Spring Grove City Zoning Code
ARTICLE V
Environmental Regulations
§ 400-23 Erosion control.
The landowner, person and/or entity performing any earth disturbance shall utilize sufficient measures to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation of creeks.
A.
For any building, structure, or proposed use which will involve a change in the contour of the land, grading, excavating, removal or destruction of the topsoil, trees or other vegetative cover of the land, no permit either under this chapter, or any other Borough ordinance or state statute shall be issued until the following conditions have been met.
B.
No changes shall be made in the contour of the land, no grading, excavating, removal or destruction of the topsoil, trees or other vegetative cover of the land, or other earth disturbance activity as defined in Title 25 of the Pa. Code, § 102.1, shall be commenced until a determination has been made by the York County Conservation District whether, or to what degree, or not an erosion and sedimentation control plan (E&S plan) is required. To the extent that a formal E&S plan is not required by the York County Conservation District, then proposed erosion and sedimentation control measures shall be noted on the subdivision or land development plan. Additionally, every such plan shall be presented to the York County Conservation District, which shall either review and approve such plan, or issue a waiver letter to the Borough advising that no review by the York County Conservation District is required because of the size and location of the excavation. Waivers will only be permitted by the Borough for any activities identified in Subsection A which involves less than 5,000 square feet. In all other events, a review and approval of such plan by York County Conservation District shall be required.
C.
All activities identified in Subsection A shall conform to the requirements of Chapter 102 of the Rules and Regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as amended, 25 Pa. Code § 102.1 et seq. It shall be the responsibility of the land developer, contractor or owner to obtain approval or waiver from the York County Conservation District or other agency designated by the Department of Environmental Protection to enforce the regulations in that chapter. The Borough Council may, in their sole discretion, require an improvement bond or other acceptable security in the form of an escrow guarantee to ensure installation and completion of any improvements or erosion controls, whether permanent or temporary, required pursuant to this section.
D.
The erosion and sedimentation control plan shall be prepared by a person trained and experienced in erosion and sedimentation control methods and techniques.
E.
To the extent permitted or required by law, any changes to state statutes or regulations involving erosion and sedimentation control between the time of approval of a plan as part of the subdivision or land development plan approval process and the application by the developer for any building or zoning permits required by other ordinances of the Borough prior to any earth disturbance activity may result in the newer standards being applied and a new erosion and sedimentation control plan being filed. Therefore, nothing in this chapter or this section shall be construed by a developer, contractor or owner as granting them any vested rights in contravention to state law or regulation.
F.
All references in this section or this chapter to the York County Conservation District shall include any agents of or successors to York County Conservation District, or any agency to whom DEP in the future delegates enforcement of its laws and regulations relating to erosion and sedimentation control in the future.
G.
The design standards and specifications for said plan are contained in the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Handbook which has been prepared by the York County Conservation District and is on file in that office and with the Borough.
§ 400-24 Nuisances and hazards to public safety.
A.
No landowner, tenant nor lessee shall use or allow to be used any land or structures in a way that results or threatens to result in any of the following conditions:
(1)
Transmission of communicable disease, including conditions that may encourage the breeding of insects or rodents;
(2)
A physical hazard to the public, or a physical condition that could be an attractive nuisance that would be accessible by children;
(3)
Pollution to groundwaters or surface waters, other than as authorized by a state or federal permit;
(4)
Risks to public health and safety, such as, but not limited to, explosion, fire or biological hazards; and
(5)
Interference with the reasonable use and enjoyment of property by a neighboring landowner of ordinary sensitivities.
B.
If the Zoning Officer has reason to believe that the proposed use may have difficulty complying with the standards of this article, then the Zoning Officer may require an applicant to provide written descriptions of proposed machinery, hazardous substances, operations and safeguards.
§ 400-25 Wetlands.
The Zoning Officer may require an applicant to prove that a suspect area proposed for alteration does or does not meet the state or federal definition of wetlands.
§ 400-26 Flood-prone areas (floodplains).
A.
Purposes. This section serves the following major purposes:
(1)
To prevent loss of life and destruction and damage of property;
(2)
To avoid government expenditure for flood protection, rescues and reconstruction;
(3)
To avoid public health and safety hazards and increases in flood levels, frequencies and velocities;
(4)
To reduce the numbers of persons unknowingly investing in new properties that are prone to flooding;
(5)
To require any uses permitted to occur in flood-prone areas to be constructed in a way which will minimize flood damage;
(6)
To ensure that inappropriate development does not occur along previously unstudied segments of waterways, such as areas of alluvial soils that were not studied in depth; and
(7)
To permit certain uses which can be appropriately located in such areas and which will not impede the flow of flood waters or otherwise cause danger to life and property at, above or below their locations along the flooding.
B.
Applicability. The regulations of this section shall apply throughout the entire Borough as overlay zoning regulations that supplement the zoning district regulations. Where the regulations of this section differ from the regulations of any other section of this chapter, the provision that is more restrictive on development shall apply.
C.
Floodplain compliance.
(1)
No structure shall be used or located, relocated, constructed, reconstructed, enlarged or structurally altered or land used except in full compliance with this section and Chapter 213, Floodplain Management. A Borough permit is required for any development within the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(2)
Any alterations to a waterway, drainage channel or the one-hundred-year floodplain, including development, redirecting drainageways, changes in grade or filling in, shall only occur after a determination by the Zoning Officer that all Borough ordinances have been complied with and after any needed state or federal permits are received.
(3)
Any municipalities that will be affected by a change in a alteration or relocation of a waterway shall be given prior notice of such proposal, with notice provided to PA Department of Community and Economic Development ("DCED") and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
D.
Identification of floodplain areas. For the purposes of this section, the one-hundred-year floodplain shall be those areas identified as such on the latest version of the official Flood Insurance Study for the Borough as issued by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (hereafter referred to as the "Federal Floodplain Study"). As of the adoption date of this chapter, the latest version was dated February 15, 1983. Such map is available for inspection at Borough Hall. The one-hundred-year floodplain ("FP") shall mean the one-hundred-year floodway plus the one-hundred-year flood-fringe, as identified in the Federal Floodplain Study or other appropriate study found to be acceptable to the Borough Engineer. The one-hundred-year floodplain shall consist of the following subareas:
(1)
"Floodway" shall mean areas identified as the one-hundred-year floodway in:
(a)
The Federal Floodplain Study along segments of waterways that were analyzed in such study; and
(b)
In other appropriate studies acceptable to the Borough Engineer, including any detailed site specific study along a segment that was not analyzed in the Federal Floodplain Study. The floodway generally shall be the channel of a stream plus any adjacent portions of the one-hundred-year floodplain that must be kept free of encroachment in order to prevent the increase of flood levels by more than one foot.
(2)
"Flood-fringe area" shall mean the portions of the one-hundred-year floodplain that are not within the one-hundred-year floodway, as identified in the Federal Floodplain Study or in other appropriate studies acceptable to the Borough Engineer.
(3)
"General floodplain area" shall mean any areas identified as general floodplain, approximate one-hundred-year floodplain or Zone A (as opposed to Zone A followed by a number) in the Federal Floodplain Study, and for which no official one-hundred-year flood elevations have been provided. In such areas, information shall be used from any available federal, state or other qualified studies that are found to be acceptable by the Borough Engineer, such as elevations on a nearby floodplain area that was studied in detail. If no such reliable information is available, and if development activity is proposed within such approximate one-hundred-year floodplain area, then a detailed floodplain study of the site is required as provided below.
(4)
Additional floodplain studies.
(a)
The Zoning Officer shall require an applicant to provide a professional floodplain study of a site:
[1]
If the Borough Engineer determines that sufficient information is not available from existing studies to determine the location of the one-hundred-year floodplain, floodway and/or flood fringe; and
[2]
If an applicant proposes a building or a structure that may inhibit floodwaters or result in a net increase in fill within an area that the Borough Engineer believes is within the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(b)
Such study shall only be conducted by a professional engineer or other professional with demonstrated qualifications in such studies. Such study shall follow current accepted hydraulic technical methods and shall provide sufficient analysis and computation information for the Borough Engineer to determine that such study is accurate.
(c)
Such study may also be voluntarily conducted by an applicant if the applicant questions the location of the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(d)
If such study is acceptable to the Borough Engineer, then such study shall be used to define the areas within and outside of the one-hundred-year floodplain within the studied areas. The one-hundred-year floodway and one-hundred-year flood fringe shall also be defined if necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(5)
Floodplain map amendments. Borough Council may officially amend the floodplain areas to account for man-made or natural changes, or to incorporate an updated federal or state study or to accept an appropriate professional study that provides a detailed analysis of a specific segment of a waterway. However, any such official amendment of the floodplain map requires prior approval of the Federal Insurance Administration or its successor agency.
(6)
Floodplain interpretation. The Zoning Officer shall initially determine the location of the one-hundred-year floodplain areas based upon the Federal Floodplain Study. The Zoning Officer may request the advice of the Borough Engineer. The burden of proof shall be on the applicant to prove that the determination of the Zoning Officer or the study being used is not accurate. If such evidence provided by the applicant is found, in writing, to be acceptable to the Borough Engineer, then the Zoning Officer shall accept such revised determination. If such alternative determination is not accepted, then the applicant may seek a variance from the determination of the Zoning Hearing Board pursuant to § 400-57 of this chapter.
§ 400-27 Noise.
A.
No principal or accessory use, or operations or activities on its lot, shall generate a sound level exceeding the limits established in the table below, when measured at the specified locations:
Sound Level Limits by Receiving Land Use/District | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land Use or Zoning District Receiving the Noise | Hours/Days | Maximum Sound Level | |||
At a lot line of a residential use in a residential district | 1) | 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. other than Sundays, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Years Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day | 1) | 65 dBA | |
2) | 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., plus all day Sundays, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Years Day, Easter Sunday, Labor Day and Memorial Day | 2) | 60 dBA | ||
At any other lot line | All times and days | 70 dBA | |||
NOTES: dBA means A weighted decibel. |
B.
The maximum permissible sound level limits set forth in the above table shall not apply to any of the following noise sources:
(1)
Sound needed to alert people about an emergency;
(2)
Repair or installation of utilities or construction of structures, sidewalks or streets between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., except for clearly emergency repairs which are not restricted by time;
(3)
Household power tools and lawnmowers between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.;
(4)
Agricultural activities, including permitted raising of livestock, but not exempting a commercial kennel;
(5)
Public celebrations specifically authorized by the Borough Council or a county, state or federal government agency or body;
(6)
Unamplified human voices or the sound of a single animal;
(7)
Routine ringing of bells and chimes by a place of worship or municipal clock; or
(8)
Vehicles operating on a public street, railroads and aircraft.
§ 400-28 Odors and dust.
No use shall generate odors or dust that are offensive to persons of average sensitivities beyond the boundaries of the subject lot.
§ 400-29 Control of light and glare.
This section shall only regulate exterior lighting that crosses lot lines or onto public streets.
A.
Streetlighting exempted. This § 400-29 shall not apply to streetlighting that is owned, financed or maintained by the Borough or the state, nor to an individual porch light of a dwelling.
B.
Height of lights. No luminary, spotlight or other light source that is within 200 feet of a lot line of an existing dwelling or approved residential lot shall be placed at a height exceeding 35 feet above the average surrounding ground level. This limitation shall not apply to lights needed for air safety or lights intended solely to illuminate an architectural feature of a building or lighting of outdoor public recreation facilities.
C.
Diffused. All light sources, including signs, shall be properly diffused as needed with a translucent or similar cover to prevent exposed bulbs from being directly visible from streets, public sidewalks, dwellings or adjacent lots.
D.
Shielding. All light sources, including signs, shall be shielded around the light source and carefully directed and placed to prevent the lighting from creating a nuisance to reasonable persons in adjacent dwellings and to prevent the lighting from shining into the eyes of passing motorists.
E.
Flickering. Flashing, flickering or strobe lighting are prohibited, except for nonadvertising seasonal lights between October 25 and January 10.
F.
Spillover. Exterior lighting on an institutional, commercial or industrial property shall not cause a spillover of light onto a residential lot that exceeds one horizontal footcandle at a distance 20 feet inside the residential lot line. Such light shall be measured by the Zoning Officer or his designee.
G.
Gasoline sales canopies. Any canopy over gasoline pumps shall have a maximum distance between the ground level and the underside of the canopy of 18 feet. If the ground level is sloped, then a portion of the canopy may have a greater height, provided that the maximum height is 18 feet at the portion of the canopy that is closest the street. All light fixtures under the canopy shall be recessed into the canopy or screened by an extension around the bottom of the canopy so that lighting elements are not visible from another lot.
§ 400-30 Steep slopes.
A.
Non-man-made slopes of over 15% shall not be regraded after the adoption of this chapter in such a manner that circumvents the requirements of this chapter.
B.
This section shall not regulate slopes that were man-made prior to the adoption of this chapter.
C.
Any area with a slope over 25% shall not be counted toward the minimum lot area of a lot for the purposes of determining compliance with any minimum lot area or maximum density requirements of this chapter.
D.
No principal building and no off-street parking area shall be built upon an area with a slope over 25%.
E.
No principal commercial or industrial building and no apartment building and no parking area serving such uses shall be built upon an area with a slope over 15%.
§ 400-31 Setback from creek.
No new building and no new or expanded off-street parking area or commercial or industrial storage area shall be located within 50 feet of the top of the primary bank of the west branch of the Codorus Creek.