Spring Grove City Zoning Code

LDR - Low-Density Residential District: to provide for low-density residential neighborhoods that are primarily composed of single-family detached dwellings; to protect these areas from incompatible uses; to encourage owner-occupancy and neighborhood stability; to promote traditional patterns of development to extend the best features of older development into newer development; and to include the permanent preservation of significant open space as part of larger new developments.

TR - Town Residential District : to provide for medium-density residential neighborhoods with a mix of housing types; to protect these areas from incompatible uses; to encourage one home on one lot (which may be attached to another home) in order to promote home ownership and neighborhood stability; and to make sure that infill development is consistent with neighboring development.

V - Village District: to promote pedestrian-oriented commercial activities; to promote an appropriate mix of retail, service, office, public, institutional and residential uses; to avoid heavy motor vehicle-related commercial uses that are most likely to conflict with nearby homes and the pedestrian-orientation, and which are most likely to cause demolition of historic buildings; and to primarily provide for smaller-scale uses that utilize existing historic buildings, as opposed to uses that would involve substantial demolition.

GC - General Commercial District : to provide for a wide range of commercial uses, including motor vehicle-related uses that are prohibited in other areas of the Borough.

I - Industrial District: to provide for a range of industrial uses; to recognize that there are no appropriate locations within the Borough of Spring Grove for the heaviest types of industrial uses, because of the proximity of homes to all areas of the Borough, the locations of creeks and other important natural features, the importance of preserving historic buildings, the congestion of the street system and the very limited amounts of undeveloped land; and to carefully control the types of industrial operations to avoid nuisances (such as excessive noise) and hazards.

Standard antennas, including antennas used by contractors to communicate with their own vehicles;

Fence or wall;

Garage, household;

Garage sale [see § 400-22D(5)];

Keeping of pets;

Off-street parking or loading, only to serve a use that is permitted in that district;

Recreational facilities, limited to use by residents of a development, and their occasional invited guests;

Residential accessory structure (see definition in Article II);

Signs, as permitted by Article VII;

Swimming pool, household; or

Such other accessory use or structure that the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Zoning Officer is clearly customary and incidental to a permitted by right, special exception or conditional principal use.

Storage of fuels for on-site use or to fuel company vehicles;

The following accessory uses, provided that the use is clearly limited to employees, patients, residents, students and families of employees of the use and their occasional invited guests:

Shelters for persons waiting for buses;

Automatic transaction machine (ATM); or

Storage sheds meeting the requirements of § 400-17A.

The maximum height for structures shall be 2.5 stories or 40 feet, whichever is more restrictive, except as follows:

Encourage new development to occur in a manner that will be consistent with the traditional patterns and scale of development and mix of uses that occurred in Spring Grove Borough before 1946;

Promote a mix of diverse but compatible types of neighborhood development;

Avoid development that would be inconsistent with the character of the community, and could cause inefficient patterns of sprawled development;

Encourage a blending of recreation areas, preserved natural features, compatible institutional uses, and a mix of housing at a medium density, including housing intended to be affordable to middle-income persons;

Provide for reasonably safe and convenient pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle circulation, with an emphasis on avoiding conflicts between vehicles backing out of garages across sidewalks;

Encourage persons to live, work, shop, attend religious services and enjoy recreation within Spring Grove Borough;

Encourage the creation of a sense of place, feelings of belonging and a community spirit that promotes social interaction and volunteerism; and

Encourage the location of places of worship and other principal nonresidential uses with distinguished architectural features at prominent locations around a central commons, to serve as a focal point for the development.

A traditional neighborhood development shall be limited to the LDR and TR Zoning Districts and shall need conditional use approval from Borough Council, after review by the Planning Commission. As part of the conditional use application, the applicant shall submit an overall master plan. Such master plan shall show a conceptual coordinated land use, road, stormwater and infrastructure system for all adjacent lands owned, equitably owned or otherwise controlled by the applicant, as opposed to a single phase of development.

The overall master plan shall show proposed streets, alleys, cartway widths, lots, common open spaces, recreation areas, major pedestrian and bicycle pathways, parking areas, major detention basins and proposed types of housing and nonresidential uses. The master plan is intended to be similar to what is commonly termed a "sketch plan." The master plan is not required to include all of the detailed submission requirements that will later be required for a subdivision/land development plan.

Once conditional use approval is granted for the traditional neighborhood development, then individual lots may be submitted for approval under Chapter 350, Subdivision and Land Development, and allowed uses may occur as permitted by right uses, provided the lots and uses comply with the approved master plan.

If the Zoning Officer determines that a zoning or subdivision or land development application represents a significant divergence from the approved master plan, then the master plan shall be changed to conform to the application, and the amended master plan shall need new conditional use approval. However, the Zoning Officer may permit minor deviations from the master plan, without needing a second conditional use approval, if the differences are minor changes that do not affect zoning or subdivision ordinance matters, such as adjustments in street alignments and detention basin designs to reflect more detailed engineering.

All other requirements of this chapter and other chapters of the Code shall apply to a cluster/traditional neighborhood development, except for provisions that are specifically modified by this section.

The existing street system shall be extended into the new development. Streets shall be interconnected through the development. The use of a traditional grid street system divided into blocks is encouraged, with modifications for natural features. The community should have a central focal point, such as a central recreation area. Streets or trails should lead towards this focal point. A cul-de-sac shall be permitted only where the applicant proves that there are no feasible alternatives. Street linkages shall be provided to allow connections with future phases of development or adjacent tracts. Where direct street access is not practical between two areas, then the Borough Council may require the provision of bicycle and pedestrian access using an easement.

A minimum of 60% of the principal residential buildings shall include a front door accessing onto an unenclosed front porch with a minimum floor area of 60 square feet. Such porch shall be covered by a permanent roof. Such porch shall not be enclosed in the future.

Within a traditional neighborhood development, dwelling units shall not have garages or carports with entrances within 40 feet of the street right-of-way that face onto the front of the lot, and shall not have off-street vehicle parking spaces between the street and the dwelling, except within a landscaped parking court as provided below. No off-street vehicle parking, garage or carport shall be permitted within five feet from the right-of-way of an alley. However, on-street parallel parking may be approved along an alley pursuant to Subsection H.

No principal building shall include a flat roof as viewed from street. Significant roof pitches and variations in roof lines are specifically encouraged.

Sidewalks shall be provided along both sides of each street.

The only dwellings that shall be located adjacent to or across the street from single-family detached dwellings that existed at the time of adoption of this chapter shall be new single-family detached dwellings.

Alleys shall be designed to discourage through traffic.

All streets and alleys, whether public or private, shall be constructed to the same road bed construction standards as would apply to a public street within the Borough.

New streets shall be sufficient in width to allow on-street parking along at least one side of each street.

One or more prominent sites in the development are encouraged to be used for an allowed principal nonresidential use, such as a place of worship. The conditional use approval for the traditional neighborhood development may specifically allow for two or more alternative uses for a particular site to allow a developer with reasonable flexibility to attract different uses.

The applicant shall provide evidence that they have contacted the provider of public transit services and school bus services to coordinate the development with any proposed bus stops. Borough Council may require the provision of a bus shelter.

The applicant shall install streetlights meeting minimum requirements of the Borough and the electric provider. Such streetlights shall be of sturdy construction, decorative design, be dark in color (such as black, dark gray or dark green), and have a maximum total height of 25 feet.

In the event that there are any public or community improvements, or private streets or alleys, or a homeowners' associates, then the Borough shall require and approve appropriate covenants and/or maintenance agreements which shall include enforcement provisions, authorizing the Borough to provide required maintenance at the expense of individual owners if the association fails to do so, and providing for the imposition of municipal liens in such event.

The following uses shall be permitted by right within a cluster/traditional neighborhood development after the development has received conditional use approval, provided all uses are consistent with the master plan approved as part of the development:

The following use shall need special exception approval:

Allowed commercial uses and related parking shall not occupy more than 10% of the total lot area of the development.

A minimum of 30% of the total lot area of the tract shall be permanently preserved as common open space. This requirement shall apply in place of any requirement for recreation land or fees in Chapter 350 of the Code, Subdivision and Land Development. A landscaping plan for the common open space should be prepared by a registered landscape architect.

All or part of the common open space shall be provided within at least one central commons unless in discretion of Borough Council determines not practical or appropriate. The majority of any central commons shall be planted so as to eventually result in a canopy of deciduous trees over areas of the commons that are not planned for active recreation. Any central commons shall include benches of durable construction and pathways. Pathways should include decorative materials, such as brick, paving block or patterned concrete.

Stormwater detention basins and drainage channels shall not be used to meet the minimum common open space requirements, except for areas that the applicant proves to the satisfaction of Borough Council would be able to be attractively maintained and be reasonably dry and usable for recreation during storms less severe than a five-year storm.

Areas with a width less than 50 feet shall not be used to meet the minimum common open space requirements. The applicant shall provide evidence that a suitable legally binding method to own and maintain the common open space will be established. The Borough may require that the common open space be dedicated to the Borough. However, the Borough shall be under no obligation to accept ownership of the common open space. The Borough may require that a formal homeowners' association be established, with all homeowners legally bound to pay fees to maintain the land. Borough Council, at its option, may also approve alternative methods of ownership, such as ownership as a horse riding academy or Christmas tree farm.

In any case, the common open space shall be protected from subdivision and development of buildings by a permanent conservation easement enforceable by Borough Council.

If applicable, a draft set of homeowners' association or condominium association provisions shall be submitted for legal acceptance by the Borough Solicitor prior to recording of the final subdivision plan.

Single-family detached dwellings:**

Twin dwelling unit:**

Townhouse dwelling unit:**

Principal nonresidential use (a lot may include more than one allowed nonresidential use):

Maximum coverage for all uses** per lot:

Building setbacks for principal buildings**, except as modified by § 400-50 (along a street, minimum yards shall be measured from the proposed right-of-way):

Parking setback. No parking area of five or more spaces shall be located within 30 feet of a contiguous lot line of an existing dwelling.

Maximum overall density. The maximum overall density of the traditional neighborhood development shall be determined as follows, as calculated in acres (and decimals):

The applicant shall establish and record covenants controlling the overall styles and site layouts within the development. Such provisions shall control the styles of architecture, rooflines and the exterior materials in such as manner as to replicate the best features of pre-1946 architecture.

Maximum building height: § 400-17B shall apply.

For spaces along the same side of a street along curb that is directly contiguous to the set of lots being served, or a new alley within a traditional neighborhood development, and provided the spaces are within 200 feet of each dwelling they serve; and

If the applicant proves to the satisfaction of Borough Council that the street or alley would be sufficiently wide to allow the parking, and that there are no unusual safety hazards involved, compared to typical on-street parking at other locations;

If the applicant proves that such number of parking spaces could be legally accommodated along the street, considering the locations of driveways, fire hydrants and street corners; and

In such case, the cartway shall be of sufficient width to allow travel lanes of 11 feet in each direction.

Purposes: to provide a mechanism to discourage thoughtless and unnecessary destruction of valuable historic resources; to provide a mechanism that allows interested parties an opportunity to encourage a property owner to consider alternatives to demolition, such as sale to another person, movement of the building or rehabilitation; to provide opportunities for historic resources to be documented before they may be demolished, and allow historic features to be salvaged before demolition.

This § 400-19D shall apply to any principal building in the V Zoning District that the Zoning Officer has reason to believe was primarily constructed prior to January 1, 1940.

No building regulated by this § 400-19D shall be partially or entirely demolished unless a minimum of 80 days has passed from the date a complete valid permit application has been duly submitted to the Borough staff for the demolition. After such time period, the permit may be issued by the Borough for the demolition if all requirements of Borough ordinances have been met.

The Zoning Officer may issue a permit for the demolition immediately if the person responsible for enforcement of the Borough Building Code[1] certifies, in writing, that the building represents a clear and immediate hazard to public safety, and that no other reasonable alternative exists to immediate demolition.

This subsection shall not regulate: