(a) Intent. The CG Commercial General District is established as districts in which the principal use of land is for retail sales and services to the consumer. The districts are intended to be located in high traffic areas along major thoroughfares. Because these commercial districts are located on the major thoroughfares of the town 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 CG Commercial General District, buildings or land shall be used only for the following purposes:
(1) Medical and dental services or clinics, animal hospitals, and veterinary clinics.
(2) Real estate, financial institutions, and business and professional offices, including, but not limited to, insurance broker, travel agent, stockbroker, attorney, and physician.
(3) Post offices, fire stations, police station, rescue squad, libraries, art galleries, museums, churches, public and private schools, public utilities and support facilities, and other similar cultural, civic and governmental buildings.
(4) Retail sales such as ABC stores, convenience stores (without gasoline sales), feed and seed stores, pet supply stores, antique stores, consignment shops, gift shops, outdoor vending machines, appliance stores, florist shops, book stores, clothing stores, sporting goods and equipment stores, jewelry stores, hardware stores (provided open storage of supplies is screened from public view), grocery stores, drug stores, musical instrument sales, and video sales and rentals, but not excluding other similar uses.
(5) Consumer services such as banks, funeral homes, personal care services (nails, tanning, weight loss), restaurants, dry cleaning stores, coin laundries, tailoring shops, barber and beauty shops, indoor theaters, indoor game rooms, pet grooming establishments, taxidermy operations, bowling alleys, and health and indoor exercise physical fitness facilities, but not excluding other similar uses.
(6) Hotels, motels, lodges, inns, and bed and breakfast establishments.
(7) Single-family and multifamily dwellings.
(8) Live-work units.
(9) Residential vacation rentals subject to special requirements contained in section 36-72(1).
(10) Child care centers.
(11) Brewpubs, micro-breweries, micro-distilleries, micro-wineries, and nano-breweries subject to special requirements contained in section 36-72(2).
(12) Customary accessory buildings incidental to single-family and multifamily residential buildings, including noncommercial greenhouses, workshops, and private garages.
(13) Temporary structure used in conjunction with the construction of a permanent building.
(14) Telecommunications facilities and antennae (see section 36-72(4)).
(c) [Out-of-building display.] This section specifically prohibits out-of-building display of merchandise for sale, rent and unscreened open storage of vehicles, motorized equipment, boat storage facilities, construction equipment and supplies. Wrecked vehicles, inoperable vehicles, discarded tires or auto parts, and inoperable machinery are prohibited; businesses which sell, rent, or display obscene materials as defined in this Code are excluded from this district, in addition to tattoo parlors; mobile homes; moveable storage facilities; and manufacturing employing ten or more persons. Notwithstanding the above, one rental boat per commercial property is allowed to be displayed out of the building as an accessory use.
(d) 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) Gasoline service or filling stations, including accessory auto repair in completely enclosed buildings.
(2) Produce stands.
(3) Automobile and/or boat sales lots for the retail sale of new and used automobiles and/or boats, but excluding wholesale sales lots of any description and vehicle fix-up shops.
(4) Outdoor recreational facilities, excluding campgrounds.
(5) Planned unit developments.
(6) All telecommunications tower requirements listed in section 36-72(4).
(7) Marinas.
(8) Adult entertainment establishments, provided no such use shall be located on property which lies within:
a. 1,000 feet, as directly measured, of any property on which there is any other adult entertainment establishment.
b. 1,000 feet, as directly measured, of any property used as a school or place of worship.
c. 400 feet, as directly measured, of any property zoned for residential purposes.
(9) Marine sales and service facilities, provided any portion of such facilities which are not fully enclosed shall be separated from any adjacent land by a solid fence or wall not less than six feet high or an opaque landscaped buffer not less than six high and ten feet in width. Portions of such facilities used for the repair of boats and motors shall be located not less than 50 feet from any adjacent land zoned or used for residential purposes.
(10) Accessory residential event venue. In issuing a special use permit for an accessory residential 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.
(11) 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.
(12) 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.
(13) Common amenities for residential developments, provided that they are situated within the residential development so as not to adversely impact existing and/or reasonably foreseeable uses on adjoining properties. Such amenities shall be set back a minimum of 30 feet from such adjoining properties and a minimum of 60 feet from Lake Lure. Buffering may be utilized to ensure compatibility with adjoining uses.
(14) Distilleries, regional breweries, and wineries.
(15) Campgrounds.
(16) Carwashes.
(17) Pet boarding operations.
(e) Site requirements. All sites must have a minimum of 21,780 square feet.
(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, provided that buildings for marinas shall be set back not less than ten feet from the lake shoreline.
(3) Side yards shall be not less than 12 feet in depth.
(4) Rear yards shall be not less than 15 feet.
(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 100 feet of frontage on a street. Lots which abut the lake must have 100 feet of frontage on the lake. 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, § 92.031C; Ord. of 2-9-1999; Ord. of 4-13-1999; Ord. of 1-9-2001; Ord. of 11-15-2005; Ord. of 1-8- 2008; Ord. of 3-10-2009; Ord. of 4-13-2010; Ord. of 6-14-2011; Ord. of 4-10-2012; Ord. of 10-14-2014; Ord. of 7-14- 2015; Ord. of 6-12-2018; Ord. of 2-12-2019; Ord. No. 21-05-11, 5-11-2021)