Zoning: An Overview

Zoning: An Overview

When the idea of municipal zoning was originally contemplated over 100 years ago, the primary [urpose of zoning was to protect public health, safety, and welfare by separating incompatible uses from each other.  At the time it was not common for residential, commercial, and heavy industrial uses to exist in close proximity, often with undesirable consequences for personal health and property values.

At its core, zoning is a system when complementary land uses, most commonly residential, commercial, and industrial, are segregated into clearly defined districts by level of intensity.  The 2005 Marcus Hook Borough Zoning Code contains four separate residential districts, three mixed-use districts, one commercial district, two business campus districts, one transit-oriented development district, and two industrial districts; each with its own prescribed level of density and intensity of use.

The Zoning Hearing Board is unique in that it is a quasi-judicial body.  The Zoning Hearing Board essentially has no legislative power, as it can neither make or modify zoning policy.

The Role of the Zoning Hearing Board

The Municipal Planning Code (MPC) grants the Zoning Hearing Board exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide the following matters:

1. Applications for variances;

2. Applications for special exceptions;

3. Appeals from a determination of the Zoning Office, including but not limited to the following:

-The granting or denial of any permit, or failure to act on the application;

-The issuance of any cease and desist order;

-The registration or refusal to register any nonconforming use, structure, or lot; or

-A preliminary opinion

4. Appeals from a determination by the Borough Floodplain Administrator with respect to the administration of the floodplain ordinance.

5. Substantive and procedural challenges to the validity of any land use ordinance, except curative amendments.

For more information contact Bruce Dorbian, Zoning Officer, 610-485-1341 ext. 216.