Sec. 35.1-38. General business district (B-5). 

 

(a) Intent. This district is to provide for a variety of commercial and similar uses which require large sites and which often produce substantial nuisance effects. The location of these districts should provide for a high level of access, relatively large amounts of level land, and opportunities to shield adjacent residential districts from nuisance effects.

 

(b) Special regulations. The following special regulations shall apply in general business districts:

 

(1) Direct access shall be available to at least one (1) arterial street.

 

(2) Driveways shall be kept to a minimum and shall meet the requirements of the "Standard Entrance Policy" of the City of Lynchburg.

 

(c) Prohibited uses.

 

(1) Within any business B-5 district, as indicated on the official zoning map, no lot, building or structure shall be used and no building or structure shall be erected which is intended or designed to be used, in whole or in part, for other than one (1) or more of the following specified purposes; provided that no operations shall be carried on which create conditions of smoke, fumes, noise, odor, light or dust detrimental to health, safety or the general welfare of the community.

 

(d) Uses permitted by right. The following uses shall be permitted by right in the general business district subject to the regulation of Section 35.1-14 to the zoning ordinance:

 

(1) Uses permitted by right in the B-3 district except single-family dwellings.

 

(2) The following additional uses:

 

Auction rooms

 

Armories

 

Automobile and truck rental

 

Automobile, truck and trailer sales with outside sales and storage permitted Automobile service stations

 

Automobile and truck tire sales

 

Rebuilding and retreading establishments

 

Battery sales

 

Bottling plants

 

Billboards, subject to the regulations of Section 35.1-26.13

 

Blacksmith shops

 

Bookbinding

 

Building material sales

 

Carpentry shops

 

Coffee and peanut roasting

 

Commercial amusements

 

Contractors' establishments

 

Dairies, pasteurizing plants, or ice cream manufacture

 

Dance halls

 

Depositories for the storage of office records, microfilm or computer tapes

 

Diaper services

 

Drive-in theaters

 

Dry cleaning and dying plants

 

Exterminators

 

Furniture upholstering and repair shops

 

Custom furniture manufacturing

 

Commercial greenhouses

 

Hiring halls and other places of assembly for the registration or assignment of employment

 

Automobile painting and body repair shops

 

Laundries

 

Sales lots for construction and farm equipment and similar machinery

 

Ice manufacture

 

Commercial kennels for dogs and other pets

 

Wholesale or produce markets

 

Monument and gravestone sales

 

Motion-picture production studios

 

Newspaper offices

 

Photographic developing and printing establishments

 

Printing plants

 

Second-hand stores including auction sales provided such activity is conducted wholly within an enclosed building

 

Small sign shops

 

Storage warehouses and yards, except sandyards, gravel yards, coal yards, railroad yards, automobile wrecking yards, junkyards or the storage of combustibles prohibited by the fire code

 

Travel trailer sales and rentals

 

Window blinds, shades and awnings (manufacture)

 

Leather products (not to include tanning)

 

Other uses determined by the city council to be of similar character to and compatible with the above uses.

 

(e) Permitted accessory uses. The following uses are permitted as accessory to principal uses permitted in general business districts:

 

(1) Accessory uses permitted in B-3 districts.

 

(2) Other uses determined by the planning commission to be customarily accessory to uses permitted in this district.

 

(3) Exterior signs pertaining to the uses conducted on the premises, as regulated in the B-4 district, except that projecting signs otherwise complying with this ordinance will be permitted.

 

(f) Uses permitted by conditional use permit. The following uses shall be permitted in general business districts as conditional use under the regulations of Section 35.1-15 and Article X of the zoning ordinance:

 

(1) Commercial amusement (temporary).

 

(2) Commercial recreation.

 

(3) Arenas, auditoriums or stadiums unlimited in capacity.

 

(4) Moving and storage establishments.

 

(5) Transient trailer parks.

 

(6) Radio towers and transmitting stations.

 

(7) Residential uses of any density or type.

 

(8) Motor freight stations.

 

(9) Trucking terminals.

 

(10) Commercial swimming pools.

 

(11) Schools and colleges of all types exceeding a maximum enrollment of one hundred (100) students.

 

(12) Flexible space developments as provided in Section 35.1-43.14.

 

(13) Large scale retail establishments not meeting the provisions of Section 35.1-43.22 thru Section 35.1-43.28.

 

(g) Standards for B-5 business districts.

 

(1) General standards

 

	B-5
Minimum average lot area per establishment (square feet)	None Required
Minimum lot depth (feet)	0

(2) Yards. When a lot in any business B-5 district is used, in whole or in part, for residential purposes, the yard requirements shall be the same as those in a residential R-5 district.

 

a. Front yards.

 

1. Where all of the lots contained within a block are located in a business B-5 district, no front yard will be required.

 

2. Where the lots contained within a block are partly in this district and partly in another district in which a greater front yard is required, the front yard requirements of the latter district shall apply to the entire street frontage in both districts, or twenty (20) feet, whichever distance is the greater.

 

b. Side yards. No side yard shall be required except where a business B-5 district abuts a residential district, in which case the yard required on the abutting side shall be the same as that required in the residential district.

 

c. Rear yards. The requirement for rear yards is the same as that for business B-2 districts, Section 35.1-35.

 

(3) Height regulations. The height regulations shall be the same as those required for a business B-4 district, Section 35.1-37.

 

(4) Area regulations. The area requirements shall be the same as those required for a business B-2 district, Section 35.1-35.

 

(h) Signs. (As provided in Sections 35.1-26 through 35.1-26.16)

 

(i) Parking requirements. Off-street parking and loading space shall be provided; however, the requirements of off-street parking of said section shall not apply in connection with buildings located in the first fire district as described in the city code. (Ord. No. O-78-352, 12-12-78; Ord. No. O-81-134, § 1, 6-9-81; Ord. No. O-82-078, § 1, 5-11-82; Ord. No. O-87-210, § 1, 9-8-87; Ord. No. O-91-092, 5-14-91 Ord. No. O-92-258, 8-11-92; Ord. No. O-04-074, 6-22-04; Ord. No. O-04-117, 9-14-04; Ord. No. O-07-041, 3-27-07; Ord. No. O-09-101, 9-22-09; Ord. No. O-10-103, 9-14-10, Ord. No. 0-12-138, 12-11-12)

 

Last updated date: 12/12/2012 4:16:44 PM