5.9 ITEM 5.9.
WCts, . MEMORANDUM
il- of
TO: Planning Commission
River
FROM: Steve Ach, City Planner
DATE: October 24, 1995
SUBJECT: Ordinance Amendment by the City of
Elk River, Public Hearing
Case No. OA 95-14
Issue
The City of Elk River is requesting an ordinance amendment to establish a
new commercial zoning district entitled community commercial.
Background
The concept of a neighborhood or community commercial zoning district was
• discussed as part of the 1988 Comprehensive Plan and, most recently, by the
Steering Committee during their update of the existing Comprehensive Plan.
The primary focus behind the community commercial zoning district would
be to allow convenience type retail activities along with personal service
establishments and office uses an opportunity to locate in areas in close
proximity to residential neighborhoods and/or areas of employment to
provide that immediate service to those surrounding areas. The standards of
the community commercial should be designed to ensure compatibility
between the community commercial uses and the surrounding residential
neighboi.doods.
Uses
As mentioned above, the uses found within the community commercial
zoning district should provide a variety of convenience type shopping and
uses that will be compatible as permitted or reviewed as conditional uses.
The uses will primarily consist of convenience type retail opportunities along
with personal service shops such as dry cleaning, flower shops, bakeries,
barber/hair care operations, and the like.
•
13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425
Ordinance Amendment Page 2
October 24, 1995
• Standards
The C4 community commercial zoning district will most likely be located
adjacent to or in close proximity to the developing areas of the community.
In other words, this district would most likely not be occurring in the
downtown area, rather, it would lie outside of the downtown core next to
residential areas. By locating this zoning district adjacent to some of the
newer developing areas of the community, an adequate lot size, along with
setback requirements typical of a more suburban scale can be accomplished.
For example, rather than the ten foot parking setback that is typically found
in our commercial districts, it may be more appropriate to increase this
setback to provide for additional landscaping and buffering given this
districts proximity to residential neighborhoods. Besides the increased
setback requirements, it may also be appropriate to provide a slightly larger
minimum lot size which again is in relative proportion to the increased
setbacks to still maintain adequate building space and meet setback
requirements. Another standard that may be important in this particular
zoning district would be building height. Certainly if this district is located
in close proximity to residential neighborhoods, the architecture and building
height will be very important.
• Signage
Another sensitive concern, which typically arises with commercial
development when it is close to residential areas, is the amount of signage
allowed on a particular building. This concern of signage not only includes
the amount of wall signs, but the appearance, height, and overall square
footage allowed for freestanding signs.
To address all of the above mentioned concerns, staff has prepared the
attached ordinance amendment for the Planning Commission to consider.
Please review this ordinance and provide staff with any comments you may
have regarding its content.
pc:oa95-14
•
• C4 - Neighborhood Commercial
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: The purpose of the C4-Neighborhood
Commercial district is to provide land use opportunities to
attract convenience retail stores, and personal service
establishments. It is intended that this district primarily
serves surrounding residential neighborhoods and businesses within
the immediate area. Neighborhood Commercial districts shall be
located adjacent to collector or arterial streets so that traffic
does not impact local streets . In order for development to occur
within this district, public sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and
municipal water must be available and hooked up in order to occupy
the particular business.
A. Permitted Uses
1. Convenience retail sales of goods and services
2 . Dry cleaning and laundry establishments
3 . Personal service and repair establishments such as
barber and beauty shops, shoe repair, etc.
4 . Printing shops and publishing shops
• B. Accessory Uses
1. Uses customarily incidental to the permitted or
conditional uses allowed in this district
2 . Off-street parking areas
3 . Signs as regulated in the Elk River zoning ordinance
C. Conditional Uses
1. Motor vehicle specialty service stations
2 . Car wash facilities
3 . Daycare centers
4 . Educational/institutional uses
5 . Off-sale liquor stores
6 . Class 1 and Class 2 restaurants
• 7. Financial institution
• 8 . Mortuaries, funeral homes
D. Lot Standards
1 . Minimum lot area - one (1) acre.
2 . Minimum frontage - 150 feet.
3 . Minimum depth - 150 feet .
4 . Maximum building height shall not exceed 2 stories or
30 feet, whichever is less.
5 . Maximum lot coverage by building shall not exceed
thirty-five percent, (35%) .
E. Building Setback
1. Front yard setback - 25 feet.
2 . Side yard setback - 20 feet.
3 . Rear yard setback - 20 feet.
4 . The yard adjacent to any residential district shall
have a minimum setback of thirty (30) feet.
F. Parking and Driveway Setback
1. Front yard - twenty-five (25) feet.
2 . Side yard - ten (10) feet.
3 . Rear yard - twenty (20) feet.
4 . The yard adjacent to any residential district shall
have a minimum setback of twenty-five (25) feet.
•
• G. Architectural Standards
1 . Major exterior surfaces of all walls shall be face
brick, stone, glass, stucco, architecturally treated
concrete, or decorative block, or an approved
equivalent material as approved by the Zoning
Administrator.
H. Signage
1 . Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 900 .22 (Sign
Ordinance) the following requirements shall be met:
a. General Guidelines
1. All signs within a neighborhood commercial
development must consist of materials and a
design which compliments the architectural
elements of the principal building and
character of the project.
2 . All freestanding signs shall have a minimum
ten (10) foot setback from all property
lines.
• 3 . Prior to installing any signs, a sign permit
must be obtained from the City of Elk River
Planning Department.
b. Freestanding Sign
1. All freestanding signage shall consist of a
monument style sign and have a maximum
height of ten (10) feet and a maximum area
of one-hundred(100) square feet.
c. Wall Signs (Freestanding Sites)
1. Wall signage for each freestanding building
must consist of individual letters and shall
not have more than one (1) wall sign for
each principal building.
2 . The gross surface area of a wall sign for
freestanding buildings shall not exceed ten
(10) percent of the area of a building wall,
including doors and windows, to which the
• sign is to be affixed.
IIId. Wall Signs (Multi-Tenant Building)
1 . Fascia signs for individual retail tenants
shall be for store identity only.
2 . Capital letters shall be no larger than 36"
high, lower case letters shall be no larger
than 24' high. Signs may be located on the
building in a symmetrical manner, but in no
case shall they extend closer than 2' 0" from
the projected lease line.
pc:c4ordamd
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