SECTION 102. PURPOSE. - Hazleton, Pennsylvania

CHAPTER 1

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

SECTION 101. TITLE. This ordinance may be cited as the "Hazleton City Zoning Ordinance of 2021".

SECTION 102. PURPOSE. This ordinance is enacted to:

a. Promote, protect, and facilitate any or all of the following: the public health, safety, morals, and the general welfare; coordinated and practical community development and proper density of population; emergency management preparedness and operations; the provision of adequate light and air; access to incident energy sources, police protection, vehicle parking and loading space, transportation, water, sewer, schools, recreational facilities, and public grounds; the provision of a safe, reliable, and adequate water supply for domestic, commercial, and industrial use; as well as the preservation of the natural, scenic, and historic values in the environment and the preservation of forests, wetlands, and aquifers.

b. Prevent any or all of the following: overcrowding of land; blight, danger, and congestion in travel and transportation; and loss of health, life, and property from fire, panic or other dangers.

c. Provide for the use of land within the City for residential housing of various dwelling types encompassing all basic forms of housing, including single-family and two-family dwellings, and a reasonable range of multi-family dwellings in various arrangements, as well as manufactured homes and manufactured home communities.

d. Accommodate reasonable overall community growth, including population and employment growth, and opportunities for development of a variety of residential dwelling types and non-residential uses.

SECTION 103. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES. This ordinance is intended to promote the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the present and future residents of the City of Hazleton ("City") by:

a. Providing standards to control the amount of open space and impervious surfaces in connection with the improvement or use of lots within the City, while controlling the intensity of development in areas of sensitive natural resources or natural features in order to reduce or eliminate adverse environmental impacts.

b. Controlling and regulating the growth of the City by providing for all types of residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial uses in areas that have adequate community facilities, utilities and infrastructure taking into consideration existing circumstances and anticipated future development.

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c. Promoting new business development in appropriate areas that will provide additional tax revenue and job opportunities.

d. Directing industrial and commercial developments to locations that will minimize conflicts with residential uses, while avoiding traffic congestion and safety problems.

e. Preserving and maintaining environmental areas of exceptional quality and scenic beauty and environmentally sensitive areas from inappropriate development.

f. Lessening the danger and congestion of traffic on the roads, streets and highways within the City, while at the same time discouraging development of a nature which utilizes heavy traffic either in number or size of vehicles on roadways, streets, or highways inadequate for such traffic.

g. Securing safety from fire, flood, panic and other dangers.

h. Identifying areas and the locating of facilities within the City suitable for public and quasi-public uses, public and private recreation, and indoor and outdoor recreation.

i. Controlling development within the City by implementing regulations which allow for the review of such things as; soil types, topography, physical characteristics, the environment, access and utilities.

j. Reviewing and regulating the potential environmental impacts development will have upon the natural resources within the City.

k. Regulating off-street parking, loading and unloading facilities in such a manner as to lessen traffic congestion in the streets, prohibit traffic hazards, and promote traffic safety.

l. Acknowledging that technical developments in the telecommunication field have provided new options for the expansion and delivery of communication services, the City desires to encourage efficient and adequate wireless communication services while at the same time, protecting the health, safety and welfare of its residents by regulating the construction and placement of communication towers, antennas, and accessory equipment buildings and structures.

m. Regulating small cell installations and wireless communications facilities for the purpose of protecting residential districts; schools, parks, churches, playgrounds, historic districts, sites, and structures; preserving scenic areas; minimizing aesthetic impacts; to preserve the health and safety of residents; and to respect the need of wireless communications service providers to relay signals without

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electronic interference from other service providers' operations, while not unreasonably limiting competition among them.

n. Providing for local regulations of small cell installations and small wireless communications facilities in a manner so as to protect residential areas and dwellings.

o. Encouraging consolidations, shared use and co-location of antenna and antennamounting structures over the construction of new facilities.

p. Regulating small cell installations and wireless communication facilities in compliance with Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") regulations on wireless telecommunications providing that all local jurisdictions with various restrictions on the exercise of local aesthetic, zoning, public works, and fee restrictions when dealing with wireless installation siting applications; including modified requirements for the City to approve or deny applications within certain periods of time.

q. Ensuring that the installation, augmentation and relocation of small cell installations in the public rights-of-way are conducted in such a manner as to lawfully balance the legal rights of applicants with the rights, safety, privacy, property and security of residents of the City.

r. Providing citizens with an environment free from nuisances such as excess or objectionable noise, glare, odors, and vibration that would otherwise jeopardize their health, welfare and safety; degrade their quality of life; and impede their quiet use and enjoyment of their property.

s. Providing housing to comply with the Federal Fair Housing Act.

t. Promoting alternative energy sources in an effort to conserve energy by allowing development in such a manner as not to negatively impact the environment.

u. Establishing locations within the City wherever reasonable and possible for timber harvesting activities in the remaining wooded areas, agricultural operations in the outskirts, and extraction of minerals in such a manner as to not conflict with any state law while regulating the operations of those uses and protecting the public health, safety and welfare of the community.

v. Regulating aesthetics so as not to negatively impact property values while promoting harmonious neighborhoods.

w. Promoting compatibility among land uses by classifying land uses and then separating those uses into different zoning districts within the City including residential (single-family, two-family and multi-family), commercial, industrial, institutional and open space recreational.

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x. Encouraging redevelopment and rehabilitation of buildings, including establishing regulations regarding nonconforming uses; buildings and structures to observe constitutional rights of the landowners to continue such uses; buildings and structures to avoid undue hardship, but still regulate such uses; buildings and structures to protect public health, safety and welfare and conform neighborhoods to future planned development.

y. Providing quality energy in an economically friendly way by creating an overlay district that would promote the use of wind and solar by allowing for the construction, operation and location of wind farms and solar energy systems while establishing regulations to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the community.

z. Regulating signs in such a manner as to promote the safety of persons and property by providing signs that do not create a safety or traffic hazard by confusing or distracting motorists or impairing one's ability to see pedestrians, obstacles or other vehicles, or to read traffic signs; and obstruct emergency service personnel such as fire and police.

aa. Promoting the efficient transfer of information in sign messages by permitting one to identify or locate a person or business; and prohibiting signs that distract motorists and obstruct pedestrians based upon the number and messages presented, while still permitting one to exercise freedom of speech and choice.

bb. Protecting the public welfare and enhancing the aesthetics, appearance and economic value of the City, by regulating signs that interfere with scenic beauty and views of the City; create a nuisance to persons using the public property and rights-of-way; constitute a nuisance to use and enjoyment of other's property such things as light, height, size and movement; and detract from property value, or the special character of particular zoning districts within the City.

cc. Prohibiting signs that constitute a nuisance by creating a condition harmful to the public health, safety and welfare or obstructing the free use of property, so as to interfere with the use and enjoyment of life and property, or the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any public property, public road or the property of another.

dd. Establishing an overlay district to promote local businesses while protecting existing businesses by imposing regulations meant to preserve the general character of the downtown business district.

ee. Creating an overlay district designating a historical district intended to recognize a group of buildings, properties, or sites of architectural significance for the purpose of protecting historical resources. The purpose of the historical district is

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to provide a comprehensive framework for the preservation of historic sites, objects, buildings, and structures.

ff. Adopting an ordinance consistent with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as reenacted and amended.

SECTION 104. INTERPRETATION.

a. It is the intent of this ordinance to establish minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals and general welfare.

b. In interpreting the language of this ordinance to determine the extent of the restriction upon the use of the property, the language shall be interpreted, where doubt exists as to the intended meaning of the language written and enacted by City Council, in favor of the property owner and against any implied extension of the restriction.

c. This ordinance does not repeal, annul, modify, or in any way impair, interfere with, or supersede any private restriction placed upon property by covenant, deed, or other private agreement. The provisions of this ordinance shall be separate from private restrictions or covenants.

d. Unless this ordinance or any other ordinance, rule, law or policy provides otherwise, if an application under this ordinance would also be regulated by the City of Hazleton Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance ("SALDO"), then any permit issued or approval granted under this ordinance shall be interpreted as conditional approval until the plan is in compliance with the SALDO.

e. Unless this ordinance or any other ordinance, law or policy provides otherwise, any zoning permit or approval shall be construed as being conditioned upon the applicant obtaining all other applicable permits and approvals, including, but not limited to building permits, highway occupancy permits, and stormwater plan approval.

f. In referring to units in this ordinance, the Section is the basic unit of organization ("SECTION"). The level immediately above a section is the Chapter. Chapters are numbered sequentially. The terminology for referring to units within a Section is as follows:

1. (a) (Subsection) (lower-case letter).

2. (1) (Paragraph) (Arabic numeral).

3. (A) (Subparagraph) (upper-case letter).

4. (i) (Clause) (lower-case letter).

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