(a) No street entrance or exit for vehicles of a service station or other drive-in use, shall be within 200 feet of a street entrance or exit of any school, park or playground conducted for and attended by children.
(b) No portion or equipment of a service station or other drive-in use shall be within 100 feet of any hospital, church or public library, or within seventy-five feet of a lot in a residence district.
(c) No equipment, above the surface of the ground, for the service of motor vehicles shall be closer than fifteen feet to any property line along a street or highway.
(d) No portion of any entrance driveway leading from a public street to a service station or drive-in use shall be closer than fifteen feet to the curb line of an intersecting street, nor three feet to a fire hydrant, catch basin, end of curb circle at corner, or to the street line of an intersecting street.
(e) The width of any entrance driveway leading for the public street to such service station or other drive-in use shall not exceed thirty-five feet at its intersection with the curb line or edge of pavement.
(f) No two driveways leading from a public street to such service station or other drive-in use shall be within fifteen feet of each other at their intersection with the curb or street line.
(g) A pipe railing, post and chain barricade, raised curbing, or similar device satisfactory to the City Engineer, shall be constructed and maintained upon the property in the vicinity of street corners, sidewalk safety zones, entrance driveways and at other points in such manner as to prevent vehicles from crossing the sidewalk other than by means of an entrance driveway as herein above described.
(h) Parking and vehicle access shall be so arranged that there will be no need for motorists to back over sidewalks or into streets.
(i) No services, other than emergency service, shall be performed for vehicles or persons in vehicles parked on the public right of way.
(j) The side and rear yards of a service station or other drive-in use which adjoins an R District shall be effectively screened by a solid fence or hedge which shall be not less than four feet nor more than six feet in height, and shall be maintained in good condition without any advertising, except for identification and purpose of the use thereon. The lot space between such fence or hedges and the side lot lines adjoining an R District shall be landscaped with grass, hardy shrub evergreen or suitable plant ground cover and maintained in good condition. Driveway and parking areas on the lot shall be paved with asphalt and/or cement and properly drained.
(k) Illuminated signs shall be located so that no bulb or tube is visible from outside the premises. All painted signs shall be maintained so that peeling or chipping is not noticeable from the street. Pennants, streamers, devices, banners and signs containing flashing or moving parts shall be prohibited. Temporary signs shall not be located on any sidewalk or public dedicated street area.
(l) The lot shall have an area of not less than 12,000 square feet and at least one street frontage of not less than 100 feet.
(m) The building shall contain an enclosed area of not less than 1,000 square feet if any service is to be offered on, or from, the premises other than the delivery of fuel and oil into vehicles using the same. Limited service stations where only fuel and oil are offered for sale shall have an enclosed building area of at least 300 square feet provided no repairs, lubrication, oil changes or major equipment installations are made on or from the premises.
(n) If rental trucks, autos or trailers are stored on the premises, a minimum lot area of 12,000 square feet shall be devoted exclusively to the service station use and there shall be provided behind the front setback line of the main building an additional area for the storage of rental trucks, autos or trailers on such premises. No vehicles shall be parked in front of the pump island setback line required by this subsection, except vehicles actually being serviced at such pump island.
(o) The side yards, rear yard and front yard must be kept open for the operation and fire protection of the service station and may not be used for the storage of junk vehicles that are unlicensed and awaiting repairs or sale. The storage of combustible materials must be within a structure constructed of brick, concrete, tile, concrete block, metal or other material deemed suitable by the Building Inspector and not within any of the required yard areas.
(p) If any service station becomes abandoned, such service station shall be presumed to be a nuisance affecting or endangering surrounding property values and to be detrimental to the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, property or general welfare of the community and shall be abated. Abandoned is defined as a failure to operate the service station for at least ninety consecutive days, or for any period totaling 120 days in any eighteen month period.
Whenever the Zoning Inspector finds any service station to be abandoned within the meaning of this subsection, he shall give notice in the same manner as service of summons in civil cases or by certified mail addressed to the owner of record of the premises at his last known address to which tax bills are sent, or by a combination of the foregoing methods, to abate such abandoned condition within sixty days either by placing the station in operation in accordance with this section, adapting and using the building for another permitted use, or by razing the service station structure, removing the pumps and signs, abandoning underground storage tanks in accordance with accepted safe practice as prescribed by the National Fire Protection Association in Appendix C to N.F.P.A. No. 30, and filling depressions to the grade level of the lot. If the station is in operation 180 consecutive days thereafter, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply, and if there should be declared a national emergency which would curtail the operation of motor vehicles or if Council determines that there exists a state of general economic depression, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply.
Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner to comply with the notice to abate such abandonment, the Zoning Inspector shall take such action as may be necessary to abate the nuisance.
(q) Inoperative service stations which do not come within the definition of abandoned service stations shall be maintained in accordance with the provisions of this section and the owner shall cut all grass and remove all rubbish and weeds from the premises. The parking of motor vehicles upon the premises shall be prohibited and the owner shall place in the window of such service station a sign of at least ten square feet in area notifying the public of this fact. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the Zoning Inspector finds that such notice is not complied with by the public he may order the owner of the premises on which any station is inoperative for more than six months to install fencing or barricades approved by the Zoning Inspector which will be sufficient to block motor vehicle access to the property.
(Ord. 32-72. Passed 9-26-72.)