§ 265-203 USE DEFINITIONS

§ 265-203        Use Definitions

The following terms consist of uses of particular establishments as authorized and regulated throughout this ordinance within but not limited to the authorized uses within particular zoning districts, parking, and signage.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL OFFICES – An establishment that provides day-to-day office administrative services, such as financial planning; billing and recordkeeping; personnel; and physical distribution and logistics for others on a contract or fee basis; or any office of recognized professions, such as lawyers, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance agents, medical offices, dental offices and others who, through training, are qualified to perform services of a professional nature, excluding banks and veterinary clinics.

ANIMAL HOSPITAL/CLINIC –      A place where animals are given medical or surgical treatment and are cared for during the time of such treatment.  Use as a kennel shall be limited to short-time boarding and shall be only incidental to such hospital use not including outdoor runs, pens and/or cages.  The definition shall also include veterinary clinics.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL OFFICES – An establishment that provides day-to-day office administrative services, such as financial planning; billing and recordkeeping; personnel; and physical distribution and logistics for others on a contract or fee basis; or any office of recognized professions, such as lawyers, architects, engineers, real estate brokers, insurance agents, medical offices, dental offices and others who, through training, are qualified to perform services of a professional nature, excluding banks and veterinary clinics.

ADULT USES – Adult uses shall include any one or more of the following establishments where any such activity whether or not accessory to a principal use otherwise defined herein shall render the establishment an adult use:  (See Section 265-502)

ADULT BOOKSTORE— Any commercial establishment in which is offered for sale any book or publication, film or medium which depicts nudity or sexual conduct. 

ADULT BUSINESS — An adult bookstore, movie theater, VCR, digital, or other electronic or recording device medium movie, movie rental or movie house or other adult entertainment, as defined herein. In the event that a use includes activities which constitute an adult bookstore, adult movie theater or movie house or adult entertainment, as defined herein, then such use shall be considered an adult business and shall be subject to all provisions in this chapter applicable to adult business uses, even if such activities are not the only activities conducted upon the premises.  

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT— An establishment providing, either as a sole use in conjunction with or in addition to other uses, entertainment consisting of the use of live dancing, posing, displaying, acting or other live presentation or use of persons whose actions are distinguished or characterized by emphasis on use of the human body in a manner intended to or resulting in arousal of sexual excitation or sexual titillation or a prurient interest or intended to or resulting in producing lustful emotions.  

ADULT MOVE THEATER OR MOVIE HOUSE (INCLUDING ADULT MINI-THEATERS) — Any movie theater which on a regular continuing basis shows films rated “X” by the Motion Picture Coding Association of America or any movie theater which presents for public viewing on a regular, continuing basis so-called “adult films” depicting sexual conduct, as defined by this chapter.  

AMATEUR RADIO ANTENNA STRUCTURE OR AMATEUR RADIO ANTENNA –  Any antenna structure employed solely for the purposes of transmitting amateur radio service communications as defined and protected by Pennsylvania Act 88 of 2008, an act Amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, restricting municipalities from regulating amateur radio service communications, including all support structures and excluding buildings.

ANTENNA – A structure and necessary auxiliary components designed for transmitting and/or receiving radio, television. telephone communications or any other telecommunications system signal which is operated by an agency or corporation other than a public utility which is regulated by the Public Utilities Commission or by other federal commission or agency, excluding amateur radio antennas as accessory uses. 

ASSEMBLY HALL, PUBLIC OR SEMI-PUBLIC — A room, hall or building used for lectures, tours, meetings and gatherings, other than churches or other uses expressly defined herein. Any portion of such an establishment where food and drink are regularly prepared and served to club members, guests, or the public at large shall be classified as a restaurant.

AUTOMOTIVE SALES AND LEASING – Sales and leasing of automobiles that do not require a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) under Pennsylvania Law.

BANK – An establishment primarily engaged in accepting demand and other deposits and making commercial, industrial, and consumer loans.

BANQUET HALL – A premises where food is prepared for direct onsite consumption by individuals or groups of people and their respective guests who rent the facility for specific events, conventions, celebrations, dances, or similar gatherings and/or including catering for offsite events. 

BAR/TAVERN – An establishment which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises as the principal use and offers food for consumption on the premises as an accessory use.

BED AND BREAKFAST – The offering of overnight accommodations and food service for transient guests, for compensation, within the confines of a detached single family dwelling structure when conducted as an ancillary use in association with a normal single family residential use.

CAR WASH – A facility, whether automatic, semi-automatic or manual, for washing and polishing vehicles.

CEMETERY – Property used for interring of dead persons or domestic pets, including mausoleums and columbarium, but not including a crematorium.

CHURCH – A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, that is primarily used as a place where persons regularly assemble for religious worship activities or similar regular exercise of religion. This term includes similar uses such as synagogue, temple, or mosque.

COMMERCIAL KENNEL –         A facility for the boarding of small animals, the breeding of small animals such as dogs and/or cats, or the boarding, grooming, sale or training of small animals such as dogs and/or cats for which a fee is charged.

CONVENIENCE STORE – A retail establishment that sells limited food, common households items, and convenience goods in addition to gasoline sales. 

DAY CARE CENTER – A State-certified facility licensed to provide care to seven or more children for a period of less than 24 hours in a day.

DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITY –  An establishment, whether of a principal or accessory use, that by design, physical facilities, service, or by packaging encourages or permits customers to receive services, obtain goods or be entertained while remaining in their motor vehicles.

DWELLING UNIT – A building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family

1. DWELLING, SINGLE FAMILY: A detached building designed for, or occupied exclusively as, a residence for one family.
2. DWELLING, DUPLEX: A detached building containing two dwelling units that constitute the sole principle uses of the building and which are arranged such that each unit possesses separate exterior entrances and where the stories occupied are arranged adjacent to and not above or below the other dwelling unit.
3. DWELLING, TOWNHOUSE: A dwelling within a group of units, consisting of a minimum of three, but no more than six, independent single dwelling units that are attached side by side by common unpierced party walls. This definition shall include those arrangements commonly cited as quads and carriage homes that are arranged as aforesaid.
4. DWELLING, MULTI OR MULTIPLE FAMILY, APARTMENT: A structure, other than a duplex, rowhouse or townhouse, containing separate dwelling units for families living independently of each other, but which may provide joint services, common access and circulation ways and similar facilities.

ENTERTAINMENT RECREATION FACILITIES, INDOOR – Any activity conducted for private gain that is generally related to the entertainment or recreation field and limited to the following uses: motion-picture theaters, bowling alleys, roller-skating rinks, theaters, playhouses, commercial swimming pools, gyms, indoor miniature golf and playgrounds, indoor courts, fields, or practice facilities for baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, and similar sports, and fitness centers.

ESSENTIAL SERVICE – The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies or authorities, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, communication, steam or water transmission, distribution, collection, supply or disposal systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewer pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment, or structures accessory to the consistent and efficient delivery of the aforementioned transmissions, fuels, resources, and products between residential and nonresidential units and source of production, refinement, or treatment of said items excepting communications towers and buildings.

ESSENTIAL SERVICE BUILDINGS – Any building that serves as the location for storage, distribution, maintenance and/or repair of facilities and/or equipment associated with the operation of an essential service, including pump stations.

FAMILY DAY CARE HOME –  A home other than the child’s own home, operated for profit or not-for-profit, in which child day care is provided at any one time to four, five or six children unrelated to the operator.

FUNERAL HOME – An establishment devoted to or used in the care and preparation for the funeral and burial of dead human bodies and maintained for the convenience of the bereaved for viewing or other services in connection with dead human bodies and as an office or place for carrying on the profession of funeral directing, excepting crematoriums as a principle or accessory use.

GENERAL RETAIL – Any establishment, not otherwise defined in this ordinance, by which goods are sold directly to the consumer and where such sales represent the principal use of the establishment and where any assembly or creation of goods is customarily incidental to the retail sales activity on the site and created for the sole purpose of onsite sales directly to the consumer, including grocery and convenience stores that do not sell gasoline, excluding retail supercenters. 

GREENHOUSE, RETAIL – A glass-enclosed building or area of land devoted to the cultivation and sale of plant materials and the products which aid their growth and care, excluding sale of fruits and vegetables for direct retail or wholesale consumption or sale.

GROCERY STORE –   A retail store which contains 10,000 square feet or less of gross floor area and whose primary activities involve the retail sales of beverages, confections, drugs, unpackaged and packaged food, unprepared and prepared food, magazines, tobacco and other household staples, which may or may not include a deli as an accessory use. 

GROUP RESIDENTIAL FACILITY – An establishment that provides room and board, for any period of time, to persons who receive supervised specialized service which are limited to health, social, rehabilitative or housing services that are provided under the jurisdiction of a government agency, their licensed or certified agents or other responsible nonprofit social service organizations. Such group facilities shall be limited to child and adult care and supervision that provide services for individuals not in need of hospitalization or incarceration, but who because of age, convalescence, infirmity, disability or related circumstance require such services, including shelters for battered persons and their children, and maternity homes.

HOSPITAL –   An institution, licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a hospital, which may render inpatient and outpatient medical care on a twenty-four (24) hours per day basis; and provides primary health services and medical/surgical care to persons suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity and other abnormal physical or mental conditions. A hospital may include operating facilities, a cafeteria or restaurant, medically related heliports, optical facilities and shops for pharmaceutical supplies, gifts, books, magazines, toiletries, flowers, candy or similar items, provided such uses are primarily for the benefit of patients, staff and visitors and are located so as not normally to attract other retail customers and in accordance with the standards of this chapter; or an outpatient clinic as defined in this section. 

HOTEL or MOTEL –   An establishment offering transient lodging accommodations at a daily rate to paying guests; the facility may also provide additional services, such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreational facilities, all of which are available to paying guests only.

INDUSTRIAL USES – Establishment primarily engaged in manufacturing, wholesale, warehousing, and bus transportation, as well as retail or service uses of a similar scale and impact including but not limited to NAICS Code 532120 Truck, Utility Trailer, and RV (Recreational Vehicle) Rental and Leasing; NAICS Code 8113 Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment; Heavy Equipment and Truck Driver Training Schools as included in NAICS Code 611519; NAICS Code 4853, Taxi and Limousine Service; NAICS Code 45431, Fuel Dealers; and the sale of aircraft fuels.

LOCAL PUBLIC USE      Building structures and land owned and occupied by Tarentum Borough, the Highlands School District, or any of either’s agencies to provide services to the residents of the Borough or School District.  Such municipal or school district facilities may include but not be limited to schools, administrative offices, public works buildings, storage yards, libraries, fire company building and grounds, ambulance service buildings and grounds, senior centers, recreation facilities and fields, and parks and buildings, excepting bus garages.

MEDICAL OFFICES –   Offices of recognized and licensed medical and mental health professionals such as doctors, chiropractors, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists.  

MINOR EQUIPMENT AND AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS – Small or automotive engine repair or reconditioning, collision and body repair, including straightening and repainting, replacement of parts and incidental services; and repair of appliances of a scale customarily utilized by individuals for noncommercial purposes and by retail or administrative uses.

MOBILEHOME PARKS – A parcel or contiguous parcels of land which has been so designated and improved that it contains two or more mobilehome lots for the placement thereon of mobilehomes.

NEIGHBORHOOD PARK OR COMMUNITY CENTER- A facility operated by a non-profit organization, or a homeowner’s or condominium association designed to primarily serve residents of the surrounding neighborhood as defined by subdivision plan or a residential area generally within four blocks of said park or center which may include and shall be limited to the following, unless otherwise authorized by this ordinance: children’s playground equipment, sport courts and fields, picnic areas, buildings housing accessory food service, banquet and kitchen facilities, meeting facilities, gymnasiums and fitness centers available solely to residents of a defined residential neighborhood in which building is located and their guests.

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, pickup, 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 the following requirements:

• The business activity shall be compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses.
• The business shall employ no employees other than family members residing in the dwelling.
• There shall be no display or sale of retail goods and no stockpiling or inventory of a substantial nature.
• There shall be no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights.
• 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.

NURSERY SCHOOLS – A preschool or nursery school licensed to educate preschool students by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

OUTDOOR COMMERCIAL RECREATION – An outdoor establishment operated by a corporation, partnership or other business entity for the pursuit of sports and recreational activities through the following types of establishments: miniature golf, golf or batting practice facilities, playing fields and courts, racquet clubs, swimming pools,  and amphitheaters.

OUTPATIENT CLINIC – any clinic, primarily intended for the treatment of those who typically do not reside within the establishment including but not limited to the following services provided for less than a 24 hour per day period:

1. Dialysis services.
2. Physical rehabilitation.
3. Mental health partial hospitalization center; Drug and alcohol partial hospitalization center; Drug and alcohol outpatient center; Drug and alcohol intensive outpatient center as defined and licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Department of Public Welfare, or other applicable agencies of the Commonwealth.
4. Methadone Clinic or Methadone Treatment Facility- A facility licensed by the Department of Health to use the drug methadone in the treatment, maintenance or detoxification of persons.
5. Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic – A premise or part thereof in which mental health evaluation or treatment, including psychiatric, psychological, and other related services, are provided under medical supervision, which is designed for children/adolescents with emotional disturbance and adults with mental illness on a planned and regularly scheduled basis, licensed as such by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

PERSONAL CARE HOME – A premise in which food, shelter and personal assistance or supervision are provided for a period exceeding 24 hours, for four or more adults who are not relatives of the operator, who do not require the services in or of a licensed long-term care facility (as defined and regulated by State law) , but who do require assistance or supervision in activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living.

PERSONAL SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT – An establishment that principally provides the following services: laundry, grooming and related cosmetic treatments, repair of small-scale personal property such as watches, shoes, and similar apparel; repair of small electronic equipment such as televisions, radios, and computer hardware; photography; and weight loss centers.

PHARMACY – Retail establishments that primarily sell prescription and nonprescription drugs.  These facilities may also sell cosmetics, toiletries, medications, stationery, personal care products, limited food products and general merchandise.

RETAIL SUPERCENTER – Any retail establishment, supermarket, or home center as classified under 2007 North American Industrial Classification Code 444110, Home Centers, that encompasses more than 90,000 square feet of gross floor area, including outside display or storage of merchandise as may be authorized by this article.

RESTAURANT – An establishment that offers food and beverages for sale directly to the end consumer for consumption either on and or off of the premises, including banquet facilities.

SCHOOL, COMMERCIAL — A privately operated, for-profit establishment providing technical or skilled training, vocational or trade educational courses and programs, excepting truck driving and similar schools with onsite training facilities.

SCHOOL, PRIVATE – A non-profit establishment licensed by the State Department of Education to provide education as an elementary or secondary school, vocational, or post-secondary education offering a degree, excepting truck driving and similar schools with onsite training facilities.

SERVICE STATION – A building, buildings, premises or portions thereof that are used or arranged, designed, or intended to be used for the retail sale of gasoline or other motor vehicle, or motor boat fuels, as well as limited minor repairs.

SIMILAR USES, UNDEFINED – Any use, not otherwise specifically defined within this ordinance, which is determined by Borough Council through approval of a conditional use with applicable conditions to be similar to uses defined in this section and authorized within a respective zoning district, in accordance with specific criteria set forth in this Chapter. 

SUPERMARKET –   A grocery store that that contains more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet of gross floor area.

TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT (TND) – an area of land developed in accordance with the principles authorized and encouraged by Article VII-A of the Municipalities Planning Code, Act of 1968, P.L.805, No. 247 as reenacted and amended, and with those standards expressed within this ordinance.

TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT (TND), INFILL MODEL – Any TND that proposes a combination of two or more of the following activities within the zoning district in which the TND is authorized:

1. Construction or renovation of a building exceeding 1,000 square feet of gross floor area.
2. Expansion of an existing building by 50% of gross floor area or more.
3. Construction of a new parking lot.
4. Expansion of an existing parking lot by more than 25% of existing parking spaces.
5. Demolition of an existing building.

TRANSITIONAL RESIDENTIAL FACILITY – A dwelling unit or group of dwelling units occupied on a short-term basis by persons assigned by a court of law, or who are self-referred, or referred by a public, semipublic or nonprofit agency, and managed by a public, semipublic or nonprofit agency responsible for the occupants’ care, safety, conduct, counseling and supervision for a specified period of time, for alcoholic recovery, community reentry services following incarceration, prison assignment, house arrest or other court-ordered treatment, and other such short-term supervised assignments.

VETERINARY CLINIC – An establishment, completely housed within a building, intended for the medical examination and treatment of animals, including commercial kennels.