Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Borough of Royalton, Pennsylvania

Borough of Royalton’s own rules

• Building permitRequired

  Erection, addition or alteration of buildings, and change in use, inside Royalton borough (building and/or zoning permit under the zoning ordinance)

  • No permit is required for normal maintenance activities, minor repairs and alterations that do not structurally change a building or structure.
  • Applications must include plans in duplicate drawn to scale.

  “a building and/or zoning permit shall be required prior to the erection, addition, or alteration of any building or portion thereof; prior to the use or change in use of a building or land”

• InspectionsLimited

  Properties inside Royalton borough for which a zoning/building permit has been issued

  • Inspections described are by the zoning officer; the first is at the beginning of construction. Further inspections not captured.

  “it shall be the duty of the zoning officer, or his duly appointed representative, to make the following minimum number of inspections of property for which a permit has been issued”

• Local zoningPresent

  Land inside Royalton borough, Dauphin County

  • Enacted under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247); adoption/effective date not stated in the posted text; ordinance appears dated and may have been amended.

  “article vi "r-st" residential district single family-town in the "r-st" residential district, the following regulations shall apply”

• Zoning districtsPublished

  Zoning districts inside Royalton borough

  • Districts: floodway, flood-fringe, R-ST, R-MT, R-V, R-MP (mobile home park), C-G, I-L per Article IV and the table of contents.

  “for the purpose of this ordinance, the borough is hereby divided into districts which shall be designated as follows: fw" ff" r-st" r-mt" r-v" r-mp" c-g" i-l" floodway district flood-fringe district”

• Minimum lot sizeSpecified

  R-ST single-family-town residential district, inside Royalton borough

  • Semi-detached: 4,000 sq ft per dwelling unit.
  • Minimum lot width at front building line: 50 ft interior, 65 ft corner for single-family detached.

  minimum lot area, single-family detached: >= 5000 square feet

  “for each type of dwelling, the lot area per dwelling unit shall be not less than indicated below: 1. single-family detached dwelling, five thousand (5,000) square feet 2. single-family semi-detached dwelling, four thousand (4,000) square feet per dwelling unit.”

• Building heightSpecified

  R-ST residential district, inside Royalton borough

  • A dwelling must be at least one story.
  • Other districts differ (e.g. 40 ft in R-MT and I-L).

  maximum building height: <= 35 feet

  “c. height regulations the height of a building shall not be greater than thirty-five (35) feet. 42 the height of a dwelling shall not be less than one (1) story.”

• Permit feesVariable (with conditions)

  Zoning permits and related applications inside Royalton borough

  • Schedule is posted in the zoning officer's office; amounts not found online.
  • No action is taken on an application until fees are paid.

  “the schedule of fees shall be posted in the office of the zoning officer and may be altered or amended only by the borough council. until all applicable fees, charges and expenses have been paid in full, no action shall be taken on any application or appeal.”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Borough of Royalton or Dauphin County directly.

• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder exemption inside Royalton borough
• Building code adopted — Building code inside Royalton borough
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy inside Royalton borough
• Minimum dwelling size — Minimum dwelling size inside Royalton borough
• Setbacks — Setbacks in R-ST district inside Royalton borough

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.