Swarthmore City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 1258
IN-A Institutional Districts
1258.01 PURPOSE.
The purpose of this district is to encourage the development of institutional uses in accordance with approved standards and the Comprehensive Plan and to ensure the compatibility of institutional uses with surrounding land uses.
(Ord. 1072. Passed 12-21-15.)
1258.02 PERMITTED USES.
In an IN-A Institutional District, the following uses are permitted:
(a) General Uses.
(1) College buildings for classrooms, laboratories, administrative, cultural, or related uses; dormitories; dining facilities.
(2) Elementary and secondary school buildings.
(3) Church, synagogue, rectory, parish house or similar religious institution.
(4) Community center.
(5) Playing fields, picnic areas, arboretums, nature trails, non-commercial garden plots, and similar passive outdoor recreation areas.
(b) Accessory Uses.
(1) Surface parking lots and multi-level parking lots.
(2) Buildings to house mechanical systems and maintenance activities.
(3) Athletic facilities that include structures such as, but not limited to, the following:
A. An associated building greater than 200 square feet in area and ten feet in height.
B. Site lighting with freestanding poles.
C. Spectator bleachers that have solid risers or that exceed thirty inches in height.
D. Officiant announcing or viewing structures that exceed eight feet in height and three feet in width and depth.
(c) Special Exceptions.
(1) A day-care center or nursery school.
(2) A wireless communications facility with antenna(s).
(3) Congregate housing for the elderly.
(4) Long-term care facility.
(5) Family/caregiver suite (see Section 1264.18).
(d) Conditional Uses.
(1) Any development within the perimeter transition area.
(2) Buildings over thirty-five feet in height.
(Ord. 1072. Passed 12-21-15; Ord. 1084. Passed 11-13-18.)
1258.03 AREA AND BULK REGULATIONS.
(a) The height of building shall be limited to thirty-five feet, except as a conditional use, in which case height may be increased to seventy-five feet.
(b) Any construction within 200 feet of an adjacent Residential District shall be subject to the area and bulk regulations of that District. If the new construction is within 200 feet of more than one Residential District, the regulations of the more stringent district shall apply, with the exception that the minimum side yard setback for any building adjacent to a building in an adjoining Residential District shall be thirty-five feet.
(c) Building area coverage in the perimeter transition area shall be calculated as the aggregate coverage of all buildings within each individual segment of the perimeter transition area. An individual segment of the perimeter transition area is defined as that part of the perimeter transition area that is bounded at each end by the nearest intersecting public right-of-way and/or the property line of an adjoining property under separate ownership or in a zoning district other than an Institutional District.
(Ord. 1072. Passed 12-21-15.)
1258.04 REGULATIONS WITHIN THE PERIMETER TRANSITION AREA.
In order to ensure that development located at the boundaries of the IN-A Zoning District is compatible with and enhances adjacent land uses and streetscapes, the following regulations shall apply.
(a) Conditional use approval shall be required.
(b) No accessory uses shall be permitted, with the following exception: a surface parking lot may be permitted behind a building, provided that parked cars are not visible from an adjacent public right-of-way or an adjacent Residential District. Such visible shielding may be provided by the building itself or other permanent structure.
(c) The public street-facing façade of buildings shall not exceed 200 feet in length and shall be designed to emphasize entryways, windows, corners, and vertical elements of the building façade, as well as other special features. At a minimum, there shall be one visually prominent pedestrian-oriented entrance on each street-facing façade that is located within 150 feet of a public right-of-way and, in the case of a single building with two street-facing façades, if one façade is fifty percent shorter or less than the other façade and less than fifty feet in length, the shorter street-facing façade is not required to have such an entrance. Additional pedestrian access points may be located along other façades.
(d) Texture and variety should be provided through façade articulation and composition.
(e) The massing of all buildings shall be deemphasized through the use of architectural elements that reduce overall bulk and volume, enhance visual quality and contribute to human-scale development.
(f) Windows:
(1) The proportion of walls to openings on walls visible from the public right-of-way should be a maximum of four to one.
(2) Bronze glass, highly reflective glass, tinted or black and smoked glass is prohibited on windows visible from the public right-of-way and adjoining residential districts.
(3) The maximum sill height of ground floor windows facing a public right-of-way shall be four feet above the height of the finished ground floor.
(g) All wall-mounted mechanical, electrical, communication, and service equipment, including satellite dishes and vent pipes shall not be located on the street facing façade of a building if another location option is available on the property, and shall in all cases be screened from public view. All rooftop mechanical equipment and other appurtenances, including antennas, shall be screened visually and acoustically. Such screening shall be integrated into the architectural design of the building.
(h) The creation of new sidewalk curb cuts for motor vehicles shall be avoided whenever an adequate alternate point of access is available. Shared access agreements are encouraged. Garage doors are prohibited along all public right-of-way frontages.
(i) Safe pedestrian circulation throughout the site shall be required, including separation of pedestrian and vehicular circulation to the greatest extent possible. The layout of the streets and intersections shall give priority to pedestrians. Sidewalks shall be required on all public rights-of-way that are within 500 feet of any proposed new building entrance, regardless of whether or not sidewalks already exist on the opposite side of the public right-of-way, or at adjacent properties.
(j) The storage of refuse shall be provided inside of the building or within an outdoor enclosed area enclosed by either walls or opaque fencing unless such refuse area is not visible from the public right-of-way or adjacent Residential District and is acceptably shielded from view by other methods and such enclosure would prevent the shared use of the site with on-site parking. Any refuse storage area outside of the building and screened by a fence or enclosure shall be designed to be architecturally compatible with the building.
(k) All utilities are to be below grade.
(Ord. 1072. Passed 12-21-15.)