Somers City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts
[Added 3-30-1982]
§ 170-29 Purpose.
Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts are hereby established to provide for corporate-and-research-type office development, which increases job opportunities and contributes to a balanced tax base in the Town of Somers and which makes use of safe, convenient and sufficient access connections to the regional transportation network. In addition, Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts are to provide for low-intensity development, which will preserve open space and natural features on topographically unique and attractive sites located at prominent positions within the community.
§ 170-30 Principal uses.
[Amended 7-10-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008; 9-14-2023 by L.L. No. 4-2023]
In a Corporate Research/Office CRO District, no building, structure or premises, in whole or in part, shall be used and no building or structure, in whole or in part, shall be erected, enlarged, structurally altered or moved except for the following purposes or as herein elsewhere specifically provided, together with the accessory uses specified in § 170-31:
A.
Any use permitted in the Residence R-80 District and subject to the limitations therein set forth.
B.
Office buildings for business and professional use, including administrative, executive, engineering, accounting, scientific, research and development, educational and training, statistical and financial purposes, provided that such principal use involves no manufacturing or processing except for sign applications not part of a larger site plan amendment or modification, are subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board in accordance with § 170-114 of this chapter.
C.
Municipal facilities.
§ 170-31 Accessory uses.
No accessory uses shall be permitted in a Corporate Research/Office CRO District other than the following:
A.
Any accessory use as permitted in a Residence R80 District and subject to the limitations therein set forth.
B.
Buildings and uses customarily accessory to a principal office use, including the following:
(1)
Clinics, cafeterias, banks, post offices and limited retail trade and service uses, provided that all such accessory uses are located in a principal building and are designed and intended for the comfort, convenience and use of the occupants, employees and business visitors of the principal office use.
(2)
Recreation facilities.
(3)
Facilities for the temporary accommodation of employees, visitors and guests.
(4)
Living quarters for custodians or caretakers of the on-site facilities.
(5)
Off-street parking and off-street loading space as required in Article X. Such space may be located either in surface parking lots or in parking lots or in parking structures.
(6)
Storage and maintenance facilities.
(7)
Sewage treatment and water supply facilities.
(8)
Central heating and power plants and other customary accessory utility services and facilities.
(9)
Bus stops, including passenger shelters.
(10)
Gatehouses and similar minor accessory structures.
(11)
Signs, subject to the limitations in § 170-126 in accordance with the provisions and procedures of Chapter 6 and as depicted on an approved site plan.
[Amended 7-10-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008]
(12)
Necessary exterior lighting.
§ 170-32 Dimensional standards and requirements.
The following dimensional standards and requirements shall apply with respect to office buildings and their permitted accessory uses in Corporate Research/Office CRO Districts:
A.
The minimum required lot area shall be 150 acres.
B.
The maximum percent of lot to be occupied by principal buildings shall be 4% and by accessory buildings, 2%.
C.
The maximum permitted floor area ratio shall be 0.15.
D.
The minimum size of any front, side or rear yard shall be 100 feet for principal buildings and accessory uses and structures, except for permitted entry and exit drives and minor accessory structures and uses, such as necessary utility service facilities, bus stops and gatehouses, provided that such minor accessory structures and uses are shown on a site plan approved by the Planning Board. Except as permitted above, the one-hundred-foot minimum required yard setback area from street lines and property boundaries shall be maintained as a buffer area, either to be preserved in its natural state or to be landscaped in a manner to be approved by the Planning Board.
E.
Except as limited in Subsection F below, the maximum permitted height for all principal buildings shall be 65 feet above the highest finished grade on the property, but in no case shall any building exceed a height of 150 feet above the immediately adjacent finished grade at the closest point.
F.
Notwithstanding the above, the maximum permitted height of principal buildings located within 500 feet of any abutting residential property or public highway shall not exceed the height of a plane defined by a vertical angle of seven degrees above the horizontal originating at a point 10 feet above the mean level of the land immediately abutting to the facing wall of any residence existing as of April 1, 1982, on an adjoining residential property or at a point five feet above the center line of the traveled way of any abutting public highway. An exception to this height limitation shall be permitted where intervening natural topography obstructs the view of a higher building from the point at which the plane is established, in which case the maximum permitted height shall be increased to the line of sight from such point over such obstruction.
G.
The maximum permitted height for accessory structures shall be governed by Subsection E above, except that the maximum permitted height for accessory structures located within 500 feet of any abutting residential property or public highway shall be 30 feet, and, for those located within 100 feet of any property boundary, it shall be 15 feet.
H.
All vehicular access drives, other than for emergency purposes, shall be permitted to connect only to through streets as shown on the Town Development Plan.