Upper Pottsgrove Township
City Zoning Code

Commercial: 15,000 square feet.

Shopping center: 300,000 square feet with individual uses to 150,000 square feet (when part of a municipally prepared and adopted specific plan). The specific plan must be reviewed and approved by a majority vote of the Regional Planning Committee.

The applicant may be required to pay a user fee fixed by the Board to the Township in an amount based upon the quantity of solid waste processed at the solid waste management facility. Such user fee may be subject to adjustment from time to time by reference to the Consumer Price Index U.S. All Items as compiled by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or similar index.

The applicant may be required to permit access to its operational and financial records for the purpose of periodic review by a Governmental Advisory Board consisting of five Commissioners of Upper Pottsgrove Township, one member appointed by the Board of Commissioners of Upper Pottsgrove Township, and two members appointed by Montgomery County. The applicant may be required to offer unconditionally to purchase all present properties with residential buildings located within 500 feet of the boundary line of the tract on which the sanitary landfill and/or solid waste management facility is proposed. The offer to purchase such properties with residential buildings shall include the residential structures, together with the minimum lot size permitted by this chapter for a single-family detached residence. To determine the amount to be offered to each property owner, a panel of three qualified appraisers shall be retained. one appraiser shall be selected by the owner of the property in question, and a second appraiser selected by the applicant for conditional use approval. The two appraisers so selected shall together select a third appraiser. The reasonable cost of the appraisals shall be paid by the applicant. The applicant may be required to offer unconditionally an amount equal to the mean appraised value of the property based on the three appraisal reports, plus 25% of such mean value with settlement within 90 days. The value shall be determined as the value existed immediately preceding the application and as unaffected by it.

The applicant at its expense may be required to improve the road network to Route 100 in accordance with a plan approved by the Township. Reference shall be made to Subsection H of this section.

Minimum lot size for sanitary landfill (exclusive of existing rights-of-way of public roads): 25 acres.

Minimum lot size for solid waste management facility other than sanitary landfill (exclusive of existing right-of-way of public roads): 10 acres.

Any Township road used to provide access to a solid waste management facility shall be paved and maintained in good condition in accordance with the standards of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation relating to the type of heavy truck traffic resulting from such facility.

The Board of Commissioners may designate safe and adequate access roads and prohibit the use of other roads, except for local trash collection purposes.

The minimum paved cartway for access roads shall be 24 feet, with four-foot-wide improved shoulders on both sides.

The costs of upgrading and maintaining access roads to the solid waste management facility shall be paid by the solid waste management facility operation in a manner suitable to the Commissioners.

A description of all proposed facilities.

A physical description of the environment affected including summary technical data and maps and diagrams adequate to permit an assessment of potential environmental impact by commenting agencies and the public. Highly technical and specialized analysis and data shall be attached as appendices or footnoted with adequate bibliographic references.

The interrelationship and cumulative environmental and economic impacts of the proposed solid waste management facility when coupled with other solid waste processing or disposal facilities shall be stated and supported by adequate technical analysis.

The sources of data used to identify, quantify or evaluate any and all environmental consequences must be expressly noted.

The relationship of the proposed solid waste management facility to land use plans, policies and controls for the affected area, including a statement as to how the proposed solid waste management facility may conform or conflict with the objectives and specific terms of existing or proposed federal, state, county or Township land use plans, policies and controls.

An analysis of:

Specific data relating to the impact of the solid waste management facility on local vehicular traffic, and designating the routes to be utilized by vehicles seeking access to that proposed facility.

Specific data relating to the impact of the solid waste management facility on local water supplies, streams and rivers.

Specific data relating to the impact of the solid waste management facility on natural and man-made local storm and sanitary sewage drainage facilities and areas.

Specific data relating to the impact of the solid waste management facility on the existing flood hazard areas of the Township, including details of any measures or precautions which may have to be taken order to provide adequate flood control in the Township.

A statement of any probable adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided (such as water or air pollution, undesirable land use patterns, damage to life systems, congestion, threats to health or other consequences adverse to the environment). Included for purposes of contrast should be a clear statement of how other avoidable adverse effects will be mitigated.

The relationship between local short-term uses of the environment and the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity. This section shall contain a discussion of the extent to which the proposed action involves short-term environmental gains at the expense of long-term losses, or the converse, and a discussion of the extent to which the proposed action forecloses future options. In this context, the words "short-term" and "long-term" shall be viewed in terms of the environmentally significant consequences of the proposed action.

The aesthetic impact of the proposed action including its impact upon visual quality of the surrounding community.

An analysis of the success and/or failure of similar projects.

A statement of any adverse effects on employment, taxes and property values.

A statement of any effects on desirable community growth.

A statement describing the location and impact of the project on nearby recreation areas.

Such other information as required by the Board of Commissioners, planning agency, Township Engineer, and/or Solicitor.

A topographical drawing, prepared by a professional engineer, registered in the State of Pennsylvania, to a scale no greater than one inch equals 100 feet, showing:

The names and current addresses of any and all persons who own any interest, real or equitable, in the real estate which is the subject of the application.

The names and current addresses of any and all persons having any ownership interest in any corporations or other business entities which may be set forth in answers to Subsection R(2) above, where such persons possess an ownership interest of 10% or more.

The names and current addresses of any and all persons having any ownership interest in the operation or proposed operation, maintenance and use of the solid waste management facility in question.

The names and current addresses of any and all persons having any ownership interest in any corporations or other business entities as set forth in Subsection R(4) above, where such persons possess an ownership interest of 10% or more.

The identities and qualifications of personnel designated to manage and operate the proposed facility, together with their intended responsibilities.

All requirements of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act and regulations and standards of the Department of Environmental Protection relating to solid waste processing and disposal systems are incorporated herein by reference, and the applicant shall be required to submit any and all plans, applications, data, materials, studies and information to the Board of Commissioners as is required to be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to said Act, regulations and standards. All such materials shall be certified by the applicant to be true and correct copies of original materials filed with that Department.

Statements indicating expected useful life of the solid waste management facility and the condition and proposed uses of said site upon termination of operation, and any limitations on future uses due to proposed use.

An access road survey, which shall include the following:

Statement of applicant's prior experience, if any, in operating solid waste management facilities.

An environmental assessment statement as required by Subsection Q of this section.

The Board of Commissioners and/or its authorized representatives, from time to time, shall inspect the solid waste management facility and operation to assure continued compliance with this article. The solid waste management operator shall make the site available for inspection when requested to do so. All inspection expenses shall be borne by the operator. Inspection expenses may include the cost of an accredited analyst to evaluate test results or other experts as deemed necessary.

For the purposes of this article, the terms "applicant" and "operator" shall be synonymous and shall mean those individuals, authorities, private firms, or others who are responsible for making application(s) to the Board of Commissioners and for operating the solid waste management facilities.

Do not have loads fully enclosed within the truck body or which are not covered by appropriate covering and restraining devices.

Are discovered by the Township to be utilizing routes other than those designated in the operating permit.

Transporting waste which the facility is not permitted by DEP to receive.

Residential uses. A mobile home park may include singular or double-width mobile homes, single-family detached modular homes or a combination of these, but shall not include travel trailers or motor homes.

Customary accessory structures shall be permitted on individual lots according to the standards of §§ 350-19 and 350-20 herein.

Nothing in this section shall be considered to prohibit the rental, sale or resale of a mobile home located on a mobile home stand and connected to all utilities. Similarly, a model or display area is permissible on a temporary basis; provided that models are developed in accordance with all applicable requirements of this chapter and that use of the models for sales or rental promotion ceases when the project is fully developed.

The tract of land proposed for mobile home park development shall be held either in single ownership or in other ownership as will be such that the tract will be developed under a single direction in accordance with an approved plan.

Minimum tract area: 15 acres. In addition, each mobile home tract must have at least 10 acres of developable land that does not contain floodplain, steep slopes, utility easements or wetlands.

Every area to be used as a mobile home park must be served exclusively by public sewers and public water.

Road access. Any tract proposed for a mobile home park shall have direct access to a collector or higher classification street, as classified in Chapter 310, Subdivision and Land Development. The Board of Commissioners, with the input of the Township Engineer, shall ensure the street onto which the mobile home park takes access to be capable of accommodating the transport of mobile homes.

Sites proposed for a mobile home park shall, in the opinion of the Board of Commissioners, be easily accessible to essential community facilities and services, such as employment centers, shopping center, schools and police and fire protection.

Calculating the developable acreage of the tract in accordance with the definition of "developable acreage" in this chapter; and

By multiplying the developable acreage so calculated by 4 1/2 units per developable acre.

No mobile home shall be closer than 40 feet from any tract boundary, unless the mobile home lot abuts the boundary of another mobile home park development, in which case this may be reduced to 25 feet with respect to such boundary.

No mobile home or accessory building may be located closer than 25 feet to the ultimate right-of-way line of any public street, to the edge of the cartway of private interior streets, or to the edge of any pedestrian walkway. However, for the short side of a mobile home, this may be reduced to 15 feet.

No more than six mobile homes in a row shall have the same setback. Where varied setbacks are used, the difference shall be at least four feet.

No mobile home or accessory use shall be closer than 25 feet to any common parking area.

Lot area. All mobile home lots shall have a minimum lot area of 5,000 square feet when on-lot parking is provided, exclusive of the area of any private roadway, public right-of-way or equivalent right-of-way where required for a private roadway. Where common parking is provided, this may be reduced to 4,500 square feet.

All mobile home lots shall be at least 55 feet wide at the building setback line. Where roofed additions are prohibited or where the applicant can demonstrate that roofed additions would not violate Subsection D(7) and (8) of this section, the width of the lot may be reduced to 45 feet. All mobile home lots shall have at least 25 feet of frontage along a public street or equivalent right-of-way line or edge of pavement as applicable.

No mobile home or accessory building shall be located closer than four feet to the side or rear lot line of an individual mobile home lot; provided, however, that all minimum requirements of Subsection D(9) of this section must be met; and, provided further, that accessory buildings may be located on the lot line if physically joined to each other with a common wall located on the lot line.

Mobile homes are encouraged to use the minimum setbacks and to be placed off-center on the lots so as to provide a large, usable open yard space in one section of the lot.

Mobile homes and roofed structures or areas attached thereto shall be separated from each other, and from other buildings and structures, other than accessory structures, at their closest points by a minimum of 20 feet; provided, however, that whenever two mobile homes have their longest sides parallel or essentially parallel to each other for more than 25% of the length of either, the minimum distance between the mobile homes shall be 30 feet. The sides shall be considered to be essentially parallel if they form an angle of less than 45° when extended to intersect.

The maximum coverage of any individual mobile home lot by primary and accessory buildings shall be 25%.

No mobile home shall exceed a height of one story or a maximum of 25 feet.

In order to allow clustering of lots designed to encourage flexibility in site design and preservation of natural features; and maximum creation of accessibility to recreation areas and distance between structures, minimum lot width and minimum lot size may be reduced up to a maximum of 10% upon approval of the Board of Commissioners; provided that at least 50% of all lots so reduced shall directly abut common open space for a distance of at least 20 feet. An area equal to that by which each lot is reduced shall be added to the minimum common open space specified in this section.

Registration. It shall be unlawful to operate a mobile home park within the Township unless it has been registered with the Zoning Officer, who may inspect the premises with reasonable notice.

Transfer of registration. Registration is not transferable. The Board of Commissioners shall be notified in writing within 10 days after the sale, transfer, lease or other change in the controlling interest of a mobile home park and the registration shall be renewed following inspection.