West Manheim Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
PART 10
Buffering, Landscaping, Screening and Lighting
§ 270-211 General requirements.
Buffer yards shall meet the following requirements:
A.
A buffer yard shall be located at the perimeter of the lot for any given use and shall not be located in any portion of a public right-of-way or proposed right-of-way.
B.
Permitted uses in a buffer yard include stormwater management facilities, underground utility facilities, picnic areas, greenways and/or pedestrian walkways. Buildings or storage of any kind shall not be permitted in a buffer yard.
C.
A buffer yard and screening shall be provided between zoning districts and uses as follows:
Buffering and Screening Required Between the Following Zoning Districts and Uses | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Proposed Use/Zone1 | Abutting Use/Zone | Buffer Yard Width (feet) | Level of Screening |
Nonresidential use or BC or C/I Zoning Districts | Residential use or R or SR Zoning Districts | 50 | Level 3 |
Multifamily dwelling residential use | Single-family dwelling residential use | 25 | Level 1 |
Industrial use | Commercial use | 25 | Level 2 |
Residential use or R or SR Zoning Districts | Arterial street | 50 | Level 1 |
Residential use or R or SR Zoning Districts | Interstate highway | 100 | Level 3 |
Double frontage lots | Higher classification street | 20 | Level 1 |
NOTES: | |
|---|---|
1 | The buffering and screening requirements shall be located on this property. |
D.
Parking lots shall not encroach into a buffer yard. Buffer yards shall not be used for parking.
E.
A buffer yard shall not be required in front yards except as required as shown in the table above.
§ 270-212 Minimum required landscaping.
§ 270-213 Street trees.
§ 270-214 Maintenance plan.
Landscaping required in this article shall be maintained in a healthy, growing condition at all times. It shall be the responsibility of the property owner of record or his delegated representative to properly maintain and care for any landscape screen or other treatment as approved by the Township. In order to ensure proper maintenance of landscaping, a maintenance plan addressing the following shall be required:
§ 270-215 Levels of screening.
A.
Level 1. This buffer shall contain screening materials that, at maturity, provide intermittent visual obstruction from the ground to a height of four feet, as well as intermittent (fifteen-percent visual obstruction) visual obstruction from a height of four feet to a height of 15 feet. Standards for screening materials shall be in accordance with Article V of Chapter 235, Subdivision and Land Development.
B.
Level 2. This buffer shall contain screening materials which, at maturity, provide semi-opacity (thirty-five-percent visual obstruction) from the ground to a height of six feet and intermittent visual obstruction from a height of six feet to a height of 15 feet. Standards for screening materials shall be in accordance with Article V of Chapter 235, Subdivision and Land Development.
§ 270-216 Uses.
The following specific uses or features shall be screened from adjacent properties and from public view from a street in accordance with the following:
§ 270-217 Maintenance.
§ 270-218 General requirements.
A.
Applicability.
(1)
All uses within the Township where there is lighting that creates a nuisance or hazard as viewed from outside, including, but not limited to, residential, commercial, industrial, public/semipublic and institutional uses, and sign, billboard, architectural and landscape lighting must comply with the requirements of this article.
(2)
Temporary seasonal decorative lighting and emergency lighting are exempt from all but the glare-control requirements of this article.
(3)
Emergency lighting, as may be required by any public agency while engaged in the performance of its duties, is exempt from the requirements of this article.
B.
Criteria.
(1)
Illumination levels. Lighting, where required by this article, or otherwise required or allowed by the Township, shall have intensities, uniformities and glare control in accordance with the recommended practices of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), unless otherwise directed by the Township.
(2)
Lighting fixture design.
(a)
Fixtures shall be of a type and design appropriate to the lighting application.
(b)
For the lighting of predominantly horizontal surfaces such as, but not limited to parking areas, roadways, vehicular and pedestrian passage areas, merchandising and storage areas, automotive-fuel dispensing facilities, automotive sales areas, loading docks, culs-de-sac, active and passive recreational areas, building entrances, sidewalks, bicycle and pedestrian paths, and site entrances, fixtures shall be aimed straight down and shall meet IESNA full-cutoff criteria. Fixtures mounted on poles 12 feet and under shall meet IESNA cutoff criteria. Fixtures, except those containing directional lamps, with an aggregate-rated lamp output not exceeding 1,000 lumens, e.g., the rated output of a standard nondirectional sixty-watt incandescent lamp, are exempt from the requirements of this subsection.
(c)
For the lighting of predominantly nonhorizontal surfaces such as, but not limited to, facades, landscaping, signs, billboards, fountains, displays and statuary, fixtures shall be fully shielded and shall be installed and aimed so as to not project their output into the windows of structures on adjacent lots, past the object being illuminated, skyward or onto a public roadway. Fixtures, except those containing directional lamps, with an aggregate-rated lamp output not exceeding 1,000 lumens, e.g., the rated output of a standard nondirectional sixty-watt incandescent lamp, are exempt from this article.
(d)
"Barn lights," also known as "dusk-to-dawn lights," where visible from another property, shall not be permitted unless fully shielded as viewed from that property.
(3)
Control of glare.
(a)
All lighting shall be aimed, located, designed, fitted and maintained so as not to present a hazard to drivers or pedestrians by impairing their ability to safely traverse and so as not to create a nuisance by projecting or reflecting objectionable light onto an adjacent use or property.
(b)
Directional fixtures such as floodlights and spotlights shall be so shielded, installed and aimed that they do not project their output into the windows of structures on adjacent lots, past the object being illuminated, skyward or onto a public roadway or pedestrian way.
(c)
Parking facility and vehicular and pedestrian-way lighting (except for safety and security applications and all-night business operations), for commercial, industrial, and institutional uses shall be automatically extinguished no later than 1/2 hour after the close of business or facility operation. When safety or security lighting is proposed for after-hours illumination, it shall not be in excess of 25% of the number of fixtures or illumination level required or permitted for illumination during regular business hours.
(d)
Illumination of signs, billboards, building facades and/or surrounding landscapes is prohibited between 11:00 p.m. and dawn, except that such lighting situated on the premises for a commercial or industrial establishment may remain illuminated while the establishment is actually open for business, and until 1/2 hour after closing.
(e)
Vegetation screens shall not be employed to serve as the primary means for controlling glare. Rather, glare control shall be achieved primarily through the use of such means as cutoff fixtures, shields and baffles, and appropriate application of fixture mounting height, wattage, aiming angle and fixture placement.
(f)
The illumination projected from any use onto a residential use shall at no time exceed 0.1 footcandle, measured line-of-sight from any point on the receiving residential property.
(g)
The illumination projected from any property onto a nonresidential use shall at no time exceed 1.0 footcandle, measured line-of-sight from any point on the receiving property.
(h)
Externally illuminated billboards and signs shall be lighted by fixtures mounted at the top of the billboard or sign and aimed downward. The fixtures shall be designed, fitted and aimed to shield the source from off-site view and to place the light output onto and not beyond the sign or billboard. At no point on the face of the sign or billboard and at no time shall the illumination exceed 30 vertical footcandles.
(i)
Except as permitted for certain recreational lighting, fixtures not meeting IESNA full-cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 16 feet above finished grade. Fixtures meeting IESNA full-cutoff criteria shall not be mounted in excess of 20 feet above finished grade.
(j)
Only the flag of the United States of America and the flag of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall be permitted to be illuminated from dusk until dawn. All other flags shall not be illuminated past 11:00 p.m. Flag-lighting sources shall not exceed 7,000 lamp lumens per flagpole. The light source shall have a beam spread no greater than necessary to illuminate the flag and shall be fully shielded.
(k)
Under-canopy lighting for such applications as gas/service stations, hotel/theater marquees, fast-food/bank/drugstore drive-ups, shall be accomplished using flat-lens full-cutoff fixtures aimed straight down and shielded in such a manner that the lowest opaque edge of the fixture shall be below the light source at all lateral angles. The average illumination in the area directly below the canopy shall not exceed 20 initial footcandles, and the maximum shall not exceed 30 initial footcandles.
(4)
Installation.
(a)
Electrical feeds for lighting standards shall be run underground, not overhead.
(b)
Poles supporting lighting fixtures for the illumination of parking areas and located directly behind parking spaces, or where they could be hit by snowplows, shall be placed a minimum of five feet outside the paved area or tire stops, or placed on concrete pedestals at least 30 inches high above the pavement, or suitably protected by other municipality-approved means.
(c)
Pole-mounted fixtures for lighting horizontal tasks shall be aimed straight down, and poles shall be plumb.
(5)
Maintenance. Lighting fixtures and ancillary equipment shall be maintained so as to always meet the requirements of this chapter.
C.
Lighting plan submission. Lighting plans shall be submitted for zoning permit, building permit, certificate of use and occupancy, variance, conditional use and special exception applications for review and approval, in accordance with the plan-submission information requirements in accordance with Chapter 235, Subdivision and Land Development.
D.
Compliance monitoring.
(1)
Safety hazards. If the Township Zoning Officer judges that a lighting installation creates a safety hazard, the person(s) responsible for the lighting shall be notified and required to take remedial action pursuant to § 270-223, Enforcement, of this chapter.
(2)
Nuisance glare and inadequate illumination levels.
(a)
When the Township Zoning Officer judges that an installation produces unacceptable levels of nuisance glare, skyward light, excessive or insufficient illumination levels or otherwise varies from this chapter, the Township Zoning Officer may cause notification of the person(s) responsible for the lighting and require appropriate remedial action.
E.
Nonconforming lighting. Any lighting fixture or lighting installation existing on the effective date of this chapter that does not conform with the requirements of this article and section shall be considered a lawful nonconformance. A nonconforming lighting fixture or lighting installation shall be made to conform to the requirements of this chapter when: