Hopkinton City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Professional Office P District
[Added 5-6-1996 ATM by Art. 34; amended 5-3-1999 ATM by Art. 18; 5-4-2009 ATM by Art. 18]
§ 210-38 Development and design objectives.
The Professional Office District is designed to accommodate the administrative, research and office uses which possess characteristics which are not detrimental to the owners and occupants of adjacent properties. The location and design of such professional office use should be such that it will not disturb residential neighborhoods or detract from the appearance of the Town and will result in the maintenance of an ecological balance between undeveloped natural resources and residential neighborhoods.
§ 210-39 Permitted uses.
No new building or structure shall be constructed or used, in whole or in part, and no building or structure, or part thereof, shall be altered, enlarged, reconstructed or used, and no land shall be used in a Professional Office District for any purpose except one or more of the following:
A.
Professional office, administrative office, clerical office, establishment for research and development or laboratory.
B.
Light manufacturing and/or assembly with associated professional, administrative and/or clerical office for the following types of industries:
(1)
Electronic and electrical products.
(2)
Robotics and precision instruments.
(3)
Computer related products.
(4)
Printing and publishing.
(5)
Medical equipment and devices.
(6)
Telecommunications equipment and devices.
C.
Day-care center.
D.
Conference center.
E.
Agricultural and horticultural use.
F.
Accessory uses customarily incidental to any use permitted herein, including but not limited to cafeteria, health club and automatic bank teller machine located within buildings on the site. Such accessory use shall not include restaurants open to the general public.
§ 210-40 Uses allowed by special permit.
[Amended 5-4-2009 ATM by Art. 25; 5-7-2012 ATM by Art. 46]
The following uses shall be allowed upon the grant of a special permit by the Board of Appeals:
A.
Genetic, biological and chemical research center, laboratory and manufacturing and processing plant.
B.
Health services facility.
C.
Residential dormitory component of a conference center.
§ 210-41 Prohibited uses.
Any use not so permitted is excluded unless otherwise permitted by law or the terms of this Chapter.
§ 210-42 Dimensional requirements.
The following size and setback requirements shall apply:
A.
Minimum development site area: five acres. The five acres may be comprised of individual lots of less than five acres which, when combined, will be considered to be one development site. Once the lots are combined to constitute a development site, there shall be no further subdivision of the site which would result in a development site of less than five acres.
B.
Minimum lot frontage for the development site on a public way: 50 feet.
C.
Minimum lot frontage within the development site: none, provided that the interior roads, which must provide adequate access for all buildings on the development site, shall not become public ways and are to be considered private access roads. Fifty feet of frontage is required for each lot if the roads are intended to be considered public ways.
D.
Minimum lot area for individual lots within the development site: none.
E.
Setback from development site property lines:
(1)
Minimum setbacks of buildings and parking areas from development site property lines:
(a)
One hundred feet from property line of property in a residentially zoned district.
(b)
Fifty feet from property line of a commercial or industrially zoned property.
(c)
Sixty feet from a street.
(2)
The minimum setback area shall be landscaped and/or wooded so as to provide adequate year-round screening of the use from abutting property and streets. The minimum setback area required from a residentially zoned district shall remain undisturbed or, if previously disturbed, shall be planted and/or landscaped. Such area shall be wooded for the minimum required distance.
F.
Minimum setbacks of buildings from development site interior property lines and private access roads: none.
G.
Maximum building size: Total gross floor area of all buildings shall not exceed 60% of the total development site area.
H.
Maximum building height: No building or structure shall exceed 35 feet or three stories in height.
I.
A minimum of 40% of the development site shall remain undeveloped open land.
§ 210-43 Outdoor storage and/or display of merchandise or equipment.
No open storage or display shall be permitted in any setback area. Storage or display areas shall be adequately screened by a fence or landscaping so as not to be visible from any road or highway. No materials or equipment stored on a lot shall project above the eave line of the tallest building on the lot.
§ 210-44 Off-street parking.
The requirements of § 210-124, Off-street parking, shall apply. The Planning Board, in the site plan approval process, may, however, permit buildings within the development site to share parking areas and may permit a portion of the required spaces to be set aside as reserve or planned spaces to be constructed as future needs require.
§ 210-45 Open land.
A.
Adequate pedestrian access shall be provided to the open land. The open land may remain as part of the overall development site and need not be a separate parcel, but there shall be deed restrictions stating that there shall be no further development of the open land. The open land may consist of a separate parcel and may be conveyed to a nonprofit organization, the purpose of which is the preservation of open space. If the open land is conveyed to another entity, it shall continue to be part of the development site for the purpose of calculating dimensional requirements.
B.
The open land shall consist primarily of undisturbed land which may be used for outdoor active or passive recreational purposes and shall be planned as large, contiguous units wherever possible. If privately owned, the open land may be used solely by occupants of the development site or may be available for use by Town residents. The decision as to whether to permit Town residents to use the open land shall be that of the property owner. The open land may be comprised of more than one parcel, provided that the size, shape and location of such parcels are suitable for the above purposes.
C.
Setback areas from exterior development site property lines of 100 feet or more may be counted as part of the open land.
D.
If detention or retention ponds are necessary for the construction of the buildings on the development site, such ponds shall not be located within the required setback areas, unless specifically permitted by the site plan approval. Such detention or retention areas shall be designed to appear as natural landforms.
E.
Areas set aside for planned or reserve parking spaces or fire lanes may not be considered to be open land.
§ 210-47 Design.
Curb cuts on streets shall be minimized, and to the greatest extent possible, buildings shall be located away from streets and surrounding noncommercial or industrial uses. Parking lots shall include islands with shade trees. Buildings, roadways and parking lots shall be designed to accommodate the landscape and natural site features, and disturbance to the site shall be minimized so that as many trees and natural features are retained as possible. Outdoor lighting fixtures shall be shielded and directed to prevent illumination from falling onto adjacent lots and streets.
§ 210-48 Site plan review.
The provisions of Article XX, Site Plan Review, shall apply. The site plan shall show the planned use of the entire development site. If development will be phased over time, a phasing plan shall be included.