No building, structure, or land shall be used and no building or structure shall hereafter be erected, structurally altered, enlarged, or maintained except for one or more of the uses herein cited and subject to the conditions stated herein:

Ambulatory health care facilities, including dental care.

Accessory structures only when essential for the operation of the permitted use.

Apparel stores.

Bakeries, where the products made are sold exclusively at retail on the premises.

Banks and credit unions.

Barber shops, beauty parlors, reducing salons.

Book stores and newsstands.

Bowling alleys.

Cafes, delicatessens, coffee shops and restaurants without alcohol.

Confectionery stores.

Conference/convention centers.

Drug stores and apothecaries.

Dry cleaning establishments utilizing only non-flammable dry cleaning fluids.

Emergency health care clinics.

Florist shops.

Gift shops.

Grocery stores, provided no gasoline is offered for sale.

Hardware stores and variety stores, provided that no such business shall occupy more than 30,000 square feet of gross floor area.

Health clubs or gyms.

Hobby shops.

Home furnishings stores.

Hotels and motels.

Jewelry stores.

Medical or dental centers.

Municipal, county, state or federal uses.

Music, record, and video sales and rental stores.

Nurseries, kindergartens or day care centers for children.

Office buildings.

Office supply and computer supply stores.

Other uses that are similar to those enumerated and that would support and complement uses permitted within the adjoining research park district, but not including the display, storage, or sales of merchandise in any parking and vehicular use area.

Performing arts center.

Permitted Uses as Special Exceptions as defined and regulated by Subsection 92.5.3 hereof.

Photo finishing shops and photography studios.

Print shops and copying services.

Radio station studios and offices including required transmission equipment, but not including broadcast towers.

Residential dwelling units on the upper floors of hotels, mixed use, commercial or office buildings, provided such units contain a minimum of 600 square feet and are in compliance with all applicable regulations for habitable space.

Restaurants, delicatessens, and cafes.

Shoe stores, shoe repair shops, and tailor shops.

Spa or wellness centers.

Sporting goods stores.

Teleconferencing centers.

Teleport.

Travel agencies.

Warehouse retail, provided that no such business shall occupy more than 50,000 square feet of gross floor area.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005; Ord. No. 06-826, § 2, 10-26-2006 Ord. No. 07-401, § 5, 6-14-2007; Ord. No. 11-11, § 13, 2-24-2011; Ord. No. 19-936, §§ 1, 2, 11-21-2019)

53.2.1. Minimum lot area shall be not less than one-half acre.

53.2.2. Minimum lot width of each tract shall be not less than 100 feet measured at the minimum building line.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

53.3.1. Each lot shall have a minimum frontage of 50 feet on a public road.

53.3.2. Access into a research park commercial district shall be from a collector or arterial street and shall be in accordance with the adopted master plan, if any, for the adjoining research park district. No access roads serving the commercial district shall be permitted which may place heavy traffic on residential streets that are not classified as collector or arterial streets.

53.3.3. All establishments shall be accessed from streets or drives internal to the research park commercial district; curb cuts across the boundaries of the commercial district to provide access for individual establishments shall not be permitted.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

The following minimum yards shall be required:

53.4.1. Yards abutting an existing or proposed street shall be considered front yards. No principal structure, accessory structure, exterior storage or merchandise shall be located less than 50 feet from any existing or proposed collector or arterial street right-of-way, except as provided for in section 53.5.2.

53.4.2. All yards abutting collector or arterial streets shall be kept clear of parking, loading areas, vehicular access ways, except as necessary to cross a required yard and except as provided for in section 53.5.2, parking and loading areas. All yards described herein shall be landscaped in accordance with section 53.8.1, landscaping requirements.

53.4.3. Side and rear yards that abut the boundaries of the research park commercial district and have no street frontage shall have a minimum depth of 50 feet in which no principal structure, accessory structure, or exterior storage or merchandise shall be located.

53.4.4. All required side and rear yards that abut the boundaries of the research park commercial district shall be kept clear of parking, loading areas, and vehicular access ways, except as necessary to cross a required yard, and except as provided for in section 53.5.2, parking and loading areas. All yards described herein shall be landscaped in accordance with section 53.8.1, landscaping requirements.

53.4.5. Yards having frontage on local streets shall have a minimum depth of 20 feet of which the first 15 feet adjacent to the street shall be landscaped in accordance with section 53.8.3, landscaping requirements.

53.4.6. Internal side and rear yards that abut other side or rear yards within the commercial district shall have a minimum depth of ten feet and shall be landscaped.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

53.5.1. The minimum number of off-street parking spaces shall be provided and maintained as follows:

(1)

Day care and nurseries: One space for each staff member plus one space for each ten children permitted plus a passenger loading space situated so that children will not have to cross a parking area or lanes of traffic.

(2)

Hotels and motels: One space for each room or unit offered for rent.

(3)

Lounges: One space per 100 square feet of gross floor area plus one space per employee on the largest shift.

(4)

Medical clinics and medical offices: One space for each 200 square feet of gross floor area.

(5)

Office buildings: One space for each 250 square feet of gross floor area.

(6)

Restaurants: One space per 100 square feet of gross floor area plus one space per employee on the largest shift.

(7)

Retail sales and service establishments: One space for each 300 square feet of gross floor area.

(8)

Required off street parking may be located within the research park commercial district boundary without respect to the use said parking is to serve, so long as the total provided off street parking is not less than the cumulative total required by all permitted uses within the district boundary.

53.5.2. Off street parking, including parking structures, loading areas and vehicular access ways, except as necessary to cross a required yard, shall not be permitted within 20 feet of any boundary of the research park commercial district.

53.5.3. Parking shall be paved and properly drained and have curbs and gutters. No parking shall be permitted any place other than paved parking areas.

53.5.4 Loading areas shall be sufficient to meet the requirements of each use. Loading areas shall not be placed within any front yard and shall be screened from view from public rights-of-way by the use of a six-foot high wall or by a combination of live plant materials that is opaque from the ground to a height of at least six feet during all seasons of the year.

53.5.5. Required bicycle parking spaces and facilities shall be provided as set forth in article 76 hereof.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005; Ord. No. 10-507, § 2, 8-26-2010; Ord. No. 15-481, § 1, 8-27-2015)

Signs shall be permitted in accordance with the provisions of article 72—Sign control regulations.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005; Ord. No. 21-46, § 1(Exh. A, § B.2.), 2-25-2021)

53.7.1. Maximum number of stories for motels, hotels and office buildings shall be 12 stories.

53.7.2. Maximum number of stories for structures other than hotels, motels, and office buildings shall be five.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

53.8.1. Yards having frontage on arterial or collector streets shall be landscaped with a minimum of one type 1 shade tree per 20 linear feet of distance for each boundary line of such yards. Said trees shall be planted in a manner so as to distribute the required trees throughout the required yards. Each yard shall be planted with turf grass or other permanent evergreen ground cover.

53.8.2. Yards abutting a boundary of the district that does not have frontage on a right-of-way shall be landscaped with a minimum of one type 1 shade tree and one type 4 coniferous evergreen tree per 30 linear feet of distance for each boundary line of such yards, planted in a manner so as to distribute the required trees throughout the required yards. Grass or other permanent evergreen ground cover shall be maintained on the remainder of the required yard

53.8.3. Yards having frontage on a local street shall be planted with one type 1 shade tree per 20 linear feet of required yard, planted in a manner so as to distribute the required trees throughout the required yards. Grass or other permanent evergreen ground cover shall be maintained on the remainder of the required yard.

53.8.4. Parking areas shall be landscaped as follows:

(1)

All off-street parking areas, shall be screened, as well as practicable, from view from public rights-of-way by the use of earth berms planted with a living evergreen ground cover or by evergreen shrubbery or by a combination of both to create a screen at least four feet high along the perimeter of the parking and vehicular use areas.

(2)

All off-street parking areas, excluding any below grade level area within a parking structures, to include drives within the parking areas, greater than either 20 automobile spaces or 6,000 square feet shall have at least five percent of the interior of the parking area landscaped in planting islands or peninsulas. No island shall contribute more than 500 square feet of area to the required total. Width of islands or peninsulas shall be a minimum width of at least eight feet between backs of curbs. Landscaped islands and peninsulas shall be located so that no parking space shall be located farther than ten spaces from a landscaped island or peninsula each of which shall contain at least one type 1 shade tree. Grass or other permanent evergreen ground cover shall cover the remainder of each such landscaped island or peninsula.

53.8.5. All landscaping must be installed in accordance with the provisions of section 71.5, plant materials and installation requirements and section 73.19, installation of landscaping.

53.8.6. All landscape requirements are cumulative and may be distributed on the site in coordination with an overall landscape master plan as submitted and approved by the City of Huntsville Planning Department.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

Lighting of off-street parking and vehicular use areas shall be in accordance with section 71.6, PVA lighting requirements.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 99-1020, § 11, 1-13-2000; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

For land to be designated as a research park commercial district it must satisfy the following conditions:

53.10.1. The land must be located within or contiguous to a research park, research park west, or research park applications district.

53.10.2. The research park commercial district must be directly accessible from collector or arterial streets when developed.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

53.11.1. Any landowner of property lying in a research park commercial district desiring to dedicate any street, road, or right-of-way to the public must submit to the planning commission a plan of the proposed street, road, or right-of-way for approval.

53.11.2. Anyone desiring to secure a building permit, except for interior tenant improvements, for the use of land lying in a research park commercial district must submit to the director of the city planning department the following information, as appropriate for approval of plans:

(1)

A site plan showing location and design of buildings, driveways, driveway intersections with streets, parking areas, loading areas, maneuvering areas, sidewalks, utilities and utility easements, and waste disposal facilities, and

(2)

The percent of coverage of the total site in buildings, parking areas, accessory structures and drives.

(3)

A grading and drainage plan showing all existing and proposed contours, spot elevations, drainage facilities, all required drainage calculations, and all required erosion and sedimentation control measures.

(4)

A landscape plan showing all required landscaping, all calculations for required landscape areas and plants, all screen walls and fences, plant schedules of types and sizes, and appropriate installation details.

(5)

Building plans including floor plans and elevations showing finish materials, colors and accessories.

(6)

Criteria for all signs to be erected, including location, dimensions, design, colors, material and lighting for each.

The director of the city planning department shall review and approve by signature the proposed plot plan upon finding that the same complies with these regulations within 30 business days from a complete submittal. If the proposed plot plan is not approved, the director of the city planning department shall state in writing on the proposed plot plan the cause for such disapproval within 30 business days from a complete submittal.

(Ord. No. 98-52, § 1, 2-26-1998; Ord. No. 05-013, § 2, 2-10-2005)

Alcoholic beverage establishments shall be permitted in accordance with section 75.3 - permitted establishments by districts, subsection 75.3.5, and shall be regulated by article 75 - alcoholic beverage establishment regulations.

(Ord. No. 11-11, § 13, 2-24-2011)