The general business district is intended to accommodate commercial establishments that serve communitywide shopping and service needs, including motorists using M-57. The district is intended to create cohesive commercial areas that take advantage of access provided by the city's roadway system, but also provide convenient access for local residents, thereby ensuring the safety and discouraging undesirable strip commercial development.

In the general business district, land, buildings, and other structures shall be used for one or more of the following specified uses:

1.

Retail food establishments, including convenience stores, whose principal activity is within a wholly enclosed building which supply groceries, fresh produce, meats, dairy products, baked goods, confections or similar commodities for consumption off the premises. Foodstuffs may be prepared on the premises as an accessory use if sold at retail prices on premises.

2.

Retail business conducted entirely within an enclosed building such as drugstore, liquor, dry good, clothing, furniture, hardware, music, bookstores, and gift shops.

3.

Personal service establishments such as, but not limited to, small electronics repair shops, shoe repair, tailors, hair styling salons, photographers' studios, film processing outlets, copy centers, interior decorators, postal centers, self-service laundry, and dry cleaners.

4.

Newspaper offices and publishing, and commercial printers.

5.

Restaurants and other establishments serving food and/or beverages excluding drive-through and drive-ins.

6.

Private clubs, lodge halls, theaters, cinemas, and similar such assembly buildings when completely enclosed.

7.

Banks, savings and loans, and credit unions (not including drive-through facilities).

8.

Funeral homes.

9.

Indoor recreational establishments.

10.

Banks, savings and loans, credit union and other facilities, with drive-through facilities.

11.

Medical clinics.

12.

Professional offices such as medical and dental, chiropractors, osteopaths, and similar or allied professions.

13.

Professional services such as insurance, real estate, legal, financial, and similar or allied professions.

14.

Hotel and motels.

15.

Twenty-four-hour banking centers/ready tellers which are separate from a financial institution.

16.

Convenience stores without gasoline service.

17.

Essential public services.

18.

Essential public service buildings.

19.

Accessory buildings, structures and uses customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses.

(Ord. No. 322, §§ 4, 5, 10-13-1998)

The following uses shall be considered special land uses within the general business district and may be approved by the planning commission [now planning board—see Charter § 5-201], subject to the applicable general and specific standards in article 11:

1.

Sexually oriented businesses.

2.

Nurseries, and garden centers, provided that all outdoor storage areas are screened.

3.

Buildings and lumber supply, provided that the use is primarily for the storage and sale of retail goods, and excludes manufacturing, processing, planning or milling operations, provided that all outdoor storage areas are screened.

4.

Car wash, automatic or self-service.

5.

Automobile repair stations.

6.

Automobile service stations.

7.

Restaurants and other establishments serving food and/or beverages, on premises with drive-throughs and/or drive-ins facilities.

8.

Open front restaurant windows, when accessory to a principal permitted restaurant and designed for walk-up patrons only.

9.

Commercial outdoor storage.

10.

Outdoor recreational establishments.

11.

Child care services.

12.

Convenience stores with gasoline service.

13.

Outdoor sales space for exclusive sale of used automobiles, new and/or used mobile homes, boats and recreational vehicles provided that no major repair or major refinishing shall be conducted on the lot.

14.

Accessory buildings, structures and uses customarily incidental to any of the above special land uses.

15.

Churches.

16.

Medical marihuana provisioning centers and safety compliance facilities, authorized under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, Act 281 of 2016, MCL 333.27101 et seq.

17.

Adult-use marihuana retailers and related marihuana establishments, including microbusinesses, temporary marihuana events, and designated consumption establishments, authorized under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act ("MRTMA"), Initiated Law 1 of 2018, MCL 333.27951 et seq.

18.

Adult-use marihuana safety compliance facilities authorized under MRTMA.

(Ord. No. 317, § 2, 3-10-1998; Ord. No. 322, § 6, 10-13-1998; Ord. No. 453, § 3, 10-20-2022)

1.

Schedule of regulations - article 3.

2.

Site plan review standards - article 12.

3.

Parking and loading-unloading standards - article 13.

4.

Sign standards - article 14.

5.

Landscaping and screening standards - article 16.

In addition to all requirements of the city marihuana businesses ordinance, all medical marihuana retail sales facilities and adult-use marihuana establishments shall be at least 750 feet from any pre-existing public or private school providing education in any grades pre-K through 12.

(Ord. No. 453, § 4, 10-20-2022)

In addition to all requirements of the city marihuana businesses ordinance, all medical marihuana retail sales facilities and adult-use marihuana establishments shall be at least 1,000 feet from any pre-existing medical and adult-use marihuana retail sales facilities.

(Ord. No. 459, § 2, 8-17-2023)