Hatboro Amends Zoning Code

Drive-through restaurants are out and health clubs are in.

Throughout Hatboro's retail commercial district, that is. The permitted uses in the borough's shopping district, as well as other tweaks to the borough's zoning code were adopted recently as part of what borough attorney Christen Pionzio deemed a matter of "housekeeping."

In all, the 12-pages of zoning code amendments cover everything from the height of borough homes in the residential district - reduced from 35 feet to 30 feet - to the removal of auto repairs and sales from the Heavy Industrial Mixed-Use District.

During a public hearing last month prior to its Jan. 28 adoption, residents inquired about the height of houses and whether the reductions applied to existing homes. Pionzio said homes already built would be grandfathered in and that the change would be applicable to new construction only.

Resident John Farnen said he's noticed that auto-related businesses oftentimes use on-street parking for overflow parking on a day-to-day basis. 

"Unless they predate the code," Pionzio said the businesses are "supposed to provide their own parking."

Other changes approved with the amendments include provisions for "no impact" home-based businesses; a 30-day time frame for use of temporary signs; and a "total sign area allowable" in a non-residential district of 2 square feet per each lineal foot of primary frontage.

To see other changes in Hatboro's zoning code, see attached PDF.