[Added 3-30-1982]
Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts are
hereby established to provide for corporate-and-research-type office
development, which increases job opportunities and contributes to
a balanced tax base in the Town of Somers and which makes use of safe,
convenient and sufficient access connections to the regional transportation
network. In addition, Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts are
to provide for low-intensity development, which will preserve open
space and natural features on topographically unique and attractive
sites located at prominent positions within the community.
In a Corporate Research/Office CRO District, no building, structure or premises, in whole or in part, shall be used and no building or structure, in whole or in part, shall be erected, enlarged, structurally altered or moved except for the following purposes or as herein elsewhere specifically provided, together with the accessory uses specified in § 170-31:
A.
Any use permitted in the Residence R-80 District and
subject to the limitations therein set forth.
B.
Office buildings for business and professional use, including administrative, executive, engineering, accounting, scientific, research and development, educational and training, statistical and financial purposes, provided that such principal use involves no manufacturing or processing except for sign applications not part of a larger site plan amendment or modification, are subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board in accordance with § 170-114 of this chapter.
[Amended 7-10-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008]
No accessory uses shall be permitted in a Corporate
Research/Office CRO District other than the following:
A.
Any accessory use as permitted in a Residence R80
District and subject to the limitations therein set forth.
B.
Buildings and uses customarily accessory to a principal
office use, including the following:
(1)
Clinics, cafeterias, banks, post offices and limited
retail trade and service uses, provided that all such accessory uses
are located in a principal building and are designed and intended
for the comfort, convenience and use of the occupants, employees and
business visitors of the principal office use.
(2)
Recreation facilities.
(3)
Facilities for the temporary accommodation of employees,
visitors and guests.
(4)
Living quarters for custodians or caretakers of the
on-site facilities.
(5)
Off-street parking and off-street loading space as required in Article X. Such space may be located either in surface parking lots or in parking lots or in parking structures.
(6)
Storage and maintenance facilities.
(7)
Sewage treatment and water supply facilities.
(8)
Central heating and power plants and other customary
accessory utility services and facilities.
(9)
Bus stops, including passenger shelters.
(10)
Gatehouses and similar minor accessory structures.
(12)
Necessary exterior lighting.
The following dimensional standards and requirements
shall apply with respect to office buildings and their permitted accessory
uses in Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts:
A.
The minimum required lot area shall be 150 acres.
B.
The maximum percent of lot to be occupied by principal
buildings shall be 4% and by accessory buildings, 2%.
C.
The maximum permitted floor area ratio shall be 0.15.
D.
The minimum size of any front, side or rear yard shall
be 100 feet for principal buildings and accessory uses and structures,
except for permitted entry and exit drives and minor accessory structures
and uses, such as necessary utility service facilities, bus stops
and gatehouses, provided that such minor accessory structures and
uses are shown on a site plan approved by the Planning Board. Except
as permitted above, the one-hundred-foot minimum required yard setback
area from street lines and property boundaries shall be maintained
as a buffer area, either to be preserved in its natural state or to
be landscaped in a manner to be approved by the Planning Board.
E.
Except as limited in Subsection F below, the maximum permitted height for all principal buildings shall be 65 feet above the highest finished grade on the property, but in no case shall any building exceed a height of 150 feet above the immediately adjacent finished grade at the closest point.
F.
Notwithstanding the above, the maximum permitted height
of principal buildings located within 500 feet of any abutting residential
property or public highway shall not exceed the height of a plane
defined by a vertical angle of seven degrees above the horizontal
originating at a point 10 feet above the mean level of the land immediately
abutting to the facing wall of any residence existing as of April
1, 1982, on an adjoining residential property or at a point five feet
above the center line of the traveled way of any abutting public highway.
An exception to this height limitation shall be permitted where intervening
natural topography obstructs the view of a higher building from the
point at which the plane is established, in which case the maximum
permitted height shall be increased to the line of sight from such
point over such obstruction.
G.
The maximum permitted height for accessory structures shall be governed by Subsection E above, except that the maximum permitted height for accessory structures located within 500 feet of any abutting residential property or public highway shall be 30 feet, and, for those located within 100 feet of any property boundary, it shall be 15 feet.
H.
All vehicular access drives, other than for emergency
purposes, shall be permitted to connect only to through streets as
shown on the Town Development Plan.
