Somers City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIA
Office and Light Industry OLI District
[Added 6-13-1996 by L.L. No. 10-1996]
§ 170-24.1 Purpose.
Pursuant to the Town of Somers Comprehensive Master Plan, it is the purpose of the OLI District to provide the opportunity for the maintenance and establishment of office and light industrial uses which are economically healthy, functionally efficient, environmentally sound, visually attractive and compatible with neighboring land uses and districts.
§ 170-24.2 Principal uses.
[Amended 7-13-2023 by L.L. No. 3-2023]
In an OLI 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 § 170-24.3:
A.
Medical, dental, veterinary, professional and business offices.
B.
Research and development facilities.
C.
Storage warehouses.
D.
Light manufacturing facilities.
E.
Recycling facilities.
F.
Municipal facilities.
G.
Commercial nurseries and greenhouses.
H.
Child/adult day-care facilities.
I.
Health and fitness centers.
J.
Continuation of restaurant and retail uses lawfully existing on the effective date of this amendment, provided that any future enlargement of such uses shall be permitted only by special exception use permit issued by the Town Board. Dimensional standards shall be those which applied immediately prior to the OLI zoning, except that no such use shall be permitted to exceed a maximum of 5,000 square feet of floor area.
K.
Self-storage facilities, where maximum building coverage shall not exceed 25% and maximum floor area ratio (FAR) shall not exceed 0.45. Such facilities shall otherwise be subject to the ordinary dimensional standards and requirements outlined in § 170-24.5.
§ 170-24.3 Accessory uses.
No accessory uses shall be permitted in an OLI District other than the following:
A.
Off-street parking and loading spaces as required in Article X.
B.
Signs, subject to the limitations in § 170-126, and 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]
C.
Necessary exterior lighting.
D.
Any other use clearly and customarily incidental and accessory to a permitted principal use and conducted in conjunction with such use.
E.
Temporary tents, subject to the following:
(1)
A special exception may be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals, after a public hearing, permitting the erection of a temporary tent in an Office Light Industry (OLI) District for seasonal sales or celebrations in connection with a permitted restaurant or retail use.
(2)
A special exception use under this section shall not be permitted for more than seven consecutive days.
(3)
The temporary tent shall be inspected by the Building Inspector for building and structural safety and by the Fire Inspector for fire safety prior to the conduct of the seasonal sale or celebration.
(4)
Before the use shall be permitted, the applicant shall furnish a comprehensive general liability insurance policy to the Town, or evidence thereof, in an amount of not less than $1,000,000 combined single limit coverage for bodily injury or property damage liability, which also names the Town of Somers as an additional insured landlord. Before any license shall be issued, the applicant shall furnish a surety bond in the amount of $5,000 conditioned upon saving harmless the Town of Somers from any and all liability or causes of action which might arise out of or by virtue of the granting of said license to the applicant and conditioned further that no damage will be done to the streets, trees or adjoining property and that no rubbish will be permitted to remain upon any private property or in the streets or roads used as approaches to the place of business.
(5)
Adequate facilities shall be established for sanitation and garbage disposal by the applicant.
(6)
Traffic shall be regulated in the area immediately adjacent to the premises on which the temporary tent shall be erected. Parking shall be maintained in good order with adequate supervision and as may be further prescribed by the Chief of Police at the expense of the applicant.
(7)
The Zoning Board of Appeals may add such other conditions as it may, in its discretion, deem appropriate in the circumstances. No site plan approval by the Planning Board shall be required.
§ 170-24.4 Uses subject to site plan approval.
[Amended 7-10-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008]
All uses permitted under this article, except for sign applications not part of a larger site plan amendment or modification, shall be subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board as provided in § 170-114.
§ 170-24.5 Dimensional standards and requirements.
The following dimensional standards and requirements shall apply with respect to permitted principal and accessory uses in OLI Districts:
A.
The minimum required lot area shall be 80,000 square feet.
B.
The minimum required lot width shall be 200 feet.
C.
The maximum building coverage shall be 15%.
D.
The maximum floor area ratio (FAR) shall be 0.30.
E.
The maximum site coverage (buildings, access roads and parking, but excluding walkways) shall be 60%.
F.
The maximum building height shall be two stories and 30 feet.
G.
A vegetated buffer of a minimum width of 50 feet shall be maintained along the boundary of any adjacent residentially zoned property. All yard setbacks shall be measured from the nearest edge of the residential buffer. The buffer shall be landscaped and maintained so that vegetation is of such a height and density that it will provide visual screening of the nonresidential use from uses in the residential district.
H.
The minimum front yard shall be 40 feet, all of which must be landscaped and/or maintained in its natural state except for necessary access drives and walkways. The front yard shall be measured from the existing or planned future right-of-way of the abutting street or highway, whichever is more restrictive.
I.
The minimum side yard shall be 40 feet, measured from the property line or, in the case of a property line abutting a residential district, measured from the edge of the fifty-foot buffer.
J.
The minimum rear yard shall be 40 feet, measured from the property line or, in the case of a property line abutting a residential district, measured from the edge of the fifty-foot buffer.
K.
Off-street parking and loading facilities shall be provided as per Article X of Chapter 170 (Zoning) of the Code of the Town of Somers. All parking areas shall be set back a minimum of 20 feet from side and rear property lines and 40 feet from the front property line, provided that no parking area shall extend into any required buffer area. In addition, all parking areas shall be divided into smaller parking courts, separated by raised, landscaped planting islands, building blocks or other architectural or landscape architectural features. The integration of access between neighboring properties, as appropriate, shall be required by the Planning Board as a condition of site plan approval.
§ 170-24.6 Design guidelines.
It is the objective of these guidelines to establish a general design framework for creating an attractive nonresidential area which will be compatible with the visual character of any neighboring residential uses and to help assure that such areas will blend landscaped open space and structures in a manner which relates harmoniously to the existing and/or planned character of the Town of Somers.
A.
Overall site design shall be appropriately related to other surrounding development and topographical conditions.
B.
Sites shall be designed with carefully planned arrangements of buildings and open spaces so as to create a campus-like character and to divide paved parking areas into smaller parking courts, framed by buildings and landscaping.
C.
Site design shall seek to create an attractive visual link to neighboring public streets and highways.
D.
Buildings shall be harmonious and compatible with neighboring structures in terms of the treatment, screening and/or enclosure of all utility and mechanical installations.
E.
Treatment of the sides and rear of proposed buildings shall be in a manner substantially consistent in appearance, amenity and quality of materials to the treatment given to their street frontage.
F.
A coordinated landscape plan shall be prepared incorporating the landscape treatment of open spaces, walkways, access roads, parking areas and buffer areas into a cohesive and integrated design. All open spaces, pedestrian walkways, parking areas and access drives shall be planned as an integral part of an overall site design, properly related to existing and proposed buildings.
G.
The coordinated landscape plan shall include a mix of shade trees and other plant material, such as ground cover and shrubs, with proper regard to factors such as micro-climate, function of area, existing plantings and required maintenance in determining the species, scale and planting pattern.
H.
All landscaping as shown on the approved site plan shall be maintained in a healthy growing condition throughout the duration of the use or uses being served. Any plants not so maintained shall be replaced by the property owner with healthy new plants of comparable size, type and quality at the beginning of the next immediately following growing season.
I.
All signage shall be carefully integrated with other site design elements. Signs shall not be mounted above the eave line of any structure or be placed in or attached to any window. A freestanding project identification sign shall be permitted at each access drive. Also, necessary small scale informational and directional signs shall be permitted, as required.
J.
All exterior lighting shall be of adequate illumination for safety and security purposes. It shall be of such type and location and shall have such shading as will prevent the source of light from being visible from any adjoining streets and properties and shall prevent glare from spilling onto other properties or streets. Lighting shall be limited in its hours of operation, as determined appropriate by the Planning Board, and shall be coordinated with building design and landscape plans.