Whitpain Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXII
I Limited Industrial Districts
§ 160-141 Legislative intent.
A.
In expansion of the declaration of the legislative intent contained in Article I, § 160-2, it is hereby declared to be the intent of this article with respect to Limited Industrial Zones (as adopted by ordinance and shown on the Whitpain Township Zoning Map attached hereto) to establish reasonable standards for the height and size of buildings, the areas and dimensions of yards and open spaces and the provision of facilities and operation of industries to minimize traffic congestion, noise, glare, air pollution, water pollution and fire and safety hazards in industrial districts.
B.
In an I Limited Industrial District, the following regulations shall apply.
§ 160-142 Use regulations.
[Amended 6-1-1959 by Ord. No. 25; 6-3-1968 by Ord. No. 4-23; 3-19-1973 by Ord. No. 4-38; 8-19-1985 by Ord. No. 4-84; 9-4-1985 by Ord. No. 4-83; 8-1-1988 by Ord. No. 4-104; 10-6-1997 by Ord. No. 4-157; 4-5-2005 by Ord. No. 4-205]
A building or group of buildings may be erected, altered or used and any lot or premises may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other:
B.
Agriculture.
C.
A use permitted in an R-1 District, with buildings located and constructed as therein provided.
D.
Dwelling quarters for watchmen and caretakers employed on the premises shall be permitted in connection with any industrial establishment.
E.
Medical facilities.
F.
Banking facilities.
G.
The Zoning Hearing Board may, in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards, authorize by special exception the following uses:
(3)
Warehousing, miniwarehousing, storage and ministorage facilities, retail and wholesale sales or storage of plumbing supplies, lumber supplies and building materials and supplies.
(4)
Truck terminals, bulk cargo facilities, truck or bus storage, garages or repair facilities or contractor's storage of equipment or supplies.
(5)
Any other lawful and legitimate use not otherwise specifically provided for in this article.
(6)
Contracting uses. Contracting shall include offices, supply shops and yards for activities such as building supplies, cement, electric, heating, plumbing, masonry, painting and roofing. This use shall include the retail and/or wholesale or storage and woodworking of lumber, plumbing or other building materials or supplies.
[Added 7-1-2003 by Ord. No. 4-186]
(7)
Newspaper and book publishing and printing.
[Added 7-1-2003 by Ord. No. 4-186]
I.
Mining use. Mining use and mining operations and facilities shall be permitted, subject to the following regulations and requirements:
[Added 2-19-2002 by Ord. No. 4-177]
(1)
Setbacks. Buildings, including accessory structures and the outward edge which is a part of any mining operation within the Township shall be set back from property lines and road frontages as follows:
(2)
Hours of operation. No mining operations conducted in the Township shall commence operations of any machinery utilized in the mining business, including motorized vehicles engaged in the business, until 7:00 a.m. and all such operations shall cease by 5:00 p.m., prevailing time, Monday through Friday, only.
(3)
Exterior storage. Any exterior storage of mining product or by-product shall comply with all recognized fire standards and safety standards and shall be screened from view from adjoining properties with the planting of an appropriate evergreen screen.
(4)
Deliveries or transport to and from the site. No deliveries to the location or transportation of product or by-product of the mining operation shall be conducted except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, only.
(6)
Signage and retail operations. No sale of any of the mined materials or any other product or by-product of the mining operation may be sold on the premises where the mining operation is conducted.
J.
Office buildings subject to the provisions of §§ 160-102, 160-104, 160-106, 160-107, and 160-108 of Article XVII, A-R and A-R-1 Administrative and Research Districts; the required minimum green space area requirement of 50% (see § 160-214); and those provisions contained herein not specifically preempted by these sections.
[Added 2-17-2004 by Ord. No. 4-189]
K.
Adult-oriented establishments. By conditional use, adult-oriented establishments shall be permitted, subject to the following regulations and requirements:
(1)
Adult-oriented establishments shall not be permitted within 1,000 feet of the following uses. A person commits a violation of this chapter if the person operates or causes to be operated an adult-oriented establishment within 1,000 feet of:
(a)
A church, synagogue, mosque, temple or building which is used primarily for religious worship and/or related religious activities;
(b)
A public or private educational facility, including but not limited to child day-care facilities, nursery schools, preschools, kindergartens, elementary schools, private schools, intermediate schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational schools, secondary schools, continuation schools, special education schools, junior colleges and universities. “School” includes the school grounds, but does not include facilities used primarily for another purpose and only incidentally as a school;
(c)
A public park or recreational area which has been designated for park or recreational activities, including but not limited to passive or active park or parkland, playground, nature trails, swimming pool, reservoir, athletic field, basketball or tennis courts, pedestrian/bicycle paths, wilderness areas, or other similar public land; and
(d)
A licensed premises, licensed pursuant to the alcoholic beverage control regulations of the commonwealth.
(2)
An adult-oriented establishment shall not be located within 500 feet of the following uses. A person commits a violation of this chapter if the person operates or causes to be operated an adult-oriented establishment within 500 feet of:
(3)
The distance between any uses shall be measured in a straight line, without regard to the intervening structures or objects or political boundaries, from the closest exterior wall of the structure in which each use is located.
L.
Medical marijuana grower/processor (as defined and limited by the Medical Marijuana Act, Act of April 17, 2016, P.L. 84, No. 16, as amended.[4]).
[Added 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 4-245; amended 9-20-2022 by Ord. No. 4-259]
(1)
No use of medical marijuana shall be permitted on the premises of a medical marijuana grower/processor.
[4]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 10231.101 et seq.
§ 160-143 Prohibited uses.
The following uses shall not be permitted:
Abattoir |
Acetylene gas manufacture and/or storage |
Acid manufacture (hydrochloric, nitric, picric, sulfuric, sulfanilic, carbolic) |
Ammonia, bleaching powder or chlorine manufacture |
Ammunition manufacture and/or storage |
Arsenal |
Asphalt manufacture or refining |
Blast or reverberatory furnace or foundry |
Bone distillation |
Celluloid manufacture |
Cement manufacture, including cement mixing plant, lime, gypsum or plaster of paris manufacture |
Coal distillation |
Coke ovens |
Creosote treatment or manufacture |
Dead animal and offal reduction |
Distillation of bones, coal, petroleum, refuse, grain or wood (except in the manufacture of gas) |
Distillation of tar |
Drop hammer |
Explosives, fireworks and gunpowder manufacture or storage |
Fat rendering |
Fertilizer manufacture |
Forge plant |
Hog farm |
Incineration, reduction, storage or dumping of slaughterhouse refuse, rancid fats, garbage, dead animals or offal |
Kiln, except fired by oil, gas or electricity, maximum capacity of 200 cubic feet |
Oilcloth or linoleum manufacture |
Ore reduction |
Petroleum or kerosene refining, distillation or derivation of by-products and/or storage |
Potash works |
Power forge (riveting, hammering, punching, chipping, drawing, rolling or tumbling of iron, steel, brass, copper), except as a necessary incident to manufacture of which those processes form a minor part and which are carried on without objectionable noise outside the plant and permitted as a special exception |
Reduction of fish and animal products and vegetable oils |
Roasting of coffee, spices and soybeans |
Rolling mill |
Steel furnace, blooming or rolling mill |
Stockyards |
Tar distillation or manufacture |
§ 160-144 Smoke control.
A.
No smoke shall be emitted from any chimney or other source visible gray greater than No. 1 on the Ringelmann Chart as published by the United States Bureau of Mines.
B.
Smoke of a shade not darker than No. 2 on the Ringelmann Smoke Chart may be emitted for not more than four minutes in any 30 minutes.
C.
These provisions applicable to visible gray smoke shall also apply to visible smoke of a different color but with an equivalent apparent opacity.
§ 160-145 Atmospheric emissions.
A.
No emission shall be made which can cause any damage to health, to animals or vegetation or other form of property or which can cause any excessive soiling at any point.
B.
No emission of liquid or solid particles from any chimney or otherwise shall exceed 0.3 grain per cubic foot of the covering gas at any point.
C.
For measurement of the amount of particles in gases resulting from combustion, standard correction shall be applied to a stack temperature of 500° F. and 50% excess air.
§ 160-146 Noise.
Noise shall not violate the Township's Disturbing the Peace Ordinance, at § 83-1 of the Code of Ordinances of Whitpain Township.
§ 160-147 Glare and heat.
Any operation producing intense glare or heat shall be performed within an enclosed building or behind a solid fence in such manner as to be completely imperceptible from any point along the lot lines.
§ 160-148 Vibration.
No vibration which is discernible to the human sense of feeling shall be perceptible without instruments at any point on the lot lines.
§ 160-149 Radioactivity or electrical disturbance.
There shall be no activities which emit dangerous radioactivity at any point. There shall be no electrical disturbance (except from domestic household appliances) adversely affecting the operation at any point of any equipment other than that of the creator of such disturbance.
§ 160-150 Outdoor storage; waste disposal.
A.
No flammable or explosive liquids, solids or gases shall be stored in bulk above the ground; provided, however, that tanks or drums of fuel are excluded from this provision.
B.
All outdoor storage facilities for fuel, raw materials and products stored outdoors shall be enclosed by a fence adequate to conceal the facilities from any adjacent properties.
C.
No materials or wastes shall be deposited upon a lot in such form or manner that they may be transferred off the lot by natural causes or forces.
D.
All materials or wastes which might cause fumes or dust, which constitute a fire hazard or which may be edible or otherwise be attractive to rodents or insects shall be stored outdoors only in closed containers.
§ 160-151 Power sources.
Every use requiring power shall be so operated that the service lines, substation, etc., shall conform to the highest safety requirements known, and shall be so constructed, installed, etc., as to be an integral part of the architectural features of the plant or, if visible from abutting residential properties, shall be concealed by coniferous planting.
§ 160-152 Illumination
All external illumination shall be permitted only in compliance with § 160-220 of this chapter.
§ 160-153 Maximum height of buildings.
[Amended 6-3-1968 by Ord. No. 4-23]
The maximum height of any building erected or used for any use permitted by § 160-142 herein shall be 50 feet.
§ 160-154 Area and yard regulations.
A.
Floor area ratio. The total floor area of principal and accessory buildings shall not exceed 40% of the lot area.
[Amended 6-19-1968 by Ord. No. 4-25]
B.
Lot area. No Light Industrial District shall be less than 10 developable acres, and no individual lot size shall be less than two acres.
C.
Principal and accessory buildings shall not occupy more than 20% of the lot area. This area may be increased by a maximum of 5% for accessory buildings only, provided the minimum green area is increased by a like percentage. This increase is in addition to any increases required by the parking space reduction. Accessory buildings adjacent to a residential zoning district may not exceed a height of one story or 18 feet.
[Amended 3-7-2006 by Ord. No. 4-216]
D.
Yard requirements.
(1)
Front yard. The required minimum depth of a front yard shall be as follows:
(2)
Side yards. There shall be two side yards on each lot, which shall have an aggregate width of not less than 150 feet, neither side yard having a width of less than 50 feet, and provided that any side yard abutting a street shall have a width of not less than 100 feet.
[Amended 6-3-1968 by Ord. No. 4-23]
(3)
Rear yard. The required minimum depth of a rear yard shall be 50 feet, subject to exception as provided in Subsection D(4) hereinafter set forth.
(4)
Exceptions for side and rear yards. In no case (except adjacent to an existing railroad) shall any building be erected, either upon the surface of or under the ground, closer than 150 feet to any residential district, nor any parking area be closer than 50 feet to any residential district. No side or rear yard shall be required for the side or rear of a building abutting on an existing railroad right-of-way.
[Amended 6-3-1968 by Ord. No. 4-23]
E.
Screening. All front yards and all areas delimited by a side or rear lot line abutting or directly across a street from a residential district and to a depth of 50 feet for the entire length thereof shall be maintained as green areas and planted in grass, shrubs and/or trees, except for necessary ways of access there through, which shall be planted in accordance with a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors following a recommendation by the Planning Commission, which shall, at least, conform to the standards and requirements of § 160-107A of the Code of the Township of Whitpain, including all regulations required for screen buffers.
[Amended 6-3-1968 by Ord. No. 4-23; 6-19-1968 by Ord. No. 4-25; 11-16-1999 by Ord. No. 4-168; 8-3-2004 by Ord. No. 4-204]
§ 160-155 Off-street parking and loading.
Adequate off-street parking and loading space is permitted in accordance with Article XXVII of this chapter.