Royersford City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XI
Institutional Use Standards 1
§ 475-65 Legislative intent.
In expansion of the declaration of legislative intent contained in Article I, § 475-2, of this chapter and the statement of community development objectives contained in Article I, § 475-4, of this chapter, it is hereby declared to be the intent of this Article XI to encourage the preservation and subsequent logical and timely development of land for institutional purposes; to assure the suitable design of institution in order to protect the environment of adjacent and nearby neighborhoods; and to ensure that institutional development will take place only when served by adequate public facilities and services. The protective standards in this Article XI are intended to minimize any adverse effect of institutional developments on surrounding neighborhoods.
§ 475-66 Use regulations.
[Amended 8-9-2016 by Ord. No. 883]
The uses listed in Subsections A and B herein shall be permitted as conditional uses in the R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4 Residence Districts. Only the institutional uses listed in this section shall be allowed under this Article XI.
A.
On lots with a minimum area of 20,000 square feet and a minimum width at the building line of 75 feet, a building may be erected, altered, or used, or a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other:
(1)
Churches, chapels, and other places of worship.
(2)
Convents and monasteries.
(3)
Day-care centers and other child-care facilities.
(4)
Municipal buildings, offices and uses.
(5)
Fire companies and other rescue services.
(6)
Community centers, open space preservation areas, parks, playgrounds, and other recreational facilities operated on a nonprofit basis.
(7)
Libraries and museums.
(8)
Accessory uses on the same lot as the customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses, including but not limited to agriculture, staff offices, offices and residences of institutional employees.
(9)
Forestry.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
On lots with a minimum area of 40,000 square feet and a minimum width at the building line of 100 feet, a building may be erected, altered, or used, or a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following uses and no other:
(2)
Churches, chapels, and other places of worship with adjunct residential and/or educational facilities.
(3)
Cemeteries.
(4)
Institutional headquarters for educational, fraternal, professional, religious, and other nonprofit organizations of a similar nature.
(5)
Medical and surgical hospitals or clinics, nursing homes, sanitaria, convalescent homes, and other health care facilities of a similar nature.
(6)
Public and private schools and other educational facilities.
(7)
Accessory uses on the same lot as the customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses, including but not limited to agriculture, staff offices, and residences of institutional employees.
(8)
Forestry.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
§ 475-67 Dimensional standards.
The following dimensional standards shall apply to all authorized institutional uses in the R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 Residence Districts:
Minimum lot area | 20,000 square feet | 40,000 square feet |
Lot width at building line | 75 feet | 100 feet |
Front yard | 30 feet | 50 feet |
Side yard | 15 feet (each) | 25 feet (each) |
Rear yard | 25 feet | 50 feet |
§ 475-68 Additional development regulations.
[Amended 7-28-1992 by Ord. No. 728]
A.
Lot coverage. No more than 50% of the area of an Institutional District may be occupied by buildings, parking lots, or vehicular accessways. The remaining area shall be used for, and maintained as, landscaped open space, recreation area, woodlands, or similar nonintensive use. Not more than 10% of this remaining area may be covered by blacktop, concrete, or similar impervious material.
B.
Height. The maximum height of any building shall be 35 feet, except that such height may be increased when approved as a special exception by the Zoning Hearing Board for such structures as water towers, silos, chimneys, steeples, radio and television antennas, elevator towers, solar collectors, and air-conditioning units, provided that for every five feet of height in excess of 35 feet, there shall be added to each yard requirement one corresponding foot width or depth.
C.
Building separation. The minimum distance between buildings shall be 30 feet; provided, however, the spacing between a principal and accessory building may be reduced to 20 feet.
D.
Buffer area. There shall be a screen buffer at least 10 feet in depth along all property lines which shall be planted in accordance with the plan approved by the Borough Planning Commission. This requirement may be reduced or waived by the Borough Council when the proposed development abuts a publicly owned park or when existing vegetation on abutting properties achieves the same effect. Any request for reduction or waiver of the buffer requirement shall be submitted in writing to the Borough Council and shall be accompanied by a site plan indicating the placement of buildings within the proposed development and the location of contiguous public open space and/or existing vegetation on adjacent properties. The Planning Commission shall review any such request and shall submit its recommendations to the Borough Council.
§ 475-69 Nuisance controls.
Institutional uses shall make provisions for control of each of the following:
A.
Access. A planned system of efficient ingress, egress, and internal circulation of traffic which shall interfere minimally with nearby traffic flow shall be required. Loading and unloading areas shall be provided where deemed necessary and shall be located to the rear of the proposed use and effectively screened from abutting residential districts. Such areas shall be so arranged that they may be used without blockage or interference with the use of accessways or automobile parking areas.
B.
Lighting. Lighting shall be arranged in a manner which will protect adjacent highways and neighboring properties from unreasonable direct glare or hazardous interference of any kind.
C.
Solid waste disposal. A plan for weekly disposal of solid waste material shall be required. All solid waste material shall be stored in covered containers. No solid waste shall be stored closer than within 15 feet of any property line. Refuse collection areas shall be shielded from the direct view of any adjacent property walls which measure a minimum of six feet in height.
§ 475-70 Parking.
Off-street parking facilities shall be provided and maintained in an Institutional District in accordance with the following lowing requirements:
B.
Parking areas shall be buffered from all buildings by a minimum of 10 feet of landscaped open space; provided, however, that parking may be permitted immediately adjacent to the rear of institutional buildings, when authorized by the Borough Council, in those instances when strict enforcement of this requirement is infeasible or unnecessary.
C.
No parking areas shall be permitted in the front yard areas of institutional buildings.
§ 475-71 Signs.
Signs shall be permitted in an Institutional District subject to the requirements set forth in Article XVIII herein.
§ 475-72 Conditional use criteria.
[Amended 5-13-1986 by Ord. No. 661; 9-26-1989 by Ord. No. 704]
The Borough Council shall be assured that the proposed use meets the standards of § 475-30 of this chapter and shall consider the following factors when evaluating a conditional use application for an institutional use in an R-1, R-2, R-3, or R-4 Residence District:
A.
Character of the surrounding area. The impact of the proposed institution on surrounding properties shall be considered. The scale of the institution shall relate to and complement the surrounding area.
B.
Public facilities and services. All institutional uses shall be capable of being served by public sewer and centralized water facilities. No institutional use shall create an unreasonable burden upon other Borough services.
C.
Traffic. The existing road system must be able to accommodate in a safe and efficient manner the peak traffic generated by the institution. Existing residential areas shall not be infringed upon by significant volumes of traffic from the proposed facility. In order to fully evaluate this factor, the Borough Council may request a traffic impact statement, as described below.
(1)
A traffic impact study shall present sufficient information to enable the Borough staff to assess the impact of the proposed institution on the roads within the Borough. The study must demonstrate that the proposed use will not adversely affect surrounding areas or traffic circulation generally in the Borough, or else identify any traffic problems that might be cause or aggravated by the proposed use and delineate solutions to those problems. Based upon the findings of the study, the Borough Council may require other improvements, both on-site and off-site, which would alleviate hazardous or congested situations directly attributable to the proposed development, as a condition of approval.
(2)
The traffic impact study shall be prepared for a study area extending a minimum of 1/2 mile on all abutting roads from the boundaries of the proposed institution. This area may be modified at the discretion of the Borough Council.
(3)
The traffic impact study shall be prepared by a qualified traffic engineer who possesses the credentials outlined for a Municipal Traffic Engineer defined in Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 612, entitled "Municipal Traffic Engineer Certification."
§ 475-73 Plan submission requirements.
[Amended 5-13-1986 by Ord. No. 661]
A.
Plans for any proposed institutional use or modification to any existing institutional use shall be reviewed by the Borough Planning Commission prior to the issuances of any zoning permit, and such plans shall include the following. The Planning Commission may recommend to Borough Council that some or all of the requirements, as specified hereinafter, be waived or reduced, provided that the impact of the proposed institutional use on the surrounding properties be considered and the scale of the institutional use shall relate to and complement the surrounding area:
(1)
A plot plan of the lot showing the location of all present and proposed buildings, drives, parking lots, and other constructional features on the lot; and all buildings, streets, alleys, highways, streams and other topographical features of the lot and within 200 feet of any lot line.
(2)
Architectural renderings or sketches for any proposed buildings.
(3)
A description of the proposed institutional operations in sufficient detail to indicate the effects of these operations in producing traffic congestion, noise, glare or safety hazard.
(4)
Engineering and architectural plans for the handling of any excess traffic congestion, noise, glare or safety hazard.
(5)
Engineering and architectural plans for the treatment and disposal of sewage.
(6)
Any other pertinent data that the Planning Commission may require.
B.
The Planning Commission shall review all plans submitted to it and shall submit these plans with recommendations to the Borough Council for final approval.