Leonardtown City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VII
C-H Highway Commercial District
§ 155-32 Permitted uses.
No building or premises shall be erected, structurally altered, enlarged or maintained nor shall any land be used, except for the following purposes:
A.
Greenhouses and nurseries.
B.
Public utility installations.
C.
Automobile-related uses, such as but not limited to new and used car lots, automobile repair shops, automobile storage lots and garages, automobile parts shops, automobile upholstery and paint shops and automobile body shops.
D.
Food and beverage distributors.
E.
Animal hospitals and veterinary clinics, provided that such hospital or clinic and any treatment rooms, cages, pens or kennels are maintained within a completely enclosed, soundproof building and that such hospital or clinic be operated in such a way as to produce no objectionable odors outside its walls as determined by the Leonardtown Planning and Zoning Commission.
F.
Hotels or motels.
G.
Offices and office buildings.
H.
Medical office buildings and clinics.
I.
Accessory buildings and uses.
J.
Monument sales.
K.
Carpentry and woodworking shops.
L.
Printing, publishing and engraving shops.
M.
Sheet metal shops.
N.
Sign painting shops.
O.
Arts and crafts.
P.
Furniture and appliance sales and service.
Q.
Marine sales and service.
R.
Restaurants, cocktail lounges and refreshment stands.
S.
Fast-food establishments, including drive-through windows.
T.
Building supply, garden shops.
U.
Banks and financial institutions.
V.
Commercial services.
W.
Convenience stores.
§ 155-33 Special exception uses.
The following uses of land and buildings within the C-H District shall be allowed only by special exception to this chapter, granted only by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Standards and procedures for special exceptions are contained in Article XVII.
A.
Amusement and recreational places, skating rinks, swimming pools, bowling alleys, billiard parlors, dancing halls, health clubs or tennis clubs.
B.
Drive-in theaters, provided that they:
(1)
Shall have no direct entrance or exit on a major highway.
(2)
Shall provide automobile storage facilities between the ticket gates and the access street at the rate of 35% of the theater capacity.
(3)
Shall have no structure other than an enclosed fence within 50 feet of any site boundary line and shall have the theater screen located not less than 100 feet from any major highway, arterial street or property in a residential district and not facing such highway, street or property, unless the face of the screen is not visible there because of natural or artificial barriers.
(4)
Shall have individual car sound speakers, but low-volume horns may supply sound to refreshment stands and other service areas; and they may have accessory uses and structures incidental to the theater operation, including refreshment stands and toilet facilities, provided that they serve only the patrons within the theater enclosure.
C.
Filling stations, so long as the bulk storage of flammable liquids is underground and pumps are located at least 15 feet from the street line. The orientation of the building shall be such that the service bays are not facing the main street. Screen planting and walls shall be so located as to enhance the design of the building and lessen the impact on the neighboring structures.
D.
Material storage yards in connection with retail sales of products where storage is incidental to the approved occupancy of a store, provided that all products and materials used or stored are in a completely enclosed building or enclosed by a masonry wall, fence or hedge not less than six feet in height of the wall. Storage cars and trucks used in connection with the permitted trade or business are permitted within the walls, but not including storage of heavy equipment.
E.
Enclosed light industrial uses, such as but not limited to wholesale establishments and warehouses, bottling works, painting shops, cleaning and dyeing works and laundries.
§ 155-34 Height, bulk and area requirements.
A.
All standards are summarized in Chart A, Height, Bulk and Area Requirements.[1] Not less than 10% of the gross lot area shall be devoted to landscaped green areas, including all side, front and rear yards.
[1]
Editor's Note: Chart A is included at the end of this chapter.
B.
All buildings constructed along Maryland Route 5 shall be set back 50 feet from the state-owned right-of-way to allow for the inclusion of service drives.
C.
Site planning: internal relationships. Commercial buildings shall be so grouped in relation to parking areas that, after customers arriving by automobile enter the shopping center, establishments can be visited with a minimum of internal automotive movement. Facilities and access routes for deliveries, servicing and maintenance shall, so far as reasonably practicable, be separated from customer access routes and parking areas. Areas where deliveries to customers in automobiles are to be made or where services are to be provided for automobiles shall be so located and arranged as to prevent interference with pedestrian traffic within the center.
(1)
Sites should be developed in a coordinated manner to complement adjacent structures through placement, architecture and size or mass. Where possible, commercial uses requiring floor areas in excess of 10,000 square feet should be designed to appear as several distinct, although attached, structures, each with a floor area no greater than 6,000 square feet to reduce the visual impact of a single, larger building mass in keeping with the scale of existing structures in Leonardtown.
(2)
Whenever possible, commercial buildings on the same site should be clustered and incorporate plazas, courtyards, pocket parks, and other pedestrian use areas.
(3)
Sites occupied by commercial uses should be designed to avoid the appearance of domination by automobiles. Positive methods to achieve this guideline include:
(a)
Orienting buildings to fronting streets and placing some of the parking at the rear and/or sides;
(b)
Designing the required parking area into a series of smaller, discrete, connected lots rather than a large uninterrupted parking lot(s);
(c)
Providing well-defined pedestrian walkways through parking areas and from public sidewalks into the site. Well-defined walkways utilize pavers, changes in color, texture, and composition of paving materials and vertical plantings such as trees and shrubs. The minimum width of walkways should be five feet.
D.
Building design.
(1)
Buildings should reflect an individual design that has considered site location, conditions, intended use, and the character/building mass of surrounding development. Building designs should reflect an individual style and form and not merely current trends.
(2)
A consistent visual identity should be applied to all sides of buildings visible to the general public. All sides should have an equivalent level of quality of materials, detailing and window placement. Abrupt ending of architectural details should be avoided with no radical change in details, features or materials.
(3)
Large buildings should avoid long, blank, uninterrupted walls. Positive methods to achieve this objective include building wall offsets regarding modulation, changes in colors and materials, placement of windows and doors, use of porches, porticos or canopies, changes in floor level, and projections that provide building shadows that visually break up long, flat building facades.
(4)
Large buildings should avoid long, blank, uninterrupted roof planes. Positive methods to achieve this objective include height variations to give the appearance of distinct elements or offsets in the roof line to provide architectural interest and variety to the massing of the building and to relieve the effect of a single, long roof.
(5)
Large buildings should use modulation (defined as a measured setback or offset in a building face) to reduce overall bulk and mass. The planes of exterior walls should not run in one continuous direction more than 50 to 60 feet without an offset or setback. Offsets should be a minimum of 3 to 5 feet.
(6)
Large buildings should use articulation in a clear rhythm to reduce their perceived size. Articulation is the giving of emphasis to architectural elements (like windows, entries, balconies, etc.) that create a complementary pattern of rhythm, dividing large buildings into smaller identifiable pieces. Articulation in the form of doors, windows and other framed building openings that articulate architectural elements break up the look of a long, blank wall.
(7)
Buildings facing streets should incorporate pedestrian-scaled entrances. Pedestrian-scaled entrances are those that provide an expression of human activity or use in relation to building size. Doors, windows, entrances and other features should be designed to respond to the size of the human body and not give the appearance of anonymity or overwhelming the building's users.
(8)
Building design should incorporate traditional building materials such as masonry, stone, heavy timbers, brick or other natural-appearing materials.
(9)
Building colors should accent, blend with, or complement surroundings. Bright or brilliant colors should be reserved for trim and accents.
(10)
Outdoor storage areas, mechanical equipment and trash receptacles should not be visible from adjacent streets and pedestrian walkways. The method of screening such areas from view should be architecturally integrated with the building with respect to materials, shape and size.
(11)
Materials used for site features such as fences, screen walls, and signs should be appropriate to the zone district where the development is located and should complement building design through materials, color, shape and size.
E.
The Mayor and Council may modify the strict application of all the preceding standards where it is felt that such would further the objectives of this chapter.
(1)
In addition to the standards and design criteria set forth in this article, multiple-family dwellings shall also be subject to the open space and general criteria set forth in §§ 155-22 and 155-23, to the extent such criteria do not conflict with the provisions of this article or are otherwise impractical in this district, in which case any such conflicting or impractical criterion shall not apply.
[Added 1-13-2014 by Ord. No. 160]