The owner or owners of any tract of land having an area of not less than five acres may petition or apply to the Zoning Hearing Board for a special exception and submit a development plan for the use of such tract of land for the location and construction of a community service or shopping center, and the Zoning Hearing Board, prior to fixing a public hearing to consider such application, shall refer the same to the Planning Commission for study, which Commission shall prepare a report and recommendation to the Zoning Hearing Board. A favorable recommendation must be predicated upon a finding that the proposed development and the land upon which it is to be erected is particularly suited for that purpose, is located in such manner that it has reasonably direct traffic access to and from principal thoroughfares so that traffic congestion will not likely be created, is consistent with the orderly and planned development of the Borough as an essentially residential community, and that the proposed development conforms to the following express standards and criteria:
(a) Intent. The specific intent of this section is to encourage the construction of community service or shopping centers primarily for the service of the residents of the Borough.
(b) Design. The proposed project shall be designed as a single project or unit with appropriate grading and landscaping, shall provide common open space and facilities, and shall not materially detract from the character of the district. Grading, excavation and filling shall be in accordance with provisions of Section 1367.02.
(c) Use Regulations. The complex of buildings and the land within the development may be used or occupied for any use permitted in commercial districts, and all such uses shall:
(1) Be carried on only in buildings classified as fire resistant by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, and shall be carried on in such a manner as to create no fire hazard;
(2) Be conducted wholly within an enclosed building except where specifically exempt in this Zoning Ordinance;
(3) If engaged in the sale of goods at retail, deal in new merchandise exclusively;
(4) Be so operated that the volume of sound inherently and recurrently generated does not exceed sixty decibels at any point of any boundary line of the zoning lot on which the use is located;
(5) Be so operated that the ground vibration inherently and recurrently generated is not perceptible, without instruments at any point of any boundary line of the zoning lot on which the use is located;
(6) Emit no noxious, toxic or corrosive fumes or gases, or offensive odors;
(7) Emit or generate no noxious or dangerous degree of heat or glare; and
(8) Produce, generate or emit no radiation, as the term is commonly used in radiology, from radioactive elements or materials or X-ray or similar rays from electronic or electrical machines or equipment, excepting where strict compliance with the rules and regulations of the National Bureau of Standards of the United States Department of Commerce and similar regulations of the Commonwealth is adhered to.
(d) Parking Areas. Parking area may be either indoors or outdoors and shall:
(1) Be located entirely within the boundaries of the community service or shopping center.
(2) Be completely paved by a hard finished surface in accordance with the specifications approved by the Borough Engineer.
(3) Where parking stalls are provided, each shall be at least nine feet wide and nineteen feet long, and each aisle, if one-way, shall be a minimum of twenty feet in width, and if two-way, shall be at least a minimum of twenty-three feet in width.
(4) Be separated from public highways by a planting strip no less than ten feet in width.
(5) Provide four parking stalls for each 1,000 square feet of total floor area in all buildings of the project.
(e) Service Drives. Service drives and appurtenant areas shall:
(1) Be located wholly within the boundaries of the community service or shopping center.
(2) Be fully paved by a hard finished surface in accordance with the specifications approved by the Borough Engineer.
(3) Provide for the loading and unloading of delivery trucks and other vehicles for the servicing of community service or shopping center facilities, together with refuse removal and fuel supply.
(4) Be located at the rear of the community service or shopping center facilities and shall be so arranged that they may be used without blocking or interfering with access roads or automobile parking.
(5) Provide at least one loading space for each 20,000 square feet or fraction thereof of floor area for businesses involving receipt or distribution of merchandise by motor vehicle; loading and unloading facilities may be centralized and constructed in such a way that merchandise can be distributed to the separate units of the community service or shopping center via indoor or underground routes provided in the development plan, or they may adjoin the rear of the community service center at proper intervals; each offstreet loading facility shall be at least twelve feet wide and forty-five feet long, exclusive of passageways, driveways and appurtenances.
(f) Access Roads. All access roads shall connect with a public thoroughfare or street and shall:
(1) Be so located as not to intersect such public street within 100 feet of any street intersection and shall be designed and located in a manner that meets with the approval of the Borough's Engineer.
(2) Be fully paved in accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Highways specifications for Class II highways.
(3) Be adequate in size, number and locations to insure a free flow of traffic at all times.
(g) Buildings, Type and Location.
(1) No building shall exceed two stories or thirty-five feet in height.
(2) All buildings and structures shall be located at least 100 feet distant from any zoning district boundary line, excepting only ornamental fences, hedges or retaining walls.
(h) Buffer Areas. Buffer areas shall be provided along and around the community service or shopping center as follows:
(1) Along all residence district boundary lines for a depth of fifty feet measured from such boundary line.
(2) Along all other zoning district boundary lines and any public street for a depth of ten feet from such boundary line or from the right-of-way line of the street. All buffer areas shall be used for screening purposes and shall be planted with evergreen and other plantings as approved in the landscape plan and continuously maintained at such height and density as will provide an effective screen between the community service or shopping center and the residence or other zoning district.
(i) Exterior Lighting. All commercial or exterior lighting shall be used or located in such manner as to produce no glare on public highways or neighboring properties and more specifically:
(1) No light shall be caused or permitted to shine directly or indirectly upon a highway of such an intensity at the side of the paved highway surface as to create a hazard.
(2) Island lights or RLM dome lights or similar types of lighting devices may be used only when mounted at least twenty feet above ground and in such position that the axis of the beam of light or lamp is directed away from the highway at an angle of not less than forty-five degrees from the highway surface.
(j) Height. No building shall be erected to a height in excess of two stories or thirty-five feet, such height to be measured from the average of the highest and lowest points at grade to the top of the parapet on a flat-roofed building or the midpoint between eaves and gables on a sloped-roof building.
(k) Signs. Signs shall be permitted when erected and maintained in accordance with the general regulations as hereinafter set forth under Article 1375 in accordance with the following special provisions applicable to community service or shopping centers:
(1) The subject matter of all signs shall pertain only to the business lawfully occupying the premises.
(2) No sign shall project more than twelve inches from the face of any building and shall not project above the wall coping of the building to which it is attached.
(3) Each sign shall be a part of the architectural design of the building to which it is attached, or shall be a wall sign which conforms to a uniform pattern common to signs in the community service or shopping center.
(4) Not more than one freestanding sign shall be permitted facing each street from which automobile access to the community service or shopping center exists. Such a sign must relate to or direct persons to the community service or shopping center as a whole.
(5) No signs shall be illuninated by flashing lights or lights which in any way obscure or tend to conflict with traffic control lights, signs or devices.
(l) Performance Standards. All uses shall comply with the performance standards specified in Section 1371.15.
(Ord. 2717. Passed 2-10-86.)