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General Commercial District Model Ordinance

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General Commercial District Model Ordinance Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Creating Commercial Areas with Character general commercial district Montgomery County Commissioners Bruce L. Castor, Jr. James R. Matthews Joseph M. Hoeffel III Montgomery County Planning Commission Board P. Gregory Shelly Scott Exley Dulcie F. Flaharty Henry P. Jacquelin Pasquale N. Mascaro Megan M. McDonough, Esq. Roy Rodriguez, Jr. Charles J. Tornetta V. Scott Zelov Kenneth B. Hughes, Director general commercial district Creating Commercial Areas with Character Prepared by the Montgomery County Planning Commission 2008 Table of Contents Introduction Benefits of Appropriate Commercial Zoning ...........................................................................1 Types of Retail Centers ..........................................................................................................2 Future Trends .........................................................................................................................4 Planning for Retail Development Types of Commercial Zoning..................................................................................................7 Relationship to the County Comprehensive Plan ...................................................................9 Determining Desired Character ............................................................................................10 Location of Commercial Zoning ............................................................................................11 Scale of Commercial Zoning.................................................................................................12 Planning for Traffic Impacts ..................................................................................................13 Design Elements Conditional Uses...................................................................................................................17 Dimensional Standards.........................................................................................................18 Building Design Standards ...................................................................................................19 Driveway Design Standards .................................................................................................20 Interconnections of Properties ..............................................................................................21 Parking Lot Design Standards ..............................................................................................22 Pedestrian Access ................................................................................................................23 Lighting .................................................................................................................................24 Noise Control ........................................................................................................................24 Loading and Outdoor Trash Storage ....................................................................................25 Landscaping .........................................................................................................................26 iii general commercial district Signs.....................................................................................................................................27 Required Parking ..................................................................................................................27 Model Ordinance Section 1. Legislative Intent..................................................................................................31 Section 2. Permitted Uses ....................................................................................................32 Section 3. Conditional Uses..................................................................................................34 Section 4. Conditional Use Criteria.......................................................................................40 Section 5. Dimensional Standards........................................................................................41 Section 6. General Requirements.........................................................................................42 Section 7. Design Standards ............................................................................................... 42 Appendix 1 Model Vehicular Access Standards...........................................................................51 Appendix 2 Commercial Parking Standards.................................................................................56 Appendix 3 Definitions................................................................................................................62 Appendix 4 Shopping Center Driveway Standards.......................................................................64 Appendix 5 Chain Stores and Community Character ...................................................................66 Appendix 6 Sources for Additional Information ............................................................................70 iv general commercial district Introduction Retailers and developers are constantly adjusting Municipalities should decide how much to new trends and consumer demands. They commercial development they want. frequently build new stores or expand existing ones Sometimes, when the market is allowed to build in response to fashion, business, and financial as much retail space as possible, the retail needs. This puts pressure on local municipalities to sector gets overbuilt. This is primarily a provide commercial zoning for new retail problem in other parts of the country, but has development, even if the community already has occurred in southern New Jersey, where there extensive commercial areas. are many vacant retail sites. This publication is designed to help Some municipalities welcome commercial municipalities get the best commercial zoning for the tax revenue benefits. While it is development they can. The publication is true that retail commercial zoning has a strong divided into four distinct parts. Part 1 focuses positive fiscal impact on school districts, it often on critical planning issues, including how much has a slight negative fiscal impact on municipal commercial zoning to have and where to put government, partially due to the need for this zoning. Part 2 illustrates important design additional police coverage. elements for good commercial development. Part 3 contains the model general commercial • Retail areas should be concentrated in nodes Typical commercial zoning allows unattractive ordinance, which incorporates the design on busy roads where they will have a minimal and inefficient development. elements described in Part 2. Part 4, the impact on residential neighborhoods. Appendices, contains supplemental zoning and Too often, commercial zoning is stripped out subdivision ordinance standards. along roads, which creates traffic conflicts and increases the number of residential properties Benefits of Appropriate adversely impacted by the retail development. Commercial Zoning • Commercial development must be compatible with its surroundings. Through building design Many of Montgomery County’s commercial zoning and landscaping standards, commercial zoning ordinances were written before the latest retail can require new retail development to be trends began. Local municipalities can stay on top compatible with neighboring downtown, village, of these trends by updating their commercial zoning and residential properties. to get the type of development they want. There are many examples around the county of • Good commercial zoning provides an retail development that clashes with its appropriate amount of land for surroundings, such as a gas station in the commercial development, based on the Commercial zoning can require new development middle of a downtown or highway commercial to attractively fit into its local context. municipality’s goals. uses in a residential neighborhood. introduction 1 general commercial district • Well-designed retail development should allow has changed dramatically, becoming very car people to walk, take transit, or drive safely to oriented. New retail development built in the 1950s, the store. 1960s, and 1970s falls into four general categories: Much of the county’s retail commercial • Stand-alone stores, which are often developed development is unwalkable from neighboring sequentially along busy arterial roads. residential properties or transit stops. And, many existing commercial uses have multiple • Neighborhood shopping centers, which typically driveways and confusing entrance layouts that include a supermarket as the anchor store, with create traffic congestion and hazards. a number of personal service and convenience stores as well. • Good commercial zoning must meet the requirements of the state Municipalities • Community shopping centers, which originally Planning Code. This Code requires all included one or more junior department stores municipalities or multi-municipal regions to as anchors, but now may include a supermarket provide the full range of zoning classifications, as well, and/ or a home improvement store or including commercial zoning. some other big box retailer. • Regional malls, which might include one to four Types of Retail Centers major department store anchors, while super– regional malls would include three or more Before the 1950s, almost all retail development was major department
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