Fowler Municipal Code Art. 10 C-1—NEIGHBORHOOD Commercial District

This district is intended primarily for the provision of retail and personal service facilities to satisfy the convenience-goods needs of the consumer relatively close to residential neighborhoods.

All uses shall be subject to the provisions of Article 21.

A. Retail and service establishments primarily to serve the immediate neighborhood:

1. Apparel stores;

2. Art supply stores;

3. Bakery goods stores;

4. Banks and other lending agencies;

5. Barber shops and beauty shops;

6. Book stores and libraries;

7. Cafeterias;

8. Camera shops, photographic supplies, and photography studios;

9. Candy and confectionery stores;

10. Carpet stores;

11. Cleaning agencies (pickup and delivery only);

12. Cleaning and dyeing shops (retail only, dry cleaning, cleaning clothes in enclosed machines, non-inflammable cleaning compounds);

13. Clinics (medical);

14. Dairy products sales stores;

15. Delicatessens;

16. Drug stores;

17. Dry goods stores;

18. Electrical appliance and incidental repair shops;

19. Florists;

20. Food lockers (no slaughtering, handling of dressed meats only);

21. Garden supply stores and nurseries provided all equipment, supplies, and merchandise, other than plants and mulches, shall be kept within completely enclosed buildings or under a lathed structure and provided, further, that fertilizer of any type shall be stored and sold in packaged form only;

22. Gift shops;

23. Grocery stores not exceeding ten thousand (10,000) square feet in area;

24. Hardware stores;

25. Hobby supply stores;

26. Ice dispensers (coin-operated);

27. Locksmiths;

28. Newsstands and magazine stores;

29. Offices;

30. Parking lots;

31. Pressing, altering, and repairing of wearing apparel;

32. Radio and television stores and repair shops;

33. Restaurants and cafes, including outdoor cafes, but excluding the sale of alcoholic beverages;

34. Shoe repair shops;

35. Shoe stores;

36. Soda fountains;

37. Stationery stores;

38. Tailors and dressmakers;

39. Video rentals and sales;

40. Variety stores, not exceeding ten thousand (10,000) square feet in area;

41. Other uses added by the Commission according to the procedure set forth in this article;

42. Incidental and accessory structures and uses on the same site as a permitted use.

(Ord. No. 2013-01, § 1, 9-3-2013; Ord. No. 2020-06, § 3, 11-17-2020)

The following uses shall be permitted, subject to the provisions of Article 24.

1. City, County, State, and Federal administrative offices, libraries, and police and fire stations;

2. Electric transmission lines, electric transmission and distribution substations, gas regulator stations, communications equipment buildings, public service pumping stations, and/or elevated pressure tanks;

3. Public parks and playgrounds, public and quasi-public uses of an educational or religious type, including public and private elementary, junior and senior high schools, colleges, nursery schools, trade schools, and private;

4. Incidental and accessory structures and uses located on the same site as a use permitted by administrative approval or conditional use;

5. Sidewalk sales and use of the public right-of-way for the display and sales of merchandise, or for outdoor dining;

6. Murals subject to Article 21;

7. Expansion or remodeling of an existing nonconforming use of a structure or land, up to fifty (50) percent or less of the value of the structure, or reestablishment of a nonconforming use that has been damaged, except nonconforming signs and outdoor advertising structures, nonconforming uses occupying a structure with an assessed valuation of less than one hundred dollars ($100.00), and nonconforming fences, walls, and hedges.

(Ord. No. 2013-01, § 2, 9-3-2013)

Uses permitted subject to a conditional use permit shall be as follows (see Article 25):

1. Any use selling or serving alcohol, including liquor stores;

2. Automobile supply stores, not including repair or service garages;

3. Book, magazine, and stationery stores;

4. Bowling alleys;

5. Churches and other religious institutions;

6. Convenience stores, with or without gasoline sales;

7. Drive-through facilities;

8. Farmer's markets (permanent) including indoor and outdoor facilities;

9. Grocery stores exceeding 10,000 square feet in area;

10. Laundromat, coin-operated laundry, and dry cleaning establishments;

11. Planned Unit Development subject to provisions of Article 28;

12. Private clubs and lodges;

13. Residential dwellings over or to the rear of a permitted use provided such dwellings shall be subject to the use, site area, coverage and yard requirements of the RM-3 district;

14. Service stations, including service stations as part of a convenience store (gasoline), excluding automotive repair services;

15. Tobacco stores.

(Ord. No. 2013-01, § 3, 9-3-2013; Ord. No. 2020-06, § 4, 11-17-2020)

A. Where a site adjoins or is located across a street or alley from any residential district, a decorative masonry wall six (6) feet minimum in height, or such other height or type of screening device as may be required by the City shall be located on the property line common to such districts, except in a required front yard.

B. Open storage of materials and equipment attendant to a permitted use or conditional use shall be permitted only within an area surrounded or screened by a solid wall or fence six (6) feet minimum in height, except as may be modified under Site Plan Review. Said storage shall not be visible above said fence or wall.

C. Street trees and other forms of landscaping may be required under the provisions of Articles 21 and 26.

A. All businesses, services, and processes shall be conducted entirely within a completely enclosed structure, except for off-street parking and off-street loading areas, gasoline service stations, outdoor dining areas, nurseries, garden shops, signs, and public utility stations.

B. No business dealing in wholesale or used goods or commodities shall be permitted, except in the case of articles taken in trade on sale of new merchandise on the same premises.

C. No products shall be manufactured unless incident to a permitted use and sold at retail on the same premises.

D. When any exterior wall of a building faces a street or property classified in any residential district, all exterior walls thereof shall be treated and finished in a similar manner.

E. When an exterior wall of a building faces abutting property in any residential district, no advertising sign shall be painted or placed on such wall, or on any portion of the lot between the wall and the residential district.

F. No use shall be permitted and no process, equipment, or materials shall be used that are found by the City to be objectionable to persons living or working in the vicinity by reasons of odor, fumes, dust, smoke, dirt, refuse, water-carried waste, noise, vibration, illumination, or unsightliness or to involve any hazard of fire or explosion.

The minimum site area shall be six thousand (6,000) square feet.

Each lot shall have a minimum width of sixty (60) feet and a minimum depth of one hundred (100) feet.

No building shall exceed a height of thirty-five (35) feet, except as may be allowed under provisions of Article 27.

Where a lot or lots in a C-1 zone are located in the same block as, and have a common frontage with, a lot or lots in any residential district, the minimum front yard of such lot or lots in the C-1 zone shall be a minimum of fifteen (15) feet. A minimum of ten (10) feet of the required front yard shall be landscaped.

There shall be no side yard requirement except as follows:

A. Where a lot abuts on the side of a lot in any residential district, there shall be a side yard of a minimum width of ten (10) feet, which shall be landscaped.

B. Where the rear of a corner lot abuts on the rear of a lot in any residential district, the side yard on the street side shall have a minimum width the same as the required side yard of such abutting lot in said residential district and shall be landscaped.

C. Where the rear of a reversed corner lot abuts a lot in any residential district, the side yard on the street side of such reversed corner lot shall be a minimum of fifteen (15) feet and shall be landscaped.

There shall be no rear yard requirement except as follows:

A. Where a lot abuts a lot in any residential district, a landscaped rear yard of a minimum of ten (10) feet shall be provided.

The minimum distance between a dwelling unit and another structure shall be ten (10) feet.

Off-street parking facilities and off-street loading facilities shall be provided on the site for each use as prescribed in Article 20.

No sign shall be provided except as prescribed in Article 22.

No use may be established until a site plan has been submitted and approved pursuant to the provisions of Article 26.

Commercial projects within the C-1 district shall be subject to the design review provisions of Article 16.