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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
§ 600-811. M-C Manufacturing Commercial 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
Minimum Rear Yard Setback
Minimum Side Yard Setback (each)
All uses, unless otherwise noted
20,000
50%
90%
60
80
151
202
102
 
NOTES:
1   Required front yard may be reduced to 10 feet where a landscaped buffer strip is provided in accordance with § 600-1401 of this chapter.
2   Except thirty-foot rear and twenty-foot side setback shall apply for an industrial use or tractor-trailer loading dock adjacent to a lot of a principally residential use.
   B.   Allowed uses.
      (1)   Permitted-by-right uses. [Amended 2-14-2011 by Ord. No. 8-2011; 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 41-2023]
         (a)   Manufacture or industrial processing within an enclosed building involving the following: (as listed on the North American Industrial Classification System, as applicable)
         (b)   Assembly and packaging
         (c)   Electronic and electrical equipment
         (d)   Fabricated metals products
         (e)   Food and beverage products
         (f)   Leather and leather products (not including curing, tanning and finishing of hides)
         (g)   Machinery
         (h)   Medical and scientific equipment and related products
         (i)   Motor freight transportation and warehousing
         (j)   Non-PUC telecommunications facilities
         (k)   Paper and allied products (other than raw paper pulp)
         (l)   Petroleum and coal products, other than asphalt manufacture or petroleum refining
         (m)   Pottery and ceramics
         (n)   Primary metals industries
         (o)   Railroad transportation
         (p)   Research and development facilities
         (q)   Rubber, synthetic rubber, resins and miscellaneous products
         (r)   Sporting goods, toys, jewelry
         (s)   Stone, clay and glass products
         (t)   Textiles and apparel
         (u)   Tobacco products
         (v)   Transportation equipment
         (w)   Transportation and public utilities
         (x)   Wood products and furniture
         (y)   Banks and financial institutions
         (z)   Auto repair and car washes, in compliance with § 600-1105
         (aa)   College or university, not including residential uses
         (bb)   Convenience stores with fuel sales
         (cc)   Employee agencies and services
         (dd)   Exercise club
         (ee)   Fire and ambulance stations
         (ff)   Flex space buildings that include one or more permitted-by-right business uses
         (gg)   Gardens, crop farming and forestry
         (hh)   Lumber and building material supply center, retail or wholesale
         (ii)   Municipal uses
         (jj)   Offices and medical laboratories
         (kk)   Radio and television stations
         (ll)   Recreation facilities, public parks and nonmotorized recreation trails
         (mm)   Restaurants, which may not include drive-through service. This use shall not allow outdoor sale of ready-to-eat heated food on a regular basis on a lot that is not operated from a building on the lot.
         (nn)   Retail and wholesale sales and services
         (oo)   Self-storage facilities
         (pp)   Swimming pool as principal use
         (qq)   Taxi headquarters
         (rr)   Non-tower based WCF if co-located on a municipal facility or a tower-based WCF that existed prior to the approval of this part and pursuant to Part 21 of this chapter and those that are not within 500 feet of a residential property or located within a setback area. See § 600-2106. [Added 3-27-2017 by Ord. No. 21-2017]
         (ss)   Facilities may be placed on a leased area.
         (tt)   Small Wireless Communications Facilities, pursuant to Part 21 of this Chapter.
         (uu)   Trade, vocational and hobby schools, not including residential uses
         (vv)   Vehicle sales or rental
         (ww)   Warehouse, distribution and storage facilities
      (2)   Accessory uses. See Part 10, unless otherwise noted.
         (a)   Drive-through services for allowed principal uses: pursuant to § 600-1004 of this chapter.
         (b)   Entertainment: pursuant to § 600-1005 of this chapter.
         (c)   Swimming pools, accessory.
         (d)   Non-Tower WCFs, pursuant to Part 21 of this Chapter. [Amended 3-27- 2017 by Ord. No. 21-2017; 4-24-2023 by Ord. No. 41-2023]
         (e)   Wind turbine as an accessory use in compliance with § 600-1012.
         (f)   Geothermal heat pumps. [Added 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-2015]
         (g)   Solar energy systems. [Added 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-2015]
         (h)   Water-powered energy systems. [Added 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-2015]
         (i)   Freestanding or roof-mounted wind turbines. [Added 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-2015]
      (3)   Conditional uses. In compliance with § 600-1203.
         (a)   Banquet hall.
         (b)   Public utilities, other than City-owned or City-operated uses and other than utility lines.
         (c)   Taverns and nightclubs.
         (d)   Tower-Based WCFs, pursuant to Part 21 of this Chapter. [Added 4-24- 2023 by Ord. No. 41-2023]
      (4)   Special exception uses. In compliance with § 600-1202.
         (a)   Day-care facilities.
         (b)   Kennels.
         (c)   Manufacture or industrial processing of chemicals and allied products.
         (d)   Manufacture of plastics and polymers.
   C.   Additional requirements.
      (1)   A minimum of 10% of the lot shall be devoted to areas landscaped with trees and shrubs and vegetative ground cover. This area shall not be used for any other purpose.
      (2)   All activities shall take place indoors; all outdoor storage shall be screened from public streets and adjacent off-street parking areas by fencing, landscaping or other appropriate measures.
      (3)   Landscaped buffer strips, meeting Part 14 with a minimum of 10 feet wide in M-C Zones and 25 feet wide in H-M Zones, and plant screening shall be provided in every case where an industrial use abuts a principally residential use. In addition, where a residential district is located across a street or alley from a new or expanded industrial use, a ten-foot wide landscaped buffer strip shall be provided alongside such street or alley along such adjacent front, side or rear lot line.
      (4)   Truck loading and unloading areas shall be provided in an amount sufficient to permit the transfer of goods in other than a public street or front yard setback areas.
      (5)   Entrance and exit to permitted uses shall be clearly marked.
      (6)   Any glare, vibration or noise resulting from the use shall not be evident beyond the boundaries of the zoning district.
      (7)   The operation shall not result in the dissemination of smoke, dust, chemicals or odors into the air to such a degree as to be detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of any adjacent residents.
      (8)   (Reserved)11
      (9)   A minimum seventy-five-foot setback shall apply from the average water level of the Schuylkill River for any new or expanded vehicle parking, outdoor storage area or building. This requirement shall not apply for recreational uses open for free for use by the general public.
11.   Editor's Note: Former Subsection C(8), regarding wind turbines, was repealed 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 58-2015.