[Effective 10-19-2013]
A.
The primary intent of this article is to establish design controls
for regional shopping malls. The Town Board of the Town of Hempstead
recognizes that regional shopping malls exist in the Town that are
currently regulated under separate and wide-ranging zoning requirements.
These regional shopping malls have design and use considerations that
differ from other smaller-scale, standalone or strip retail/shopping
centers, particularly with respect to the number of uses within the
malls and the interior (nonretail) common spaces. The Town Board of
the Town of Hempstead finds that it would be beneficial to establish
common zoning requirements specific to this use, as well as to establish
appropriate buffer and transitional requirements, a simplified means
for calculation of off-street parking requirements, and established
method to document changes of uses within a regional shopping mall.
B.
In cases where a regional shopping mall is comprised of multiple lots or ownerships, all parcels to be planned, developed and managed as an integrated development shall be considered as a single development lot for the purpose of applying the Article XLI requirements herein.
C.
Applicability. Unless included on previously approved applications
or site plans, parcels and/or portions of parcels located within incorporated
villages may not be included as part of the "regional shopping mall"
unless written consent, obtained from the municipal governmental authority
in which the parcel or portion of the parcel is located, is provided
to the Town of Hempstead and approval is obtained from the Town of
Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in accordance with procedures
described in the Building Zone Ordinance (BZO).
In addition to the definitions of this Building Zone Ordinance,
the following special definitions are applicable to this article.
In the event of conflict, the following definitions shall be controlling:
The total floor area lying within the exterior faces of exterior
walls (except party walls as to which the center line, not the exterior
faces, shall be used for measurement purposes) in a commercial property
such as a shopping center which is in a building exclusively appropriated
for use by a tenant or other occupant. Gross leasable area shall exclude
the following:
Common areas including walkways, hallways, gathering spaces,
food court seating areas, floor openings, vertical transportation
(stairwells, elevators, escalators, dumb waiters, conveyors or the
like) and interior parking facilities and related areas;
Utility, communications, and mechanical/service rooms and corridors,
including fire and safety corridors/escapes;
Pushcarts, kiosks, retail merchandising units (RMU's), vending
machines, and other similar units;
Mall management, leasing, promotional, maintenance and security
offices, guest services and amenities, locker rooms, break rooms,
administrative offices, restrooms, and children's play areas;
Storage areas:
Tenants or occupants with less than 100,000 square feet may
exclude detached storage areas (storage that is located at a different
level than retail);
Upper areas of multi-deck stock areas may be excluded from GLA;
the floor area on which such multi-deck stock is built shall be included
in GLA;
Mezzanine spaces not used for retail purposes;
Loading docks, receiving areas, and related facilities; and
Areas used for the collection and handling of waste, garbage
or recycling.
A shopping center with a minimum of 1,000,000 square feet
(SF) of gross leasable area contained within a single building, and
including a minimum of three or more anchor stores and over 50 specialty
shops.
An integrated group of establishments, comprised usually
but not exclusively of retail and personal service establishments,
that is planned, developed, managed, and functions as an integrated
unit. A shopping center shall be operated under a common management
and shall have common/shared parking.
A.
Bulk requirements shall be measured from the outer boundary of the
regional shopping mall as per § 415C.
B.
Minimum lot area: 60 acres.
D.
Maximum building height: 75 feet.
E.
Maximum number of stories: four.
F.
Maximum building coverage (overall regional shopping mall): 50%.
G.
Maximum FAR (overall regional shopping mall):
(1)
For regional shopping malls having a total floor area greater than
or equal to 3,000,000 square feet (including all associated accessory
and detached buildings): 0.70.
(2)
For regional shopping malls having a total floor area less than 3,000,000
square feet (including all associated accessory and detached buildings):
0.75.
(3)
No regional shopping mall shall be permitted to exceed 3,550,000
square feet of floor area, including all associated accessory and
detached buildings.
H.
Maximum impervious coverage (overall regional shopping mall): 90%.
A.
The minimum number of required parking spaces shall be 4.5/1,000
square feet of gross leasable area (GLA), so long as no more than
10% of gross leasable area is leased for restaurants (excluding shared
seating in common food courts) and/or theaters. In the event that
restaurants and/or theaters exceed 10% of the GLA, parking requirements
pursuant to § 319 shall apply to that portion of the use
exceeding the 10% GLA threshold. All buildings with shared or common
parking shall be considered when calculating parking requirements
for regional shopping malls.
B.
Structured parking is permitted as long as no more than 60% of provided
parking is proposed as structured parking.
C.
Off-street parking stalls shall be nine feet by 18 feet and, where
practical, applicants may provide up to 10% of required parking in
the form of compact parking stalls measuring eight feet by 18 feet.
Parking shall length may be reduced to 16 feet six inches in length
where two feet six inches of overhang is provided, so long as the
total number of such spaces does not exceed 10% of the total parking
provided. The purpose of overhang space is to promote linear landscaping
islands within the parking lot.
A.
Residential buffer.
(1)
A minimum of fifty-foot-wide buffer yard shall be required when abutting
a residential zone or land use; such buffer yard shall incorporate
landscaping with at least a double row of evergreens; landscaping
design shall be such that it provides complete screening after maturation;
or
(2)
The buffer width as described in § 419A(1) can be reduced
to 35 feet if a landscaped berm with a minimum height of three feet
in height and planted with a double row of evergreen trees and a six-foot-high
fence is incorporated into the design as described in § 419A(1);
or
(3)
The buffer width as described in § 419A(2) can be further
reduced to 15 feet if the following are provided within the fifteen-foot
buffer width:
(a)
A fifteen-foot-high sound attenuation wall along with a single
row of evergreen landscaping;
(b)
Sound attenuation wall shall be set back at least 10 feet from
the property line so that the required landscaping can be placed behind
the wall;
(c)
Sound attenuation wall shall be engineered for stability, and
shall be made of materials which have good sound absorption rate.
Sound attenuation wall design shall avoid design that provides flat
alignment and smooth surface to improve acoustic reflection and visual
impacts.
B.
Parking lot perimeter buffer. A minimum of ten-foot-wide perimeter
landscaping shall be provided where such parking lot is proposed abutting
a property line or any public roadway or similar primary perimeter
roadway providing access to parking areas. Such islands shall be landscaped
with native deciduous trees planted 50 feet apart along with variety
of shrubs planted in between the trees.
C.
Parking lot landscaping. Landscaping islands shall be designed and
provided within the parking lot. Such landscaping islands shall constitute
a minimum of 5% of parking lot area, excluding parking structures,
and shall be planted with native deciduous trees.
D.
This section may be waived or modified by the Town Board pursuant
to § 305.
A.
Sidewalks serve as the most practical method of linking the parking
lot and the shopping area. The design standards shall comply with
the following:
B.
Pavement materials shall be distinctive and respectful of pedestrian
movement. Differentiated paving adds visual interest, has a tendency
to slow traffic down, and reinforces the sense of entry and/or arrival
to a building. Pavements shall comply with the following:
A.
In the event of any conflict with other provisions of the Building Zoning Ordinance, standards listed under this article XLI shall apply. All aspects of the development, redevelopment or use of a regional shopping mall not addressed in this article shall be governed by the underlying zoning district regulations, together with all other applicable laws.
B.
Compliance. All uses and physical conditions in violation of this
article that are lawfully in existence on the effective date of this
article shall continue as legal nonconforming uses. However, commencing
upon the effective date of this article, compliance with this article
shall apply in the event of any of following:
(1)
Construction of any new building greater than 4,000 square feet;
or
(2)
Expansion of an existing building involving construction of more
than 4,000 square feet of additional building area; or
(3)
Demolition and/or reconstruction activity and/or any of the activities
as described in § 421B(1) or (2) involving 20,000 square
feet or more of land disturbance area.
(4)
The requirements of §§ 419 and 420 shall be calculated
based on the area of the new building construction/reconstruction
and the required area for parking spaces, pedestrian amenities and
accessory facilities supporting the new building construction/reconstruction
("project improvement area"). Applicant can choose to place all required
improvements pursuant to §§ 419 and 420 within the
project improvement area or can choose to apply the required improvements
elsewhere within the boundary of regional shopping mall with the approval
of the Town Board pursuant to § 305.
C.
Submission requirements. In addition to submission of all necessary
documentation pertaining to building permit applications, any application
submitted for tenant fit changes or physical building expansions,
reconstruction, demolition, and/or new development of a regional shopping
mall must accompany the following documents:
(1)
Lease plan of all floors, distinguishing areas defined as gross leasable
area and highlighting all areas being excluded from GLA. Such areas
shall be clearly labeled. A separate color coding or labeling shall
be used for any arcade, covered plaza or atrium areas.
(2)
A summary table listing all individual tenants, their leasable area
and number of seats (if applicable). The summary table shall list
all areas excluded from GLA and show areas excluded as common/public
use and storage areas. The summary calculation shall be provided to
capture floor area of the regional shopping mall used for calculating
FAR.
