The B-2 District comprises the downtown section of the City, which is called the B-2 Central Business District. Here are concentrated activities which have primarily a City- wide function, namely stores offering comparison shoppers' goods, specialty stores, business services, banks, offices and government buildings. The use of land is intensive, which is one of the main determinants of the vitality of the B-2 District. It is the purpose of this chapter to encourage such intensity of use and to exclude activities that have a negative effect upon the proper functioning of the B-2 District.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   B-2 District regulations shall apply only to the specific district described in this chapter and shall not be applicable in any other location in the City. The defined B-2 District may be expanded by the amendment procedures provided in Chapter 1137, but only into contiguous land.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   The following rules shall apply to all uses in the B-2 District, except that legal nonconforming uses may continue at the same performance level at which they operated before they became nonconforming in relation to this Zoning Code:

   (a)   All uses and activities shall be inside buildings, with no outside storage allowed, except as specially permitted by Council.

   (b)   There shall be no noise carrying beyond a lot upon which a business is located, except for normal vehicle and pedestrian activity or as specially permitted by Council.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   No yards are required in the B-2 District.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   No building or structure shall be erected or enlarged to exceed thirty-five feet in height. (See Chapter 1161 for height exceptions.)

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   No off-street parking and loading facilities are required in the B-2 District.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   (a)   A building or lot within the B-2 District may be used for only the following purposes:

      (1)   Retail and wholesale sales;

      (2)   Restaurants, except that drive-in restaurants in which food service is provided to persons within cars are prohibited;

      (3)   Personal service businesses, including barber shops, beauty parlors, shoe repair shops, laundry and dry cleaning pick-up stations, photography studios and similar businesses meeting the purpose and performance characteristics of the B-2 District;

      (4)   Offices and activities of an office nature, including banks, doctors' and dentists' offices and clinics, and other professional and business offices;

      (5)   Motion picture theaters, excluding drive-in theaters;

      (6)   Bars, taverns, bowling alleys and similar commercial recreational activities;

      (7)   Repair services;

      (8)   Radio and television broadcasting studios and offices;

      (9)   Public transport offices and terminals;

      (10)   Hotels, motels, tourist homes and rooming or boarding houses;

      (11)   Funeral homes and mortuary establishments;

      (12)   Printing or publishing plants;

      (13)   Commercial business or technical schools;

      (14)   Manufacturing activities incidental to the above listed activities as long as the manufacturing does not occupy fifty percent of all floor space or produce any objectionable noise, smoke, odor or dust;

      (15)   Lodges, fraternal organizations and private recreational clubs;

      (16)   Commercial parking lots and garages;

      (17)   Multiple-family structures, provided that any structure also containing nonresidential uses provides a separate passageway for the building entrance and any parking areas to the dwelling (units); and

      (18)   Churches, auditoriums, libraries, public and institutional uses.

   (b)   Strictly prohibited in the B-2 District are automobile, mobile home and recreational vehicle sales and service.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   Outdoor seasonal sales are permitted provided that:

   (a)   Sales areas do not interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

   (b)   Such sales are conducted no more than twice per year and of a duration not to exceed five days.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   All side and rear yards in the B-2 District abutting residentially zoned land shall be screened therefrom and shall be required to have effective screening suitable for the purpose intended and as required in this section. Such screening shall be aesthetically attractive, compatible with the surrounding residential properties and have year-round screening value. The sole use of deciduous trees and shrubs is not acceptable for screening purposes. Acceptable for such screening purposes are plantings of spruce, pine, fir or hemlock in sizes sufficient to provide effective screening at the time of planting. Arborvitae (thuja) is not acceptable for permanent screen planting. Plantings shall be so arranged as to provide both effective screening immediately, and yet provide adequate space for development at maturity. Where plant material is used, a growing strip at least six feet in width, measured perpendicular to the lot line, shall be provided. The surface of the growing strip may not be paved or covered over with any material impervious to the free passage of either air or water. Also acceptable for screening purposes are walls or fences constructed of wood products, brick, stone or precast concrete shapes other than blocks, subject to the approval of the Code Enforcement Officer.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   In addition to the screening which may be required by Section 1151.09, fences or hedges may be placed in the rear yard, provided that they do not exceed five feet in height and do not unsafely obstruct the view of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)

   (a)   All trash, refuse and waste material shall be stored in an enclosed building or dumpster. If stored in a dumpster, the dumpster shall be enclosed on at least three sides, with the enclosure attached to the building and matching the architectural features of the building. If waste is stored inside the building, no containers holding such waste shall be stored outside for a period exceeding twelve hours while awaiting pick-up.

   (b)   All trash refuse and waste materials shall be removed at least weekly.

(Ord. 4320. Passed 11-15-93.)