§ 14-309. Area Shopping Center District. 258

   (1)   Minimum District Area and Frontage. The minimum area for an Area Shopping Center District shall be 80,000 square feet, with a minimum frontage of 200 feet on a street.

   (2)   Use Regulations. The specific uses permitted in this district shall be the erection, construction, alteration or use of buildings and/or land for the following services and/or sales on the premises at retail, separately or in any combination:

      (a)   Antiques, art goods and artists' supplies, automobile showrooms (excluding repairs or service), bakery goods, books, china, glass and metalware, confectionery, cosmetics, delicatessen, department store merchandise, draperies, drugs, dry goods, electrical appliances, floor coverings, florist merchandise, fruits and vegetables, furniture, garden supplies, gifts, groceries, hardware, hobby 259 and handicraft merchandise, household appliances, jewelry, liquor and other alcoholic beverages (except as provided in Section 14-309(3)(a) below), luggage, meat, music materials and merchandise, music studio, newspapers and magazines, office supplies, optical or orthopedic goods, package paints, pet shops, photographic supplies, radio and television set and parts, seafood, shoes, sports goods, stationery, tire store, variety store merchandise, wallpaper, watch repairs, wearing apparel; sale of live poultry, live fish, or live animals, for human consumption when authorized by a Zoning Board of Adjustment Certificate; 260

      (b)   Barber shop, beauty shop, bowling alley, children's nursery, hat cleaning, laundry and dry cleaning pick-up station, library, photographer, post office, retail dry cleaning establishment, laundries, including self-service establishments, shoe repair shop, tailor shop;

      (c)   Self service dry cleaning establishment; provided

         (.1)   The Fire Marshal shall have certified that the premises, machines, equipment and materials are in compliance with the Fire Code as set forth in Chapter 5-800; 261

         (.2)   An attendant over 21 years of age and trained in the use of the equipment on the premises employed by the licensee shall be present at all times when the premises where the self service dry cleaning establishment is located is open for business;

         (.3)   No operator of any coin operated dry cleaning equipment shall use or permit to be used any solvent other than that which has been approved, by the manufacturer of the equipment, for use therein;

         (.4)   An interlock system shall be provided on the machine to prevent the loading door from being opened during the normal cycle. Said system may be electrical or mechanical and so connected as to remain effective in case of power failure;

         (.5)   The licensee shall permit only the front side of the dry cleaning machines to be accessible to the customers. The working or maintenance portion of the machines shall be so constructed, located and maintained so as to be not accessible to the customer. At no time when customers are present shall the concentration of vapors, in the customer area from the dry cleaning solvent exceed one hundred parts per million;

         (.6)   There shall be prominently posted on the premises the name, address and telephone number of the owner or operator of said business and there shall be a public telephone on the premises in a conspicuous location;

      (d)   Automobile service station for the retail sale of automobile fuels, lubricants, radiator fluids and accessories, and for the performance indoors of incidental service and minor repairs to automobiles (not including body and fender work or painting, clutch, cylinder, differential or transmission repairs), incidental car washing indoors in an area not to exceed 400 square feet, and the inspection of automobiles; provided, the same is licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;

      (e)   Business or professional office or agency, financial institution, school, or studio;

      (f)   Indoor theater;

      (g)   Restaurant, café, catering, or soda or ice cream fountain, including outdoor dining areas; 262

      (h)   Hotel as defined in § 14-102(29);

      (i)   Car washing establishment, using mechanical equipment for the purpose of washing and/or polishing automobiles and other vehicles; provided, a Zoning Board of Adjustment certificate, as herein provided, is obtained. Such Zoning Board of Adjustment Certificate shall only be issued where such use will have on the premises: (1) a waiting area for incoming cars accessible to the entrance end of the washing equipment, of at least 4,000 square feet, and (2) an area beyond the exit end of the washing equipment, of at least 400 square feet, so situated as to be usable for the hand finishing of the washing process;

      (j)   A use of the same general character as (a) through (h) above, when authorized by a Zoning Board of Adjustment Certificate;

      (k)   Accessory uses, not otherwise prohibited, customarily incidental to any permitted principal use.

      (l)   In the area bounded by Hunting Park Avenue, Henry Avenue, Roberts Avenue, and Fox Street: 263

         (.1)   Take out restaurants; provided that no more than four (4) take out restaurants shall be permitted within the District within such boundaries.

         (.2)   Hotels; provided that any hotel shall be full service, including interior corridor access to guest rooms. No guest room shall be accessed from the street, parking lot, or other outside area.

         (.3)   No outdoor advertising signs as defined in § 14-102.

         (.4)   No penal institution, holding facility, or facility to which any person may be sent by a Court as a result of a criminal charge, or because the person may pose a danger to himself or to the community. For purposes of this section, this prohibition shall include juvenile facilities to which persons considered juveniles under Pennsylvania law are sent or committed, such as but not limited to the Philadelphia Youth Study Center.

         (.5)   No casino(s), whether or not attached as a part of another use.

   (3)   Use Regulations – With Certificate. 264 The following uses will be permitted in this district only if a Zoning Board of Adjustment Certificate, as hereinafter provided, is obtained, and only in completely enclosed buildings:

      (a)   The retail sale of malt beverages for take-out as an accessory use.

   (4)   Required Conditions. 265

      (a)   All business, service, or processing shall be conducted wholly within a completely enclosed building, except for automobile parking, the sale of automotive fuel, lubricants, accessories, and radiator fluids at service stations, outdoor dining area, and outdoor selling area located contiguous to the building and not exceeding an area equal to 5% of the sum of the aggregate floor area of all floors of the buildings erected on the premises; provided, any other outdoor accessory use shall be permitted only by a Zoning Board of Adjustment Certificate.

   (5)   Area Regulations. 266

      (a)   Minimum Lot Area. The minimum area for a lot within an Area Shopping Center District shall be 15,000 square feet with a minimum frontage of 100 feet on a street; provided, however, that all other qualifications of the District are complied with.

      (b)   Building Set-back Line. No building set-back shall be required in this District, subject to the provisions of § 14-107 of this Title.

   (6)   Height Regulations. 267

      (a)   The maximum height of any structure shall be 35 feet above the average ground level at the base of the structure, but in no case over three stories, except that one foot of additional height may be added for each additional foot the buildings sets back from all lot lines; provided, however, that the maximum height shall not exceed 65 feet (subject to provisions of § 14-313(1) 268 ).

   (7)   Off-street Parking. 269

      (a)   There shall be provided on the same lot, at the time of erection of any building or structure, or for the extension of any building or structure, or for the subdivision of this district into two (2) or more parcels, off- street parking spaces for automobiles for all new buildings or structures, for all extensions or additions, for all subdivisions, as well as for all existing buildings regardless of when they were erected and/or under which zoning classification they were erected, in accordance with the following requirements:

         (.1)   Off-street parking spaces in compliance with all of the provisions of § 14-1403 of this Title;

         (.2)   For all permitted uses except those listed in subparagraph (.3) below number of parking spaces shall be provided according to the following schedule: 270

 

Building's Net Leasable Area	Spaces required per 1,000 square feet of net leasable area
1 - 400,000 square feet	4
400,001 - 600,000 square feet	4.5
600,001 and over	5

 

         (.3)   Newly erected indoor theaters, movie theaters and/or auditoriums or existing indoor theaters, movie theaters and/or auditoriums to which new additions are added after the effective date of this Section shall provide off-street parking at a ratio of one (1) parking space for every four (4) permanent seats; provided, that in the case of a building addition, this ratio shall be met by the existing indoor theater, movie theater and/or auditorium as well as the addition;

         (.4)   For the purposes of computing the number of parking spaces required for any building which contains two (2) or more stories existing on the effective date of this Section, the net leasable area of all floors above the first floor shall require one-half of the ratio required in subsection (.2) above;

         (.5)   Within an Area Shopping Center District the parking required in subparagraphs (.2) through (.4) may be located on separate lots, when such lots are within the same block or are located immediately across a bordering street, provided a Special Use Permit as set forth in § 14-1803 is granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

      (b)   Landscaping, screening, lighting, and pedestrian walkways shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of § 14-1403(3). Provided, this subsection shall not apply to the construction or erection of an addition to an existing building or structure or of a new building or structure in an existing Area Shopping Center which contains net leasable area which is fifteen percent (15%) or less (but in no case more than five thousand square feet) than the net leasable area of the existing building, structure or Area Shopping Center.

      (c)   Where an Area Shopping Center District is located within the same block frontage as a Residential District, the development of any portion of the off-street parking shall be designed so that all parking spaces and aisles are located behind the minimum set-back required by the most restrictive Residential District.

   (8)   Signs. 271 Signs accessory to uses on the premises shall be permitted in this district only under the following conditions:

      (a)   The total area of signs permitted on buildings shall not exceed five square feet for each lineal foot of store-front width, and may be attached flat against the wall of the building or marquee, or upon the roof of a marquee, and any project above the roof or wall coping, but may not extend beyond the building walls;

      (b)   In addition to the signs allowed in subsection (a) above, one free-standing sign for each 80,000 square feet of District Area shall be permitted under the following conditions:

         (.1)   Such sign is accessory to the uses permitted within the district;

         (.2)   The uses within each 80,000 square feet of District Area exceed a sales-floor area of 15,000 square feet;

         (.3)   Such sign shall not contain more than two sign faces with a total area of 300 square feet, exclusive of supporting structures, nor exceed in total height 40 from grade level to the top of the sign;

      (c)   Signs may be animated or illuminated; provided, the illumination shall be focused upon the sign itself, so as to prevent glare upon the surrounding areas;

      (d)   Signs with flashing or intermittent illumination shall not be erected within 150 feet of any Residential District, nor facing any Residential District within 300 feet of the sign;

      (e)   Signs which revolve shall be prohibited;

      (f)   Any revolving device which causes intermittent flashes of light to be projected shall be prohibited.

 

Notes

258	Amended, 1971 Ordinances, p. 570.
259	This corrects a typographical error in the Code, which incorrectly printed "hoopy" in prior publications.
260	Amended, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
261	Referenced material now appears in Title 4, Subcode F.
262	Amended, Bill No. 040999 (approved February 16, 2005).
263	Added, Bill No. 100222 (approved July 30, 2010).
264	Added, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
265	Amended by deleting subsections (b) and (c), 1991 Ordinances, p. 1253; renumbered, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
266	Renumbered, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
267	This subsection was inadvertently omitted in printing the main volume of the Sixth Edition of the Code due to an editing error in 1991. See note for Section 14-309(6). Renumbered, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
268	Enrolled bill read "§ 14-312(1)", which was subsequently renumbered by 1994 Ordinances, p. 1028.
269	Added, 1991 Ordinances, p. 1253. Enrolled bill numbered this as subsection (5); renumbered by Code editor because subsection (5) already existed. Renumbered, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.
270	Amended, 1991 Ordinances, p. 1379.
271	Renumbered, 1991 Ordinances, p. 1253. Renumbered again by Code editor due to editing error. See note for subsection (7). Renumbered, Bill No. 1081 (approved May 5, 1995), 1995 Ordinances, p. 581.