§ 38-1388. Neighborhood center district.

(a)

Generally. Neighborhood center districts shall be located generally at the center of the neighborhood adjacent to the neighborhood park or green and the neighborhood school and uses should be primarily oriented to serve the residents of the immediate neighborhood. The maximum size of any neighborhood center district shall not exceed two (2) acres. The maximum total gross floor area of commercial uses shall be twenty thousand (20,000) square feet unless otherwise specified in an approved SAP. No single establishment shall exceed ten thousand (10,000) square feet (GFA).

(1)

Within the established village SAP, a single ten thousand (10,000) square foot commercial building can be constructed in a neighborhood center.

(2)

If a ten thousand (10,000) square foot commercial building has been constructed in a neighborhood center in a village SAP, no additional commercial use shall exceed the five thousand (5,000) square feet limit unless approved on the PD Land Use Plan.

(b)

Permitted uses. All C-1 uses identified by the letter "P" in the use table set forth in Section 38-77, excluding all prohibited uses found in subsection (3) below. Residential uses are also permitted vertically above nonresidential uses. Residential uses, except to entrances, shall not be permitted on the ground floor of buildings used for commercial or office use.

(1)

Convenience stores. The land use plan may allow a maximum of four (4) gas pump stations to serve a maximum of eight (8) vehicles at any one (1) time. Gas pumps shall require substantial change approval to the land use plan (LUP) by the board of county commissioners. The development shall comply with the following standards:

a.

All gas pumps shall be located behind or to the side of the principal structure and not closer to the right-of-way than the principal structure itself.

b.

If the gas pumps are located within direct view from the roadway, a decorative forty-two (42) inch high knee wall shall be installed along the full length of the street sidewalk edge exclusive of driveways and pedestrian access which is visually exposed to gas pumps. Said decorative knee wall shall incorporate a space between the wall and the back edge of the street sidewalk. The gap shall serve as an irrigated shrub or vine planter strip along the back edge of the street sidewalk. The planter strip shall be no less than thirty (30) inches wide and approximately sixty (60) inches wide at inward-jogged sections of the knee wall. The knee wall shall incorporate a continuous, cantilevered cap block, and shall not extend more than twenty-five (25) feet in a single uninterrupted span without incorporating the minimum thirty (30) inch offset or "jog" inward, toward the property interior as mentioned above. Such interior jogs shall incorporate shrub massing, vines, and understory trees. Gas station knee walls constructed solely of smooth face CMU and stucco are prohibited. Notwithstanding the finish materials utilized on the adjacent principal structure, the subject knee wall shall not present a blank stucco surface to the adjacent sidewalk and street rights-of-way. Instead, gas station knee wall surfaces shall feature a brick or stone veneer or split face, scored, ribbed, or other ornamental block surface. Painted stucco walls are acceptable, so long as a distinct cap is used.

(2)

Neighborhood center corner general store. A neighborhood center general store, up to two thousand (2,000) feet under air, may be built as an amenity. The general store shall carry in its inventory basic groceries, personal hygiene products, over the counter pharmaceutical, and other convenience items.

a.

One (1) or more apartments, other dwellings, or office spaces may be constructed vertically over the general store and rented at normal market rates without delay. Such mixed uses are encouraged.

b.

The general store should normally be built at a corner of two (2) streets to anchor the Neighborhood Center. A bicycle rack shall be provided with spaces for no fewer than four (4) bicycles.

c.

The following transferable incentives shall apply:

1.

The open space requirement shall be reduced by two (2) times the square footage of space allotted to the general store if a front porch or patio is constructed and furnished as a neighborhood gathering place. Alternatively, additional residential density or additional square footage for office or commercial uses shall be awarded.

2.

There shall be no parking requirement associated with the general store beyond on-street parking. If the general store is located in a multi-use building, parking requirements shall apply for the other uses.

3.

These incentives shall apply only to a general store located near the geographic center of the neighborhood, not adjacent to an arterial road.

(c)

Prohibited uses. The following uses are prohibited:

(1)

Drive-throughs;

(2)

Lounges;

(3)

Bars;

(4)

Video arcades;

(5)

Pawn shops;

(6)

Escort services and tattoo parlors:

(7)

Fortune tellers, tarot card readers, palm readers, psychics and similar uses;

(8)

"Check Cashing" or "Pay Day Loan" businesses;

(9)

Body art, or body piercing businesses;

(10)

Labor pools and labor halls; and

(11)

Hotels/motels/and timeshares.

(d)

Residential development standards.

(1)

Residential uses, except for entrances, shall not be permitted on the ground floor.

(2)

Residential uses located above nonresidential uses shall not exceed five (5) dwelling units per net developable acre unless increased by use of the TDR's.

(3)

The façade of residential structures shall utilize architectural details, materials, patterns and forms which are consistent, and in scale with, a residential setting. The façades of attached residential structures shall feature extensive use of windows with vertical proportions, balconies (faux or otherwise), arched forms, planter boxes, material variations, color change, and any combination which communicates a residential community. Façades shall incorporate substantial projections and voids, including jogging, rooflines and projecting or recessing individual façades.

(4)

Individual balconies which project from the façade and over the adjacent sidewalk may project up to four (4) feet over the adjacent sidewalk. Faux (e.g., shallow with projecting railing or balustrade only) balconies are also permitted. Second floor balconies must, however, provide a minimum twelve (12) feet clear zone from the finished grade below. In no case may second floor balconies project into the vehicular travel way. Balconies on higher floors may project four (4) feet into the adjacent travel provided they are no lower than seventeen (17) feet above the travel way.

(5)

Where residential uses are constructed above commercial use, first floor finished ceiling heights shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet.

(e)

Development standards. The following standards shall apply to all development within the neighborhood center district. General design standards shall be submitted as part of the PD land use plan for all development within the neighborhood center. Specific design standards and architectural details shall be submitted with the preliminary subdivision plan/development plan for development within the neighborhood center. The design standards shall include site-specific requirements for all building facades including maintenance, ancillary structures, and out-parcel structures. The standards shall outline architectural requirement for pedestrian-scaled trim and detailing, exterior wall materials, building entry prominence, articulation of facades, fenestration, bays, roof styles (no flat roofs), roof materials, and massing. Architectural elements, including colonnades, pergolas, columns, awnings, gables, dormers, porches, balconies, balustrades, and wall plane projections, shall be addressed. Prominent, formalized, and shaded pedestrian connections between adjacent commercial uses shall be emphasized as well as pedestrian scaled and uninterrupted visual interest along the street face.

Modifications to these standards may be permitted where alternative development practices will reinforce the planning and urban design principles established by the goals, objectives and policies of the village land use classification, the adopted SAP and this village development code. Any such modifications to these standards shall be identified separately in bold on the village PD land use plan, PSP or development plan for approval by the board of county commissioners at a public hearing.

(1)

Minimum lot depth: One hundred twenty (120) feet.

(2)

Minimum lot width: Twenty-five (25) feet.

(3)

Maximum building height: Three (3) stories and forty-five (45) feet.

(4)

Maximum garage height: Twenty-two (22) feet; or thirty (30) feet with living area over garage.

(5)

Maximum floor area ratio: .70 FAR (nonresidential only).

(6)

Minimum building setback requirements:

a.

Front: Ten (10) feet; awnings and other overhangs may extend up to five (5) feet into this setback.

b.

Side: Zero (0) feet.

c.

Rear: Ten (10) feet from the primary structure; five (5) feet from centerline of alley easement.

d.

Side street: Six (6) feet.

e.

Neighborhood center perimeter exterior side setback: Fifteen (15) feet.

(7)

Façades shall be built directly on the front building setback line for at least fifty (50) percent of the linear footage of each building.

(8)

In addition to the design standards established in the required PD design guidelines, all developments within the neighborhood commercial district shall comply with the design, landscape, and lighting standards established in the commercial design standards ordinance, as it may be amended from time to time.

(9)

When a rear or side of a building is adjacent to a residential district, that side of the building shall include roof, landscape and façade treatments consistent with a primary façade.

(10)

On-street angled parking within three hundred (300) feet of the proposed use shall be permitted as per the village street cross-section, on file in the development engineering division. Off-street parking may be provided at a maximum rate of three (3) spaces/one thousand (1,000) square feet of building area.

(11)

Bicycle racks shall be provided as follows:

a.

For developments that require up to twenty (20) vehicular parking spaces, four (4) bicycle parking spaces are required.

b.

For developments that require twenty (20) or more vehicular parking spaces, four (4) bicycle parking spaces are required for the first twenty (20) required vehicle parking spaces, plus one (1) additional bicycle parking space for each ten (10) vehicular parking spaces above twenty (20); provided that no more than ten (10) bicycle parking spaces are required for any one (1) establishment.

c.

Racks should be located within fifty (50) feet of the primary entrances.

d.

Bike racks shall be an inverted "u"/hoop rack or similar device.

(12)

Commercial building and site design guidelines:

a.

An unenclosed canopy, awning, or second story porch/balcony shall be required over all first floor building openings (windows and doors). Such coverings shall be a minimum of five (5) feet in width.

b.

Owner (or property owners association) maintained sidewalk areas at the front of neighborhood commercial areas shall be placed in a utility easement and not made part of the public right-of-way. Such sidewalks shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet in width to facilitate pedestrian traffic, street furniture, and narrow store-front planters or planter pots. Such sidewalks shall extend from the right-of-way line (property line), to adjacent building face. A continuous, six (6) foot, unobstructed clear zone, for pedestrian movement, shall be maintained within the sidewalk corridor. In addition, a continuous, five (5) foot wide planter strip (or intermittent tree planter cutout) zone shall be constructed within and along the exterior edge of the right-of-way. This public portion of neighborhood center sidewalk systems shall be placed immediately contiguous to the ten (10) foot wide, owner-maintained sidewalk described above. A continuous concrete expansion joint shall be constructed five (5) feet from the back of the curb in order to distinguish the public and private portions of the sidewalk systems.

c.

Primary entries shall face a public street or walkway and shall be accessed from a public sidewalk.

d.

At least fifty (50) percent of the first floor exterior elevation primary façades (façades which face the street rights-of-way, or which feature any customer entrance) shall incorporate transparent glass. Spandrel, faux, or glass block shall not satisfy this requirement. The transparent glass system shall not be consolidated to any one (1) side of the façade, instead, the glass surfaces shall be distributed across the width of said façade.

e.

Sides or rears of buildings, which may not be a primary or secondary façade, shall incorporate roof ridge, roof eave, and façade variations similar to those provided on the primary façade.

(13)

Landscaping.

a.

Street trees shall be provided pursuant to section 38-1384(c).

b.

Landscaping shall be provided as required in chapter 9 and chapter 24, except that where buildings are immediately abutting the sidewalk, the seven (7) foot wide landscape tree and shrub strip shall not be required. In addition, the eight (8) foot wide planter strip along the foundation of building primary façades shall not be required. Instead, plantings shall be encouraged within narrower (twelve (12) inch to twenty-four (24) inch wide) sidewalk cutouts, or raised planters or pots, located along the foundation of building primary façades. Alternative methods and clustering of landscape that meet the intent of this division may be approved by the county.

(14)

Distance separation from religious institutions and schools for alcoholic beverages in neighborhood centers. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 38-1415(a), in order to promote a mixed use in neighborhood centers, the distance separation requirements for establishments selling alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption only, as specified in section 38-1415, shall be reduced to one-hundred (100) feet for restaurants with on-premises consumption only for those establishments possessing a 1COP, 2COP, or 4COP SRX state liquor license. Such establishments may sell beer, wine and liquor for consumption in the restaurant only after the hour of 4:00 p.m. on days school is in session. The method of measurement shall be as provided in section 38-1415(c). A proposed religious use or school may voluntarily waive the distance separation requirement for establishments selling alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption (that otherwise meet the requirements of this subsection) by executing a waiver. Such waiver must be acceptable to the county in form and substance and shall be kept on file in the zoning division. All other provisions under section 38-1415 shall apply. The county may place other restrictions related to signage, outdoor seating, and outdoor amplification as part of the PD approval process to ensure compatibility with schools.

(15)

Subsequent establishment of a religious institution or school. Whenever a vendor of alcoholic beverages has procured a license permitting the sale of alcoholic beverages and, thereafter, a religious institution or school is established within one hundred (100) feet of the vendor of alcoholic beverages located within a neighborhood center, the establishment of such religious institution or school shall not cause the previously licensed site to discontinue use as a vendor of alcoholic beverages.

(Ord. No. 97-09, § 1, 5-20-97; Ord. No. 99-09, § 12, 3-23-99; Ord. No. 09-16, § 1, 6-2-09; Ord. No. 2014-04 , § 1, 2-11-14; Ord. No. 2015-17 , § 30(g), 9-22-15; Ord. No. 2016-19 , § 30, 9-13-16)