MARS — A new zoning ordinance approved Monday night by the borough council will bring Mars into the 21st century.

The new ordinance and zoning map will replace the zoning documents approved in 1967.

Solicitor Doug Weinrich said the document and map mainly accommodate existing uses in the borough. He said the only new zone is the R-4 district, which allows nursing homes and senior citizen housing.

Weinrich said that zone was created to accommodate the St. John Specialty Care Center and Penn-Mar Plaza as well as the new 30-resident Alzheimer's assisted living care center being built to the south of St. John Specialty Care. The R-4 zone also allows single- and multifamily dwellings.

Weinrich said another purpose for the new zoning ordinance and map is to update uses in the borough since businesses and items such as day care facilities and halfway houses did not exist in the mid-1960s.

He said nonconforming uses, such as tractor-trailers parked on a property for storage, will be allowed if they existed before the new ordinance. But Weinrich said such uses cannot be replaced and must be kept in a safe, painted, well-maintained condition.

Council had a public input session on the ordinance before its regular meeting. Mars Historical Society member Bill Swaney suggested council members choose an individual who is familiar with Mars when they hire a code enforcement and zoning officer to enforce the zoning ordinance and map.

Council likely will hire a code and zoning enforcement company when it approves the 2010 budget on Dec. 21.

Council President Mike Fleming said the new ordinance represents one more step toward organizing all the borough's ordinances into one document. He said once the water and subdivision ordinances are approved by council, the codification can be completed.

"That was a big hurdle," Fleming said of the zoning ordinance's completion.