A. 
In addition to all other requirements of this article, any proposed new construction or substantive exterior modification of any principal buildings or other site improvements, or additions thereto, shall be first submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for site plan approval, as described in § 230-91 of this chapter. A building permit for such work may be issued following approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission and subsequent approval by the Mayor and Council based upon the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
B. 
The uses enumerated in this article shall be permitted and the following regulations and the applicable regulations contained in other Articles shall apply in the B-2 General District.
Principal permitted uses in the B-2 District shall be as follows:
A. 
Public parks, playgrounds and cultural or historical activities.
B. 
Boat dock slips, piers, wharves, anchorages or moorages for yachts and pleasure boats or for boats for hire to carry passengers or for excursions, sightseeing, pleasure trips and fishing trips.
C. 
Government Buildings, Churches.
D. 
Boarding- and lodging houses.
E. 
Motels and hotels.
F. 
Any community retail business or service establishment, such as a food, drug, clothing, hardware, accessory, variety or department store, a barber-, beauty, florist or specialty shop, a shoe repair shop, an automatic laundry or cleaning shop, a bank or savings and loan office or the like supplying commodities or performing services primarily for residents of the City and surrounding community.
G. 
Restaurants, cafes or confectioneries.
H. 
Antique or gift shops.
I. 
Commercial parking garages and lots for passenger vehicles.
J. 
Theaters, bowling alleys and dance studios.
K. 
Funeral homes.
L. 
Printing, upholstery, furniture repairing and interior decorating shops, provided that all operations are confined to enclosed buildings.
M. 
General administrative and executive offices.
N. 
Produce stands.
O. 
Taverns, nightclubs and drive-in eating and drinking establishments, including entertainment and dancing, provided that the principal building shall be the distance of at least 200 feet from any lot in an R District.
P. 
Automobile parking lots, repair shops or general garages, subject to the conditions below:
(1) 
No gasoline station, public garage or automobile shop shall have an entrance or exit for vehicles within 200 feet along the same side street of the premises of any school, public playground, church, hospital, public library or institution for dependents or children, except where such property is in another block or on another street which the lot in question does not abut, but in no case shall any such gasoline filling station, repair shop or garage be located within 100 feet of any said public or semi-public or institutional buildings or properties. This regulation shall not be interpreted, however, as prohibiting a parking area accessory to and on the premises of the institution itself.
(2) 
No gasoline filling station or public garage shall be permitted where any oil drainage pit or visible appliance for any such purpose, other than filling caps, is located within 12 feet of any street lot line or within 25 feet of any R District, except where such appliance or pit is within a building.
(3) 
On all corner lots, all vehicular entrances to or exits from any gasoline filling station or commercial, customer or employee parking lot for more than five motor vehicles or public garage or automobile repair shop shall be not less than 25 feet from the corner property lines extended. No such vehicular entrance or exit, whether on a corner lot or not, shall exceed 40 feet in width at the curbline or 30 feet at the property line.
Q. 
Automobile, tire, battery, trailer and implement establishments for display, hire, sale or general repair, including sales lots.
R. 
Animal hospital, veterinary clinic or kennel, provided that any structure or area used for such purposes shall be the distance of at least 200 feet from any lot in an R District.
S. 
Bakery, laundry, clothes cleaning and dyeing establishments, provided that any principal building shall be the distance of at least 100 feet from any lot in an R District.
T. 
Wholesale business, warehousing, storage and distributing establishments, except for flammable liquids, paints, explosives or other hazardous materials.
U. 
Contractor's equipment storage yard for storage of equipment used by contractor.
V. 
Retail sales of building supplies and retail lumber yard, including mill work only when incidental.
W. 
Stone or monument works not employing power-driven tools or, if employing such tools, then only within a completely enclosed building which shall be the distance at least 100 feet from any lot in an R District.
X. 
Electric, communications, water, sewer, gas and fuel transmission lines and necessary equipment incidental thereto excluding towers, and wireless transmitting stations excluding towers, transformers, boosters, railroad lines and stations.
Y. 
Beer, wine or liquor take-out stores.
Z. 
Any other use that is determined by the Board of Zoning Appeals to be of the same general character as the above-mentioned uses.
Conditional uses requiring Board authorization shall be as follows:
A. 
Nursery schools and child-care centers when located not less than 20 feet from any lot in an R District, provided that there is established and maintained a completely fenced and screened play lot of adequate size.
B. 
Residential apartments at or above the second floor level of existing commercial buildings.
C. 
Auto service stations, light repair and storage garages, provided that all motor tuning or testing or other noisy activities shall be conducted within enclosed buildings.
D. 
Neighborhood shopping centers or mini-malls.
E. 
Farmers markets, including produce, arts, crafts and related items.
F. 
Flammable liquids, underground storage only, not to exceed 40,000 gallons, provided that the distance shall be at least 200 feet from any lot in an R District.
G. 
Swimming pools, dancing, skating, golf driving ranges, livery stables, riding academies, amusement parks, circuses, carnivals, pool halls, video arcades, target ranges or similar open-air recreational uses and facilities, except racetracks shall be the distance of at least 200 feet from any lot in an R District.
H. 
Revival tents and outdoor meetings.
I. 
Rest homes, nursing homes for transients or permanent residents.
J. 
Dry nightclubs, provided that:
(1) 
There shall be a separation of at least 1,500 feet between dry nightclubs, and also between dry nightclubs and establishments holding liquor licenses as issued by the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners.
(2) 
The initial conditional use granted to an applicant by the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be for a period not to exceed one year. Subsequent conditional uses may be granted for a longer period provided an acceptable performance record has been established.
(3) 
The hours of operation (admissions and sales) shall be from 4:00 p.m. to midnight, with patrons off the premises by 12:20 a.m. for under 21 dry nightclubs. The hours of operation (admissions and sales) shall be from 4:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. of the following day, with all patrons off the premises by 2:00 a.m. for over 21 dry nightclubs.
(4) 
Patrons shall be at least 15 years old and younger than 21 years old for under 21 dry nightclubs and 21 and older for over 21 dry nightclubs.
(5) 
There shall be a minimum of two interior security personnel at least 21 years of age on duty during all hours the club is open. If the capacity of the club exceeds 200 persons, one additional security person shall be required for each 50 persons over 200. The functions of the security personnel shall be only security; they shall not perform other jobs such as dishwashing, bartenders, doorkeepers, etc., while customers are in the building. Security personnel shall be attired in a manner to be clearly identifiable as security personnel. Security personnel must be at least 21 years old and must pass "background" checks similar to Day Care Workers.
(6) 
The business must take place completely inside an enclosed building (not to exceed 2,500 square feet).
(7) 
The building must be completely enclosed and soundproofed.
(8) 
There shall be no outside amplification of any sound.
(9) 
There shall be no outside hawking, soliciting of customers, electronic displays, or dissemination of promotional materials.
(10) 
There shall be no activity outside the building other than customer parking, ingress and egress. Patrons are not permitted to congregate in the parking lot of other portions of the premises, except in line to enter the building.
(11) 
There must be a minimum distance of 1,000 feet of separation between any building used as a dry nightclub and any lot in my R district.
(12) 
All parking and other requirements of the City Code must be satisfied.
(13) 
Applications requirements.
(a) 
If the applicant is a corporation, partnership or joint venture, each stockholder, partner, or person affiliated with the corporation, partnership or joint venture shall be identified on the application. The application shall include the address and telephone number of each such person. The name, address and telephone number of the manager or other person principally in charge of the operation shall also be included on the application.
(b) 
All applicants shall be at least 21 years of age.
(c) 
The following documentation must be submitted with the conditional use and license applications:
[1] 
A letter from the Pocomoke Chief of Police stating whether any of the applicants have, in the past five years, been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor.
[2] 
A letter from the Worcester County Fire Marshal stating that the application meets all applicable fire code regulations, reporting whether the applicant or club bas violated any fire provisions in previous operations, and stating the allowed capacity of the club.
[3] 
A letter from the Pocomoke City Zoning Administrator reporting whether applicant or club has had any violations of zoning ordinance or previous Conditional Use Agreements.
(d) 
Any fraudulent, misleading or false statements contained in the application or made during the Conditional Use approval process shall be grounds for denial of the Conditional Use request and issuance of a business license and dry nightclub license, or for revocation of such licenses, if determined after their issuance.
K. 
Community residential facility (group home).
L. 
Kennel, commercial.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection M, regarding solar energy equipment, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 2-6-2017 by Ord. No. 429. See now § 230-72E.
M. 
Towers, but subject to the following minimum requirements:
[Added 10-19-2021 by Ord. No. 458]
(1) 
The engineering, design and construction of towers is subject to approval of the Board.
(2) 
The Board may impose setback distances and require landscaping plans and security fencing as appropriate.
(3) 
Towers must meet all international building code requirements in addition to those as may be required by federal or state law.
Accessory uses in the B-2 District shall be as follows:
A. 
Private garages, parking areas and other customary outbuildings and structures.
B. 
Directional or other incidental signs, not exceeding four square feet each in area, required in connection with the operation of an automobile service station, parking lot or similar use, provided that such signs do not extend over street lines nor otherwise obstruct or impair the safety of pedestrians or motorists.
C. 
The cleaning, laundering, repairing or other treatment of objects as a retail service to the customers on the premises, in which operation not more than three persons shall be engaged at one time.
D. 
Identification or exterior signs pertaining only to the uses conducted on the premises. Such signs shall be integral with or attached to the building or freestanding. The areas of all signs on the premises shall not exceed in the aggregate two square feet for each linear foot of building frontage. Freestanding signs shall not extend over street lines nor otherwise obstruct or impair the safety of pedestrians or motorists.
E. 
Solar energy equipment, subject to the following:
[Added 2-6-2017 by Ord. No. 429]
(1) 
Solar energy equipment may be on roofs of principal buildings or ground-mounted.
(2) 
Placement of solar energy equipment is not permitted within the required front yard setback unless the Zoning Administrator determines that it is adequately screened from view from the public way so as to preclude any glare from the equipment which would adversely impact the vision of motorists on the public way. It is understood that this equipment may, on occasion, be visible from the public way even if located in the side or the rear yard.
(3) 
If the solar energy equipment is unable to be located on the roof of the principal structure as is preferred, placement of ground-mounted solar energy equipment in the required side or rear yard may be permitted only if the equipment is not located in the required setback for a structure in the subject zone from the property line or a distance equal to the height of the accessory structure, whichever is greater.
(4) 
The solar energy equipment must be adequately screened from view of residential neighbors by appropriate vegetative screening or appropriate and adequate solid fencing.
(5) 
Any proposed fencing must comply with all applicable height requirements. Natural-colored fencing is preferred.
(6) 
Roof-mounted solar energy equipment shall be located so as not to increase the total height of the structure above the maximum allowable height of the structure on which it is located, in accordance with the applicable zoning regulations.
(7) 
The Zoning Administrator, prior to issuing a permit for the placement of any solar energy equipment, shall be provided with any requested information in regard to proving compliance with this section. This information may include sun and shadow diagrams specific to the subject proposed installation which would enable the Zoning Administrator to determine if solar access will be impaired due to the proposed location or to the location of objects which may obstruct the solar access.
(8) 
The Zoning Administrator may also require submission of detailed information, including maps, plans or dimensioned sketches, showing the proposed location, including setbacks from property lines or distances from structures which are used for habitation on neighboring properties.
(9) 
The Zoning Administrator may also require the submission of an as-built plan showing the actual location of any installed solar energy equipment. If the equipment is not installed as permitted, the Zoning Administrator may order its removal and/or relocation as appropriate.
A. 
Processes, equipment employed and goods processed and sold shall be limited to those which are not objectionable by reason of hazard, odor, dust, smoke, cinders, gas, fumes, noise, vibration, radiation, refuse matter or water-carried waste.
B. 
The front of lots for public display or sale of automobiles, trucks, trailers, implements, boats or other machinery or equipment shall be landscaped and neatly maintained. No lighting of such lot, other than minimum protective night lighting, shall remain on after normal business hours. All lighting shall be shaded so as to direct the light away from residential premises and from public streets.
C. 
Along any side adjacent to any R District or institutional premises, an ornamental wall, fence or compact evergreen hedge and wire fence, not less than four feet nor more than six feet high, shall be installed and maintained in good condition, without any advertising attached to it.
D. 
Prohibited uses include any uses first allowed in a lower zoning district, and pawn shops, tattoo parlors, body piercing parlors (not including ear piercing) adult bookstores, massage parlors, and similar uses.
[Amended 10-19-2021 by Ord. No. 458]
No structure shall exceed three stories or 40 feet in height. All public and semi-public utility buildings and structures must meet the requirements of § 230-93.
The following minimum requirements shall be observed:
A. 
Lot area and width requirements.
Permitted Uses
Minimum Lot Area
(square feet)
Minimum Lot Width
(feet)
As listed in B-2 General Business
6,000
60
B. 
Yard requirements.
Front Yard Depth
(feet)
Side Yard Width, Each Side Yard
(feet)
Rear Yard Depth
(feet)
Minimum (property line behind curbline)
25
5
20
C. 
All setbacks should be comparable with adjoining buildings and not less than twenty-five-foot frontage.