(B) The Planning Board shall consider the request only after a completed application has been submitted to the Administrator. Prior to the formal submission of the site plan and application, the applicant is encouraged to submit a preliminary sketch plan for review by the Administrator.
(C) Sketch plan review procedures. The sketch plan should be submitted at least 30 days prior to the date the applicant expects to submit his or her formal application for the planned development/ conditional district rezoning.
(1) The Administrator shall, within 21 days of receipt of the sketch plan, review the sketch plan for general compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
(2) The Administrator shall advise the applicant or his or her authorized agent of the regulations pertaining to the proposed planned development and the procedures to be followed in the preparation and submission of the formal application. One copy of the sketch plan shall be retained as a part of the record of the Administrator with another copy being returned to the applicant or his or her authorized agent along with any comments made by the Administrator.
(D) Formal plan submission. Following the Administrator's review and submission of comments on the sketch plan, or after 21 days following submission of the sketch plan has elapsed without the Administrator having submitted his or her comments to the applicant, the applicant may submit his or her formal application for the planned development and application for conditional district rezoning. The formal application must be submitted to the Administrator at least 15 days prior to the Planning Board meeting at which it is to be reviewed. Timing of the submission and waivers of submission deadlines shall in all respect conform to the requirements set forth in § 153.316 of this chapter. The formal plan shall contain all of the information set forth in § 153.258 of this chapter.
(E) Permitted uses.
(1) All uses permitted in § 153.115 of this chapter.
(2) Uses subject to prescribed standards.
(a) Any individual retail use of 85,000 or more gross floor area (GFA) subject to division (G) of this section.
(b) Any individual retail use that existed at the time of adoption of this chapter and expands by a factor of 50% or greater and as a result of the expansion, the GFA of the structure equals or exceeds 85,000 square feet GFA subject to divisions (F) and (G) of this section.
(F) Applicability. For purposes of this section, any retail establishment with a gross floor area of 85,000 plus square feet GFA shall be identified as a large retail establishment. The following standards shall apply to any large retail establishment. Notwithstanding, if a large retail establishment or a shopping center that contained a large retail establishment existed at the time of adoption of these regulations, the regulations contained in this section will only apply to an addition to the large retail establishment if the addition constitutes an increase in gross floor area by a factor of greater than 50% and, as a result of the expansion, the large retail expansion has a GFA of 85,000 plus square feet. The addition shall, to the greatest degree feasible and practical, be made to meet the supplemental regulations contained below.
(G) Development standards for all large retail establishments.
(1) (a) Principal buildings shall be substantially parallel to the public road upon which they front. For the purposes of this standard, the term FRONT relates to the relationship between the building plane and the street or streets and not the arrangement or orientation of the structure and its entrances on the site. When more than one principal building is located on site, the regulation shall apply to the principal building closest to the adjacent public road. When located on a corner lot, the building shall be parallel with the road with the greatest traffic volumes.
(b) This standard may be waived by the City Council where, due to practicalities, it would be more suitable to face the building(s) to the lesser traveled road.
(c) 1. Buildings located on outparcels within a shopping center must substantially address (i.e., be parallel to) the adjoining non-limited access highway and be readily accessed via sidewalks and/or walkways from that adjoining road.
2. All buildings occupying the outparcel lots shall have their architectural fronts facing the roads and shall have a usable door providing access to pedestrians. The fronts all buildings located on outparcels shall have a setback no greater than 20 feet as measured from the edge of the adjoining sidewalk.
3. Any setback areas shall be geared for pedestrian as opposed to automobile use. No off-street parking or loading shall be allowed in this area.
4. Outdoor storage of retail goods (during daylight hours) shall be permitted, as shall outdoor seating areas.
Figure F
(2) A sidewalk and plant strip shall be placed parallel to all public roads which the development fronts upon and where pedestrians could be reasonably expected to access the development. (For instance, if the development adjoined a limited access highway where there was no feasible means for pedestrian access, the rule could be waived.) The sidewalk and plant strip shall be constructed in accordance with § 153.395 of this chapter.
(3) Street trees shall be planted along and parallel to the public road. The trees shall be planted within 25 feet of the edge of the road right-of-way, between the right-of-way and any buildings on the lot. The number of trees to be planted shall be as prescribed in § 153.047(B). Large trees may not be planted under any utility lines. The distribution of trees shall generally be proportionate to the street frontage. While an equal interval between trees is not required, it is the intent of this chapter to not have long intervals without trees. Waivers to these regulations may be granted where the adherence of these regulations would interfere or have the potential to interfere with any utility lines.
(4) Large expanses of off-street parking readily visible from an adjoining public road are strongly discouraged. Rather, off-street parking in the interior of the development (i.e., behind building façades) or in screened portions of the side yard is recommended. Notwithstanding, upwards of 40% of the amount of off-street parking provided for the large retail establishment (or the multi-tenant development) may be located in the front yard of the large retail establishment. The remainder of the parking may be placed in the rear of the development or in screened portions of the side yard. The side-yard screening need not be in full compliance with the screening options provided in § 153.046(C), but rather shall serve as a means of significantly shielding the parking from the view of motorists and pedestrians from adjacent roads. Alternative techniques such as changes in elevation or from the street and sidewalk can be used to augment the landscaping. The location of parking may be shifted to a combination of front, side, and rear yard parking in a single parking field when the shape and/or configuration of the site, limited access locations, or other site constraints would prevent a typical configuration of the site such as is illustrated in division (G)(1) above. In order to minimize the impact of the parking field, and notwithstanding the provisions of § 153.185(K), the standard for parking for these "large retail establishments" shall be one space for each 250 square feet of gross floor area. In addition, and notwithstanding the provisions of § 153.185(F), the minimum dimensions of parking spaces in parking lots for large retail establishments shall not be less than seven and one-half feet in width nor 17 feet in length. No more than 20% of the total required parking may be built utilizing the minimum dimensions.
(5) Off-street parking lots shall be designed to encourage pedestrian mobility. This can be accomplished by:
(a) Reducing the number of large parking lots and breaking parking into separate smaller areas of parking;
(b) Locating parking facilities as close as possible to entrance areas into the large retail establishment; and
(c) Other suitable alternative methods.
(6) The following regulations are designed to create visually distinct and aesthetically appealing structures. To the greatest degree feasible and practical, exterior architectural characteristics shall be designed to differentiate the structures from similar structures containing the same uses) which may be found outside the city. Accordingly, the external appearances of the front of all buildings (and including any building sides that are oriented to any public street right-of-way as required in division (G)(1) above whether located within the development or not) shall be governed as follows:
(a) Seventy-five percent plus of the area below the facia of the building shall be comprised of: brick, brick veneer, decorative concrete block, pre-cast or field poured tilt concrete panels with texture; stone or stone veneer, flush architectural metal panels; stucco or artificial stucco; glass, wood, or wood materials, or similar decorative materials. Notwithstanding, not more than 50% of the exterior building materials shall include smooth-faced concrete block, or smooth faced tilt-up concrete panels.
(b) Façades of buildings having a horizontal length of 150 feet or greater shall have an articulated wall plane that incorporated plane projections or recesses to create an interesting and attractive architectural design which is comprised of more than flat walls with minimal features. Any wall offsets designed to meet this requirement shall have a minimum projection or recess depth of two feet and a minimum width of two feet.
(c) Rooflines should consist of one or more sloped planes. However, flat roofs may be allowed so long as they are concealed from view by a parapet. The parapet shall not be of a constant height for greater than 150 linear feet. Rooftop HVAC equipment shall be concealed by a parapet or via an enclosure consisting of materials outlined in division (G)(6)(a) above.
(d) External ground-level mechanical appurtenances and dumpsters shall be similarly screened.
(e) Those portions of any roof that is visible from a pubic road shall not have a shiny surface appearance similar to aluminized or galvanized metal. Notwithstanding, anodized, baked or other nonreflective roof material shall be allowed.
(f) Off-street loading docks and facilities shall not be visible from any adjoining public road located entirely outside the lot(s) containing the large retail structure (i.e., the requirement shall not apply to roads, public or private, located entirely within the development containing the large retail structure).
(g) There shall not be any overnight external (i.e., not contained within a fully or partially enclosed structure) storage of retail goods visible from any adjoining public road not located within the development.
(h) Ground floor façades that face public streets shall have arcades, clear display windows and entry areas along no less than 40% of their horizontal space.
(i) Façade colors shall be of low reflectance, subtle or neutral earth tone colors. High intensity colors, metallic colors, black or fluorescent colors are prohibited.
(7) Large retail establishments shall provide at least one outdoor space or site amenity to beautify the site and to enhance the vehicular and pedestrian entryways to the site and any other buildings on the site. A preferred option (although other options may be considered and approved) include a public plaza or courtyard that contains furniture items such as seating walls, benches, drinking and/or decorative fountains, clock towers and other features that are designed to external aesthetics of the site. The outdoor spaces can be located in the front yard (and, if so, can be designed to be accessed exclusively through the development rather than from the adjoining street) or in the interior portion of the development.
(8) When located on a lot fronting two or more streets, the primary access to the large retail establishment shall be from the more "auto-oriented street" (i.e., normally considered to be the street with the higher traffic volume). A secondary access point may be provided from the other street. The second access point may be denied when it is deemed that an undue or unsafe amount of traffic will be generated on the secondary street or if the traffic will have a negative impact on surrounding residentially developed neighborhoods.
(9) Due to the nature of large scale development, the complexity of design, the development design and review process, economic cycles and market conditions, and the time necessary to complete the necessary transactions to secure the property and commence construction, it is recognized that it is appropriate and necessary to allow for additional time for such developments to be commenced. Therefore, and notwithstanding other provisions of the Zoning Ordinance, developments that include large retail establishments may be granted a five-year vesting under the provisions of G.S. § 160D-108 if such request is included and approved as part of the application for such development. In addition, the time limit for the issuance of a building permit shall be the same as the vesting period that is proposed and approved for the development of the site.
(H) Reuse/compartmentalization. As part of the conditional district rezoning review process, any large retail establishment constructed after the adoption of this chapter shall be designed to include specific elements for adaptation to multi tenant re-use. The elements may include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Compartmentalized constructions include plumbing, electrical service, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to the extent possible per all applicable codes;
(2) Building design shall also allow for the interior subdivision of the structure into separate tenancies;
(3) Façades shall be readily adaptable to multiple entrances;
(4) Parking lot schemes shall be designed to enable users of any future tenants to readily walk from their vehicles to the storefront; and
(5) Other design elements that facilitate the multi-tenant re-use of the building.
(Ord. passed - - )