Sparta Township City Zoning Code
§ 18-4.26
Town Center Limited Commercial Zone TCLC.
[Ord. No. 1003 § 7; Ord. No. 01-14 § 13; Ord. No. 02-20 §§ 13, 22, 24]
a.
Purpose. This zone provides for community commercial uses to complement and enhance the existing retail and service use and historic character in the Town Center area. The Master Plan establishes guidelines for proper site plan development which is referenced as a part of this subsection. The goals of community design and historic preservation of the Town Center is intended to accomplish the following:
1.
To accomplish the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of the Town Center area, and other structures and resources within the Town Center which reflect the elements of the architectural history of the Township. To encourage construction and reconstruction with a residential appearance in keeping with the goals of the Town Center and the Appendix to the 1993 Master Plan Amendment to the Interchange Master Plan.
2.
To encourage the continued use of the existing buildings and to appropriate reuses.
3.
To maintain the character of the neighborhood and architecturally significant buildings.
4.
To manage change by preventing alteration or new construction not in keeping with the zone.
5.
To discourage the unnecessary demolition of historic resources.
6.
To maintain economic viability of the existing land uses.
7.
To improve access, circulation and parking.
8.
To maintain a stable and balanced community fiscal structure.
9.
To maintain and improve traffic circulation by implementing the Master Plan concepts and by limiting access to the Route 517 Bypass properties to the proposed connector road, Main Street and Sparta Avenue.
10.
To concentrate development in the appropriate buildable areas.
b.
Principal Permitted Uses. This zone is limited to the following business uses of a retail sales and service type subject to an explicit requirement that the site plan, architecture and signs shall be consistent with the Town Center Plan. Only the following uses are permitted:
1.
Planned Town Center Limited Commercial Development with more than one of the following uses:
(a)
Stores or shops for retail business or wholesale display entirely within the confines of a building.
(b)
Banks and offices for business, executive and professional purposes.
(c)
Restaurants, including drive-in restaurants with architecture and signs compatible with the historic character of Main Street.
(d)
Public buildings and uses.
(e)
Office establishments.
(f)
Institutional uses and nonprofit clubs, lodges and fraternal organizations.
(g)
Second floor apartments over retail commercial and office uses, but not over dry cleaning establishments.
2.
Limited Commercial Use. Platted tax lots of no more than 1.5 acres, existing as of April 1998, may be used for the permitted uses in the TCC Zone subject to the required conditions of the TCC Zone. Such lots may continue to be used as a single family residential use.
c.
Permitted Accessory Uses. Parking, signs, essential services and other accessory uses customary and incidental to the permitted uses.
d.
Prohibited Uses. The following uses are specifically prohibited:
1.
Any business conducted outside the confines of a building unless specifically permitted.
2.
Any industry, process of manufacture, fabrication, assembly, disassembly, conversion or alteration. For the purpose of this subsection, any business use shall be deemed to be an industry where it employs more than five persons in the processing or manufacturing of a product or uses more than a total of 25 horsepower machinery in the direct processing or manufacturing operations, but is not intended that a retail store or service establishment such as a hotel, department store or bank be limited in the number of its employees or in the horsepower used for heating, air conditioning and other similar nonprocessing or manufacturing operations.
3.
Carousels, merry-go-rounds, miniature golf, outdoor theaters, pony tracks or other similar commercial outdoor amusements.
4.
Junk yards, warehouses, storage buildings and coal or fuel yards.
5.
Gasoline service stations.
6.
Any uses not specifically permitted.
e.
Required Standards for Planned TCLC Developments. Any site plan or subdivision application in this zone shall include a preliminary site plan for a planned development for the entire area of the lot or lots owned or controlled by the applicant and located in the TCLC Zone. Certain bulk standards are not included to permit flexibility in the planned development. The following requirements must be complied with in the TCLC Zone:
1.
Impervious Coverage. The total impervious coverage of any TCLC development shall not exceed 12.5%. The impervious coverage shall be located on the portion of the property north of the new collector road to be constructed between Main Street and the Route 517 bypass. The land south of the connector road shall be restricted open space organization requirements Subsection 18-5.4, Open Space and Recreation Element of the Master Plan and the M.L.U.L. except as provided in Subsection e2 below.
2.
Impervious Coverage Incentive for Public Dedication of Open Space. The total impervious charge of a TCLC may be increased to a maximum of 23% provided that the applicant dedicates all the land south of the new connector road but not less than 17 acres of open space and recreational uses to the Township and provided that the development area shall be limited to the portion of the property north of the collector road and approximately two acres located along Route 517 and the collector road south of the collection and north of the existing tree row. The tree row shall be preserved by any such development.
3.
Acreage requirements. Ten acres.
4.
No direct access driveways shall be permitted along the Route 517 bypass. On the south side of the bypass, Lot 48, Block 19.03, the development plan must include a collector street located between Main Street and the bypass per the Master Plan.
5.
Height. The height of a principal structure shall not exceed 2 1/2 stories or 38 feet, whichever is the lesser. An exception would include a house of worship steeples or clock towers which shall not exceed 50 feet.
6.
Maximum building size of a single building is 60,000 square feet.