[Amended 12-5-2006 by L.L. No. 52-2006]
The intent of the Shopping Center (SC) Zoning Use District is
to provide adequate locations for moderate-sized convenience shopping
centers, mainly on Route 58, in central locations that are accessible
from adjacent neighborhoods by car, transit, walking, and biking,
where residents may purchase daily necessities such as groceries.
It is the further intent to allow increased floor area in the SC Zoning
Use District with the use of transferred development rights where
appropriate. Retail development is intended to be arranged in a shopping
center layout, with large-scale stores complemented by ancillary small-scale
stores. Professional office buildings are intended to be arranged
in campus-style layout. Strip or freestanding development is discouraged.
In the SC District, no building, structure, or premises shall
be used or arranged or designed to be used, and no building or structure
shall be hereafter erected, reconstructed, or altered, unless otherwise
provided in this chapter, except for the following permitted uses
or specially permitted uses and their customary accessory uses:
A. Permitted uses:
(1)
Shopping centers (with a minimum size of 50,000 square feet
of gross floor area).
(5)
Indoor sports and recreation facilities.
[Added 12-5-2006 by L.L. No. 52-2006]
B. Special permit uses:
[Added 6-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 23-2016]
C. Accessory uses. Accessory uses shall include those uses customarily
incidental to any of the above permitted uses or specially permitted
uses when located on the same lot. Specifically included are the following:
[Amended 1-17-2006 by L.L. No. 5-2006]
(1)
Drive-through windows for banks and pharmacies.
D. Prohibited uses:
(1)
Motor vehicle dealerships.
[Amended 5-5-2009 by L.L. No. 31-2009]
The design standards and parking standards listed in the provisions
below (Subsections A and B of this section) are intended as a guide
or measure for improvements in parcels in this zoning district, and
the word "shall" recited in the provisions below, with the exception
of Subsection B(1) which requires adherence to the Parking Schedule,
is intended to obtain compliance with the provisions to the extent
practicable as determined by the Board responsible for review.
A. Design standards.
(1)
Retail development shall be arranged in a shopping center layout,
with large-scale stores complemented by ancillary small-scale stores.
(2)
Professional office and office buildings shall be arranged in
campus-style layouts.
(3)
Driveway openings and curb cuts shall be aligned with the existing
curb cuts along Route 58 or other major arterial roads, in order to
reduce the potential addition of traffic lights and conflicting turning
movements.
(4)
Continuous sidewalks, off-street transit stops (where routes
exist or are planned) and bike racks close to business entrances shall
be provided for properties fronting Route 58 or other major arterial
street.
(5)
Signage shall be provided in accordance with Article
XLVIII, Signs, of this chapter.
(6)
Buffering and transitions:
(a)
Trash/dumpster areas shall be screened by wood fences or landscaping, or a combination thereof, pursuant to §
245-8.
(b)
Buffer plantings or opaque fences, preferably wood fences, shall
be provided between commercial uses and adjoining residential uses
or zones, as well as along frontages with arterial roads.
B. Parking standards.
(1)
The number of off-street parking spaces in the SC Zoning Use District shall be provided in accordance with §
301-231, Off-street parking, of this chapter.
(2)
No off-street parking shall be allowed within 10 feet of any
property line.
(3)
Curb cuts to parking lots shall be minimized by sharing driveways
and consolidating entrances for access to adjacent parking lots.
(4)
Driveways shall be set back at least five feet from side property
lines. However, driveways providing shared access to two or more properties
are exempt from this standard.
(5)
Where site grading and topography result in parking areas being
located at higher elevation than and visible from the adjacent roadway,
planted berms shall be used to screen the view of automobiles from
the roadway.
(6)
In order to soften the appearance of parking lots, parking lots
shall be landscaped with ground cover, grasses, or low shrubs for
at least 10% of their land area. This landscaping requirement is in
addition to the five-percent parcel-wide landscaping mentioned above.
(7)
In order to provide shade, parking lots with 21 or more spaces
shall have "orchard" planting: one tree per 10 off-street spaces.
Such trees shall be spread throughout the parking lot, rather than
clustered only along the edges.
(8)
In order to provide recharge of the groundwater basin and minimize
runoff, at least one of the following stormwater management techniques
shall be used in parking lots where underlying soils support infiltration
of precipitation to the groundwater:
(a)
Where sanding and salting are not used in the winter, low-traffic
or seasonal parking overflow areas of the parking lot shall be surfaced
with porous pavement or gravel.
(b)
Landscaped areas of the parking lot shall be sited, planted,
and graded in a manner to provide infiltration and detention of runoff
from paved areas.
(9)
Large surface parking areas shall be broken up by landscaped
walkways connecting sidewalks and parking areas to business entrances,
in order to create parking fields of no more than 250 spaces each.