38 Mainland Rd, Harleysville, PA 19438

Village Commercial District

In expansion of the community development objectives contained in Article II of this Chapter and in support of the goals and implementation techniques of the 2015 Indian Valley Regional Comprehensive Plan, as amended, it is hereby declared to be the intent of the VC Village Commercial District in this Township to establish reasonable standards to permit and regulate limited commercial, office and residential uses within the Village areas. The primary purpose of the District is to permit a mix of various housing types, commercial businesses, offices, and institutions in a pedestrian-oriented district that retains the characteristic village environment. Specifically, it is the intent of this article to: Encourage the retention of the village atmosphere of the Villages of Mainland, Lederach and Vernfield, and the Central Main Street area of the Village of Harleysville by preserving the existing buildings and landscaped spaces to the greatest extent possible; Encourage retention of existing buildings by permitting a variety of commercial, office and residential uses which are compatible with the existing building types, lot sizes and other physical and visual characteristics of the Village Commercial District; Permit uses which allow conversion of existing buildings in a context-sensitive manner which maintains the visual character and architectural scale of existing development within the district, while encouraging adaptive reuse; Encourage those types of commercial and office uses which do not attract either large volumes of traffic or continuous customer turnover while allowing for a range of small-scale, low-impact commercial uses; Discourage development of strip-type, highway-oriented commercial uses which require incongruous architectural styles, excessive paved areas and numerous curb cuts; Encourage consolidation of driveways, parking lots and curb cuts to provide more efficient and safe access, vehicle circulation and parking; Encourage coordinated pedestrian connectivity through the use of continuous paths and sidewalks to provide efficient, pleasant and convenient pedestrian and non-motorized access from residential areas and parking areas to and among the various permitted uses; Prioritize pedestrian movement and access to buildings, open spaces, and streets; and discourage design that gives priority to vehicular convenience over pedestrian safety; Minimize visual and functional conflicts between residential and nonresidential uses within and abutting the district; Encourage the formation and continuance of the uncongested environment for business and professional offices intermingled harmoniously with residences and certain other commercial uses; Discourage overdevelopment of lots by limiting the maximum permitted development and the maximum impervious coverage; Encourage infill and redevelopment within the village areas of the Township and ensure that new development is of pedestrian scale and orientation that is compatible with existing village buildings; Encourage new buildings to be of such size, scale, general appearance and building materials so as to conform to the general nature of surrounding buildings and to not detract from the intent of this chapter to preserve the historic village appearance; Encourage the creation of open space, parks or recreation land adjacent to existing open space, parks, recreational facilities or other public amenities.