ARTICLE IX:                 COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS

 

Section 9.01                 HS: Highway Service District

 

A.         Intent: The Highway Service District (HS) is intended to accommodate retail business and service activities which serve the particular needs of the highway traveler and/or meet the consumer needs of a more regional population than that of Marion Township, and, therefore, the access to arterial thoroughfares is critical. The intent of this District is to provide for retail businesses, personal, and business service establishments and small warehouses developed along major arterial roads in a fashion that minimizes traffic congestion, traffic conflicts, and traffic hazards. It is not the intent of this District to provide for general retail and related commercial uses that cater more to local consumer needs; such needs are extensively addressed by the commercial services available in nearby City of Howell.

 

B.         Uses Permitted By Right:

 

In the Highway Service District, no building or land shall be used and no building or structure erected except for one or more of the following specified uses, unless otherwise provided for in this Ordinance. All uses permitted in this district are subject to the requirements and standards of Site Plan Review (Article XVIII) prior to initiation of the use or structure.

 

1.         Professional offices, medical and dental clinics.

 

2.         Standard restaurants, clubs, and other drinking establishments that provide food or drink for consumption on the premises and may also provide dancing and entertainment.

 

3.         Automobile dealerships.

 

4.         Automobile car washes.

 

5.         Convenience stores.

 

6.         Indoor commercial recreation facilities such as indoor theaters, bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks, or similar uses.

 

7.         Catering, bakeries.

 

8.         Monument sales and manufacturing.

 

9.         Mini-storage facilities.

 

10.        Household equipment rentals.

 

11.        Wholesale distribution.

 

12.        Cabinet making.

 

13.        Hardware stores.

 

14.        Contractor storage yards.

 

15.               Accessory buildings.

 

16.               Funeral homes subject to additional requirements found in Section 9.01 E 10.

17.               Crematories subject to additional requirements found in Section 9.01 E 11.

 

C.         Permitted Accessory Uses:

 

1.         Signs; pursuant to Article XV.

 

2.         Automobile parking; pursuant to Article XIV.

 

D.         Uses Permitted By Special Use Permit:

 

1.         Public facilities, including municipal buildings, schools, libraries, recreational facilities, and similar uses and activities.

 

2.         Automobile service and repair stations.

 

3.         Billboards.

 

4.         Communication towers.

 

5.         Drive-in establishments including but not limited to: drive-in, drive-through, take-out, pick-up, and other forms of in-vehicle retail or service establishments including restaurants, financial institutions, dry cleaning businesses, and similar facilities.

 

6.         Motels and hotels.

 

7.         Open air business uses such as retail sales of plant materials, sale of lawn furniture, playground equipment and garden supplies.

 

            8.         Outdoor commercial recreation facilities.

 

9.         Adult Entertainment Uses (Amended 10/2000)

 

E.         Site Development Requirements: The following minimum and maximum standards shall apply to all uses and structures in the HS: Highway Service District unless they are specifically modified by the provisions of Article VI: General Provisions or Article XVII: Standards for Specific Special Land Uses; or as varied pursuant to Article V: Zoning Board of Appeals.

 

1.         Minimum Lot Area: No building or structure shall be established on any parcel less than one (1) acre.

 

2.         Minimum Frontage: Each parcel of land shall have frontage of not less than one hundred fifty (150) feet.

 

3.         Yard and Setback Requirements:

 

a.         Front yard: Eighty (80) feet, except that a setback of one hundred (100) feet from the Pinckney Road right-of-way line shall be required.

 

b.         Side yards: Twenty-five (25) feet, except in the case where a lot abuts a residential zoning district, in which case the minimum required side yard shall be thirty-five (35) feet and screening shall be provided in accordance with Section 6.13 B.

 

c.         Rear Yard: Forty (40) feet.

 

4.         Maximum Lot Coverage: Forty (40) percent.

 

5.         Maximum Height: Unless otherwise provided in this Ordinance, no principal building shall exceed a height of thirty-five (35) feet measured from the finished grade.

 

6.         Performance Standards:

 

a.         Storage of materials or goods shall be enclosed entirely within a building or shall be enclosed so as not to be visible to the public from any abutting residential district or public street.

 

b.         Vehicle ingress and egress points shall not be closer than seventy-five (75) feet to the intersection of any two (2) public streets or closer than thirty (30) feet to an adjacent driveway.

 

c.         No major repairs or refinishing shall be done outside of the principal building.

 

d.         No lighting shall in any way impair the safe movement of traffic on any street or highway.

 

e.         There must be sufficient on-site storage to accommodate at least two (2) queued vehicles waiting to park or exit the site without using any portion of the public street right-of-way or in any other way interfering with street traffic.

 

f.          Screening at least three (3) feet in height shall be erected to prevent headlight glare from shining onto adjacent residential property. No screening shall in any way impair safe vertical or horizontal sight distance for any moving vehicles.

 

g.         Material that is normally and reasonably discarded from commercial uses of property may be stored outside of an enclosed building for a reasonable time provided that such storage areas are completely screened by an opaque fence of not less than five (5) feet in height.

 

7.         Provisions of Article XIV: Parking and Loading Requirements.

 

8.         Provisions of Article XV: Signs.

 

9.                   Provisions of Article XVIII: Site Plan Requirements.

 

10.               Funeral homes are subject to the following additional requirements:

 

a.       A well-designed and landscaped off-street vehicle assembly area shall be provided to be used in support of funeral procession activity.  This area shall be in addition to the required off-street parking and its related maneuvering area and shall not obstruct internal circulation within the required off-street parking area or its related maneuvering space.

 

b.       A caretaker’s residence may be provided within the principal building.

 

11.               Crematories are subject to the following additional requirements:

 

a.       The cremation unit shall be within a fully enclosed permanent structure.  All exterior venting stack(s) must be screened or designed as an integral part of the building roofline.

 

b.       The crematorium must be so operated so as not to produce hazardous, objectionable or offensive conditions at or beyond the property line boundaries by reason of odor, dust, lint, smoke, cinders, fumes, noise, vibration, heat, solid and liquid wastes, fire or explosion and must satisfy all state and federal licensing requirements.

 

c.       The cremation unit (and operation of the unit) must conform to all state and federal regulations pertaining to environmental quality and any other health and public safety requirements.

 

d.       Restrictions may be placed on amount of traffic and hours of operation of the facility in order to ensure compatibility and minimize impacts with surrounding land uses.