance which emits radiation spontaneously.

An incidental use that serves as a Township dropoff point for the temporary storage of recyclables.

Regarded as having one of the following impairments;

Any use the provides permanent residences, not including temporary lodging such as hotels, motels, campgrounds, resorts, or bed-and-breakfast inns.

An establishment that serves prepared food primarily on nondisposable tableware, but can provide for incidental carry-out service so long as the area used for carry-out service does not exceed 5% of the total patron seating area nor 80 square feet (whichever is less). Caterers shall be included in this definition.

An establishment that serves prepared food generally packaged in paper wrappers and/or disposable plates and containers. Such food can be consumed either on or off of the site.

Retail stores are those businesses whose primary activities involve the display and retail sales of goods and products. This term shall not include adult-related facilities as defined herein.

A commercial establishment devoted to horses and any of the following activities: boarding, instructing, showing and riding, in accordance with the requirements of Article IV.

A corridor of owned or eased land for purposes of maintaining primary vehicular and pedestrian access to abutting properties, including but not limited to roads, streets, highways and sidewalks. Abutting property owners are prohibited from encroaching across the right-of-way line. (See also "street line.")

Flagellation or torture by or upon a person clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.

A device incorporating a reflective surface which is solid, open mesh or bar-configured and is in the shape of a shallow dish, cone, horn, or cornucopia. Such device shall be used to transmit and/or receive radio or electromagnetic waves between terrestrial and/or orbital-based uses. This definition is meant to include but not be limited to what are commonly referred to as "satellite earth stations," "TVROs," and "satellite microwave antennas."

A principal use in which supervised education or instruction is offered according to the following categories:

The required horizontal distance between a setback line and a property or street right-of-way line.

A line within a property and parallel to a property or street line which delineates the required minimum distance between some particular use of property and that property or street line.

Acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed of unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person is a female, breast.

The condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

A device for visual communication that is used to bring the subject to the attention of the public. Signs do include lettering, logos, trademarks, or other symbols which are an integral part of the architectural design of a building, which are applied to a building, or which are located elsewhere on the premises; signs affixed to windows or glass doors or otherwise internally mounted such that they are obviously intended to be seen and understood by vehicular or pedestrian traffic outside the building; flags and insignia of civic, charitable, religious, fraternal, patriotic, or similar organizations; insignia of governments or government agencies; banners, streamers, pennants, spinners, reflectors, ribbons, tinsel, and similar materials; and inflatable objects. Signs do not include architectural features which may be identified with a particular business; signs within a building which are obviously intended to be seen primarily from within the building; flags of governments or government agencies; and displays of merchandise either behind store windows or outdoors. The following definitions relate to signs:

Professionally supervised nursing care and related medical and other health services provided for a period exceeding 24 hours to an individual not in need of hospitalization, but whose needs are above the level of room and board and can only be met in a long-term care nursing facility or an inpatient basis because of age, illness, disease, injury, convalescence or physical or mental infirmity.

The latest published version of the United States Department of Agriculture's soil survey for Adams County, Pennsylvania.

The degree to which direct sunlight is provided to a solar panel or solar array.

A grouping of multiple solar panels.

A right, expressed as an easement, restriction, covenant, or condition contained in any deed, contract, or other written instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner for the purposes of ensuring adequate access to direct sunlight for solar photovoltaic systems.

A device or design features, a substantial purpose of which is to provide for the collection, storage, and distribution of solar energy for space heating or cooling, electricity generation, or water cooling.

A structure containing one or more receptive cells or collector devices, the purpose of which is to use solar radiation to create usable electrical energy.

Garbage, refuse and other discarded materials including, but not limited to, solid and liquid waste materials resulting from municipal, industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential activities.

A disposal site licensed by the commonwealth in which refuse and earth, or other suitable cover material, are deposited and compacted in alternative layers of specified depth in accordance with an approved plan.

A use permitted in a particular zoning district pursuant to the provisions of terms, procedures and conditions prescribed herein.

For the purposes of this chapter, this term shall include any of the following:

Any natural or artificial channel of conveyance for surface water with an annual or intermittent flow within a defined bed and bank.

Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic and/or pedestrians whether public or private.

The horizontal line paralleling the street that bisects the street right-of-way into two equal widths. In those instances where the street right-of-way cannot be determined, the street center line shall correspond to the center of the cartway.

A line defining the edge of a street right-of-way and separating the street from abutting property or lots. The street line shall be the same as the legal right-of-way line currently in existence.

Any pool permanently constructed for leisure swimming not located within a completely enclosed building, and containing, or normally capable of containing, water to a depth at any point greater than 1 1/2 feet. Farm ponds and/or lakes are not included, provided that swimming was not the primary purpose for their construction.

An establishment which serves alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption and which is licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board without live entertainment shall be permitted.

A temporary housing structure for seasonal farm employees in accordance with Article IV of this chapter, herein.

Liberty Township.

A portable structure, primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreation, camping or travel purposes. In addition to the above, any of the following attributes are characteristic of a "travel trailer":

An area and building where trucks load and unload cargo and freight and where the cargo and freight may be broken down or aggregated into smaller or larger loads for transfer to other vehicles or modes of transportation.

The specific purpose for which land or a structure is designed, arranged, intended, occupied or maintained.

A permit issued by the Zoning Officer certifying a use's compliance with information reflected on the zoning/building permit and this chapter.

Relief granted pursuant to the provisions of terms, procedures and conditions prescribed herein.

A building used primarily for the treatment, by a veterinarian, of small domestic animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits and birds or fowl.

A permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook, run, creek, channel, swale, pond, lake or other body of surface water carrying or holding surface water, whether natural or artificial.

All the land from which water drains into a particular watercourse.

An establishment or place of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users; to other wholesalers; or acting as agents or brokers and buy merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies. In Liberty Township, due to the condition of its roadways and rural character, these establishments are limited to a gross floor area of 25,000 square feet or less.

Any device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy which may include blades, hubs to which blades are attached, and any device, such as a tower, used to support the hub and/or rotary blades, etc.

An opening to the outside other than a door which provides all or part of the required natural light, natural ventilation or both to an interior space. The glazed portion of a door in an exterior wall may be construed to be a window in regard to provision of natural light.

An area between the permitted structures and the property lines.

The designation of specified districts within the Township, reserving them for certain uses together with limitations on lot size, heights of structures and other stipulated requirements.

The duly constituted municipal official designated to administer and enforce this chapter in accordance with its literal terms.