R-1 - Single Family Residential District.

R-2 - Lakefront Residential District.

R-3 - High-Density Residential District.

CBD - Central Business District.

GCD - General Commercial District.

WM - Waterfront Marina District.

BP - Business Park District.

PSP - Public/Semi-Public District.

NCD - Nature Conservation District.

FP-1 - Floodplain District.

R-1 - Single Family Residential District. The R-1 - Single Family Residential District is intended to provide housing primarily in single-family detached formats in the neighborhoods south of US-12. Single-family attached and multifamily uses are appropriate only in select areas along the CSX rail line and adjoining major vehicular corridors. The District is intended to allow supportive uses or facilities which are typically found in the City's single-family areas and which are compatible with the neighborhoods such as parks, home occupations, and small-scale institutional uses.

R-2 - Lakefront Residential District. The R-2 - Lakefront Residential District is intended to provide housing in the neighborhoods north of US-12 near Lake Michigan. Single-family detached and attached formats including duplexes, townhouses, and rowhouses are allowed and greater densities and scales than in the areas south of US-12. The District is intended to allow supportive uses or facilities which are typically found in residential areas and are compatible with such residential uses such as parks, home occupations, and small-scale institutional uses. Limited commercial uses are appropriate in this district in the blocks adjoining downtown.

R-3 - High Density Residential District. The R-3 - High Density Residential District is intended to provide housing in multifamily and single-family attached formats, including duplexes, townhouses, rowhouses, and multifamily buildings. It is intended to increase the variety of housing available to residents and to accommodate attainable housing options.

CBD - Central Business District. The CBD - Central Business District is intended to promote convenience retail and services, specialty retail, tourist-oriented retail and services, entertainment establishments, and professional offices in a concentrated format in the downtown along North Whittaker Street. This District is intended to serve City residents as well as the vacationing public. Mixed-use development is encouraged and should feature first-floor commercial entertainment, restaurants, and retail uses and upper-floor residential or office uses. The District is further intended to preserve the architectural quality of downtown and ensure that new development complements the historic built pattern.

GCD - General Commercial District. The GCD - General Commercial District is intended to promote a range of businesses that generate substantial traffic and serve a broad market including automotive services, marine sales and services, offices, and larger retail uses, along the City's major roadways. Standalone buildings and mixed-use development featuring first-floor retail and service uses and upper-floor residential or office uses are appropriate. The District is intended to promote visually pleasing corridor-oriented development through appropriate signage, lighting levels, attractive landscaping, and parking areas. The District is further intended to ensure adequate and safe access for motorists and pedestrians through combined access points and parking areas.

WM - Waterfront Marina District. The WM - Waterfront Marina District is designed to promote commercial and recreational boating along with those services related to harbor and waterway improvements, thereby facilitating navigation and providing safe and economical waterfront recreational development. The District is intended to promote restaurants, bars and taverns, hotels, motels, and municipal parks to serve the needs of residents and visitors and provide adequate access to the City's waterfront.

BP - Business Park District. The BP - Business Park District is intended to promote commercial and light-industrial uses that generate stable, year-round employment in a business park setting. The District is intended to promote development in visually appealing formats that function as an attractive gateway in the City's south along South Whittaker Street. The uses allowed generate minimal noise, smoke, odor, dust, dirt, noxious gases, vibration, glare, or traffic that impair the neighboring commercial and residential areas.

PSP - Public/Semi-Public District. The PSP - Public/Semi-Public District is intended to provide land for public, semi-public, and institutional uses throughout the community. The District includes all existing and future public and semi-public uses and designates land separately from commercial and residential uses.

NCD - Nature Conservation District. The NCD - Nature Conservation District is intended to protect from development conservation easements, conservation properties, and municipal parks that are designated as nature preserves. It is the intention of this section that water trails, nature trails, boardwalks, observation decks and other similar non-motorized transportation infrastructure are permitted in such areas.

FP-1 - Floodplain District. The FP-1 - Floodplain District is intended to preserve drainage basins in the community and to prevent building in areas subject to flooding and upon land which exhibits unstable soil characteristics. As the density of the population in the community increases and the urban area expands, the importance of preserving drainage basins and area around drainage streams for their intended purpose becomes acutely obvious. When the land is developed, a greatly increased amount of water runoff results from the replacement of open land with streets and buildings.

Where district boundaries are indicated to approximately follow lot of record lines, those lines shall be construed to be boundaries.

Unless shown by dimension on the Official Zoning Map, where a district boundary divides a lot of record the location of the boundary shall be determined by use of the scale shown on the map.

Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following City limits, they shall be construed as following the City limits.

A boundary indicated as following a shoreline shall be construed as following such shoreline, and in the event of a naturally occurring change in a shoreline, the boundary shall be construed as following the actual shoreline. A boundary indicated as following the center line of a stream, river, canal, lake or other body of water shall be construed as following such center line.

If a district boundary is indicated as being parallel to or an extension of a feature described in this section, it shall be so construed.

Where physical or natural features existing on the ground are at variance with those shown on the Official Zoning Map or in other circumstances not covered in this section, the Board of Zoning Appeals shall determine the district boundaries.