The business districts set forth in this chapter are established to protect public health, to promote public safety, comfort, convenience and the general welfare and to protect the economic base of the city and the value of property. These general purposes include, among others, the following specific objectives: (1996 Code app. A § 12.1)

   A.   To promote the most desirable use of land in accordance with a well considered plan so that adequate space is provided in appropriate locations for the various types of business uses, thereby protecting and strengthening the economic base of the city. (1996 Code app. A § 12.1-1)

   B.   To place in separate districts those businesses which may create noise, odors, hazards or unsightliness, or which may generate excessive traffic. (1996 Code app. A § 12.1-2)

   C.   To permit selected business uses in districts where adjacency to or inclusion in a residential area has sufficient elements of service or convenience to such areas to offset the disadvantage. (1996 Code app. A § 12.1-3)

   D.   To encourage the grouping in appropriate locations of compatible business uses which will tend to draw trade that is mutually interchangeable and so promote public convenience and business prosperity and contribute to the alleviation of traffic and pedestrian congestion. (1996 Code app. A § 12.1-4)

   A.   B-1 Business District, Offices: All of the following permitted uses, except the required off street parking facilities, shall be conducted wholly within an enclosed building:

Any similar type business or professional offices not specifically permitted herein.

Banks and financial institutions.

Churches and accessory buildings, not including convents, monasteries, rectories or parsonage.

Currency exchanges.

Day care.

Employment agency.

Loan offices.

Offices, business and professional, including medical clinics.

Optician, optometrist.

Postal substations, finance stations and contract stations.

Public utility collection offices.

Savings and loan associations.

Travel bureau and transportation ticket office.

Undertaking establishments or funeral homes.

   B.   B-2 Business District, Stores: All of the following permitted uses, except the required off street parking facilities, shall be conducted wholly within an enclosed building:

Any similar type retail stores not specifically permitted herein and which have economic compatibility with the established use on adjoining properties.

Antique shops.

Art and school supply store.

Art galleries and studios.

Auto accessory store, where there is no driveway entrance across the sidewalk into the main building.

Bakery shop, including the baking and processing of food products when prepared for retail use on the premises only.

Barbershop, beauty parlor, chiropody, massage or similar personal service shop.

Bicycle sales and repair.

Bookstores.

Camera and photography supply shops for retail sale.

Candy and ice cream shops.

Churches and accessory buildings, not including convents, monasteries, rectories or parsonage.

Coin and philatelic stores.

Costume rental shop.

Custom dressmaking, millinery, tailoring or shoe repair when conducted for retail sales on the premises only.

Day care.

Department stores.

Drugstores.

Dry cleaning and pressing establishments when employing facilities for the cleaning and pressing of not more than one thousand (1,000) pounds of dry goods per day, and when using perchlorethylene or similar nonflammable solvents approved by the fire department.

Dry goods stores.

Dwelling units, provided they are located above the first floor and above a permitted business use. Dwelling units shall not be permitted on the ground floor of business buildings or in the rear of business establishments on the ground floor.

Electrical appliance store and repair, but not including appliance assembly or manufacturing.

Florist shop and conservatory for retail trade on the premises only.

Food and fruit stores.

Furniture store and upholstery, when conducted as part of the retail operations and secondary to the main use.

Furrier, when conducted for retail trade on the premises only.

Garden supplies and seed stores.

Gift shops.

Hand laundries employing not more than four (4) persons.

Hardware stores.

Hobby stores.

Household appliance store.

Interior decorating shops, including upholstery and making of draperies, slip covers, and other similar articles, when conducted as part of the retail operations and secondary to the main use.

Jewelry and watch repair.

Leather goods and luggage store.

Locksmith.

Meat markets.

Mirror and glazing shop.

Musical instrument sales and repair, retail trade only.

Newsstand.

Notions store.

Orthopedic and medical appliance store, but not including the assembly or manufacture of such articles.

Paint and wallpaper store.

Pawnshop.

Pet shops, including animal grooming services, but not including veterinary and animal hospitals.

Photography studio, including the development of film and pictures when conducted as part of the retail business on the premises.

Physical culture and health service.

Picture framing, when conducted for retail trade only on the premises.

Plumbing showroom and shop.

Public auction rooms.

Secondhand stores and rummage shops.

Sewing machine sales and service.

Shoe store.

Signs, as defined and regulated in chapter 12 of this title.

Sporting goods store.

Stationery, office supply and equipment store, including the sales and service of equipment.

Taxidermist.

Theaters, with indoor screens, stages and seating.

Tobacco shop.

Toy store.

Variety store.

Video stores.

Wearing apparel shop.

   C.   B-3 Business District, Retail Sales, Restaurants Not Serving Liquor:

Adult education, training, and work centers or facilities, including but not limited to, offices, classrooms, and training rooms under one roof.

Any similar type facility not specifically permitted herein and which does not require a liquor license and therefore does not serve liquor on the premises.

Automobile sales and service shops, but not including automobile body repair and rebuilding or painting of automobiles.

Automobile service stations.

Boat sales and service shops, but not including boat body repair and rebuilding or painting of boats.

Bowling alleys, billiard halls and poolrooms.

Catering service.

Day care.

Fraternal organizations, clubs, and lodge halls.

Launderette and laundromat.

Motels and hotels.

Motorcycle sales and service.

Restaurants, including drive-in and car service, tearoom or cafe.

Schools: music, dance, business, commercial or trade.

Storage of household goods.

Veterinary or animal hospitals. (1996 Code app. A § 12.2-1; amd. Ord. 1182, 6-4-1996; Ord. 1210, 7-29-1997; Ord. 1214, 8-26-1997; 2010 Code; Ord. 1779, 4-19-2022; Ord. 1819, 11-12-2025)

   A.   B-1 And B-2 Districts: In a B-1 business district, offices, and B-2 business district, stores, no building or structure shall be erected or structurally altered to exceed a height of three (3) stories, nor shall it exceed forty five feet (45') in height. Parapet walls, chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, stacks and necessary mechanical appurtenances may be erected over and above the maximum height of forty five feet (45'), provided they are constructed in accordance with all other ordinances of the city.

   B.   B-3 And B-4 Districts: In a B-3 business district and a B-4 business district, no building or structure shall be erected or structurally altered to exceed a height of six (6) stories, nor shall said building or structure exceed seventy five feet (75') in height. Parapet walls, chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, stacks, and necessary mechanical appurtenances may be erected over and above the maximum height of seventy five feet (75'), provided they are constructed in accordance with all other ordinances of the city. (Ord. 1192, 12-17-1996)

In all business districts, no building shall be constructed or enlarged unless the following yards are provided and maintained in connection with such building:

   A.   Front Yard:

      1.   No front yard shall be required when all frontage between two (2) intersecting streets lie within this district. However, when lots within this district are adjacent to and adjoining lots in an R district, all of which front upon the same street between two (2) intersecting streets, there shall be established the same front yard setback for all of the frontage as has been established in the R district. (Ord. 1192, 12-17-1996)

      2.   When existing buildings located in this district have already been established at a depth less than required above, then all new buildings may conform to the same building line. (Ord. 1192, 12-17-1996; amd. 2010 Code)

   B.   Side Yard: No side yard is required except for a corner lot which abuts upon an R district, or upon an alley separating this district from an R district. There shall then be provided a side yard equal to one-half (1/2) the front yard required in the abutting R district, but in no case more than ten feet (10'). The setback shall also apply if the business building fronts the intersecting street, commonly referred to as the side street.

   C.   Rear Yard: There shall be a rear yard of not less than twenty feet (20'); provided, however, that a one-story accessory building may be located thereon, except for the five feet (5') adjacent and parallel to the rear lot line or alley line, for the storage of motor vehicles and the unloading and loading of vehicles under roof, as provided in chapter 13 of this title. (Ord. 1192, 12-17-1996)