For this chapter, the incorporated area of the Town is divided
into the following zoning districts.
A.
Base zoning districts:
(1)
A - Agriculture District.
(2)
R-1 - Residential District.
(3)
R-2 - Residential District.
(4)
R-3 - Residential District.
(5)
RG - Residential Gateway District.
(6)
WD - Waterfront Development District.
(7)
CC - Central Commercial District.
(8)
SLC - Select Light Commercial District.
(9)
GC - Gateway Commercial District.
(10)
HR - Historic Redevelopment District.
(11)
MC - Maritime Commercial District.
(12)
MM - Maritime Museum District.
(13)
PF - Public Facilities District.
A.
Base zoning districts.
(1)
A - Agriculture District. The purpose of the A District is to promote
and protect agricultural land uses and related activities that are
compatible with neighboring residential and commercial uses. The agricultural
zoning district may provide a greenbelt around the Town's outer limits
or may preserve farmland.
(2)
R-1 -Residential 1 District. The purpose of the R-1 District is to
provide for a pleasant, quiet, residential environment permitting
residential and related uses. Presently developed single-family residential
areas are included in this district as well as land, which will develop
in the manner as set forth here in the future.
(3)
R-2 - Residential District. The purpose of the R-2 District is to
provide for a pleasant, quiet, residential environment permitting
residential and related uses while permitting higher density and a
wider variety of dwelling types.
(4)
R-3 Residential District. The purpose of the R-3 District is to provide
for a pleasant, quiet, hazard-free residential environment permitting
residential and related uses while permitting higher density and a
variety of dwelling types.
(5)
RG - Residential Gateway District. The purpose of the RG District
is to serve as a transitional district from the more rural county
development patterns to the more intense development patterns of the
Town. Also, this district is intended to promote natural-looking vistas
entering and leaving the Town boundaries.
(6)
WD - Waterfront Development District. The purpose of the WD District
is to promote the development of the tourist trade in the area adjacent
to the Town harbor to take advantage of the unique natural attraction
of scenic tidewater, which is not appropriate for maritime use while
preserving historic features and protecting adjacent residential areas.
(7)
CC - Central Commercial District. The purpose of the CC District
is to promote, protect, and provide for the retail services center
of the community and the surrounding regions.
(8)
SLC - Select Light Commercial District. The purpose of the SLC District is to provide land adjacent to residential areas for uses which are not detrimental to adjacent residential neighborhoods by functioning within the general standards and limitations outlined in § 340-86. The intent of the district is to create the potential for employment opportunities in Town, especially agricultural and seafood-related activities.
(9)
GC - Gateway Commercial District. The purpose of the GC District
is to provide a viable commercial area where, through increased landscaping,
alternative parking layouts, and maximum lot coverage limitations,
an attractive entrance into the Town can be provided.
(10)
HR - Historic Redevelopment District. The purpose of the HR
District is to foster compatible commercial and light industrial development
and redevelopment in areas of the Town traditionally used for commercial/industrial
purposes and where remaining historic commercial structures are suitable
for adaptive reuse.
(11)
MC - Maritime Commercial District. The purpose of the MC District
is to provide areas in which water-related commercial activities can
be conducted. Care must be taken to ensure that activities in this
district do not detrimentally affect uses conducted in areas adjacent
to the Maritime Commercial District.
(12)
MM - Maritime Museum District. The purposes of the MM District
are to:
(a)
Provide a place for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to exist
and operate as a permitted use to:
[1]
Preserve and perpetuate the character and orientation of the
Town to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries on land that is adjacent
to or near the St. Michaels Harbor;
[2]
Encourage appreciation, understanding, collection, preservation,
perpetuation, exhibition and education concerning the history of the
Chesapeake Bay, the animal life, marine life and plant life indigenous
to the Chesapeake Bay, and interpret commercial, recreational and
other activities directly related to the Chesapeake Bay by means of
artifacts, exhibits, models, displays, examples, art, writings, and
teachings regarding vessels, equipment, customs, methods, and heritage;
and
[3]
Encourage, perpetuate, and protect the existence of residential
uses adjacent to museums and in areas of the Town through which museum
visitors must travel for ingress and egress.
(b)
This purpose of the MM District is establish restrictions and
provisions which make it compatible with adjacent residential districts
without the need for controls generally imposed through the special
exception process.
(c)
In this chapter, museums shall be neither be considered a residential
use or commercial use.
(13)
PF - Public Facilities District. The purpose of the PF District
is to provide for the location and concentration of public facility
uses that might, if located in other districts, tend to detract from
the Town's historic character and its architectural and natural beauty.
While the Town is not bound by the provisions of this chapter in the
location of governmental or other public facility uses, the owners
of property in this district are placed on notice that the Town intends,
where practical, to concentrate in this district those public facility
uses for which it finds this location appropriate.
B.
Overlay districts.
(1)
Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay District. The purpose of the
Chesapeake Critical Area Overlay District is to institute regulations
intended to accomplish the following:
(a)
Minimize adverse impacts on water quality that result from pollutants
that are discharged from structures or runoff from surrounding lands;
(b)
Conserve fish, wildlife, and plant habitat; and
(c)
Establish land-use policies for development in the critical
area, which accommodate growth as well as address the environmental
impacts that the number, movement, and activities of people may have
on the area.
(2)
Historic Overlay District. The purpose of creating the Historic District
is to safeguard the heritage of St. Michaels by protecting and preserving
buildings, structures, and sites which reflect elements of the Town's
cultural, social, political, and architectural history, and to promote
the educational, cultural, and economic value to the public by maintaining
said area as a landmark of the Town's history and architecture.
C.
Floating zone districts.
(1)
Purpose. Floating zones are districts that may be appropriate for
the Town but are not mapped out at the time of adoption of the most
recent comprehensive revision to this chapter. The purpose of the
designated floating zone districts is to permit the mapping of appropriate
areas for land uses that may be required over the next 20 years. The
designated floating zone district provides a mechanism for the establishment
of the district in appropriate areas, limiting the areas to be zoned
and setting conditions that must be met by any development proposal
seeking such a designation. The Town Commissioners and Planning Commission
finds that they are not able to locate the floating zone with precision
in advance and that it is desirable to leave specific locations and
conditions for a future determination as the Town grows and specific
needs develop.
(2)
Designation of floating zone district. The following floating zone
districts are designated:
(a)
GA - Growth Allocation Floating Zone District. The GA Floating
Zone District is not mapped but is designated for use in areas classified
as resource conservation areas (RCA) and/or limited development area
(LDA) within the St. Michaels Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay
District. The purpose of this District is to permit a change in the
land management classification on specific sites so that they may
be developed to the extent permitted by the underlying zoning classification.
Only projects which have been approved by the Town Commissioners for
the award of the critical area growth allocation are eligible for
the GA Floating Zone District.
(b)
PR - Planned Redevelopment Floating Zone District. It is the
general intent of the PR District to:
[1]
Accommodate growth in the Town by encouraging and facilitating
new development and redevelopment on vacant, bypassed and underutilized
land where such construction is found to be compatible with the surrounding
neighborhood and adequate public facilities and services exist;
[2]
Encourage efficient use of land and public services;
[3]
Stimulate infill, redevelopment, rehabilitation, and general
improvement of areas within the Town that have fallen into a somewhat
deteriorated or dilapidated state or have been used for a purpose
that no longer serves the health, safety or general welfare of the
neighborhood;
[4]
Provide developers and property owners flexibility that achieves
a high-quality design and result in infill and redevelopment projects
that strengthen existing neighborhoods; and
[5]
Implement the goals, objectives, and policies of the St. Michaels
Comprehensive Plan.