Ithaca City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 13
C-2 General Commercial District
§ 13.01 Purpose.
The C-2 General Commercial District is intended to permit retail business and service uses which are oriented to automobile traffic. This district encourages commercial uses that can accommodate larger off-street parking facilities and complement pedestrian-oriented businesses in the C-1 District. Permitted uses allowed in the C-2 General Business District not subject to specific site development requirements in § 13.02 shall be subject to the site development requirements of § 22.01:5.
§ 13.02 Permitted uses.
The following uses shall be permitted within the C-1 General Commercial District:
(a)
Business services, including the following:
(1)
Business, professional or government offices.
(2)
Financial institutions, including banks, savings and loan association offices, credit unions and loan production offices and associated drive-through facilities, subject to the site development requirements of § 22.01:8.
(b)
Clothing services, including the following:
(1)
Dry cleaning establishments occupying a total floor area not to exceed 2,000 square feet, using not more than two clothes-cleaning units, neither of which shall have a rated capacity of more than 40 pounds, using cleaning fluid which is nonexplosive and nonflammable, and subject to the off-street waiting requirements of § 27.03.
(2)
Laundry agencies.
(3)
Self-service laundry and dry cleaning establishments.
(c)
Food services, including the following:
(1)
Supermarkets/grocery stores.
(2)
Wholesale food distributors.
(3)
Drive-in restaurants or other drive-in or drive-up establishments serving food and/or beverages, subject to site development requirements in § 22.01:15.
(4)
Restaurants.
(d)
Medical offices, including the following:
(1)
Medical centers or industrial health clinics, subject to the site development requirements of § 22.01:22.
(2)
Medical laboratories, testing, research establishments, subject to the site development requirements of § 22.01:24.
(3)
Veterinary hospitals and clinics, kennels, subject to the applicable site development requirements of § 22.01:6 or § 22.01:23.
(e)
Personal services, including the following:
(1)
Barbershops.
(2)
Beauty shops.
(3)
Health salons, exercise/body building facilities.
(4)
Motels, motor courts, subject to site development requirements of § 22.01:27.
(f)
Recreation/amusement businesses, including the following:
(1)
Bowling alleys.
(2)
Golf driving ranges, subject to site development requirements of § 22.01:19.
(3)
Movie theaters.
(4)
Archery/pistol ranges (indoors).
(5)
Arcades.
(6)
Drive-in theaters, subject to site development requirements of § 22.01:14.
(g)
Vehicle sales and service:
(1)
Automobile service stations, quick oil change shops, subject to applicable site development requirements in § 22.01:7.
(2)
Automobile car washes subject to site development requirements of § 22.01:44.
(3)
New and used car/truck dealerships.
(4)
Farm implement sales and service establishments.
(5)
Recreation vehicle sales and service establishments.
(6)
Truck repair establishments.
(7)
Truck terminals.
(h)
Retail and wholesale distributorship, including the following:
(1)
Warehousing of wholesale and retail merchandise, subject to the site development requirements of § 22.01:45.
(2)
Auto parts sales establishments.
(3)
Drug stores/pharmacies.
(4)
Plumbing and heating equipment establishments, including woodburning stoves.
(5)
Home improvement stores/lumberyards, subject to applicable site development requirements in §§ 22.01:25 or 22.01:5.
(6)
Equipment rental/sales, subject to applicable site development requirements in § 22.01:17.
(7)
Nurseries for plants and flowers, subject to applicable site development requirements in § 22.01:28.
(i)
Uses similar to the above, as determined by the City Planning Commission.
(j)
Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental to the above permitted uses, subject to the requirements of § 4.05.
(k)
Signs, as provided in Article 28.
(l)
Off-street parking and loading facilities in accordance with the requirements of Article 27.
(m)
Temporary buildings and trailers for use incidental to construction.
(n)
Public utility buildings, telephone exchange buildings, electric transformer stations and substations, and gas regulator stations, but not including storage yards or radio and television towers, subject to site development requirements in §§ 22.01:36 and 22.01:37.
§ 13.03 Uses allowed by special permit.
The following uses may be permitted subject to applicable site design standards in Article 22 and subject further to the approval of the City Planning Commission in accordance with processing procedures in Articles 20 and 21.
(a)
Adult bookstores, subject to the requirements in § 22.01:1.
(b)
Adult live entertainment establishments, subject to the requirements of § 22.01:1.
(c)
Adult theaters, subject to the requirements of § 22.01:1.
§ 13.04 Required conditions.
The following conditions are required for all uses in the C-2 District.
(a)
All lighting in connection with permitted business uses shall be so arranged as to reflect the light away from all adjoining residential buildings or residentially zoned property.
(b)
Outside storage shall be allowed provided adequate screening is provided in accordance with the requirements of § 4.12.
(c)
Where a new or expanded land use occurs in a C-2 District, after the effective date of this ordinance, that abuts directly upon a residentially zoned district, protective screening shall be provided in accordance with § 18.06.
§ 13.05 Site plan review.
For all uses in the C-2 District, a site plan shall be submitted for review and approval in accordance with Article 21.
§ 13.06 Regulations.
The composite schedule of regulations for all districts is identified in Article 26.
13.06:1.
Minimum lot size: 10,000 square feet.
13.06:2.
Minimum lot width: 100 feet.
13.06:3.
Maximum height of structure: 30 feet.
13.06:4.
Minimum yard setback:
(a)
Front yard: 40 feet. If any portion of the front yard is used for parking, the front 10 feet closest to the street shall be planted and landscaped except for necessary entrance drives.
(b)
Side yard: 20 feet on each side. Parking may be allowed in the side yard, provided adequate lane and parking space widths are maintained and no parking area is closer than five feet to any zoning district boundary line. Where a building abuts a residential zone, a minimum side yard setback of 50 feet shall be maintained and a screened fence or wall shall be provided between the commercial building and adjacent residential property in accordance with § 4.12.
(c)
Rear yard: 25 feet, with the same parking and screening provisions as for a side yard.
13.06:5.
Minimum floor area: none.