The Aquetong Village Commercial District (VC-1) is designed to preserve the existing structures, uses, character, and development patterns in the Village of Aquetong and to allow the continued successful operation of village-oriented enterprises there. The nature and intensity of uses are limited to those that reflect the historic and scenic setting. Small-scale business opportunities compatible with the village are permitted.
A.building may be erected, altered or used, and land may be used or occupied, subject to the provisions of Article 14, 15, 18 and 19 for any of the following uses and no other:
A. Permitted Principal Uses
1. Single-family detached dwellings.
2. Municipal Use
3. Village Retail
4. Village Service
5. Agriculture
6. Dwelling in Combination with a Business
7. Office in accordance with the Village Service requirements
8. Retail Winery
9. Forestry
B. Permitted Accessory Uses
1. Accessory use on the same lot and customarily incidental to the permitted principal uses in Section 801A.
2. Parking in accordance with Article 16.
3. Signs in accordance with Article 17.
4. No impact home-based business
C. Conditional Uses (Refer to Article 19 for Special Provisions and Article 21 for Standards and Criteria).
1. Library
2. Bed and Breakfast Inn
3.Village Restaurant (subject to the requirements of this ordinance).
The maximum height of buildings and other structures erected, enlarged, altered or used shall be thirty-five (35) feet, except as provided in Article 18.
All uses shall comply with the area and bulk requirements listed, unless a more stringent requirement for a specific use is established by this Ordinance, in which case the more stringent requirement shall be met.
A. Permitted Principal Uses
2. Minimum Lot Width at Building Line - 100 feet
4. Maximum Impervious Surface Coverage - 40%
5. Maximum Building Coverage - 20%
6. Minimum Depth of Front Yard - 10 feet
7. Minimum Depth of Rear Yard - 35 feet
8. Minimum Width of Each Individual Side Yard - 20 feet
B. Conditional Uses Conditional uses shall comply with the Area and Bulk requirements of Section 803-A.A, unless a more stringent requirement is set by this Ordinance, in which case the more stringent requirement shall be met.
A. Adaptive reuse of existing historic buildings is encouraged.
B. Buildings deemed to have historic or architectural significance by the Township within the VC-1 Zoning District shall not be demolished unless the applicant has demonstrated that the buildings cannot be adapted and used for the use intended or for any other permitted use.
Where demolition is determined by the Board of Supervisors to be acceptable, the development of the property shall be undertaken in a manner which preserves the character, front yard setback, and design of the building removed. New or reconstructed structures shall maintain the architectural style, scale, bulk, and design of the original building.
C. Lots of less than one acre in existence at the time of adoption of this ordinance may be used for any permitted or conditional use allowed in this District, provided that all additions to existing structures and all new construction shall comply with the yard setbacks for the VC-1 district and the requirements of Section 1809 of this Ordinance.
D. All buildings and structures (new, additions and alterations to existing structures) shall comply with the Design Guidelines for the Solebury Township Traditional Neighborhood Commercial District.
E. Parking In addition to the requirements and provisions of Section 1603 of this Ordinance, the following special provisions shall apply:
1. In the VC-1 District, the conditional reduction shall permit up to a forty percent (40%) reduction in the required number of spaces where the Board of Supervisors determines, in its sole discretion, that a greater percentage of parking spaces is not necessary to satisfy the parking needs of the proposed use.
2. If deemed necessary and feasible by the Board of Supervisors, a reserve parking area in VC-1 district shall be constructed of porous paving.
3.Parking layout Parking shall be located to the side and rear or buildings, except that one row of parking only shall be permitted in the front of the principle building.
F. Use Requirements for Village Uses
1. VILLAGE RETAIL - the retail sale of goods and commodities in the Village Commercial District where all of the items sold shall be contained and sold from within the building, provided, however, goods and commodities may be displayed for sale outside of the building during business hours. This use does not include the sale of items such as: automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, farm equipment, boats, recreational vehicles, and gasoline. No single use shall occupy a building larger than 4,000 square feet.
2. VILLAGE SERVICES All services listed as Village Services as that term is defined in Article 2 of this Ordinance. VC-1 Village Services also includes, professional office uses for personal services, or professional services such as medical, dental and legal services, travel agents, real estate office and municipal uses; personal service businesses including health spas (but not fitness or athletic clubs), therapeutic massage, and yoga; the studios of such arts and crafts persons or artists, potters and other persons creating homemade articles as well as any other such village service use that is similar in nature to the above uses and compatible with the village designation. No single use shall occupy a building larger than 4,000 square feet.
3. VC-1 VILLAGE RESTAURANT This use is limited to the sale of food and beverages to the public. Restaurants shall be established only within buildings existing at the time of adoption of this ordinance.
4. RETAIL WINERY A retail winery use is the commercial processing grapes or other fruit products, to produce and bottle wine or similar spirits. Processing includes crushing, fermenting, blending, aging, storage, bottling, administrative office functions for the winery, warehousing and wholesale sales. Retails sales and tasting facilities of wine and related promotional items may be permitted uses of a Retail Winery. All uses and operations shall also be subject to the licensing and operational requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and all other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the operations at the Retail Winery. A winery shall comply with the following conditions:
a. A winery may provide for the sale of wine and related products, wine tasting and instruction related to the wine making process. Village Restaurant or other Restaurant uses are not permitted.
c. A Retail Winery may be used for events (as defined herein) as an accessory use to the Retail Winery. For the purposes of this Section of the VC-1 Article, the term "event" shall mean parties, receptions or banquets, and similar social uses that are conducted at the Retail Winery facility. In the event that the event shall be conducted, in whole or in part, within any structure, that structure shall meet the current requirements of the Universal Building Code as adopted by the Township and all fire and safety codes prior to any use for an event. The structure shall be subject to pre-event inspection to determine compliance and permitting and no event shall be held within any structure that has not been pre-inspected and permitted for the safe use and occupancy of the structure.
i. Permanent structures shall be subject to an annual inspection to determine compliance with the Universal Building Code as adopted by the Township and all fire and safety codes and all other applicable Township Codes. No event shall be held within any permanent structure that has not been inspected and permitted for the safe use and occupancy of the structure.
ii. Tents or other temporary structures shall be subject to pre-event inspection to determine compliance with the Universal Building Code as adopted by the Township, all fire and safety codes, all other applicable Township Codes and permitting. No event shall be held within any tent or other temporary structure that has not been inspected and specifically permitted for the safe use and occupancy of the tent or other temporary structure for the specified event. The Retail Winery shall procure from the Township a permit for each event to be held in a tent or other temporary structure. The form of the permit will be a permit that will define the areas that are permitted to be utilized for the event and the duration and nature of the event. All permits for a tent or other temporary structure shall be procured at the Retail Winery's expense, including the costs related to the inspection of the facility and structures to determine compliance with the UBC, fire and safety ordinances.
d. Parking - As provided by Article 16, Section 1600 (g) (1) of this Ordinance, the Board of Supervisors has determined that the Retail Winery shall provide for parking as follows:
i. For those areas limited to uses as a Retail Winery only, parking shall be provided as required by Article 16, Section 1600 (e) (1) (Retail store or shop)
ii. For those areas that will be used as an accessory use, parking shall be provided as required by Article 16, Section 1600 (e) (4) (Restaurant)
iii. The total parking required for a Retail Winery shall be the sum of (1) and (2).
e. Temporary Outdoor accessory structures such as tents or other structures shall meet the setback requirements for the district.
The following parcels that are currently zoned RA, Residential/Agricultural or RB, Residential/Agricultural districts are to be rezoned VC-1 district:
41-022-007
41-022-010-001
41-022-018
41-022-018-001
41-022-019
41-022-019-001
41-022-020
41-022-021
41-022-021-001
41-022-022
41-022-023
41-022-024
41-022-025
41-022-035
41-022-036
41-022-037
41-022-038
41-022-041.001
41-022-041-006
41-022-048
41-022-048-001
41-022-049
**Webmasters Note: The previous Article has been added as per Ordinance No. 2008-5.
