[Amended 7-11-2016 by Ord. No. 176]
No building or premises shall be erected, structurally altered,
enlarged or maintained nor shall any land be used, except for the
following purposes:
A.
Retail stores under 20,000 square feet.
B.
Personal service establishments, such as, but not limited to, banks,
barbershops, restaurants, florists, newspaper dealers, taverns, dressmaking,
tailors, decorators and repair shops.
C.
Offices and office buildings, which may have a maximum height of
three stories or 45 feet.
D.
Medical office buildings and clinics, which may have a maximum height
of three stories or 45 feet.
E.
Semipublic and institutional uses, such as but not limited to service
clubs, fraternal orders, boys' clubs, girls' clubs and scout clubs.
F.
Theaters, except drive-in theaters.
G.
Hotels and motels, guesthouses or tourist homes. Temporary exposition
centers, fairgrounds, circus or carnival grounds, amusement parks
or midways for a time period not to exceed 14 days.
H.
Funeral homes.
I.
Self-service laundry and dry-cleaning establishments.
J.
Accessory buildings and uses.
K.
Multiple-family dwellings, conditioned upon demonstration of strict compliance with the off-street parking requirements of Article XI.
L.
Breweries, distilleries and wineries.
[Amended 8-12-2019 by Ord. No. 193]
The following uses of land and buildings within the C-B District shall be allowed only by special exception to this chapter, granted only by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Standards and procedures for special exceptions are contained in Article XVII.
A.
Filling stations, so long as the bulk storage of flammable
liquids is underground and pumps are located at least 15 feet from
the street line. The orientation of the building shall be such that
the service bays are not facing the main street. Screen planting and
walls shall be so located as to enhance the design of the building
and lessen impact on neighboring structures.
B.
Hospitals or clinics for small household pets and
dog kennels, so long as odors and noise do not permeate beyond the
premises and into the surrounding area.
C.
Automobile-related uses, such as but not limited to
new and used car lots, automobile repair shops, automobile storage
lots and garages, automobile parts shops, automobile upholstery and
paint shops and automobile body shops.
D.
Bowling alleys and billiard parlors.
E.
Retail stores 10,000 square feet and over must present
a concept plan, market study, traffic study and any additional information
requested.
F.
Joint use of off-street parking facilities.
G.
One or more dwelling units.
[Amended 8-9-2004 by Ord. No. 116]
All standards are summarized in Chart A, Height,
Bulk and Area Requirements.[1] The front yard setback shall be none. Freestanding buildings
or structures shall have landscaping at the sides and in the rear
of the lot. Where a group of businesses share a common wall, they
shall be considered as one building occupying one lot. No building
shall exceed a height of 45 feet or three stories, unless otherwise
provided. Side and rear yard setbacks shall be three feet.
[1]
Editor's Note: Chart A is included at the end of this chapter.
The following standards for site planning and
building design shall be applicable to all sites located adjacent
to and/or fronting on the Route 5 Corridor/Point Lookout Road but
shall not apply to redevelopment of sites currently developed along
the corridor.
A.
Site planning: internal relationships. Commercial
buildings shall be so grouped in relation to parking areas that after
customers arriving by automobile enter the shopping center, establishments
can be visited with a minimum of internal automotive movement. Facilities
and access routes for deliveries, servicing and maintenance shall,
so far as reasonably practicable, be separated from customer access
routes and parking areas. Areas where deliveries to customers in automobiles
are to be made or where services are to be provided for automobiles
shall be so located and arranged as to prevent interference with pedestrian
traffic within the center.
(1)
Sites should be developed in a coordinated manner
to complement adjacent structures through placement, architecture
and size or mass. Where possible, commercial uses requiring floor
areas in excess of 10,000 square feet should be designed to appear
as several distinct, albeit attached, structures, each with a floor
area no greater than 6,000 square feet to reduce the visual impact
of a single, larger building mass in keeping with the scale of existing
structures in Leonardtown.
(2)
Whenever possible, commercial buildings on the same
site should be clustered and incorporate plazas, courtyards, pocket
parks, and other pedestrian use areas.
(3)
Sites occupied by commercial uses should be designed
to avoid the appearance of domination by automobiles. Positive methods
to achieve this guideline include:
(a)
Orienting buildings to fronting streets and
placing some of the parking at the rear and/or sides;
(b)
Designing the required parking area into a series
of smaller, discrete, connected lots rather than a large uninterrupted
parking lot(s);
(c)
Providing well-defined pedestrian walkways through
parking areas and from public sidewalks into the site. Well-defined
walkways utilize pavers, changes in color, texture, and composition
of paving materials and vertical plantings such as trees and shrubs.
The minimum width of walkways should be five feet.
B.
Building design.
(1)
Buildings should reflect an individual design that
has considered site location, conditions, intended use, and the character/building
mass of surrounding development. Building designs should reflect an
individual style and form and not merely current trends.
(2)
A consistent visual identity should be applied to
all sides of buildings visible to the general public. All sides should
have an equivalent level of quality of materials, detailing and window
placement. Abrupt ending of architectural details should be avoided
with no radical change in details, features or materials.
(3)
Large buildings should avoid long, blank, uninterrupted
walls. Positive methods to achieve this objective include building
wall offsets regarding modulation, changes in colors and materials,
placement of windows and doors, use of porches, porticos or canopies,
changes in floor level, and projections that provide building shadows
that visually break up long, flat building facades.
(4)
Large buildings should avoid long, blank, uninterrupted
roof planes. Positive methods to achieve this objective include height
variations to give the appearance of distinct elements or offsets
in the roof line to provide architectural interest and variety to
the massing of the building and to relieve the effect of a single,
long roof.
(5)
Large buildings should use modulation (defined as
a measured setback or offset in a building face) to reduce overall
bulk and mass. The planes of exterior walls should not run in one
continuous direction more than 50 to 60 feet without an offset or
setback. Offsets should be a minimum of 3 to 5 feet.
(6)
Large buildings should use articulation in a clear
rhythm to reduce their perceived size. Articulation is the giving
of emphasis to architectural elements (like windows, entries, balconies,
etc.) that create a complementary pattern of rhythm, dividing large
buildings into smaller identifiable pieces. Articulation in the form
of doors, windows and other framed building openings that articulate
architectural elements break up the look of a long, blank wall.
(7)
Buildings facing streets should incorporate pedestrian-scaled
entrances. Pedestrian-scaled entrances are those that provide an expression
of human activity or use in relation to building size. Doors, windows,
entrances and other features should be designed to respond to the
size of the human body and not give the appearance of anonymity or
overwhelming the building's users.
(8)
Building design should incorporate traditional building
materials such as masonry, stone, heavy timbers, brick or other natural-appearing
materials.
(9)
Building colors should accent, blend with, or complement
surroundings. Bright or brilliant colors should be reserved for trim
and accents.
(10)
Outdoor storage areas, mechanical equipment
and trash receptacles should not be visible from adjacent streets
and pedestrian walkways. The method of screening such areas from view
should be architecturally integrated with the building with respect
to materials, shape and size.
(11)
Materials used for site features such as fences,
screen walls, and signs should be appropriate to the zone district
where the development is located and should complement building design
through materials, color, shape and size.
C.
The Mayor and Council may modify the strict application
of all the preceding standards where it is felt that such would further
the objectives of this chapter.
(1)
In addition to the standards and design criteria set forth in this article, multiple-family dwellings shall also be subject to the open space and general criteria set forth in §§ 155-22 and 155-23, to the extent such criteria do not conflict with the provisions of this article or are otherwise impractical in this district, in which case any such conflicting or impractical criterion shall not apply.
[Added 1-13-2014 by Ord.
No. 160]
