The multiple dwelling residential district is intended to provide sites for a variety of residential land uses to meet the housing needs of residents who cannot or choose not to live in single-family residences. Grouping of dwelling units will permit preservation of natural resources and fragile areas that have been identified in the township master plan. Further, such a multiple-family zone may provide a transitional use between commercial, office, industrial or other intensive zoning categories and nearby low-density single-family residential areas. These multiple-family zoning districts will provide locations for garden apartments, townhouses, duplex, triplex, and quadplex [quadruplex] units, townhouses, patio houses, and condominiums, depending upon the availability of public utilities. These areas should be located on minor thoroughfares for good accessibility.

1.

Multiple-family dwellings, including but not limited to apartments, townhouses, duplexes and townhouses.

2.

Off-street parking and loading in accordance with requirements of Article 26.

3.

Family day care homes.

4.

Adult foster care homes.

1.

Social and recreation buildings, and facilities primarily for the use of the residents of the development subject to approval by the planning commission as part of the site plan.

2.

Any use customarily incidental to the permitted principal use.

The following uses shall be permitted only after special approval is granted by the planning commission in accordance with the procedures, requirements and standards set forth in this section and in Article 30, and subject to any conditions imposed by the planning commission:

1.

Public recreation uses such as parks, playgrounds, golf courses, ball fields, athletic fields, and community centers.

a.

All vehicular access shall be from a minor thoroughfare, or detailed traffic studies may be required showing to the satisfaction of the commission that no significant adverse impact upon surrounding uses results.

b.

No outside storage shall be permitted.

c.

Barbed wire, industrial type fences and site features that adversely impact residential quality are prohibited.

2.

Municipal, state or federal uses, public libraries, public museums.

a.

No outside service or storage yards shall be permitted.

3.

Public, parochial and private schools.

a.

The lot location shall be such that at least one (1) property line abuts a minor thoroughfare. All ingress and egress to the lot shall be directly onto said thoroughfare.

b.

Any building used in whole or in part for school purposes shall be located not less than seventy-five (75) feet from any adjacent property line.

c.

Parking areas shall be screened on all sides abutting a residential district.

d.

All lighting shall be shielded away from public right-of-way and neighboring residential lots.

e.

Parking shall be provided as required under Article 26 of this ordinance.

4.

Houses of worship, convents, parish homes, and similar uses.

a.

All ingress to and egress from the site shall be directly to a minor thoroughfare.

b.

No building shall be closer than seventy-five (75) feet from any property line.

c.

Off-street parking shall be provided on the site in a ratio of one (1) space for each six (6) feet of pew length in the main sanctuary or one (1) space for each three (3) persons as designated in the maximum occupancy load of the main sanctuary.

5.

General hospitals, convalescent homes or nursing homes.

a.

The site shall have at least one (1) property line abutting a minor thoroughfare. All ingress and egress to the off-street parking area for visitors, employees, staff, as well as any other users of the facility, shall be directly from the minor thoroughfare.

b.

The minimum setback of any main or accessory building shall be at least one hundred (100) feet from front, rear and side lot lines for all two (2) story structures. For every story above two (2), the minimum yard distance shall be increased by at least fifty (50) feet.

c.

Ambulance, emergency entrance and delivery areas shall be visually screened from the view of adjacent residential areas by a masonry wall six (6) feet or more in height.

d.

No power plant or laundry shall be located in an area so as to cause an undue noise or vibration environment to any adjacent residential area.

e.

All lighting shall be shielded from abutting residential uses or public right-of-way.

6.

Elderly housing, when the following conditions are met:

a.

Elderly housing may provide for the following:

1)

Cottage-type one-story dwellings and/or apartment-type dwelling units.

2)

Common service containing, but not limited to, central dining rooms, recreational rooms, central lounge and workshops.

b.

All dwellings shall consist of at least three hundred fifty (350) square feet per unit (not including kitchen and sanitary facilities).

c.

Total coverage of all buildings (including dwelling units and related service buildings) shall not exceed twenty-five (25) percent of the total site, not including any dedicated public right-of-way.

d.

Facilities shall be designed with grab bars in hallways and bathrooms.

e.

Off-street parking shall be provided on the site in an amount equal to one (1) space for each dwelling unit.

7.

Public utility buildings, telephone exchange buildings, electric transformer stations and substations, and gas regulator stations.

a.

Such uses shall be permitted only when location in residential areas is required to serve the immediate vicinity.

b.

No outside service or storage yards shall be permitted.

c.

All structures shall be at a scale and have an exterior appearance compatible with a residential area.

d.

All lines serving such sites shall be underground. Overhead transmission lines and tower structures are expressly prohibited.

8.

Nursery schools, family day care home, day nurseries.

a.

No dormitory facilities are permitted.

b.

The outdoor play area shall be fenced in accordance with Section 4.26 and screened in accordance with Section 4.36 by a heavily planted greenbelt from any abutting residential uses.

c.

All lighting shall be shielded away from public right-of-way and abutting residences.

d.

Off-street waiting and drop-off space shall be provided at one (1) space per six (6) children that can be accommodated in the school. Such spaces shall be ten (10) feet wide by twenty-four (24) feet long.

9.

Group day care homes, subject to the following conditions:

a.

The group day care home is not located closer than one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet to any of the following:

- Another licensed group day care home.

- Another licensed adult foster care small group home or large group home.

b.

Appropriate fencing for the safety of the children in the group day care home is provided in accordance with the requirements of Section 4.26.

c.

The lot location shall be such that at least one (1) property line abuts a minor thoroughfare. The ingress and egress for off-street parking areas for residents, employees and guests shall be directly from said thoroughfare.

d.

The group day care home facility shall not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes permitted, nor substantially diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood.

e.

The principal and accessory buildings shall be a minimum of one hundred (100) feet from any residential structure in the district.

f.

The group day care home facility shall meet all applicable requirements of the Michigan Family Independence Agency.

10.

Functional equivalent family: additional persons. The limit upon the number of persons who may reside as a functional equivalent of the domestic family may be increased or enlarged beyond a maximum of six (6) unrelated persons upon a demonstration by the applicant of all of the following:

a.

There are adequate provisions on the subject property for off-street parking for each adult proposed to reside on the premises which is capable of driving, and adequate storage for each person proposed to reside on the premises.

b.

The extent of increase or enlargement of the limit upon the number of persons shall not, considered cumulatively with existing and reasonably projected population concentration in the area, place an unreasonable burden upon public services, facilities, or schools.

c.

There shall be a minimum of one hundred twenty-five (125) square feet of usable floor space per person on the premises.

d.

Approval of a request to increase the number of persons who may reside as a functional equivalent family with additional persons shall require the planning commission to determine the specific maximum number of persons authorized to reside on the property, and any minimum parking or storage requirements to be maintained.

1.

No site shall be utilized under this section which does not have at least one (1) boundary fronting on a paved minor thoroughfare. The development shall be designed to provide direct principal access from the site to the minor thoroughfare.

2.

All outside storage of materials, supplies, equipment or similar items is prohibited.

3.

Off-street parking is permitted only at the side and rear of the building and not in the required front yard area.

a.

No parking area or driveway shall be closer than twenty-five (25) feet to adjacent property lines or twenty-five (25) feet to the multiple-family dwelling units unless said units are constructed with attached garages.

b.

Paved walkways shall be provided for the safety and convenience of residents.

c.

The required parking spaces shall be located no further than two hundred (200) feet from the dwellings they are intended to serve.

4.

Landscaping, consisting of trees, shrubs, and plantings, shall be provided in the area located between the edge of the existing public roadway and the front of a building proposed for use in this district. Corner lots shall have landscape improvements on each side of the building that faces each street. Off-street parking areas shall be screened from view from an adjoining roadway, residential zone and/or residential use by means of landscaping, earth berm or permanent fence or wall, subject to approval of the township planning commission. The landscaped greenbelt area adjacent to any building and/or parking area shall be maintained in a safe, attractive and healthy condition.

5.

An internal feeder road having a minimum right-of-way width of sixty (60) feet and constructed according to the specifications of the Road Commission for Oakland County shall be provided for access to the site from the minor thoroughfare. Driveways or access roads within the site plan area shall intersect the internal feeder road and no other public road. Access drives, parking areas and maneuvering lanes shall be at least twenty-five (25) feet from any residential building wall or portion thereof, and shall be located so as to provide adequate pedestrian and vehicular safety and convenience.

6.

Covered trash receptacles surrounded on three sides by masonry walls one (1) foot higher than the receptacle shall be provided and located in the side and/or rear yard areas only. The four (4) sided enclosed area shall be equipped with an opaque lockable gate of the same height as the masonry wall.

1.

Minimum lot area: For the first dwelling unit, the minimum lot area shall be twelve thousand (12,000) square feet plus the additional area requirements per unit as listed below. Minimum lot area required for each dwelling unit shall be:

A den, library or extra room shall be counted as a bedroom for purposes of this ordinance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the overall density shall not exceed six and one half (6.5) dwelling units per acre for any development in the MD district.

2.

Minimum lot width: One hundred (100) feet.

3.

Maximum ground floor lot coverage: Twenty-five (25) percent.

4.

Minimum yards (setbacks):

Front: Fifty (50) feet.

Side, least one (1): Thirty (30) feet.

Side, total two (2): Sixty (60) feet.

Rear: Thirty (30) feet.

In no event shall any side yard be less than the height of the building.

5.

Maximum height: Three (3) stories or thirty-five (35) feet.

Minimum floor area per dwelling unit:

Building placement: Between any two multiple-family dwelling structures the following shall be the minimum allowable yard space:

A six (6) foot-high obscuring wall or fence, measured from the surface of the ground, or a twenty (20) foot-wide landscaped greenbelt, shall be provided on those sides of the property abutting land zoned for residential use. The greenbelt planting shall be reviewed by the planning commission to see that at least the minimum requirements of Section 4.36 are met. When a minor thoroughfare forms the boundary or lies in between the multiple dwelling district and the residential district, no such wall, fence or greenbelt shall be required.

Other major regulations applicable to this district can be found in Article 4, General Provisions, and Article 26, Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations.

6.

All structures shall be set back twenty-five (25) feet from all natural feature areas as defined in Article 2 of this ordinance. For site plan applications that require township board approval, this setback may be reduced by the township board following recommendation by the planning commission. Individual requests for reduction of the setback may only be granted as a variance from the township zoning board of appeals. Both bodies, in approving a reduction in the setback, shall determine that it is clearly in the public interest. In determining whether the setback reduction is in public interest, the benefit that would reasonably be expected to accrue from the proposed development shall be balanced against the reasonably foreseeable detriments to the natural features. Docks, piers, decks, boardwalks, or seawalls may be located within the natural feature setback.

In accordance with Article 29, site plan approval shall be required for all principal and special approval uses permitted in this district.

An environmental impact study may be required by the planning commission or the township board, as part of the site plan review process and subject to the provisions of Section 4.45, Environmental impact statement requirements.