17-3-0300 General district standards.

   17-3-0301 Establishments Requiring Public Place of Amusement (PPA) Licenses. In all B and C districts, establishments that require a public place of amusement (PPA) license under Article III of Chapter 4-156 of this Code may not be located within 125 feet of any RS1, RS2 or RS3 district. This required distance must be measured from the nearest property line of the lot containing the establishment requiring the PPA license to the nearest RS1, RS2 or RS3 zoning district boundary. Establishments holding a valid PPA license that were lawfully established before August 16, 1997 may continue in operation as long as they maintain a valid PPA license. The restriction imposed by this section shall not apply to a performing arts venue, as defined by Section 4-156-710 of the municipal code.

   17-3-0302 Commercial establishment size limits.

      17-3-0302-A B1, B2, C1-1, C1-1.5 and C1-2 Districts. The gross floor area of commercial establishments in B1, B2, C1-1, C1-1.5 and C1-2 districts may not exceed 25,000 square feet.

      17-3-0302-B B3, C1-3, C1-5, C2 and C3 Districts. Commercial establishments are not subject to size limits in the B3, C1-3, C1-5, C2 and C3 districts, but some large commercial establishments require review and approval in accordance with the planned development review procedures of Sec. 17-13-0600. The mandatory planned development review thresholds for large commercial establishments are established in Sec. 17-8-0510.

   17-3-0303 Industrial Establishment Size Limits. The gross floor area of industrial establishments in C1 and C2 districts may not exceed 25,000 square feet.

   17-3-0304 Indoor/Outdoor Operations.

      17-3-0304-A B1, B2, B3, and C1 Districts. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, allowed business, service and commercial activities in the B1, B2, B3, and C1 districts must be conducted within completely enclosed buildings. This requirement does not apply to the following:

         l.   off-street parking or loading areas;

         2.   automated teller machines;

         3.   outdoor seating areas;

         4.   drive-through facilities that are allowed in such districts as a special use;

         5.   produce merchants as defined in Section 4-8-010;

         6.   walk-up service windows as defined in Section 4-4-339 operating at eating and drinking establishments;

         7.   mobile food vehicles operating on private property as provided in Section 7-38-115(k); and

         8.   any other exception provided in this Code.

      17-3-0304-B C2 and C3 Districts.

         1.   Outdoor display and storage. Outdoor display and storage is permitted in C2 and C3 districts, subject to the screening requirements of this section.

         2.   Screening.

            (a)   Outdoor storage or display areas that abut R districts along a side property line or rear property line or are separated from an R district by only an alley along a side property line or rear property line must be effectively screened from view of the R district by a solid wall, solid fence, or dense vegetative screen not less than 6 feet in height and not more than 8 feet in height. Fences and walls must be masonry or wood, sight-obscuring and planted with vines. Chain- link fencing is prohibited.

            (b)   The view of outdoor areas used to store goods and materials that are not available for retail sale to the general public must be visually screened from all contiguous streets other than alleys either by permitted structures or by a vegetative buffer that is at least 6 feet in height or by a combination of such features. Required screening must be located between the perimeter of the outdoor storage area and any property line abutting a public street, other than an alley. This screening requirement is not intended to prohibit openings reasonably necessary for access drives and walkways.

Figure 17-3-0304-B2

   17-3-0305 Floor-to-Floor Heights and Floor Area of Ground-floor Space. In B and C districts with a dash 1, dash 1.5, dash 2, dash 3, or dash 5 suffix (e.g., B1-3), all commercial floor space provided on the ground floor of a multi-floor building, other than floor space devoted to off-street parking, must have a minimum floor-to-floor height of 13 feet and must contain the following minimum floor area:

      17-3-0305-A at least 800 square feet or 25% of the lot area (whichever is greater) on lots with lot frontage of less than 50 feet (as measured along the shorter lot frontage on lots containing multiple frontages); or

      17-3-0305-B at least 20% of the lot area on lots with 50 feet of lot frontage or more (as measured along the shorter lot frontage on lots containing multiple frontages).

   17-3-0306 Strip Centers. Strip centers are subject to the standards of Sec. 17-9-0116.

   17-3-0307 Exceptions.

      1.   Any application seeking a zoning map amendment, pursuant to Section 17-13-0300, in order to establish a residential, day care, hospital, parks and recreation, school, eating and drinking establishment with an outdoor patio or outdoor assembly use that is proposed to be established within 660' of any (a) windrow composting facility, (b) intensive manufacturing, production and industrial service use, (c) Class III, Class IVA, Class IVB and Class V recycling facility, (d) warehousing, wholesaling, and freight movement use, (e) container storage, (f) freight terminal, (g) outdoor storage of raw material as a principal use, (h) waste-related use, or (i) manganese-bearing material operation use may be allowed only if farther reviewed and approved in accordance with the special use procedures of Section 17-13-0900, unless it otherwise meets a planned development threshold of Section 17-8-0500.

      2.   Newly established detached houses and two-flats are prohibited uses in B and C districts that are within community preservation areas, as that term is defined in Section 2-44-085(B), and are also within 2,640 feet of a CTA or METRA rail station entrance or exit or within 1,320 feet of a CTA bus line corridor roadway segment listed in Table 17-17-0400-B. Where a multi-unit residential building cannot be established pursuant to the applicable bulk and density standards, a two-flat may be established. Furthermore, only in those instances when no two-flat can be established pursuant to the applicable bulk and density standards, a detached house may be established.

      3.   In B and C districts, elderly housing cannot be established in the form of a detached house or two-flat.

   17-3-0308 Specific Criteria for Transit-Served Locations. In B and C districts, any new construction within 2,640 feet of a CTA or METRA rail station entrance or exit must satisfy all of the following specific criteria:

      1.   The project complies with the applicable standards of Section 17-10-0102-B;

      2.   The project complies with the standards and regulations of Section 17-3-0504, except paragraph H if the project is not located along a pedestrian street and except paragraph C if the land use is designated in a non-commercial use group, pertaining to pedestrian streets and pedestrian retail streets, even if the project is not located along a pedestrian street or a pedestrian retail street;

      3.   The project complies with the general goals set forth in the Transit Friendly Development Guide: Station Area Typology, and any other station-specific plans, designs or guidelines adopted by the Chicago Plan Commission;

      4.   Residential building projects shall not have a number of parking spaces in excess of 50% of the Minimum Automobile Parking Ratio for the applicable district listed in Section 17-10-0207 with any fractional result rounded up to the next higher whole number, unless additional parking spaces are approved as an administrative adjustment under the provisions of Section 17-13-1003-EE; and

      5.    The project complies with the Travel Demand Study and Management Plan rules of the Chicago Department of Transportation. The City's Commissioner of Transportation is authorized to issue Travel Demand Study and Management Plan rules consistent with this section.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 44391; Amend Coun. J. 11-30-05, p. 62481, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 9-13-06, p. 84870, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 6-6-12, p. 28654, § 4; Amend Coun. J. 7-25-12, p. 31326, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-13, p. 51227, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-15-15, p. 106578, § 5; Amend Coun. J. 4-19-17, p. 48180, Art. V, § 40; Amend Coun. J. 3-24-21, p. 29065, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 7-20-22, p. 50878, § 4; Amend Coun. J. 1-18-23, p. 59796, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 3-15-23, p. 61261, § 2)