A. Purpose and intent. The Town Council finds that both the U.S. 70 and 401 highway corridors play a vital role in shaping the communities future, relative to transportation, economic opportunities and the appearance of the community that is portrayed to the traveling public. Presently these highway corridors are characterized by large freestanding , large expanses of unscreened surface parking areas with little or no landscaping, poorly spaced /access points in some locations, and a generally uncoordinated approach to visual appearance matters. The Town Council believes it is important for the community to improve these conditions in order for U.S. 70 and U.S. 401 to function efficiently as transportation corridors, to provide opportunities for new business locations and promote a strong commitment to quality community appearance. Therefore, the Town Council adopts these regulations as a means to address these aforementioned issues.
B. Overlay zone. The U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare District is an overlay zone. The land regulations applicable to the underlying zone remain in full force and effect except where superseded herein. Where there is a provision not expressed in the underlying zone, or where a provision hereof is in conflict with the underlying zone, the provision of the overlay ordinance shall be controlling.
C. Location. The U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare Overlay District applies to the entire length of U.S. 70 and U.S. 401 located within Garner's zoning jurisdiction. The overlay district shall be designated on each side of the thoroughfare to a depth of 450 feet measured from the center line of the applicable right-of-way line. The district shall include all of the property in mapped focus areas with frontage on U.S. 70 and U.S. 401 as depicted on the adopted Comprehensive Growth Plan's Future Land Use Intensities Map. The Town of Garner Official Zoning Map shall clearly indicate the boundaries of the adopted U.S. 70/401 Overlay Thoroughfare District. In cases where any portion of a or parking area falls within the boundaries of the overlay district, these provisions shall apply to all of the (s) and parking areas.
D. Prohibited and restricted . Unless otherwise prohibited or restricted below, all allowed by the underlying zoning district are permissible in the U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare Overlay District, provided all requirements and permits as required by this UDO are satisfied.
1. Prohibited . The following
are prohibited in the U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare District.
a. Drive-in movie theaters;
b.
and establishments;
c. Outside storage of goods not related to sale or
on premises;
d. Scrap materials, salvage yards, junkyards, automobile graveyards;
e. Mining or quarrying operations; including on-site sales of products; coal or aggregate sale and or storage; concrete mixing plant;
f. Reclamation
;
g. Commercial greenhouse operations;
h.
; and
i.
.
2. Prohibited adjacent to existing residential . The following are prohibited when directly adjacent to, or within 150 feet of residential . This restriction applies to all of U.S. 401 within the overlay district and to only the portion of U.S. 70 from New Rand Road west to the Town limits at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Mechanical Boulevard in the overlay district.
a. Hotel/motels;
b. Pool halls/bowling alleys only; and
c. Bars/night clubs/ABC-permitted private clubs.
3. Restricted . The following are permissible provided the performance standards listed below are met. These standards shall apply only to new .
a. Retail sales, offices and other permissible with outside display or storage of goods for sale:
(1) Outside display of goods for sale and/or outside storage areas with direct frontage along
rights-of-way must be screened to a minimum height of two and one-half feet planted every five feet on center at installation;
(2) A maximum of 50 percent of the total property frontage along U.S. 70/401 may be devoted to outside display or storage of goods when vehicular parking areas (excludes vehicular loading/service areas) are located in the
yard area. A maximum of 66 percent of the total property frontage may be devoted to outside display or storage areas when vehicular parking/service areas are located in side or
; and
(3) All outside displays of goods for sale or
areas shall have a minimum setback distance of 15 feet from the
right-of-way.
b. sales :
(1) Model display units only are allowed in front areas (measured 100 feet from the
line) directly visible to U.S. 70 or U.S. 401;
(2) All display model units must have foundation planting and underskirting material matching the unit; and
(3) All storage units must be located in the rear of display model area and have appropriate screening if visible from the thoroughfare.
c. Motor vehicle sale :
(1) All vehicle display areas with frontage along U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 rights-of-way shall be screened to a minimum height of two and one-half feet; and
(2) The two elevated display racks permitted per motor vehicle sales
; not to exceed five feet in height.
d. :
(1) All service bay areas shall be oriented so as not to directly face U.S. 70 or U.S. 401; and
(2) All service bay areas shall have a 100 percent screen to a minimum height of three and one-half feet if such areas are visible from public
views. Such screening height must be achieved within two years.
e. Automobile repair and body shops:
(1) All service bay areas shall be located at the rear of the
or be oriented in such a manner so as not to be directly visible from U.S. 70 or U.S. 401; and
(2) All overnight vehicle storage areas shall be located in the rear of the
. Such storage areas shall be 100 percent screened from public
rights-of-way to a minimum height of 6 feet by the
of fencing, landscaping, berms, or a combination thereof.
f. Veterinarians or : Veterinarians or with outside facilities for keeping animals are permissible provided such operations are not located within 500 feet of an existing residential .
g. Truck terminals: Truck terminals are permissible provided all operational and loading areas are located to the rear of the and are not directly visible from U.S. 70 or U.S. 401. Parking for employees/visitors are permissible in front of the .
h. Car washes: Car washes are permissible, provided the are oriented in such a manner that the wash bays do not directly face U.S. 70 or U.S. 401.
4. Amortization of .
a. When a
is abandoned or discontinued for a period of 180 consecutive days, any subsequent
of the property thereafter must comply with the applicable regulations of the Garner UDO regarding the
of the property.
b. Any change of
as defined by this UDO requires full compliance with the
requirements of the Garner UDO.
E. .
1. All
plans submitted under this UDO shall show a
limit line delineating protected
areas and any tree save areas intended for the property. Protective orange fencing, surrounding all protective
areas plus ten feet, and around tree save areas at the drip line, shall be installed prior to
and/or grading permit issuance. Any cutting or clearance within an approved protected
or tree save area shall be subject to a fine of $5.00 per square yard of area in the protected
or tree save area that has been prematurely denuded and must be replaced with equivalent vegetation as determined by the Town of Garner.
2. No minor clearing of the existing vegetation within an approved protected
area or tree save area to be retained on the property shall not be allowed until after
on the parcel is completed and upon approval by the Planning Department.
3. Logging or timbering activities on properties within the corridor are strongly encouraged to be limited to the interior portions of the
exclusive of required
areas unless specifically approved by the Town of Garner.
4. Land
activities such as, but not limited to, site grading,
, parking and vehicular
areas, shall be excluded from the perimeter area of
in order to protect existing trees and vegetation in required
areas.
5. Any grading or clearing (including removal of stumps) on land within the overlay district, not part of a
proposal, requires site plan approval by the Town of Garner prior to any such activity on the site. All such activities shall be consistent with the standards of this UDO.
F. Access. The existing access location standards under Article 8 of this UDO shall govern locations on U.S. 70 and U.S. 401. Deviations from these access location spacing standards may be approved by if the BOA concludes, based upon a traffic impact study submitted by a professional traffic engineer, the requested deviations do not pose any traffic safety impacts to the public and that such deviations have been recommended by the Town Engineer and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
G. Design standards.
1.
height standards identified below relate to areas depicted on the Town of Garner's Comprehensive Growth Plan's Land Use Intensities Map.
a. Focus area. height is limited to 70 feet within the first 100 feet; beyond the first 100 feet, height may be increased above 70 feet, provided for every additional foot of height the setback is increased one foot.
height is limited to 85 feet within the first 100 feet in Regional Centers; beyond the first 100 feet, height may be increased above 85 feet, provided for every additional foot of height the
setback is increased one foot.
b. Support area. height is limited to 48 feet in first 100 feet; beyond first 100 feet height may be increased above 48 feet provided for every additional foot of height the setback is increased one foot.
2. When a nonresidential
directly adjoins an existing residential
, the
height is limited to 24 feet. When increased
height is authorized, an additional setback distance of one foot must be provided for every additional foot of
height over 24 feet measured from the property line adjoining the existing residential
. This requirement does not apply to the property within the overlay district located east of New Rand Road along U.S. 70.
3.
setback standards identified below relate to areas depicted on the Town of Garner's Comprehensive Growth Plan's Land Use Intensities Map.
Focus Area | Support Area | |
Front | 20 foot minimum (no vehicular/parking area permissible in setback); otherwise 35 feet | 30 foot minimum (no vehicular/parking area permissible in setback); otherwise 50 feet |
Side | 10 feet | 10 feet |
Rear | 15 feet | 15 feet |
H. Building design guidelines. All , or , as defined in this UDO, shall be required to obtain Town approval of building design guidelines that are consistent with the following standards. An individual nonresidential , not part of a larger , , or , shall also be subject to these provisions. All new must comply with the following standards.
1. The
of prefabricated metal
shall not be permitted unless all building facades visible from
views are treated with brick, decorative/scored concrete masonry units (CMU), exterior insulated finishing systems (EIFS), or other materials in styles and colors. The
of vinyl siding on nonresidential
is not permitted.
2. All dumpster enclosures and accessory/storage
for new
shall be constructed of materials and colors that match the
served and shall be sited on the property in such a manner to minimize view from all public
.
3. All
awnings must be appropriately designed as part of the
architecture and be unified with the
colors and style.
4. Design guidelines shall be required for all
,
and
located within the overlay district. Such guidelines must be included as part of the initial overall
plan submittal. All
that is subject to design guidelines approved by the Town must be constructed in accordance with the applicable standards for that specific
.
5. All design guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, provisions that address
height, mass and scale, setback distances and unifying site elements such as building materials and colors, landscaping, site lighting elements, and pedestrian circulation systems.
6. Vehicular parking surface areas with direct frontage on U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 shall have curb and gutter and be paved with a permanent surface consisting of a minimum six inches of base stone and two inches of I-2 asphalt from the edge of the front vehicular/parking surface area to the front building line. An equivalent permanent surface material may be used as an alternative if approved by the Town Engineer. Truck loading and/or vehicular service areas are strongly encouraged to be oriented on the property so as to be out of public
views consistent with the requirements herein.
7. Full lane widening with curb and gutter
shall be required for all new
with property frontage on U.S. 70 or U.S. 401. This standard does not apply to new
where no direct
or
access to U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 is proposed. For new
where access to U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 is proposed and the total peak hour trip generation according to the latest edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual does not exceed a total of 50 trips, a deceleration lane without curb and gutter
may be installed in lieu of full lane widening.
I. General thoroughfare requirements. In addition to complying with all of the general landscape standards in the Garner UDO, new must meet the standards listed below.
1. The
shall extend 50 feet along corner side
and 40 feet along all entrances to new
.
2. The
of native or locally adaptable species is required.
3.
limit lines shall be shown on all site
plans. Approved undisturbed
areas shall be protected on the ground with orange fencing and shall be installed prior to the issuance of a building and/or grading permit. Such fencing shall be maintained during the entire time of
.
4. The suitability of existing vegetation to meet the planting requirements for required
areas must be approved by the Planning Department. If approved, it will be credited towards the
's landscaping requirements. Otherwise, the applicant shall be required to provide a new landscape planting plan which meets the standards of this UDO as well as all other applicable requirements of Article XIX entitled landscape and appearance. Such plans must be approved by the Town of Garner Planning Department.
5. Thoroughfare
design standards.
a. A seven and one-half-foot wide thoroughfare
shall be required on property lines along U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 for all
. One
shall be provided for every 40 feet of property frontage along U.S. 70 or U.S. 401. Such tree shall be a minimum of ten feet tall with a two-inch
at installation. All vehicular parking areas visible from U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 must provide additional landscape screening to achieve a 100 percent screen of the
to a minimum height of two and one-half feet and planted every five feet on center at installation.
b. Where existing trees and vegetation can be retained that qualify according to the terms of this UDO regarding types, sizes, and locations, and are healthy species as determined by the Planning Department, additional landscaping may not be required. In cases where additional planting is required, a
planting plan must be approved by the Town of Garner.
6. Additional screening, buffering and landscaping requirements in
yards for high intensity
(new
only). The objective of this requirement is to provide denser screening, landscaping or a combination thereof for more intense
of land between U.S. 70/401 and the principal improvements on the property which are identified as high intensity
. High intensity
include outdoor operations (loading or assembly areas), operation utility service areas, and similar
. All such high intensity
not screened by an intervening
shall be screened 100 percent from public
views by a continuous screen of evergreen plant material and/or berm that reaches six feet in height.
7. Screening and landscape
adjoining residential
.
a. The nonresidential
listed below shall be required to provide a 40-foot wide undisturbed
area with screening to a height of eight feet, or to a
width and screening height provided by a professional engineer and based upon results of a sight line study, when directly adjacent to residential
. Required screening may be achieved by using vegetation, earthen berms, solid fences, or a combination thereof.
(1) Golf driving range;
(2) Veterinarian/
with outside operations;
(3) Auto service/auto repair; or
(4) Any other permissible
with outdoor display/storage that directly adjoins existing residential property.
b. The permitting authority may approve deviations from these presumptive standards if it concludes that the objectives underlying these standards can be met without strict adherence to them, and that there are no excessive measurable impacts to adjoining properties, and it finds that such deviations are more likely to satisfy the above noted standards.
J. Parking landscape planting for existing .
1. All existing nonresidential
of property with direct frontage on U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 shall comply with the following requirements within three years from the date the overlay district is adopted.
2. All affected properties shall comply with the
requirements of the overlay district and screen all outside display/storage areas or
directly fronting along U.S. 70/401 to a minimum height of two and one-half feet at installation and planted five feet on center at installation.
3. Each property owner or designee shall be responsible for obtaining landscape plan approval from the Planning Department which complies with these standards and install the planting material prior to the three year deadline.
4. In cases where the existing property does not have sufficient land area available to accommodate the required landscaping on site without severely impacting business operations, the Planning Department may allow deviations from these standards provided the following is accomplished.
a. An appropriate combination of
and shrubs is provided in locations that effectively improve the appearance of the property and special highway corridor as determined by the Planning Department (the
of
area is permissible with an N.C. DOT encroachment agreement; maintenance by property owner shall be required).
b. A maximum deviation of up to 50 percent of required landscaping may be authorized by the Planning Department if it finds there is not sufficient space available on private property and/or public right-of-way areas (merely having to relocate storage areas when sufficient space elsewhere on site is available does not qualify for this type of relief).
5. The decision of the Planning Department may be appealed to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation with the final decision by the Town Council.
K. Site lighting standards. See Article 7, Special standards in the U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare Overlay District.
L. regulations.
1. The provisions set forth in Article 7 specific to U.S. 70 or U.S. 401 shall govern all signage for individual building
that is located within the U.S. 70/401 Thoroughfare Overlay District and is not defined as a
,
or
.
,
or
are subject to uniform
plan standards contained in Section 7.5.N., unless otherwise noted in said section.
2. When a new business occupies an existing
, the new business shall fully comply with the applicable sign regulations in Article 7.
(Ord. No. 3558, § 2, 7-7-09; Ord. 3714, § 2, 10-22-13; Ord. No. 3780, § 2, 7-7-15; Ord., 3-16-21)