Town of Riverhead, NY Article XXII Shopping Center (SC) Zoning Use District

[Added 10-5-2004 by L.L. No. 33-2004]

§ 301-109 Purpose and intent.

[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.

§ 301-110 Uses.

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).

(2) Office campuses.

(3) Health clubs and spas.

(4) Restaurants.

(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[1]]

(1) Movie theaters.

[1] Editor's Note: This local law also redesignated former Subsections B and C as Subsections C and D, respectively.

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.

(2) Boat dealerships.

§ 301-111 Lot, yard, bulk and height requirements.

A. No buildings shall be erected nor any lot or land area utilized unless in conformity with the Zoning Schedule[1] incorporated into this chapter by reference and made a part hereof with the same force and effect as if such requirements were herein set forth in full as specified in said schedule, except as may be hereafter specifically modified.

[1] Editor's Note: The Zoning Schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.

B. In order to maintain the Town's scenic and rural quality, properties shall provide a contiguous landscaped area equal to at least 5% of the lot area. Such open space area shall be landscaped with shrubs, flowers, rock gardens, ornamental grasses, or other plantings rather than grass lawns.

C. The following minimum required nondisturbed transitional yards and screening shall be provided within nonresidential districts in order to assure orderly and compatible relationships along certain boundary lines:

[Added 10-16-2013 by L.L. No. 18-2013]

(1) Adjoining residential districts and uses.

(a) The minimum required nondisturbed transitional side and rear yards shall be 50 feet. When buildings are less than 5,000 square feet in size, the required side and rear transition yards shall be 25 feet adjacent to the residential district.

(b) The minimum required screening within such nondisturbed transitional side and rear yards shall be a six-foot-high stockade-type fence or equal and landscape plantings to be erected and maintained by the nonresidential property owner along the side and rear property lines; provided, however, that the Planning Board may modify these requirements for screening where the same screening effect is accomplished by the natural terrain or foliage.

(c) The minimum required nondisturbed transitional side and rear yards provided for in this section may be modified by the Planning Board as part of site plan review where the subject premises is a single lot which lies across district boundaries or where natural, physical or other existing features are present and the goals of this section will be accomplished.

(d) Where a site does not have existing vegetation within the required nondisturbed transitional yard sufficient to screen the proposed development from the adjacent residential zone or use, a landscaping plan shall be submitted to the Planning Board. In addition to the existing vegetation in the required nondisturbed transitional yard, the landscaping plan shall include plantings, berms and/or fencing in this area to visually screen and reduce noise impacts of the proposed development.

§ 301-112 Supplementary guidelines.

[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.