The intent of this district is:

   A.   To provide for the orderly development of the Township consistent with the intent of this chapter. 34

   B.   To provide for consideration of an appropriate safeguarding of abutting land and neighborhoods .

   C.   To provide for a variety of dwelling types in order to create an opportunity for people of varying income with varying age and family characteristics to have decent, affordable housing.

   D.   To provide for open space areas in close proximity to the majority of dwelling units .

   E.   To provide for the protection of existing natural features and amenities.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

   ATTACHED PATIO DWELLING — A one-family attached dwelling on a separate lot with open space setbacks on at least two sides. The dwelling is attached to another one-family dwelling by a common vertical wall, with each dwelling located on a separate lot .

   MINOR COLLECTOR STREET — A street which collects traffic from minor residential and residential streets and connects with secondary or primary streets .

   MINOR RESIDENTIAL STREET — A street that serves a limited number of residential dwellings and connects into a residential street .

   MULTIPLEX DWELLING — One dwelling in a structure containing up to six such dwellings in which each unit has individual access to the outside and in which no unit is on top of another unit.

   SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED ZERO LOT LINE DWELLING — A one-family detached dwelling on a separate lot with open space setbacks on three sides and with a court. This dwelling may be located on a side line and may also be known as a "zero lot line dwelling."

A building or a group of buildings may be erected or used and a lot may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no others:

   A.   Single-family detached dwelling .

   B.   Single-family detached zero lot line dwelling .

   C.   Attached patio dwelling .

   D.   Townhouse structure .

   E.   Twin dwelling .

   F.   Multiplex dwellings .

   G.   Open space or recreational areas.

   H.   Accessory uses on the same lot with and customarily incidential to the above permitted uses .

   A.   The tract of land must contain a minimum area of 75 acres.

   B.   The tract of land to be developed shall be in one ownership or shall be the subject of an application filed jointly by the owner or owners of the entire tract , and it shall be agreed that the tract will be developed under single direction and in general accordance with an overall approved plan.

   A.   Density . The maximum permitted density in the MRD shall be 2.75 dwelling units per acre (excluding the rights-of-way of existing public roads ).

   B.   Mixing requirements. For any MRD, a minimum of 35% shall be constructed as single-family detached and single-family patio dwellings . At least 40% of the 35% shall be single-family detached, with the remaining units patio dwellings . At least two additional housing types must be included in the MRD, no one of which shall be more than 40% of the total number of units.

   C.   Impervious coverage. Impervious coverage for the entire MRD shall not exceed 35%.

   D.   Single-family detached dwellings .

      (1)   Lot area . A minimum lot area of not less than 15,000 square feet (s.f.) shall be provided.

      (2)   Lot width. A lot width of not less than 80 feet shall be required at the buildingsetback line .

      (3)   Front yard . A front yard of not less than 35 feet in depth shall be required from the right-of-way line .

      (4)   Side yard . Two side yards , together having an aggregate width not less than 25 feet, but neither having a width less than 10 feet, shall be required.

      (5)   Rear yard . A rear yard of not less in depth than 30 feet shall be required.

   E.   Single-family patio dwellings .

      (1)   Lot area . A minimum lot area of not less than 7,000 square feet shall be provided, with an average lot area of not less than 9,000 square feet being provided.

      (2)   Lot width. A lot width of not less than 60 feet shall be required at the buildingsetback line .

      (3)   Front yard requirements. A front yard of not less than 30 feet in depth shall be required from the right-of-way line .

      (4)   Side yard . One side yard of not less than 15 feet shall be required.

      (5)   Rear yard . A rear yard of not less in depth than 25 feet shall be required.

      (6)   When the wall of a dwelling is constructed on the side line of a lot , the deed to the adjacent lot shall reserve an easement to permit the maintenance and reconstruction of the said dwelling .

   F.   Attached patio dwellings and townhouse structures .

      (1)   Lot area . A minimum lot area of not less than 2,500 square feet shall be provided, with an average lot area of not less than 3,000 square feet being provided.

      (2)   Lot width. A lot width of not less than 20 feet shall be required at the buildingsetback line .

      (3)   Front yard . A front yard of not less than 20 feet in depth shall be required from the streetright-of-way line .

      (4)   Side yard (end of row). One side yard at each end of the row, not less than 15 feet in width, shall be required.

      (5)   Rear yard . A rear yard of not less in depth than 25 feet shall be required.

   G.   Twin dwellings .

      (1)   Lot area . A minimum lot area of not less than 6,000 square feet shall be provided per dwelling unit .

      (2)   Lot width. A lot width of not less than 40 feet shall be required at the buildingsetback line .

      (3)   Front yard . A front yard of not less than 20 feet in depth shall be required from the right-of-way line .

      (4)   Side yard . One side yard , not less than 15 feet in width, shall be required.

      (5)   Rear yard . A rear yard of not less in depth than 25 feet shall be required.

   H.   Multiplex dwellings .

      (1)   Density . The net density of any multiplex area shall not exceed eight dwelling units per acre. (The net density shall be calculated on an area which included the multiplex building , parking and adjacent open space intended for the residents along with all required multiplex yard spaces established by setback requirements. The area shall specifically exclude all lot areas devoted to uses other than multiplex dwellings ).

      (2)   Building length. The total length of any multiplex dwelling shall not exceed 140 feet in any one direction.

      (3)   Distance between buildings . The distance between multiplex buildings shall not be less than 20 feet end-to-end or 50 feet side-by-side and shall comply with BOCA Code fire resistance ratings. 35

      (4)   Building setbacks.

         (a)   Setback from property lines. A setback from the tract property lines of not less than 300 feet shall be required, except where one of the major frontages is primarily along a primary or secondary street .

         (b)   Setback; interdevelopment. A setback from the lot lines of adjacent residential lots of not less than 50 feet in depth shall be required.

         (c)   Setback from streets . A setback from the right-of-way of public streets of not less than 40 feet in depth and from streets of not less than 20 feet in depth shall be required.

         (d)   Rear yard setback. A setback of not less than 25 feet from the rear lot line shall be required. [Added 2-13-1996 by Ord. No. 904]

   I.   All dwellings shall have access to a public street .

   J.   The proposed development shall be served by both centralized sewer and water facilities deemed acceptable by the Board of Commissioners.

   A.   Buffer requirements.

      (1)   A landscaped planting area of not less than 15 feet in depth shall be provided along any perimeter property line (other than in a street ) where the tract abuts existing residential, commercial, institutional and industrial uses . The landscaping shall be permanent and designed for screening from view residential, commercial, institutional and industrial uses which are adjoining to the MRD. The buffer strip shall not be included in the lots adjacent thereto, but shall be owned and maintained in accordance with the requirements set forth in § 255-133.

      (2)   Planting requirements are not required where vegetation exists or will be preserved or where the units in the MRD District will be of the same dwelling unit type and approximately the same density of the dwelling units adjacent to the MRD District.

      (3)   All landscaping requirements contained in Chapter 212, Subdivision and Land Development, shall be applicable to any MRD unless less restrictive, in which case the provisions of this chapter shall control.

   B.   Height regulations. No building and/or structure shall exceed a height of 35 feet.

   C.   Varied setbacks. To encourage design variety, no more than four dwelling units in a row may utilize minimum setbacks, and five feet shall be the minimum offset.

   D.   Corner lot provisions. In the case of a corner lot , all front yard requirements shall be observed along both street frontages.

   E.   Accessory use provisions. Accessory usestructures may only be erected within the rear and side yard areas of single-family detached dwellings and single-family patio dwellings , provided that the accessory structure is not located within four feet of the rear and/or side property lines.

   F.   Streets . All streets shall be public streets and, as such, shall be constructed to Township standards regarding paving thickness and materials. The following right-of-way and paving width standards for an MRD shall apply:

 

 

   G.   Not less than two off-street parking spaces shall be required for each dwelling unit . Garage spaces shall not be counted toward the parking requirement.

   H.   Only single-family detached or single-family detached patio homes or accessory uses customarily incidential to such uses may be erected within 200 feet of the boundary lines of the property where such boundary lines are contiguous to lands which are located in any residential district on the Township Zoning map; provided, however, that only single- family detached dwellings may be constructed on lots abutting residential districts.

   I.   Decks. Decks and patios may extend into the required rear and side yard setbacks of a residential district, provided that they are not enclosed either on the sides, by a roof or underneath the deck. The deck perimeter shall not exceed 20 feet to the rear, 10 feet to the side and in no case be closer than 10 feet to a property line. Decks and patios adjacent to interior townhouses are not limited by side yard setbacks. [Amended 6-28-1988 by Ord. No. 748; 1-10-1995 by Ord. No. 879]

   A.   Characteristics of required open space. Open space created shall have the following minimal requirements:

      (1)   The land area to be set aside for permanent preservation as open space shall be so located and so shaped as to be suitable for the purposes intended. Consideration shall be given to contiguous portions of existing and potential open space lands in adjacent tracts .

      (2)   A minimum of 25% of the gross tract acreage, exclusive of existing street rights-of-way, shall be set aside as open space lands.

   B.   Maintenance of required open space. The following requirements shall govern the maintenance of the required open space:

      (1)   The open space land to be set aside or reserved for park, woodlands, conservation, playground, active recreational use or other open space purposes, such as the preservation of natural features , must first be offered for dedication to the Township or may be reserved for private use if Township officials decline to accept the offer of dedication, in which case satisfactory arrangements shall be made, acceptable to the Township, for the maintenance of all such area.

      (2)   Necessary covenants, easements and/or restrictions must be established to provide for public utilities, drainage, trails for hiking or bicycling or any other permitted use designated for the benefit of owners or occupiers of the development if the open space is to be privately owned.

      (3)   If a development includes a proposal to dedicate to the Township, land for park and/or open space use , under provisions of this section, the total land area to be dedicated shall be delineated on the subdivision plan with a note stipulating that the legal means of conveyance shall be by dedication.

      (4)   If the open space land is to be retained by the property owners, the Township will require the property owners to provide for and establish a homeowner’s association, other organization or funded community trust for the ownership and maintenance of the open space by sale or otherwise, except to an organization conceived and established to own and maintain the open space or by dedication to and acceptance by the Township.

In order to assist the Board of Commissioners in evaluating the development , the following plans and documentation shall be provided:

   A.   A plan showing the site, its acreage, proposed uses and existing surrounding sites.

   B.   The approximate proposed residential density of the development and the approximate mix of the various dwelling types.

   C.   The location, size, accessibility and proposed use of open space, manner of ownership and maintenance.

   D.   A traffic impact analysis showing the impact of the development on the local streets , illustrating all existing and proposed streets .

   E.   Conceptual plans of proposed water, sanitary sewers and stormwater management systems.

   F.   A fiscal impact analysis showing the effect of the development on the Township and school district.