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Sussex County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code

ARTICLE XXIII

Off-Street Loading

§ 115-167 Requirements.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, when any building or structure is hereafter erected or structurally altered to the extent of increasing the floor area by 25% or more or any building is hereafter converted for the uses listed in Column 1 of the chart below, when such buildings contain the floor areas specified in Column 2, accessory off-street loading spaces shall be provided as required in Column 3 or as required in subsequent sections of this article.
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Use or Use Category
Floor Area as Defined in § 115-4
(square feet)
Loading Spaces Required
Retail store, department store, restaurant, wholesale house, warehouse, general service, manufacturing or industrial establishment
2,000 - 10,000
10,000 - 20,000
20,000 - 40,000
40,000 - 60,000
1
2
3
4
Each 50,000 over 60,000
1 additional
Apartment building, motel, hotel, office or office building, hospital or similar institution or place of public assembly
5,000 - 25,000
25,000 - 100,000
100,000 - 200,000
1
2
3
Each 100,000 over 200,000
1 additional
Funeral home or mortuary
1 berth for each chapel

§ 115-168 Interpretation of requirements; modification of requirements.

A. 
The loading space requirements apply to all districts but do not limit the special requirements which may be imposed in the district regulations.
B. 
The loading space requirements in this article do not limit special requirements which may be imposed in connection with conditional uses (Article XXIV) or special use exceptions (Article XXVII).
C. 
Where, in the judgment of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the loading space requirements listed in this Article XXIII are clearly excessive and unreasonable, the Commission may modify the requirements.
[Amended 3-20-2018 by Ord. No. 2564]

§ 115-169 Mixed uses in same building.

Where a building is used for more than one use or for different uses, and where the floor area used for each use for which loading space is required is below the minimum for required loading spaces but the aggregate floor area used is greater than such minimum, then off-street loading space shall be provided as if the entire building were used for that use in the building for which the most spaces are required. In such cases, the Director may make reasonable requirements for the location of required loading spaces.

§ 115-170 Design standards.

A. 
Minimum size. For the purpose of these regulations, a "loading space" is a space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks, having a minimum width of 12 feet and a minimum depth of 40 feet.
B. 
Loading space for funeral homes. Loading spaces for a funeral home may be reduced in size to ten by twenty-five (10 x 25) feet and vertical clearance reduced to eight feet.
C. 
Drainage and maintenance. Off-street loading facilities shall be drained to eliminate standing water and prevent damage to abutting property and/or public streets and alleys and surfaced with erosion-resistant material in accordance with applicable county specifications. Off-street loading areas shall be maintained in a clean and orderly condition, at the expense of the owner or lessee, and not used for sale, repair, dismantling or servicing of any vehicles, equipment, materials or supplies.
D. 
Entrances and exits. The location and design of entrances and exits shall be in accord with applicable requirements of state traffic regulations and standards.

§ 115-170.1 Screening of loading areas.

[Added 7-20-1999 by Ord. No. 1328; amended 2-27-2018 by Ord. No. 2550]
In addition to the other requirements of this article, the following requirements relating to screening of loading areas shall apply in the large-scale uses C-1 General Commercial District, the large scale uses CR-1 Commercial Residential District, the C-3 Heavy Commercial District, the C-4 Planned Commercial District, and the C-5 Service/Limited Manufacturing District for nonresidential development.
A. 
Screening requirements for loading areas and trash dumpster areas. The intent of providing screening for loading areas is to minimize the negative visual impact of such operations.
B. 
Sites affected by screening requirements:
(1) 
The new construction of any building or group of buildings which contains loading areas, dumpsters and storage areas.
(2) 
Existing site or building with proposed modifications to the site or building which result in new loading areas, dumpsters or storage area.
C. 
Screening requirements.
(1) 
All loading areas consisting of one or more loading spaces, loading docks or vehicular lanes providing access to any of these areas shall be oriented to be screened as inconspicuous as possible and may be subject to site plan review from land in an adjacent residential district and all adjacent public roads.
(2) 
All dumpsters, trash pads and trash collection storage areas shall be carefully located and oriented to be as inconspicuous as possible. All dumpsters, trash pads and trash collection storage areas shall be screened from adjoining properties.
(a) 
Setbacks for dumpsters, trash pads and trash collection storage areas shall be minimum 60 feet front, 30 feet side and 30 feet rear.
(3) 
All buildings shall be screened from land in an adjacent residential district.
(4) 
Options for providing screening include:
(a) 
Six-foot high sight-tight fence or wall.
(b) 
Four-foot (minimum height at planting) evergreen landscape screen subject to the Department of Agriculture.