Trappe City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VII
VC Village Commercial District
§ 340-50 Purpose; applicability.
The VC Village Commercial District is intended to permit a variety of residential and nonresidential uses within the Main Street village corridor, in conformance with the following objectives:
A.
Retain and enhance the historic and other desirable village characteristics of the Main Street corridor to the greatest extent possible, including its buildings, mature street trees, and landscaped spaces in front of and between existing buildings.
B.
Allow building conversions and uses that maintain the architectural scale and character of existing buildings.
C.
Prohibit uses that attract large volumes of traffic.
D.
Prohibit strip-type and highway-oriented commercial appearance, incongruous architectural styles, building or impervious coverage substantially greater than the predominant existing conditions of the neighborhood, and nonessential curb cuts.
E.
Encourage shared use of access driveways to reduce the total number of driveways, minimize the number of new driveways, and provide more efficient access and traffic flow.
F.
Direct parking to side or rear yard areas, and encourage adjoining properties to share parking.
G.
Require safe and attractive pedestrian access from the street and parking areas to permitted uses.
H.
Minimize visual and functional conflicts between residential and nonresidential uses within the district, and protect abutting residential districts from adverse impacts.
§ 340-51 Use regulations.
A building may be erected, altered, or used and a lot or premises may be used for any of the purposes listed in the Use Table[1] and no other.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Use Table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
§ 340-52 Maximum intensity of development.
All development and use of lots shall be regulated by the following standards:
A.
Residential: requires 5,000 square feet of lot area per dwelling unit.
B.
Bed-and-breakfast, rooming house: requires 5,000 square feet of lot area for the dwelling unit plus 2,500 square feet of lot area per rental room (example: 10,000 square foot lot may contain one dwelling unit plus two rental rooms).
C.
Group home: requires 5,000 square feet of lot area for the residential building plus 2,500 square feet of lot area per client/residential room.
D.
All other individual uses and a mix of nonresidential uses on one lot:
(1)
Development shall not exceed the maximum building footprint, maximum building coverage, and maximum impervious coverage standards of the Dimensional Table.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Dimensional Table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(2)
Development shall comply with the driveway access and parking standards of this article.
§ 340-53 Dimensional standards.
As indicated in the Dimensional Table.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Dimensional Table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
§ 340-54 Conditional use standards and criteria.
A.
Conditional use application. All conditional use applications shall be filed and processed in compliance with § 340-183, Conditional use requirements, of this chapter.
B.
Retention and use of existing principal building:
(1)
The proposed use shall retain and use the existing principal building(s) on the lot, and shall retain the general appearance, character, and types of building materials of the front and side facades of the existing building, existing front and side porches, and window openings.
(2)
Expansion shall be permitted only to the sides and rear of the existing principal building.
(a)
Expansion to the side shall conform in general appearance, scale, and building materials to the front facade of the existing building, and shall be set back a minimum of 10 feet from the front facade of the existing building.
(b)
Expansion to the rear shall conform in scale to the existing building;
(c)
Rooflines shall be similar or complementary to those of the existing building.
(3)
An existing principal building that faces the street shall not be expanded toward the street, except to permit an open front porch consistent with the architectural of the building. An existing principal building located behind a principal building that faces the street may be expanded toward the street.
(4)
The applicant shall submit architectural drawings for evaluation of the proposed principal building expansion, including building elevations and colored renderings. Borough Council may approve expansion different from the existing building, provided that it complements the existing building, conforms to the character of the village, and does not detract from the intent of this Code to preserve the village appearance.
(5)
Existing, healthy, mature trees shall be preserved in the front and side yards unless they must be removed to provide vehicular access appropriate for the proposed use.
C.
Removal of existing principal buildings.
(1)
An applicant shall not remove an existing principal building unless Borough Council is satisfied that the building is not suitable for the proposed use according to the following criteria:
(2)
An applicant shall not remove an existing principal building until Borough Council has approved a land development plan for conditional use of the property from which the applicant would remove the building.
(a)
The location of the building proposed for removal shall not be used for parking, but shall be used for a new building or landscaping.
(b)
Where adjoining properties are combined for use or share vehicular access, the location of a removed building may be used for the vehicular access.
(c)
Replacement buildings shall be similar in general appearance, size, scale, bulk and building materials to the removed principal building. The applicant shall submit architectural drawings for evaluation of the proposed building, including building elevations and colored renderings. Borough Council may approve a replacement building different from the removed principal building, provided that it conforms to the character of the village and does not detract from the intent of this Code to preserve the village appearance.
(3)
Documented historic principal buildings shall not be removed and any expansion shall be consistent with or complementary of the historic architecture.
D.
New principal buildings: New principal buildings may be constructed on vacant properties or to the rear of existing principal buildings, provided that they shall be similar in size, scale, general appearance, and building materials to one or more buildings on adjoining lots, or to an existing historic building. The applicant shall submit architectural drawings for evaluation of the proposed principal buildings, including building elevations and colored renderings. Borough Council may approve a new building different from surrounding buildings, provided that it conforms to the character of the village and does not detract from the intent of this Code to preserve the village appearance.
E.
Shared access and parking. Conditional uses shall provide shared access, access easements, and driveway interconnections with adjoining lots when required by Borough Council, in compliance with this article.
(1)
Access easements and maintenance agreements or other suitable legal mechanisms shall be provided, acceptable to the Borough Council in consultation with the Borough Solicitor.
(2)
Liability safeguards for all property owners and lessees served by the shared access shall be guaranteed to the satisfaction of the Borough Council in consultation with the Borough Solicitor.
(3)
When it is not yet appropriate to construct driveway interconnections, potential interconnections shall be shown on the applicant's plans.
§ 340-55 Vehicular access; parking and sidewalks.
A.
Vehicular access.
(1)
Traffic volume. Generators of large volumes of vehicular traffic or frequent customer turnover (especially during peak traffic periods of adjacent streets) shall not be permitted. Use of individual lots shall be limited to those that require low-volume or minimum-use driveways, according to PennDOT standards. Projected traffic generation data shall be provided by the applicant for conditional uses, for evaluation by the Borough Engineer. A low-volume driveway has fewer than 750 vehicle trips per day; a minimum-use driveway has fewer than 25 vehicular trips per day.
(2)
Number of curb cuts. Each lot shall have not more than one curb cut per street frontage for a two-way driveway for vehicular access. If sufficient room is not available for one two-way driveway, Borough Council may approve two curb cuts for two one-way driveways, subject to approval by PennDOT.
(3)
Shared access. Applicants should seek agreements for shared vehicular access as the preferred means of reducing the total number of curb cuts within the district, for traffic safety and congestion reasons.
(a)
When two or more abutting lots share an access driveway, that driveway should be designed as the main access to those lots, and one or more existing access driveways should then be closed.
(b)
Where development of three or more adjoining parcels consolidates vehicular access into one shared driveway, that driveway may be upgraded into a medium-volume driveway according to PennDOT standards.
(c)
Shared access may be located entirely on one lot or be split among a common lot line.
(d)
Access easements and maintenance agreements or other suitable legal mechanisms shall be provided, acceptable to the Borough Council in consultation with the Borough Solicitor.
(e)
Liability safeguards for all property owners and lessees served by the shared access shall be guaranteed to the satisfaction of the Borough Council in consultation with the Borough Solicitor.
(5)
Driveway widths and grades are regulated by § 295-10D(5) of Chapter 295, Subdivision and Land Development.
B.
Parking regulations:
(1)
Parking capacity shall comply with the standards of Article XI, Off-Street Parking and Loading, including the reserve parking standards.
(2)
Shared parking is encouraged and may be located along or across a common lot line. The required aggregate parking capacity may be reduced by Borough Council, at its discretion, when an applicant offers evidence that the peak demand for required parking of different types of uses (such as office, entertainment and places of worship) are sufficiently offset so as to allow for a reduction in the sum of parking spaces otherwise required. Reduced parking requirements for joint parking shall only continue in effect as long as such uses or their closely similar successor uses remain in operation and shall be guaranteed by a legally binding agreement on file with the Borough. If such agreement becomes legally ineffective, then all parking shall be provided as would otherwise be required by this article. The requirements of the Dimensional Table[1] must be strictly met.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Dimensional Table is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(3)
Parking shall be located in the side or rear yard.
(a)
Where parking requirements cannot be met in the side or rear yard, an applicant may request a variance from the Zoning Hearing Board to place parking in the front yard.
(b)
Where permitted, parking in the front yard shall be partially screened by dense landscaping or a decorative masonry wall that completely blocks the view to a height of three feet above the parking lot, and partially screens the view above three feet, but does not block sight distance at the driveway entrance.
(4)
Parking setbacks.
(a)
Parking spaces and driveways serving the spaces shall be set back a minimum of five feet from rear and side property lines abutting nonresidential uses within the VC District unless parking is shared with an abutting lot, in which case parking may abut or cross the property lines shared by the common users. Where landscaped buffers or screens are required along lot lines, the parking and driveways shall be set back a sufficient distance to accommodate the buffer or screen.
(b)
Parking spaces and driveways serving the spaces shall be set back a minimum of 10 feet from rear and side property lines abutting residential uses within the VC District. Where landscaped buffers or screens are required along lot lines, the parking and driveways shall be set back a sufficient distance to accommodate the buffer or screen.
(c)
Parking spaces and driveways shall be set back a minimum of 20 feet from the boundary line of a property located in a residential district.
(d)
Parking spaces shall be set back a minimum of 10 feet from all buildings.
§ 340-56 Landscaping and buffer requirements.
A.
Landscaping. All areas of a lot not covered by building and/or impervious paving materials shall be maintained as landscaped areas containing trees, shrubs and ground cover materials, which may include lawn areas.
B.
Buffer planting. A landscaped buffer, containing trees, shrubs and/or hedge planting, to provide partial visual screening shall be installed and maintained between parking lots and side and rear property lines, as follows:
(1)
Along side or rear property lines within the VC District, the buffer shall be a minimum width equal to the parking setback from the property line.
(2)
Along side or rear property lines abutting a residential district, the buffer shall contain trees, shrubs, and/or hedge planting to provide a complete visual screen, a minimum of 15 feet in width.
(3)
Buffer planting is not required along those segments of lot lines where shared access and/or shared parking are located.
§ 340-57 Other development regulations.
A.
Public utilities. All new development shall be required to connect to public sewer and water and provide the necessary infrastructure to do so.
B.
Utility lines. All utility lines (electrical, telephone, etc.) shall be placed underground whenever feasible for new development or expansion of existing development.
C.
Service areas. Loading and unloading areas shall be provided which do not conflict with pedestrian or vehicular movement.