ZONING HEARING BOARD OF WARWICK TOWNSHIP BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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1 ZONING HEARING BOARD OF WARWICK TOWNSHIP BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA Docket No Applicant: Afzal Realty LLC 1875 Stout Drive Warminster, PA Owner: Same. Subject Property: Tax Parcel No , which is located at 1825 Stout Drive, Warminster, PA Requested Relief: The Applicant proposes to construct an addition to the existing structure on the property and requests the following variances from the Warwick Township Zoning Ordinance ( Ordinance ): 1. from H.13.c.2.a.iii, to permit the proposed addition to be located at less than 500 feet from a residential zoning district; and 2. from H.1.b and H.13.c.2.a.vi.A, to permit less than the required number of off-street parking spaces. Hearing History: The application was filed in Warwick Township on August 25, The hearing was held on October 3, 2017 at the Warwick Township Administration Building, 1733 Township Greene, Jamison, PA Appearances: Applicant by: John A. VanLuvanee, Esq. Eastburn and Gray, PC 60 E. Court Street P.O. Box 1389 Doylestown, PA Mailing Date: October 30, 2017

2 D E C I S I O N FINDINGS OF FACT: 1. The Zoning Hearing Board of Warwick Township met the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance, the Municipalities Planning Code, and other relevant statutes as to legal notice of the hearing held. 2. The Applicant is the Owner of the Subject Property and therefore possessed of the requisite standing to make application to this Board. 3. The Subject Property is located in the LI, Limited Industrial Zoning District of Warwick Township. It is 1.99 acres in size. Its lot width along Stout Drive is approximately feet and it extends for a distance of 500 feet from the Stout Drive right-of-way to its rear property line. It is one of several industrial lots in an industrial campus known as Warwick Commons. 4. The Applicant s testimony was given by Mateen Afzal who is a principal member of the Applicant LLC. He is also the general manager and joint owner of PDC Machines which operates on two other lots in Warwick Commons, 1707 and 1875 Stout Drive. 5. PDC Machines is a manufacturer of equipment used by industrial/specialty gas and chemical companies. 6. Mr. Afzal established that PDC Machines has been in operation in Warwick Township since PDC Machines has undergone significant growth and increased demand for its manufactured products and needs additional assembly capacity. Accordingly, the Applicant purchased the Subject Property, which is presently subject to a lease that expires in October of The Subject Property is improved with a 6,447 square foot one-story building and a parking field containing 14 off-street spaces. 9. At the conclusion of the existing lease, the Applicant proposes to construct an addition to be attached to the rear of the existing structure that will have a footprint of 25,985 square feet, including a two-story structure with a 1,378 square foot footprint attached to the rear of the existing structure and an 18,160 square foot one-story addition to the rear of that. 10. The addition is proposed at a rear yard setback distance of feet. The existing rear yard setback distance is 367 feet. 2

3 11. The Subject Property borders residential properties to its rear. Those properties are lots that were created by the Heritage Creek residential subdivision after the creation of the Subject Property. 12. When the Subject Property was created in 1983, the applicable rear yard setback distance was 200 feet. The competent evidence establishes that several of the industrial lots in the Warwick Commons Industrial Park were developed to that 200 foot rear yard setback distance. 13. In 2010, the rear yard setback distance required in the LI Zoning District was increased from 200 feet to 500 feet. As a result of that, the structure on the Subject Property became lawfully nonconforming to the new rear yard setback distance requirement. Further, since the Subject Property is only 500 feet deep, application of this rear yard setback distance is made impossible. 14. The specific use proposed by PDC Machines on the Subject Property is for manufacturing and assembly of compressors which constitutes a manufacturing use (Use H-1) which is permitted by right in the LI Zoning District at Ordinance A. 15. The proposed hours of operation for the PDC Machine use on the Subject Property will be from 6:30 AM until 6:30 PM during the week and on Saturday from 8:00 AM until 12:00 PM. Deliveries will be accomplished by box or flatbed trucks which do not require loading docks as the addition includes overhead doors at ground level for that purpose. 16. When Warwick Commons was developed, its stormwater management facility was designed to accommodate an 80% impervious surface ratio on the Subject Property. The impervious surface coverage ratio proposed is 48.6%. 17. Nicholas Rose, PE was qualified to testified in this hearing as an expert in civil engineering. He established that the existing stormwater management facility effectively manages the rate of runoff but that modifications will be proposed to control volume of stormwater, likely in the nature of an underground storage facility under the proposed parking area. Rose agreed that the stormwater management facility to be constructed on the Subject Property will be in compliance with Township stormwater management ordinances and regulations and to the satisfaction of the Warwick Township Municipal Engineer. 18. The area within the proposed rear yard setback distance is deed restricted open space and contains a 35 foot wide drainage easement to accommodate the rate of stormwater runoff. It contains a significant area of woodlands that minimizes the impact of the proposed addition location upon the residential properties to the rear. 19. Mr. Afzal testified that the number of employees at the proposed facility will be approximately workers. There will be also be one company vehicle parked on the Subject Property. There will be very limited customer visits to the property that 3

4 might require parking spaces for an additional 1-2 vehicles. Accordingly, this application proposes to increase the number of off-street parking spaces from the existing 14 to the proposed The parking standards for an industrial park, contained at Ordinance H-13 requires 1 off-street parking space for every 300 square feet of gross floor area. Mr. Rose established that the required number of off-street parking spaces, therefore, would be The proposed parking spaces will be located on the northern side of the existing and proposed structures. None of these parking spaces will be located to the rear of the building, reducing any impact upon the residential properties along the rear property line. 22. Mr. Afzal also noted that, if additional parking were required for the proposed use of the Subject Property, it can be and will be accommodated on the other properties owned by the Applicant within this industrial park. 23. The credible evidence establishes, and the Board finds, that the rear yard setback distance proposed for the addition is consistent with the character of other lots in the Warwick Commons Industrial Park and will not encroach any further into a rear setback distance than existing structures on those lots. 24. The additions, if constructed as proposed, will comply with applicable impervious surface and building coverage requirements of the Ordinance. 25. Two residents of the Heritage Creek residential development testified in opposition to the application. Joseph Gable, 1125 Maxwell Manor, testified that his neighborhood wanted to see the 500 foot rear yard setback distance enforced and expressed concerns about stormwater management. 26. Larry Rodger, 1869 Nathanial Trail, testified with concerns about stormwater management and impervious surface coverage as well as the potential for noise. Rodger presented exhibits O-1 through O-7, photographs of standing water along the rear of his and neighboring properties. The Board finds that a review of those photographs indicates that the water that is standing in them is located within a drainage swale that was designed for that purpose. 27. As to stormwater management, the existing facility adequately handles the rate of runoff and a new facility will be designed to accommodate storage to the improvement of the neighborhood. Concerns about the impervious surface ratio are not warranted as the application proposes compliance therewith. 28. Any noise that emanates from the structure must meet the standards of applicable Township ordinances and are contemplated by the by right permission to operate a manufacturing use on the Subject Property in the LI Zoning District. 4

5 29. Ashley Thompson, the Township Zoning Officer, conveyed comments of the Township Board of Supervisors regarding the application as follows: a. the Township would request that additional evergreen landscape plantings be installed to the rear of the proposed addition to which the Applicant agreed. The Board finds that this is a land development issue to be resolved by the Board of Supervisors at that time; b. concerns about the building color. The Board finds that it does not have control over that concern and is satisfied that it can and will be resolved during land development; c. concerns about lighting. The Applicant agreed to shield the lighting so as to reduce any impact upon residential properties to the rear and will comply with Township ordinances in that regard; and d. questions about the height of the addition. The height of the addition, both at its one-story and two-story sections, will be 32 feet, in compliance with the height requirements of the Ordinance. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: 1. The Subject Property presently accommodates a manufacturing use and is proposed to accommodate that use in the future. Accordingly, its existing and proposed uses are permitted by right. 2. The Subject Property became nonconforming to the rear yard setback requirements for the LI District in 2010 when that distance was increased from 200 feet to 500 feet. The 500 foot length of the Subject Property precludes compliance with this increased rear yard setback distance. 3. The foot rear yard setback distance proposed is consistent with the structures on many of the other industrial properties located within the Warwick Commons Industrial Park. The Board concludes that the existence of woodlands and open space, as well as the Applicant s agreement to install additional evergreen buffering, will mitigate the impact of the proposed rear yard setback on adjoining residential properties. 4. Compliance with the parking requirements of the Ordinance set forth at Ordinance H-13.c.2.a.vi.A of the Ordinance will create additional unnecessary impervious surface coverage on the property given the parking needs of the proposed use and the availability of parking spaces on other properties owned by the Applicant. However, the Board determines to condition this variance by the requirement that if a 5

6 change in a use requires additional parking in the future, then additional relief from the Zoning Ordinance will be required. 5. The 31 off-street parking spaces proposed by the Applicant, this Board concludes, will adequately park the use proposed on the Subject Property. 6. The competent evidence presented leads the Board to conclude that, if the variance relief is granted, there will be no negative impacts upon surrounding properties or uses. 7. The evidence establishes that the relief sought by the Applicant is the minimum variance necessary. 8. The variance sought will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood or district in which the Subject Property is located. 9. The Applicant has presented evidence of sufficient factors to warrant the grant of the dimensional variance requested. 10. Accordingly, the Warwick Township Zoning Hearing Board determined, unanimously, to grant the Applicant s request for relief, as is set forth hereafter. ORDER Upon consideration and after hearing, the Warwick Township Zoning Hearing Board hereby GRANTS the following variances from the Warwick Township Zoning Ordinance in order to permit the construction of an addition to the existing structure on the Subject Property, as depicted in the Zoning Plan, prepared by ProTract Engineering, Inc., dated August 4, 2017: 1. from H.13.c.2.a.iii, to permit the proposed addition to be located at a foot rear yard setback distance from a residential use or zoning district, instead of the required 500 feet; and 2. from H.1.b and H.13.c.2.a.vi.A, to permit 31 off-street parking spaces on the Subject Property, instead of the required 92. The relief herein granted is subject to compliance with all other applicable governmental ordinances and regulations and the following specific conditions: 1. if a change of use occurs in the future that requires additional off-street parking spaces, then additional relief from the Ordinance is necessary; 6

7 2. that the issues raised by the Township during this hearing be resolved during land development; and 3. that a stormwater management facility be designed in accordance with applicable Township ordinances and regulations to the satisfaction of the Warwick Township Municipal Engineer. ZONING HEARING BOARD OF WARWICK TOWNSHIP /s/ Kevin J. Wolf Kevin J. Wolf /s/ Dave Mullen Dave Mullen /s/ Lorraine Sciuto-Ballasy Lorraine Sciuto-Ballasy IMPORTANT NOTE: Pursuant to and of the Warwick Township Zoning Ordinance, variances or special exceptions granted by the Zoning Hearing Board shall expire one (1) year from the date of the Decision, unless the applicant or owner or successor in interest has commenced construction within that time. Construction will be deemed commenced upon the issuance of a building and/or zoning permit for the approved use. 7

ZONING HEARING BOARD OF WARWICK TOWNSHIP BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Steve A. Brun and Megan C. Leary 1331 Memorial Drive Warwick, PA 18974

ZONING HEARING BOARD OF WARWICK TOWNSHIP BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA Docket No. 17-02 Applicants: Owners: Subject Property: Requested Relief: Steve A. Brun and Megan C. Leary 1331 Memorial Drive Warwick,