Newtown Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XVIII
I Light Industrial District
§ 172-81 Applicability.
In I Light Industrial Districts, the regulations contained in this article shall apply.
§ 172-82 Permitted uses.
A building may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other:
A.
Administrative offices, executive offices, professional offices, sales offices and offices for other similar uses.
[Amended 9-23-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-7]
B.
Manufacturing, fabricating, assembling, packaging and/or processing of the following: scientific and precision instruments and controls, electronic components, computers, pharmaceutical and optical goods, metalized and coated plastic film, photographic reproduction, film and equipment, jewelry and timepieces, candy, cosmetics, dairy products, drugs and perfume.
C.
Cinema, radio and television productions.
D.
Newspaper, job printing or bookbinding establishment.
E.
Distribution plants, parcel delivery, cold storage plants and bottling plants.
F.
Electric transforming substations, microwave towers or other similar service uses.
[Amended 11-25-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-4]
G.
Laboratories, experimental manufacturing and research.
H.
Accessory uses incidental to any of the above permitted uses, not detrimental to the neighborhood, including a cafeteria and other similar services operated by or for the employer for the exclusive use of its employees and business visitors.
I.
Public or commercial parking.
J.
Uses approved by the Board of Supervisors of the same general character as any of the above, subject to conditional use approval.
K.
Conditional uses, subject to the provisions of §§ 172-88, 172-89 and 172-90.
[Added 1-6-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1]
(1)
Adult entertainment uses, which uses shall not be permitted in any other zoning district in Newtown Township, are as follows:
(2) ADULT ARCADE ADULT BOOKSTORE, ADULT NOVELTY STORE or ADULT VIDEO STORE(a) [1] [2] (b) ADULT CABARET(a) (b) (c) ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATER ADULT THEATER EMPLOYEE ESCORT ESCORT AGENCY ESTABLISHMENT(a) (b) (c) (d) NUDE MODEL STUDIO(a) (b) (c) NUDITY or A STATE OF NUDITY PERSON SEMINUDE or SEMINUDE CONDITION SEXUAL ENCOUNTER CENTER SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESS SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES SUBSTANTIAL ENLARGEMENT
As used herein in Subsection K(1), the following words shall have the meanings herein indicated:
Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-operated, slug-operated or, for any form of consideration, electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still- or motion-picture machines, projectors, video or laser disc players or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by the depicting or describing of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
A commercial establishment which, as its principal purpose, offers for sale or rental, for any form of consideration, any one or more of the following:
Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes or video reproductions, slides or other visual representations which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; or
Instruments, devices or paraphernalia which are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.
A commercial establishment may have other principal business purposes that do not involve the offering for sale or rental of material depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas and still be categorized as an adult bookstore, adult novelty store or adult video store. Such other business purposes will not serve to exempt such commercial establishments from being categorized as an adult bookstore, adult novelty store or adult video store so long as one of its business purposes is the offering for sale or rental for consideration the specified materials which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
A nightclub, bar, restaurant or similar commercial establishment which regularly features:
Persons who appear in a state of nudity or seminudity;
Live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities; or
Films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
A commercial establishment where, for any form of consideration, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions are regularly shown which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
A theater, concert hall, auditorium or similar commercial establishment which regularly features persons who appear in a state of nudity or seminudity, or live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities.
A person who performs any service on the premises of a sexually oriented business on a full-time, part-time or contract basis, whether or not the person is denominated an employee, independent contractor, agent or otherwise, and whether or not said person is paid a salary, wage or other compensation by the operator of said business. "Employee" does not include a person exclusively on the premises for repair or maintenance of the premises or equipment on the premises or for the delivery of goods to the premises.
A person who, for consideration, agrees or offers to act as a companion, guide or date for another person or who agrees or offers to privately model lingerie or to privately perform a striptease for another person.
A person or business association which furnishes, offers to furnish or advertises to furnish escorts as one of its primary business purposes for a fee, tip or other consideration.
Includes any of the following:
The opening or commencement of any sexually oriented business as a new business;
The conversion of an existing business, whether or not a sexually oriented business, to any sexually oriented business;
The addition of any sexually oriented business to any other existing sexually oriented business; or
The relocation of any sexually oriented business.
Any place where a person who appears seminude, in a state of nudity or who displays specified anatomical areas is provided to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed or similarly depicted by other persons who pay money or any form of consideration. "Nude model studio" shall not include a proprietary school licensed by the State of Pennsylvania or a college, junior college or university supported entirely or in part by public taxation; a private college or university which maintains and operates educational programs in which credits are transferable to a college, junior college or university supported entirely or partly by taxation; or in a structure:
That has no sign visible from the exterior of the structure and no other advertising that indicates a nude or seminude person is available for viewing.
Where, in order to participate in a class, a student must enroll at least three days in advance of the class.
Where no more than one nude or seminude model is on the premises at any one time.
The showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, vulva, anus, anal cleft or cleavage with less than a fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple or the showing of the covered male genitals in a discernible turgid state.
An individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association or other legal entity.
The state of dress in which clothing partially or opaquely covers specified anatomical areas.
A business or commercial enterprise that, as one of its principal business purposes, offers, for any form of consideration:
An adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult novelty store, adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motion-picture theater, adult theater, escort agency, nude model studio or sexual encounter center.
Human genitals, pubic region, anus, buttocks, female breast(s) below a point immediately above the top of the areola or human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely covered.
Any of the following:
The increase in floor area occupied by a sexually oriented business by more than 25%, as the floor areas exist at the date of passage of this chapter.
(3)
The following special conditions for adult entertainment uses shall apply:
(a)
Objectives.
[1]
Because adult entertainment uses tend to bring with them secondary concerns that impact the health, safety and general welfare concerns of Newtown Township, the Township desires to restrict or limit the location where such uses can locate.
[2]
The Township does not intend to affect or suppress any activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, but instead address these secondary effects. Neither is it the intent nor effect of these chapter provisions to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material.
[3]
Based on evidence concerning the adverse secondary effects of adult uses on the community presented in hearings and in reports made available to the Board of Supervisors and on findings incorporated in the cases of City of Renton v. Playtime Theaters, Inc., 475 U.S. 41 (1986), Young v. American Mini Theaters, 426 U.S. 50 (1976), and Northend Cinema, Inc. v. Seattle, 585 P.2d 1153 (Wash. 1978); and on studies in other communities, including, but not limited to, Phoenix, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Manatee County, Florida; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Amarillo, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Beaumont, Texas; and also on findings found in the Report of the Attorney General's Working Group on the Regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses (June 6, 1989, State of Minnesota), the Board of Supervisors finds the following:
[a]
Sexually oriented businesses lend themselves to ancillary unlawful and unhealthy activities that may go uncontrolled by the operators of the establishments. Further, there is presently no mechanism to make the owners of these establishments responsible for the activities that occur on their premises.
[b]
Certain employees of sexually oriented businesses defined in this section as "adult theaters" and "cabarets" engage in higher incidents of certain types of sexually oriented behavior at these businesses than employees of other establishments.
[c]
Sexual acts, including masturbation, oral and anal sex, occur at sexually oriented businesses, especially those which provide private or semiprivate booths or cubicles for viewing films, videos or live sex shows, as defined in this section as "adult bookstores," "adult novelty shops," "adult video stores," "adult motion-picture theaters" or "adult arcades."
[d]
Offering and providing such space encourages such activities, which creates unhealthy conditions.
[e]
Persons frequent certain adult theaters, adult arcades and other sexually oriented businesses for the purpose of engaging in sex within the premises of such sexually oriented businesses.
[f]
At least 50 communicable diseases may be spread by activities occurring in sexually oriented businesses, including, but not limited to, syphilis, gonorrhea, human immunodeficiency virus infections (AIDS), genital herpes, hepatitis B, Non B amebiasis, salmonella infections and shigella infections.
[g]
Since 1981, and to the present, there has been an increasing cumulative number of reported cases of AIDS caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States: 600 in 1982; 2,200 in 1983; 4,600 in 1984; 8,555 in 1985; and 353,448 through December 31, 1992.
[h]
As of May 1, 1995, there have been 13, 559 reported cases of AIDS in the State of Pennsylvania.
[i]
Since 1981, and to the present, there have been an increasing cumulative number of persons testing positive for the HIV antibody test in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
[j]
The number of cases of early (less than one year) syphilis in the United States reported annually has risen, with 336,123 cases reported in 1982 and 45,200 through November of 1990.
[k]
The number of cases of gonorrhea in the United States reported annually remains at a high level, with over 500,000 cases being reported in 1990.
[l]
The Surgeon General of the United States, in his report of October 22, 1986, has advised the American public that AIDS and HIV infection may be transmitted through sexual contact, intravenous drug abuse, exposure to infected blood and blood components and from an infected mother to her newborn.
[m]
According to the best scientific evidence, AIDS and HIV infection, as well as syphilis and gonorrhea, are principally transmitted by sexual acts.
[n]
Sanitary conditions in some sexually oriented businesses are unhealthy, in part, because the activities conducted there are unhealthy and, in part, because of the unregulated nature of the activities and the failure of the owners and the operators of the facilities to self-regulate those activities and maintain those facilities.
[o]
Numerous studies and reports have determined that semen is found in the areas of sexually oriented businesses where persons view adult-oriented films.
[4]
The purpose of these conditional use provisions is to minimize, where conditions permit, the secondary concerns, which include difficulties for law enforcement, municipal maintenance, trash, deleterious effects on business and residential property values, increased crime, particularly corruption of the morals of minors, and prostitution, and encourage residents and businesses to move elsewhere.
(b)
Yard and area regulations.
[1]
In addition to the yard and area regulations applicable to all uses permitted pursuant to the provisions of Article XVIII, no adult entertainment use shall be located:
[a]
Within 1,000 feet of the following:
[i]
A church, synagogue, mosque, temple or building which is used primarily for religious worship and related religious activities.
[ii]
A public or private educational facility, including, but not limited to, child day-care facilities, nursery schools, preschools, kindergartens, elementary schools, private schools, intermediate schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational schools, continuation schools, special education schools, junior colleges and universities. "School" includes the school grounds, but does not include the facilities used primarily for another purpose and only incidentally as a school.
[iii]
A licensed premises, licensed pursuant to the alcoholic beverage control regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[iv]
Any other adult entertainment use.
[b]
Within 800 feet of a boundary of a residential district, as defined in this chapter.
[c]
Within 500 feet of the following:
[i]
A public park or recreational area which has been designated for park or recreational activities, including, but not limited to, a park, playground, nature trails, swimming pool, reservoir, athletic field, basketball or tennis courts, pedestrian/bicycle paths, wilderness areas or other similar public land within the Township which is under the control, operation or management of the Township park and recreation authorities or other similar land within the Township which is under the control, operation or management of private parties and open and available for use by the general public.
[ii]
An entertainment business which is oriented primarily towards children and family entertainment.
[d]
Within 400 feet of the right-of-way line of U.S. Route 3 (West Chester Pike) or Pennsylvania Highway Route 252.
[2]
For the purpose of Subsection K(3)(b), Yard and area regulations, of this section, measurement shall be made in a straight line, without regard to the intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the building or structure used as the part of the premises where a sexually oriented business is conducted to the nearest property line of the premises of a use listed in Subsection K(3)(b), Yard and area regulations. Presence of a municipal, county or other political subdivision boundary shall be irrelevant for purposes of calculating and applying the distance requirements of this section.
(c)
Data. Sufficient additional data shall be submitted to enable the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to determine that the requirements of this chapter and other ordinances of the Township relevant to the proposed use have been fulfilled, and that the owners and operators of proposed adult entertainment facilities demonstrate a desire and ability to comply with the ordinances of the Township and to prevent their establishments from being used for any illegal activities.
L.
Billboards may be erected in the Light Industrial District of the Township as a principal use of the property only. [See also § 172-123A(8).]
§ 172-83 Area regulations.
A.
Front yard, rear yard and side yards. Front, side and rear yards shall be a minimum of 150 feet from any residential zoning district and 50 feet from any property line or street right-of-way line.
B.
Lot coverage. The building area shall not exceed 40% of the lot area, and the total of building area plus paved area shall not exceed 65% of the lot area.
C.
Height regulations. No building shall exceed 45 feet in height.
D.
Loading and unloading space. All buildings shall be provided with adequate off-street loading and unloading spaces located on other than the streets on which the lot abuts.
E.
Parking spaces. Parking spaces shall comply with the requirements established in this article and shall be sufficient to ensure that all parking related to the activities of the business shall be contained upon the lot.
F.
Minimum lot area. The minimum lot area for any use shall be two acres.
G.
Buffer area. Along any part of the property line that is common with a lot in a residence district, there shall be a buffer area, a minimum of 50 feet wide, parallel with the property line. This buffer area shall be fenced from the adjoining property.
§ 172-84 Plan and permit requirements.
[Amended 6-24-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-4]
A.
Applications for any land development or subdivision plan in an I Light Industrial District shall include but not be limited to the following, in addition to any and all requirements set forth in Chapter 148, Subdivision and Land Development:
(1)
A plot plan of the lot showing the location of all present and proposed buildings, drives, parking lots, waste disposal facilities and other construction features on the lot and all buildings, streets, alleys, highways, streams and other significant topographical features within 200 feet of the lot lines.
(2)
All requirements for a land development and/or subdivision shall be followed in accordance with Chapter 148, Subdivision and Land Development. In the case of a land development, architectural plans for any proposed building and/or addition shall be filed.
(3)
In the case of a land development where there is to be owner occupancy or a known tenant, a detailed description of the industrial operations proposed, in sufficient detail to identify and quantify the impact of the proposal on the ecology and environment, including but not limited to traffic congestion, noise, glare, air pollution, odors, water pollution, smoke, fire and safety hazards, waste generation and disposal. Engineering and architectural plans shall be included, showing the proposed resolution of all environmental problems resulting from the proposed use.
(4)
Engineering and architectural plans for the handling and disposal of stormwater, sewage and industrial waste. Plans shall also include a description of facilities to handle and properly dispose of recyclable materials as required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Township ordinance.
(5)
The proposed number of shifts and days to be worked and the maximum number of employees on each shift, if available at the time of application.
B.
All applications for building permits for fit-out work and certificates of occupancy shall be accompanied by a use permit application, which shall contain a description of proposed industrial uses and operations and their impacts, with particular consideration given to adjoining properties. The use permit application shall contain sufficient information to enable the Township Manager to assess the applicant's compliance with this chapter, Chapter 148, Subdivision and Land Development, and the following standards:
(1)
Any operation producing intense glare or heat shall be performed within a completely enclosed building so that no operation will produce heat or glare beyond the property line of the lot on which the operation is located.
(2)
All uses shall be so operated so that all noise, odors and vibrations associated with such uses are not perceptible, without instruments, at any point beyond the lot on which those uses are located.
(3)
All raw materials and products associated with any industrial or related use shall be stored indoors.
(4)
Off-street loading and unloading spaces on which the lot abuts are adequate for the proposed use.
C.
The Township Manager may obtain consultation from one or more consultants in making a determination of the applicant's compliance with the general performance standards of Subsection B. The costs of such consultation shall be borne by the applicant, provided that such costs are reasonable and the applicant provides written consent to the Township prior to incurring such costs. In such circumstances, no building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued prior to the applicant's reimbursement to the Township for such consultation costs.
§ 172-85 Appeals.
[Added 6-24-1991 by Ord. No. 1991-4]
In the event that the Township Manager or his representative does not render a decision within 10 working days of the receipt of a complete description of the proposed use or that the Township Manager's decision is that the use is not permitted by this chapter and/or does not meet the standards set forth in § 172-84B, the applicant shall have the right to appeal the decision directly to the Board of Supervisors by filing written appeal with the Township. The Board of Supervisors shall hear and render a decision on the appeal at the next scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors, provided that the appeal is filed at least five business days prior thereto. In the event that the appeal is not filed within five business days of the next scheduled meeting, the Board of Supervisors may postpone consideration of the appeal until the second scheduled meeting after the filing of the appeal. The fees for such a hearing shall be established from time to time by resolution by the Board of Supervisors.