Southold City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
Light Industrial LI District
§ 280-61 Purpose.
The purpose of the Light Industrial (LI) District is to provide an opportunity for business and industrial uses on smaller lots than would be appropriate for the LIO Light Industrial Park/Planned Office Park District.
§ 280-62 Use regulations.
In the LI District, no building or premises shall be used and no building or part of a building shall be erected or altered which is arranged, intended or designed to be used, in whole or in part, for any purpose except the following:
A.
Permitted uses. The following uses are permitted uses and, except for those uses permitted under Subsection A(1) and (2) hereof, are subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board:
[Amended 5-9-1989 by L.L. No. 6-1989; 11-29-1994 by L.L. No. 26-1994; 4-28-1997 by L.L. No. 6-1997]
(1)
The agricultural operations and accessory uses, including irrigation, the raising of field and garden crops, vineyard and orchard farming, the maintenance of nurseries and the seasonal sale of products grown on the premises, the keeping, breeding, raising and training of horses, domestic animals and fowl, barns, storage buildings, greenhouses and other related structures to the same extent and subject to the same conditions allowed in the AC Zone.
(2)
Buildings, structures and uses owned or operated by the Town of Southold, school districts, park districts and fire districts.
(3)
Wholesale businesses, private warehousing and public warehousing, and building material storage and sale, but excluding storage of coal, coke, fuel oil or junk.
[Amended 11-19-2002 by L.L. No. 7-2002]
(4)
Contractors' businesses or yards, including but not limited to building, electrical, plumbing, and landscapers' yards.
[Amended 1-20-2004 by L.L. No. 4-2004]
(5)
Cold storage plants, baking and other food processing and packaging plants that are not offensive, obnoxious or detrimental to neighboring uses by reason of dust, smoke, vibration, noise, odor or effluent.
(6)
Office buildings for businesses, governmental and professional uses, including administrative training, data processing, publication, financial and sales offices.
(7)
Telephone exchanges.
(8)
Wineries as regulated by § 280-48A(11).
(9)
Auto repair shop.
(10)
Repair shop (not including auto and marine).
(11)
Custom workshop.
(12)
Machine and equipment workshop.
(13)
Light industrial uses.
(14)
Publishing and printing plants.
(15)
Boat building, servicing and storage, excluding wholesale and retail sales of boats and accessories.
(16)
Land-based aquaculture operations, including research and development, which meet the following standards:
[Added 9-22-2015 by L.L. No. 8-2015]
(a)
Any land-based aquaculture operation shall take place in a fully enclosed structure.
(b)
Any land-based aquaculture operation shall be entitled to a retail area not more than 10% of the gross floor area of the structure in which the land-based aquaculture takes place for the direct marketing of its products.
(17)
Recreational facility, minor.
[Added 7-30-2019 by L.L. No. 12-2019]
B.
Uses permitted by special exception of the Board of Appeals. The following uses are permitted as a special exception by the Board of Appeals as hereinafter provided, except Subsection B(10), which may be permitted as a special exception by the Planning Board, and all such special exception uses except Subsection B(11) shall be subject to site plan approval by the Planning Board:
[Amended 4-28-1997 by L.L. No. 6-1997; 2-12-2013 by L.L. No. 2-2013; 6-17-2014 by L.L. No. 7-2014; 12-5-2017 by L.L. No. 20-2017; 5-22-2018 by L.L. No. 4-2018; 6-7-2022 by L.L. No. 5-2022]
(1)
Research, design or development laboratories, provided that any manufacturing shall be limited to prototypes and products for testing.
(2)
Laundry or dry-cleaning plants, subject to the following conditions:
(3)
Light industrial uses, subject to the following conditions:
(a)
No such process or operation shall involve the handling, storage or discharge of explosives or permit upon the premises any virus or other type of infectious organisms identified with diseases of animals or humans.
(b)
No offensive noises, gases, fumes, smoke, odors, dust, effluent or vibrations shall emanate from such use and no waste products shall be discharged therefrom of a character to create a nuisance or to be injurious to health or to negatively impact groundwater.
(c)
Such processes shall involve the use of only oil, gas or electricity for fuel.
(4)
Conference facilities, subject to the following conditions:
(a)
Where rooms are provided for conference attendees, said rooms are permitted as set forth and regulated by § 280-35B(4) of the Resort Residential (RR) District.
(5)
Public utility structures and uses.
(6)
Truck or bus terminals (garages, parking facilities, loading docks, etc.)
(7)
Food processing and packaging plants, not including fish processing plants.
(8)
Repair of boats and marine items.
(9)
Retail sale of items manufactured, assembled, processed and produced on site, subject to the following conditions:
(a)
The premises is located within a designated hamlet locus (HALO) zone;
(b)
Retail floor area shall be no more than 15% of the gross floor area of the building, including all areas having public access, not to exceed 2,000 square feet;
(c)
Adequate on-site parking must be available for the retail sales area as determined by the Planning Board and as set forth in § 280-78;
(d)
Resale of items produced off site is prohibited;
(e)
Should a site contain multiple LI uses, such uses may utilize a single retail sales area. In such instances, the single retail floor area shall be no more than 15% of the total combined gross floor area of all such uses, including all areas having public access, not to exceed 2,000 square feet;
(f)
Outdoor storage and display of retail items is prohibited.
(10)
Commercial solar energy production system, subject to the following criteria:
(a)
The commercial solar energy system shall not be on a parcel of less than five acres.
(b)
Solar energy production facilities shall be permitted only on those lands previously cleared and/or disturbed on or before January 1, 2018. No additional clearing shall be permitted, except that the removal of shrubs, underbrush and trees under six inches in diameter shall be permitted and shall not be deemed clearing.
(c)
All ground-mounted panels shall not exceed the height of eight feet.
(d)
All mechanical equipment of the commercial solar energy system, including any structure for batteries or storage cells, shall be completely enclosed by a minimum eight-foot-high fence with a self-locking gate.
(e)
Notwithstanding any requirement in § 280-63 of this chapter, the total surface area of all ground-mounted and freestanding solar collectors, including solar photovoltaic cells, panels, and arrays, shall not exceed 80% of the total parcel area.
(f)
A minimum twenty-five-foot perimeter buffer, consisting of natural and undisturbed vegetation, supplemented with evergreen plantings, as needed, shall be provided around all mechanical equipment and solar panel arrays to provide screening from adjacent residential properties and Town, county and state roads.
(g)
A minimum setback for a solar energy production facility and the equipment used in conjunction with the solar energy production facility shall be located at least 100 feet from any residential dwelling or zone.
(h)
All solar energy production systems shall be designed and located in order to prevent reflective glare toward any habitable buildings as well as streets and rights-of-way.
(i)
All on-site utility and transmission lines shall be, to the extent feasible, placed underground.
(j)
A clearly visible warning sign concerning voltage must be placed at the base of all pad-mounted transformers and substations.
(k)
The system shall be designed and situated to be compatible with the existing uses on adjacent and nearby properties.
(l)
In approving a special exception, the Planning Board may waive or modify any of the above criteria if it finds that there is no detriment to public health, safety and welfare.
(m)
Any special exception approval granted under this article shall have a term of 20 years, commencing from the grant of the special exception, which may be extended for additional five-year terms upon application to the Planning Board.
(n)
Decommissioning/removal:
[1]
Any commercial solar energy production system that is not operated for a continuous period of 24 months shall be deemed abandoned. At that time, the owner of the commercial solar energy production system or the owner of the property where the commercial solar energy production system is located shall remove all components thereof within 90 days of such deemed abandonment or will be in violation of this section. In the case of a commercial solar energy production system on preexisting structures, this provision shall apply to the commercial solar energy production system only. If the commercial solar energy production system is not removed within said 90 days, the Building Inspector may give the owner notice that unless the removal is accomplished within 30 days, the Town will cause the removal at the owner's expense. All costs and expenses incurred by the Town in connection with any proceeding or any work done for the removal of a commercial solar energy production system shall be assessed against the land on which such commercial solar energy production system is located, and a statement of such expenses shall be presented to the owner of the property, or if the owner cannot be ascertained or located, then such statement shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. Such assessment shall be and constitute a lien upon such land. If the owner of the system and the owner of the property upon which the system is located shall fail to pay such expenses within 10 days after the statement is presented or posted, a legal action may be brought to collect such assessment or to foreclose such lien. As an alternative to the maintenance of any such action, the Building Inspector may file a certificate of the actual expenses incurred as aforesaid, together with a statement identifying the property in connection with which the expenses were incurred and the owner of the system and the owner of the property upon which the system is located, with the Assessors, who shall, in the preparation of the next assessment roll, assess such amount upon such property. Such amount shall be included in the levy against such property, shall constitute a lien and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time and under the same penalties as are provided by law for the collection and enforcement of real property taxes in the Town of Southold.
[2]
This subsection is enacted pursuant to § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of Town citizens through removal provisions to ensure the proper decommissioning of commercial solar energy production systems within the entire Town. The removal reduction provision of this chapter shall supersede any inconsistent portions of Town Law § 64, Subdivision 5-a, and govern the subject of removal of commercial solar energy production systems in this chapter.
(11)
Conversion of an existing building to apartments as set forth in and regulated by § 280-38B(6) of the Residential Office District.
C.
Accessory uses. The following uses are permitted as accessory uses and, except for residential accessory uses and signs, which are governed by Article XIX, are subject to site plan review:
[Amended 5-9-1989 by L.L. No. 6-1989]
(1)
Accessory uses on the same lot with and customarily incidental to any permitted or special exception use and not involving a separate business.[1]
(2)
Accessory uses as set forth in and as regulated by § 280-58C(5) through (8) of the Light Industrial Park/Planned Office Park District.
§ 280-63 Bulk, area and parking regulations.
No building or premises shall be used and no building or part thereof shall be erected or altered in the LI Light Industrial District unless the same conforms to the Bulk Schedule and Parking and Loading Schedules incorporated into this chapter by reference, with the same force and effect as if such regulations were set forth herein in full.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Bulk Schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter, and the Parking and Loading Schedules are in §§ 280-78 and 280-79.
§ 280-64 Front yard setbacks.
[Added 8-22-1995 by L.L. No. 18-1995]
A.
Structures shall be set back at least 100 feet from the right-of-way.
B.
There shall be an exception to Subsection A if the adjacent parcels are developed, in which case the minimum front yard setback shall be the average of the setbacks of the adjacent parcels.
C.
A project shall be divided into separate structures so that no single structure shall have more than 60 linear feet of frontage on one street, except that this requirement shall not apply to parcels located outside a designated hamlet locus (HALO) zone. Where buildings are permitted to have greater than 60 linear feet of frontage on a street, the building must be set back 100 feet (or at least 50 feet in cases where there are adjacent buildings providing an average setback) from that street and screened with a vegetated buffer.
[Amended 9-11-2018 by L.L. No. 12-2018]
D.
The setbacks of multiple structures on a parcel may vary, provided that the average setback of the structures meets the setback required above.
[Added 9-11-2018 by L.L. No. 12-2018]