Zoning Ordinance Article 2
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 6
12-16-04
ARTICLE 2
DEFINITIONS
Section 200 Definitions of Words
Unless otherwise stated, the following words and phrases shall
be interpreted and construed throughout this Ordinance to have
meaning herein indicated. Terms not herein defined shall have
the meaning customarily assigned to them as found in the most
recent edition of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.
The following rules of construction and interpretation shall be
used in this Ordinance:
A) The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel".
B) The term "used or occupied" as applied to any land or building
shall be construed to include the words "intended",
"arranged", or "designed to be used or occupied."
C) The term "building or structure" shall be construed as if
followed by words "or part thereof".
D) Words in the present tense may imply the future tense.
E) Words used in singular imply the plural, and the plural
shall include the singular.
F) The masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter
genders.
G) The word "person" includes a partnership, firm, association,
corporation, organization, trust, estate, company or any
other legally recognized entity as well as an individual and
the officers of any corporation and the members of any partnership
and shall include both singular and plural.
H) The word "shall" or "must" is to be interpreted as mandatory;
the word "may" is discretionary.
I) References to codes, districts or Districts, ordinances,
resolutions, plans, maps, governmental bodies, commissions
or agencies or officials are to codes, districts or Districts,
ordinances, resolutions, plans, maps, governmental
bodies, commissions or agencies or officials of the Township
of Pequea or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as in effect
or office from time to time including amendments thereto or
revisions or successors thereof, unless the text indicates
another reference is intended.
Section 201 Definitions
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 7
A-weighted Sound Level - The sound pressure level in decibels as
measured on a sound level meter using the A-weighing network.
The level so read is designated "Db (A)."
Abandoned - Any property, dwelling, motor vehicle, or item that
is apparently and willfully disused, vacant, relinquished,
unoccupied, or discarded. In addition to their ordinary and
commonly accepted meanings, the terms "junked," "wrecked",
"stripped", shall also have similar meanings as "abandoned". An
automobile, truck, motorcycle, or similar vehicle shall be
deemed to be abandoned if required state registrations are not
maintained for two (2) or more consecutive months. A vehicle
listed in the previous sentence, or a similar vehicle not deemed
abandoned according to the prior sentence may still be deemed
abandoned by reason of being "junked", "wrecked", or "stripped".
Access Drive - An improved cartway designed and constructed to
provide vehicular movement between a public road and a tract of
land serving multiple residences or any non-residential use,
excluding farms (See also "Driveway" and Article XIV).
Accessory Structure or Building - A detached, subordinated
building or structure, the use of which is customarily incidental
to that of the principal building or use, which is located
on the same lot as occupied by the principal building or use,
and which meets all other requirements of this Ordinance.
Accessory Use - A use customarily incidental and subordinate to
the principal use of land or principal building located on the
same lot with such principal use or principal building which
meets all other requirements of this Ordinance.
Adult Related Facilities - A business or club or facility which
engages in one (1) or more of the following areas of sales,
services or entertainment:
a) Adult Bath House - An establishment or business which provides
the services of baths of all kinds, including all
forms and methods of hydrotherapy during which specified
anatomical areas are displayed or specified sexual activity
occurs as defined below. This section shall not apply to
hydrotherapy treatment practiced by or under the supervision
of a medical practitioner. A medical practitioner, for the
purpose of this Ordinance, shall be a medical doctor, physician,
chiropractor or similar professional licensed by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
b) Specified Sexual Activities - For the purposes of this Ordinance,
this term shall include any of the following:
1) Actual or simulated sexual intercourse, oral copulation,
anal intercourse, oral or anal copulation, bestiality,
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 8
direct physical stimulation of unclothed genitals, flagellation
or torture in the context of a sexual relationship,
or the use of excretory functions in the context of
a sexual relationship, and any of the following depicted
sexually oriented acts or conduct: anilingus, buggery,
coprophagy, coprophilia, cunnilingus, fellatio,
necrophilia, pederasty, pedophilia, piquerism, sapphism,
zooerasty; or
2) Clearly depicted human genitals in a state of sexual
stimulation, arousal or tumescence; or
3) Use of human or animal masturbation, sodomy, oral
copulation, coitus, ejaculation; or
4) Fondling or touching of nude human genitals, pubic
region, buttocks or female breast; or
5) Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, beating,
or infliction of pain; or
6) Erotic or lewd touching, fondling or other contact with
an animal by a human being; or
7) Human excretion, urination, menstruation, vaginal or anal
irrigation.
c) Specified Anatomical Areas include: Less than completely
and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks,
anus, female breasts below a point immediately above the top
of areolae, and/or human male genitals in a discernible
turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
d) Adult body painting studio - Any establishment or business
which provides the service of applying paint or other
substance whether transparent or non-transparent to or on
the human body when specified anatomical areas (as defined
previously) are exposed.
e) Adult bookstore - Any establishment or place which has a
substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade
consisting of the following items:
1) Books, films, magazines or other periodicals or other
forms of audio or visual representation which are
distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depiction
or description or display of specified sexual
activities or conduct or specified anatomical areas (as
defined previously);
2) Instruments, devices or paraphernalia which are
designated for use in connection with specified sexual
activities (as defined previously) or conduct;
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 9
f) Adult Cabaret - A nightclub, theater, bar or other
establishment which features live or media representations
of performances by topless or bottomless dancers, go-go
dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers,
where such performances are distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or specified
anatomical areas as defined previously.
g) Adult Massage Establishment - Any establishment or business
which provides the services of massage and body
manipulation, including exercises, heat and light treatments
of the body, and all forms and methods of physiotherapy,
unless operated by a medical practitioner, chiropractor or
professional physical therapist licensed by the
Commonwealth. This definition does not include an athletic
club, health club, school, gymnasium, reducing salon, spa or
similar establishment where massage or similar manipulation
of the human body is offered as an incidental or accessory
service.
h) Adult Mini Motion Picture Theater - An enclosed or
unenclosed building with a capacity of more than five (5),
but less than fifty (50), persons used for presenting any
form of audio or visual material, and in which a substantial
portion of the showing of material is distinguished or
characterized by an emphasis on depiction or description of
specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas as
defined previously.
i) Adult Model Studio - Any place where, for any form of
consideration or gratuity, figure models who display
specified anatomical areas (as defined previously) are
provided to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted,
sculptured, photographed, or similarly depicted by persons
paying such consideration or gratuity, except that this
provision shall not apply to any "figure studio" or "school
of art" or similar establishment which meets the
requirements established in the Education Code of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the issuance or conferring
of, and is in fact authorized thereunder, to issue and
confer a diploma.
j) Adult Motel - A motel or similar establishment offering
public accommodations for any consideration, which provides
patrons with material distinguished or characterized by an
emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual
activities or specified anatomical areas as defined
previously.
k) Adult Motion Picture Arcade - Any place to which the public
is permitted or invited wherein coin or slug operated or
electronically or mechanically controlled still or motion
picture machines, projectors, or other image producing
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 10
devices are maintained to show images to five (5) or fewer
persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so
displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis
on depiction or description or display of specified sexual
activities or conduct or specified anatomical areas as
defined previously.
l) Adult Motion Picture Theater - An enclosed or unenclosed
building with a capacity of fifty (50) or more persons used
for presenting any form of audio or visual material, and in
which a substantial portion of the total presentation time
measured on an annual basis is devoted to the showing or
material which is distinguished or characterized by an
emphasis on depiction or description of specified sexual
activities or specified anatomical areas as defined
previously. Motion pictures rate "G", "PG", "PG-13" and "R"
by the Motion Picture of America are not adult movies for
purposes of this definition.
m) Adult Newsrack - Any coin-operation machine or device which
dispense material substantially devoted to the depiction of
specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas as
defined previously.
n) Adult Outcall Service Activity - Any establishment or
business which provides an outcall service which consists of
individuals leaving the premises upon request or by
appointment to visit other premises for a period of time for
the purpose of providing any service during which time
specified anatomical areas are displayed or specified sexual
activity occurs as defined previously.
o) Adult Sexual Encounter Center - Any business, agency, or
person who, for any form of consideration or gratuity,
provides a place where two (2) or more persons, not all
members of the same family may congregate, assemble or
associate for the purpose of engaging in specified sexual
activity or exposing specified anatomical areas as described
previously, excluding psychosexual workshops, operated by a
medical practitioner licensed by the Commonwealth to engage
in sexual therapy.
p) Adult Theater - A theater, concert hall, auditorium or other
similar establishment, either indoor or outdoor in nature
which regularly features live performances which are distinguished
or characterized by an emphasis on specified
sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical
areas (as defined previously) for observation by patrons.
q) Any other business or establishment or club which offers it
patrons services or entertainment or retail good or
commercial services characterized by an emphasis on activities
or matter depicting, describing, relating to, or
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 11
displaying "specified sexual activities" or conduct or
"specified anatomical areas" as defined previously (see
Section 1916).
Agriculture - The use of land for the tilling of the soil,
raising of crops (including fruit trees), forestry and
horticulture, including the keeping or raising of cattle, sheep,
fowl, riding horses, and other similar animals. Agriculture
shall include the sale of crops, dairy and horticultural
products produced on the property. The term agriculture does
not include riding academies, liveries, boarding stables,
commercial forestry, dog kennels, commercial raising of furbearing
animals, country estates, large residential lots,
gentleman farms, or farmettes.
Agribusiness - Businesses involved in the processing of farm
products. Such businesses include, but are not limited to,
poultry operations, confined livestock, livestock operations and
mushroom houses. For the purposes of this Ordinance such term
shall not include (a) poultry operations involving buildings,
structures or confined areas used or intended to be used for a
flock less than ten thousand (10,000) birds and (b) confined
livestock operations used or intended to be used for a herd of
less than one hundred (100) animals (see Section 1911).
Alley - A minor right-of-way, privately or publicly owned,
primarily for service access to the rear or sides of properties.
Alluvial Soil - Soil formed from the deposit of sediment in
flowing water.
Alteration - As applied to building or structure, means any
change or rearrangement in any structural part of an existing
facility, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or
by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or
position to another or any renovation in a building which would
change its use.
Alternative Tower Structure - Man-made trees, clock towers,
electric transmission towers, silos, bell steeples, light poles,
flagpoles, and similar alternative-design mounting structures
that camouflage or conceal the presence of antennas or towers.
Amusement Arcade - A commercial establishment in the Commercial
District which provides as a principal use, amusement devices
and/or games of skill or chance (see definition next). This
definition does not include the use of two (2) or less such
devices which may be considered an accessory use (see Section
1918).
Amusement Device - A device, other than an audio or video
jukebox, that is used or designed to be used to provide
amusement or entertainment to the user for a fee, and shall inPequea
Township Zoning Ordinance 12
clude but shall not be limited to pinball machines, video
display games, billiard tables, simulated sport machines,
biorhythm machines, skeetball, and electronic or water firing
ranges.
Animal - Any domestic animal or fowl, any wild animal or any
household pet. Any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living beings
typically differing from plants in capacity for spontaneous
movement and motion in response to stimulation.
Animal Hospital - Any establishment offering veterinary
services. Animal hospitals can treat all types of animals and
can include overnight boarding of animals. No outdoor boarding
is permitted (see Section 1919).
Animal Husbandry - The care and raising and keeping of livestock
(animals such as cattle, horses, sheep) and poultry, and other
animals. The raising and keeping of four (4) or fewer household
pets shall not constitute animal husbandry.
Animal Waste Storage Facility - A detached structure or other
improvement built to store manure for future use, or disposal.
Types of storage facilities are as follows: underground
storage, in ground storage, trench silo, earthen bank, stacking
area, and above-ground storage (see Section 1909).
Antenna - Any arrangement of wires or metal rods used in sending
and/or receiving of electromagnetic waves (see Sections 1960 and
1961).
Antenna Height - The measurement of the overall vertical length
of the antenna and its support structure above the average
finished grade. If such system is located on a building or
other structure, the overall vertical length shall be measured
and shall include the height of the building upon which the
antenna and its structure is situated.
Antenna Support Structures - Any structure, mast, pole, tripod
or tower, including any guy wires and braces utilized for the
purpose of supporting an antenna or antennas.
Apartment - A dwelling unit contained in a building, structure
or part thereof, leased to an occupant for residential purposes
(see Sections 1907 and 1954).
Architect - A professional architect licensed by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Area - The total horizontal area of a lot lying within the lot
lines, provided that no area of land lying within any street
right-of-way shall be deemed a portion of any lot area but any
easement not in a right-of-way shall be included; see also
"Building Area". Area may be expressed in square feet or acres.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 13
Automobile Filling Station - Any area of land, including
structures thereon, that is used for the sale of gasoline or any
other motor vehicle fuel and oil and other lubricating substances,
including any retail sales of motor vehicle
accessories, which may not include major repair, body and fender
work, painting, welding, vehicular sales or rental, nor automatic
car washes, nor storage of vehicles not in operating
condition (see Section 1921).
Automobile and Other Motor Vehicle (Boat or Recreational
Vehicle) Sales - A lot, parcel, tract, building or structure
used for the display, sale or rental of more than one (1) new or
used motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, boat trailers,
motorcycles, or boats in operable condition. Repair work shall
be considered as a separate accessory or principal use. The
term "Automobile and Other Motor Vehicle Sales" shall not
include a mobile home or manufactured home park or a junkyard.
Outside storage of and display of motor vehicles, or boats shall
be permitted as an accessory use of this principal use.
Automotive and Other Motor Vehicle Repair Garage - A lot,
parcel, tract, building or structure where repairs of motor
vehicles are conducted. The term "Automobile and Other Motor
Vehicle Repair Garages" includes retail sales of gasoline and
auto parts and the storage of vehicles being serviced. The term
"Automotive and Other Motor Vehicle Repair Garages" includes a
lot, parcel, tract, building or structure where repairs,
including mechanical and body work, straightening of body parts,
painting, welding, storage of automobiles not in operating
condition or other similar characteristics are performed. For
the purposes of this Ordinance, this term shall also include
facilities engaged in closely similar repairs of boats and other
vehicles as per Section 1922.
Basement - A story of a building or structure having one half
(1/2) or more of its height (measured from floor to ceiling)
below the average elevation of the finished grade. A basement
shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurements
or determining square footage, only if the vertical
distance between the ceiling and the average elevation of the
finished grade is more than five (5) feet, or if the basement is
used for a business or as a dwelling unit.
Bed and Breakfast Establishment - A single-family detached
owner-occupied dwelling where between one (1) and five (5) rooms
are rented by the owner to provide temporary lodging for a fee
to overnight registered guests on a daily basis for periods not
to exceed one (1) week, in which only a breakfast may be served
only to those overnight guests and no other person not residing
in the dwelling. A bed and breakfast establishment shall not
include group quarters or group home as defined herein (see
Section 1959).
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 14
Beekeeping - The raising or keeping of bees within a man-made
box (beehive) for hobby or business purposes.
Board of Supervisors (Board) - The Board of Supervisors of
Pequea Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Boarding, Rooming or Lodging House - A detached building or
portion thereof arranged or used for sheltering or feeding, or
both, as a gainful business by pre-arrangement and for definite
periods of time, for more than three (3) and not more than eight
(8) individuals that do not constitute a family. Group homes
and nursing homes are excluded from this definition (see Section
1950).
Buffer - See "Landscape Buffer".
Building - Any structure, either open or enclosed, having a roof
supported by columns, piers or walls, intended for the shelter,
housing or enclosure of persons, animals, or property. The term
"Building" shall at all times, unless otherwise indicated, be
interpreted as including the words "or a part thereof". When
attached to a building, a porch or balcony shall constitute a
building. In the Floodplain District, "Building" includes gas
or liquid storage tanks. The following are types of buildings:
a) Detached - A building which has no party wall.
b) Semi-detached - A building which has only one (1) party wall
in common.
c) Attached - A building which has two (2) or more party walls
in common.
Building Area - The aggregate area of any and all floor area of
enclosed or roofed principal and accessory buildings or
structures. Such area shall be computed by using outside
building or structure dimensions of the ground floor measured on
a horizontal plane.
Building Coverage - The percentage of a lot covered by buildings
or structures; the "footprint" of the building or structure.
Building, Farm - Buildings for agricultural uses; namely barns,
poultry houses, corn-cribs, silos, and other similar farm
structures.
Building Height - The vertical distance measured from the mean
level of the finished grade abutting the building at its corners
to the highest point of the roof. Chimneys and other similar
projections shall not be used in calculating the height of a
building (see Section 1701).
Building Length - The horizontal measurement of any continuous
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 15
building wall to the outside dimensions.
Building Lot Depth - A distance which is measured from the
legally established road right-of-way to the rear lot line.
Building, Principal - A structure enclosed within exterior walls
or fire walls; built, erected, and framed of component
structural parts; designed for the housing, shelter, enclosure,
and support of individuals, animals, or property of any kind;
main structure on a given lot; a building in which is conducted
the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.
Building or Facility, Public - Municipal, county, school
district, state or federal government buildings or facilities
designed, maintained or used by the government or designed,
maintained or used for public use which is sponsored by such
governments, except landfills and waste disposal areas and
facilities.
Building Setback Line - A line which designates the minimum
distance between any building and the adjacent street right-ofway
or property line, whichever is closer. This line shall be
measured horizontally from a point or points formed by the
intersection of a vertical building wall with the ground (or in
the case of a cantilevered building, at the vertical plane which
coincides with the most projected surface), to the street rightof-
way or property line, whichever is closer. This line shall
include patios, sun parlors, and covered porches, whether
enclosed or not, but does not include steps.
a) Front Yard Building Setback Line - The line parallel to the
public or private street right-of-way line at a distance
equal to the minimum depth of the front yard designated for
each district in this Ordinance. Commonly called "required
front yard". All yards adjacent to a public or private
street right-of-way shall be considered front yards (see
also "Reverse Frontage Lot").
b) Side Yard Building Setback Line - The line parallel to the
side lot line and equal to the minimum depth of the side
yard designated for each district in this Ordinance.
Commonly called "required side yard."
c) Rear Yard Building Setback Line - The line parallel to the
rear lot line and equal to the minimum depth of the rear
yard designated for each district in this Ordinance.
Commonly called "required rear yard."
Building, Square Footage - The total of all areas measured on a
horizontal plane of each level or story exceeding six feet in
height within a building, exclusive of uncovered porches,
exterior decks or patios, and carports.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 16
Bus Shelter - A structure built and maintained solely for the
purpose of protecting individuals from the elements while
awaiting regularly scheduled public bus transportation (see
Section 1935).
Business - Any enterprise, occupation, trade or profession
engaged in, either continuously or temporarily, for remuneration
or gain or the occupancy or use of a building or premise or any
portion thereof for the transaction of business or the rendering
or receiving of professional services.
Business Office - See Office.
Campground - A lot, tract, or parcel of land upon which
campsites are located or established, intended and maintained
for occupation by transients in recreational vehicles or tents
(see Section 1923).
Campsites - A plot of ground within a campground intended for
occupation by a recreational vehicle or tent.
Car Wash - A building or portion thereof used for the manual or
mechanical washing of automobiles and other similar vehicles
(see Section 1924).
Carbonate Geologic Areas - Areas underlain by the limestones or
dolomites (calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate) formed by
carbonate sedimentation in previous shallow sea waters.
Carport - A roofed-over structure, open on at least two (2)
sides for the storage of one (1) or more private motor vehicles
in the same manner as a private garage, which may be covered by
a roof supported by columns or posts except that one (1) or more
of the walls may be the walls of the principal building to which
the carport is accessory.
Cartway - The surface of a highway, road, alley or street
available for vehicular traffic.
Cellar - See Basement.
Cemetery - Land used or intended to be used for the burial of
the deceased, including columbariums and mausoleums when
operated in conjunction with the cemetery and within the
boundaries (see Section 1925).
Center Line of Street, Road, or Highway - A line equidistant
from and parallel to the street, road, alley, or highway rightof-
way lines.
Certificate of Use and Occupancy - A statement or permit signed
by a duly authorized Township Officer, setting forth that a
building, structure or use legally complies with the Zoning
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 17
Ordinance and other applicable codes and regulations and that
the same may be used for the purposes stated therein.
Change of Use - An alteration of a building, structure or land
by change of use, theretofore existing, to a new use group which
imposed other special provisions of law governing building
construction, equipment, exits, or zoning regulations.
Channel - A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite
bed and banks which confine and conduct continuously or
periodically flowing water.
Channel Flow - That water which is flowing within the limits of
a defined channel.
Church (and Related Uses) - A building, structure, or group of
buildings or structures, including accessory uses, designed,
intended, or used for public worship. This definition shall
include temples, rectories, chapels, convents, cathedrals,
parish houses, synagogues, and church-related educational and/or
day care facilities. Use as a residence is not permitted except
as a rectory for one (1) family or as a convent or monastery
(see Section 1928).
Clear Sight Triangle - An area of unobstructed vision at street
intersections defined by the center lines of the streets and by
a line of sight between points on their center lines at a predetermined
distance from the intersection of the center lines,
measured at four (4) feet in height.
Club, Clubhouse, or Lodge, Private - A building, structure, or
part thereof, used to house an organization catering exclusively
to members and their guests, or premises or buildings for
social, recreational and administrative purposes which are not
conducted for profit, provided there are not conducted any
vending stands, merchandising or commercial activities except as
required for the membership or fund raising of such club. Clubs
shall include but not be limited to, service and political
organizations, labor unions, as well as social and athletic
clubs. This does not include "night clubs". The private "clubs"
or "lodges" as defined shall not be an adjunct to, operated by
or in connection with a tavern, cafe or other public place (see
Section 1929).
Common Facilities - When referring to a development, these
facilities are common or community open space, recreational
facilities, public sewage facilities, public water supply
facilities, storm water management facilities, common parking
areas and driveways, preservation areas, private streets, or
other community facilities.
Communications Antenna - Any exterior transmitting or receiving
device mounted on or in a tower, building or structure and used
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 18
in communications that radiates or captures electromagnetic
waves, digital signals, analog signals, radio frequencies
(excluding radar signals), wireless telecommunications signals
or other communications signals. The term "communications
antenna" does not include a receiving facility for the sole use
of an individual consumer and located on the property in which
such individual consumer resides or occupies.
Communications Tower - Any structure that is designed and
constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one or more
antennas for telephone, radio, and similar communications
purposes, including self-supporting lattice towers, guyed
towers, monopole towers, common-carrier towers, cellular
telephone towers, alternative tower structures, and the like.
The term includes the structure and any support thereto.
Comprehensive Plan - The official comprehensive plan for Pequea
Township.
Conditional Use - A use which is not appropriate to a particular
zoning district as a whole but which may be suitable in certain
localities within the district only when specific conditions
prescribed for such uses have been complied with. Conditional
uses are granted or denied by the Board of Supervisors after
receiving recommendations by the Planning Commission as per
Section 1914.
Condominium - A form of property ownership providing for
individual ownership of a specific dwelling unit, or other
space, not necessarily on ground level, together with an
undivided interest in the land or other parts of the structure
in common with other owners.
Conference and Resort Center - A facility which provides a range
of lodging facilities, meeting rooms, restaurant facilities, and
recreational facilities including but not limited to swimming
pools, golf courses, health club facilities, and similar
amenities for overnight guests or persons who attend meetings
during the business day.
Confined Livestock Operations - The keeping or raising of
domestic animals including swine, cattle, sheep, goats, and
horses which involves continuously restraining such animals in
a building, fenced area, or other structure, or series of
buildings, fenced areas or other structures.
Conservation Areas - Undeveloped and undisturbed areas, set
aside for the preservation and/or continuation of the natural
environment, to promote recreational use and retention of open
space and undeveloped floodplain areas and to provide areas of
wildlife habitat.
Conservation Plan - A plan, in map and narrative form, which
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 19
describes, at a minimum, a method to control erosion and
sedimentation for an identified parcel of land.
Construction - The construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, extension, expansion, alteration, or relocation of a
building or structure, including the placement of manufactured
homes.
Convenience Center, Neighborhood - See "Neighborhood Convenience
Center."
Convenience Store - A retail sales business which specializes in
providing household products and foods. Convenience stores
shall not include the dispensing of gasoline or other vehicle
fuels, unless the appropriate approvals for an automobile
filling station (as described herein) have been obtained.
Convenience stores may also provide for any of the following as
an accessory use:
a) Rental of video tapes, provided that an adult bookstore is
specifically prohibited.
b) Preparation and sales of delicatessen sandwiches and foods
provided that no patron seating is provided.
c) Use of no more than two (2) amusement devices (e.g. pinball
machines, video games, and other similar devices).
Cover or Complete Cover - An assemblage of materials that are
arranged so as to completely block all ground level views of any
part of the article being obscured from view.
Cultural Landscape - The minimum essential setting or context in
which an identified historic resource retains its "historic
integrity"; "resource" being constituted by either an individual
object, a site, or a structure, or by multiple objects, sites,
or structures (historic district); historic "setting" includes
both natural (trees, streams, slopes, etc.) and man-made
features (bridges and walls, outbuildings,such as spring houses,
barns, corn-cribs, railroad tracks, cemetery markers, etc.);
"historic integrity" being the unadulterated state of the
resource which most closely represents a model or legacy of the
unique materials and cultures of the past.
Day Care - The offering of care or supervision over minors or
special needs adults in lieu of care or supervision by family
members. This definition does not include the offering of
overnight accommodations.
Day Care, Church - A day care facility that is an accessory use
to a church (see Section 1928).
Day Care, Commercial - A day care facility that is a primary use
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 20
and is licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (see Section
1930).
Day Care, Family - A day care facility that is operated as an
accessory use to a detached single family dwelling that is
registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and offers care
and supervision to no more than four (4) different persons
during any calendar day (see Section 1930).
DBH - The place of measurement of the caliper or diameter of a
tree, i.e. four feet from the surface of the ground; diameter at
average breast height.
DCED - The Department of Community and Economic Development of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and all agencies successor
thereto. A reference to the Department of Community Affairs in
this Ordinance shall be considered a reference to DCED.
Decibel (dB) - A unit for measuring the sound pressure level,
equal to twenty (20) times the logarithm to the base 10 of the
ratio of the pressure of the sound measured to the reference
pressure, which is twenty micropascals (20 micronewtons per
square meter).
Decision - Final adjudication of any board or other body granted
jurisdiction under any land use ordinance or this Ordinance to
do so, either by reason of the grant of exclusive jurisdiction
or by reason of appeals from determinations. All decisions
shall be appealable to the Court of Common Pleas.
Deck or Patio - A platform which is not covered by a roof or
permanent awning and is designed, intended or used for outdoor
living purposes as an accessory use to a structure (see Section
1718).
Density - A term used to express the number of dwelling units
per acre of land.
a) Density, Net - The number of dwelling units in relation to
the land area actually in use or proposed to be used for
residential purposes exclusive of all existing road and
utility rights-of-way and all environmentally sensitive
areas as defined in this Article.
b) Density, Gross - A number determined by dividing the total
number of dwelling units by the base site area (total amount
of land in the lot, parcel or tract minus all of that land
within the existing or ultimate rights-of-way of existing
roads). Density requirement shall be determined in direct
proportion to lot sizes, i.e. maximum eight (8) units per
acre, four (4) units per one half (1/2) acre, two (2) units
per one quarter (1/4) acre.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 21
Depression - A low place of any size surrounded by higher ground
and having no natural outlet for surface drainage other than
internally. (See also "Depression, Closed" and "Sinkhole").
Depression, Closed - A part of the land surface of a lot, parcel
or tract which drains internally, and which generally has sunk
to a variable depth and is generally characterized by a downward
movement of soil into bedrock voids without breaking the ground
surface. (See also "Depression" and "Sinkhole").
DEP - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or
any agency successor thereto.
DER - The Department of Environmental Resources of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any successor agency.
Detention Pond or Basin - A basin designed, intended or used to
retard storm water runoff by temporarily storing the runoff in
the basin and releasing it at a pre-determined rate.
Determination - Final action by an officer, body or agency
charged with the administration of any land use ordinance or
applications thereunder, except the Board of Supervisors or the
Zoning Hearing Board. Determinations shall be appealable only
to the boards designated as having jurisdiction for such appeal.
Developer - Any person, association, partnership or corporation,
or his, their or its authorized agent, for whom subdivision or
land development plans are being, or have been made, or who
proposes to construct or begins construction of a road.
Development - Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real
estate, including but not limited to buildings or other
structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving,
excavation, drilling operations, road building, or utilities.
Disturbance of Vegetative Cover - Removal, destruction or
damaging of plants including trees, shrubs and herbaceous
growth, by methods including but not limited to cutting,
bulldozing, plowing, regrading, digging or intensive use of
herbicides (in which selective species are intended to be
eradicated or which the intent is to defoliate).
Domestic Pets or Animals - The non-commercial keeping of no more
than four (4) adult domestic pets or animals, that are locally
available for purchase as pets, as an accessory use to a primary
residential use (see Section 1728).
Drainage Facility - A facility or physical improvement intended
or designed to accept and/or dispose of storm water runoff.
Drive-In or Drive Thru Service Establishments or Facilities - An
establishment or activity where patrons are provided with
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 22
professional or personal services for consumption or use outside
of the confines of the principal building or in or on vehicles
parked upon the premises, regardless of whether seats or similar
accommodations are otherwise provided. The term "drive-in
service establishments" shall not include private theaters (see
Sections 1922 and 1932).
Driveway - An improved cartway designed and constructed to
provide vehicular movement between a public road and a tract of
land serving one single-family dwelling unit or farm (See also
"Access Drive" and Article XIV).
Dwelling - Any building or portion thereof designed and used
exclusively for residential occupancy, including those listed
below, but not including hospitals, hotels, motels, boarding,
rooming or lodging houses, institutional houses, tourists
courts, and the like, which offer overnight accommodations for
guests or patients. All dwellings must be permanently affixed
to a completely enclosed foundation constructed of currently
accepted materials that shall be an entire perimeter wall and
extend from below the frost line to the first floor of the
building. Such foundation shall be constructed to provide
sufficient structural integrity to prevent the building from
heaving, shifting or settling unevenly, due to frost action,
inadequate drainage, vibration or other forces. In addition,
all dwellings shall be properly connected to approved and
permanently-designed sewer, water, electrical and other utility
systems.
a) Single-Family Detached - A freestanding building containing
one (1) dwelling unit for one (1) family, and having two (2)
side yards, one (1) front yard, and one (1) rear yard; in
the case of a corner lot, the building will have two (2)
front and two (2) side yards. Mobile homes can be
considered single-family detached dwellings if, in addition
to the requirements listed for all dwellings, the mobile
home is securely anchored to the permanent foundation, and
all of the apparatuses used to transport the unit shall be
removed, including the towing hitch. Recreational vehicles
shall not be construed as dwellings. Modular homes can be
considered single-family detached dwellings so long as they
comply with the general requirements of a dwelling.
b) Duplex - (Two-family; twin; single-family semi-detached) -
A freestanding building containing two (2) dwelling units
for two (2) families, arranged in a side-by-side
configuration. Those units placed on common grounds shall
have one (1) front and rear yard and two (2) side yards.
Those units constructed on individual lots shall have one
(1) front, side and rear yard.
c) Multi-family Apartment - A building containing more than one
(1) dwelling unit with each individual dwelling unit sharing
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 23
a common outside access and sharing a common yard area which
is the sum of the required lot areas of all dwelling units
within the building. Garden apartments shall be deemed
multi-family apartment dwellings.
d) Single Family Attached Dwelling - A building having one (1)
dwelling unit from the ground to roof, two (2) points of
independent outside access, at least two (2) other dwelling
units built in conjunction therewith and any portion of one
(1) or two (2) unpierced party walls adjoining an adjacent
dwelling. The term "Single Family Attached Dwelling" shall
include row homes and townhouses.
Dwelling Unit - A structure, or portion thereof, building or
portion thereof, arranged for the use of one (1) or more
individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit.
Earthmoving Activity - Any construction or other activity which
disturbs the surface of the land including, but not limited to,
excavations, embankments, land development, subdivision
development, mineral extraction and the moving, depositing or
storing of soil, rock or earth.
Easement - A permanent right or privilege of a person or entity,
which may or may not run with the land, to use the land of
another for a special and precise purpose not inconsistent with
but subordinate to a general property right in the owner. In
the case of a state or political subdivision, such use shall be
for a public or quasipublic purpose or purposes (e.g. utility,
drainage or public access).
Elder Cottage (Echo Housing) - An additional dwelling unit
placed on a property for occupancy by either an elderly,
handicapped, or disabled person related by blood or marriage to
the occupants of the principal dwelling (see Section 1934).
Emergency - Any occurrence or set of circumstances involving
actual or imminent physical trauma or property damage.
Engineer - a licensed professional engineer registered by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) - The Environmental
Advisory Council of the Township of Pequea, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania.
Environmentally Sensitive Area - An area containing one (1) or
more of the following characteristics which may be more fully
defined within Article II: Slopes in excess of twenty percent
(20%); floodways, floodplains, or flood prone areas; hydric
soils; erodible soils; wetlands; stream corridors; designated
aquifer recharge areas for public water supplies; sites
identified by the Lancaster County Natural Heritage Project;
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 24
springs or bodies of water; location of rare, threatened, or
endangered species identified by the Pennsylvania Natural
Diversity Inventory; sinkholes and closed depressions, and other
significant geologic features; witness trees, specimen trees and
trees classified as possible State champions or of bicentennial
stature as mapped by the Pequea Township Comprehensive Plan.
EPA - The United States Environmental Protection Agency or any
agency successor thereto.
Erodible Soil - Any soil classified by the USDA-SCS as
processing a severe erosion hazard which includes the following
soil types:
Manor silt loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes (MaD)
Manor very stony silt loam, 25 to 60 percent slopes (MbF)
Pequea silt loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes (PeD)
Pequea silt loam, 25 to 50 percent slopes (PeE)
Establishment - Any privately-owned place of business carried on
for profit, any place of amusement or entertainment to which the
public is invited, and any similar place.
FAA - The Federal Aviation Administration or any agency
successor thereto.
Family - One (1) or more persons related by blood, marriage,
adoption or foster relationship, living together as a single
housekeeping unit; or a group of not more than three (3)
unrelated persons who are living together in a single dwelling
unit and maintaining a common household with a single cooking
facility. The term "Family" shall not include the occupants of
a clubhouse, hotel, motel, fraternity house, dormitory or
boarding or rooming house. A family shall include unrelated
persons who reside within a group home as defined herein.
Farm - A lot upon which agriculture is the principal use and
upon which may be located a single family dwelling which is
occupied by the operators of the farm as an accessory use. A
lot where the principal use is a residential dwelling and which
contains land of sufficient size for agricultural use but where
the land is not utilized for agriculture as the principal use of
the lot or where the agricultural land is leased to a person not
related to the occupants of the dwelling shall not be considered
a farm.
Farmette - A lot greater than five (5) acres in area which is
used principally for residential purposes, whether or not any
portion of the lot is used as a garden or otherwise planted with
crops or uses for agriculture. A lot which is greater than five
(5) acres and which contains a residence shall be conclusively
presumed to be a farmette if agricultural or horticultural
products produced on such lot are not commercially sold.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 25
Farmstead Curtilage - The buildings and adjacent service areas
of a farm.
Fault - A surface or zone of bedrock fracture along which there
has been movement.
FCC - The Federal Communications Commission or any agency
successor thereto.
FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency or any successor
thereto.
Fence - A man-made barrier placed or arranged as a line of
demarcation between lots or use to enclose a lot, parcel, tract
or portion thereof. The term "Fence" does not include barriers
of landscaped materials such as trees, bushes or hedges (see
Section 1720).
Fill - Material placed or deposited so as to form an embankment
or raise the surface elevation of the land, including but not
limited to levees, bulkheads, dikes, jetties, embankments, and
causeways.
Finished Grade - See Grade, finished.
Flood, Flooded, or Flooding - A partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from the overflow of a watercourse or
other body of surface water, or from the unusual and rapid
accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
Flood, 100-Year - A flood which is likely to be equalled or
exceeded once every 100 years [i.e. that has a one (1%) percent
chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year]. A
study by the Federal Insurance Administration, the United States
Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Department of
Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service, the United States
Geological Survey, the Susquehanna River Basis Commission,
Department of Environmental Resources, or a licensed professional
registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform
such a study is necessary to define this flood.
Flood, 500-Year - A flood which is likely to be equalled or
exceeded once every five hundred (500) years [i.e. that has a
one-fifth (1/5) of one (1%) percent chance of being equalled or
exceeded in any given year]. A study by the Federal Insurance
Administration, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the
United States Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service,
the United States Geological Survey, the Susquehanna River
Basin Commission, Department of Environmental Resources, or a
licensed professional engineer registered by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania is necessary to define this flood. The 500-year
discharge for Conestoga Creek in Pequea Township was exceeded by
more than thirty (30%) percent in 1972.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 26
Flood Boundary, 100-Year - The outer boundary of an area of land
that is likely to be flooded once every one hundred (100) years
[i.e. that has a one (1%) percent chance of being flooded each
year]. A study by the Federal Insurance Administration, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States
Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service, the
United States Geological Survey, the Susquehanna River Basin
Commission, the Department of Environmental Resources, or a
licensed professional registered by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania to perform such a study is necessary to define its
boundary.
Flood Boundary, 500-Year - The outer boundary of an area of land
that is likely to be flooded once every five hundred (500) years
[i.e. that has one-fifth (1/5) of one (1%) percent chance of
being flooded each year]. A study by the Federal Insurance
Administration, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the
United Stated Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation
Service, the United States Geological Survey, the Susquehanna
River Basin Commission, Department of Environmental Resources,
or a licensed professional engineer registered by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is necessary to define this
boundary.
Flood Elevation, 100-Year - The water surface elevations of the
100-Year Flood.
Flood Elevation, 500 Year - The water surface elevations of the
500-Year Flood.
Flood of Record - The flood which has reached the highest flood
elevation above mean sea level at a particular location.
Floodplain - A floodplain may be any one or a combination of:
a) That land which adjoins a river, stream, pond, lake, or
watercourse which is within fifty (50) feet from the banks
thereof.
b) A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river,
stream, pond, lake, or watercourse which is subject to
partial or complete inundation during a 500-year design
frequency storm.
c) An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of
runoff or surface waters from any source.
Flood Prone Areas - Areas within a floodplain, alluvial soil, or
areas containing the following soils which are subject to
frequent or occasional flooding as identified in the Soil
Survey:
Bowmansville silt loam - Bo
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 27
Comus silt loam - Cm
Fluvaquents and Udifluvents, loamy - Ff
Holly silt loam - Hg
Linden silt loam - Lg
Lindside silt loam - Ln
Newark silt loam - Nc, Nd
Nolin silt loam - Ne
Rowland silt loam - Rd
Floodproof, Floodproofed, or Floodproofing - Any combination of
structural and/or nonstructural provision, additions, changes,
or adjustments to structures or contents which are designed or
adapted primarily to reduce or eliminate flood damage to those
structures or contents.
Floodway - The channel of a stream, river, or other body of
water, plus any adjacent floodplain areas, that must be kept
free of encroachment in order that the 100-year flood can be
carried without increasing flood heights by more than one (1)
foot at any point and without creating hazardous velocities.
Floodway Fringe - That portion of the floodplain, outside of the
floodway, which could be completely obstructed without
increasing the water-surface elevation of the 100-year flood by
more than one (1) foot at any point.
Floor Area (Gross) or Space - The aggregate areas of all floor
areas in a building or structure. Floor area shall be
determined by measuring the horizontal plane from interior wall
to interior wall at floor level. Floor area shall include
basements used for non-residential purposes. Floor area shall
not include residential unfinished basements or private garages
as defined in this Ordinance.
Forestry - The management of forests and timberlands when
practiced in accordance with accepted silvicultural principles,
through developing, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and
selling trees for commercial purposes, which does not involve
any land development.
Frontage - That part of a lot abutting a street right-of-way,
commonly referred to in terms of "feet of frontage."
Garage, Community - A building for use as storage space for
three (3) or more vehicles for the convenience of the general
public in which no business uses such as servicing, repairing,
washing or reconditioning of motor vehicles occurs.
Garage, Private - A building, or part thereof, used for the
storage of no more than three (3) automobiles or other vehicles
accessory and incidental to the primary use of the premises;
provided however, that one (1) commercial vehicle of not more
than three-quarter ton capacity may be stored therein where the
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 28
use of such vehicle is not incidental to the use of the
premises, but owned and operated by the owner or occupants of
the premises. The term "private garage" shall not apply to any
business use of a garage including the leasing of more than one
(1) vehicle space to a non-occupant of the premises. For
"detached private garages" see Section 1716.
Garage Sale - See "Yard Sale".
Garbage - All animal and vegetable waste and all putrescible
matter.
Ghost Lakes - Transient surface bodies of water formed in
depressions after heavy precipitation.
Golf Course - Any tract designed and improved for the playing of
golf, not including any driving ranges, "chip n putt", or
miniature golf courses (see Section 1936).
Grade - The natural surface of the ground, lawns, walks or
streets adjoining the exterior walls of any building or
structure.
Grade, Finished - The completed surface of the ground, lawns,
walks or streets adjoining the exterior walls of any building or
structure.
Greenbelt - A landscape buffer containing not less than 70% of
its areas in trees and shrubs, as calculated based on mature
size, of which not less than 70% shall be trees. Greenbelts
shall not include structures such as porches, sheds, on-lot
sewage disposal systems, play structures, pools, gardens, animal
enclosures, parking areas, paved areas, access drives, driveway
or other similar elements.
Greenhouse - See "Nursery".
Group Home - A dwelling operated by a reasonably responsible
individual, family or organization with a program to provide a
supportive living arrangement for individuals where special care
is needed by the individual served due to age, emotional, mental
or physical handicap. This definition shall expressly include
facilities for the supervised care of developmentally disabled
persons. Group homes shall be licensed where required by any
appropriate governmental agency, and a copy of any required
license shall be provided to the Township prior to commencing
such use. Group homes shall be subject to the same limitations
and regulations as single family dwellings. It is the express
intention of the Township to comply with all requirements of the
Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq., in
the interpretation of this definition.
Ground Cover - Spreading plants including sods and grasses less
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 29
than twelve (12) inches in height at maturity which are used for
erosion control.
Hazardous Material - Materials which are classified by the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Resources, or the Township as having have the
potential to damage health or impair safety. Hazardous
materials include but are not limited to inorganic mineral acids
or sulphur, fluorine, chlorine, nitrogen, chromium, phosphorous,
selenium, arsenic and their common salts, lead, coal tar acids,
such as phenols and cresols and their salts, petroleum products,
and radioactive material. Also included are floatable materials
with the potential to cause physical damage, such as logs,
storage tanks, and large containers, located in flood prone
areas.
Hazardous Waste - Any substance classified by the Environmental
Protection Agency, the DER, or the Township as having the
potential to damage health or impair safety including garbage,
refuse, sludge from an industrial or other wastewater treatment
plant, sludge from a water supply treatment plant or air
pollution facility, and other discarded material including
solid, liquid, semi-solid,or contained gaseous material
resulting from municipal, commercial, industrial, institutional,
mining, or agricultural operations, and from community
activities, or any combination of the above, which because of
its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or
infectious characteristics may:
a) Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in
mortality or an increase in morbidity in either an
individual or the total population; or,
b) Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health or the environment when improperly treated, stored,
transported, exposed of, or otherwise managed.
"Hazardous waste" shall also include any added components from
the Solid Waste Management Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, No.
97, as amended, in the definition appearing in 35 P.S.
§6018.103.
Hazardous Waste Facility - Any structure, group of structures,
above ground or underground storage tanks, or any other area or
buildings used for the purpose of permanently housing or
temporarily holding hazardous waste for the storage or treatment
for any time span other than the normal transportation time
through the Township.
Health and Recreation or Fitness Clubs - See "Clubs, Private or
Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Facilities".
Hedgerow - A line of plants that may occur naturally where seeds
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 30
collect and are left undisturbed, such as along fence lines,
property lines, or between fields, or that is specially planted
and cultivated to act as a windbreak or wildlife habitat.
Height - See "Building Height".
Heliport or Helistop - A lot, parcel or tract of land, water or
a structural surface which is designed, intended or used
primarily for the landing and taking off of helicopters and any
appurtenant areas which are designed, intended or used for
helicopter support facilities, including but not limited to
maintenance, fueling, parking, storage hangers, passenger
terminals (see Section 1917).
Highway - See Road and Street.
Historic - See Cultural Landscape.
Historic Property - A district, site, building, structure or
object that is on or eligible for inclusion on the National
Register of Historic Places, is recognized by the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission as being historically
significant, is recognized by the Historic Preservation Trust of
Lancaster County as being historically significant, is
identified in Our Preset Past prepared by the Historic
Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, or contains a structure
meeting the definition of the term "historic structure" in
Section 404 of this Ordinance. Any lot which contains an
historic property shall also be considered an historic property.
Historic Site - Any area, building or natural feature which has
been designated by statute, ordinance or departmental or
executive declaration of any governmental body as possessing
historic significance.
Home Occupation - A nonresidential use or activity conducted by
persons residing in a residential dwelling and its premises that
is clearly subordinate and accessory to the residential use of
the premises and which is customarily carried on by occupants of
a dwelling. A home occupation may be, but is not limited to, a
professional or nonprofessional office or a commercial
enterprise. A home occupation does not include a "No-Impact
Home-Based Business" or a "Day Care", "Day Care, Church", "Day
Care, Commercial", or "Day Care, Family", as defined by this
Ordinance.
Horticulture - The growing of fruits, vegetables, flowers,
ornamental plants, or trees for a profit.
Hospital - A building or part thereof used for the medical,
psychiatric, obstetrical or surgical care on a 24-hour basis.
The term "Hospital" shall include facilities used for medical
research and training for health care professions, general
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 31
hospitals, mental hospitals, tuberculosis hospitals, children’s
hospitals, and any such other facilities which provide inpatient
care. The term "Hospital" shall not include any
facility in which is conducted the housing of the criminally
insane or provides treatment for persons actively charged with
or serving a sentence after being convicted of a felony. A
hospital shall be licensed as such by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania (see Section 1943).
Hotel - A facility which provides lodging to transient guests
for compensation, which contains more than five (5) guest rooms
with less than twenty-five (25%) percent of all rooms having
direct access to the outside without the necessity of passing
through a lobby. A hotel may also include a dining room and a
kitchen operated by the same management as an accessory use. An
establishment which rents rooms for a period in excess of thirty
(30) days shall be considered a boarding, rooming or lodging
house.
Hunting Facility - See Sportmen’s Club (see Section 1927).
Hydric Soils - A soil that formed under conditions of
saturation, flooding or ponding long enough during the growing
season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part.
Hydric soils include soils developed under sufficiently wet
conditions to support the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic
vegetation and soils that are sufficiently wet because of
artificial measures. In addition, hydric soils shall be
considered any soils included on the hydric soils list published
by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources
Conservation Service for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Impervious Surface - A surface that does not absorb rain,
including all buildings, parking areas, driveways, roads,
sidewalks, storage areas and areas of concrete and nonporous
asphalt and other such areas as shall be determined to be
nonporous by the Township Engineer.
Important Natural Habitat - Any land area characterized by any
or all of the following:
a) Wetlands as defined by criteria of the U.S. Department of
Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service;
b) Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) confirmed
extant plant and animal species and communities that are
listed as Pennsylvania Threatened or Pennsylvania
Endangered;
c) PNDI confirmed extant plant and animal species and
communities that have a State Rank of S1 or S2; and,
d) Sites identified by the Lancaster County Natural Heritage
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 32
Project.
Improvement - See "Substantial Improvement".
Impulsive Sound - Sound of short duration, usually less than one
(1) second, with an abrupt onset and rapid decay. Examples of
impulsive sound include explosions, drop forge impacts, punch
presses, and the discharge of firearms.
Individual On-Lot Sewage System - Any system of piping, tanks,
or other facilities serving on a single lot and collecting and
disposing of sewage in whole or in part into the soil and any
waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or by means of
conveyance to another site for final disposition, and which is
located upon the lot which it serves.
Inn - A detached facility where between one (1) and five (5)
rooms are rented to provide temporary lodging for a fee to
registered overnight guests on a daily basis not to exceed two
(2) weeks, in which meals may be served only to those overnight
guests. An inn shall not include a group home as defined
herein.
Intensive Agricultural Production - The intensive or accelerated
raising of poultry, animal or agricultural produce and/or byproducts
of the same for commercial sale including, including
but not limited to mushrooms. The commercial keeping of more
than two (2) animal units per acre of land shall be classified
as intensive agricultural production (see Section 1911). For
purposes of this Ordinance one (1) animal unit shall be equivalent
of:
Four (4) hogs;
Three hundred (300) chickens;
One (1) animal weighing between two hundred (200) and one
thousand (1,000) pounds;
Three (3) animals weighing less than two hundred (200)
pounds each.
Intensive Agricultural Production Facility - A farm building,
mushroom house, kennel, structure and/or facility specially
designed, constructed and/or operated for the intensive and
accelerated raising of poultry, animal or agricultural produce
and/or by-products of the same for commercial sale including,
but not limited to, an environmentally controlled house or other
confined housing for poultry, animals, mushrooms, and/or byproducts,
which structure is five thousand (5,000) square feet
or larger (see Section 1911).
Interior Drive - Any on-site vehicular movement lane(s) that are
associated with a use other than a single-family dwelling.
Junk - Any worn, cast off, discarded or stored material
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 33
including unlicensed vehicles, machinery, and equipment ready
for destruction or which has been collected for salvage, or
conversion of some use.
Junk Yard - An area of land, with or without buildings, used for
the storage, outside a completely enclosed building, of used and
discarded materials, including but not limited to, waste paper,
rags, metal, building materials, house furnishings, glass,
motors, machinery, vehicles, or parts thereof, with or without
the dismantling, processing, salvage, sale or other use or
disposition of the same. The deposit or storage on a lot of one
(1) or more unlicensed, wrecked, abandoned, junked, or disabled
vehicles, or the major part thereof, shall be deemed to
constitute a "junk yard." [A disabled vehicle is a vehicle
intended to be self-propelled that shall not be operable under
its own power for any reason, or a vehicle that does not have a
valid current registration plate or that has a certificate of
inspection which is more than sixty (60) days beyond the
expiration.] Any lot, parcel, tract, building, structure or
part thereof, which is used to collect, store or transfer any
garbage, municipal, residential or solid waste as defined by the
DER, toxic or hazardous substances shall not be considered a
junk yard.
Karst - A type of topography that is formed over limestone,
dolomite or gypsum by bedrock solution, and that can be
characterized by closed depressions or sinkholes, solution
channels, caves, or underground drainage.
Kennel - Any lot on which three (3) or more non-farm animals
exceeding six (6) months of age are kept, boarded, raised, bred,
treated, or trained for a fee, including but not limited to dog
or cat kennels (see Section 1919).
Land Development - Any of the following activities:
a) The improvement of one (1) lot or two (2) or more contiguous
lots, tracts or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
1. A group of two (2) or more residential or nonresidential
buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or
a single nonresidential building on a lot or lots
regardless of the number of occupants or tenure; or
2. The division or allocation of land or space, whether
initially or cumulatively, between or among two (2) or
more existing or prospective occupants by means of, or
for the purpose of streets, common areas, leaseholds,
condominiums, building groups or other features.
b) A subdivision of land.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 34
c) Development in accordance with Section 503 of the
Municipalities Planning Code.
Landowner - See "Owner".
Landscape Architect - a professional landscape architect
licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Landscape Area - The non-impervious area of a lot which contains
plant matter, trees, and/or vegetative ground cover.
Landscape Buffer - A continuous strip of land, either landscaped
or living greenspace, clear of all buildings, structures,
parking areas, outdoor storage areas and detention ponds, on-lot
sewage disposal systems, and clear of any use other than open
space, and which contains vegetative material of sufficient
height and density to substantially conceal from view year-round
the structures and uses on the lot on which the landscape buffer
is located. A landscape buffer may include a street or driveway
or access drive connecting an access point with the interior
side of the landscape buffer by the most direct route. A
landscape buffer shall not include any recreation area or
private street (except as above) or an existing or future public
street right-of-way.
Landscaping - Landscaping shall include grass and other
plantings such as trees, shrubs, and bushes, and/or vegetative
ground cover.
Large Animal - Any wild or domestic animal of the bovine,
equine, swine, or sheep family.
LCCD - The Lancaster County Conservation District or any entity
successor thereto.
Life Care Center - Same as Retirement Community (see Section
1945).
Line, Building Setback - See Building Setback Line.
Line, Front Lot - Front lot line shall mean the line separating
such lot from any street or other public way. If more than one
(1) such lot line exists, all shall be deemed front lot lines.
Line, Lot - A line forming the front, rear or sides of a lot.
Any lot line which abuts a street or other public way shall be
measured from the right-of-way. A property line.
Line, Property - A recorded boundary of a plot. Any property
line which abuts a street or other public way shall be measured
from the right-of way. A lot line. An imaginary line drawn
through the points of contact of adjoining lands, apartments,
condominiums, townhouses and duplexes owned, rented or leased by
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 35
different persons, a demarcation or a line of separation of
properties, and also, for any two or more buildings sharing
common grounds, the line drawn midway between any two (2) said
buildings. All areas devoted to public right-of-way shall be
deemed to be across the property line.
Line, Rear Lot - Any lot line which is parallel to or within 45
degrees of parallel to the front lot line. In the event that a
lot has no street frontage or is a lot of an odd shape, the lot
line farthest from any street shall be considered the rear lot
line, provided, however, that no rear lot line shall have a
horizontal linear dimension less than 25 feet.
Line, Side Lot - Any lot line which is not a front or rear lot
line.
Lineament - Any line on an aerial photograph that indicates
mineral bandings, veins, faults, joints, or rock boundaries.
Loading Space - An off-street paved space suitable for the
loading or unloading of goods and having direct usable access to
a street or alley.
Lodge - See Club, Private (see Section 1929).
Lot - A designated parcel, tract, or area of land established by
a plat or otherwise as permitted by law and to be used,
developed, or built upon as a unit. For the Agricultural
District, a lot is a piece, parcel or plot of land occupied or
to be occupied by one (1) or more principal buildings and
accessory buildings, including the open spaces required under
this Ordinance, or to be used for agriculture or held as open
space. A "lot" may or may not coincide with a lot of record and
includes one (1) or more adjacent pieces, parcels, or plots of
land of record held in single and separate ownership, including
adjacent pieces, parcels or plots bisected by public or private
streets. The area and depth of a lot shall be measured to the
legal right-of-way line of the street, and all lots shall front
on public or private streets.
Lot Area - See "Area".
Lot, Corner - A lot at the point of intersection of and abutting
two (2) or more intersecting streets, and which has an interior
angle of less than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees at the
intersection of the two (2) street lines. Corner lots shall
have two (2) front yards adjacent to the streets. The remaining
yards shall be side yards.
Lot Coverage - A percentage of the lot area which may be covered
with an impervious surface.
Lot Depth - The horizontal distance that begins at the street
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 36
right-of-way line at the midpoint between the side lot lines and
that ends at the closest portion of the rear property line. On
corner and reverse frontage lots, the lot depth shall be
measured from the street right-of-way line of the street of
address to the directly opposite property line.
Lot, Flag - A lot whose frontage does not satisfy the minimum
width requirements for the respective zone but that does have
sufficient lot width away from the lot’s frontage.
Lot, Interior - A lot other than a corner lot, the sides of
which do not abut a street.
Lot, Through - An interior lot having frontage on two parallel
or approximately parallel streets. Through lots shall have two
front yards and two side yards.
Lot Width - The distance measured between the side lot lines at
the required or proposed building setback line. When there is
only one (1) side lot line, as in the case of single family
semi-detached or some single family attached dwellings, the lot
width shall be measured between the side lot line and the
centerline of the party wall. For interior single family
attached dwellings, lot width shall be measured between the
center lines of party walls. On corner lots, lot width shall be
measured between the right-of-way line for the non-address
street and directly opposite property line.
Main Building - See Building, Principal.
Manufactured Home or House - A transportable, single-family
dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, office or place of
assembly, contained in one (1) or more sections, built on a
permanent chassis, which arrives at a site complete and ready
for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and
assembly operations and constructed so that it may be used on a
permanent foundation. Each manufactured home shall bear a label
certifying that it is build in compliance with the Federal
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards. In the
Floodplain District, the term includes park trailers, travel
trailers and other similar vehicles which are placed on a site
for more than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days.
Manure - The fecal and/or urinary excrement of livestock and
poultry, often containing some spilled feed, bedding or litter.
Manure Storage Facilities - See "Animal Waste Storage
Facilities" and Section 1728.
Maximum Flood Elevation - The water surface elevations of a
flood which would completely fill the floodplain to the
boundaries of the Floodplain District.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 37
Mean Sea Level - The average height of the sea for all stages of
the tide, using the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.
Medical or Dental Center; Medical or Dental Office; Medical or
Dental Clinic - A building or part thereof used for medical,
psychiatric, obstetrical, dental or surgical care. The term
"Medical Center" shall include facilities similar to general
hospitals, mental hospitals, tuberculosis hospitals, children’s
hospitals and any other such facility which provides care,
whether or not on a 24-hour basis, but does not provide services
or care for overnight stays. Home offices of health care
professionals shall be considered home occupations and shall not
be included in this definition.
Minerals - Limestone, dolomite, gravel, rock, stone,
vermiculite, clay, and similar materials.
Minimize - To reduce to the smallest amount possible.
"Minimize" shall not mean complete elimination but shall require
that the most substantial efforts possible under the
circumstances have been taken to reduce the adverse effect of
the action required to be minimized. With respect to
activities, the conduct of which is adverse to the conservation
of the natural features of land, the requirement to "minimize"
shall include but not be limited to the requirement that the
placement of dwellings and other structures and the location of
roads, sedimentation and erosion control devices, and
earthmoving activities shall be planned and designed so as to
disturb the least amount of land possible under the
circumstances consistent with the otherwise permitted
development.
Mining - The extraction of minerals from the earth, from waste
or stockpiles, or from pits or banks which require the removal
of over-burden, strata, or material overlying above or between
minerals, or by otherwise exposing or retrieving materials found
on the lands. Such activities shall include strip, drift, auger
and open-pit mining, quarrying, leaching and box cutting, but
shall not include activities carried out beneath the surface of
the earth by means of shafts, tunnels, or other subterranean
mining openings (see Article V - A and Section 1913).
Mini-storage Facilities - A building and/or series of buildings
divided into separate storage units for personal property and/or
property associated with some business or other organization.
These units shall be used solely for dead storage and no
processing, manufacturing, sales, research and development
testing, service and repair, or other non-storage activities
shall be permitted (see Section 1946).
Minor Repair - The replacement of existing work with equivalent
materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep,
but not including the cutting away of any wall, partition or
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 38
portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam
or bearing support, or the removal or change of any required
means of egress, or rearrangement of parts of a structure
affecting the exitway requirements; nor shall minor repairs
include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation of
any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas,
soil, waste, vent or similar piping, electric wiring or
mechanical or other work affecting public health or general
safety.
Mobile Home - A transportable, single-family dwelling intended
for permanent occupancy, contained in one (1) unit, or in two
(2) or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit
capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which
arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for
minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed
so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
Transport trucks or vans equipped with sleeping space for a
driver or drivers, and travel trailers are not considered mobile
homes under this definition. Mobile homes placed in mobile home
parks shall meet the requirements for Mobile Home Parks listed
in Article XI of this Ordinance. Mobile homes placed on
individual lots shall be considered "dwellings" and be bound by
the requirements there-imposed.
Mobile Home Lot - See "Mobile Home Space".
Mobile Home Park - A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which
have been so designated and improved to contain two (2) or more
mobile home lots or spaces for the placement thereon of mobile
homes for non-transient use.
Mobile Home Space - A parcel of land in an approved mobile home
park, improved with the necessary utility connections and other
appurtenances necessary for the erection thereon of a single
mobile home.
Mobile Home Stand or Pad - That part of an individual mobile
home space which has been reserved for the placement of a mobile
home and appurtenant structures and connections.
Motel - A facility which provides lodging to transient guests
for compensation, which contains more than five (5) guest rooms
with at least twenty-five (25%) percent of all rooms having
direct access to the outside without the necessity of passing
through a lobby. A motel may also include a dining room and a
kitchen operated by the same management as an accessory use. An
establishment which rents rooms for a period in excess of thirty
(30) days shall be considered a boarding, rooming or lodging
house.
Municipal Use - Any use owned and/or operated by the Township.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 39
Municipal Waste - Municipal waste as defined in the Municipal
Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act of July 28,
1988, as may be amended and supplemented.
Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act -
The Act of July 28, 1988, P.L. 556, No. 101, 53 P.S. §4000.101
et seq., as the same may be amended and supplemented.
Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) - The Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805,
No. 247, as amended and reenacted, 53 P.S. §10101 et seq.
Native to the Area - Species historically endemic to the area.
Natural Feature - A component of a landscape existing or
maintained as part of the natural environment and having
ecologic value in contributing beneficially to air quality,
erosion control, groundwater recharge, noise abatement, visual
amenities, growth of wildlife, human recreation, reduction of
climatic stress or energy costs. Such features include those
which, if disturbed, may cause hazards or stress to life,
property or the natural environment.
Neighborhood Convenience Center - A unified grouping in one (1)
building of retail stores and shops which primarily serve the
regular everyday needs of and for the convenience of people
residing in a five hundred (500) unit or larger R2 District
development (see Section 1906). This is distinct from a
"convenience store."
New Construction - Structures for which the start of
construction commenced on or after the effective date of this
Ordinance.
Nightclub - Any building use for on-site consumption of
alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages where live entertainment
can be offered. For the purposes of this definition, "live
entertainment" is meant to include the use of disc-jockeys for
the purposes of supplying musical entertainment. Nightclubs may
also provide for on-site consumption of food. Additionally,
nightclubs can offer the retail sale of carry out beer and wine
as an accessory use. "Nightclub" includes an "under 21" club
which features entertainment (see Section 1947).
No-Impact Home-Based Business - A business or commercial
activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is
clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which
involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether
vehicular or pedestrian, pick-up, delivery or removal functions
to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated
with residential use. The business or commercial activity must
satisfy all of the following requirements:
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 40
1. The business activity shall be compatible with the
residential use of the property and surrounding
residential uses.
2. The business shall employ no employees other than family
members residing in the dwelling.
3. There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no
stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.
4. There shall be no outside appearance of a business use,
including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
5. The business activity may not use any equipment or
process which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes,
odors or electrical or electronic interference, including
interference with radio or television reception, which is
detectable in the neighborhood.
6. The business activity may not generate any solid waste or
sewage discharge, in volume or type, which is not
normally associated with residential use in the neighborhood.
7. The business activity shall be conducted only within the
dwelling and may not occupy more than twenty-five (25%)
percent of the habitable floor area.
8. The business may not involve any illegal activities.
Noise - Any sound which annoys or disturbs humans or which
causes or tends or may tend to cause an adverse psychological or
physiological effect on humans.
Noise Disturbance - Any sound which (1) endangers or injures the
safety or health of humans or animals, or (2) annoys or disturbs
a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or (3) endangers or
injures personal or real property, or (4) is in excess of the
sound levels by zoning districts established in Section 1732.
Nonconforming Building or Structure - A structure or part of a
structure manifestly not designed to comply with the applicable
use or extent of use provisions in a zoning ordinance or
amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted, where such structure
lawfully existed prior to the enactment of such ordinance or
amendment or prior to the application of such ordinance or
amendment to its location by reason of annexation. Such nonconforming
structures include, but are not limited to,
nonconforming signs.
Nonconforming Lot - A lot of which the area or dimension was
lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance,
but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 41
district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption or
amendment.
Nonconforming Sign - See "Sign, Nonconforming" and
"Nonconforming Building or Structure".
Nonconforming Use - A use, whether of land or of structure,
which does not comply with the applicable use provisions in the
Zoning Ordinance or amendment heretofore or hereafter enacted
where such use was lawfully in existence prior to the enactment
of such ordinance, or amendment or prior to the application of
such ordinance or amendment to its location by reason or annexation.
Nonconformity, Dimensional - Any aspect of a land use that does
not comply with any size, height, bulk, setback, distance,
landscaping, coverage, screening, or any other design or
performance standard specified by this Ordinance, where such
dimensional nonconformity lawfully existed prior to the adoption
of this Ordinance or amendment thereto.
Non-Residential - Any use other than single or multi-family
dwellings. Any institutional use in which persons may reside,
such as a dormitory, prison, nursing home or hospital, shall
also be considered a non-residential use (see Section 1733).
Nursery School - See "Day Care".
Nursery (Greenhouse) - A lot, parcel, tract, building, structure
or part thereof used for the raising and distribution of trees,
shrubs, flowers, house plants and other similar plants (see
Section 1953).
Nursing, Rest or Retirement Home - Facilities designed under one
(1) roof to provide housing, boarding, and dining for the
elderly or infirm with some level of nursing care on a 24-hour
basis for five (5) or more persons. This is distinctly
differentiated from "Retirement Community" (see Section 1948).
Obstruction - Any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike,
pile, abutment, projection, excavation, channel rectification,
bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel,
refuse, fill, stockpile, structure, or other matter in, along,
across, or projecting into any channel, watercourse, flood-prone
area, or floodplain, which may impede, retard, or change the
direction of the flow of water, either in itself or by catching
or collecting debris carried by such water, or that is placed
where the flow of water might carry the same downstream to cause
damage to life or property.
Occupancy - Use of a building or lot for a specified purpose.
Office - A place where the primary use is conducting the affairs
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 42
of a business, profession, service, or government, including
administration, record keeping, clerical work, and similar
business functions. An office shall not involve manufacturing,
fabrication, production, processing, assembling, cleaning,
testing, repair, or storage of materials, goods or products; or
the sale or delivery of any materials, goods, or products which
are physically located on the premises. Office supplies used in
the office may be stored as an incidental use. The term
"office" shall not include retail or industrial uses.
Official Plan - As it pertains to sewage systems, a
comprehensive plan for the provision of adequate sewage disposal
systems adopted by the Township and approved by the DER in
accordance with the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act and with
applicable DER regulations.
Official Zoning Map - The map adopted by this Ordinance pursuant
to Article III.
Off-Premise - See "Premises".
Off-Street Parking Area, Private - An area on private property
designed and used for the parking or storage of one (1) or more
passenger vehicles as an accessory use. Private off-street
parking areas shall include private garages, carports and
improved accessory parking spaces (see Article XIV).
Off-Street Parking Area, Public - An open space, other than a
street or other public right-of-way, designed, maintained and
used by the general public for the parking of vehicles.
On-Lot Sewage System - See Individual On-Lot Sewage System.
Open House - An event conducted as part of an attempt to sell or
lease a property, whereby the property is open for public
inspection. Open houses must always include the on-site
supervision by the property owner or his/her agent. Other
regulations are contained in Sections 1311 and 1312.
Open Space - A space unoccupied by buildings or paved surfaces
and open to the sky or to living vegetation, which may be on the
same lot with the building.
Open Space Area, Required - An area or areas of land and/or
water, set aside to preserve open space and to protect natural
features and cultural landscapes. The required open space area
shall be part of the Common Open Space and shall be free of
paved areas and structures other than historic sites, and
permanently restricted for common enjoyment and recreational use
by residents of a development or the general public. Required
open space area shall not include any setback area or greenbelt.
Open Space, Common or Public - A parcel or parcels of land, an
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 43
area of water, or a combination of land and water, within a
subdivision or land development designed and intended for the
use of all residents of the development (common open space) or
the general public (public open space), not including streets,
off-street parking areas, setbacks, greenbelts, or areas at
other than ground level. Common or public open space shall be
substantially free of structures but may contain such improvements
as are appropriate for the recreational use by the
residents or the general public as permitted in Section 1964,
subdivision and land development regulations, or other
provisions of this Zoning Ordinance.
Operator - Any person owning, operating, managing, or conducting
any establishment. Whenever used in any clause prescribing
penalty, the word "operator" shall include the members,
partners, officers, and managers of any firm, association,
partnership, or corporation.
Ordinance - See "Zoning Ordinance".
Owner - Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with other
persons, has legal title to any premises. This includes any
person who has charge, care or control over any premises as (a)
agent, officer, fiduciary, or employee of the owners; (b) the
committee, conservator, or legal guardian of an owner who is
incompetent, a minor otherwise under a disability; (c) trustee,
elected or appointed, or a person required by law to act as a
trustee, other than trustee under a deed of trust to secure the
payment of money; or (d) an executor, administrator, receiver,
fiduciary, officer appointed by any court, attorney-in-fact, or
other similar representative of the owner or his or her estate.
This does not include a lessee, sublessee or other person who
merely has the right to occupy or possess a premises.
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including the
holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if he
is authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the
landowner, or other person having a proprietary interest in
land, shall be deemed to be a landowner for the purposes of this
Ordinance.
Parent Tract - When used in determining the permissible number
of lots which may be subdivided or dwellings erected in the
Agricultural District, all contiguous land held in single and
separate ownership, regardless of whether
a) such land is divided into one or more lots, parcels,
purparts or tracts;
b) such land was acquired by the landowner at different
times or by different deeds, devise, partition or
otherwise; or
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 44
c) such land is bisected by public or private streets or
rights-of-way,
which was held by the landowner or his predecessor in title on
October 10, 1988, or, if such land was not classified as
Agricultural District on October 10, 1988, which was held by the
landowner or his predecessor in title on the date such land was
first classified as Agricultural District after October 10,
1988.
Parking Lot - An accessory use in which any required or
additional parking spaces are provided subject to the
requirements listed in Article XIV of this Ordinance.
Parking, Interior - Parking rows which are not located on the
external boundary of the development.
Parking, Peripheral - Parking rows consisting of individual
parking spaces which abut the external boundary of a
development.
Parking Row, Double - Two (2) parallel rows of spaces for the
parking of motor vehicles arranged so that when parked, the
front end of each motor vehicle faces the front end of another
motor vehicle as illustrated in Figure 2 in Appendix A.
Parking Row, Single - A single row of spaces for the parking of
motor vehicles as illustrated in Figure 1 in Appendix A.
Parking Space - An off-street area designed or used for the
parking of one (1) motor vehicle, exclusive of passageways,
driveways and accessways appurtenant thereto. It shall have
useable access to a street or alley (see Article XIV).
Park, Private - A recreational facility owned or operated by a
non-public agency and/or conducted as a private gainful
business.
Parks, Public and/or Non-Profit - Those facilities designed and
used for recreational purposes by the general public that are
(1) owned and operated by a government or governmental
agency/authority, or (2) area operated on a non-profit basis.
This definition is meant to include the widest range of
recreational activities, excluding adult entertainment uses and
amusement arcades.
Patio - See "Deck" and also Section 1718.
PennDOT - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Permit, Temporary Use - A certificate issued by a designated
Township official for the conduct of a use for a limited time
period indicating the duration of the permit and indicating that
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 45
all special requirements governing such use and all other
applicable zoning requirements have been met.
Permit, Zoning - A certificate issued by a designated Township
official stating that the purpose for which a building or land
is to be used is in conformity with all requirements of the
Zoning Ordinance for the zoning district in which the use is
situated.
Permitted Use - A use of a lot, parcel, tract, building,
structure, sign or part thereof which is permitted as of right
in a particular zoning district.
Personal Service Establishments - Commercial establishments
primarily providing services, which do not involve retail sales
or professional advisory services. The term "personal service
establishments" shall include those oriented to serving personal
needs, such as barber and beauty shops, shoe repair shops,
household appliance repair shops, drycleaning and laundry
pickups, shoe shine parlors and other similar establishments.
Pesticide - Any substance or mixture of substances intended for
use in preventing, destroying, repelling, sterilizing, or
mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, predatory animals,
fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life.
Petroleum Product - Oil or petroleum of any kind and in any
form, including crude oil and derivatives of crude oil. It may
be alone, as a sludge, as oil refuse, or mixed with other
wastes.
Place of Worship - See "Church".
Plan - A drawing submitted as part of the required application
for a Zoning Permit, prepared and sealed by a registered
professional engineer, architect, landscape architect or
surveyor unless the "plan" is for another purpose.
Planning Commission - The Planning Commission of Pequea
Township.
Planning Module for Land Development - A revision to, or an
exception to a revision to, the Township’s Official Sewage
Facilities Plan submitted in connection with the request for
approval of a subdivision or land development in accordance with
Department regulations.
Planting - The covering of open space with vegetative matter
such as grass, trees, shrubs, and bushes.
Poultry - Domestic fowl including but not limited to chickens,
turkeys, ducks, and geese.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 46
Premises - The property upon which the activity is conducted as
determined by physical facts rather than property lines. It is
the land occupied by the building or other physical uses that
are necessary or customarily incident to the activity, including
such open spaces as are arranged and designed to be used in
connection with such buildings or uses. The following are not
considered to be part of the premises on which the activity is
conducted, and any signs located on such land are to be
considered off-premise advertising:
1) Any land which is not used as an integral part of the
principal activity, including land which is separated from
the activity by a roadway, highway, or other obstruction,
and not used by the activity; and extensive undeveloped
highway frontage contiguous to the land actually used by a
commercial facility, even though it might be under the same
ownership.
2) Any land which is used for, or devoted to, a separate
purpose unrelated to the advertised activity.
3) Any land which is in closer proximity to the highway than to
the principal activity, and developed or used only in the
area of the sign site or between the sign site and the
principal activity and whose purpose is for advertising
purposes only. In no event shall a sign site be considered
part of the premises on which the advertised activity is
conducted if the site is located on a narrow strip of land
which is non-buildable land or is a common or private
roadway, or is held by easement or other lesser interest
than the premises where the activity is located.
Prime Agricultural Land - Land used for agricultural purposes
that contain soils of the first, second or third class as
defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural
Resource and Conservation Services County Soil Survey.
Principal Building - See Building, Principal.
Principal Use - The main or principal use of property or
structures.
Private Club - See Club, Private.
Property Line - See Line, Property.
Professional Occupation - An occupation for gain or support
conducted by a member of the medical, dental, veterinary or
legal professions.
Public - Owned, operated, or controlled by a governmental agency
(Federal, State, County or Local, including a corporation
created by law for the performance of certain specialized
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 47
governmental functions).
Public Building - See Building, Public.
Public Hearing - A formal meeting held pursuant to public notice
by the governing body or planning agency, intended to inform and
obtain public comment, prior to taking action on zoning-related
matters.
Public Meeting - A forum held pursuant to notice under the act
of July 3, 1986 (P.L. 388, No. 84), known as the Sunshine Act,
and subsequent amendments.
Public Place - Any public street, highway, road, alley, park,
playground, vacant lot, public building or ground, railway
station, bus terminal or similar place.
Public Road - A public right-of-way including a street, road,
lane, alley, court or public space which has been dedicated or
deeded to the public or public use and which affords principal
means of access to abutting property.
Public Sewer - Any system, whether publicly or privately owned,
for the collection of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid
nature from two (2) or more lots, and the treatment and/or
disposal of the sewage or industrial waste on one (1) or more of
the lots or at any other site and which shall comply with all
applicable regulations of the DER, the Public Utility Commission,
and the Township, as applicable.
Public Space - A plot or area of land outside the building,
dedicated or devoted to public use by legal mapping or any other
lawful procedure.
Public Uses - Includes public and semi-public uses of welfare
and educational nature, such as schools, parks, fire stations,
municipal buildings and municipal garages, and etc.
Public Utility - A use or extension thereof which is operated,
owned or maintained by a public utility corporation,
municipality or municipal authority, or which is privately owned
and approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for
the purpose of providing public sewage disposal and/or
treatment; public water supply, storage and/or treatment; or for
the purpose of providing the transmission of energy, telephone
or other communication service, excluding the facilities of any
public utility to the extent such facilities are subject to the
jurisdiction, power and authority of the Pennsylvania Public
Utility Commission under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa. C.S.
§101 et seq. It is the intent of the Township to regulate
public utility facilities only to the extent permitted by the
Municipalities Planning Code, the Public Utility Code, and
applicable case law interpreting these statutes (see Section
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 48
1951).
Public Water - A public or private utility system designed to
transmit potable water from a common source to multiple users.
Such systems shall be in compliance with the regulations of the
DER, the Public Utility Commission or the Township, as applicable.
Quarrying - See "Mining".
Radioactive Material - Any natural or artificially produced
substance which emits radiation spontaneously (see Sections 1717
and 1731).
Recreational or Entertainment Facility - A building or open air
facility housing an activity open to the public for the purpose
of public recreation or entertainment, including but not limited
to bowling alleys, theatres, drive-in motion picture facilities,
swimming pools, health or exercise clubs, museums, etc.
Recreation or entertainment facilities shall not include adultrelated
uses, amusement arcades, nightclubs or golf courses as
defined herein.
Recreation Land, Active - Land dedicated to the Township or
other entity approved by the Township for the use of the
Township’s residents which is suitable for active uses such as
playing fields. The term "active recreation land" shall not
include areas within the five hundred (500) year floodplain,
power line or pipeline rights-of-way, quarries, road rights-ofway,
buffers, storm water management facilities, areas
characterized by wetlands, hydric soils, slopes in excess of
five (5%) percent or woodlands.
Recreation, Private or Commercial - Leisure time activities that
are only open to members, guests, or some specific groups or
that are principally operated for commercial purposes (see
Section 1931).
Recreational Vehicle or Unit - A vehicle or piece of equipment,
whether self-powered or designed to be pulled or carried,
intended primarily for leisure time or recreational use.
Recreational vehicles include travel trailers, truck-mounted
campers, motor homes, folding tent campers and automobiles,
buses or trucks adapted for vacation use, snowmobiles, minibikes,
all-terrain vehicles, go-cart, boat trailers, and other
vehicles not suitable for daily conventional family
transportation on Township roads, streets and highways.
Recycling Facility - A recycling facility as defined in the
Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act.
Refuse - All waste substances including garbage as well as
combustible and non-combustible wastes.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 49
Repair Facilities - See Section 1922.
Residential Development - A subdivision or land development as
those terms are defined in the MPC, whether initially or
cumulatively, of a tract under single and separate ownership,
for the purpose of erecting residential dwelling units.
Residual Waste - All waste defined as residual waste in the
Solid Waste Management Act of July 7, 1980, as amended, said
definition appearing in 35 P.S. §6018.103.
Resource Recovery Facility - A resource recovery facility as
defined in the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste
Reduction Act.
Rest Area - Open areas intended for the purpose of providing
either leisure activities, public conveniences, and/or for
increasing the aesthetic value of a tract; limited to the
following facilities: public benches, public walk areas, public
toilets, landscaping, flagpoles, statues and sculptures,
fountains, memorials, and the like (see Section 1905).
Rest Home - See "Nursing Home".
Restaurant - Any establishment at which food or drink is sold
for consumption on the premises. The term "restaurant" shall
not include any snack or community playground, play field, park
or swimming pool operated by a governmental agency or municipal
agency for the convenience of the patrons of those facilities.
A restaurant serves prepared food primarily on nondisposable
tableware, but can provide for incidental carry-out service so
long as the area used for carry-out service does not exceed five
(5%) percent of the total patron seating area nor eighty (80)
square feet (whichever is less). Caterers shall be included in
this definition.
Restaurant, Drive-thru or Fast Food - An establishment that
serves prepared food generally packaged in paper wrappers and/or
disposable plates and containers. Such food can be consumed
either on or off of the site (see Section 1932).
Retail Store/Sales - A single business enterprise or grouping
thereof, with less than fifty thousand (50,000) square feet
under roof, which primarily engages in the display and retail
sales of consumer goods such as wearing apparel, antiques,
books, beverages, confections, drugs, dry goods, flowers, food
stuffs, gifts, garden supplies, hardware supplies, household
goods, jewelry, paint, periodicals, etc. (see Section 901).
This term shall not include adult-related facilities as defined
herein.
Retirement Community - A planned community for senior citizens
which will provide care, supervision, living accommodations, and
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 50
recreation. The entire community shall be retained in single
ownership. The community may include, for exclusive use of
residents and their guests, related accessory facilities such as
administrative offices, complete health care facilities, dining
facilities, social rooms, craft and hobby shops, gift shops and
overnight guest rooms (see Section 1945).
Retirement Home - See "Nursing Home".
Reverse Frontage Lot - A parcel designed such that individual
residential uses abut a street on both the front and the rear,
with vehicular access from only one (1) street. A lot will only
be deemed a reverse frontage lot if access is from a lesser
classification of street (if the classifications of each are
different).
Right-Of-Way - Land set aside or designated for public or
private streets, roadways, sidewalks, curbs, and the
installation of public utilities. The term "Right-Of-Way" shall
include the ultimate or future right-of-way. A right-of-way is
also a corridor of publicly owned or eased land for purposes of
maintaining primary vehicular and pedestrian access to abutting
properties, including but not limited to roads, streets,
highways, and sidewalks. Abutting property owners are
prohibited from encroaching across the right-of-way.
Right-Of-Way Line, Existing - The line separating a lot from the
area designated for a street or utility purpose.
Right-Of-Way Line, Future or Ultimate - The line separating a
lot from the area designated for the eventual expansion of
street or utility rights-of-way (see "Street Right-of-Way
Line").
Road - Any road, street, avenue, boulevard, highway, freeway,
parkway, lane, alley, viaduct, and any other way used or
intended to be used by vehicular traffic, whether public or
private. This definition shall include all roads, whether
privately maintained, whether actually maintained by Pequea
Township or the state of Pennsylvania as part of its road
system, or whether shown on a subdivision and land development
plan to be offered or dedicated to Pequea Township in the future
as part of its road system.
Satellite Dish Antenna - A device incorporating a reflective
surface which is solid, open mesh or bar-configured and is in
the shape of a shallow dish, cone, horn, or cornucopia, and
including its pedestal and other attachments. Such device shall
be used to transmit and/or receive radio or other electromagnetic
waves between terrestrially and/or orbitally-based
uses. This definition is meant to include but not be limited to
what are commonly referred to as satellite earth stations,
televisions receivers only or TVROs, and satellite microwave
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 51
antennas. A satellite dish antenna which is used for
transmission as well as reception shall be considered a
communications antenna and shall meet all requirements for
communications antennas.
School - A principal use in which supervised education or
instruction is offered according to the following categories:
a) Commercial School - A school that may offer a wide range of
educational or instructional activities (excluding
vocational-mechanical trade schools as defined below) that
may, or may not, be operated as a gainful business by some
person or organization other than the Penn Manor School District.
b) Private School - An educational facility not operated by a
public agency. The range of curriculums can include all
levels of academic instruction, business and technical
programs, and artistic, dance, baton-twirling, and musical
training. Private educational institutions are principal
uses that are neither home occupations nor day care operations.
These uses shall not include vocational and/or
mechanical trade schools as defined herein.
c) Nursery School - See "Day Care".
d) Public School - A school licensed by the Department of
Education for the purpose of providing elementary,
secondary, and adult education, and operated by the Penn
Manor School District.
e) Vocational-Mechanical Trade School - A school that may, or
may not, be operated as a gainful business that principally
offers training in any of the following occupations:
1. Truck driving;
2. Engine repairs;
3. Building constructions and general contracting;
4. Woodworking;
5. Masonry;
6. Plumbing;
7. Electrical contracting; and,
8. Other similar trades, as determined by the Zoning Hearing
Board pursuant to Sections 1736 and 2203.
Screen, Landscape - See Landscape Buffer.
Screen, Screened or Screening - A continuous strip of land,
either landscaped or living green space, clear of all buildings,
structures (other than fences), on-lot sewage disposal systems,
parking areas, access drives, driveways, outdoor storage areas,
detention basins, and any use other than open space. The word
"screen" refers to a landscape screen unless an architectural or
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 52
fence screen is specifically required by another Section of this
Ordinance. Unless an architectural or fence screen is
specifically required by another Section of this Ordinance, a
screen shall contain vegetative material of sufficient height
and density to substantially conceal from view year-around the
structures and uses on the lot on which the screen is located.
The terms "to screen" and "screened" shall be interpreted to
require the installation and preservation of a screen meeting
the requirements of this definition.
Setback - The distance between a use, building or structure and
a lot boundary or right-of-way line, whichever is less.
Setback Line - See "Building Setback Line".
Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) - The Sewage Enforcement
Officer of the Township.
Shallow Depth to Bedrock - Any area comprised of soils which are
classified by Table 12 of the Soil Survey of Lancaster County,
prepared in 1985 and as may be amended by the USDA-SCS, as
having severe or moderate limitations for septic tank absorption
fields due to shallow depth to bedrock. These areas include the
following soil types:
Bedington - BdA, BdB, BdC
Blairton - Bm
Brecknock - BrB, BrC, BsB
Clymer - ClB
Duffield - DbA, DbB
Glenelg - GbB, GbC
Hagerstown - HaA, HaB, HbC
Lansdale - LaB, LaC
Pequea - PeC
Ungers - UaB, UaC, UbB
Shrub - A woody perennial planting differing from a perennial
herb by its more woody stem and from a tree by its low stature
and habit in branching from the base.
Shopping Center - A group of retail stores planned and designed
for the site on which it is built, functioning as a single
entity or unit, with shared off-street parking provided on the
property as an integral part of the unit (see Section 1962).
Sight Triangle - See Clear Sight Triangle.
Sign - Any structure, building, wall or other outdoor surface,
or any device or part thereof which displays or includes any
letter, work, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or
other representations used for visual communication,
announcement, identification, direction, or advertisement of use
of land. The word "sign" includes the word "billboard" but does
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 53
not include the United States flag pennant, or insignia of any
nation, state, city or other political unit, nor public traffic
or directional signs. This definition does not include products
displayed in the window displays of commercial establishments.
It does, however, include any single or multi-faced sign affixed
to the windows or glass doors or otherwise internally mounted
such that it can be seen and understood from vehicular ways
and/or parking areas, except any sign mounted within a building
which obviously is primarily intended to be seen from within the
building (see Article XIII).
a) Sign, Advertising - A sign which directs attention to a
business, commodity, service or entertainment conducted,
sold, or offered elsewhere than upon the property on which
the sign is located. An advertising sign shall include a
commercial billboard.
b) Sign, Area Of - The face of a sign including all lettering,
wording, designs and symbols, together with background,
whether open or enclosed on which they are displayed,
including the frame, but not including any supporting
framework or bracing. Where a sign consists of individual
letters, numbers, characters, or symbols attached to a
building wall, window, or door, the area of the signs shall
be considered that of the smallest rectangle or other
regular geometric shape which encompasses all elements of
the sign such as letters, figures, symbols, designs, or
other display. When a double-faced sign is erected in such
a manner that both sides are not visible from the same
vantage point, then only one face shall be used to compute
the sign area. When a single sign structure has more than
one (1) face with the same message, and no two (2) faces are
more than three (3) feet apart at any point, the area shall
be computed by determining the greatest total area of all
sign faces visible from any single vantage point. In the
case of a cylindrical sign, one half of the total surface
area shall be used to compute the area.
c) Sign Billboard - See Sign, Panel Type.
d) Sign, Building Facade - A sign located anywhere upon the
entire vertical surface of a building facing the public way
or most nearly parallel to the public way, including doors,
parapets, and windows (no roof area included).
e) Sign, Business Identification - A sign which directs
attention to a business, profession, industry or similar
activity conducted upon the property on which the sign is
located, not to include home occupation signs.
f) Sign, Changeable Copy - A sign on which message copy can be
changed through use of attachable letters, numerals, or
graphics, or by switching of lamps. A changeable copy sign
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 54
shall not be considered to be an animated sign unless
switching lamps are utilized.
g) Sign, Free Standing - A permanent sign erected on a
foundation or supported by a structure or pole specifically
designed to support the sign and which is not attached to a
building.
h) Sign, Governmental - A sign erected or placed by a
governmental agency in furtherance of the public health,
welfare, safety, and morals, providing public information or
fulfulling official notice requirements and not for
advertising purposes.
i) Sign Height - The height of a sign shall be measured from
the ground level at the time of the adoption of this
ordinance to the highest point of the sign or sign structure
unless otherwise defined in Article XIII. No sign shall
ever be higher than the height limitation of the district in
which it is located. The height of free standing signs is
stated in Sections 1312 and 1314. Any sign attached to a
wall may not extend above the wall.
j) Sign, Identification - A sign used to display and identify
only the name of the individual, facility, organization,
agency, institution or development occupying the property
upon which it is displayed, not to include a business
identification sign.
k) Sign, Incidental - An informational sign less than two (2)
feet square in size, which carries a message such as
"enter", "telephone", "rest rooms", "no parking", "warning",
or similar information.
l) Sign, Inflatable - A sign that is either expanded to its
full dimensions or supported by gases contained within the
sign, or sign parts, at a pressure greater than atmospheric
pressure.
m) Sign, Nonconforming - A sign lawfully existing at the
effective date of the Ordinance which does not completely
conform to the sign regulations applicable in the zoning
district in which it is located.
n) Sign, Obsolete - A sign which was, but has become no longer
useful for its original purpose.
o) Sign, Panel Type (Billboard) - A sign which directs
attention to products, services or businesses conducted,
sold or offered only elsewhere than upon the premises where
the sign is displayed.
p) Sign, Permanent - Any sign or sign structure which is
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 55
permanently affixed or installed, and is intended for longterm
use.
q) Sign, Political - A sign which indicates the name, cause or
affiliation of a person seeking public office or on which
reference is made to an issue for which a public election or
referendum is scheduled to be held.
r) Sign, Public Right-Of-Way - That land area over which the
Township or State have rights either through ownership or
easement, to use the public street and utility purposes.
s) Sign, Real Estate - Any temporary sign having not more than
two (2) sides which, in whole or in part, announces the sale
or lease of property, excluding subdivision identification
signs.
t) Sign, Subdivision - Any sign announcing the development of
a new subdivision of land, and the sale or lease of the lots
contained therein.
u) Sign, Temporary - A sign, banner, or other advertising
device constructed of cloth, canvas, fabric, plastic, or
other light temporary material, with or without a structural
frame, intended for a limited period of display; including
decorative displays for holidays or public demonstrations,
and also moveable or portable signs on wheels or designed in
such a manner as to be easily moved from one location to
another.
v) Sign, Vehicle - A sign affixed or painted on a vehicle,
trailer, or similar device. Any such sign located on a
premises for a period of three (3) or more days in any (6)
six month period shall be considered a permanent sign.
w) Sign, Wall - A sign attached to or erected against the wall
of a building, with the exposed face of the sign in a plane
parallel to said wall.
Single and Separate Ownership - A lot the owners of which are
not identical with the owners of any lot adjoining the rear or
either side of said lot.
Sinkhole - A localized sinking of land surface to a variable
depth generally characterized by a roughly circular outline and
a downward movement of soil into solution channels or bedrock
voids (generally in a limestone region). See also "Depression"
and "Depression, Closed".
Site Disturbance - Any activity which involves removal of
vegetation or which causes land to be exposed to danger of
erosion, including clearing, grading, filling, plowing, or
earthmoving.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 56
Small Animal - Any wild or domestic animal such as a rabbit,
hare, guinea pig, rat, mouse, or chinchilla; and any wild or
domestic fowl such as a chicken, turkey, duck, or pigeon
(excepting homing pigeons).
Soil Survey - The latest published version of the United States
Department of Agriculture’s soil survey for Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania.
Solid Waste - Garbage, refuse and other discarded materials
including, but not limited to, solid and liquid waste materials
resulting from municipal, industrial, commercial, agricultural
and residential activities. Such wastes shall not include
biological excrement or hazardous waste materials as defined in
the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Chapter 1, Part 261,
dated July 1, 1984, or as amended.
Solid Waste Disposal - The incineration, deposition, injection,
dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of solid wastes into or on
the land or water in a manner that the solid waste or
constituent of the solid waste enters the environment, is
emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters of the
municipality.
Solid Waste Disposal Area or Facility - A lot, parcel or tract
of land including but not limited to a sanitary landfill where
garbage, trash or junk is disposed of or is processed or
recycled for disposal or reuse (see Section 1912). Such use
shall not include the disposal or processing of biological
excrement, hazardous or radioactive materials. A trash or solid
waste transfer facility is a type of solid waste disposal
facility (see "Solid Waste Transfer Area").
Solid Waste Management Act - The act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380,
No. 97, as amended, 35 P.S. §6018.101 et seq., as may be amended
and supplemented.
Solid Waste Transfer Area or Facility - A place where solid
waste is disposed, brought, sorted, stored for less than four
(4) days and transferred from one (1) vehicle to another vehicle
or to a rail car for the purpose of transport to a permanent
solid waste disposal area or facility (see "Solid Waste Disposal
Area or Facility").
Sound - An oscillation in pressure, particle displacement,
particle velocity or other physical parameter, in a medium with
internal forces that causes compression and rarefaction of that
medium, or the superposition of such propagated oscillation
which evokes an auditory sensation. The description of sound
may include any characteristics of such sound, including
duration, intensity, and frequency.
Sound Level - The weighted sound pressure level obtained by the
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 57
use of a sound level meter and frequency weighting network, such
as A, B, C, as specified in American National Standards
Institute specifications for sound level meters (ANSI S1.4-1971,
or the latest revision thereof). If the frequency weighting
employed is not indicated, the A-weighting shall apply.
Sound Level Meter - An instrument which includes a microphone,
amplifier, RMS detector, integrator or time average, output
meter and any applicable weighing network used to measure sound
pressure levels which meets or exceeds the requirement for a
Type I or Type II sound level meter as specified an ANSI
Specifications S1.4-1971. The manufacturer’s published
indication of compliance with such specifications shall be prima
facie evidence of such compliance.
Special Exception - A use that may be allowed after the granting
of a modification of the provisions of this Ordinance by the
Zoning Hearing Board, as authorized in specific instances
listed, and under the terms, procedures and conditions
prescribed herein (see Article XIX).
Specimen Tree - A unique, rare or otherwise specifically
selected plant or tree which most typically represents a whole
class or group, specifically in shape, form, historical
importance or any other characteristic.
Spring - A place where water flows naturally from a rock or soil
upon the land of into a body of surface water or stream.
Sportsmen’s Club - A nonprofit private facility for member use
only which may include hunting, target practice, shooting
competitions or related activity and which shall not include
vending stands, merchandising or acommercial activity except in
connection with fundraising for the association. A sportsmen’s
club shall not be operated in connection with a tavern, restaurant
or other public place (see Section 1927).
Steep Slope - As defined in Article IV - A.
Storage Yards and Buildings - A building or yard used for the
storing of goods and materials (see Section 1734).
Storm Water Runoff - Drainage runoff from the surface of the
land resulting from precipitation or snow or ice melt.
Street - See Road. Also the word "street" may be used
interchangeably with the word "highway" and shall have the same
meaning as "highway" as defined in The Vehicle Code.
Street Centerline - The horizontal line paralleling the street
that bisects the street right-of-way into two (2) equal widths.
In those instances where the street right-of-way cannot be
determined, the street centerline shall correspond to the center
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 58
of the cartway.
Street (Right-Of-Way) Line - The dividing line between the edge
of the street and the lot. The street line shall be the same as
the legal right-of-way line provided that where a future rightof-
way width for a road or street has been officially
established, then the street right-of-way shall be the side line
of the future right-of-way so established. See "Right-Of-Way
Line".
Structure - Any manmade object having any ascertainable
stationary location on or in land or water, whether or not
affixed to the land. Structures shall not include such things
as sandboxes, swingsets, birdhouses, birdfeeders, mailboxes, and
any other similar nonpermanent improvements. See also "Accessory
Structure" and "Building, Principal".
Subdivision - The division or redivision of a lot, tract or
parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts,
parcels, or other divisions of land including changes in
existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future,
of lease, partition by the court for distribution to heirs or
devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development.
Substantial Damage - Damage of any origin sustained by a
structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its
before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty (50%)
percent of the fair market value of the structure before the
damage occurred.
Substantial Improvement - Any reconstruction, rehabilitation,
addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which
equals or exceeds fifty (50%) percent of the fair market value
of the structure before the start of construction of the
improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred
Substantial Damage, regardless of the actual repair work
performed. The term does not, however, include either:
(1) Any project for improvement of a structure to
correct existing violations of state and local health,
sanitary or safety code specifications which have been
identified by the Zoning Officer and which are the minimum
necessary to assure safe living conditions or
(2) Any alteration of an historic structure, provided
that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s
continued designation as an historic structure.
For the purpose of this definition, Substantial Improvement is
considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall,
ceiling, floor or other structural part of the structure
commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external
dimensions of the structure.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 59
Supermarket - A retail market selling foods and household
merchandise which contains 10,000 square feet or more of floor
area. If the building within which the supermarket is located
contains other uses, including but not limited to a branch bank,
a discount retail merchandise store, or other facilities,
additional regulations for those uses will also be applicable.
Supervisors - The Board of Supervisors of the Township.
Swimming Pool - Any pool, not located within a completely
enclosed building, and containing, or normally capable of
containing, water to a depth at any point greater than one and
one half (1 1/2) feet. Farm ponds and/or lakes are not
included, provided that swimming was not the primary purpose for
their construction (see Section 1721).
Tavern - An establishment which serves primarily alcoholic
beverages for mostly on-premises consumption and which is
licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Taverns may
also serve food, but no live entertainment shall be permitted.
Township - Pequea Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Township Engineer - The engineer appointed by the Board of
Supervisors.
Township Planning Commission - The Planning Commission of Pequea
Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Travel Trailer - A portable structure, primarily designed to
provide temporary living quarters for recreation, camping or
travel purposes. In addition to the above, any of the following
attributes are usually characteristic of a "travel trailer":
a) The unit is of such size or weight as not to require a
special highway movement permit from the DER when selfpropelled,
or when hauled by a standard motor vehicle on a
highway.
b) The unit is mounted or designed to be mounted on wheels.
c) The unit is designed to be loaded onto, or affixed to, the
bed and/or chassis of a truck.
d) The unit contains, or was designed to contain, temporary
storage of water and sewage, and
e) The unit contains some identification by the manufacturer as
a travel trailer.
Tree - Any woody perennial plant usually having one main stem or
trunk and a crown, and growing to a height of ten (10) feet or
more at maturity.
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 60
Tree, Canopy - Any self-supporting woody plant with one welldefined
trunk and a distinct and definite formed crown which
attains a height of at least thirty (30) feet at maturity.
Tree Damage - The infliction of damage to a tree which is of
such severity as to show evidence within a period of two (2)
growing seasons of irreparable harm leading to the ultimate
death of the tree. Examples of said serious damage include, but
are not limited to: damage inflicted to the root system by
machinery, storage of materials, and soil compaction; changing
the natural grade above or below the root system or around the
trunk; damage inflected on the tree permitting fungus infection
or pest infestation; excessive thinning; paving with concrete,
asphalt, or other impervious material within such proximity as
to be harmful to the tree.
Tree, Evergreen - Any self-supporting woody plant with one (1)
well-defined trunk, a conical shape and needle-like or scalelike
foliage retained year-round which attains a height of at
least twenty-five (25) feet at maturity.
Tree, Existing - Any self-supporting woody plant with one (1)
well-defined trunk six (6) inches in diameter or greater
measured at twelve (12) inches above the ground.
Tree, Non-Canopy - Any self-supporting woody plant with one (1)
or more trunks which attains a height of less than fifteen (15)
feet at maturity.
Tree, Protected - Any existing tree around which a barricade if
placed during construction. The barricade shall be placed at
the dripline or with a minimum radius of seven (7) feet,
whichever is greater.
Tree Removal - The cutting down of a tree or the transplanting
of a tree to a site other than that under development.
Two-Family Conversions - The conversion of an existing singlefamily
detached dwelling to contain two (2) separate dwelling
units (see Section 1956).
USDA - The United States Department of Agriculture or any
successor agency.
Use - Includes the phrases "arranged", "designed" and "intended
to be used" and shall mean a specific purpose for which land,
buildings, or structures are designed, arranged, intended,
occupied or maintained, or any activity, occupation, business or
operation which may be conducted at a given location.
Use, Accessory - See "Accessory Use".
Use and Occupancy Permit - See "Certificate of Use and
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 61
Occupancy".
Use, Principal - See "Principal Use".
Utility - Equipment or facilities utilized for producing,
generating, transmitting, distributing or furnishing natural or
artificial gas, electricity or steam for the production of
light, heat or power to or for the public for compensation;
diverting, developing pumping, ponding and distributing or
furnishing water to or for the public for compensation;
transporting passengers or property as a common carrier;
equipment or facilities for use as a canal, turnpike, tunnel,
bridge, wharf, and the like for the public for compensation;
transporting or conveying natural or artificial gas, crude oil,
gasoline or petroleum products, materials for refrigeration of
oxygen or nitrogen or other fluid substance by pipeline or
conduit for the public for compensation; conveying or
transmitting messages or communications by telephone or
telegraph or domestic public land mobile radio service
including, but not limited to, point-to-point microwave radio
service for the public for compensation; and sewage, collection
treatment or disposal for the public for compensation, excluding
the facilities of any public utility to the extent such
facilities are subject to the jurisdiction, power and authority
of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission under the Public
Utility Code, 66 Pa. C.S. §101 et seq. It is the intent of the
Township to regulate public utility facilities only to the
extent permitted by the Municipalities Planning Code, the Public
Utility Code, and applicable case law interpreting these statutes
(see Section 1951).
Variance - A modification of the terms of this Ordinance granted
by the Zoning Hearing Board after hearing under the terms of
this Ordinance (see Section 2203).
Vehicle - Every device in, upon, or by which any person or
property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway,
except devices used exclusively upon rails or tracks.
Vehicle Code - The Vehicle Code, Act of June 17, 1976, P.L. 162,
No. 81, as amended, effective July 1, 1977.
Vehicular Dwelling - A transient dwelling, containing less than
four hundred (400) square feet of gross floor area, including
automotive drawn trailers or trailer coaches, which are designed
primarily for vehicular mobility. See also "Travel Trailer" and
"Recreational Vehicle".
Veterinarian’s Office or Facilities - A building used primarily
for the treatment, by a veterinarian, of small domestic animals
such as dogs, cats, rabbits and birds or fowl. No outdoor
boarding of animals is permitted (see Section 1919).
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 62
View - The relative ability to see a given object from a
designated location.
a) Unobstructed - The ability to see most or all of the object;
specifically, where more than eighty (80%) percent of the
object is visible.
b) Filtered - The ability to see some of the object;
specifically, where twenty to eighty (20-80%) percent of the
object is visible.
c) Hidden - The ability to see little or none of the object;
specifically, where less than twenty (20%) percent of the
object is visible.
Viewshed - That portion of the landscape which can be readily
viewed by the observer from one (1) or more vantage points. The
extent of area that can be viewed is commonly delineated by land
form, vegetation and/or distance.
Wall - A manmade structure which permanently or temporarily
prohibits travel between properties or portions of properties or
between the street or public right-of-way and a property (see
Section 1720).
Warehouse and Wholesale Trade - A building or group of buildings
primarily used for the storage, transfer and distribution of
products and materials (see Section 1958).
Waste Storage Facilities, Animal - See "Animal Waste Storage
Facilities".
Water Supply, Private - An on-lot water supply system generally
providing for an adequate supply of potable water for one (1)
building or a group of buildings on a single lot and in
compliance with the DER Regulations or the Township regulations,
whichever is more stringent.
Watercourse - a permanent or intermittent stream, river, brook,
run, creek, channel, swale, pond, lake or other body of surface
water, carrying or holding surface water, whether natural or
artificial.
Watershed - All the land from which water drains into a
particular watercourse.
Waters of this Commonwealth - Rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets,
impoundments, ditches, watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed
water, wetlands, ponds, springs and other bodies or channels of
conveyance of surface water, or parts thereof, whether natural
or artificial, within or on the boundaries of this Commonwealth.
Wetlands - All areas meeting the criteria for wetlands as
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 63
specified by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, 1987
Manual, and/or the current regulations of DEP and/or the
Lancaster County Natural Heritage Inventory and/or the Township,
whichever is the most stringent. Wetlands are areas that are
inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a
frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
including but not limited to swamps, marshes, bogs and similar
communities.
WECS Unit - Shall include blades, hubs to which blades are
attached, and any device, such as a tower, used to support the
hub and/or rotary blades, etc.
Wild Animal - Any animal, including bird, fowl, or reptile not
normally or ordinarily domesticated; not normally or ordinarily
raised in this area and climate as livestock or for work or
breeding purposes; or not capable of being kept as a household
pet.
Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) - Any device which converts
wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy (see Section
1724).
Window - An opening to the outside other than a door which
provides all or part of the required natural light, natural
ventilation or both to an interior space. The glazed portion of
a door in an exterior wall may be construed to be a window in
regard to provision of natural light.
Witness Tree - Any tree estimated to be one hundred fifty (150)
years old or older.
Wooded Area - Any area having more than one (1) viable tree (at
least six (6) inches in diameter measured one (1) foot above the
ground) per one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet of lot
area.
Woodlands - Areas characterized by dense and extensive tree
cover growing closely together so that the drip lines touch or
overlap, and in which there is more than one (1) viable tree of
a diameter of six (6) inches or greater per one thousand five
hundred (1,500) square feet of lot area. This definition
includes groves of flowering or sub-canopy trees, such as
dogwood trees, and young forests where the immature branches may
not yet be interlocking. To determine if an area has a minimum
of one (1) viable tree of six (6) inches or greater caliper per
one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet, the total area of
land in question (in square feet) shall be divided by one
thousand five hundred (1,500). If the result is equal to or
less than the number of viable trees of the diameter of six (6)
inches or greater, and meets the other stated characteristics,
Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance 64
the area in question is considered woodland.
Yard - A required open space unoccupied and unobstructed by any
structure or portion of a structure from thirty (30) inches
above the average elevation of the final grade upward, provided,
however, that fences and walls may be permitted in any yard
subject to height limitations as specified in this Ordinance
(see also "Building Setback Line" and Section 1702).
a) Yard, Front - The yard area between the front yard building
of a building setback line or front main wall of a building
and any street right-of-way, measured perpendicular to the
property line.
b) Yard, Rear - The yard area between the rear of a building
or, if no building has been constructed, the rear yard
building setback line and the closer of any property line,
measured perpendicular to the property line.
c) Yard, Side - The yard area between the side lot line and the
nearest side of a building or, if no building has been
constructed, the nearest side yard building setback line of
the lot, measured perpendicular to the property line. A
corner lot shall have two front and two side yards.
Yard Sale - A sale conducted on the premises by the owner or
resident of the premises for the purpose of selling excess
family possessions over no more than a two (2) day period and
not to exceed twice yearly (see Section 1727).
Zoning - The designation of specified districts within the
Township, reserving them for certain uses together with
limitations on lot size, heights of structures and other
stipulated requirements.
Zoning Districts - The land use districts established by the
Zoning Ordinance of Pequea Township (see Article III).
Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) - The Zoning Hearing Board of Pequea
Township.
Zoning Map - The official zoning map of Pequea Township (see
"Official Zoning Map").
Zoning Officer - The administrative officer charged with the
duty of administering and enforcing the provision of the Zoning
Ordinance in accordance with its literal terms.
Zoning Ordinance - Pequea Township Zoning Ordinance, as amended.
The term "Ordinance" shall refer to the Pequea Township Zoning
Ordinance unless otherwise specified.
