No building or premises shall be erected, structurally
altered, enlarged or maintained nor shall any land be used, except
for the following purposes:
A.
Greenhouses and nurseries.
B.
Public utility installations.
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.
Food and beverage distributors.
E.
Animal hospitals and veterinary clinics, provided
that such hospital or clinic and any treatment rooms, cages, pens
or kennels are maintained within a completely enclosed, soundproof
building and that such hospital or clinic be operated in such a way
as to produce no objectionable odors outside its walls as determined
by the Leonardtown Planning and Zoning Commission.
F.
Hotels or motels.
G.
Offices and office buildings.
H.
Medical office buildings and clinics.
I.
Accessory buildings and uses.
J.
Monument sales.
K.
Carpentry and woodworking shops.
L.
Printing, publishing and engraving shops.
M.
Sheet metal shops.
N.
Sign painting shops.
O.
Arts and crafts.
P.
Furniture and appliance sales and service.
Q.
Marine sales and service.
R.
Restaurants, cocktail lounges and refreshment stands.
S.
Fast-food establishments, including drive-through
windows.
T.
Building supply, garden shops.
U.
Banks and financial institutions.
V.
Commercial services.
W.
Convenience stores.
The following uses of land and buildings within the C-H 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.
Amusement and recreational places, skating rinks,
swimming pools, bowling alleys, billiard parlors, dancing halls, health
clubs or tennis clubs.
B.
Drive-in theaters, provided that they:
(1)
Shall have no direct entrance or exit on a major highway.
(2)
Shall provide automobile storage facilities between
the ticket gates and the access street at the rate of 35% of the theater
capacity.
(3)
Shall have no structure other than an enclosed fence
within 50 feet of any site boundary line and shall have the theater
screen located not less than 100 feet from any major highway, arterial
street or property in a residential district and not facing such highway,
street or property, unless the face of the screen is not visible there
because of natural or artificial barriers.
(4)
Shall have individual car sound speakers, but low-volume
horns may supply sound to refreshment stands and other service areas;
and they may have accessory uses and structures incidental to the
theater operation, including refreshment stands and toilet facilities,
provided that they serve only the patrons within the theater enclosure.
C.
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 the impact on the neighboring structures.
D.
Material storage yards in connection with retail sales
of products where storage is incidental to the approved occupancy
of a store, provided that all products and materials used or stored
are in a completely enclosed building or enclosed by a masonry wall,
fence or hedge not less than six feet in height of the wall. Storage
cars and trucks used in connection with the permitted trade or business
are permitted within the walls, but not including storage of heavy
equipment.
E.
Enclosed light industrial uses, such as but not limited
to wholesale establishments and warehouses, bottling works, painting
shops, cleaning and dyeing works and laundries.
A.
All standards are summarized in Chart A, Height, Bulk
and Area Requirements.[1] Not less than 10% of the gross lot area shall be devoted
to landscaped green areas, including all side, front and rear yards.
[1]
Editor's Note: Chart A is included at the end of this chapter.
B.
All buildings constructed along Maryland Route 5 shall
be set back 50 feet from the state-owned right-of-way to allow for
the inclusion of service drives.
C.
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, although 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.
D.
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.
E.
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]
