To desert, surrender, forsake or cede. To relinquish or give up with intent of never again resuming one's right or interest. To give up or cease to use. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern in; to desert. It includes the intention and also the external act by which it is carried into effect.

To touch at the end; be contiguous; join at a border or boundary. The term "abutting" implies a closer proximity than the term "adjacent." No intervening land.

A means of approach or entry to or exit from property.

A subordinate building or a portion of the main building on a lot, the use of which is customary to that of the main or principal.

An extension or increase of floor area or height of a building or structure.

Lying near or close to; sometimes, contiguous; neighboring. "Adjacent" implies that the two objects are not widely separated, though they may not actually touch.

These include adult bookstores, adult cabarets, adult drive-in theaters, adult massage businesses, adult mini-motion-picture theaters, and adult motion-picture theaters, which exclude minors by virtue of age.

A public or private way affording only secondary means of access to abutting property. Alleys may also be known as "courts," "places" or "lanes."

As applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the existing facilities, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another.

Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

Man-made structures such as clock towers, bell towers, church steeples, water towers, light poles and similar alternative-design mounting structures that camouflage or conceal the presence of antennas and towers.

A change in the regulations or district boundaries or classifications of property established by this chapter and according to procedures provided by law and exercised by the Borough Council.

A building used for the treatment, housing or boarding incidental to hospital use of small domestic animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits and birds or fowl by a veterinarian.

Any lot or premises on which four or more dogs, cats or both, at least six months of age, are kept, boarded or trained, whether in special buildings, runways, or not.

A means for obtaining review of a decision, determination, order, or failure to act pursuant to the terms of this chapter.

See "building area."

See "lot area."

That part of a building which is immediately below, and wholly or partly within the roof framing.

An open area, other than a street, used for the display, sale or rental of new or used motor vehicles, trailers or boats in operable condition.

A garage, other than a private garage, used for gasoline refueling and for the storage, equipping for operation, repairing, maintaining, keeping for remuneration, hiring or selling of motor vehicles.

That portion of a building which is partly or completely below grade.

A private home which take in no more than two couples for the purpose of providing overnight accommodations.

The Zoning Hearing Board of Summit Hill Borough.

An area of land, with plantings as specified by this chapter, and any structures which may be required between land uses to eliminate or minimize conflicts between them.

Any structure having a roof supported by walls and intended for shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals, or property.

The total area taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces, patios and steps.

The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof.

A line formed by the intersection of a horizontal place at average grade level and a vertical plane that coincides with the exterior surface of the building on any side. In case of a conjectured or projected section of a building, the vertical place will coincide with the most projected surface. All yard requirements are measured to the building line.

A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located.

An open space for the storage of one or more vehicles in the same manner as a private garage, which may be covered by a roof supported by columns or posts except that one or more of the walls may be the walls of the main building to which the carport is an accessory building or extension.

The certificate (sometimes call "occupancy permit") issued by the Zoning Officer after amendment to the map or text to correct a prohibition or restriction on the use or development of land in which he has an interest.

Any device used for the transmission or reception of radio, television, wireless telephone, pager, commercial mobile radio service or any other wireless communications signals, including without rotation omnidirectional or whip antennas and directional or panel antennas, owned or operated by any persons or entity licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate such device. This definition shall not include private-residence-mounted satellite dishes or television antennas or amateur radio equipment, including without limitation ham or citizen band radio antennas.

An unmanned building or cabinet containing communications equipment required for the operation of communications antennas and towers and covering an area on the ground not greater than 250 square feet.

A structure, such as a self-supporting lattice tower, guy tower, or monopole tower, constructed as a freestanding structure or in association with a building, other permanent structure or equipment, on which is located one or more antennas intended for transmitting or receiving television, AM/FM radio, digital, microwave, cellular, telephone towers. The terms excludes any tower and antennas under 70 feet in total height which owned and operated by an amateur radio operator licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, and satellite earth station antennas one meter in diameter or less, any receive-only home television antennas, and any satellite earth station antennas two meters or less in diameter which is located in a commercial or industrial zoning district.

A declaration by the municipal governing body that its zoning ordinance or portions thereof are substantially invalid and that such invalidities are proposed to be corrected by an amendment to the text and/or map.

A platform with or without railings but without a roof, projecting out from the main wall of a dwelling and intended to be used as an area for seating, dining or recreation.

A measure of the number of dwelling units which occupy, or may occupy an area of land.

The maximum density that shall be permitted in any zoning district. It is calculated by dividing the total number of dwelling units by the total site area. This density is illustrative only; net density is controlling.

The maximum density permitted on the buildable portion of the site. Net density is calculated by dividing the total number of dwelling units by the net buildable site area, that is, not including roads, recreation areas, or any other area not intended for dwellings. This density controls actual site capacity.

A portion of the area of the Borough of Summit Hill as shown on the Zoning Map containing a uniform class of uses of structures or land, and to which regulations described in this chapter apply.[1]

A building designed or used as the living quarters for one or more households, but not intended to include tourist homes, motels or hotels.

A building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family or household.

Receiving antenna or satellite, parabolic antenna used to receive satellite signals.

A limited right to use granted in private land for public or quasi-public purposes.

The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supply or disposal systems and their essential buildings, excluding communications towers and communications antennas, communication equipment buildings and other related facilities as defined herein.

Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved.

The Federal Aviation Administration.

One or more persons who live together in one dwelling unit and maintain a common household. A family may consist of a single person or two or more persons, whether or not related by blood, marriage or adoption. Family may also include domestic servants and gratuitous guests.

The Federal Communications Commission.

The flood having 1% chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year.

A relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river, or watercourse; and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of surface water from any source.

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate in the floodplain, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.

For the purpose of applying the requirements for off-street parking and loading, "floor area" in the case of offices, merchandising or service types of uses, shall mean the gross floor area used or intended to be used by tenants, or for service to the public as customers, patrons, clients, or patients as measured by the outside dimensions of the building or portion thereof.

The production of forest products through the cultivating, maintaining, and developing of forests.

A garage for four or fewer passenger motor vehicles without provision for repairing or servicing such vehicles for profit.[2]

A communication tower that is supported, in whole or in part, by guy wires and grounded anchor.

A material or combination of materials which, because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or otherwise managed; or make the land unfit or undesirable for normal use. This definition is intended to include radioactive substances.

When referring to a tower, antenna or other structure, means the distance measured vertically from the highest point when positioned for operation to the "lowest point," which is defined as the bottom of the base of the structure being measured at either roof or ground level, whichever is applicable. The height of a tower shall include the height of any antennas positioned for operation attached or which may be attached to the highest point on the tower.

A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the sewage at another site.

The cultivation of herbs, fruits, flowers or vegetables on a piece of ground adjoining the dwelling, excluding the keeping of livestock.

The cultivating of plants, either outdoors or in a glass-enclosed structure, on the same lot as a dwelling and not for sale commercially.

A business, profession, occupation or trade of a service nature conducted for gain or support and located entirely within a residential building, or a structure accessory thereto, which use is accessory, incidental and secondary to the use of the building for dwelling purposes and does not change the essential residential character or appearance of such building.

The distance measured from the surface of the lower foundation to the height of the wind turbine hub, to which the blade is attached.

Those surfaces which do not absorb water are considered impervious. They consist of all buildings, parking areas, driveways, road, sidewalks and any areas of concrete or asphalt.

Junk shall include scrap iron, scrap tin, scrap brass, scrap copper, scrap lead or scrap zinc and all other scrap metals and their alloys, and bones, rags, used cloth, used rubber, used machinery, used tools, used appliances, used fixtures, used utensils, used lumber, used boxes or crates, used pipe or pipe fittings, used tires and other manufactured goods, any of which are so worn, deteriorated or obsolete as to make them unusable in their existing condition, but which are subject to being dismantled or processed for reclamation, salvage or recycling.[3]

Any of the following activities:

The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner, or other person having a proprietary interest in the land.

Any ordinance or map adopted pursuant to the authority granted in Articles IV, V, VI and VII of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247 of 1968), as amended.[4]

A communications tower that has open-framed supports on three or four sides and is constructed without guy wires and ground anchors.

Farm animal such as cattle, horses, sheep, hogs goats, etc.

A space or area, accessible from a street or way, in a building or on a lot, for the temporary use of vehicles, while loading or unloading people, merchandise or materials. Required off-street loading space is not to be included as off-street parking space in computation of required off-street parking.

The meeting hall of a social or fraternal organization.

Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, or by a building group and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required under the provisions of this chapter, having not less than the minimum area and width required by this chapter for a lot in the district in which such land is situated.

The total area within the lot lines, excluding any area within a street right-of-way, but including the area of any easement.

The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot line. Measurement shall be from the street of highway right-of-way line to the opposite or rear line.

That side of a lot abutting on a street right-of-way, and ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot.

Any boundary line of a lot.

Any lot which individually, or as part of a subdivision, has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Deeds.

The distance between the straight lines connecting front and rear lot lines at each side of the lot, measured across the rear of the required front yard; provided, however, that width between side lot lines at their foremost points (where they intersect with the street line) shall not be less than 80% of the required lot width except in the case of lots on the turning circle of culs-de-sac, where the 80% requirement shall not apply.

A voluntary negotiating process in which parties in a dispute mutually select a neutral mediator to assist them in jointly exploring and settling their differences, culminating in a written agreement which the parties themselves create and consider acceptable.

A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.

A parcel of land in a mobile home park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single mobile home.

A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so designated and improved that it contains two or more mobile home lots for the placement thereon of mobile homes.

A dwelling unit used initially for display purposes, which typifies the type of units that will be constructed in a subdivision, land development, planned residential development or a multifamily dwelling structure.

A nontransportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, contained in one or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit not capable of again being separated.

A communications tower consisting of a single pole, constructed without guy wires or ground anchors.

A building or group of buildings used, or intended to be used, for the lodging of more than six guest rooms for compensation.

The Borough of Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

A business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use.

A lot the area or dimension of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption or amendment.

A structure or part of a structure manifestly not designed to comply with the applicable set back or dimensional provisions in this chapter or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such chapter or amendment or prior to the application of such chapter or amendment to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming structures include, but are not limited to, nonconforming signs.

A use, whether of land or of a structure, which does not comply with the applicable use provisions in this chapter or amendments heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment of such chapter or amendment or prior to the application of such chapter or amendment to its location by reason of annexation.

Something owned, operated or supported by private individuals or a corporation, without seeking profit, for the use or benefit of the general public or for some part of the general public.

An enterprise which conducts the retail and wholesale of plants grown on the site, as well as accessory items such as clay pots, potting soil, fertilizers, etc., directly related to their care and maintenance.

Any commercial premises providing sleeping rooms where patients or residents are lodged and furnished with meals and long-term nursing care, including personal-care homes.

An advertisement used outdoors, including painted walls or rock faces, of a product or service unrelated to the use of the land or structure on which it is located, but not including official notices or directional road signs of a governmental body.

A building where passenger vehicles may be stored on short-term, daily or overnight off-street parking.

A reasonable level of space, available for parking one motor vehicle, and having dimensions of 10 feet in width and 20 feet in depth, or 200 square feet, exclusive of passageways, driveways or other means of circulation of access.

A courtyard with or without railings and without a roof or awning, adjacent to or near a dwelling, but not a part of the dwelling, and intended to be used as an area for seating, dining or recreation outdoors.

Support for a building or structure consisting of either poured concrete, concrete blocks, cinder blocks, brick, pressurized wood or stone to form a horizontal pad or vertical wall on which the building or structure is placed and is intended to remain indefinitely. In the case of mobile homes, permanent placement on such a foundation is intended to first require the removal of the wheels and chassis from the mobile home.

Any and all commercial mobile services, unlicensed wireless services and common-carrier excess exchange access services.

Any and all facilities for the provision of personal wireless services, including but not limited to communication towers, communication antennas, communication equipment, buildings and related wireless service facilities.

A building used for religious services, including churches, synagogues, mosques, and similar edifices.

An area of land controlled by a landowner, to be developed as a single entity for a number of dwelling units, the development plan for which does not correspond in lot, size, bulk or type of dwelling, density, lot coverage and required open space to the regulations established in any one residential district created, from time to time, under the provisions of this chapter.

The Planning Commission of the Borough of Summit Hill.

A covered area in excess of four feet by five feet or 20 square feet in area at a front, side or rear door.

Domestic fowls, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, raised for flesh or eggs.

Something owned, operated and supported by private individuals or a corporation, rather than by government and not available for public use.

Something owned, operated and supported by the community or the people for the use or benefit of the general public.

A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with this chapter.

A forum held pursuant to notice under 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 701 et seq., known as the "Sunshine Act."

Notice published once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. Such notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing. The first publication shall not be more than 30 days and the second publication shall not be less than seven days from the date of the hearing.

A structure owned and operated by a public utility electric company regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, designed and used to support overhead electricity transmission lines.

Any letter, review, memorandum, compilation or similar writing made by any body, board, officer or consultant for the purpose of assisting the recipient of such report in the rendering of any decision or determination. All reports shall be deemed recommendatory and advisory only and shall not be binding upon the recipient, board, officer, body or agency. Any report used, received or considered by the body, board, officer or agency rendering a determination or decision shall be made available for inspection to the applicant and all other parties to any proceeding upon request, and copies thereof shall be provided at cost of reproduction.

Any dwelling in which more than three but not more than 20 persons, either individually or as families, are housed or lodged for hire with or without meals. A rooming house furnished room house shall be deemed a boardinghouse.

A vegetative material of sufficient height and density to conceal from the view of property owners on adjoining residential lots the structures and uses on the premises on which the screen planting is located.

A group of stores planned and designed for the site on which it is built, functioning as a unit, with off-street parking provided on the property as an integral part of the unit.

An advertisement displayed outside a building, pertaining to a product, service or name, related directly to the permitted activity carried on and use of the lot on which it is placed, including painted walls and structures. This definition does not include flags or pennants or other insignia of any government or government agency or any civic, charitable, religious, fraternal, or similar organization.

The area defined by a frame or edge of a sign. Where there is no frame or edge to the sign, the area shall be defined by a projected, enclosed, four-sided (straight sides) geometric shape which most closely outlines the said sign.

A sign directing attention to a business or profession conducted on the same lot, or as incidental to a business, to products sold upon the same lot.

A sign which is for directing patrons or attendants to an establishment off the main traveled highway or to service clubs, churches or other nonprofit organizations.

A sign supported by uprights or braces placed upon the ground and not attached to a building.

A sign which is attached to a building or other structure and extended beyond the line of a building or structure or beyond the surface of that portion of the building or structure which it is attached.

A plan of a lot or subdivision on which is shown topography, location of all buildings, structures, roads, right-of-way, boundaries, all essential dimensions and bearing of any other information deemed necessary by the Zoning Hearing Board.

A room or building used for friendly or convivial gatherings.

Any uses considered to have special requirements in certain zones or districts where the conditions described for permitting each such use have been enumerated in this chapter and where permission for such use can only be given by the Zoning Hearing Board.

A story is that part of a building between the surface of any floor and the next floor above it or, in its absence, then the finished ceiling or roof above it. A split-level is six feet or more above the level of the line of the finished floor next below it. Any floor under a sloping roof at the top of a building which is more than four feet below the top plate shall be counted as a story, and if less than four feet below the top plate, it shall be counted as a half-story. A basement shall be counted as a story if it averages more than five feet above grade.

Includes street, avenue, boulevard, road, highway, freeway, parkway, lane, alley, viaduct and any other ways used or intended to be used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians, whether public or private. This strip of land includes the entire right-of-way, not just the cartway. Streets are further classified according to the functions they perform:

The line dividing a lot from the full street right-of-way, not just the cartway. The word "street" shall be defined as above.

Any man-made object having an ascertainable, stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land and includes, among other things, buildings, stadiums, platforms, radio towers, sheds, carports, storage bins, fences and display signs.

The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution to heirs or devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be exempted.

A raised level or platform of earth, support on one or more faces by a wall, a bank of turf, or the like; or a series of such raised levels or platforms arranged one above the other on a slope.

A vehicular, portable structure built on a chassis, designed to be used as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational, and vacation use, permanently identified "travel trailer" by the manufacturer on the trailer and, when factory-equipped for the road, having a body width not exceeding eight feet, and being of any length, provided its gross weight does not exceed 4,500 pounds, or being of any weight, provided its body length does not exceed 29 feet.

The distance measured from the surface of the tower foundation to the highest point of the turbine rotor plane.

The offering of telecommunications service using duly authorized devices which do not require individual licensees, but does not include the provision of direct-to-home satellite services.

The specific purpose for which land or a structure or building is designed, arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained. The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to include any nonconforming use.

A use that is incidental and subordinate to, but customarily found in connection with, the principal use on the lot.

A use which shall only be permitted by the Borough Council pursuant to the provisions of Article V this chapter.

The main use on a lot.

The use of land or structure of building located on a lot for a limited time as regulated by this chapter.

The permission granted by the Zoning Hearing Board, following a public hearing that has been properly advertised as required by the provisions of this chapter for an adjustment the application to a specific piece of property of some regulation which, if strictly adhered to, would result in an unnecessary hardship, and where the permission granted would not be contrary to the public interest, and would maintain the spirit and original intent of the chapter.

The blades, plus the hub to which the blades are attached, that are used to capture wind for the purpose of energy conversion. The wind rotor is mounted on a pole or tower or other suitable structure along with other generating and electrical equipment to form a wind turbine.

A wind energy conversion system that converts wind energy into electricity through the use of a wind turbine generator, and includes the nacelle, wind rotor, tower, and pad transformer, if any.

An unoccupied space open to the sky, on the same lot with a building or structure, but not intended to mean "court."

An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the building projected to the side lines of the lot. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building and the street right-of-way line. Covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, shall be considered as part of the main building and shall not project into a required front yard.

An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot. The depth of the rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building. A building shall not extend in to the required rear yard.

The designation of specified districts or zones within the municipality, reserving them for certain uses, together with limitations on lot area and size, heights of structures and other stipulated requirements.

See "Board or Zoning Hearing Board."

The officially adopted Zoning Map of the Borough of Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, containing zoning districts, together with all amendments subsequently adopted.

The Zoning Officer or his authorized representative appointed by the Summit Hill Borough Council.

The Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Summit Hill.

The written authorization issued by the Zoning Officer for the use of land or buildings or other structures.