(a) Intent. The CN Commercial Neighborhood District is intended to apply to areas where selected businesses may be appropriately located to serve one or more residential neighborhoods within convenient traveling distance. CN districts are not highway-oriented commercial districts; therefore, gasoline service or filling stations, vehicle repair or sales, and the like are prohibited. Because these commercial districts are located within or adjacent to residential neighborhoods and are subject to the public view, which is a matter of important concern to the whole community, they should provide an appropriate appearance, ample parking, controlled traffic movement and suitable landscaping.
(b) Permitted uses. Within the CN Neighborhood Commercial District, buildings or land shall be used only for the following purposes:
(1) Medical and dental services or clinics.
(2) Real estate, financial institutions, business and professional offices.
(3) Post offices and libraries.
(4) Retail sales such as grocery stores, drug stores, gift shops, convenience stores, video sales and rentals, and the like.
(5) Consumer services such as restaurants, dry cleaning drop-off and pick-up stores, coin laundries, tailoring shops, barber and beauty shops, and the like.
(6) Live-work units.
(7) Residential vacation rentals subject to special requirements contained in section 36-72(1).
(8) Child care centers.
(9) Brewpubs and nano-breweries subject to special requirements contained in section 36-72(2).
(10) Telecommunications facilities and antennae (see section 36-72(4)).
(c) Special use permit. The following uses require a special use permit subject to a finding by the board of adjustment that all applicable provisions of article IV of this chapter have been met:
(1) Convenience stores with accessory sale of motor vehicle fuels and lubricants.
(2) Produce stands.
(3) Primary event venue. In issuing a special use permit for a primary event venue, the board of adjustment may impose reasonable conditions, including a maximum number of events per year and a maximum number of attendees which shall be based on the availability of parking, safe ingress and egress, sanitary facilities, potential impacts to adjacent properties and similar site-specific conditions.
(4) All new commercial buildings; new building additions with a gross floor area of 1,000 square feet, or more, to an existing commercial building; or any new addition to an existing commercial building where the building facade length, as existing on December 2005, will be increased by more than 50 percent as a result of an addition or multiple additions.
(5) Micro-breweries, micro-distilleries, and micro-wineries.
(d) [Outside display of merchandise.] This section specifically excludes outside display of merchandise for sale or open storage of vehicles, motorized equipment, wrecked vehicles, inoperable vehicles, discarded tires, auto parts, and machinery and construction equipment; boat storage facilities; businesses which sell, rent, or display obscene materials as defined in this Code; tattoo parlors; residential uses, including mobile homes; moveable storage facilities; and manufacturing employing ten or more persons.
(e) Site requirements. All lots must have a minimum of 10,890 square feet, provided the maximum area of all contiguous lots zoned CN shall not exceed two acres. No neighborhood commercial area (lot or group of contiguous lots zoned CN) shall be located within one-half mile of any other area so zoned.
(f) Front, rear, and side yard requirements.
(1) For lots which abut the street, the building setback shall be not less than ten feet from the street.
(2) For lots which abut the lake, the building setback shall be not less than 35 feet from the lake shoreline.
(3) Side yards shall be not less than ten feet in depth, provided the side yard shall be 20 feet in depth where adjacent to land zoned or, in fact, used for residential purposes.
(4) Rear yards shall be not less than 15 feet in depth, provided the rear yard shall be 20 feet in depth where adjacent to land zoned or, in fact, used for residential purposes.
(5) Where the lot abuts upon property used for residential purposes, a buffer strip shall be provided along the side and/or rear lot line of such abutting residential use. If a fence or wall is used, such fence or wall shall be opaque and not less than eight feet in height. If a planted buffer is used, such buffer strip shall be not less than eight feet in width and shall be composed of evergreen trees or shrubs which at planting will be at least four feet high and at maturity will be not less eight feet high. This requirement may be modified by the board of adjustment where sufficient natural buffering exists.
(g) Ingress/egress. All uses in this district abutting the major thoroughfares, being U.S. Highway 64/74, N.C. Highway 9, or Buffalo Creek Road, shall have access only from such thoroughfares and shall be allowed only one means of ingress/egress for each 150 feet of frontage or fraction thereof. All ingress/egress openings, for both one-way or two-way traffic, shall be a minimum of 15 feet wide and a maximum of 30 feet wide, measured at the road right-of-way line, unless otherwise required by the state department of transportation.
(h) Landscaping. Landscaped traffic delineators are required within the front yard of the commercial site extending the full width of the front yard excepting to allow for entrances and exits. Delineators shall begin at the edge of the right-of-way or six feet from the edge of the pavement, whichever is greater, and shall extend a minimum of two feet toward the front of the structure. The area shall be planted and maintained with grass, flowers, and/or shrubs not high enough to obstruct a driver's view of traffic.
(i) Frontage. All lots must have 50 feet of frontage on a street. For purposes of this section, all sites that are double frontage lots or corner lots shall be deemed to have frontage on all such streets. All fronts must adhere to ingress/egress requirements.
(Code 1989, § 92.031; Ord. of 2-9-1999; Ord. of 11-15-2005; Ord. of 3-10-2009; Ord. of 6-14-2011; Ord. of 4-10- 2012; Ord. of 10-14-2014; Ord. of 2-12-2019; Ord. No. 21-05-11, 5-11-2021)