§ 184-126. Yards.

There shall be provided for every lot front, rear and side yards as required in the zone district in which said lot is located. The required yard dimensions shall be measured perpendicular to the lot line and shall be measured between the lot line and the farthest projection of the building, unless specified otherwise in this chapter.

A. 

Required yards apply individually to each lot. No open space which has been counted or included as a part of a side yard, rear yard, front yard, or other open space as required by this chapter for one lot may, by reason of change of ownership or for any other reason, be counted or included in order to comply with the yard, or other open space requirement of any lot.

B. 

Permitted yard encroachments. Except as hereinafter specified, or as may be specified otherwise by this chapter, yards shall be entirely free of buildings above grade, structures, or parts thereof; provided, however, that no building, structure or part thereof shall be permitted to encroach beyond any boundary for the subject property, unless specifically permitted otherwise by this chapter or other law.

(1) 

Cornices and eaves may encroach up to three feet into any required yard.

(2) 

Window air conditioners, basement window wells, steel basement doors, ingress and egress platforms, awnings, and window flower boxes may encroach into any required yard without limitation.

[Amended 6-14-2001 by Ord. No. 01-10R]

(3) 

Fire escapes may encroach up to four feet into any required yard.

(4) 

Ground-supported chimneys, chimney box structures, and flues, stacks and vents attached to the side of a building may encroach up to 2 1/2 feet into any required yard; provided, however, that the area of such encroachment projected to ground level shall not exceed 12 square feet.

(5) 

Oriels, bay windows, bow windows, window greenhouses, and similar architectural devices, may encroach up to three feet into any required yard; provided however, that the area of such encroachment projected to ground level shall not exceed 15 square feet and further provided that such encroachment is limited to structures on the ground floor of the building.

(6) 

Sills, leaders, belt courses and similar ornamental structural features may encroach up to six inches into any required yard.

C. 

Front yard in case of substandard street width. All front yards must face upon a dedicated public street and shall be of the size required for the particular zone district in which the lot is located; provided, however, that on streets having a right-of-way less than 50 feet in width, the required front yard shall be increased by one-half the difference between the width of the street and 50 feet in width as shown on the Street Plan of the Master Plan of the Borough and shall have a front yard setback measured from the nearest line of the proposed building or structure to the proposed right-of-way line as shown on said Master Plan. See §§ 184-117 and 184-118F(1) as they relate to the TAH and LGAH Zones.

D. 

Front yard requirement to reflect established pattern. Notwithstanding the minimum and maximum front yard requirement set forth for the R75 and R150 Zone Districts, where existing buildings on the same side of the street form an established front yard depth, the front yard on the subject property, or the street side yard on a corner property, shall not deviate from this established yard depth by more than two feet. If such established front yard depth varies, the dimension to be used in administering the above minimum and maximum front yard requirement shall be equal to the average depth of the established front yards. For purposes of administering this provision, the properties used for determining said established front yard depth shall be located, in whole or in part, within the following distances of the subject property and must be on the same side of the street, in the same block, and must be subject to the same front yard requirement in the zone district regulations as the property in question:

[Amended 5-8-2007 by Ord. No. 07-08R]

	Zone	Distance*
	R-150	200 feet
	R-75	100 feet
	*NOTE: Measured along the street right-of-way line.

E. 

Maximum front yard requirement for nonconforming buildings. Notwithstanding the maximum front yard requirement in the various zone districts, alterations to buildings which are nonconforming by reason of having a front yard greater than the maximum depth permitted herein shall not be required to comply with said maximum permitted front yard depth, provided that no such alteration shall increase the front yard above the depth which exists prior to the alteration.