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Middletown Township
City Zoning Code

ARTICLE XVIII

SU-1A Mixed-Use District

§ 275-97 Purpose.

The provisions of this article are enacted for the following purposes:
A. 
To address planning, development and redevelopment issues affecting certain areas along Baltimore Pike within Middletown Township.
B. 
To employ planning principles and design standards that focus on creating a variety of well-planned and designed land uses.
C. 
To encourage innovative and integrated long-range development plans that contribute to the quality of life in the community.
D. 
To employ planning principles and design standards that focus on creating a variety of well-planned and designed land uses, streetscapes, public open spaces, and the overall built environment.
E. 
To provide greater opportunities for use of mass transit facilities.
F. 
To respond to growing demands for housing and nonresidential uses of various types and designs.
G. 
To revitalize properties that have vacant, defunct or underutilized buildings, and to transform these previously developed properties into more complete, functional, and attractive neighborhoods.

§ 275-98 Use regulations.

Buildings may be erected, altered or used, and land may be used or occupied, subject to the General Provisions in Article XXI and Special Provisions of Article XXII, for any of the following uses and for no other:
A. 
Minimum tract size: 100 acres.
B. 
The following residential uses are permitted as of right within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District:
(1) 
Single-family semidetached dwellings;
(2) 
Single-family attached dwellings;
(3) 
Single-family detached dwellings;
(4) 
Multifamily dwellings.
C. 
The following nonresidential uses are permitted as of right within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District:
(1) 
Convenience store;
(2) 
Convenience store with fuel pumps, subject to § 245-139;
(3) 
Bank or other financial institutions, with or without drive through service and/or accessory ATM facilities, subject to § 245-149;
(4) 
Commercial greenhouse, nursery or garden center;
(5) 
Conference centers;
(6) 
Cultural, religious or charitable uses, subject to § 245-147;
(7) 
Business and professional offices;
(8) 
Governmental use;
(9) 
Fitness centers, including ancillary services such as wellness, physical rehabilitation facilities and prevention health education activities;
(10) 
Hotel, subject to § 245-153;
(11) 
Medical laboratories, outpatient or training facilities or offices for doctors and other medical personnel;
(12) 
Municipal uses;
(13) 
Pharmacy, with or without drive-through service, subject to § 245-149;
(14) 
Research and/or testing facility;
(15) 
Restaurants and taverns, including those with musical entertainment, dancing (excluding adult entertainment or dancing), and/or outdoor service of food and/or alcohol;
(16) 
Restaurants, including drive through facility(s) and fast food restaurant(s), subject to § 275-149;
(17) 
Retail stores, including discount department stores;
(18) 
Supermarket, with or without drive-through service, subject to § 245-149;
(19) 
Parking structures;
(20) 
Public transit facilities;
(21) 
Wholesale membership club;
(22) 
Stand-alone personal care facility/assisted living facility, memory care facilities, and/or rehabilitation centers, subject to § 245-157;
(23) 
Day-care center, subject to § 245-148.
(24) 
Neighborhood shopping center.
(25) 
Communication antennas mounted on an existing public utility transmission tower, building or other structure and communications equipment buildings, subject to the regulations set forth in § 275-145 of Article XXII.
(26) 
Mini-warehouse/self-storage facility, subject to § 275-156.
D. 
Permitted accessory uses on the same lot as the principal use, subject to the General Provisions in Article XXI.
(1) 
Uses customarily incidental to the uses permitted in § 275-98B and C.
(2) 
Outdoor dining, subject to § 275-158.
E. 
Conditional uses.
(1) 
Communication towers, subject to the standards for communications towers as conditional uses set forth at § 275-146, and communications equipment buildings, subject to the regulations set forth in § 275-145 of Article XXII.

§ 275-99 Required mix of uses; maximum permitted quantity of residential units and hotel rooms.

A. 
At least three of the uses permitted in § 275-98 shall be constructed on a tract.
B. 
At least 10% but no more than 90% of the total nonresidential gross floor area, exclusive of hotels, shall be devoted to retail store, garden center, supermarket or wholesale membership club uses.
C. 
At least 10% but no more than 90% of the total nonresidential gross floor area shall be devoted to offices, research and/or testing facilities, medical laboratories, outpatient or training facilities or offices for doctors and other medical personnel health and fitness centers.
D. 
No more than 15% of the total nonresidential gross floor area shall be devoted to restaurants, taverns, and fast-food restaurants.
E. 
No more than 350 residential units shall be permitted, with a density not to exceed 15 residential units per acre on the area proposed for residential use.
F. 
No more than 150 hotel rooms shall be permitted on a tract. Such hotel rooms may be located in a hotel and/or a conference center.

§ 275-100 Height regulations.

The maximum height of buildings within a SU-1-A Mixed-Use development shall be as follows, except as provided in the Special Provisions in Article XXII of the Zoning Ordinance, which provides for exceptions to height regulations for certain structures:
A. 
Single-story buildings: 35 feet.
B. 
Multistory residential and nonresidential buildings, other than office buildings or hotels: 50 feet.
C. 
Office buildings and hotels: 60 feet.
D. 
No new buildings located within 100 feet of the right-of-way of Baltimore Pike shall be more than 40 feet in height.

§ 275-101 Area and bulk regulations.

A. 
Maximum impervious surface area of the tract: 60%.
B. 
Maximum building coverage of the tract: 20%.
C. 
Setbacks:
(1) 
Front yard (adjacent to Baltimore Pike): 100 feet. The front yard setback requirement shall not apply to accessory canopy structures, fuel pumps, bank drive-throughs, or buildings occupied by a municipal or governmental use, but in no case shall be less than 10 feet from the legal right-of-way line of Baltimore Pike.
(2) 
Front yard (adjacent to Pennell Road): 30 feet.
(3) 
Front yard (adjacent to Printers Way and Donovan Drive): 20 feet.
(4) 
Side yard: 15 feet, except that a building occupied by a municipal or governmental use shall not be subject to this side yard requirement.
(5) 
Rear yard: 100 feet, except that a building occupied by a municipal or governmental use shall not be subject to this rear yard requirement.

§ 275-102 Design standards for the SU-1A District uses.

A. 
General standards.
(1) 
All developments constructed under this article shall also be governed by the SU-1-A Mixed-Use Design Standards dated December 23, 2011, attached as Appendix A to this article.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B. 
Special regulations relating to access and highway frontage. In order to minimize traffic congestion and hazard, control street access in the interest of public safety and encourage the appropriate development of street or highway frontage, the following shall apply:
(1) 
No parking lot or area for off-street parking or for the storage or movement of motor vehicles shall abut directly to a public street or highway unless separated from the street or highway by a raised curb, barrier planting strip, wall or other effective barrier against traffic, except for necessary accessways, and each parking lot shall have not more than two accessways to any one public street or highway for each 500 feet of frontage. Where practicable, access to parking areas shall be provided by a common service driveway or minor public or private street in order to avoid direct access on a major street or highway. No such accessway shall be more than 70 feet in width.
(2) 
Accessway requirements.
(a) 
All necessary accessways to a public street or highway shall be located not less than 150 feet from any intersection with any other public street.
(b) 
All streets and accessways shall be designed in a manner conducive to safe exit and entrance and shall conform to the design standards for streets in Chapter 210, Subdivision and Land Development.
C. 
Buffer areas and landscaping. All required buffer areas and landscaping for developments within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District shall be specified in the Design Standards attached hereto as Appendix A.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
D. 
Building placement.
(1) 
There shall be a minimum distance of 18 feet between single-family detached dwellings. The minimum distance between all other residential buildings shall be 20 feet.
(2) 
There shall be a minimum distance of at least 25 feet between all nonresidential buildings and residential buildings.
(3) 
The minimum distance between nonresidential buildings shall be governed by the prevailing building code.
E. 
Site element screening. Roof-top elements, loading/unloading areas and trash dumpsters shall be screened from view in accordance with the Design Standards attached hereto as Appendix A.[3]
[3]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.

§ 275-103 Environmental controls.

All uses within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District shall comply with all environmental controls of § 275-130, Subsections A through K, pertaining to noise, smoke, dust, fumes, vapors and gases, heat and glare, air quality, odor, vibration, soil erosion, sedimentation and grading control, and storage and waste disposal. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report meeting the standards contained in § 275-131 of the Zoning Ordinance shall be submitted at the time of preliminary plan submission for the development of any new buildings within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District.

§ 275-104 Traffic impact.

A. 
The peak traffic generated by the proposed development shall be accommodated in a safe and efficient manner or improvements shall be made in order to effect the same.
B. 
All off-site traffic improvements shall be designed in accordance with the principles set forth in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Smart Transportation Guidebook dated March 2008, or most recent edition.
C. 
At the time of preliminary plan submission, the applicant shall submit a traffic impact study prepared by a qualified traffic engineer, consistent with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Policies and Procedures for Transportation Impact Studies Related to Highway Occupancy Permits (January 2009 or most recent version). The study shall fully consider all modes of transportation. The study area and key intersections to be analyzed shall be subject to the approval of PennDOT and the Township. If the traffic impact study indicates that the proposed development will result in an unacceptable decrease in overall level of service under the standards set forth in the Transportation Research Board Special Report 209, Highway Capacity Manual (2000 or most recent version), the applicant is required to construct improvements that will mitigate the overall LOS decrease. Such improvements shall be in accordance with PennDOT's Smart Transportation Guidebook and shall be subject to the approval of both PennDOT and the Township. If the mitigations are determined by either the Township or PennDOT to be infeasible or impractical, the applicant shall follow PennDOT's Policies and Procedures for Transportation Impact Studies Related to Highway Occupancy Permits and PennDOT's Smart Transportation Guidebook to develop alternative improvements reasonably satisfactory to PennDOT and the Township.

§ 275-105 Financial subdivision.

In connection with development within the SU-1-A Mixed-Use District, individual lots may be created for purposes of financing and/or conveyancing. Such individual lots shall not be required to comply on an individual basis with the dimensional requirements of this article, provided that the tract complies with such requirements on an overall basis, and further provided that the deeds conveying such separate lots contain covenants requiring the purchasers to, at all times, operate and maintain such lots in good order and repair and in a clean and sanitary condition; that cross easements for parking areas and all appurtenant ways, pedestrian access, and utilities shall be maintained between such lots; and that such covenants shall be subject to the approval of the Township Solicitor. The purchaser of any such lot shall so covenant and agree thereby to be bound by such conditions as set forth herein. Where a financial subdivision is proposed, a financial subdivision plan shall be submitted at the time of final plan submission and shall be approved by Township Council prior to recording.

§ 275-106 General design standards.

A. 
General Provisions standards, subject to Article XXI.
B. 
Special Provisions standards, subject to Article XXII.
C. 
Off-street parking and loading standards, subject to Article XXIV.
D. 
Signage, subject to Article XXV.
E. 
Landscaping, subject to Article XXI.
F. 
Lighting, subject to Article XXI.
G. 
Stormwater management, subject to Chapter 198.