MapLink™ | Procedures | Conditional Use Approval - General Standards

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Conditional Use Approval - General Standards
A. The following standards shall apply in every conditional use application, and the burden of proof by a fair preponderance of the credible evidence to demonstrate compliance with these standards shall be upon the applicant. In reviewing and acting upon a conditional use application, the Supervisors shall, in addition to requiring compliance with the express standards and criteria established in the applicable zoning district for the use proposed, require the applicant's compliance with the following standards:
(1) No conditional use shall be approved unless the Supervisors find as a fact from the evidence the following:
(a) That improvements to streets and highways contiguous to the applicant's property as part of the improvements for the proposed conditional use development, such as road widening, acceleration/deceleration lanes, traffic control devices and similar improvements, shall be sufficient to prevent adverse traffic impacts caused by the proposed use.
(b) That buffer areas are provided within the applicant's property to effectively screen the proposed conditional use from adjoining uses and properties whether similar or dissimilar in type or character. Where, in the opinion of the Supervisors, the proposed screening otherwise required by this chapter or Chapter 72: Subdivision of Land of the West Goshen Code is insufficient to create a visual barrier, additional screening consisting of a mixture of plant materials and trees, both deciduous and coniferous, shall be required.
(c) That building, structure, parking and street setbacks from adjoining properties are sufficient to remove any potential adverse impact or interference with adjoining uses, whether similar or dissimilar. The Supervisors may require a reasonable increase in setbacks and/or buffer areas otherwise mandated by the applicable zoning district regulations.
(d) That the proposed conditional use shall be served by adequate and effective public sewer facilities and public water for domestic and fire supply.
(e) The applicant shall establish that the capacity of the road network providing access to the premises in question shall not lower the level of service of any intersections determined critical to the proposed use below a level of service C when the incremental increase in traffic attributable to the proposed use is superimposed upon the existing use of the road.
(f) The applicant shall establish that the interior traffic circulation for the proposed use at the proposed location, including but not limited to acceleration and deceleration lanes where required at the proposed entrances to the location, shall be adequate to provide safe and convenient circulation for users of the facility, visitors to the facility, employees of the facility and all emergency vehicles that may require entrance thereon.
(g) The applicant shall establish that the facility provides safe and convenient pedestrian access and internal circulation within the grounds of the facility and particularly for points of access from the facility to the parking areas.
(h) The applicant shall establish that adequate screening and buffering is provided between the lands in question and surrounding residential uses and residentially zoned districts to screen the facility from view and preclude any glare from lighting or noise from being ascertainable beyond the boundaries of the property.
(i) The applicant shall establish that the fire company which will provide fire protection services to the proposed use has adequate equipment to reach the highest points of the proposed building with ladders and hoses or, in the alternative, that the owner or operator of the facility will provide such equipment.
(j) The applicant shall establish the adequacy and availability of sanitary sewer facilities and the availability of capacity within the public sanitary sewage system, if applicable, to service the proposed facility or such other adequate provision for such service as complies with the regulations of governmental or quasigovernmental authorities having jurisdiction.
(k) The applicant shall establish that there will be no increase in surface water runoff at the boundaries of the premises beyond that runoff presently existing, as required by state law and Township regulations.
(l) Public water availability and adequacy shall be demonstrated.
B. In granting a conditional use, the Board of Supervisors shall have the power to attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition to those expressed in this chapter, as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes and provisions of this chapter.
C. The standards required in this section and those applicable standards established elsewhere within this chapter shall be deemed a part of the definitional aspect under which a conditional use may be granted, and the failure of the applicant to establish its compliance with all of the standards shall, in the reasonable discretion of the Board of Supervisors, be deemed either a basis for the establishing of conditions or limitations on a conditional use approval or, where warranted, the basis for a determination that the applicant has not brought himself within the requirements for which a conditional use may be granted.