Lower Salford Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIIC
RO Residential-Office District
§ 164-62.14 Legislative intent.
In expansion of the community development objectives contained in Article II of this chapter and in support of the goals and recommendations of the Township's Comprehensive Plan, it is the intent of this article to:
A.
Allow limited office uses as a transition between intensive commercial/industrial uses located on major roads and existing residential areas.
B.
Limit the impact of nonresidential development on residences by requiring a residential character, limiting the scale of buildings, controlling the location of parking areas and requiring buffer landscaping.
C.
Control access and limit the impact of development on the Township's major roads.
D.
Allow residences that are located on smaller lots and close to other residences to convert to office uses, provided that the residential character of the neighborhood is not changed.
E.
Allow greater intensity development to occur on larger tracts that border existing Mixed-Use or Industrial Zoning Districts.
[Added 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
F.
Permit existing nonconforming industrial uses to continue to operate, provided that the potential negative impact of these uses on abutting residential properties is adequately mitigated to the satisfaction of the Board of Supervisors, and encourage redevelopment of those sites with uses more compatible with the surrounding community.
[Added 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
G.
Encourage the development of employment centers and retail services along the Route 63 corridor between Mainland and Harleysville as an alternative to highway commercial-type development.
[Added 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
§ 164-62.15 Permitted uses.
§ 164-62.16 Conditional uses.
A lot may be used for one of the following classes of uses, provided that a conditional use is received in accordance with the requirements of § 164-25 of this chapter and all standards of the RO District are met:
A.
Class One conditional uses. On lots which meet the Class One requirements, one of the following uses is permitted:
(1)
Conversion of an existing home into professional offices.
(2)
Conversion of an existing home into a professional office and one apartment.
(3)
Conversion of an existing home into a bed-and-breakfast facility.
(4)
Construction of a professional office building on a lot which is vacant and held in single and separate ownership as of the date of enactment of this article, provided that the building complies with all other sections of this chapter.
B.
Class Two conditional uses. On lots which meet the Class Two requirements, one of the following uses is permitted as a conditional use:
C.
Class Three conditional uses. On lots which meet the Class Three requirements, the following uses are permitted as a conditional use:
[Added 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
(1)
All of the uses permitted as Class Two conditional uses.
(2)
Apartments.
(3)
Retail commercial. Shops and stores selling commodities and goods to the end user and not intended for wholesale sale.
(4)
Service businesses, including barbers, hairdressers, beauticians, laundry and dry cleaning, shoe repair, tailors, photographers, travel agents, photocopy centers and similar service uses.
(5)
Restaurants.
(6)
Hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast establishments.
(7)
Drive-through facilities for nonresidential uses permitted in § 164-62.16C, provided that:
(a)
There shall be no more than one drive-through business on a tract.
(b)
The drive-through service area shall be an integral part of the interior circulation pattern and shall be designed in a safe and efficient manner to minimize vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-pedestrian, conflict. All drive-through areas shall be designed with a separate escape lane to permit vehicles to leave or pass by the drive-through area if they wish or need to do so. No direct access to a public road shall be permitted from any drive-through aisle.
(c)
Where a drive-in window or drive-through aisle is proposed, a stacking lane for each drive-in window or drive-through aisle shall be provided to serve a minimum of five cars. The stacking lane shall not be used for parking lot circulation aisles, nor shall it in any way conflict with through circulation, parking or deliveries to the tract.
(d)
Lighting for all drive-through service areas shall be installed in a manner which, at a minimum:
[1]
Safely, but not excessively, illuminates the drive-through area;
[2]
Is shielded to prevent any light spillage off the drive-through lot or parcel; and
[3]
Is timed or switched so that the drive-through area is not illuminated when drive-through service is not available.
[4]
Landscaping for all drive-through service areas shall be installed in a manner which safely shields the stacking lanes, drive-through aisle and drive-in windows from view of neighboring uses.
(8)
In addition to the regulations contained in Article XVIII (Nonconforming Uses), a single, lawfully existing, nonconforming use shall be permitted to accompany one other Class Three conditional use, provided that:
[Added 4-7-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03]
(a)
The lawfully existing nonconforming use is compatible (in the opinion of the Supervisors) with any other Class Three conditional use operated on the property;
(b)
The area of the building footprint devoted to the nonconforming use shall not be used as a part of the five-acre minimum tract area necessary for the operation of any other Class Three conditional use on the property, nor for the one-acre minimum lot size required for each permitted Class Three conditional use;
(c)
The property upon which the nonconforming use is located shall have frontage on no less than two public roads, but no vehicular access to the nonconforming use shall be provided from an arterial road;
(d)
Any buildings associated with the nonconforming use shall be set back from the legal right-of-way of all public streets by no less than 90 feet;
(e)
In addition to the nonconforming use, no more than one nonresidential Class Three conditional use may be located and operated on the tract, and shall be positioned between the street with a higher classification and the nonconforming use;
[1]
Such nonresidential Class Three conditional use shall have access only to the adjacent public street of higher classification and any additional (third or more) street of lesser classification, provided that it is not the street upon which the nonconforming use is taking access;
[2]
Parking shall be provided for both the nonconforming use and the Class Three conditional use adequate to satisfy the minimum parking requirements of the Lower Salford Township Zoning Ordinance, and the parking for each respective use shall be solely devoted to such use;
(f)
No residential uses shall be permitted on the tract, except that, in its sole discretion, the Board of Supervisors, as a part of any conditional use approval granted pursuant to this § 164-16C(8), may permit an existing residential use to be maintained for up to one year after such approval; and
(g)
The portion of the tract used for the nonconforming use may be reconfigured, subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors as a part of the conditional use approval, provided that the overall tract area used for the nonconforming use is not expanded, except that:
[1]
In the event that access to the nonconforming use was provided by a driveway from an arterial road and such access is discontinued, the portion of the tract used for the nonconforming use may be expanded for the purpose of providing a new access driveway to a road of lesser classification, subject to the approval by the Board of Supervisors of the location, point of intersection with the public road, design, width, buffering, and other details of such access drive; and
[2]
Where the portion of a tract used for a nonconforming use is reconfigured, the parking area appurtenant to the nonconforming use may be expanded in order to supply sufficient parking, provided that the parking expansion does not create any new dimensional nonconformities.
(9)
Banks, savings-and-loan associations, and credit unions.
[Added 2-7-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
§ 164-62.17 Dimensional standards.
[Amended 7-6-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-9; 12-1-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-7; 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
Proposed uses shall meet the following dimensional requirements:
Uses Permitted by Right | Class One Conditional Uses | Class Two Conditional Uses | Class Three Conditional Uses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Minimum tract area | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | 5 acres |
Minimum lot size (square feet) | 30,000 | 30,000 | 80,000 | 43,560 |
Minimum lot width (feet) measured at the street line of a public street | 125 | 125 | 150 | 150 |
Minimum front yard setback (feet) | 30 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
Minimum side yard setback (feet) | 20 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
Minimum rear yard setback (feet) | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
Minimum setback from abutting residential zoning district other than RO or MU Districts (feet) | Not applicable | 50 | 70 | 100 |
Maximum height when buildings are located at least 200 feet from an abutting residential zoning district | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 |
Maximum height when buildings are located within 200 feet of an abutting residential zoning district | 25 feet, not to exceed one story | 25 feet, not to exceed one story, with a 35-foot height permitted when the requirements of § 164-62.18M are met | 25 feet, not to exceed one story | 35 |
Minimum setback for parking areas from abutting residential zoning district other than RO or MU Districts (feet) | Not applicable | 25 | 35 | 35 |
Minimum setback between buildings on the same lot (feet) | Not applicable | 25 | 25 | 25 |
Maximum building footprint (square feet) | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 15,000 |
Maximum building coverage | 8% | 8% | 12% | 20% |
Maximum impervious coverage | 15% | 25%, with a bonus of an additional 10% for impervious coverage for completion of driveway interconnections with adjoining properties; provided, however, there remains a minimum green area of 75% of the lot if there are no driveway interconnections with adjoining properties or a minimum green area of 65% of the lot if there are driveway interconnections with adjoining properties | 25% | 60% |
§ 164-62.18 Conditional use standards and criteria.
[Amended 6-4-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-6]
A.
All conditional uses shall be served by public sewer and public water facilities.
B.
For Class One conditional uses, the proposed use must preserve, utilize and maintain any existing principal building, provided that this building was originally built for residential purposes.
C.
For Class One conditional uses, no new, freestanding, nonresidential building shall be constructed on any property which has an existing principal building situated on it as of the date of enactment of this article, and the existing building shall be expanded by no more than 50% of the residential building floor area that existed at the time of passage of this article.
D.
For Class One, Class Two and Class Three conditional uses, all new conditional use buildings with footprints less than or equal to 4,000 square feet and additions must have a residential character and must include the following features:
(1)
A pitched roof, covering at least 80% of the building or addition, with a pitch of at least six vertical inches to every 12 horizontal inches.
(2)
Residential building materials.
(3)
Residentially scaled windows and doors, with a proportion of windows and doors to solid wall that is similar to proportions commonly found on residential structures in the Township.
E.
For Class Three conditional uses, all new conditional use buildings with footprints greater than 4,000 square feet must include the following features:
(1)
A pitched roof, covering the main portion of the building, or at least 50% of the building, whichever is greater, with a pitch of at least five vertical inches to every 12 horizontal inches.
(2)
The greatest overall dimension of any building shall not exceed 150 feet, measured horizontally, parallel to exterior walls.
(3)
All visible façades, shall include a variety of architectural design elements to avoid monotonous or blank building facades.
F.
For Class Three conditional uses, the tract must abut either a MU-Mixed-Use District or an I-Industrial District.
G.
Driveway access controls.
[Amended 2-7-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
(2)
Corner lots which front on two streets of different classification shall take access from the street of lesser classification and:
(a)
For Class One and Class Two conditional uses, there shall be no access from the street of higher classification, unless it is physically infeasible to provide access to the street of lesser classification. Any existing driveway to the street of higher classification shall be eliminated when a driveway is provided to the street of lesser classification.
(b)
For Class Three conditional uses (excluding Class Two conditional uses), principal access shall be provided from the street of lower classification and one additional secondary access may be permitted from the street of higher classification. For purposes of this requirement, principal access shall be considered an unrestricted, full-movement access drive and secondary access shall be a restricted access drive. All access drives shall be designed and located in accordance with the requirements of the Lower Salford Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1] In addition, access drives shall be located to minimize the need for future driveways, maximize the distance from existing street and driveway intersections, and accommodate future interconnection with adjoining properties zoned RO Residential Office.
(3)
Along Sumneytown Pike, Route 113, and Oak Drive, all conditional uses shall be required to share access with an adjacent RO District property or other nonresidential property. When driveway access is available on an abutting property, the applicant shall use this access, as outlined in § 164-62.18G(3)(a) below. If shared access cannot be provided by an existing driveway on an abutting property, the applicant shall provide access in a way that maximizes the potential for shared access in the future, as outlined in § 164-62.18G(3)(b).
(a)
Shared access via existing driveways.
[1]
When the nearest edge of an existing driveway on an adjacent nonresidential property having frontage on the same street is within 30 feet of the applicant's tract, the applicant's tract shall utilize the driveway on the adjacent tract as a shared access, provided that an casement granting access to the applicant's tract has been recorded.
[2]
The shared access shall be the sole access to the site from Sumneytown Pike, Route 113, or Oak Drive. Any existing driveways on the site must be eliminated.
[3]
Shared access shall not be required when all possible interconnections between two abutting lots would cross wetlands, floodplains, and/or slopes of 15% or more, or would be prevented by other site restrictions as determined by the Township.
[4]
Shared access may be located entirely on one lot or may be divided along a common lot line.
(b)
Shared access via new driveway.
[1]
When shared access cannot be provided via an existing driveway consistent with § 164-62.18G(3)(a), a maximum of one new driveway intersection shall be permitted per street, subject to the requirements of § 164-62.18G(2).
[2]
When a shared driveway within an abutting lot is utilized the existing driveway on the applicant's site shall be eliminated, unless the Board of Supervisors agrees that it is in the best interest of the development to keep the driveway.
[3]
A recorded access easement satisfactory to the Township shall be provided for the shared driveway guaranteeing access to all abutting lots zoned RO Residential Office. The width and location of the access easement area shall be satisfactory to the Township.
[4]
Parking lot entranceways taking access from existing or future shared driveways shall be set back from the street ultimate right-of-way line a minimum of 50 feet. Parking shall not be permitted along shared driveways between the street ultimate right-of-way line and the rear edge of the easement granting access to the abutting lot.
H.
Each nonresidential use shall provide access easements for its parking aisles and driveways where required by the Board of Supervisors, guaranteeing access and use to all lots within the RO District, unless all possible interconnections between the applicant's tract and abutting lot(s) would cross wetlands, floodplains, and/or slopes of 15% or more, or would be prevented by other site restrictions as determined by the Township. Parking areas on abutting lots shall be directly connected by a driveway. The applicant shall either construct these interconnections during the initial land development or provide an easement to the abutting lot allowing future construction of the interconnection.
[Amended 2-7-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-01]
I.
For Class One and Class Two conditional uses, parking is not permitted in front yards or between buildings and streets.
J.
No outdoor storage is permitted, and trash must be kept inside a principal building unless a suitable screened area is approved by the Board of Supervisors until collection.
L.
Lighting shall not shine on abutting residential properties, and lighting poles shall not exceed 12 feet in height, except that for Class 3 conditional uses lighting poles shall not exceed 15 feet in height.
M.
Portions of dwellings which existed at the time of adoption of this article which are over 25 feet in height or above one story may be converted to offices, an apartment, or a bed-and-breakfast facility as a Class One conditional use, provided that no additions or exterior building improvements exceed one story or 25 feet in height.