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Reading, PA Code of Ordinances
READING, PA CODE OF ORDINANCES
PREFACE
Chapter C HOME RULE CHARTER
Chapter 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 5 ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
Chapter 14 AUTHORITIES
Chapter 23 BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS
Chapter 36 FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES
Chapter 51 INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
Chapter 62 PENSIONS
Chapter 70 PERSONNEL
Chapter 77 POLICE DEPARTMENT
Chapter 91 SALARIES AND COMPENSATION
Chapter 120 ALARM SYSTEMS
Chapter 127 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Chapter 141 ANIMALS
Chapter 166 CABLE TELEVISION
Chapter 173 COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY CODE
Chapter 180 CONSTRUCTION CODES
Chapter 185 CONVERSION THERAPY
Chapter 188 CURFEW
Chapter 201 ELECTRIC SERVICE
Chapter 212 FEES
Chapter 219 FIREARMS
Chapter 225 FIREWORKS
Chapter 231 FIRE INSURANCE PROCEEDS
Chapter 237 FIRE PREVENTION AND PROTECTION
Chapter 251 FOOD CODE
Chapter 272 GRAFFITI
Chapter 288 HEALTH AND SAFETY
Chapter 295 HISTORICAL AND CONSERVATION DISTRICTS
Chapter 302 HOUSE NUMBERING
Chapter 308 HOUSING
Chapter 317 INVASIVE PLANTS AND NOXIOUS WEEDS
Chapter 325 LAW ENFORCEMENT
Chapter 328 LEAD POISONING PREVENTION
Chapter 332 LIBRARY
Chapter 339 LICENSES AND PERMITS
Chapter 346 LITTER AND ADVERTISING MATERIAL
Chapter 353 LOITERING AND PANHANDLING
Chapter 364 MASSAGE THERAPISTS
Chapter 378 MUNICIPAL CLAIMS AND LIENS
Chapter 387 NOISE
Chapter 396 PARKS AND RECREATION
Chapter 403 PAWNBROKERS
Chapter 410 PEDDLING AND SOLICITING
Chapter 424 POLES
Chapter 431 PROPERTY SALES
Chapter 433 PUBLIC ART
Chapter 438 RAIN BARRELS
Chapter 442 RECORDS, PUBLIC ACCESS
Chapter 453 SALES
Chapter 460 SCRAP METAL DEALERS
Chapter 467 SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL
Chapter 473 SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES
Chapter 479 SIDEWALK CAFES
Chapter 485 SIGNS
Chapter 496 SOLID WASTE
Chapter 502 STORAGE FACILITIES
Chapter 505 STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
Chapter 508 STREETS AND SIDEWALKS
Chapter 515 SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 521 SUSTAINABILITY
Chapter 536 TAMPERING WITH PUBLIC PROPERTY
Chapter 540 TATTOO AND PIERCING ESTABLISHMENTS
Chapter 543 TAX ABATEMENTS
Chapter 546 TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM
Chapter 549 TAXATION
Chapter 555 TREES
Chapter 564 VEHICLE NUISANCES, STORAGE OF
Chapter 570 VEHICLE REPAIR SHOPS
Chapter 576 VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
Chapter 583 VENDING MACHINES
Chapter 600 ZONING
Chapter A610 ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY
Chapter A611 BOND ISSUES AND LOANS
Chapter A612 FRANCHISE AND SERVICES
Chapter A613 GOVERNMENTAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
Chapter A614 PLAN APPROVAL
Chapter A615 PUBLIC PROPERTY
Chapter A616 SEWERS
Chapter A617 STREETS AND SIDEWALKS
Chapter A618 WATER
Chapter A619 ZONING; PRIOR ORDINANCES
Chapter DT DERIVATION TABLE
Chapter DL DISPOSITION LIST
§ 600-809. C-N Commercial Neighborhood District.
   A.   Dimensional requirements.
 
Uses
Minimum Lot Size
(square feet)
Maximum Building Coverage
Maximum Impervious Coverage
Maximum Height
Minimum Lot Width
Minimum Front Yard Setback 1
Minimum Rear Yard Setback
Minimum Side Yard Setback (each)
Allowed residential uses
   Shall meet the provisions of the R-3 District
All other allowed uses
1,800
70%
90%
60
202
0
103
03
 
NOTES:
1   See § 600-909, which may require a certain front yard setback.
2   An existing principally residential building shall not be converted to a principal commercial use unless this lot width requirement is met, unless the building is not adjacent to any existing dwellings.
3   Except twenty-foot rear setback and six-foot side setback shall apply adjacent to an existing principally residential use.
   B.   Allowed uses.
      (1)   Permitted-by-right uses:
         (a)   Residential uses: the same residential uses shall be allowed as are allowed in the R-3 District.
         (b)   Bakery.
         (c)   Banking and financial institutions, which may include drive-through service.
         (d)   Convenience stores, with fuel sales only allowed as a conditional use.
         (e)   Day-care home, provided that a maximum of four persons shall be cared for (in addition to sons or daughters of the caregiver) on a residential lot of less than 2,500 square feet. If a day-care home is proposed on a residential lot, it shall also meet the provisions of § 600-1202D(1). [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011]
         (f)   Drugstores, which may include drive-through service.
         (g)   Dry cleaners, self-service laundries (limited to 2,000 square feet of service/production area).
         (h)   Exercise clubs.
         (i)   Fire and ambulance station.
         (j)   Funeral home.
         (k)   Gardens, crop farming and forestry.
         (l)   Home occupations, major or minor: see § 600-1006.
         (m)   Municipal buildings.
         (n)   Offices.
         (o)   Nursing homes or personal-care centers.
         (p)   Parking lots other than parking areas that primarily serve tractor-trailer trucks.
         (q)   Personal services, such as barber or beauty shop (see § 600-1103), tailors, nail salons (see § 600-1103) and certified massage therapy (see § 600-1103), and not including a massage parlor.
         (r)   Recreation facilities, public parks and nonmotorized recreation trails.
         (s)   Restaurants (eat-in and takeout), but not including drive-through service, provided that such uses shall not be developed in a building is attached to a principally residential building on another lot that is not in common ownership. This use shall not allow outdoor sale of ready-to-eat food on a regular basis on a lot that is not operated from a building on the lot.
         (t)   Retail stores without drive-through service, provided that such uses shall not be developed in a building is attached to a principally residential building on another lot that is not in common ownership.
         (u)   Self-storage facilities.
         (v)   Small appliance sales, service and repair shops.
         (w)   Small Wireless Communications Facilities, pursuant to Part 21 of this Chapter. [Added 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 41-2023]
         (x)   Storage or warehousing as a principal or accessory use.
         (y)   Wholesale sales.
      (2)   Accessory uses. In compliance with Part 10, unless otherwise noted. [Added 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-201510]
         (a)   Geothermal heat pumps.
         (b)   Solar energy systems.
         (c)   Water-powered energy systems.
         (d)   Non-Tower WCFs, pursuant to Part 21 of this Chapter. [Added 3-27- 2017 by Ord. No. 21-2017; amended 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 41-2023]
      (3)   Conditional uses: pursuant to § 600-1203.
         (a)   Banquet hall.
         (b)   Taverns and nightclubs, provided that such uses shall not be developed in a building that abuts a principally residential lot unless the lots are in common ownership.
         (c)   Vehicle fuel sales, which shall only be allowed if the applicant proves the use will be designed to avoid conflicts with pedestrian travel and to provide compatibility with adjacent uses, and provided the use is not adjacent to a principally residential lot.
      (4)   Special exception uses:
         (a)   Day-care facilities, other than day-care homes.
         (b)   Adaptive reuse in compliance with § 600-1202.
         (c)   Amusement arcade.
         (d)   Tower-based WCF, including poles that are located within 500 feet of a residential property or within a setback area, subject to Part 21 of this chapter. [Added 3-27- 2017 by Ord. No. 21-2017]
      (e)   Primary or secondary school. [Added 1-13-2020 by Ord. No. 3-2020]
10.   Editor's Note: This ordinance also redesignated former Subsection C(2) and (3) as Subsection C(3) and (4), respectively.