The C-3 Office Commercial District is intended
as a primary office district of the community for the conduct of general
business. It is the objective to provide in this district sufficient
space in appropriate locations for the transaction of all types of
administrative and miscellaneous service activities in beneficial
relationship to one another and thus strengthen the economic base
of the community; to provide appropriate space, including sufficient
ground area, permissible height and bulk of buildings, including room
for off-street parking facilities to satisfy the needs of modern office-commercial
development; and to encourage the tendency of office-commercial development
to concentrate to the mutual advantage of both consumer and merchant,
thus to promote public convenience, prosperity and welfare. Land in
this district is intended for concentrated office-commercial development,
which is not properly associated with, nor compatible with, residential
and neighborhood commercial and service establishments. Therefore,
residential, industrial or manufacturing uses (except when incidental
to the business) are prohibited as well as any other use which would
substantially interfere with the development or continuation of the
office-commercial structures and uses in the district.
A building may be erected or used and a lot
used or occupied for any of the following purposes:
A.
Permitted uses.
(1)
Administrative offices of industrial or commercial
establishments.
(2)
Animal hospital.
(3)
Bank and financial institution.
(4)
Business, charitable finance, professional and consulting
offices.
(5)
Church or similar place of worship.
(6)
Clubs limited to private membership, exclusive of
sexually oriented businesses.
(8)
Funeral home.
(9)
Hospital and medical facilities.
(10)
Motels and hotels.
(11)
Post office substations.
(12)
Research laboratories which do not involve the
emission of excessive noise, smoke, odors, gases or vibrations.
(13)
Restaurant.
(14)
Similar type uses not specifically listed herein when authorized by the Zoning Hearing Board according to the procedure outlined in § 240-100A(9).
B.
Permitted ancillary commercial uses.
(1)
Barbershop.
(2)
Beauty shop.
(3)
Cafeteria and snack bar, including alcoholic beverages.
(4)
Confections, sales.
(5)
Drugs, tobacco and sundries, sales.
(6)
Duplicating or offset reproduction shop.
(7)
Fence or ornamental wall not over eight feet in height.
(8)
Flower shop.
(9)
Gift shop.
(10)
Health clubs.
(11)
Indoor swimming pool.
(12)
Travel agency.
(13)
Valet shop, including a dry-cleaning and/or
laundry pickup station and shoe repairs.
C.
Conditions which apply to ancillary commercial uses.
The above uses are permitted, subject to the following conditions
(1)
Ancillary commercial uses shall be located on the
ground floor and shall occupy no more than 10% of the principal structure.
(2)
The principal entrance to an ancillary commercial
use shall be from the inside of a building housing a permitted principal
use except where the place of business of the ancillary commercial
use is located at least 75 feet from the nearest public street.
(3)
No display of wares for sale shall be visible outside
the building unless the place of business is at least 75 feet from
the nearest public street.
A.
Lot area and width.
(1)
The minimum lot area for any use shall be 20,000 square
feet with a minimum width at the building line of 100 feet.
B.
Building area. All buildings, including accessory
uses, shall cover not more than 40% percent of the area of the lot.
C.
Yard area setbacks.
(1)
No building or structure shall be erected or enlarged
unless the minimum yard area setbacks are provided as follows:
(a)
Front yard: not less than 50 feet.
(b)
Side yard: not less than 50 feet where abutting
a street or alley. None required for interior lot, except where abutting
upon an R District, where there shall be provided a side yard equal
to one-half the required front yard in such abutting R District, plus
a buffer area of not less than 15 feet.
(c)
Rear yard: not less than 25 feet. Where
abutting an R District, there shall be provided, in addition to the
rear yard requirement, a buffer area of not less than 15 feet.
(2)
A one-story accessory building may be located within
a required rear yard except for the five feet adjacent and parallel
to the rear lot line or alley line, but not upon any required buffer
area, for the storage of motor vehicles, the loading or unloading
of vehicles under roof or the storage of stock and merchandise customarily
associated with the principal use. For the purposes of this section,
a trailer, van or any vehicle or structure which was transported to
the site is not a building and shall not be permitted to remain on
the property for more than seven days in a fourteen-day period.
The maximum height of buildings hereafter erected,
altered or enlarged shall not exceed 60 feet.
Off-street parking and loading facilities shall be provided as required or permitted under Article XVIII.
A.
Landscape development shall be required to include
an area of at least 10 feet in width along all streets, with the exception
of approved entrance(s) which border the proposed development, which
shall be planted and maintained with trees and shrubbery to serve
as a suitable screen for the parking and storage area.
B.
A buffer planting strip, consisting of suitable shrubbery
and trees maintained at a minimum height of eight feet by 10 feet
in width, shall be planted wherever the district abuts a residential
district.
A.
All activities, except for accessory uses and a service
station, shall be conducted within a completely enclosed building.
B.
No C-3 District shall comprise an area of less than
two acres.
C.
All refuse, garbage and similar solid waste shall
be enclosed in a masonry structure of sufficient height, width and
depth to prevent dispersal of the solid waste in the vicinity with
a solid gate sufficient to conceal the contents.
D.
The Township Planning Commission may require the following
prior to issuing an occupancy permit or zoning approval for a General
Commercial District or lot therein in accordance with the provisions
and procedures of this chapter and upon an affirmative finding that
the following requirements have been met by the owner, owners, developer,
developers or petitioners for the tract or lot proposed for commercial
development.
(1)
Traffic study.
(a)
To include a comparative analysis of present
capacity of street(s) adjacent to the proposed business with potential
capacity and volumes generated by the proposed development, together
with necessary points of access to off-street parking and loading.
Traffic data available in the Richland Township municipal offices
may be utilized, provided that such data is deemed current by the
Township Planning Commission.
(b)
To include a circulation plan for all streets
in the vicinity, existing and proposed, which show the recommendations
for controlling, signalizing, channelizing, storing, warning and directing
traffic.
(2)
Landscape development plan.
(a)
To include a plan of landscape development which
shall include, among other considerations, an area of at least 10
feet in width along all streets with the exception of approved entrances,
to be planted and maintained with trees, shrubbery or other landscape
material or ornamental fence or wall to serve as a visual screen for
the parking areas and loading or servicing areas.
(b)
A fifteen-foot wide buffer planting strip shall
be maintained wherever the proposed business abuts an R District.
(c)
All landscape areas or planting strips adjacent
to parking lots or streets or highways shall be surrounded with a
raised curb.
(d)
The location, arrangement, size and effect of
all outdoor advertising or other signs and lighting proposed to be
erected.
(3)
Architecture.
(a)
Architectural plans of the buildings and structures
showing that the project has a unified design which will be in character
and proper relationship to the surrounding areas shall be submitted
to the Planning Commission for recommendation and approval.
(4)
Any other authority approval required, when applicable,
such as Department of Health, State Highway Department, Department
of Labor and Industry and similar organizations shall be obtained
before applying for a zoning approval or an occupancy permit. Said
authorizations shall accompany plans at the time they are submitted
to the Township Planning Commission. If the state or similar organization
requires approval prior to issuing its approval, the Planning Commission
may issue site plan approval conditioned upon the applicant presenting
the state's or similar organization's approval to the Zoning/Codes
Office prior to the township issuing the building permit.
