M-2 (manufacturing—general) zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve physically and aesthetically desirable areas in which clean, higher intensity manufacturing activities may locate and be protected from the intrusion of incompatible land uses. By having such areas available, both new and existing industries may operate and undertake expansion of facilities with the least possible adverse effect on other types of activities which might be incompatible with manufacturing. The elimination of non-manufacturing activities from an M-2 district benefits manufacturing activities by removing some possible obstacles to their smooth operation and expansion.

(Ord. No. 2010-16, 11-16-10)

The factors contained in section 410 of these regulations must be thoroughly considered by the planning commission as well as the Lamar County Board of Commissioners when determining in which zoning district an area of land is to be placed. This will assure that rational comprehensive planning principles are the basis upon which the decision is made. Land use decisions which are based on sound planning principles encourage the development and preservation of land use patterns that provide healthful and safe living conditions for the residents of Lamar County.

(Ord. No. 2010-16, 11-16-10)

The official zoning map (section 2301 of these regulations) shows the boundaries of all M-2 districts within Lamar County. Article 23 also contains additional information concerning interpreting district boundaries, amending boundaries, etc.

(Ord. No. 2010-16, 11-16-10)

(a)

The following principal uses are permitted in M-2 districts:

(1)

Manufacturing activity which does not cause injurious or obnoxious noise, vibrations, smoke, gas, fumes, odor, dust, fire hazard, or other objectionable conditions.

(2)

Manufacturing activity which may cause noise, vibrations, smoke, gas, fumes, odor, dust, fire hazard, or other objectionable conditions, and which meets the following development standards:

a.

It shows to the satisfaction of the Lamar County Board of Commissioners that the location, construction, and operation of the activity will not injure present or prospective manufacturing development in the district.

(3)

Wholesale and warehousing operation.

(4)

Building material yard.

(5)

Public garage.

(6)

Repair garage.

(7)

Newspaper or printing plant.

(8)

Off-street parking lot or parking garage.

(9)

Armory.

(10)

Bottling plant.

(11)

Cabinet shop.

(12)

Cold storage, ice plant, or freezer locker.

(13)

Cosmetic and pharmaceuticals manufacturing.

(14)

Dairy plant, ice cream manufacturing.

(15)

Distribution of products or merchandise.

(16)

Dry cleaning or laundering establishment.

(17)

Education or training facility.

(18)

Electrical appliance and equipment sales and repair.

(19)

Electronic manufacturing and assembly.

(20)

Fabricating shop such as woodworking, upholstery, or sheet metal shop.

(21)

Machine shop.

(22)

Plumbing shop, and other contractors, including open storage of materials when located in rear yard.

(23)

Printing, publishing, reproducing establishment.

(24)

Sign painting and fabricating shop.

(25)

Textile manufacturing plant.

(26)

Baking establishment.

(27)

Heavy agricultural equipment sales and repair.

(28)

Truck terminal.

(29)

Reserved.

(30)

Textile manufacturing plant.

(31)

Radio transmission tower.

(32)

Reserved.

(33)

Reserved.

(34)

Cement, lime, gypsum, or plaster of Paris manufacture.

(35)

Ceramic products manufacture, limited to use of electric kilns.

(36)

Reserved.

(37)

Concrete, cement products, or clay products manufacture.

(38)

Feed, grain, or fertilizer manufacture or storage.

(39)

Food processing plant.

(40)

Foundry or forging plant.

(41)

Grain elevator.

(42)

Ice manufacture, including dry ice plant.

(43)

Planing or sawmill.

(44)

Reserved.

(45)

Railroad yard.

(46)

Recycling center.

(47)

Rock, sand, or gravel distribution or storage.

(48)

Tinsmith operation.

(49)

Roofing operation.

(50)

Local, state, or federal government building.

(51)

Processing plant (agricultural processing plant).

(52)

Utility substation meeting the following development standards:

a.

Structures must be enclosed by a woven-wire fence at least eight (8) feet high with bottom of fence either flush with the ground or with a masonry footing.

(b)

The following principal uses are permitted as special exceptions in M-2 districts:

(1)

Airport, heliport.

(2)

Radio or television transmission tower over thirty-five (35) feet high.

(3)

Central mixing plant for cement, asphalt, mortar, plaster, or housing materials.

(4)

Development of natural resources, including the removal of minerals and natural materials. This includes appurtenant buildings and machinery. Such activity must meet the following development standards:

a.

Any extension of quarrying operations beyond the property lines actually being quarried at the effective date of these regulations is considered to be a new operation and is subject to requirements of these regulations.

b.

Quarry areas being excavated must be entirely enclosed by a fence located at least ten (10) feet back from the edge of any excavation. Such a fence must be of such construction and height as to be demonstrably able to exclude children and livestock.

c.

At the time of application for the building permit, the owners or operators of the quarry must present to the administrative officer comprehensive plans for the future rehabilitation and re-use of the property when the quarrying operation is ended.

(5)

Junkyard (salvage yard), meeting the following development standards:

a.

It must be surrounded by a buffer which is set back fifty (50) feet from all property lines; or

b.

It is entirely enclosed by a fence that is at least six (6) feet high and screens the yard from view from the adjacent roadways and adjoining property.

(6)

Sanitary landfills consistent with the joint solid waste management plan for Lamar County and the City of Milner, as amended. A decision to approve the special exception under this subparagraph shall be contingent upon said use meeting the requirements of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance and the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended as well as the applicable statutes, rules, and regulations of the state and the United States of America.

(7)

Incinerators consistent with the joint solid waste management plan for Lamar County and the City of Milner, as amended. A decision to approve the special exception under this subparagraph shall be contingent upon said use meeting the requirements of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance and the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended as well as the applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the state and the United States of America.

(8)

Transfer stations consistent with the joint solid waste management plan for Lamar County and the City of Milner, as amended. A decision to approve the special exception under this subparagraph shall be contingent upon said use meeting the requirements of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance and the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended, as well as the applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the state and the United States of America.

(9)

Materials recovery facilities consistent with the joint solid waste management plan for Lamar County and the City of Milner, as amended. A decision to approve the special exception under this subparagraph shall be contingent upon said use meeting the requirements of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance and the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended as well as the applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the state and the United States of America.

(10)

Recovered materials processing facilities consistent with the joint solid waste management plan for Lamar County and the City of Milner, as amended. A decision to approve the special exception under this subparagraph shall be contingent upon said use meeting the requirements of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance and the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended as well as the applicable statutes, rules and regulations of the state and the United States of America.

(11)

Acid manufacture and storage.

(12)

Gasoline storage terminal.

(13)

Bulk petroleum plant.

(14)

Commercial livestock processing.

(15)

Poultry processing plant.

(16)

New technology industries that don't readily fit under any of the above permitted or special exception uses.

(c)

The following accessory uses are permitted in M-2 districts:

(1)

Those determined by the administrative officer to be customarily appurtenant to those uses permitted in this district.

(d)

The following accessory uses are permitted as special exceptions in M-2 districts:

(1)

None.

(e)

All accessory uses must meet the following standards:

(1)

They may not be located closer than five (5) feet to any property line. Property line fences must be set back only a sufficient amount to allow access for required maintenance on both sides of the fence.

(2)

Accessory buildings not attached to the principal building must be located at least twelve (12) feet from the principal building on the lot.

(f)

All uses not permitted within M-2 districts by this section are specifically prohibited.

(Ord. No. 2010-16, 11-16-10)

In addition to the development standards contained in article 4 of these regulations, the following standards are required within M-2 districts:

(a)

Minimum floor area for buildings: None.

(b)

Minimum lot area:

(1)

Unsewered areas without public water: As specified by the Lamar County Health Department, but in no case less than eighty-seven thousand, one hundred twenty (87,120) square feet (two (2) acres); however, a lot of record lawfully existing at the time of passage of these regulations and having an area of less than two (2) acres (nonconforming) may nevertheless be developed with a use which is permitted within a M-2 district if approved by the Lamar County Health Department.

(2)

Sewered areas and/or areas with public water: Forty-three thousand, five hundred (43,500) square feet (one (1) acre); however, a lot record lawfully existing at the time of passage of these regulations and having less than one (1) acre (nonconforming) may nevertheless be developed with a use which is permitted within a M-2 district.

(c)

Minimum lot width:

(1)

Unsewered areas: Two hundred (200) feet.

(2)

Sewered areas: One hundred (100) feet.

(d)

Minimum front yard:

(1)

Arterial streets/roads: One hundred (100) feet. The front of all buildings must be at least thirty-five (35) feet from the front property line.

(2)

Collector streets and other streets/roads: Eighty-five (85) feet. The front of all buildings must be at least thirty-five (35) feet from the front property line.

(e)

Minimum side yard: Twenty (20) feet.

(f)

Minimum rear yard: Forty (40) feet.

(g)

Maximum building height: Fifty-five (55) feet. This height limit does not apply to projections not intended for human habitation. For buildings and structures with such projections, the minimum required yards must be increased one (1) foot for every two (2) feet (or part of two (2) feet) of height greater than fifty-five (55) feet.

(h)

Maximum lot coverage by building: Forty (40) percent.

(i)—(x)

Development standards common to most districts are listed under subsections 505(h)—(x).

(y)

Yards abutting railroads: Side yards and rear yards are not required adjacent to railroad rights-of-way.

(z)

In addition to the development standards contained in the zoning ordinance for uses in an M-2 district, the operator of any sanitary landfill, incinerator, transfer station, material recovery facility and recovered materials processing facility within an M-2 district shall apply for a permit as provided for in the Lamar County Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Ordinance, chapter 2-17 et seq., as amended, and shall meet the following standards:

(1)

No such facility shall operate within one hundred fifty (150) feet of adjoining property boundaries and public highways, except for maintenance of said one hundred fifty (150) foot setback area including the required berm, security fence, sight barrier, and animal control.

(2)

A sight barrier shall be provided along all property lines of the site. Sight barrier shall consist of a one hundred (100) foot wide vegetated buffer. Where natural screening conditions of at least three hundred (300) living trees per acre do not exist, the following shall be planted; evergreen trees, not more than ten (10) feet apart in staggered rows. Trees shall be at least two (2) inches in caliper, as measured at breast height, and shall be sufficiently spaced to provide an effective sight barrier when ten (10) feet in height. Trees that die shall be promptly replaced.

(3)

The facility is to be enclosed by an eight (8) foot high, chain-link security fence with three (3) strands of barbed wire, angled forty-five (45) degrees toward the outside of the premises to the top. The security fence shall be located no less than one hundred (100) feet from the property line, along the inside edge of the sight barrier.

(4)

A planted berm shall be located between the security fence and the facility operations to visually screen the facility operations, but no closer than twenty (20) feet and no farther than fifty (50) feet from the security fence, as measured from the base of the berm. The berm shall consist of the following: a grassed berm six (6) feet in height and planted with evergreen trees not more than ten (10) feet apart, in staggered rows on the berm. Trees shall be at least two (2) inches in caliper, as measured at breast height, and shall be sufficiently spaced to provide effective sight barriers when ten (10) feet in height. Trees that die shall be promptly replaced.

(5)

All entrances shall have an eight-foot high gate, which shall be closed and locked at all times that the facility is not open.

(6)

No portion of a facility shall be located within one thousand (1,000) feet of any of the following preexisting uses: schools, day care centers, churches, hospitals, retirement homes, personal care homes, or subdivisions of record consisting of residential dwellings for which a final plat has been approved and filed with the office of the Lamar County Superior Court Clerk. The distance shall be measured by a straight line from the property boundary of the facility to the property boundary of the aforementioned use.

(7)

Any new facility or expansion of an existing facility shall be located either contiguous to an existing facility, or entirely outside of a ten-mile radius of any existing facility, as measured in a straight line from the property boundaries of the existing facility.

(8)

No portion of a new facility or expansion of an existing facility shall be located within a one-mile radius, which contains fifty (50) or more residential dwellings. The one-mile radius shall be measured in a straight line from the boundary of the property to be used for a facility. For purposes of this paragraph, a residential dwelling shall include double-wide dwelling, cluster dwelling, condominium, garden apartment, multiple-family dwelling, patio dwelling, single-family attached, single-family detached, townhouse, two-family dwelling, factory built housing, industrialized home, manufactured home (including classes A, B and C), modular home, multi-section home, prefabricated home, sectional home, and single-wide; all as defined in section 203 of the Lamar County Zoning Ordinance. This paragraph does not apply, however, to a facility to be located contiguous to an existing facility as provided under subparagraph (7) above.

(9)

The main entrance of the facility shall be located on a paved road with a classification of collector or arterial as shown in the street classification system map of the Lamar County Land Use Plan.

(Ord. No. 2010-16, 11-16-10)