In any Business B District as indicated on the
Building Zone Map, no building or other structure shall be erected,
altered or used and no land shall be used or occupied for any purpose
except one or more of the following:
A. Except as otherwise provided in this article, any
use permitted in a Residence, Agricultural or Business A District.
B. Residential buildings and appurtenant buildings such
as garages, sheds, barns, etc., presently existing in Business B Districts
may be added thereto, altered or rebuilt.
C. In any Business B Districts as indicated on the Building
Zone Map, no new building or other structure shall be erected for
residential purposes unless the land so located in the Business B
District is part of a subdivision plan duly recorded prior to the
enactment of this section or unless individual building lots have
been similarly recorded.
D. Body and fender work and the painting of cars out
of doors is prohibited. The storage of dismantled vehicles or vehicle
parts out of doors is prohibited. The storage of complete units such
as truck bodies, tailgates, road sanders, farm machinery, school buses
and ambulances is permitted. The selling of motor vehicles in or out
of doors is prohibited.
[Amended 11-15-2004 by TOR-2004-17]
E. Amusement parks, bowling alleys and roller skating rinks, or arcades containing six or more pinball or electronic games and/or automatic amusement devices with a special permit issued by the Board of Appeals. No more than five automatic amusement devices duly licensed in accordance with §
75-1 of the Code of the Town of Agawam.
[Amended 12-7-1981; 9-7-2004 by TOR-2004-7]
F. Wholesale sales and warehousing.
G. Converting, fabricating, manufacturing, altering,
finishing or assembling, provided that in no case is a total of more
than 20,000 square feet of floor space devoted to such use.
H. Trucking terminals may be allowed only after a public
hearing by the Board of Appeals.
I. Retail shopping centers comprised of only one building,
planned as a total entity with on-site common parking areas for customer
and employee parking provided so as to comprise an efficient and architecturally
integrated shopping area.
[Added 2-6-2006 by TOR-2005-12]
(1) Allowed uses.
(a)
Retail shopping centers may include department
stores, variety stores, supermarkets, furniture stores, household
appliance stores, home improvement stores, lawn equipment stores,
gift shops, restaurants, including drive-in and drive-through restaurants,
drugstores, barbershops, beauty shops, office supply stores, food
stores, optical stores, clothing stores, financial institutions and
banks (with or without drive-through windows), health clubs, movie
theaters, doctors’ offices, dentist offices and other professional
offices open to the public, children's day-care and activity centers.
Only one principal building per lot is allowed.
(b)
These uses will not include, as a principal
or accessory use, motor vehicle services, such as new or used motor
vehicle sales, freestanding tire, brake and muffler shops, automobile
repair shops, and gasoline stations. No accessory use or building
is permitted under this zoning.
(c)
Unless by special permit of the Agawam Town
Council, temporary outside uses upon the parcel are prohibited, including
but not limited to, circuses, festivals, tent sales, sidewalk sales,
retail displays, vehicle displays.
(2) Retail shopping center requirements.
(a)
Application procedures.
[1]
Site plan. Site plans for any such retail shopping center shall be submitted to the Planning Board for its approval as to site layout, provisions for handling traffic flow, parking area, landscaping, traffic, and architectural characteristics before a building permit is issued. To assure that retail shopping centers shall be reasonably attractive in appearance, the developer or its representative shall submit to the Planning Board, in addition to the requirements set forth in §
180-13, an architect's rendering or comparable illustration of the planned construction, including landscaping, prior to applying for a building permit. The architectural concept will be required to fit the character of the community and be at the approval of the Planning Board prior to issuing a building permit. Unless such a drawing approved by the Planning Board is submitted to the Inspector of Buildings, no building permit shall be issued, nor shall an occupancy permit be granted unless and until the finished construction reasonably conforms to the drawing submitted.
[2]
Special permit.
[a] No building permit shall be issued for, and no person shall undertake, any use or improvement for a retail shopping center unless an application for a special permit has been prepared for the proposed development in accordance with the requirements and §
180-11. For the purpose of this section, the special permit granting authority shall be the Agawam Town Council.
[b] No building permit shall be granted
by the Inspector of Buildings until the Agawam Town Council has given
its final approval that the development or any phase thereof and any
associated off-site improvements conform to the approved application
for a special permit under this section, including any conditions
imposed by the Agawam Town Council. No temporary occupancy permits
shall be granted.
(b)
Parking. No space within the required front
setback area may be used for parking unless approved by the Planning
Board. An overall shared parking scheme is preferred and developed
in such a way that conforms to parking space requirements for retail
shopping centers as specified herein. In the overall shared parking
scheme, the applicant shall specify how shared parking areas are to
be owned, constructed, operated and maintained and provide the Planning
Board with the proposed deeds, deed restrictions, association bylaws
or other legal documents or mechanisms for ensuring the same. All
parking lots shall be designed according to the following standards:
[1]
Minimum 4.5/1,000 overall parking ratio inclusive
of all buildings (no unheated garden shop or seasonal retail or wholesale
sales);
[2]
Minimum size for parking spaces shall be nine
feet by 18 feet unless when using angled parking as specified in the
Institute of Transportation Engineers, Traffic Engineering Handbook,
Parking Class A.
[3]
Minimum width for drive aisles shall be:
[a] Twenty-four feet for two-way lanes
with ninety-degree angle parking.
[b] Eighteen feet for one-way lanes
with sixty-degree angle parking.
[c] Eighteen feet for one-way lanes
with forty-five-degree angle parking.
[4]
With the exception of parking for the disabled,
all other parking spaces shall be located at least 50 feet or greater
from any building.
[5]
Pavement markings, signage and any other required
traffic control devices within the site shall be specified according
to the latest edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
(M.U.T.C.D.) standards. All roadway, stop line and traffic markings
shall be of thermoplastic.
[6]
Pedestrian and handicapped access from the parking
areas to the site sidewalks and entrances to all buildings shall be
specified to provide safe access and internal circulation within the
site.
[7]
No overnight parking of vehicles not related
to the ongoing operation of the shopping center.
(c)
Traffic impact report. A traffic impact report,
indicating projected traffic flows to and from the project at its
build-out, projected traffic flows and levels of service on nearby
roadways in five years and at build-out of the development, current
traffic flows, levels of service and accident records for said roadways,
projected capacity, service level and safety problems anticipated
in five years and at project build-out, proposed mitigation measures
and other relevant information shall be submitted as part of the site
plan application and presented to the Planning Board at a public meeting
by a professional traffic engineer or transportation planner. The
area to be included in the traffic impact study shall be determined
by the Planning Board. The Planning Board may require traffic signals,
traffic or turn lanes, sidewalks, bikeways or any other mitigation
measures that it believes necessary to protect public safety and maintain
proper traffic flow on roadways within or impacted by the development.
(d)
Streets and drives. Streets and drives within
the development shall be constructed in accordance with the Planning
Board's subdivision regulations, except that the Planning Board may
require additional sidewalks, traffic lanes, turn lanes, traffic signals,
additional lane width based on truck traffic, additional pavement
depth based on truck traffic or other items or increases in existing
standards as needed or required. A minimum of two means of egress
from a public way must be provided.
(e)
Buffers and greenspace. Retail shopping centers
shall contain a minimum of 25% greenspace not including parking and/or
interior roadways. A space of not less than 100 feet shall be maintained
as an open space buffer with natural vegetation or landscaping along
and adjacent to agriculturally and residentially zoned property lines.
The buffer shall not be built on, have no structures to include barrier
fencing, be paved or used for parking, dumpsters and/or storage, but
may be utilized for stormwater management and greenspace only. All
buffer areas shall be maintained and kept free of litter. Additional
area, plantings, decorative fencing or other items may also be required
by the Planning Board to protect adjacent property owners from adverse
impacts or to protect the character of the neighborhood, including
landscaped berms and/or fences along and adjacent to residentially
zoned property lines.
(f)
Parking lot interior landscaping. Fifteen percent
of the interior space of all parking lots shall be landscaped areas.
All parking lot islands, connecting walkways through parking lots
and driveways through or to parking lots shall be landscaped according
to the following standards:
[1]
Visibility. To avoid landscape material blocking
driver sight distance at driveway-street intersections, no plant material
greater than 24 inches in height shall be located within 15 feet of
a curb cut.
[2]
Landscape islands. In addition to any pedestrian
refuge areas, each landscaped island shall include two, minimum two-and-five-tenths-inch
caliper canopy deciduous trees, be of length greater than eight feet
in its smallest dimension, include at least 80 square feet of ground
area per tree to allow for root aeration, and have raised concrete
curbs.
[3]
Walkways and driveways. Connecting walkways
through parking lots shall have two, minimum two-and-five-tenths-inch
caliper canopy deciduous trees per 60 linear feet of such walkway
planted in landscape areas within five feet of such walkway. Driveways
through or to parking lots shall have two minimum two-and-five-tenths-inch
caliper canopy deciduous trees per 60 linear feet of and along each
side of such driveway, in landscape areas within five feet of such
driveway.
[4]
Parking bays shall extend no more than 20 parking
spaces without an intervening tree, landscape island or landscape
peninsula where landscaped end islands are provided. Where landscaped
end islands for parking bays are not provided, an equivalent landscaped
area must be provided internally within the parking lot.
[5]
Adhere to all existing engineering regulations
and requirements.
(g)
Lighting. Parking lot lighting shall be as unobtrusive
as possible to provide safe circulation and protect people and property.
Light sources shall be concealed and fully shielded and shall feature
sharp cutoff capability so as to minimize up-light, spill-light, glare
and unnecessary diffusion on adjacent property. Unique areas or neighborhoods
within the Town may have additional design guidelines for lighting
as required by the Planning Board. Maximum on-site lighting levels
shall not exceed 10 footcandles, except for loading and unloading
platforms where the maximum lighting level shall be 20 footcandles.
Lighting levels measured 20 feet beyond the property line of the development
site (adjacent to residential uses or public rights-of-way) shall
not exceed 0.1 footcandle as a direct result of the on-site lighting.
Parking lots shall remain fully lit for one hour following the closing
of the store or establishment for which the parking lot serves, and
shall be lit by security lighting thereafter. All lighting level measurements
shall be determined by mean footcandles over the designated lighted
area. Maximum height on lot poles shall be 20 feet and the fixture
shall be shielded to prevent excess spillage of light onto adjoining
properties.
(h)
Outdoor storage areas/mechanical equipment.
[1]
No areas for outdoor storage, trash collection
or compaction, loading or other such uses shall be located within
100 feet of any public street, public sidewalk or internal pedestrian
way, and in no event shall be visible from roadways (such areas will
be screened from view, including the use of live plantings such as
arborvitae). These enclosed areas for only the above purposes must
be shielded by an opaque fence, or site-obscuring landscaping, either
of which shall be not less than six feet.
[2]
Loading docks, truck parking, outdoor storage,
utility meters, HVAC and other mechanical equipment, trash collection,
trash compaction and other service functions shall be incorporated
into the overall design theme of the building and the landscape so
that the architectural design is continuous and uninterrupted by ladders,
towers and equipment.
[3]
All rooftop mechanical equipment shall be screened.
[4]
No outside sales areas/yards are permitted at
any time, which include any type of stationary or mobile vendor carts
(i.e., food stands).
[5]
No temporary or fabric structures shall be used
for outdoor storage.
(i)
Building facade. All exterior building elevations
that face public streets and/or customer parking areas shall be designed
so that there are no large expanses of blank walls. This requirement
can be met by employing the use of architectural features, including
but not limited to the following, doors, windows, pilasters, columns,
horizontal and vertical offsets, material and color variations, decorative
cornices, awnings, dormers, pediments and canopies. Buildings are
to have reasonably consistent architectural elements to provide continuity,
while allowing individuality in architectural features to distinguish
individual businesses. In order to assure conformance with this requirement,
exterior building elevations must be reviewed and approved as a part
of the overall final site plan process by the Planning Board.
[Amended 11-19-2018 by TOR 2018-14]
(j)
Noise. No outside loudspeaker or audio sound
systems shall be installed or used other than for drive-through uses.
(k)
Maintenance. All properties developed for commercial
purposes, whether they are occupied or not, shall be regularly maintained
by the owner of the property to the reasonable satisfaction of the
Zoning Enforcement Officer, so that they are not allowed to fall into
a state of disrepair or neglect; and they shall consistently present
a neat and orderly appearance to the general public as well as adjacent
and nearby tenants and property owners. Regular maintenance shall
include at a minimum, mowing of lawns, general maintenance of landscaping
beds, landscaping irrigation, trash and litter removal, removal of
signs, painting/maintenance of facades and signs, and proper snow
removal.
(l)
Other requirements.
[1]
Minimum size: five acres.
[2]
Maximum facility 100,000 square feet, overall
single building size. The square footage of a mezzanine shall be included
in the calculation of the total square footage.
[3]
Minimum frontage: 100 feet.
[4]
Front yard setback: 100 feet.
[5]
Rear yard setback: 100 feet.
[6]
Side yard setback: 100 feet.
[7]
Highway setback: 100 feet.
[8]
Maximum building coverage shall not exceed 35%
of the lot area.
[9]
No building within the retail shopping center
shall be greater than one story in height. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
internal mezzanines (i.e., a low-ceilinged intermediate floor above
the ground floor) shall be allowed.
[10]
Signage for individual businesses within retail shopping centers shall be allowed as provided by §
180-80. In addition to the signs permitted for the individual businesses, retail shopping centers are allowed one multifaced ground sign at each major street providing access to the property identifying the retail shopping center and any specific uses or occupancies within the shopping center. The maximum signage area for each individual business depicted on the retail shopping center ground sign shall not exceed 100 square feet per face for each individual business. The total maximum signage area for each face of the retail shopping center ground sign shall be limited as follows: a) If the sum of the building area for all individual businesses within the retail shopping center is less than 100,000 square feet, each face of the retail shopping center ground signage shall not exceed 200 square feet plus 20 square feet per each individual business listed; b) If the sum of the building area for all individual businesses within the retail shopping center exceeds 100,000 square feet, each face of the retail shopping center ground signage shall not exceed 350 square feet plus 35 square feet per each individual business listed. Ground signs shall not exceed 20 feet in height as measured from the top of the sign. Signage design shall fit the character of the community and be in communion with the architecture of the proposed retail complex as well the surrounding environment. Signage for this type of development requires the approval of the Planning Board. No scrolling, tethered or temporary signs are permitted. Signage per individual establishment shall not exceed 15% of the establishment's facade.
[Amended 6-6-2005 by TOR-2005-8; 11-5-2008 by TOR-2008-2]
A business building or structure shall not be erected or altered to a height in excess of three stories or more than 45 feet except as expressly provided herein and in §
180-49.1. These provisions shall not apply to chimneys, flag or radio poles, water tanks, hose towers or required bulkheads or elevator penthouses. A residence building shall comply with the height provisions for Residence B Districts. Heights of other buildings or structures permitted in §
180-48A shall not exceed the heights permitted in Residence B Districts. Notwithstanding the foregoing, §
180-49.1 shall govern the height of amusement devices which constitute part of an amusement park.
[Added 11-5-2008 by TOR-2008-2]
A. An amusement
device which constitutes part of an amusement park and which is situated
more than 250 feet from the street line and any side lot line shall
not be erected or altered to a height in excess of 200 feet, except
as expressly provided herein. An amusement device which constitutes
part of an amusement park and which is situated within 250 feet from
the street line or any side lot line shall not be erected or altered
to a height in excess of 45 feet, except as expressly provided herein.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, an amusement device which constitutes
part of an amusement park may exceed the height limitations contained
herein only after issuance of a special permit by the Board of Appeals.
B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any applicant seeking to erect or alter an amusement device to a height in excess of 45 feet shall be required to send notice by certified mail, postage prepaid, to the abutters and owners of land within 300 feet of the property lines as they appear on the most recent applicable tax list, including those in another city or town. Such notice shall inform such abutters and owners of land of the date, time and location of the Planning Board’s public meeting as required under §
180-13C(4) hereof for the applicant’s site plan for the proposed amusement device. Such notice shall be sent at least 10 days prior to the Planning Board’s public meeting and such notice shall be prepared and mailed by the applicant.
[Amended 4-7-1986 by TOR-86-6]
No business building shall be erected or altered so as to cover more than 50% of the area of the lot on which it is located. A building devoted in whole or in part to residence or other permitted purposes in §
180-48A shall comply with the requirements of lot coverage in Residence B Districts.
[Amended 4-7-1986 by TOR-86-6]
No lot shall have a frontage of less than 100
feet on a street or an area less than 10,000 square feet.
To assure that structures in Business B Districts
shall be reasonably attractive in appearances, the builder or his
representative shall submit to the Planning Board, in addition to
other requirements, an architect's rendering or comparable illustration
of the planned construction, including landscaping, prior to applying
for a building permit. Unless such a drawing approved by the Planning
Board is submitted to the Inspector of Buildings, no permit for a
business building shall be issued, nor shall an occupancy permit be
granted, unless and until the finished structure conforms in appearance
to the drawing submitted.