A. General. This section describes the intent for each of the city’s commercial and industrial zones. These intent statements are to be used to guide the interpretation of the regulations associated with each zone. The planning director is authorized to make interpretations of these regulations based on their analysis of them together with clear and objective reasons for such interpretation.

B. C-N, Neighborhood Shopping Center Zone. The C-N zone is intended to provide areas appropriate for neighborhood shopping establishments which provide limited retail business, service and office facilities for the convenience of residents of the neighborhood. A neighborhood shopping center is designed and located so as to minimize traffic congestion on public highways and streets in its vicinity and to best fit the general land use pattern of the area to be served by the center. The protective standards contained in this chapter are intended to minimize any adverse effect of the neighborhood shopping center on nearby property values and to provide for safe and efficient use of the neighborhood shopping center itself.

C. C-1, Light Commercial Zone. The C-1 zone is intended for lower intensity commercial adjacent to residential neighborhoods. This zone generally serves as a transition zone between higher and lower intensity land uses, providing retail and professional services. This zone represents the primary commercial designation for small- to moderate-scale commercial activities compatible by having similar performance standards and should be developed in a manner which is consistent with and attracts pedestrian-oriented activities. This zone encourages leisure shopping and provides amenities conducive to attracting shoppers and pedestrians.

D. C-2 Central Business District Zone. The intent of the C-2 zone is to set apart the portion of the city proximate to the center for financial, commercial, governmental, professional, and cultural activities. Uses in the C-2 zone have common or similar performance standards in that they represent types of enterprises involving the rendering of services, both professional or to the person, or on-premises retail activities. This zone encourages and provides amenities conducive to attracting pedestrians.

E. C-3, Heavy Commercial Zone. The intent of the C-3 zone is to allow for medium to high intensity uses consisting of a wide range of retail, commercial, entertainment, office, services, and professional uses. This zone is intended to accommodate uses which are oriented to automobiles either as a mode or target of the commercial service while fostering a pedestrian orientation. The uses allowed can include outside activities, display, fabrication or service features when not the predominant portion of the use. The uses enumerated in this classification have more potential for impacts to surrounding properties and street systems than those uses permitted in the more restrictive commercial classifications.

F. C-4, Mixed-Use Commercial Zone. The intent of the C-4 zone is to provide for a pedestrian-oriented mix of retail, office, and limited multifamily residential uses. This classification is also intended to allow flexibility in design and the combination of uses that is responsive to market demands. The uses enumerated in this classification anticipate a mix of multifamily residential, retail, and office uses that are coordinated through a site-specific planning process. The multiple-family residential must be located in a multi-story building. Certain heavy commercial uses permitted in other commercial classifications are not permitted in this zone because of the potential for conflicts with multifamily residential uses, in order to achieve a quality of environment that is conducive to this mix of uses.

G. M-1, Light Industrial Zone. The intent of the M-1 zone is to accommodate a variety of industrial, commercial, and limited residential uses in an industrial park environment, to preserve land primarily for light industrial and commercial uses, to implement the economic goals of the comprehensive plan and to provide a greater flexibility within the zoning regulations for those uses which are nonnuisance in terms of air and water pollution, noise, vibration, glare or odor. The light industrial/commercial character of this zone is intended to address the way in which industrial and commercial uses are carried out rather than the actual types of products made.

The character of this zone will limit the type of primary activities which may be conducted outside of enclosed buildings to outdoor displays and sales. Uses which are not customarily conducted indoors or involve hazardous materials are considered heavy industrial uses under this title and are not appropriate for the M-1 zone. An essential aspect of this zone is the need to maintain a quality of development that attracts rather than discourages further investment in light industrial and commercial development. Consequently, site activities which could distract from the visual quality of development of those areas, such as outdoor storage, should be strictly regulated within this zone.

H. M-2, Heavy Industrial Zone. The M-2 zone is intended to accommodate a broad range of manufacturing and industrial uses. Permitted activity may vary from medium to higher intensity uses that involve the manufacture, fabrication, assembly, or processing of raw and/or finished materials. Heavy industrial uses should not be located near residential development.

While other uses may be sited within this zone, permits for such uses should not be issued if such uses will discourage use of adjacent sites for heavy industry, interrupt the continuity of industrial sites, or produce traffic in conflict with the industrial uses. (Ord. 6885 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 6728 § 3 (Exh. C), 2019; Ord. 6433 § 26, 2012.)