Limerick Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XVI
R-4 Medium-High Density District
§ 184-111 Intent.
It is the specific intent of this article to:
A.
Encourage moderately high densities of development around village centers in areas of the Township served by public, central water and sewer systems and by major roads.
B.
Meet the Township's obligations to provide a diversity of housing types for a wide range of income levels and age groups.
C.
Encourage compact development, thereby reducing the cost of provision of public services.
D.
Provide sufficient open space and recreational facilities to serve the needs of future residents.
§ 184-112 Permitted uses.
On any lot in the R-4 District, any one of the following uses, and no other, is permitted, in accordance with the requirements in § 184-114 of this article:
B.
Two-family dwellings (twins or duplexes).
C.
Single-family attached dwellings (townhouses or multiplexes).
D.
Multifamily dwellings (garden apartments or flats).
E.
Other dwelling types similar to the above may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors under the development standards of the permitted use that they most closely resemble.
F.
Accessory uses on the same lot with and customarily incidental to the principal use, as specified in § 184-71 herein.
H.
Public or private noncommercial open space, parks, playgrounds, tot-lots and similar recreational facilities, if ancillary to residential development.
I.
Municipal parks, playgrounds and other such municipal buildings and uses deemed appropriate and necessary by the Township Supervisors.
§ 184-113 Conditional uses.
On any lot in the R-4 District, any one of the following uses, and no other, may be permitted as a conditional use by the Board of Supervisors according to the requirements of § 184-68 herein:
A.
Agricultural uses and farm buildings, according to the standards of § 184-71A(4) herein, provided that these uses are compatible with existing neighboring development.
§ 184-114 Development requirements.
[Amended 11-4-1998 by Ord. No. 198; 6-16-2015 by Ord. No. 360; 12-15-2020 by Ord. No. 404; 6-3-2025 by Ord. No. 434]
Any tract developed for residential purposes under the development standards of the R-4 District shall meet the following requirements:
A.
Minimum lot area of 10 acres. Tracts under 10 acres may be developed according to the requirements of the R-3 District.
B.
Public sewer and water service shall be provided, except in the case of a lot which contains an existing single-family dwelling unit serviced by either public water or public sewer shall be permitted to utilize the "R-4 District Development Standards" for a traditional, single-family detached unit as permitted in § 184-115. Any tract or lot served by both private on-site water and on-site sewage disposal shall meet the requirements of the R-3 District.
C.
A single overall plan shall be required, although the plan may be developed in separate phases.
D.
Any development containing 100 or more dwelling units shall include at least two of the permitted dwelling types, with each type constituting no less than 15% of the total number of dwelling units.
E.
A buffer strip at least 50 feet wide shall be provided along the ultimate right-of-way of all abutting streets and along all tract boundaries. The buffer strip shall include one of the following:
F.
Single-family attached dwellings (townhouses and multiplexes) shall meet the following additional requirements:
(1)
The maximum density shall be 4.0 dwelling units per net buildable acre.
(2)
(Reserved)
(3)
Each dwelling unit shall have a minimum building width of 20 feet; however, such width shall be increased to 24 feet if a dwelling unit has garage doors for two or more motor vehicles facing onto and visible from the front lot line or if more than 60% of the front yard in front of a dwelling unit is covered by paving.
(4)
No building shall be placed within the fifty-foot minimum perimeter buffer area required by Subsection E above.
(5)
The minimum front yard shall be 15 feet, which shall be increased to 20 feet if any vehicle parking is provided in the front yard.
(6)
Each principal building shall be separated by 30 feet from any other principal building.
(7)
Each dwelling unit shall have a usable rear yard area that is not occupied by a garage and that has a minimum depth of 25 feet.
(8)
The development tract, at the time of the completion of the development, shall have a maximum building coverage of 50% and a maximum impervious coverage of 60%.
(9)
A minimum of 40% of the total tract area shall be preserved as permanent open space.
(10)
A maximum of six dwelling units shall be attached.
(11)
If mailboxes cannot be placed on the fronts of individual dwelling units, then they should be clustered in an orderly manner.
§ 184-115 Development standards.
See the chart "R-4 District Development Standards" included as an attachment to this chapter.