Plymouth Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXXVIII
Interchange Development District
Section 3800 Legislative intent.
[Ord. No. 1215, § 1, 1-13-1997]
In recognition of Plymouth Township's superior location with respect to the regional highway system and as described in the Plymouth Township Comprehensive Plan Update, this Interchange Development District is created to allow for appropriate land uses on sites in close proximity to both of the entrances and exits of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Blue Route (1-476). It is the intent of this district to encourage a mixture of non-residential uses which can take advantage of the areas regional accessibility.
Section 3801 Permitted uses.
[Ord. No. 1215, § 2, 1-13-1997; Ord. No. 1261, § 1, 4-13-1998; Ord. No. 1633, § 2, 4-10-2017]
Buildings may be erected, altered or used and a property or tract may be used or occupied for any of the following uses:
A.
Office for administration, banking, data processing, executive, professional, sales, or other uses of the same general character, the normal attributes of which do not involve external storage of heavy equipment, commercial trucks or materials of any sort on site.
B.
Bank or other financial institution.
C.
Restaurant, excluding drive-through facilities.
D.
Hotel.
F.
Conference center including indoor exhibition facilities, banquet and food service facilities, meeting rooms, hotel and similar uses.
G.
Parking structures in conjunction with any permitted uses.
H.
Governmental offices, information facilities, bureaus, excluding parking area for any equipment or any exterior storage of materials.
I.
Signs shall be permitted as set forth in Section 1602.2.
Section 3801.1 Conditional uses.
[Ord. No. 1558, § 2, 8-8-2011; Ord. No. 1633, § 3, 4-10-2017]
The following uses shall be permitted when authorized as a conditional use by the Township Council, subject to the provisions of Article XXXVI of this ordinance and the specific development standards included in this Article.
A.
Elderly housing/assisted living facility on properties meeting the following criteria:
(1)
The tract of land to be developed shall be a minimum of 5 acres in gross area, shall provide access to at least two public streets, and shall be held in single and separate ownership.
(2)
The development shall be served by public sewer and water acceptable to the Township Council and subject to the approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and any applicable local authority.
Section 3802 Development requirements.
[Ord. No. 1215, § 3, 1-13-1997; Ord. No. 1245, § 1, 10-27-1997; Ord. No. 1268, § 5, 8-17-1998; Ord. No. 1476, § 40, 6-11-2007]
The plan for the interchange development shall include specific evidence and facts showing that it has considered and made provision for, and the development shall be executed in accordance with, the following essential conditions:
A.
Development shall consist of a harmonious grouping of buildings, service and parking areas, circulation and open spaces, planned and designed as an integrated unit in such manner as to constitute a safe, efficient, convenient and accessible planned development.
B.
The appropriate use of property adjacent to the Interchange Development District development shall be safeguarded. Where such center abuts any residential district, a suitable and uninterrupted buffer area, not less than twenty (20) feet in depth and planted in accordance with the requirements of Section 505.3.E of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, shall be provided and maintained by the owner of the planned development or an association of owners thereof.
C.
Lighting shall be arranged in such a manner as will protect the roadway and neighboring properties from direct glare or hazardous interference of any kind.
D.
All buildings within the Interchanged Development District shall be serviced by public sanitary sewage disposal systems and public water supply.
E.
If the development of a tract within the Interchange Development District is to be carried out and to progress in stages, each stage shall be so planned that the foregoing requirements and the intent of this Ordinance shall be fully complied with by the developer at the completion of any stage of development.
F.
The Interchange Development District shall have a minimum gross area of fourteen (14) acres, shall have a minimum of nine hundred (900) linear feet of street frontage identified in the Comprehensive Plan Update as a collector or higher classification and some portion of the tract shall be located in the Core Area as defined by the Plymouth Township Comprehensive Plan Update.
G.
Off-street parking.
(1)
Office uses—3.5 spaces for every one thousand (1,000) square feet of leasable floor area.
(2)
Hotel—1.3 spaces for each guest room.
(3)
Restaurant, personal service and other permitted uses as required in article 1700 of this Ordinance except where a restaurant is located within a hotel, in which case parking shall be provided at the rate of one space for each one hundred (100) square feet of patron floor area.
(4)
Conference centers—One (1) space per each three and one-half (3 1/2) seats of maximum seating capacity or if there is no fixed seating, one (1) space per each sixty (60) square feet of gross floor area, devoted solely for conference use.
H.
The township council may, in its discretion, reduce the aggregate amount of required parking space upon determination that great efficiency is effected by joint use of a common parking area, but in no case shall the required off-street parking area be reduced more than twenty-five (25) percent.
Section 3803 Development standards.
[Ord. No. 1215, § 4, 1-13-1997; Ord. No. 1261, § 2, 4-13-1998; Ord. No. 1476, §§ 41, 42, 6-11-2007; Ord. No. 1633, § 4, 4-10-2017]
Within the Interchange Development District, the following standards shall apply:
A.
Minimum building setback from property line-Fifty (50) feet.
B.
Minimum parking setback.
(1)
Surface parking areas or parking structures to a residential district or a property in residential use—Fifty (50) feet.
(2)
Surface parking areas to an arterial street—Fifty (50) feet.
(3)
Surface parking areas to a collector street—Twenty (20) feet.
(4)
Surface parking areas to a private street—Fifteen (15) feet.
(5)
Surface parking areas to a limited access highway or any other tract boundary not on a street, except as required by subparagraph (1) above—Ten (10) feet.
(6)
Parking structures to a limited access highway—Ten (10) feet.
(7)
Parking structures to any other street line—Fifty (50) feet.
(8)
Parking structures to any other tract boundary not on a street, except as required by subparagraph (1) above—Twenty (20) feet.
C.
Minimum distance between buildings—Fifty (50) feet.
D.
Maximum building coverage—Thirty-five (35) percent of gross area.
E.
Maximum impervious surface coverage—Sixty-five (65) percent of gross area.
F.
Minimum building setback from a public street—Fifty (50) feet.
G.
Maximum building height—The maximum building height, including a parking structure that increases the height of the building, shall be six (6) stories or seventy (70) feet exclusive of elevators, penthouses, chimney spires, tanks and similar projections, except that the maximum building height, including a parking structure that increases the height of the building, may be increased to ten (10) stories or one hundred ten (110) feet by conditional use pursuant to the provisions of section 3600.
H.
Minimum lot area. Two (2) acres for offices and four (4) acres for other permitted uses. Any lot with more than one principal use must be a minimum of six (6) acres in area.
I.
Green space area requirement—The minimum required green space area on any lot shall not be less than thirty-five (35) percent.
Section 3803.1 Development standards for elderly housing/assisted living facilities.
[Ord. No. 1633, § 5, 4-10-2017[1]]
Elderly housing/assisted living facilities shall comply with the requirements of the Interchange Development District except as specifically modified by this section.
A.
Density. The number of housing units shall not exceed forty-five (45) units per developable acre.
B.
Building height. The maximum height of buildings or other structures erected under these provisions shall be 75 feet.
C.
Lighting. All exterior lighting shall be designed to prevent glare onto adjacent properties. Pedestrian pathways shall be clearly marked and well lit. Lighting shall be sufficient for security and identification purposes and shall be shielded so the source of light is not visible. Illumination onto existing residentially used areas shall at no time exceed 0.0 footcandle at the property line. The height of fixtures shall be a maximum of 20 feet above grade.
D.
Landscaping and buffering. Landscaping and buffering, including street trees, softening buffers, screen buffers, parking lot landscaping and detention basin landscaping, shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: See Appendix C, Subdivision and Land Development.
E.
Refuse areas. Areas provided for refuse storage must be visually screened with landscaping, privacy fencing, or walls.
F.
Parking. Off-street parking spaces for an elderly housing/assisted living facility shall be provided at the rate of .6 spaces per dwelling unit.
G.
Architecture. Conceptual architectural renderings, showing the general design, scale and materials of proposed buildings, shall be submitted with the conditional use application for a proposed elderly housing/assisted living facility.
H.
Signage. The total sign area shall not exceed one hundred twelve (112) square feet of signage for each street access subject to the following restrictions:
[1]
Editor’s Note: Section 5 of Ord. No. 1633 also repealed former Section 3803.1, Development standards for mid-rise apartment developments, Ord. 1558, § 3, 8-8-2011.
Section 3804 Conveyance of parcels.
[Ord. No. 1215, § 5, 1-13-1997]
A conveyance of a parcel within a tract being developed pursuant to the provisions hereof, shall be permitted upon compliance with the following conditions as certified by the township council:
A.
The development plan shall show a physical relationship between the area to be conveyed, the remaining area covered by the development plan and the common areas so that each area may be dependent upon the other and so that the area to be conveyed may not include all the facilities to conduct an independent separate operation.
B.
Any transferee as aforesaid shall have a substantial economic interest in the operation of the entire development as an integrated unit.
C.
Documentary evidence shall be filed with the township which shall affirm to the satisfaction of the township that:
(1)
The developer, its successors and assigns, shall remain responsible for the construction, control and maintenance of the common areas.
(2)
Irrevocable cross easements in favor of and duly binding on all title owners, their successors and assigns, within the area of the development, shall be required concerning the use, control and maintenance of the common areas of the development.
(3)
The area to be conveyed shall be conveyed subject to the requirements of the development plan, the obligations and responsibilities as to the common areas and the requirement of the cross easements so that each transferee of title as aforesaid shall be bound by same.
(4)
The developer shall have the authority to enforce the conditions attached to the development plan as well as the sole authority to seek amendments thereto.