Amherst City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 1139
C-3 Motor Service District
1139.01 PURPOSES.
The C-3 Motor Service District has been created in order to achieve, among others, the following purposes:
(a) To provide districts on major roads in the immediate vicinity of freeway interchanges to serve the needs of the motoring public;
(b) To protect and stabilize developments from traffic congesting and hazards by regulating the intensity of use, by requiring off-street parking, loading and onsite circulation facilities and by regulating the access to streets; and
(c) To provide the maximum protection to existing and proposed residential areas.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.02 PERMITTED USES.
Buildings and land shall be designed, created, altered or intended only for the following uses:
(a) Principal Uses.
(1) Automobile service stations and repair garages for major and minor repairs.
(2) Motels and hotels.
(3) Restaurant and eating places serving food and beverages in wholly enclosed buildings.
(4) Trailer camps, sales, service.
(5) Truck service points.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
(6) (EDITOR’S NOTE: Section 1139.02(a)(6) was repealed by Ordinance 72- 23, passed June 6, 1972.)
(7) Other similar uses which serve the long-distance motoring public.
(b) Accessory Uses. When operated in conjunction with the above main uses, the following accessory uses shall be permitted:
(1) Off-street parking.
(2) Restaurants, assembly rooms and auditoriums in connection with motels and hotels.
(3) Enclosed snack bars in connection with service stations and motels.
(4) Swimming pools and other recreational facilities in conjunction with motels.
(6) Sale of alcoholic beverages in connection with restaurants, motels or hotels.
(7) Sale of gifts and novelties.
(8) Personal and other services which are necessary and incidental to the ususal operation of any main use set forth above.
(9) Drug store.
(10) Delicatessen.
(11) Tailor shop.
(12) Barber shop.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.021 SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES NOT PERMITTED.
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter to the contrary, no sexually oriented business, as defined in Section 1145.17, shall be permitted in any portion of a C-3 District.
(Ord. 00-168. Passed 12-11-00.)
1139.03 HEIGHT REGULATIONS.
The height of any building or structure in any C-3 District shall not exceed thirty-five feet, exclusive of towers, cornices or similar features except as hereinafter permitted.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.04 AREA REGULATIONS.
(a) Every lot occupied by a main building or use shall comply with the lot area, lot width, the percentage of lot coverage by all the buildings including accessory buildings and the landscaped areas as follows:
Main Use | Min. Lot Area acres | Min. Lot Width (ft.) | Lot Cov- erage (max. %) |
Service station | ½ | 150 | 20 |
Motel or hotel - with or without eating, assembly or recreation | 3 | 200 | 20 |
Restaurant, if separate building | 1½ | 200 | 20 |
Other permitted uses | ½ | 150 | 20 |
(b) Each lot shall have landscaped areas which shall be part of any lot which is not covered by buildings, accessory uses, drives and parking lots. The landscaped areas shall be developed and maintained as lawns, along with trees and shrubs, or maintained in an orderly natural state.
(c) The lot area occupied by a motel or hotel shall be not less than that set forth above or not less than 1,300 square feet of lot area for each lodging unit, whichever is greater. Each lodging unit shall be comprised of at least 275 square feet of floor area, shall contain not more than two sleeping rooms and shall not contain cooking facilities.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.05 YARD REGULATIONS.
(a) Front, side and rear yards shall be provided on every lot in accordance with the following schedule:
The first figure is the requirement for front yards, in feet to the right of way; the second figure is the requirement for side and rear yards adjacent to residential districts, in feet; the last figure is the requirement for side and rear yards adjacent to nonresidential districts, in feet.
Service station | 60 | 100 | 35 |
Service station pumps | 30 | 100 | 35 |
Motel, hotel, restaurant | 100 | 100 | 35 |
Parking | 35 | 30 | 10 |
Signs | 20 | 30 | 10 |
Other uses | 60 | 100 | 35 |
(b) Within the front yard and adjacent to the street right-of-way line there shall be an open and unobstructed buffer strip of twenty feet in depth. Except for the access drive, no other facilities shall be located within this area. Parking of vehicles in this buffer strip shall be prohibited. Except for access ways permitted, such buffer strip shall contain a curb or other suitable barrier against unchanneled motor vehicle ingress and egress and shall be continuous for the entire width of the lot adjoining the street or highway right-of-way line.
(c) The source of light for illumination of the exterior of buildings or grounds shall be shielded so as not to cause glare which would be hazardous to auto drivers or would be objectionable to users of adjacent property.
(d) For lots abutting on a thoroughfare shown on the Official Thoroughfare Plan of the City, the minimum setback provided herein shall be measured from the proposed right-of-way line specified for that thoroughfare on the Official Thoroughfare Plan.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
(e) For lots adjacent to residential districts there shall be located within the side and rear yards as provided in Section 1135.05(a), a buffer area which shall consist of a barrier of natural evergreens with a minimum height of six feet at planting, consisting of six rows staggered at five foot centers. Prior to the issuance of the building permit the property owner shall place upon the land a deed restriction which shall run with the land and shall require the owner, or any subsequent owner, to maintain in perpetuity the buffer strip provided in this section, in the manner provided in this section, including the replacement of trees as necessary.
(Ord. 89-72. Passed 10-9-89.)
1139.06 OFF-STREET PARKING AND LOADING.
(a) Off-Street Parking Requirements.
Building Use | Minimum Required Parking Spaces |
Gasoline service station | 1 per employee, plus 1 per grease rack, plus 1 for each restroom. |
Motels or hotels | 1 per lodging unit, plus 1 per each 2 employees. |
Meeting hall | 1 per 3 seats. |
Restaurant | 1 per 2 seats, plus 1 per each 3 employees. |
Other uses as determined by the Planning Commission.
(1) Each parking space shall be not less than 200 square feet, exclusive of drives and turning spaces.
(2) All parking areas and driveways shall be graded and hard-surfaced with asphalt or concrete. Bumper guards shall be provided to establish the limit of each parking area, except at accessways.
(3) No parking shall be permitted on a thoroughfare specified as a major thoroughfare on the Official Thoroughfare Plan of the City.
(b) Off-Street Loading Facilities.
(1) Off-street loading facilities shall not be located in the required front, side and rear yards, and the loading space shall not be used for repairing or servicing of motor vehicles.
(2) A space or spaces shall be provided within the structure of such dimensions as to accommodate the trucks employed for loading or unloading goods for a particular use. Each space shall have a vertical clearance of at least fourteen feet.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.07 ACCESS DRIVES.
Access drives to major streets shall be controlled in the interest of public safety and to maintain the designed capacity of the major street system.
(a) Drives shall be so designed and located that vehicles can safely enter and leave the facility with no need to park, stand or maneuver back and forth on the major thoroughfare right of way.
(b) Those portions of the access drive located within the highway right of way shall be paved with material equal to the highway pavement, shall be no greater than thirty-five feet wide, shall be designed to prohibit surface drainage from flowing directly onto the highway pavement, shall include a minimum twenty-foot turning radii between the edge of the drive and the highway pavement and shall be curbed.
(c) Each lot shall not have more than two access drives to any one street or highway. The width of any access drive shall not be less than sixteen feet nor shall it exceed thirty-five feet. Insofar as practicable the use of common access ways by two or more uses shall be encouraged to reduce the number of such highway access points. The fronting of uses on a marginal service street shall also be encouraged.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)
1139.08 SIGNS.
1139.09 DEVELOPMENT PLANS.
(a) Submission of Plans. A site plan shall be prepared for each proposed development in a C-3 Motor Service District and five copies of the plan of development shall be submitted to the Planning Commission.
Upon completion of all construction or at the completion of a significant phase of construction, three copies of plans showing the "as-built" construction shall be submitted to the Commission for its files.
(b) Approval of Plans. If the Planning Commission finds the plans are in accord with this and other codes of the City, the final development plan shall then be submitted to Council for approval. Council approval shall be by the majority voting in agreement. A three-fourths majority of Council shall be required to override the disapproval of the Commission. The plan may be modified by the same procedure. No building permits shall be issued by the Building Inspector until such development plan has been approved as provided herein.
Failure to begin construction of all or an independent component of the plan within one year after approval by Council shall void the plan as approved unless an extension of time is approved by Council.
(c) Variance. The Planning Commission may, in specific cases, with the consent of Council, vary or permit exceptions to any of the provisions of this District if it finds that such variances or exceptions will not violate the spirit or intent of the regulations pertaining to this District and that a more harmonious and useful development will result.
(Ord. 65-82. Passed 12-27-65.)