The C-1 local business district is intended to permit retail business and service uses that are needed to serve persons residing in adjacent residential areas, and to permit only such uses as are necessary to satisfy the limited shopping and service needs of those adjacent residences. In order to promote such business development appropriate in each area, uses are prohibited which would create hazards, offensive and loud noises, vibration, smoke, glare, heavy truck traffic or late hours of operation. The intent of this zone is also to encourage the concentration of local business areas to the mutual advantage of both consumers and merchants, and thereby to promote the best use of land at certain strategic locations and to discourage the continuance of marginal, strip business development along minor thoroughfares.

(Ord. No. 14-1, § 4, 4-21-2014)

1.

Business and government offices, financial institutions including banks, savings and loan association offices and credit unions, post offices or postal stations.

2.

Clothing services including the following: dressmarking shops, dry cleaning establishments as long as cleaning is not done on the premises, laundry agencies, millinery, tailor, and pressing shops.

3.

Equipment services including the following: electric appliance repair shops, radio and television repair shops, watch repair shops, etc.

4.

Retail food services (excluding restaurants and drive-in type businesses), including but not limited to the following: bakeries, dairy stores, delicatessens, grocery stores, meat, fish and poultry markets.

5.

Professional offices and clinics, including the following: doctors, dentists, chiropractors, osteopaths, lawyers, engineers, and similar professions. Informational offices are also permitted in the P-O district.

6.

Personal service including the following: barbershops, beauty shops, and photographic studios.

7.

Retail service and retail stores generally including the following: antique shops, clothes shops, bicycle sales and service, bookstores, camera stores, drugstores, florists, gift shops, hobby shops, news dealers, jewelry stories, variety stores, stationeries.

8.

Commercial uses determined by the planning commission to be similar to the above.

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

a.

Such uses shall be permitted only when location 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 the area.

d.

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

2.

Dining room restaurants, only, subject to the following:

a.

Ingress and egress to the site must be directly from a minor thoroughfare.

b.

All refuse and refuse containers shall be completely screened from public view.

c.

Design and orientation of the proposed use shall be such as to reasonably minimize noise, odors, traffic problems and similar factors.

3.

Veterinary clinic. All principal use activities shall be conducted within a totally enclosed main building.

4.

Theaters, not including drive-in theaters, provided minimum site size is two (2) acres and that the proposed use will be so designed and so located as to reasonably minimize potential impact on adjoining properties for reason of traffic problems, noise, or similar factors.

5.

Miniwarehouses.

a.

No outside storage shall be permitted.

b.

All drive aisles on site shall be a minimum of thirty (30) feet wide.

c.

Minimum lot size shall be four (4) acres.

d.

The entire site, exclusive of access drives, shall be enclosed with a six (6) foot-high chainlink fence with screening or a masonry wall, constructed in accordance with the requirements in Section 4.26.

e.

The exterior of any miniwarehouse shall be of finished quality and design, compatible with the design of structures on surrounding property.

f.

Living quarters of a watchman or caretaker employed on the premises. Living quarters shall not exceed six hundred (600) square feet and shall be totally contained and integrated entirely within the largest miniwarehouse building. The living quarters shall not be considered as a dwelling as defined in Section 2.02 of this ordinance. The intent of limiting living quarters of a watchman is to prevent conversion of the watchman's quarters to a dwelling unit located within a commercial zoning district. By such prohibition of dwellings in a commercial zone, the incompatibilities of residential and nonresidential uses are avoided. Further, providing for on-site living quarters for a watchman allows twenty-four (24) hour access to the storage and miniwarehouse use, provides for improved security of the miniwarehouse site, and limits the residential aspect of such a use due to the potential detrimental effects commercial land use has upon residential land use.

6.

Self-serve gasoline stations.

a.

No outside storage of products for sale shall be permitted.

b.

A setback of at least fifty (50) feet shall be maintained from the public right-of-way for all parking and buildings.

c.

A minimum lot area of at least seventy thousand (70,000) square feet shall be required.

d.

All applicable safety and hazard regulations (township, county, state, federal and all fire department requirements) shall be met and maintained at all times.

e.

All exterior lighting, including illuminated signs, shall be erected and hooded or shielded so as to be deflected away from adjacent and neighboring property.

f.

All waste, rubbish, and recyclables shall be kept in metal or other acceptable receptacles with a tight cover.

g.

The entire parking area shall be hard-surfaced with concrete or a plant mixed bituminous material.

h.

All stormwater runoff shall be contained on-site for infiltration, to avoid runoff to adjacent properties.

i.

Ingress and egress for the site must be directly from a paved thoroughfare.

j.

A six (6) foot-high masonry obscuring wall or landscaped berm of a design recommended by the planning commission and approved by the township board through site plan review, shall be provided and maintained adjacent to any residential zoning district.

k.

Public access to the site shall be located at least fifty (50) feet from any street or road intersection as measured from the nearest right-of-way line to the edge of the subject access.

l.

Such uses shall be subject to limitations on hours of operation including product delivery times.

m.

No exterior sound amplification shall be permitted on the site.

n.

Total square footage of signage shall be limited through approval of a site plan which specifies locations and size of advertising areas.

o.

Dumpsters must be kept in an enclosed secure area and out of sight.

7.

Public libraries.

8.

Vehicle wash establishment:

a.

Vehicle washes shall be located in areas wherein other auto-related uses such as bump shops, paint shops, muffler and brake shops, auto parts stores, used and new vehicle sales and similar uses are existing, suitable, or planned.

b.

Design of vehicle wash sites shall eliminate potentially negative functional and visual impacts on the township's residential areas and image from the public right of way.

c.

Vehicle washes shall be isolated and screened from other sites by walls, fences, landscaped greenbelts or persistent natural features such as hills or wetlands.

d.

No washing facilities for large truck washing, degreasing or clean-up of toxic or hazardous waste shall be located in the C-1 district.

e.

Ingress and egress to the site must be directly from a paved major thoroughfare and limited to one (1) driveway.

f.

Design and orientation of the proposed use shall be such as to minimize noise, night sky light pollution, and traffic problems off-site.

g.

The exterior of any vehicle wash establishment shall be of finished quality and design, compatible with the design of existing structures on surrounding property.

h.

All washing activities shall be carried on within a building. Outdoor vacuuming or drying activities must be located at least fifty (50) feet distant from any adjoining residential lot line.

i.

No public or private right-of-way shall be used as stacking, maneuvering, parking or drying space for vehicles being serviced by the subject facility.

j.

No vehicular bays, entrances or exits from the washing structure shall face a major thoroughfare.

k.

Adequate area shall be provided so that wet vehicles will not drip on public pavement and cause slippery conditions.

l.

The planning commission shall attach other conditions to minimize physical, functional and visual impacts on the character of the township.

(Ord. passed 1994; Ord. No. 07-1, 5-21-2007)

1.

Minimum lot area: None (subject to Paragraph 3).

2.

Minimum lot width: None (subject to Paragraph 3).

3.

When full urban services (sanitary sewer, water service, paved road and storm drains) are not provided then the minimum lot area and lot width shall be such as is determined by the planning commission to be sufficient. Sanitary sewer and water systems shall be public or privately owned systems approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Oakland County Department of Public Health, and the state department of public health.

4.

Maximum ground floor coverage: Thirty (30) percent.

5.

Minimum yards (setbacks):

Front: Twenty-five (25) feet.

Sides: Each fifteen (15) feet. Interior side yards may be waived by the building inspector in neighborhood shopping centers or other combined development that utilizes a common drive and off-street parking system.

Rear: Twenty-five (25) feet.

6.

Maximum height: Two (2) stories or thirty-five (35) feet.

7.

Other major regulations applicable to this district can be found in Article 4, General Provisions, including the wall requirement in Section 4.25, and Article 26, Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations.

8.

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 a 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, a site plan 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.