(A) The regulations of this district are intended to permit the convenient performance of functions requiring a location near the transportation and population center of a large trade area and to provide the City of Albemarle with a compact and efficient retail shopping, consumer services, financial and governmental center.
(B) The following uses are permitted:
(1) Accessory buildings and uses.
(2) Alcoholic beverages, packaged, retail sales.
(3) Assembly halls, armories, and similar facilities.
(4) Automobile parking lots and structures.
(5) Automobile parts and supplies, new.
(6) Bakeries, where the products are sold exclusively at retail on the premises.
(7) Banks and other financial institutions, including loan and finance companies.
(8) Barber and beauty shops.
(9) Bicycle shops.
(10) Bowling alleys and skating rinks.
(11) Building material outlets.
(12) Bus stations.
(13) Business colleges, barber and beauty colleges, art schools, music and dance studios, and similar uses.
(14) Churches and their customary related uses, except cemeteries. Services to be conducted temporarily in a tent shall be allowed on church property as a customary related use when off-street parking is provided and a permit is obtained from the City Fire Department as required by § 29.1 of the Fire Prevention Code. Any person or organization desiring to conduct tent services shall first file an application with the City Clerk stating the location, date, time, duration, and size and capacity of the tent.
(15) Clubs and lodges operated on a nonprofit basis as evidenced by an Internal Revenue Service tax exemption granted under the provisions of § 501(C)(3) and (4) of the Internal Revenue Code and which cater exclusively to their members and their guests.
(16) Chiropractic and dental clinics.
(17) Curio and souvenir shops.
(18) Customary accessory uses and structures when located on the same lot as the principal structures, except open storage.
(19) Dairy bars and ice cream manufacturing for retail sales on the premises only.
(20) Dry cleaning and laundry pick-up stations and dry cleaning plants, having less than 2,000 square feet of floor space, provided the emission of steam and other obnoxious by-products is controlled.
(21) Farm and industrial equipment sales and display of new equipment.
(22) Farm machinery dealers.
(23) Feed and seed stores.
(24) Floral shops.
(25) Food stores and meat markets, retail only, but excluding the killing or dressing of flesh or fowl.
(26) Freezer lockers.
(27) Fruit stands.
(28) Furriers and fur storage.
(29) Glass and awning shops.
(30) Golf courses, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and community centers.
(31) Greenhouses and truck gardens (private).
(32) Greenhouses, commercial.
(33) Hotels/motels.
(34) Industrial supply houses.
(35) Industrial trade schools.
(36) Jewelry repair and pawn shops.
(37) Laundromats.
(38) Libraries, museums, and art galleries.
(39) Locksmiths and gunsmiths.
(40) Medical and dental clinics and laboratories.
(41) Multi-family dwellings.
(42) Newspaper offices and printing plants incidental to the offices.
(43) Nursery schools and kindergartens.
(44) Office supplies and equipment, sales and service.
(45) Offices, business, professional and public.
(46) Opticians and optical goods stores.
(47) Orthopedic supply houses.
(48) Photographic studios and camera supply stores.
(49) Physical culture and reducing salons, or similar establishments, excluding massage parlors and related businesses subject to the provisions of Chapter 63 of this Code.
(50) Plumbing and heating supply houses.
(51) Printing, publishing, and reproducing establishments.
(52) Public safety facilities, subject to the conditions listed under § 92.093(C)(5) relative to public safety facilities.
(53) Public works and public utility facilities, subject to the conditions listed under § 92.093(C)(6) relative to public utility facilities.
(54) Radio and television repair shops, electric shops.
(55) Research labs.
(56) Restaurants, both drive-ins and those which are not drive-ins.
(57) Retail establishments such as department, clothing, fabric, shoe, variety, notions, drug, hardware, furniture, appliance, floor covering, paint, antique, art goods, jewelry gift, music, toy, sporting goods, book and stationery, magazine, candy, tobacco, pet and hobby, and craft stores, but not excluding similar retail outlets.
(58) Saw shops and the like (contained in building).
(59) Schools and colleges, public and private, elementary and secondary.
(60) Secondhand stores.
(61) Service stations, but not including major repair work, provided the stations have a minimum lot area of 6,000 square feet with a frontage of not less than 100 feet. No portion of a service station building nor any of its equipment shall be nearer than 15 feet to the street right-of-way. A canopy may be erected over the pump island which may extend to the street right-of-way. Minor engine repairing, tune-up, and tire repairing shall be permitted if conducted wholly inside a structure.
(62) Shoe repair and shine shops.
(63) Single-family dwellings, attached and detached.
(64) Tailoring, dressmaking, and millinery shops.
(65) Taxicab stands.
(66) Telephone and telegraph offices.
(67) Theaters housed in a permanent indoor structure.
(68) Tire shops, but excluding recapping establishments.
(69) Two-family dwellings.
(70) Vending companies.
(71) Adult day care centers.
(72) Funeral homes and mortuaries.
(73) Pilot plant manufacturing not involving chemical process, noise, odor, smoke, or other environmental pollution, and not employing more than 50 people, to be conducted in an existing building originally constructed for other permitted uses in this district but no longer suitable for the commercial uses; provided, that off-street parking is provided for all employees, visitors, and loading operations.
(74) Farmer's markets and related uses.
(75) Inflatables (indoor).
(76) Fitness gyms (indoor).
(77) Batting cages (indoor).
(78) Skateboarding (indoor and outdoor except upon any public sidewalk or street as prohibited by G.S. 82-37.1).
(79) Laser-tag (indoors).
(80) Rock climbing (indoor).
(81) Specialty food and drink shop. Coffee or tea shop, smoothie bar, ice cream or frozen yogurt shop.
(82) Microbrewery.
(83) Tasting room (accessory use for retail beer or wine store - indoors, if allowed by state regulations).
(84) General gaming establishment.
(85) Drop-in short-term child care.
(C) The following special uses are permitted when authorized by the City Council after the Council holds a public hearing:
(1) Colleges, universities, technical institutes, public elementary and secondary schools, and private schools having curricula substantially the same as offered in public schools and including dormitories when located on the campus of any of the above.
(2) Light manufacturing not involving chemical process, noise, odor, smoke, or other environmental pollution, and provided that the operation be conducted in an existing building originally constructed for other permitted uses in this district but no longer suitable for the uses; and further provided that the manufacturing process has been operated as a pilot plant operation as a special use as provided in division (3) below, and not employing more than 50 people; that an environmental impact report is prepared at the expense of the applicant based upon the pilot operation. The manufacturing process may not be changed to any other than that used during the pilot project and covered by the environmental impact report, nor shall this permit be transferable to another owner. Off-street parking shall be provided for all employees, visitors, and loading operations.
(3) Pilot plant manufacturing not involving chemical process, noise, odor, smoke, or other environmental pollution, and not employing more than 150 people, to be conducted in an existing building originally constructed for other permitted uses in this district but no longer suitable for the commercial uses. The permit granted under this division shall be for no longer than two years; provided that off-street parking is provided for all employees, visitors, and loading operations.
(4) The collection of non-hazardous recyclable materials such as aluminum cans, glass, and paper provided that: adequate parking is provided; no litter or trash is allowed; and there is no outside storage.
(5) Bed and breakfast homes when located not less than 500 feet from the same use.
(6) Telecommunication towers and facilities complying with the provision of § 92.075 of the City Code of Ordinances.
(7) Bars, when located at least 200 feet from other bars.
(8) Billiard halls and they shall be at least 1,500 feet from any other existing bar and/or billiard hall. Measurements of location shall be a straight line from the nearest point of the property line to the nearest point of the property line.
(9) Off-street parking lots without structures.
(10) Indoor, climate-controlled storage facilities which are accessory to and secondary in both location and size to the primary uses of pre-existing buildings with on-site parking to accommodate projected visitors and employees. Signage and exterior changes to the building shall not significantly alter the building or site and shall be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission, or City Council when not located in the local historic district.
(Ord. 21-02, passed 1-19-21; Am. Ord. 21-26, passed 7-12-21; Am. Ord. 21-52, passed 11-15-21; Am. Ord. 24-05, passed 2-19-24)