To cease or discontinue a use or activity, but excluding temporary or short-term interruptions to a use or activity during periods of remodeling, maintaining, or otherwise improving or rearranging a facility, or during normal periods of vacation or seasonal closure.

Having a common border with, or being separated from such a common border by a right-of-way, alley, or easement.

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

A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use of building.

The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended. The law, passed July 31, 1968, is the enabling legislation that permits municipalities in Pennsylvania to prepare and enact comprehensive development plans, zoning ordinances and other land use controls.

A store or shop with more than 15 square feet of floor area devoted to the display and selling of pornographic materials consisting of pictures, drawings, photographs or other depictions, or printed matter and paraphernalia which, if sold knowingly to a child under 18 years of age, would violate the criminal laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in effect the same time thereof.

The cultivation of soil and other uses of land, including, but not by way of limitation, horticulture, mushroom growing, and the breeding and raising of customary domestic animals, dairying, pasturing, floriculture, viticulture, apiculture, and animal and poultry husbandry and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities.

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

Revisions to the zoning text and/or the Official Zoning Map; the authority for any amendment lies solely with the County Commissioners and is pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

An application, required to be filed and approved by the County Planning Commission prior to start of construction or development.

The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory building.

Any premises wherein alcoholic beverages are sold at retail for consumption on the premises and minors are excluded therefrom by law. It shall not mean a premises wherein such beverages are sold in conjunction with the sale of food for consumption on the premises and the sale of said beverages comprises less than 25% of the gross receipts.

A house, or portion thereof, where short-term lodging rooms and meals are provided. The operator of the inn shall live on the premises or in adjacent premises.

A surface whereon advertising matter is set in view conspicuously and which advertising does not apply to premises wherein it is displayed or posted.

The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Washington, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

Any structure designed or intended for use to transmit or relay any digital, electronic, radio, television or microwave signal via the atmosphere, excluding satellite receivers less than 18 inches in diameter and transmission facilities required for public safety.

That portion of the street right-of-way surface for vehicular use. Width is determined from face of curb to face of curb or from on edge of driving surface to the other edge of driving surface.

A statement, based on an inspection, signed by the Zoning Officer, setting forth either that a building, structure or use of a parcel of land complies with this chapter or that a building, structure or parcel of land may lawfully be employed for specified use, or both.

An institution that people regularly attend to participate in or hold religious services, meetings, and other activities. The term "church" shall not carry a secular connotation and shall include buildings in which the religious services of any denomination are held.

Buildings or facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, or persons for a social, educational, or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service that is customarily carried on as a business.

A development design technique that concentrates buildings in specific areas on a site to allow the remaining land to be used for agriculture, recreation, common open space, and preservation of environmentally sensitive areas.

A road providing both access service and traffic circulation within areas and connection between local roads and arterial roads and highways.

An occupation, employment, or enterprise that is carried on for profit by the owner, lessee, or licensee, involving a sale of goods or services.

Storage, collection, transportation, and/or use of manure, agricultural waste, food processing waste, screenings and sludges on land where the materials will improve the condition of the soil, the growth of crops or in the restoration of the kind for the same purposes. The term also includes storage arrangement, transportation, and disposal of manure, agricultural waste, food processing waste, screenings, and sludges accumulated on site for purpose of disposal as long as the waste is not considered to be residual or hazardous wastes according to the standards set by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This use is customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use and is located on the same parcel with such principal use.

The collection, storage, transportation and disposal of agricultural wastes, food processing wastes, screenings, sludges, manure, and biological decomposable materials from mainly, but not necessarily entirely off-site sources for the purpose of resale after the composting processes have been completed as long as the waste is not considered to be residual or hazardous wastes according to the standards set by DEP. This use is clearly the principal purpose for which a building, other structure and/or land is used, occupied or maintained under this chapter.

A use permitted in a particular zoning district pursuant to the provisions in Article VI of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code.

A facility in which care is provided for seven or more children, at any one time, where the child care areas are not being used as a family residence. All facilities require approval or licensure as specified by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Any premises other than the child's own home, operated for profit or not for profit, in which child day care is provided at any one time to four, five, or six children, who are not relatives of the caregivers. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services registration is required and home occupation regulations herein shall be adhered to.

A facility in which care is provided for more than six but less than 12 children, at any one time, where the child-care areas are being used as a family residence. All facilities require approval or licensure as specified by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and home occupation regulations herein shall be adhered to.

A ratio of the number of dwelling units per acre that occupy or may occupy an area of land.

The provisions for development of a planned residential development, including a plat of subdivision, all covenants relating to use, location and bulk of buildings and other structures intensity of use or density of development, streets, ways and parking facilities, common open space and public facilities. The phrase "provisions of the development plan," when used in this chapter, shall mean the written and graphic materials referred to in this definition.

An area constituted by or pursuant to this chapter and delineated by text and map as to location, extent, nature and contents.

A building or portion thereof that provides living facilities for one or more families.

A building or portion thereof for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other and containing three or more dwelling units.

A dwelling not used for permanent residence and nor occupied for more than six months in each year.

One of two or more residential buildings having a common or party wall separating dwelling units.

A residential building containing not more than one dwelling unit entirely surrounded by open space on the same lot.

A building arranged, designed, or intended for occupancy by two families living independent of each other and doing their own cooking therein, on a single lot.

One or more rooms physically arranged so as to create an independent housekeeping establishment for occupancy by one family with separate toilets and facilities for cooking and sleeping.

The right of a person, government agency, or public utility company to use public or private land owned by another for a specific purpose.

Notice given by a municipality through the Internet of the time and place of a public hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing, pursuant to 53 P.S. § 10109.

The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or public service establishment or municipal or other governmental agencies of underground gas, electrical, telephone, radio, television transmission or distribution systems; and public water, public sanitary sewer and public storm sewer facilities, including wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, fire alarm boxes, traffic signals, hydrants and similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith; including buildings necessary for the furnishing of adequate services for the public health, safety and general welfare; excluding sanitary landfills.

One or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and living as a single, nonprofit housekeeping unit, provided that a group of four or more persons who are not within the second degree of kinship shall not be deemed to constitute a family.

A residence offering child and/or adult day-care services by the residents of the premises to a maximum of six persons unrelated by birth or marriage or occupancy of the resident household.

A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.

That portion of the one-hundred-year floodplain outside the floodway.

A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a stream, river, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation; or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source. The boundary of this area shall coincide with the boundary of the one-hundred-year flood.

For the purposes of this chapter, the floodplain shall be defined the same as the "flood hazard area."

Structural modifications or other changes or adjustments to buildings or their contents, undertaken to reduce or eliminate flood damage to them.

The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas required to carry and discharge a flood of a one-hundred-year frequency without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot at any point.

The management of forests and timberlands when practiced in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles, through developing, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and selling trees for commercial purposes, which does not involve any land development.

An enclosed or covered space for the storage of one or more motor vehicles, provided that no business, occupation or service is conducted for profit therein nor space therein for more than one car is leased to a nonresident of the premises.

A building used primarily for making major repairs to motor vehicles, including overhauling, body work, refinishing, and upholstering and incidental servicing.

A facility or dwelling unit housing four or more persons who are not within the second degree of kinship and are operating as a group family household, including, but not limited to, handicapped persons, foster children, elderly, battered children and women, and operates as a special treatment facility providing less than primary health care.

An occupation, profession, activity, or use that is clearly a customary, incidental, and secondary use of a residential dwelling unit and which does not alter the exterior of the property or affect the residential character of the neighborhood.

A facility offering transient lodging accommodations on a daily rate to the general public and providing additional services, such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreational facilities.

Any material that substantially reduces or prevents the infiltration of stormwater into previously undeveloped land. Impervious surface shall include graveled driveways and parking areas.

A use engaged in the basic processing and manufacturing of materials or products predominantly from extracted or raw materials, or a use engaged in storage of or manufacturing processes using flammable or explosive materials, or storage or manufacturing processes that potentially involve hazardous or commonly recognized offensive conditions.

A use engaged in the manufacture, predominantly from previously prepared materials, of finished products or parts, including processing, fabrication, assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, sales, and distribution of such products, but excluding basic industrial processing.

Old, dilapidated, scrap or abandoned metal, paper, building material and equipment, bottles, glass appliances, furniture, beds and bedding, rags, rubber, motor vehicles, and parts thereof.

A lot or structure, or part thereof, used primarily for the collecting, storage, and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal or discarded material; or for the collecting, dismantling, storage and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition, and for the sale of parts thereof.

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 land.

The act of cutting trees for cord wood, for timber, for pulp or for any commercial purpose, excepting therefrom a person cutting on his own property or the property of another, with his permission, for his own or his family's use, the clearing of less than one acre for development of building sites, or the clearing for farm operations, if there is no altering of natural drainage courses.

A platted parcel of land intended to be separately owned, developed, and otherwise used as a unit.

The area of horizontal plan bounded by the vertical planes through front, side, and rear lot lines.

Determined by dividing that area of lot which is occupied or covered by the total horizontal projected surface of all buildings, including covered porches and accessory buildings, by the gross area of that lot.

The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

A lot other than a corner lot.

On an interior lot, the lot line abutting a street; or, on a corner lot, the shorter lot line abutting a street; or, on a through lot, the lot line abutting the street providing the primary access to the lot; or, on a flag lot, the interior lot line most parallel to and nearest the street from which access is obtained.

The lot line not intersecting a front lot line that is most distant from and most closely parallel to the front lot line. A lot bounded by only three lot lines will not have a rear lot line.

Any lot line not a front or rear lot line.

A lot whose existence, location, and dimensions have been legally recorded or registered in a deed or on a plat.

The horizontal distance between side lot lines, measured at the required front setback line.

A lot abutting on and at the intersection of two or more streets.

A lot having its front and rear yards each abutting on a street.

Notice given by a municipality by first-class mail of the time and place of a public hearing and the particular nature of the matter to be considered at the hearing, pursuant to 53 P.S. § 10109.

A factory-built residential dwelling unit certified as built in compliance with the HUD Code. It is transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length; or when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a year-round dwelling with a permanent foundation and connected to the required utilities.

The act of producing, processing, preparing or assembling finished products or goods from raw materials or component parts through the repetitious use of an established or set process.

A warehousing facility where separate storage spaces of varying size are available for lease or rental, usually on a self-service basis. For the purposes of this chapter, there shall be no residential occupancy or nor commercial sales conducted from such storage areas.

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 erections 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 building or group of detached or connected buildings designed or used primarily for providing sleeping accommodations for automobile travelers and having a parking space adjacent to a sleeping room. An automobile court or a tourist court with more than one unit or a motor lodge shall be deemed a motel.

The Township of Washington, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

This includes business or commercial activity administered and conducted as an accessory use clearly secondary to the residential use of the dwelling, and which involves no vehicular or pedestrian customer, client or patient traffic, and the business use requires no pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises in excess of those normally associated with the residential use. The business or commercial activity must satisfy the following:

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 use or extent of use provisions in a zoning ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such ordinance or amendment or prior to the application of such ordinance 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 structure, which does not comply with the applicable use provisions in a zoning ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment of such ordinance or amendment, or prior to the application of such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason of annexation.

A system of piping, tanks or other facility approved by DEP serving one or more lots and disposing of sewage in an approved sewage treatment facility.

A water distribution system approved by DEP which supplies potable water to individual lots or dwelling units from a central water source located beyond the limits of the lot being served. Such system may be publicly or privately owned and operated.

A single system of piping tanks or other facilities approved by DEP serving only a single lot and disposing of sewage in whole or in part into the soil.

A single water system, well or spring, approved by DEP where applicable, serving only a single lot.

Any parcel or designated land area in its natural state or essentially unencumbered by either principal or accessory uses, buildings, structures, or impervious surfaces.

A parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water within a development site and designed and intended for the use or enjoyment of residents of a development, not including streets, off-street parking area, and areas set aside for public facilities.

A continuous quantity of land in the possession of or owned by, or recorded as the property of, the same person or persons.

An area on a lot and/or within a building intended for the use of temporary parking of a personal vehicle. This term is used interchangeably with parking stall. Each parking space must have a means of access to a public street. Tandem parking stalls in single-family detached, single-family attached, and townhouse residential uses shall be considered to have a means of access to a public street.

The Planning Commission of the County of Jefferson.

The Planning Commission of the Township of Washington.

A map, plan or layout of a subdivision indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties.

A structure in which the principal use of the site is conducted.

The main use of land or structures, as distinguished from a secondary or accessory use.

An organization catering exclusively to members and their guest; or premises and building for recreational or athletic purposes which are not conducted primarily for gain, providing that any vending stands, merchandise or commercial activities are conducted only as required generally for the membership of each club.

The office of a member of a recognized profession. A professional office shall be considered a home occupation when conducted from a residence by a member of the resident family and when the office is only secondary to the residential use of the building.

A formal meeting held, pursuant to public notice by the governing body or planning agency, intended to form and obtain public comment prior to taking action in accordance with Act 170.[2]

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 Washington Township area. Such notice shall state 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.

Includes public and semipublic uses of a welfare and educational nature, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, parks, churches, cemeteries, civic centers, historical restorations, fire stations, municipal and county buildings, essential public utilities that require enclosures within a building; nonprofit recreational facilities; easements for alleys, streets, and public utility rights-of-way; and radio and television transmission facilities.

A vehicle less than 38 feet in length, used for temporary living or sleeping purposes, which stands on wheels. Included are travel trailers, truck campers and motor homes, and forms of camping accommodation. Such vehicles are permitted only in campgrounds or on private individual parcels.

Any lot of land upon which two or more recreational vehicle sites are located, established, or maintained for occupancy by recreational vehicles of the general public as temporary living quarters for recreation or vacation purposes.

A facility that is not a junkyard and in which recoverable resources, such as newspapers, glassware, plastic containers, and metal cans, are collected, stored, flattened, crushed, or bundled, essentially by hand within a completely enclosed building.

A collection point for small refuse items, such as bottles and newspapers, located either in a container or small structure.

An establishment that serves food and beverages primarily to persons seated within the building. This includes cafes, tea rooms, and outdoor cafes.

A retail outlet where food or beverages are sold to a substantial extent for consumption by customers in parked motor vehicles.

An establishment that offers quick food service, which is accomplished through a limited menu of items already prepared and held for service, or prepared, fried, or grilled quickly, or heated in a device such as a microwave oven. Orders are not generally taken at the customer's table, and food is generally served in disposable wrapping or containers.

A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, shade trees, or other special use.

A public or private way that affords principal means of access to abutting properties. The word "road" shall include, but not be limited to, the words "street," "highway," "alley," and "thoroughfare."

The center of the surveyed road right-of-way, or where not surveyed, the center of the traveled cartway.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions are employed:

The officially established grade of the road upon which a lot fronts, or in its absence the established grade of roads upon which the lot abuts, at the midpoint of the frontage of the lot thereon. If there is no officially established grade, the existing grade of the road at such mid-point shall be taken as the road grade.

The dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale, or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts. The presence on any lot or parcel of land of two or more motor vehicles, which, for a period exceeding 30 days, have not been capable of operating under their own power and from which parts have been or are to be removed for reuse or sale, shall constitute prima facie evidence of an automobile wrecking yard.

A lot or land or part thereof used primarily for the disposal of garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials, including, but not limited to, solid and liquid waste materials resulting from industrial, commercial, agricultural, and residential activities and approved by the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

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

A dwelling intended for seasonal or leisure activity which is not intended now or in the future for year-round dwelling purposes. It includes cottages and cabins built on a permanent foundation. Such uses shall be limited to hunting and fishing seasons, vacation time, weekends, retreats and other periodic visits for a period not to exceed 180 days per year.

An establishment where liquids used as motor fuels are stored and dispersed into the fuel tanks of motor vehicles by persons other than the service station attendant and may include facilities available for the sale of other retail products.

Any premises where gasoline and other petroleum products are sold and/or light maintenance activities, such as engine tune-ups, lubrication, minor repairs, and carburetor cleaning are conducted.

The required minimum horizontal distance between the building line and the related front, side, or rear property line.

A structure that consists of any device, light, letter, word, model, banner, pennant, trade flag, logo, insignia, balloons or representation that advertises, directs, or announces the use conducted; goods, products, services or facilities available; or that influences persons or conveys information, or that calls attention to the building or the use located on the lot. The term "sign" includes the word "billboard," but does not include the flag of the United States of America or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any Federal, state or municipal traffic or directional sign or other official federal, state, county or municipal government signs.

An electric generating facility, whose main purpose is to generate and supply electricity and consists of one or more solar electric systems and other accessory structures and buildings, including substations, electrical infrastructure, transmission lines and other appurtenant structures and facilities. The use is primarily off site.

The components and subsystem that, in combination, convert solar energy into electric energy suitable for use. The term includes, but is not limited to, photovoltaic and concentrated solar power system. The use is primarily on site.

A use permitted in a particular zoning district pursuant to the provisions of Articles VI and IX of Act 247, the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code, as amended.

An accessory building in which livestock are kept for private use and not for hire, remuneration or sale.

A building in which any livestock are kept for remuneration, hire, sale, boarding, riding, or show.

That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it.

Any man-made object having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land.

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 or ownership of 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.

Open pit mining shall include all activity which removes from the surface, or beneath the surface of the land, some material mineral resource, natural resource, or other element of economic value, by means of mechanical excavation necessary to separate the desired material from an undesirable one; or to remove the strata or material which overlies or is above the desired material in its natural condition and position. Open pit mining includes, but is not limited to, the excavation necessary to the extraction of: sand, gravel, topsoil, limestone, sandstone, coal, clay, shale and iron ore.

Any reasonably permanent pool or open tank, not located within a completely enclosed building, and containing, or normally capable of containing, water to a depth any point greater than two feet. Farm ponds and/or lakes are not included, provided that swimming is not the primary purpose for their construction. Barrier requirements for aboveground pools will be measured from the ground.

The Township of Washington, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

A lot or structure, or part thereof, used primarily for the collection and/or storage of garbage, refuse and other discarded materials, including, but not limited to, solid and liquid waste materials resulting from industrial, commercial, agriculture and residential activities.

A vehicle that is a portable structure built on a chassis, designed to be used as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational and vacation uses, permanently identified "travel trailer" by the manufacturer on the trailer. Unoccupied travel trailers do not constitute mobile homes as used in this chapter. All travel trailers shall display a current vehicle inspection sticker and vehicle registration plate.

A parcel of land used for the parking of two or more trailers for rent and occupancy by the public on a short term or seasonal basis.

The specific purpose for which land or a 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 modification of the literal provisions of this chapter which the Zoning Hearing Board is permitted to grant when strict enforcement would cause undue hardship owing to circumstances unique to the individual property on which the variance is sought.

An inventory of the source, quantity, yield and use of groundwater and surface water resources within a Washington Township.

A channel or conveyance of surface water having a defined bed and banks, whether artificial or natural, with intermittent or perennial flow.

Land that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances does or would support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. The term includes, but is not limited to, swamps, bogs, marshes, and marine meadows.

An open space that lies between the principal building or group of buildings and the nearest lot line. Such space shall be unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as may herein be permitted.

The Zoning Hearing Board of the Washington Township.

The Official Zoning Map of Washington Township, together with all notations, references and amendments that may subsequently be adopted. The Zoning Map shall be considered a part of this chapter.

The administrative officer charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of this chapter.

A permit stating that the purpose for which a building or land is to be used is in conformity with the uses permitted and all other requirements under this chapter for the district in which it is located.