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Westminster City Zoning Code

ARTICLE VIIIB

D-B Downtown Business Zone

§ 164-45.7 General provisions.

The following regulations shall apply in all D-B Downtown Business Zones.

§ 164-45.8 Uses permitted.

[Amended 2-12-2007 by Ord. No. 758; 9-25-2017 by Ord. No. 869; 2-12-2018 by Ord. No. 886; 2-26-2018 by Ord. No. 885; 5-13-2019 by Ord. No. 907; 5-13-2019 by Ord. No. 910; 9-25-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-07; 3-25-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-02; 2-10-2025 by Ord. No. 2024-09; 10-13-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-01]
A. 
No building, structure or land shall be used and no building or structure shall hereafter be erected, structurally altered, enlarged or maintained, except for one or more of the following uses:
(1) 
Accessory uses and buildings customarily incidental to any permitted use in this section.
(2) 
Antique/collectible shops and arts and crafts shops.
(3) 
Art, trade, business or nursery schools.
(4) 
Art galleries/studios.
(5) 
Automobile accessory stores.
(6) 
Bakery shops.
(7) 
Banks and savings and loan institutions.
(8) 
Beauty parlors or barbershops.
(9) 
Bed-and-breakfast establishments.
(10) 
Bookstores.
(11) 
Candy stores.
(12) 
Clothing stores.
(13) 
Coffee houses.
(14) 
Commercial parking lots.
(15) 
Custom printing and reproduction shops.
(16) 
Dairy product stores.
(17) 
Dance or music studios.
(18) 
Day-care facilities.
(19) 
Dress or millinery shops.
(20) 
Drugstores.
(21) 
Dry-goods or variety shops.
(22) 
Florist or garden shops.
(23) 
Food and grocery stores 5,000 feet or less.
(24) 
Fruit or vegetable stores.
(25) 
Funeral homes and mortuaries.
(26) 
Furniture stores.
(27) 
Gift or jewelry shops.
(28) 
Hardware stores.
(29) 
Home occupations.
(30) 
Laundry or dry-cleaning establishments without drive-through service.
(31) 
Meat markets.
(32) 
Offices, professional and business.
(33) 
Photographic studios and photographic supply stores.
(34) 
Physical fitness facilities.
(35) 
Places of worship.
(36) 
Public buildings, structures and properties of the recreational, cultural, institutional, educational, administrative or public-service type, including fire, ambulance or rescue squad.
(37) 
Radio and television studios.
(38) 
Radio and television repair shops.
(39) 
Restaurants and lunchrooms, without drive-through service.
(40) 
Retirement or nursing homes.
(41) 
Schools: business, dancing, firearms safety training not including the discharge of firearms or the handling of live ammunition, music, trade or others of a commercial nature.
(42) 
Shoe repair shops.
(43) 
Sign-painting shops.
(44) 
Signs with the exception of outdoor advertising signs, subject to the provisions of Article XVII.
(45) 
Single-family attached dwellings and multiple-family dwellings with four or fewer dwelling units.
(46) 
Social clubs, fraternal organizations and community meeting halls.
(47) 
Specialty shops.
(48) 
Sporting goods or hobby shops.
(49) 
Stationery stores.
(50) 
Tailor establishments.
(51) 
Tattoo parlors.
(52) 
Taverns and nightclubs.
(53) 
Taxi stations, for the pickup and discharge of customers.
(54) 
Telecommunications installations, subject to the facility limitations in § 139-28.2A(3)(a) through (f) and the screening requirements for modern appurtenances in § 164-131.3.
(55) 
Telephone central offices or service centers.
(56) 
Theaters and private assembly halls.
(57) 
Tobacconists.
(58) 
Tourist homes.
(59) 
Upholstery shops.
(60) 
Video rental establishments, with the exception of adult entertainment.
(61) 
Vape shops.
B. 
The buying, selling or trading of firearms shall not be allowed under any of the uses permitted under this section.

§ 164-45.9 Special exceptions.

[Amended 2-12-2007 by Ord. No. 758; 2-12-2018 by Ord. No. 886; 11-12-2018 by Ord. No. 898; 1-14-2019 by Ord. No. 903; 10-13-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-01]
A. 
The following uses may be permitted as special exceptions in accordance with the provisions of Article XXII:
(1) 
All uses authorized as permitted uses or special exceptions in this zone which are to be located within structures in excess of three stories but not in excess of six stories.
(2) 
All other uses of the same general character of uses permitted under § 164-45.2.
(3) 
Alcoholic beverage package stores.
(4) 
Amusement centers.
(5) 
Appliance stores.
(6) 
Automobile detailing shops.
(7) 
Automobile repair and service shops, minor.
(8) 
Automobile sales, without a car wash.
(9) 
Automobile service stations, subject to the provisions of § 164-149.
(10) 
Banks and savings and loan institutions with drive-through service, provided that the applicant proves that the use will not adversely affect pedestrian travel.
(11) 
Carpentering shops containing 500 square feet or less.
(12) 
Conversion dwellings, subject to the requirements of § 164-150 and the County Health Department.
(13) 
Department stores.
(14) 
Firearms sales, subject to the provisions of § 164-155.3.
(15) 
Hotels and motels.
(16) 
Laundromats.
(17) 
Laundry or dry-cleaning establishments with drive-through service, provided that the applicant proves that the use will not adversely affect pedestrian travel.
(18) 
Microbreweries and pub breweries licensed under the Annotated Code of Maryland, Alcoholic Beverages Article.
(19) 
Multiple-family dwellings, subject to the provisions of § 164-153.
(20) 
Newspaper publishing establishments.
(21) 
Pet shops.
(22) 
Public utility buildings, structures or uses, including radio, television and other communication facilities not considered essential utility equipment, as enumerated in § 164-139.
(23) 
Sheet metal shops containing 500 square feet or less.
(24) 
Single-family detached dwellings and single-family semidetached dwellings, subject to the provisions of § 164-154.
(25) 
Swimming pools, parks and recreation areas, provided that such uses shall be two times the distance requirements for residential uses as specified in § 164-140.
B. 
(Reserved)

§ 164-45.10 Building height.

No structure shall exceed the height of three stories or the height of an adjacent structure on the block, whichever is greater, nor shall any building be less than two stories in height.

§ 164-45.11 Dimensional requirements.

The following requirements shall be observed. Special fire-resistance-rated construction practices may be required for setbacks of less than five feet.
A. 
Building or use setback:
(1) 
Front: no front yard setback is required. The maximum front yard setback permitted is five feet.
(2) 
Side: where the side line is along an alley or public right-of-way, 10 feet or equal to the setbacks of the immediately adjacent buildings or provided in § 164-145, whichever is less, but in no instance shall adequate site distances be encroached upon. Where neither side line is located along an alley or public right-of-way, at least one side yard setback must be equal to zero feet. No setback is required for the second side yard; however, if a side yard is provided, the setback must be no less than three feet and no greater than 10 feet.
(3) 
Rear: a minimum setback of five feet.
(4) 
For parking lots: a minimum setback of five feet from the right-of-way or adjacent lots. Private parking lots are permitted only in rear yards.
(5) 
From residential districts: a minimum setback of 20 feet.

§ 164-45.12 Conditions.

A. 
Goods shall consist primarily of new or reconditioned merchandise or bona fide antiques.
B. 
Processes and equipment employed and goods processed or sold shall be limited to those which are not objectionable by reason of odor, dust, smoke, cinders, gas, fumes, noise, vibration, refuse matter or water-carried waste or otherwise create a nuisance under the provisions of Chapter 100, Nuisances, of the Code of Westminster.
C. 
The front facades of new and remodeled buildings shall be designed with windows on all stories. The size and placement of the windows shall be compatible with the size, scale and character of the facade.