Neville Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE I
Purpose and Authority
§ 340-1 Title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Neville Township Zoning Ordinance" and the district map shall be known and may be cited as the "Neville Township Zoning Map."
§ 340-2 Purpose.
The purposes of this chapter are to promote the safety, health, morals, convenience, and general welfare; to encourage the most appropriate use of land throughout the Township; to conserve and stabilize the value of property; to minimize overcrowding of land and buildings; to prevent loss of health, life and/or property from fire, flood, panic and other dangers; to provide adequate open spaces for light and air; to facilitate adequate provision of streets and highways, water, sewage, drainage and other public facilities; to conserve life, property and natural resources; and to conserve the expenditure of funds earmarked for public improvements.
§ 340-3 Community development objectives.
This chapter renders a legal basis and framework for the future land use and development of Neville Township. The following objectives represent general guidelines for future planning, redevelopment or improvement activity in Neville Township:
A.
To enhance the Township's desirability as a place to live and work, capitalizing on its favorable location in the metropolitan area.
B.
To enhance the Township's nonresidential base, capitalizing on its accessibility by road, rail and river travel.
C.
To maintain and upgrade existing structures through code enforcement and revisions to existing codes.
D.
To provide viable redevelopment opportunities for existing properties in the Township.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
E.
To promote the provision of additional recreation opportunities for Township residents.
F.
To encourage redevelopment activities within the industrial area, especially those which will generate industrial development which is not harmful to the environment.
G.
To encourage the redevelopment of vacant industrial sites into sites that are not as industrially intensive.
H.
To enact and enforce the required ordinances and codes necessary to generate development which will address the identified goals and objectives.
I.
To encourage additional cooperative efforts with the Cornell School District in seeking to provide additional recreational facilities and programs.
J.
To establish stronger lines of communication with Allegheny County officials to provide technical and financial assistance in the development of community betterment programs.
§ 340-4 Application of regulations.
A.
The regulations established by this chapter within each district shall be minimum regulations and shall apply uniformly to each class, or kind, of structure or land.
B.
Additional classifications may be made by the Township Commissioners within any district for the purpose of:
(1)
Making transitional provisions at or near the boundaries of districts;
(2)
Regulating nonconforming uses and structures;
(3)
Regulating, restricting or prohibiting uses and structures at or near major thoroughfares, their intersections and interchanges and transportation arteries, natural or artificial bodies of water, public buildings and grounds, places having unique historical or patriotic value or interest, floodplain areas and other places having a special character of use affecting or affected by their surroundings.
C.
In all districts, no building or structure or part thereof shall hereafter be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved or structurally altered unless in conformity with all the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located.
D.
Should any public building, facility or land area, such as a school, recreation area, community center, fire house or municipal building, cease to be used according to its intended function, the Township Planning Commission shall study the existing zoning classification of the property on which the said use is located and shall make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on any necessary zoning changes to ensure a suitable reuse of the parcel. This study and accompanying recommendations shall be made by the Planning Commission within 90 days of the notification by the appropriate public entity of the intent to terminate the existing use of the property.
§ 340-5 Interpretations.
A.
Wherever the regulations within this chapter are at variance with other lawfully adopted rules, regulations, ordinances, restrictions or covenants, those which impose the most restrictive requirements shall govern.
B.
In interpreting the language of this chapter to determine the extent of the restriction upon the use of the property, the language shall be interpreted, where doubt exists as to the intended meaning of the language written and enacted by the governing body, in favor of the property owner and against any implied extension of the restriction.
C.
No structure or use which was not lawfully existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter shall become or be made lawful solely by the reason of the adoption of this chapter, and to the extent that, and in any respect that, said unlawful structure or use is in conflict with the requirements of this chapter, said structure remains unlawful hereunder.
D.
Regardless of any other provision of this chapter, no land shall be used and no structure erected or maintained in violation of any state or federal control or environmental protection law or regulation.
E.
Any use which is not specifically listed as permitted, conditional, a use by special exception or accessory to the principal permitted use for a district is prohibited in that district. For single-family and two-family dwellings, there shall be only one principal use and one principal building permitted per lot.
§ 340-6 Authority.
B.
The Zoning Officer of Neville Township shall have the authority to administer this chapter, in its literal terms (per Section 614 of Act 247, as reenacted and amended),[2] and may initiate civil enforcement proceedings as a means of enforcing the regulations herein.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10614.