In addition to the other relevant District regulations, service stations and filling stations shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission during Site Plan Review as required by § 1254.12, Site Plan Review, and shall be further regulated using the standards and regulations that follow.
(a) Lot area and frontage. The lot shall have an area of not less than 32,670 square feet, and at least one street frontage of not less than 150 feet.
(b) Location of entrances. No motor vehicle service or filling station shall have an entrance or exit for vehicles if located on the same side of the street and within 50 feet of a Residence District, nor shall any part of such automobile service station or filling station have an entrance or exit for vehicles within 200 feet, along the same side of a street, of any school, public park, cemetery, church, hospital, public library or institution for dependents or for children, except where such property is in another block or on another street onto which the lot in question does not abut.
(c) Location of facility equipment. Gasoline pumps, compressed air connections, vacuum cleaners and similar equipment shall be erected not closer than 30 feet to any right-of-way or property line. A canopy over the pumps may be located no closer than 30 feet to any right-of-way or property line, as measured from the overhang of the canopy.
(d) Yards. Each service or filling station structure shall have a minimum setback of at least 40 feet from all right-of-way lines except as modified here.
(e) Outside storage. No outside storage shall be permitted for filling or service stations unless the outside storage area is enclosed with masonry walls or a permanent solid fence. Large outside displays, such as racks of tires, bagged mulch, soft drinks and windshield wiper fluid, are prohibited. Small displays on pump islands for motor oil, wiper blades and the like shall be permitted.
(f) Canopy lighting. Light fixtures mounted on or under canopies or bays shall be of full cut off design, unless indirect lighting is used whereby light is directed upward and then reflected down from the ceiling of the structure.
(g) Driveways. All plans for access and egress to service and filling stations shall be approved by the Zoning Officer, who shall ascertain that all driveways used to provide accessibility to these uses shall be located and arranged to minimize traffic congestion in conformity with the following:
(1) Lot with frontage less than or equal to 150 feet. Not more than one driveway shall be permitted on a lot with a frontage less than or equal to 150 feet. Such driveway shall have a maximum curb cut width of 30 feet.
(2) Lot with frontage in excess of 150 feet. Each lot with a frontage in excess of 150 feet may have two driveways, provided that they are so located and constructed as to provide safety to pedestrians and motorists using such property, and provided, further, that there shall be a minimum of 50 feet of unbroken curb between successive driveways on the same or adjoining land uses.
(3) Minimum distance from intersections. In all cases, the minimum distance of driveways from street intersections shall be 50 feet, measured from the nearest side of the driveway to the nearest right-of- way line of the intersecting street.
(h) Rental trailers and trucks. If rental trailers and/or rental trucks are stored on the premises, as provided for or regulated in this Zoning Code, a minimum lot area of 12,000 square feet, in addition to the minimum lot size required in § 1296.14(a), above, shall be devoted exclusively to the service station use, and there shall be provided, behind the main or principal building or structure, an enclosure for fully enclosing the storage of rental trailers and trucks on such premises. Such enclosure shall be a wall not more than 15 feet in height or lower than six feet, provided that no trailers or trucks shall exceed the height of the enclosure. Such provisions shall be subject to approval by the Planning Commission.
(i) Accessory buildings. No accessory building or structure shall be permitted except for the storage of rental trailers and rental trucks as provided for in subsection (h) hereof. A canopy structure, car wash structure or dumpster enclosure may be permitted if allowed within the district.
(j) Parking. No vehicle shall be parked within the required front yard of a motor vehicle service station or filling station, except a vehicle actually being served at the pump island in which are located the operating gasoline pumps or as a customer within the store. No person who is the operator of such a service station or filling station or any employee of such person shall permit any vehicle to stand out of doors on such property for more than 48 hours.
(k) Signs. Signs shall be subject to Chapter 1292, Signs and Outdoor Advertising. Use of building fascias and fascias of free-standing canopies over pump islands for identification signs or signage that lists merchandise for sale and prices thereof, when such signage exceeds the sign display areas stipulated in Chapter 1292, shall be permitted only when such signage is approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(l) Paving and curbing. The entire lot, other than the area landscaped, shall be paved with a permanent surface of concrete or asphalt with a raised concrete curb of not less than six inches in height except for driveway openings. Sidewalks, as required by Municipal regulations, shall be installed, and all landscaping shall be approved by the Planning Commission. All driveway approaches, including those within the public right-of-way, shall have a six- inch-high concrete curb.
(m) Abandonment.
(1) If a motor vehicle service station or filling station is abandoned, such station shall be presumed to be a nuisance affecting or endangering surrounding property values and detrimental to the public health, safety, convenience, comfort or property, or the general welfare of the community, and shall be abated. As used in this section, “abandoned” means a failure to operate such service station or filling station for at least six consecutive months in any 18-month period.
(2) Whenever the Zoning Officer finds any motor vehicle service station or filling station to be abandoned, he or she shall give notice in the same manner as service of summons in civil cases, or by certified return receipt mail addressed to the owner of record of the premises at his or her last known address or to the address to which tax bills are sent, or by a combination of such methods, to abate such abandoned condition within 60 days, either by: (a) placing the station in operation in accordance with this Zoning Code and other applicable laws and regulations of the Municipality; (b) by adapting and using the building or structure for another permitted use in the district in which it is located; or (c) by razing the station, 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, under the supervision of the Municipal Fire Chief or other designated official, and filling the depression to the grade level of the lot. However, if the station is in operation at the time notice is given and remains in operation for 90 consecutive days thereafter, this paragraph shall not apply. If a national emergency is declared, which emergency would curtail the operation of motor vehicles, or if Council determines that there exists a state of general economic depression, this paragraph shall not apply.
(Ord. 17-2013, passed 9-24-2013)