The purpose of this district is to permit a wide range of business, retail, service, and entertainment uses. It is further the intent of this district to encourage uses that serve the needs of customers who are most likely to arrive in personal vehicles. As such these uses are generally located near major streets and away from concentrations of single-family residences.

Further objectives of this Article include:

A.

To provide space for automobile-oriented commercial uses.

B.

To provide adequate and appropriate separation and/or buffering of general business uses and residential or less intensive commercial areas.

No building or land shall be used and no building shall be erected except for one (1) or more of the following specified uses, unless otherwise provided in this Ordinance:

A.

Adult foster care group homes and congregate facilities.

B.

Automobile, truck, motorcycle, trailer, recreational vehicle or boat, dealerships, either new or used.

C.

Automobile wash facilities.

D.

Automotive service centers/stations including those combined with convenience stores of no more than one thousand (1,000) square feet, or automotive fueling stations and automotive fueling stations, automotive service centers/stations, without accessory or combined convenience stores.

E.

Business establishments that perform services on premises such as, but not limited to: banks, savings and loans, and credit unions; brokerage houses; insurance, real estate, and travel agencies; and automated teller machine facilities.

F.

Bus passenger stations

G.

Business service establishments, such as office machine and typewriter repair, printing, blueprinting.

H.

Catering establishments.

I.

Child care center, day care center, or child caring institution.

J.

Churches and other facilities normally incidental thereto.

K.

Plant nurseries, greenhouses, and garden centers less than one thousand (1,000) square feet.

L.

Data processing and computing centers.

M.

Business schools, colleges, or private schools operated for a profit.

N.

Commercial vehicle storage and garages.

O.

Mortuaries or funeral homes.

P.

Medical offices.

Q.

Offices of an executive, administrative, or professional nature.

R.

Personal fitness centers.

S.

Personal service establishments within a completely enclosed building, including but not limited to such uses as: repair shops (watches, radio, television, shoes, etc.), tailor and dressmaking shops, beauty parlors and styling salons, barber shops, photographic studios, film processing outlets, copy centers, interior decorators, and postal centers.

T.

Public, quasi-public, and institutional uses such as, but not limited to, municipal buildings and offices, courthouses, public off-street parking facilities, libraries, museums, public safety facilities, parks, post offices, civic centers, and storage yards for the same.

U.

Restaurants.

V.

Retail businesses which supply commodities on the premise, such as but not limited to groceries, meats, fruits and produce, dairy products, baked goods, candies, specialty wines, and other specialty food products; and stores selling drugs, dry goods, flowers, clothing, notions, books and magazines, toys, sporting goods, shoes, tobacco products, musical instruments, recorded music, video rentals and sales, gifts and souvenirs, antiques, furniture, and hardware.

W.

Retail sales in which both a workshop and retail outlet or showroom are required, such as but not limited to, plumbing, electrician, interior decorating, upholstering, printing, photographic-reproducing, radio, and home appliance and similar establishments of similar character, subject to the provision that not more than eighty (80) per cent of the total useable floor area of the establishment shall be used for servicing, repairing, or processing activities and further provided that such retail outlet or showroom activities shall be provided in that portion of the building where the customer entrance is located.

X.

Studios for art, music, dance, or theatrical instruction.

Y.

Hotels, motels, tourist homes, and bed and breakfast inns.

Z.

Lumber yards and building supply centers.

AA.

Public utility buildings and substations, telephone exchange buildings, electric transformer stations and substations, and gas regulator stations, including storage yards for the same.

BB.

Veterinary clinics and animal grooming.

CC.

Theaters, cinemas, assembly halls, community centers, or similar places of assembly, when conducted completely within enclosed buildings.

DD.

Accessory structures and uses customarily incidental to the above permitted uses, including drive-through service windows.

EE.

Mixed-use buildings with business, commercial, or service uses on the ground floor and residential, office or warehouse uses on upper floors.

(Ord. No. 2002-8, 8-26-02)

The following uses shall be considered conditional and shall require a conditional use approval, and shall comply with any applicable conditional use requirements of Article XXIII:

A.

Plant nurseries, green houses, and garden centers exceeding one thousand (1,000) square feet of floor area.

B.

Bars, taverns, pubs and brewpubs, cocktail lounges, and nightclubs.

C.

Indoor recreational centers such as, but not limited to, bowling alleys, roller and ice skating rinks, pool or billiard halls, pinball and mechanical device arcades, and other general indoor recreation facilities.

D.

Mobile home, excavation equipment, machinery, or farm implement sales, either new or used.

E.

Open air business uses, such as but not limited to, retail sales of trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, topsoil, fruit, vegetables, and miniature golf.

F.

Hospitals.

G.

Self-storage units.

H.

Tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments.

I.

Wholesale stores of less than sixty thousand (60,000) square feet of gross floor area.

J.

Other commercial uses not specifically stated or implied elsewhere which, in the determination of the planning commission, are similar to the principal permitted uses provided herein, and in harmony with the character of the district and the purpose and intent of this article and the Eaton Rapids Comprehensive Plan.

K.

Pawnbrokers.

L.

Second hand dealers.

M.

Other commercial uses not specifically stated or implied elsewhere which, in the determination of the planning commission, are similar to the principal permitted uses provided herein, and in harmony with the character of the district and the purposes and intent of this article and the Eaton Rapids Comprehensive Plan.

(Ord. No. 2004-41, 5-24-04; Ord. No. 2009-5, 7-27-09)

The following requirements shall be met within a General Business District (GBD):

A.

Development plan approval for all permitted and conditional uses as specified in Article XVI of this Ordinance.

B.

Off-street parking, loading, and access management standards for all uses as specified in Article XXI of this Ordinance.

C.

Signs for all uses as specified in Article XXII of this Ordinance.

D.

Height, area, lot coverage, yard regulations, building mass, and yard regulations as specified in Article XVII of this Ordinance.

E.

Landscaping requirements as specified in Article XX of this Ordinance.

F.

Design, architectural, and building material standards as specified in Article XIX of this Ordinance.