Plymouth Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE III
Establishment of Districts
Section 300 Classes of districts.
[Ord. No. 602, § 1, 11-9-1970; Ord. No. 619, § 1, 2-8-1971; Ord. No. 634, § 1, 10-11-1971; Ord. No. 1020, § 1, 11-13-1989; Ord. No. 1069, § 1, 4-29-1991; Ord. No. 1336, § 5, 11-13-2000; Ord. No. 1367, § 1, 12-10-2001; Ord. No. 1498, § 1, 4-14-2008]
For the purpose of this ordinance, the township is hereby divided into classes of districts which shall be designated as follows:
AA | Residential Districts |
A | Residential Districts |
B | Residential Districts |
C | Residential Districts |
D | Residential Districts |
D-1 | Residential District |
RS | Residential Special Districts |
MUV | Mixed-Use Village Residential District |
C | Commercial Districts |
SC | Shopping Center Districts |
OL | Office Laboratory Districts |
CI | Campus Industrial Districts |
IP | Industrial Park Districts |
LI | Limited Industrial Districts |
HI | Heavy Industrial Districts |
[H-RA] | High-Rise Apartment Districts |
FP | Flood Plain Conservation Districts |
LC | Limited Commercial Districts |
[OSR] | Open Space Recreation Districts |
[PO] | Planned Recovery District |
RRR | Resource Recovery District |
MU | Mixed Use Planned Development District |
BP | Business Park District |
The locations and boundaries of such districts shall be as shown upon the map attached to and hereby made a part of this ordinance, which shall be designated "Zoning Map." The said map, and all the notations, references, and other data shown thereon, shall be as much a part of this ordinance as if fully described herein. |
Section 301 District boundaries.
[Ord. No. 684, § 1, 10-22-1973]
The boundaries between districts are, unless otherwise indicated, either the centerlines of streets, lanes, watercourses and rights-of-way of power lines, railroads and other public utilities, or such lines extended, or lines parallel thereto. Where the boundaries of a single district are indicated as including directly opposite sides of a street, lane, lake or watercourse, or right-of-way of a power line, railroad or other public utility, for any portion of its length, the district so indicated shall be constructed to apply to the entire bed of such street, land, lake or watercourse, or right-of-way of such power line, railroad or other public utility, lying within such portion of its length. Where uncertainty exists as to the location of any of said boundaries as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules shall apply:
A.
Where a district boundary is indicated as approximately following a centerline of a street, lane, watercourse or right-of-way of a power line, railroad or other public utility, such centerline shall be construed to be such boundary.
B.
Where a district boundary divides a lot or runs through undivided property, the location of such boundary, unless otherwise specified by figures of the Zoning Map, shall be determined by the use of the scale appearing on said map.
C.
Where a district boundary is indicated as approximately following a lot or other property line existing on the effective date of this ordinance, such lot or property line shall be construed to be such boundary.
Section 302 Federal and state-owned property.
Whenever federal or state-owned property, or property owned by any federal or state agency or any political subdivision thereof, is included in one or more zoning district, it shall be subject to the provisions of this ordinance only insofar as permitted by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Section 303 Forestry and timber harvesting.
[Ord. No. 1355, § 4, 9-10-2001; Ord. No. 1476, § 7, 6-11-2007]
Forestry, including, but not limited to, timber harvesting, shall be a permitted use by right in all zoning districts. Forestry activities shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements, conditions and/or approvals:
A.
A zoning permit shall be obtained from the Township prior to harvesting or otherwise removing forty (40) or more trees with a trunk diameter of three (3) inches or more at a height of three (3) feet above the average ground level on any tract of land larger than two (2) acres.
B.
A Forestry Management Plan shall be prepared and filed when harvesting forty (40) or more trees with a trunk diameter of three (3) inches or more at a height of three (3) feet above the average ground level on any tract of land larger than two (2) acres. This plan shall be prepared by a qualified forester or forest technician.
C.
The Forestry Management Plan shall be consistent with the Timber Harvesting Guidelines of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
D.
Prior to the issuance of a zoning permit, an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan shall be submitted by the applicant to the Montgomery County Conservation District for review, recommendation and approval.
E.
Clear cutting shall be prohibited except on tracts of less than two (2) acres.
F.
When harvesting or otherwise removing forty (40) or more trees on tracts larger than two (2) acres, at least thirty (30) percent of the forest cover (canopy) shall be kept and the residual tree(s) shall be well distributed. At least thirty (30) percent of these residual trees shall be composed of highest value species as determined by a forester and pursuant to the Forestry Management Plan.
G.
Clear cutting is prohibited on areas with slopes greater than fifteen (15) percent or within the one-hundred-year floodway.