§ 31-00 GENERAL PURPOSES OF COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS
ZR § 31-00
The Commercial Districts established in this Resolution are designed to promote and protect public health, safety and general welfare. These general goals include, among others, the following specific purposes:
(a)to provide sufficient space, in appropriate locations in proximity to residential areas, for local retail development catering to the regular shopping needs of the occupants of nearby residences, with due allowance for the need for a choice of sites;
(b)to provide appropriate space and, in particular, sufficient depth from a street, to satisfy the needs of modern local retail development, including the need for off-street parking spaces in areas to which a large proportion of shoppers come by automobile, and to encourage the natural tendency of local retail development to concentrate in continuous retail frontage, to the mutual advantage of both consumers and merchants;
(c)to protect both local retail development and nearby residences against fire, explosions, toxic and noxious matter, radiation and other hazards, and against offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust and other particulate matter, odorous matter, heat, humidity, glare and other objectionable influences;
(d)to protect both local retail development and nearby residences against congestion, particularly in areas where the established pattern is predominantly residential but includes local retail uses on the lower floors, by regulating the intensity of local retail development, by restricting those types of establishments which generate heavy traffic, and by providing for off-street parking and loading facilities;
(e)to provide sufficient and appropriate space and, in particular, sufficient depth from the street, to meet the needs of the city's expected future economy for modern commercial floor space in central, major or secondary commercial centers, including the need for off-street parking space in areas where a large proportion of customers come by automobile, with due allowance for the need for a choice of sites, and to encourage the natural tendency of commercial development to concentrate in continuous retail frontage, to the mutual advantage of both consumers and merchants;
(f)to protect commercial development in central, major or secondary commercial centers, as far as is possible and appropriate in each area, against fire, explosions, toxic and noxious matter, radiation, and other hazards, and against offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust and other particulate matter, odorous matter, heat, humidity, glare and other objectionable influences;
(g)to protect commercial development in central, major or secondary commercial centers against congestion, as far as possible, by limiting the bulk of buildings in relation to the land around them and to one another, by restricting those types of establishments which generate heavy traffic, and by providing for off-street parking and loading facilities;
(h)to provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for all types of commercial and miscellaneous service activities, with due allowance for the need for a choice of sites;
(i)to provide freedom of architectural design, in order to encourage the development of more attractive and economic building forms, within proper standards;
(j)to protect the character of certain designated areas of historic and architectural interest, where the scale of building development is important, by limitations on the height of buildings; and
(k)to promote the most desirable use of land and direction of building development in accord with a well-considered plan, to promote stability of commercial development, to strengthen the economic base of the City, to protect the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, to conserve the value of land and buildings, and to protect the City's tax revenues.
