Colonie City Zoning Code
§ 242-8
Commercial A District.
A.
In the Commercial A District, no building or premises or any part thereof shall be used and no building or structure or any part of either shall be erected which is arranged, intended or designed, in whole or in part, for any purpose or use except the following:
(2)
Retail, professional services, restaurants, entertainment and similar uses.
(a)
The following uses shall be permitted, provided that they are carried on in a completely enclosed building:
[1]
Retail uses.
[2]
Professional, personal, business and financial services; repair of appliances, machinery or other small goods.
[3]
Restaurant or food service establishment.
[4]
Entertainment establishment, such as a theater or nightclub.
[5]
Printing.
[6]
Shopping center consisting of one building containing two or more uses listed in Subsection A(2)(a)[1] through [5] above.
(b)
In connection with any of the above uses, drive-in windows or similar facilities may be established.
(3)
The sale and service of motor vehicles, mobile homes, recreational vehicles or boats, provided that all service or repair takes place in a completely enclosed building.
(4)
Gasoline stations.
(a)
Gasoline stations shall be subject to the approval of a special permit by the Planning Commission and the conditions below:
[1]
No gasoline station shall be established within 1,000 feet, on the same side of the highway, of any other gasoline station or of the site for which a permit to establish a gasoline station has been granted.
[2]
The site has a minimum street frontage of 200 feet and a minimum depth of 200 feet; odd-shaped sites with at least 200 feet of frontage and 40,000 square feet of lot area may be considered.
[3]
The Planning Commission finds that the site plan, location of buildings, pumps, curb cuts, underground storage tanks and other appurtenances, as well as the amount of fuel to be stored and the arrangements for its filling and dispensing, are designed to avoid or mitigate any potential adverse effects on the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, general welfare, environment, stability of property values and aesthetics of the Village or its inhabitants and, for this purpose, may impose conditions more restrictive than specified elsewhere in this Code.
[4]
An attendant is present on the premises whenever fuel or other petroleum products are dispensed.
(b)
The review of the application shall follow the same procedure as a site plan review, and the Commission shall also consider the same factors as for site plan approval.
(5)
Motels, hotels, tourist homes, hospitals or convalescent homes.
(6)
Greenhouses, private garages, utility substations and warehouses. No articles or their containers, warehoused or stored, shall be permitted to remain in the open and visible from any street.
(8)
Adult entertainment uses such as an adult bookstore, adult entertainment cabaret adult massage establishment, adult motel, adult peep show or adult theater subject to the following restrictions as to location which shall be in addition to any other requirements of this Code:
[Added 5-27-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1997; amended 9-22-1997 by L.L. No. 6-1997]
(a)
Any of the above uses shall not be located within a one-thousand-foot radius of any area zoned for residential use either within the Village of Colonie or in any adjoining municipality.
(b)
Any of the above uses shall not be located within a one-thousand-foot radius of another such use.
(c)
Any of the above uses shall not be located within a one-thousand-foot radius of any school, church, or other place of religious worship, park, playground or playing field.
(d)
No more than one adult entertainment use including any of the adult uses as defined in § 242-3 above shall be located on any lot.
(e)
The one-thousand-foot radius herein shall be measured from the property line of the premises or zoning district boundary line, as same shall be appropriate for such purposes herein.
B.
In connection with an authorized use, there may be displayed on such business locations advertising signs relating to items sold or services performed on the premises, subject to the limitations and regulations of Chapter 181, Signs.
C.
Off-street parking and location of driveways.
(1)
Adequate space shall be provided on every site in the Commercial A District for the parking or garaging of all motor vehicles used in connection with or attracted to the site. No building permit shall be issued for any commercial construction unless the Planning Commission has approved the provisions made for parking in this Code, which are intended to protect property values, to create a more attractive business and economic climate and to enhance and protect the physical appearance of the Commercial A District and the community.
(2)
For every building erected, altered or changed in use, there shall be provided off-street parking spaces at least as set forth below:
(a)
Office: one parking space, plus one additional space for every 200 square feet of floor area.
(b)
Hotel, motel, tourist home and boardinghouse: one parking space for each three employees, plus one additional space for every guest room.
(c)
Retail and business services: one parking space for every motor vehicle used directly in the business, which shall be estimated by the developer, plus one additional space for every 150 square feet of floor area.
(d)
Barbers and beauty shops: one parking space per employee, plus three additional spaces per work station.
(e)
Restaurant not serving any alcoholic beverages: one parking space for every 2 1/2 seats, plus one parking space for every 1 1/2 employees in the maximum shift.
(f)
Restaurants serving alcoholic beverages, bars and similar drinking establishments and nightclubs: required parking spaces shall be calculated using the table below:
Parking Demand Level | Maximum Number of Square Feet of Usable Customer Floor Space Per Parking Space |
|---|---|
Under .25 | 241 |
.25 to .49 | 23 |
.50 to .74 | 22 |
.75 to .99 | 21 |
1.00 to 1.24 | 20 |
1.25 to 1.49 | 19 |
1.50 to 1.74 | 18 |
1.75 to 1.99 | 17 |
2.00 and over | 16 |
NOTES: |
1Includes establishments with no customer counter or direct food or drink service. |
Where parking demand level is calculated by the formula | ||
Parking Demand Level = | (Linear Bar Footage)2 square feet of usable customer floor space | |
and where: | ||
(1) | Linear bar footage is defined as the length of customer access in feet along which direct food or drink service may be obtained, including waiter/waitress access point. | |
(2) | "Square feet of usable customer floor space" is the total floor area of the establishment prior to installation of tables, booths and partitions, but excluding rest rooms, coatrooms, storage rooms, utility rooms, kitchens, back bar area and other similar parts of the premises. | |
The Planning Commission may consider and approve provisions for parking in connection with a restaurant serving alcoholic beverages which are less than the requirements of this subsection only if it has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission on the basis of studies of comparable restaurants in comparable locations that such lesser provision of parking spaces will satisfy the objectives of § 242-8C(1) above. | ||
(g)
Medical services: one parking space for every 150 square feet of floor area.
(h)
Unspecified uses: one parking space for each 100 square feet of floor area, unless the Planning Commission determines that a different ratio is appropriate for the specific use(s) being applied for on the basis of recent studies or other evidence the Planning Commission deems locally applicable.
(i)
Combined uses [buildings containing two or more use classifications as defined by Subsection C(2)(a) through (h)]: parking requirements determined on the basis of the percentage of floor area per classification of total floor area plus the sum of mandated spaces. The Planning Commission may reduce this requirement by not more than 50% of the lessor (or least) number of spaces if it finds that one of the uses will generate parking demand only at times when the other use(s) will generate no, or minimal, parking.
(3)
No driveway may be connected to a curb cut which is closer than 200 feet from the boundary of a residential district unless the parcel on the opposite side of the street is zoned Commercial A and actually used for a purpose other than residential.
D.
Height, yard, density and green space requirements.
(1)
No structure or building shall exceed 40 feet or three stories in height.
(2)
Front, side and rear yards. The following minimum yards shall be provided on each lot, and no building, structure or addition thereto shall encroach into any required yard:
(a)
Front yard: 25 feet.
(b)
Side yard, when interior lot is used for residential purposes: a minimum of 10 feet on each side but a total of 25 feet for both sides, except that where the side line abuts a residential district and the interior lot is used for commercial purposes, then the side yard for that section of the side lot line shall be 50 feet.
[Amended 4-13-1998 by L.L. No. 4-1998]
(c)
Side yard, corner lot: 25 feet adjoining any street line.
(e)
If a building or structure exceeds two stories or 25 feet in height, each of the minimum yards specified in Subsection D(2)(a) through (d) above will be increased by 10 feet for each additional story or each additional 12 feet in height by which the building exceeds two stories or 25 feet, respectively, whichever will result in the greater yard.
(3)
Coverage. The total building area of buildings on the lot (including accessory buildings, garages or sheds) shall not exceed 50% of the lot area.
(4)
Green space. No less than 20% of the lot area shall be devoted to green space, of which no less than 50% shall be located in the front yard.
(5)
Buffer area. Where a lot abuts a lot which is used for residential purposes or is in a residential district, a buffer area shall be provided along the common property line, which shall be not less than 25 feet in width. The buffer strip shall be covered with natural or newly planted vegetation at least six feet high with a six-foot fence along the property line; where topographically feasible, the Planning Commission will require a berm; natural features shall be preserved and enhanced as far as possible.
(6)
No building permit shall be issued for any structure in the Commercial A District which is intended to be placed within 500 feet of the westerly side of Rapple Drive, provided that it is more than 300 feet south of the southerly line of the Albany-Schenectady Road. Any permit to be issued for construction within the above district must require adequate screening by means of appropriate fencing, trees or hedges so that the residential values of the homes on Rapple Drive shall remain unaffected and undisturbed as much as possible. The Planning Commission shall determine the kind, amount and nature of such screening after a public hearing.
E.
Special provision for lots fronting on certain streets. The intent of this provision is to promote the orderly development of the Commercial A District in accordance with the long-range plan of the Village while protecting the amenity and property values of the numerous residences now found in this district during the transition to full commercial development.
(1)
Applicability.
(a)
This provision applies only to lots in the Commercial A District which have frontage only on one of the following streets:
Birch Avenue | Mordella Road | |
Breeman Street | Nicholas Drive | |
Broderick Street | Nicole Drive | |
Delafield Drive | Parkwood Drive | |
Forest Drive | Pine Avenue | |
Fuller Terrace | Poplar Street | |
Hawley Avenue | Red Fox Drive | |
Holland Avenue | Tanglewood Road | |
Killean Park | Tull Drive | |
Lanci Lane | Vly Road | |
Lapham Drive | Willow Avenue | |
Lincoln Avenue | Woollard Avenue | |
Locust Park |
(c)
This provision will no longer apply to a Tax Map parcel which has been combined with other Tax Map parcels to form a corner lot [See Subsection E(1)(b)[2] above.] as soon as such combination has been effected and recorded.
(2)
On lots to which the provisions of this section apply, the following uses are permitted:
(b)
Retail uses; professional, personal, business and financial services; repair of appliances, machinery or other small goods; catering, but excluding any consumption of food on the premises, provided that:
[1]
Drive-in windows or similar facilities are prohibited.
[2]
The Planning Commission finds, as part of its review, that external changes to existing buildings will be kept to a minimum and architectural features will be in harmony with the character of the neighborhood.
[3]
Signs will conform to the regulation for home occupations in Residential A Districts.
F.
Noise.
(1)
Noise level generated by any nonresidential use shall not exceed 65 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays or 50 dBA at all times as measured from the lot line of any residential lot or the boundary of any residential zoning district.
(2)
Outdoor speakers and/or communication systems are prohibited.