Worcester Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXC
AQRC Age-Qualified Residential Community
[Added 2-20-2002 by Ord. No. 185]
§ 150-146.13 Legislative intent.
The AQRC Age-Qualified Residential Community District is intended to address the housing needs of older persons who do not require the intensive needs of a nursing home but desire the security, safety and special design of a residential environment which can provide residential units particularly conducive to older persons in the form of independent living.
§ 150-146.14 Permitted uses.
The following uses are permitted by right:
A.
Age-qualified residential community.
B.
Agriculture uses as limited by the provisions of Article IV.
C.
Municipal use.
D.
Accessory uses. Accessory uses to the age-qualified residential community shall be specifically restricted to serve only residents of the age-qualified residential community and their invited guests and shall be limited to the following:
(1)
A clubhouse consisting of activity rooms, craft rooms, lockers and shower room, library, physical therapy and fitness center, lounges, and similar facilities for members of the age-qualified residential community and invited guests.
(2)
Recreation facilities such as a swimming pool and tennis court.
(3)
A guard station and/or mechanical entrance gate.
E.
Bed-and-breakfast, limited to not more than nine bedrooms when occupying an existing structure which shall be preserved in its original exterior style and materials. The bed-and-breakfast facility shall not be an independent use, and it shall not be open for use by the general public. Its use shall be strictly limited to the temporary use of the family, friends and guests of the residents of the age-qualified residential community.
F.
No-impact home-based business, as defined in § 150-9; provided that the permission for such use granted herein shall not supersede any deed restriction, covenant or agreement restricting the use of land, nor any master deed, bylaw or other document applicable to a common interest ownership community.
[Added 8-17-2011 by Ord. No. 230]
§ 150-146.15 Development regulations.
A.
Development regulations.
(1)
Maximum density. The maximum density shall be two units per acre of gross site area.
(2)
Minimum tract area. The minimum tract area shall be 75 acres.
(3)
Required frontage. The tract shall have not less than 500 feet of continuous frontage along each of two perimeter streets which shall satisfy the classification of secondary or primary streets in the Worcester Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 130, Subdivision and Land Development.
(4)
Open space.
(a)
Not less than 70% of the area of the tract shall be retained as permanent open space for use by the residents for recreation, leisure activities, resource protection, amenities, etc.
(b)
Open space having a dimension less than 50 feet in width or containing an individual area less than 20,000 square feet shall not be counted toward the minimum 70% requirement.
(5)
Setbacks.
(a)
No principal or accessory building (or any parking lot area accessory thereto) shall be less than 200 feet from any tract boundary or less than 400 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of existing perimeter streets.
(b)
A gate house/guard house may be permitted within the required setback from an existing perimeter street provided it is set back at least 100 feet from the ultimate right-of-way of the perimeter street.
(6)
Neighborhood development regulations.
(a)
The minimum building setback from any interior street line or common parking lot shall be 20 feet.
(b)
The horizontal distance between the closest point of two adjacent buildings shall not be less than 20 feet. In addition, front and rear facades of buildings greater than 50 feet in length shall be separated from other front and rear facades by a distance not less than 35 feet; and front and rear facades of buildings greater than 100 feet in length shall be separated from other front and rear facades by a distance not less than 50 feet.
(c)
Townhouse dwelling units shall be permitted as a group of two or more, but not more than six, attached dwelling units, and only one unit shall fully occupy the space from ground to roof.
(d)
The total building coverage of all dwelling units shall not exceed 15% of the total tract area. The total impervious coverage shall not exceed 30% of the total tract area.
(e)
No accessory buildings, structures or uses may be located between the front of any dwelling unit and interior street lines.
(7)
Building height. The maximum building height shall be 35 feet.
(8)
Off-street parking per dwelling unit. There shall be a minimum of two spaces which may include one garage space. Garages may not be converted into living area. In addition, where on-street parking is not authorized by Worcester Township, .25 parking space per dwelling unit shall be provided in common facilities for overflow and visitors.
B.
Utilities; common areas and facilities; buffers.
(1)
Utilities. All dwellings and other buildings within an age-qualified residential community shall be served by central sewerage and central water systems.
(2)
Common areas and facilities. Provisions (including the establishment of escrow accounts or sinking funds for future repair and replacement) shall be made for the perpetual maintenance, care and ownership of all common areas, including private streets built to Township specifications, driveways, parking areas, walkways, landscaped planting areas, open space, recreation, and stormwater management systems by a private homeowner association approved by the Board of Supervisors, and none of these facilities shall be offered for dedication to the Township unless specifically requested by the Board of Supervisors.
C.
Buffer, screening and street boundary requirements.
(1)
Buffers. Along all exterior property boundary lines there shall be a permanent landscape buffer at least 30 feet in depth. The landscaping of required buffers shall comply with § 130-28G(5) of the Worcester Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance or Subsection C(2) through (4) below, as may be applicable.
(2)
Existing buffers. In cases where the edge(s) of a development occurs along natural features which adequately function (in the opinion of the Board of Supervisors) as landscape buffers, including but not limited to mature vegetation, significant grade changes or stream valleys, which are proposed to be permanently preserved, buffering as required in § 150-146.15C(1) may be reduced or waived by the Board.
(3)
Street boundaries. Rather than the landscape buffer described in Subsection C(1) and (2) above, the use of an informal massing of deciduous trees having a minimum size of two inches caliper when planted and an expected 20 feet in height at maturity, with an overlapping spacing, may be provided along all property boundaries which abut an existing public street where approved by the Board of Supervisors.
(4)
Extensive setbacks. Where principal and accessory buildings are set back at least 300 feet from a property boundary line or existing perimeter street ultimate right-of-way, the landscaping requirements for a landscape buffer as required in § 150-146.15C(1) may be waived by the Board of Supervisors.
(5)
Maintenance. All buffer vegetation required by this article shall be maintained permanently and, in the event of death or other destruction, shall be replaced within six months by the persons responsible for maintenance when death or destruction occurred.
§ 150-146.16 Unit occupancy.
A.
No more than four persons shall occupy a dwelling, at least one of whom shall be 55 years of age or older, with the exception that up to 20% of the occupied units may be occupied by not more than four persons, at least one of whom shall be 45 years of age or older. No persons under the age 19 shall occupy any dwelling, except the child of a resident during summer months or during holidays.
[Amended 8-7-2010 by Ord. No. 224]
B.
Occupants unrelated by blood or marriage shall be 55 years of age or older.
C.
An underage resident who shall survive the death of an age-qualified spouse shall be permitted to continue to occupy the dwelling, provided that the continued occupancy does not violate the Federal Fair Housing Act.
§ 150-146.17 Declaration of age restriction.
[Amended 8-7-2010 by Ord. No. 224]
At the time of subdivision and land development, as a prerequisite to the recording of any final plan approved, the developer shall record a declaration against the entire tract, in a form acceptable to the Township, binding all properties and owners to the definition of "age-qualified residential community" set forth in Article III hereof, and the occupancy requirements set forth in § 150-146.16 hereof. Further, the declarant shall demonstrate the intent to operate as housing designed for persons who are 55 years of age or older, by complying with 24 CFR 100.306, as amended, and 24 CFR 100.307, concerning verification of occupancy, set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations, at Title 24: Housing and Urban Development, Part 100, Discriminatory Conduct under the Fair Housing Act.
