The purpose of the general commercial district is to provide a wide range of functional and attractive regional retail, office, service, wholesale, storage, distributing and light manufacturing activities.

To alleviate problems with traffic congestion and unnecessary turning movements, unified access and consolidation of businesses are encouraged. Because of the potential impact of these types of activities, special landscaping and screening requirements are established for certain use.

The following uses, standards and area regulations have been established consistent with this purpose.

(Ord. 1599 § 1 (part), 1995: prior code § 150-65)

A.

Permitted uses shall be as follows:

1.

Apartment units, in accordance with chapter 17.168;

2.

Bank;

3.

Bakery;

4.

Boardinghouse/rooming house;

5.

Business center in accordance with the requirements of chapter 17.172, provided that each individual lot shall have a minimum of six thousand (6,000) square feet of land area;

6.

Carpenter, sheet metal, sign, blacksmith and welding shop, provided that all activities are confined within a building;

7.

Church and other place of worship;

8.

Club, lodge and fraternal organization;

9.

Cultivation of land;

10.

Cultural uses, such as museum, library or art gallery;

11.

Dry-cleaning plant;

12.

Eating and drinking establishments, including tavern, dance hall, nightclub and restaurants, all types;

13.

Firehouse;

14.

Equipment sales, rental, service, repair or maintenance facility for industrial, automotive, marine, office, construction, household, business or farm equipment;

15.

Greenhouse, florist and nursery;

16.

Hotel, motel or motor hotel;

17.

Laboratory and establishment for production, sale, fitting or repair of eyeglasses, hearing aids and prosthetic appliances;

18.

Light industrial uses, as listed in the light industrial district, completely confined within a building with no outside storage of raw materials or finished products;

19.

Lumber and building supplies;

20.

Marina;

21.

Medical-care facility;

22.

Medical and dental office and clinic;

23.

Police station or substation;

24.

Parking garage, public or private;

25.

Mixed use building as defined in Section 17.04.120 in this chapter in accordance with a comprehensive site plan, as approved by the planning commission, with a mandatory five-foot-wide landscaping area abutting all property lines and parking lots. Signage shall be the same as required for a shopping center;

26.

Neighborhood shopping center not exceeding thirty thousand (30,000) gross square feet of building area in accordance with the requirements of chapter 17.212;

27.

Office or office building for more than one office;

28.

Radio or television broadcasting station or studio;

29.

Retail sales;

30.

School of special instruction;

31.

Service, rental or repair establishment, such as laundry or laundromat, automobile rental, gasoline and service station, car wash, appliance repair, equipment or instrument repair or rental, dry-cleaning pickup station, hairdresser shop, pet-grooming shop, excluding outdoor runs, upholstery shop, funeral home, tailor and other uses of similar nature;

32.

Taxi and limousine service;

33.

Theater, excluding drive-in theater;

34.

Wholesale business, warehouse, moving, storage and distribution establishment, including wholesale sales;

35.

Group domiciliary care facility;

36.

Townhouse development, in accordance with chapter 17.224.

(Ord. 1786 § 6, 2000; Ord. 1599 § 1 (part), 1995; prior code § 150-66)

(Ord. No. 2734, 9-12-2022)

Uses permitted by special exception shall be as follows:

A.

Animal hospital or kennel or any other facility for the treatment of animals with outside pens or runs;

B.

Bus terminal;

C.

Shopping centers, neighborhood, over thirty thousand (30,000) gross square feet of floor area, commercial and regional shopping centers in accordance with chapter 17.212;

D.

Trucking and freight stations, terminals, and storage yards, excluding the above ground storage of flammable liquids, except for servicing vehicles owned or used in the conduct of the business;

E.

Recreational establishment, indoor;

F.

Day care facilities for the elderly and handicapped.

(Ord. 1690 § 2, 1998; Ord. 1599 § 1 (part), 1995; prior code § 150-67)

Uses permitted by ordinance permit shall be as follows:

A.

Commercial auction;

B.

Communication tower, over seventy-five (75) feet in height or any other electronic communications facilities with more than one tower or more than one sending or receiving disk in accordance with chapter 17.220;

C.

Liquor stores and dispensaries (off-sale);

D.

Public or private utility building and uses;

E.

Recreational establishment, outdoor;

F.

Utility substation, in accordance with chapter 17.220;

G.

Compact concrete dispenser as an accessory use to a use listed in section 17.36.020, permitted uses, and/or section 17.36.030, uses permitted by special exception.

H.

Cannabis Dispensary, in accordance with the following and section 17.36.060, Development Standards:

1.

A Cannabis On-Site Consumption Establishment is prohibited.

(Ord. 1599 § 1 (part), 1995; prior code § 150-68)

(Ord. No. 2840, § 2, 1-12-2024)

A.

Adult entertainment businesses, as defined in this title, shall be prohibited.

B.

A Cannabis On-Site Consumption Establishment, as defined in this title, shall be prohibited.

(Ord. 2048 § 2, 2008)

(Ord. No. 2840, § 3, 1-12-2024)

Accessory uses and structures shall be as follows:

A.

Off-street parking lot or structure;

B.

Off-street loading and unloading facilities;

C.

Underground storage of flammable liquids for vehicles used in the conduct of the business of the principal use;

D.

Communication towers for broadcasting and receiving, not exceeding seventy-five (75) feet in height;

E.

Other accessory uses and structures clearly incidental to, customary to and associated with the permitted use;

F.

Day-care services for employees or patrons of a permitted use.

(Prior code § 150-69)

Development standards for the general commercial district shall be as follows:

A.

Minimum Lot Requirements. All lots hereafter established shall meet the following minimum requirements:

1.

Lot area: ten thousand (10,000) square feet;

2.

Interior lot width: eighty (80) feet;

3.

Corner lot width: one hundred (100) feet.

B.

Minimum yard and setback requirements shall be as follows:

1.

Front: twenty-five (25) feet;

2.

Rear: fifteen (15) feet;

3.

Side: two, not less than twenty (20) feet total in any combination.

C.

The height limitation shall be fifty (50) feet.

D.

Parking, loading and unloading areas shall be provided for all uses in accordance with chapter 17.196.

E.

Access. Direct access onto a street or major highway shall be reduced or eliminated wherever the city department of infrastructure and development determines that alternate or unified points of access are available to a site resulting in better traffic flow and less traffic congestion. Service drives and loading and unloading areas shall be located so that in the process of loading or unloading no truck will block the passage of other vehicles on the service drive or extend into any public street or private drive used for traffic circulation.

F.

Lighting. Lighting shall be designed so as not to throw glare onto surrounding properties. Flashing lights are prohibited.

G.

Signs. Signs shall be in accordance with chapter 17.216.

H.

Storage. All necessary outside storage of parts, materials, heavy equipment and inoperable vehicles accessory to uses permitted herein shall be in accordance with chapter 17.220. Open, unenclosed storage of parts, materials, heavy equipment and inoperable vehicles is prohibited.

I.

Landscaping and Screening.

1.

Either landscaping or screening shall be provided for all uses in accordance with the provisions of chapter 17.220;

2.

In addition to the requirements of chapter 17.220, all areas devoted to building or required parking areas shall be landscaped as defined in section 17.220.080, provided that a landscaped area of at least three feet shall be required abutting all property lines where a zero setback is not provided.

J.

Cannabis Dispensary:

1.

May not be located within five hundred (500) feet of:

a.

A pre-existing primary or secondary school in the State or a licensed child care center or registered family child care home; or

b.

A playground, recreation center, library, church or public park; or

c.

One thousand (1,000) feet of another cannabis business.

2.

The City Council may reduce the five hundred (500) foot setback by no more than 50% as part of the ordinance permit following a recommendation from the Planning Commission;

3.

Parking standards shall be established by the City Council in the ordinance permit following a recommendation from the Planning Commission;

4.

May not be located adjacent to a residential use;

5.

An ordinance permit approving a cannabis dispensary which shall remain idle and unused for a continuous period of more than one year shall be considered null and void.

(Ord. 1599 § 1 (part), 1995; prior code § 150-70)

(Ord. No. 2459, 10-9-2017; Ord. No. 2840, § 4, 1-12-2024)