Lower Providence Township Montgomery County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
General Commercial District
§ 143-89 Legislative intent.
It is the intent of the General Commercial District to provide regulations for development of a wide range of commercial uses in the Township. Specifically, it is the intent of the district to:
A.
Provide regulations for expansion of commercial uses in areas of the Township with sufficient vacant land to support large commercial uses.
B.
Relate specific types of uses to appropriate minimum lot sizes to ensure adequate land area relative to intensity of use.
C.
Minimize the potential for increased traffic congestion, overcrowding of land, noise, glare and pollution resulting from commercial development.
D.
Ensure that the character of adjacent and nearby neighborhoods is protected by design controls.
E.
Effectively regulate the establishment and maintenance of businesses requiring outdoor storage of vehicles, equipment or merchandise.
§ 143-90 General regulations.
The following general requirements shall apply to all properties within the General Commercial District:
B.
The following regulations shall apply to all outdoor display:
(1)
Outdoor display is intended to comprise samples or examples of the goods, merchandise or equipment available for purchase, rather than the entire stock of an item.
(2)
Displayed items may not be permanently affixed in front yards.
(3)
Outdoor display areas may not encroach upon any required parking areas.
C.
Outdoor storage. Any commercial use which includes outdoor storage of merchandise shall conform to the following standards:
(1)
No vehicles, equipment or merchandise shall be parked, stored or displayed within the ultimate right-of-way of any street or any other areas intended for pedestrian use.
(2)
Outdoor storage shall be permitted only to the rear of buildings and shall be set back at least 30 feet from property boundaries.
(3)
All storage areas shall be screened from public view by an opaque fence or wall at least six feet high. Stored materials may not exceed the height of the fence.
D.
Refuse areas. All commercial uses shall provide for storage of refuse either inside the building(s) or within an outdoor area enclosed by walls or opaque fencing or at least six feet and no more than 12 feet high. Refuse shall be kept within one or more lidded container(s) not to exceed six feet in height. All refuse areas shall meet the following requirements:
(1)
The refuse area shall not interfere with circulation within the adjacent property.
(2)
The refuse area shall be shielded from direct view of any adjacent property.
(3)
The refuse area shall be located at least 10 feet from any adjacent nonresidential property and 50 feet from any residential property line or ultimate right-of-way line.
E.
Buffers. Where a commercial use abuts a residential use or district, a screen buffer at least 15 feet wide shall be provided along the property boundary between the districts or uses. Where a district boundary divides a single lot, the buffer shall be placed along the nearest property boundary between commercial and residential uses. The buffer shall be designed according to the requirements of § 123-50 of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
§ 143-91 Class One permitted uses.
On lots with a minimum area of 20,000 square feet and a minimum width at the building line of 100 feet, any one of the following uses and no other is permitted.
A.
Retail establishment for sale of dry goods, variety merchandise, clothing, food, beverages, flowers, plants, drugs, hardware, books, furnishings and sale and repair of jewelry, optical goods, cameras and home appliances; and similar uses.
B.
Personal service shop, provided that at least 30% of the gross floor area is devoted to customer service.
C.
Dry-cleaning drop-off establishment; copy center.
D.
Sale of small automotive accessories (no automobile service work permitted).
E.
Job printing.
F.
Business or professional office; bank and financial institution, not to include banks with drive-in windows.
G.
Restaurant, bar or tavern, not to include fast-food or drive-in restaurant.
H.
Dance, music or art studio.
I.
Municipal or government use.
J.
Family day-care home.
K.
Bed-and-breakfast establishment.
L.
Two-family conversion of a single-family residence.
M.
Animal hospital (no outdoor facilities permitted).
N.
Any one use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
§ 143-92 Class One conditional uses.
On any Class One lot, a combination of two or more Class One uses may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use, meeting the standards of § 143-100 of this article.
§ 143-93 Class Two permitted uses.
On lots with a minimum area of 40,000 square feet and a minimum width at the building line of 200 feet, any one of the following uses and no other is permitted.
A.
Any Class One permitted use.
C.
Fast-food or drive-in restaurant. Restaurants with drive-in windows shall meet the following standards:
D.
Conversion of a single-family residence into a tourist home, rooming or boarding house.
F.
Undertaking or funeral establishment.
G.
Ancillary indoor storage building (for other permitted use).
H.
Multifamily conversion of a single-family residence to a maximum of four dwelling units.
I.
Educational, religious or philanthropic use.
K.
Any one use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
§ 143-94 Class Two conditional uses.
On any Class Two lot, a combination of two or more Class One or Two permitted uses may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use, meeting the standards of § 143-100 of this article.
§ 143-95 Class Three permitted uses.
On lots with a minimum area of two acres and a minimum width at the building line of 300 feet, any one of the following uses and no other is permitted:
A.
Any Class One or Two permitted use.
B.
Outdoor amusement or recreation facility.
C.
Hotel or motel.
D.
Indoor theater.
E.
Indoor amusement facility, such as bowling alley, billiard room or indoor court for racket sports.
F.
Radio and/or television studios.
G.
Newspaper publishing.
H.
Garden supply center or nursery.
I.
Any one use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
§ 143-96 Class Three conditional uses.
On any Class Three lot, a combination of two or more Class One, Two or Three permitted uses may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use, meeting with standards of § 143-100 of this article.
§ 143-97 Class Four permitted uses.
On lots with a minimum area of five acres and a minimum width at the building line of 350 feet, the following uses are permitted:
A.
Any Class One, Two or Three permitted use. A single use on a lot shall meet the dimensional standards for Class Three uses, as set forth in § 143-98 of this article.
C.
Satellite uses in shopping center according to the standards of § 143-102 of this article, including the following uses:
(1)
Drive-in bank.
(2)
Film processing outlet.
(3)
Tires, batteries and automotive accessories store.
(4)
Drive-in or fast-food restaurant.
(5)
Garden supply center or nursery.
(6)
Indoor theater.
(7)
Any use of the same general character as those listed above, when approved by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
(8)
Small retail store under 7,500 square feet.
[Added 9-21-2006 by Ord. No. 556]
§ 143-98 Dimensional standards, Class One through Three uses.
The dimensional standards for Classes One through Three shall be as follows:
Class One | Class Two | Class Three | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Minimum lot size | 20,000 sq. ft. | 40,000 sq. ft. | 2 acres | |
Minimum lot width | 100 feet | 200 feet | 300 feet | |
Minimum front yard: | ||||
No parking in front yard | 30 feet | 30 feet | 50 feet | |
Parking in front yard | 50 feet | 75 feet | 100 feet | |
Minimum side yard | 15 feet minimum/40 feet aggregate | 15 feet minimum/40 feet aggregate | 20 feet minimum/60 feet aggregate | |
Minimum rear yard | 30 feet | 50 feet | 75 feet | |
Maximum building height | 35 feet | 35 feet | 35 feet | |
Maximum building coverage [Amended 4-5-2001 by Ord. No. 455] | 30% | 30% | 25% | |
Minimum landscaped area | 20% | 20% | 25% | |
Maximum building dimension | 100 feet | 150 feet | 300 feet | |
Minimum building setback from residential district | 50 feet | 50 feet | 75 feet | |
Minimum parking, driveway, loading area setback from residential district | 25 feet | 25 feet | 50 feet | |
§ 143-99 Dimensional standards for shopping centers.
Dimensional standards for shopping centers shall be as follows:
B.
Setback from abutting residential or institutional use (all buildings): 75 feet.
C.
Setback from abutting commercial use (all buildings): 30 feet.
E.
Maximum building coverage (all buildings): 20%.
F.
Minimum landscaped area: 20%.
G.
Minimum distance between buildings: 25 feet.
H.
Maximum building height: 35 feet.
§ 143-100 Conditional use standards for multiple uses on lot.
More than one use per lot may be permitted by the Board of Supervisors as a conditional use, provided that the proposed land development meets the following standards:
A.
All uses, whether in a single building or in several buildings, shall be designed according to a unified architectural scheme, including treatment of building facades, signs, lighting, landscaping and circulation.
B.
A maximum of two curb cuts for vehicular access shall be permitted for the entire development, unless traffic safety considerations require an alternate arrangement, based on the evaluation and recommendation of the Township Engineer.
C.
Parking for each use shall meet the requirements of Article XII, Off-Street Parking Standards. The shared parking concept may be utilized where applicable.
D.
Signs shall be erected and installed in conformance with Article XIX of this chapter.
[Amended 1-18-2018 by Ord. No. 652]
E.
Any combination of uses on a lot that would generate more than 100 vehicular trips per peak hour according to the latest ITE trip generation standards will require a traffic impact analysis, as per the requirements of § 143-101E of this article.
F.
The development shall comply with all other requirements of this article, including general regulations, dimensional standards and coverage requirements.
§ 143-101 Design standards for shopping centers.
A.
A shopping center shall be designed according to a simple, unified architectural scheme, to include building facades, street furniture, signs, lighting, landscaping and circulation.
B.
In order to avoid a monolithic appearance, variations in rooflines, facades and building materials are encouraged.
C.
Primary access to the shopping center shall be located at least 200 feet from the intersection of any public streets, unless a traffic study provides convincing evidence to the contrary, and upon the recommendation of the Township Engineer.
D.
A screen buffer at least 20 feet wide shall be provided within the required setback between all shopping center parking areas and abutting roads or property boundaries. The buffer shall be designed according to the requirements of § 123-50 of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.
E.
The application for a shopping center shall include a traffic impact study, prepared by a professional traffic engineer, which shall include the following elements:
(1)
Traffic impact on all roadways, intersections and interchanges within a half-mile radius of the site.
(2)
A description of the traffic characteristics of the proposed development.
(3)
Traffic volumes for average daily traffic at peak hours, before and after the proposed development.
(4)
Source of the trip-generation rates used.
(5)
Origin and destination analysis of projected traffic.
(6)
Documentation of on-site and off-site improvements proposed to mitigate any adverse impacts.
F.
Entrance driveways shall not direct traffic to the storefront driveway but to an outer driveway from which vehicles can filter down parking aisles toward stores, to minimize interference with pedestrian traffic.
G.
Pedestrian circulation shall be considered in the development's design. Walkways shall be planned for linages to existing or future sidewalks and/or walkways. Where public transit is or will be available, a shelter with benches shall be provided.
H.
All lighting, including sign lighting, shall be arranged so as to protect adjoining properties from direct glare. No lighting standards shall exceed 25 feet in height.
§ 143-102 Satellite use regulations.
A.
To calculate the number of satellite uses permitted, multiply the tract size in acres (rounded) by 40%. No more than five satellite uses shall be permitted on any tract. (A five-acre tract would be permitted two satellite uses; a ten-acre tract four satellite uses, up to a maximum of 5.)
B.
No more than 35% of allowable building coverage may be used for satellite uses.
[Amended 9-21-2006 by Ord. No. 556]
C.
Access to satellite parking and service areas must be taken from main shopping center driveways, not from adjacent streets.
§ 143-103 Conditional use standards for lots of insufficient width.
Any lot which has the required lot area for a given size class but which lacks sufficient street frontage for that class may qualify for any use in that class, as a conditional use, if one or more of the following conditions are met. [NOTE: For example, if a lot is 40,000 square feet in size (Class Two) but has a lot width of only 150 feet (Class One), the lot may be used for a Class Two use if these conditions are met.]
A.
Access is shared with one or more adjacent properties, resulting in no more than one driveway entrance per 200 feet for all properties served. Shared access may be provided along property lines to serve future land uses.
B.
Access is taken from an intersecting side street, rather than from the primary arterial street.
C.
Applicant is willing to make additional road improvements (such as partial construction of a frontage or marginal access road) which will improve vehicular and pedestrian circulation, as determined by the Board of Supervisors, with the advice of the Planning Commission and Township Engineer.