Bensalem, PA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance No. 2015-10 on December 22, 2015, the Bensalem 2018 Regulating Code is an optional overlay layered on top of the Township's conventional base-zoning map rather than a mandatory downtown code. Section 232-346 incorporates by reference a companion document, the Manual of Written and Graphic Design Guidelines titled the 'Bensalem 2018 Regulating Code,' attached to the Zoning Code as Appendix B, which contains the actual building-massing, streetscape and parking-location standards an applicant must meet if they choose the overlay. The overlay only applies in the zoning districts Appendix B specifically names, and only if the applicant elects to use it: an applicant can instead build under the ordinary rules of the underlying zoning district.

Section 232-346(b) forbids mixing the two systems on a single application, so a developer cannot claim the overlay's use flexibility while keeping the underlying district's dimensional standards, or vice versa; whichever track the applicant chooses governs 'exclusively.' The Regulating Code sits alongside two other optional overlays the Township maintains in the same article of the Zoning Code: the Continuing Care Retirement Community overlay under sections 232-341 through 232-345, and the Historic Resources Overlay under sections 232-347 through 232-351, each triggered only when a property owner opts in rather than applying automatically.

Applications under the Regulating Code go through the same Zoning Officer permit review under sections 232-762 through 232-764 as any other zoning application, and disputes over whether Appendix B's standards have been met can be appealed to the Zoning Hearing Board under section 232-781.