Richland Township Cambria County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XI
C-3 Office Commercial District
§ 240-66 Purpose.
The C-3 Office Commercial District is intended as a primary office district of the community for the conduct of general business. It is the objective to provide in this district sufficient space in appropriate locations for the transaction of all types of administrative and miscellaneous service activities in beneficial relationship to one another and thus strengthen the economic base of the community; to provide appropriate space, including sufficient ground area, permissible height and bulk of buildings, including room for off-street parking facilities to satisfy the needs of modern office-commercial development; and to encourage the tendency of office-commercial development to concentrate to the mutual advantage of both consumer and merchant, thus to promote public convenience, prosperity and welfare. Land in this district is intended for concentrated office-commercial development, which is not properly associated with, nor compatible with, residential and neighborhood commercial and service establishments. Therefore, residential, industrial or manufacturing uses (except when incidental to the business) are prohibited as well as any other use which would substantially interfere with the development or continuation of the office-commercial structures and uses in the district.
§ 240-67 Use regulations.
A building may be erected or used and a lot used or occupied for any of the following purposes:
A.
Permitted uses.
(1)
Administrative offices of industrial or commercial establishments.
(2)
Animal hospital.
(3)
Bank and financial institution.
(4)
Business, charitable finance, professional and consulting offices.
(5)
Church or similar place of worship.
(6)
Clubs limited to private membership, exclusive of sexually oriented businesses.
(8)
Funeral home.
(9)
Hospital and medical facilities.
(10)
Motels and hotels.
(11)
Post office substations.
(12)
Research laboratories which do not involve the emission of excessive noise, smoke, odors, gases or vibrations.
(13)
Restaurant.
(14)
Similar type uses not specifically listed herein when authorized by the Zoning Hearing Board according to the procedure outlined in § 240-100A(9).
B.
Permitted ancillary commercial uses.
(1)
Barbershop.
(2)
Beauty shop.
(3)
Cafeteria and snack bar, including alcoholic beverages.
(4)
Confections, sales.
(5)
Drugs, tobacco and sundries, sales.
(6)
Duplicating or offset reproduction shop.
(7)
Fence or ornamental wall not over eight feet in height.
(8)
Flower shop.
(9)
Gift shop.
(10)
Health clubs.
(11)
Indoor swimming pool.
(12)
Travel agency.
(13)
Valet shop, including a dry-cleaning and/or laundry pickup station and shoe repairs.
C.
Conditions which apply to ancillary commercial uses. The above uses are permitted, subject to the following conditions
(1)
Ancillary commercial uses shall be located on the ground floor and shall occupy no more than 10% of the principal structure.
(2)
The principal entrance to an ancillary commercial use shall be from the inside of a building housing a permitted principal use except where the place of business of the ancillary commercial use is located at least 75 feet from the nearest public street.
(3)
No display of wares for sale shall be visible outside the building unless the place of business is at least 75 feet from the nearest public street.
§ 240-68 Area regulations.
A.
Lot area and width.
(1)
The minimum lot area for any use shall be 20,000 square feet with a minimum width at the building line of 100 feet.
B.
Building area. All buildings, including accessory uses, shall cover not more than 40% percent of the area of the lot.
C.
Yard area setbacks.
(1)
No building or structure shall be erected or enlarged unless the minimum yard area setbacks are provided as follows:
(a)
Front yard: not less than 50 feet.
(b)
Side yard: not less than 50 feet where abutting a street or alley. None required for interior lot, except where abutting upon an R District, where there shall be provided a side yard equal to one-half the required front yard in such abutting R District, plus a buffer area of not less than 15 feet.
(c)
Rear yard: not less than 25 feet. Where abutting an R District, there shall be provided, in addition to the rear yard requirement, a buffer area of not less than 15 feet.
(2)
A one-story accessory building may be located within a required rear yard except for the five feet adjacent and parallel to the rear lot line or alley line, but not upon any required buffer area, for the storage of motor vehicles, the loading or unloading of vehicles under roof or the storage of stock and merchandise customarily associated with the principal use. For the purposes of this section, a trailer, van or any vehicle or structure which was transported to the site is not a building and shall not be permitted to remain on the property for more than seven days in a fourteen-day period.
§ 240-69 Height regulations.
The maximum height of buildings hereafter erected, altered or enlarged shall not exceed 60 feet.
§ 240-70 Off-street parking and loading facilities.
Off-street parking and loading facilities shall be provided as required or permitted under Article XVIII.
§ 240-71 Planting areas.
A.
Landscape development shall be required to include an area of at least 10 feet in width along all streets, with the exception of approved entrance(s) which border the proposed development, which shall be planted and maintained with trees and shrubbery to serve as a suitable screen for the parking and storage area.
B.
A buffer planting strip, consisting of suitable shrubbery and trees maintained at a minimum height of eight feet by 10 feet in width, shall be planted wherever the district abuts a residential district.
§ 240-72 Conditions of use.
A.
All activities, except for accessory uses and a service station, shall be conducted within a completely enclosed building.
B.
No C-3 District shall comprise an area of less than two acres.
C.
All refuse, garbage and similar solid waste shall be enclosed in a masonry structure of sufficient height, width and depth to prevent dispersal of the solid waste in the vicinity with a solid gate sufficient to conceal the contents.
D.
The Township Planning Commission may require the following prior to issuing an occupancy permit or zoning approval for a General Commercial District or lot therein in accordance with the provisions and procedures of this chapter and upon an affirmative finding that the following requirements have been met by the owner, owners, developer, developers or petitioners for the tract or lot proposed for commercial development.
(1)
Traffic study.
(a)
To include a comparative analysis of present capacity of street(s) adjacent to the proposed business with potential capacity and volumes generated by the proposed development, together with necessary points of access to off-street parking and loading. Traffic data available in the Richland Township municipal offices may be utilized, provided that such data is deemed current by the Township Planning Commission.
(b)
To include a circulation plan for all streets in the vicinity, existing and proposed, which show the recommendations for controlling, signalizing, channelizing, storing, warning and directing traffic.
(2)
Landscape development plan.
(a)
To include a plan of landscape development which shall include, among other considerations, an area of at least 10 feet in width along all streets with the exception of approved entrances, to be planted and maintained with trees, shrubbery or other landscape material or ornamental fence or wall to serve as a visual screen for the parking areas and loading or servicing areas.
(b)
A fifteen-foot wide buffer planting strip shall be maintained wherever the proposed business abuts an R District.
(c)
All landscape areas or planting strips adjacent to parking lots or streets or highways shall be surrounded with a raised curb.
(d)
The location, arrangement, size and effect of all outdoor advertising or other signs and lighting proposed to be erected.
(3)
Architecture.
(a)
Architectural plans of the buildings and structures showing that the project has a unified design which will be in character and proper relationship to the surrounding areas shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for recommendation and approval.
(4)
Any other authority approval required, when applicable, such as Department of Health, State Highway Department, Department of Labor and Industry and similar organizations shall be obtained before applying for a zoning approval or an occupancy permit. Said authorizations shall accompany plans at the time they are submitted to the Township Planning Commission. If the state or similar organization requires approval prior to issuing its approval, the Planning Commission may issue site plan approval conditioned upon the applicant presenting the state's or similar organization's approval to the Zoning/Codes Office prior to the township issuing the building permit.