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A neighborhood-serving business cannot be defined by the type of use, but rather by the characteristics of its customers, types of merchandise or service, its size, trade area, and the number of similar establishments in other neighborhoods. The primary clientele of a "neighborhood-serving business," by definition, is comprised of customers who live and/or work nearby.
While a neighborhood-serving business may derive revenue from customers outside the immediately surrounding neighborhood, it is not dependent on out-of-neighborhood clientele.
A neighborhood-serving use provides goods and/or services which are needed by residents and workers in the immediate neighborhood to satisfy basic personal and household needs on a frequent and recurring basis, and which if not available require trips outside of the neighborhood.
A use may be more or less neighborhood-serving depending upon its trade area. Uses which, due to the nature of their products and services, tend to be more neighborhood-serving, are those which sell convenience items such as groceries, personal toiletries, magazines, and personal services such as cleaners, laundromats, and film processing. Uses which tend to be less neighborhood-oriented are those which sell more specialized, more expensive, less frequently purchased comparison goods such as automobiles and furniture.
For many uses (such as stores selling apparel, household goods, and variety merchandise), whether a business is neighborhood-serving depends on the size of the establishment: The larger the use, the larger the trade area, hence the less neighborhood-oriented.
Whether a business is neighborhood-serving or not also depends in part on the number and availability of other similar establishments in other neighborhoods: the more widespread the use, the more likely that it is neighborhood-oriented.
(Added by Ord. 131-87, App. 4/24/87)