Westminster City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
PRSC Planned Regional Shopping Center Zone
§ 164-99 Purpose.
A.
It is the purpose of this zone to provide a method for the orderly grouping and spacing of commercial development on properties which abut or front on and have access to heavily traveled major highways with a planned or existing pavement of at least four lanes or on properties which are recommended for such zoning on approved and adopted Master Plans. This zone is intended to provide sites for commercial activities that require large land areas and do not depend only upon adjoining uses for reasons of comparison shopping and pedestrian trade. At the same time, it also is intended that this zone establish and preserve specialized commercial areas near highway interchanges to serve regional or countywide consumer needs as well as the needs of local City residents. Further, it is intended to provide suitable sites for development of an integrated regional or countywide shopping center or to promote commercial facilities to serve the needs of county and City residents. Additionally, it is the intent that the frequency, design and location of points of direct access to the highway be controlled by restricting development and minimizing interference with traffic movements.
B.
Commercial facilities contemplated by this zone are also to be provided in relation to population growth and related residential development and/or location of major thoroughfares; to prevent the proliferation of strip or ribbon development along major thoroughfares; and to encourage more efficient and more attractive development of commercial facilities in a compact and convenient location without adversely affecting the physical development patterns of residential areas.
C.
The fact that an application complies with all specific requirements and purposes set forth herein shall not be deemed to create a presumption that the application is, in fact, compatible with surrounding land uses and, in itself, shall not be sufficient to require the granting of any application.
§ 164-100 Uses permitted.
[Amended 4-11-2011 by Ord. No. 823; 8-12-2013 by Ord. No. 845; 9-25-2017 by Ord. No. 869; 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)
Alcoholic beverage package stores.
(3)
Antique and arts and crafts shops.
(4)
Appliance stores.
(5)
Bakery shops.
(6)
Beauty parlors or barbershops.
(7)
Building materials sales and storage yards which are enclosed.
(8)
Candy stores.
(9)
Clothing stores.
(10)
Computer and electronics sales and service shops.
(11)
Customer printing shops.
(12)
Dairy product stores.
(13)
Department stores with or without automobile accessory stores and accessory automobile repair and service shops, minor.
(14)
Dress or millinery shops.
(15)
Drugstores.
(16)
Dry-goods or variety shops.
(17)
Financial institutions.
(18)
Florist or garden shops.
(19)
Food and grocery stores.
(20)
Fruit or vegetable stores.
(21)
Furniture and upholstering stores.
(22)
Gift or jewelry shops.
(23)
Hardware stores.
(24)
Hotels and motels.
(25)
Laundromats.
(26)
Laundry or dry-cleaning establishments and pickup stations.
(27)
Meat markets.
(28)
Offices, professional and business.
(29)
Pet shops.
(30)
Photographic studios.
(31)
Radio and television studios.
(32)
Radio and television repair shops.
(33)
Restaurants and lunchrooms.
(34)
Schools: business, dancing, music, trade or others of a commercial nature.
(35)
Shoe sales and repair shops.
(36)
Single-family detached dwellings, single-family semidetached dwellings, single-family attached dwellings and multiple-family dwellings as provided in Subsection A(45).
(37)
Social clubs, fraternal organizations and community meeting halls.
(38)
Specialty shops.
(39)
Sporting goods or hobby shops.
(40)
Stationery stores.
(41)
Tailor establishments.
(42)
Taverns and nightclubs.
(43)
Taxi stands.
(44)
Theaters and private assembly halls.
(45)
Residential uses.
(a)
Residential dwelling unit uses shall be approved generally on the capabilities of the existing and/or planned utilities and such other standards and requirements as enumerated in this chapter, but in no case shall more than 20% of the site of the planned regional shopping center be devoted to residential dwelling unit uses, and in no event shall residential uses be permitted in the same building or structure with a commercial use.
(b)
Calculation of the area permitted to be devoted to residential dwelling unit use shall include all land within the planned regional shopping center, except one-hundred-year floodplain areas and slopes in excess of 25%.
(c)
The following minimum per unit requirements shall apply:
Dwelling Type | Maximum Density Allowable (units per acre) | Lot Width at Building Line (feet) | Front Yard (feet) | Side Yard (feet) | Rear Yard (feet) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single-family detached | 5 | 60 | 20 | 8 | 25 |
Single-family semidetached | 7 | 35 | 20 | 8 | 25 |
Single-family attached | 10 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 40 |
Multiple-family | 18 | 70 | 20 | 15 | 40 |
(d)
Single-family attached and multiple-family dwellings must have a common access or easement to the front and rear of the lot from a public right-of-way.
(e)
There shall not be more than six single-family attached dwellings in any one attached row. In any one row of single-family attached dwellings there shall be no more than three continuous single-family attached dwellings with the same building line, and the variations in building line must be at least two feet.
(f)
A maximum of 12 multifamily dwellings shall be contained in one building structure. Building structures containing multiple-family dwellings may be attached to each other, but not more than three such structures may be connected in a group.
(g)
Single-family detached dwellings, in all events, shall be on lots with a minimum lot area of 6,000 square feet.
(h)
Single-family detached dwellings may be developed with a zero lot line, wherein the dwelling is sited on one property line of the lot with a totally private fifteen-foot side yard.
(i)
No principal dwelling unit structure shall exceed three stories or 40 feet in height, and no accessory building thereto shall exceed two stories or 20 feet in height.
(j)
Not more than 25% of the net area permitted to be devoted to residential use may be covered by buildings, including accessory buildings.
(k)
A corner lot for a dwelling unit shall have a minimum width of 125 feet, measured at the building line along each street front, and shall have two front yards.
(46)
Outdoor carnivals, for the substantial benefit of bona fide charitable, fraternal or municipal partnerships, not more than three times per calendar year, subject to the property owner’s compliance with any regulatory permit or licensing requirements imposed by the City for carnival operations.
(47)
Animal hospitals, veterinary clinics and accessory kennels without exterior runways.
(48)
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.
§ 164-101 Special exceptions.
[Amended 10-26-1998 by Ord. No. 631; 5-13-2019 by Ord. No. 907; 5-13-2019 by Ord. No. 910; 10-13-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-01]
The following uses may be permitted as a special exception in accordance with the provisions of Article XXII:
A.
Adult entertainment activities.
B.
Art, trade, business or nursery schools.
C.
Automobile accessory stores, if not part of or incidental to a department store.
D.
Carpentering shops containing 500 square feet or less.
E.
Places of worship.
F.
Drive-through eating establishments.
G.
Public buildings, structures and properties of the recreational, cultural, institutional, educational, administrative or public-service type, including fire, ambulance or rescue squad.
H.
Public utility buildings, structures or uses, including essential utility equipment, as enumerated in § 164-139.
I.
Retirement or nursing homes.
J.
Automobile service stations, subject to the provisions of § 164-149.
K.
Telecommunications facilities, subject to the requirements of § 164-139.1.
§ 164-102 Development mode.
The dominant form of development in the planned regional shopping center shall be an enclosed commercial mall with a minimum gross leasable area of 300,000 square feet, which includes department stores. The mall shall be covered with a roof and have an interior courtyard onto which all retail establishments in the mall shall have their main point of egress and ingress. The mall structure must be centrally located upon the site of the planned regional shopping center. As used herein, "gross leasable area" is defined as the total floor area designed for tenant occupancy and exclusive use, including basements, mezzanines and the upper floors, if any, expressed in square feet measured from the center lines of joint partitions and exteriors of outside walls. This definition is limited to the mall and does not include separate freestanding buildings or additional stores as may be approved for the shopping center.
§ 164-103 Dimensional requirements.
A.
Area requirements. Sites eligible for consideration as a planned regional shopping center shall consist of a tract of land containing not less than 70 acres in size and classified in the B Business Zone prior to reclassification to the Planned Regional Shopping Center Zone, unless such zoning is granted by virtue of a sectional map amendment or by the annexation procedures.
B.
Yard requirements. The following minimum requirements shall be observed:
(1)
Except as provided in the following Subsection B(2), all nonresidential structures shall be set back as follows:
(a)
At least 50 feet from major streets and highways.
(b)
At least 30 feet from interior streets and service roads.
(c)
At least 10 feet from all other lot lines.
(2)
All nonresidential structures shall be set back from residential lot lines at least 100 feet if the residential lot is not recommended for commercial or industrial zoning on a land use plan.
§ 164-104 Building coverage and height.
[Amended 11-26-2001 by Ord. No. 674]
A.
The total floor area ratio (FAR) of nonresidential structures, not including parking areas, shall not exceed a floor area ratio of one.
B.
No nonresidential structure shall exceed 75 feet in height.
§ 164-105 Roads and sidewalks.
A.
Access to the planned regional shopping center from an abutting major highway shall be by way of channelized service drives providing for the separation of all vehicular movements, acceleration, deceleration and left-turn lanes, except where existing adjoining development makes it unfeasible.
B.
All internal vehicular circulation and internal roadways on the site of the planned regional shopping center shall be in accordance with the approved development plan.
C.
Internal pedestrian walkways shall be provided and shall form a logical, safe and convenient system for pedestrian access to all facilities on the site of the planned regional shopping center, including the enclosed mall and including access between the center and any residential component in the center. Construction standards for pedestrian walkways shall be in accord with the approved development plan.
D.
All internal roadways and all internal pedestrian walkways shall be paved and maintained in good repair.
§ 164-106 Off-street parking.
A.
Nonresidential parking. Off-street parking shall be provided in accordance with Article XVI of this chapter, with the following exceptions:
(1)
The parking ratio shall be four spaces per 1,000 feet of gross leasable area.
[Amended 11-26-2001 by Ord. No. 674]
(2)
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 164-113, an area equal to 10% of the area devoted to parking shall be landscaped islands. Said landscaped islands shall be planted with a minimum of one two-and-one-half-inch-caliper shade tree for each 350 square feet of such islands. Said requirement is in addition to those provided in § 164-107, Landscaping.
(3)
The Planning Commission may approve up to 40% of the parking spaces as parking for compact cars.
B.
Residential parking. Off-street parking for a residential component of a planned regional shopping center shall be provided in accordance with Article XVI of this chapter.
§ 164-107 Landscaping.
A thirty-foot-wide minimum landscaped edge shall be required along all external boundaries of the planned regional shopping center and along the boundary between a residential component and the rest of the shopping center. A landscape concept plan showing all landscape elements, including earthen mounding, deciduous or evergreen planting and/or screen walls or fences, appropriate to buffer or enhance the shopping center, designed by a registered landscape architect, shall be approved as part of the development plan for the planned regional shopping center and implemented as part of the site plan for the shopping center.
§ 164-108 Utilities.
A.
All utility lines in the planned regional shopping center shall be placed underground. The developer or subdivider shall ensure final and proper completion and installation of utility lines as provided by subdivision processing regulations.
B.
Street, road, service drive and pedestrian-walkway light standards shall be provided by the developer or subdivider in accordance with the approved site plan.
C.
Fire hydrants shall be provided by the developer or subdivider in accordance with the approved site plan and, in all events, shall be located along streets, roads or public ways readily accessible for Fire Department use.
§ 164-109 Signs.
Signs shall be permitted subject to the provisions of Article XVII of this chapter.
§ 164-110 Procedure.
A.
An application for final classification in the Planned Regional Shopping Center Zone shall be accompanied by a development plan prepared in accordance with the provisions of § 164-188 of this chapter.
B.
In addition to all other standards and criteria, in considering an application for the Planned Regional Shopping Center Zone, the Common Council shall also consider the capability of the street or road system, highway and road access and the availability and capability of existing water and sewage systems.
C.
All planned regional shopping center projects shall be subject to site plan approval as provided in Article XXV.
