Appendix 9301. Purpose.

The commercial districts are included in the zoning regulations to achieve the following:

A.

To provide appropriately located areas for retail stores, offices, service establishments, amusement establishments, and businesses offering a variety of commodities and services required by residents of the city and its surrounding market area;

B.

To provide opportunities for the concentration of a diversity of retail stores, offices, service establishments and amusement establishments in mutually beneficial relationships to each other for the convenience of the public;

C.

To provide adequate space to meet the needs of modern commercial development, including off-street parking and truck loading areas;

D.

To minimize traffic congestion and to avoid the overloading of utilities by preventing the construction of buildings of excessive size in relation to the amount of land around them;

E.

To protect commercial properties from noise, odor, dust, dirt, smoke, vibration, heat, glare, heavy truck traffic, and other objectionable influences incidental to industrial uses;

F.

To protect commercial properties from fire, explosion, noxious fumes, and other hazards;

G.

Use and promote open spaces and landscaping to create a visually pleasing environment, as well as to distinguish city and neighborhood boundaries;

H.

Intensified or regional-relation commercial uses shall be organized and designed to promote maximum opportunity for transit usage;

I.

Commercial and office developments shall exhibit the highest standards of site planning, architecture and landscape design;

J.

Enhance the pedestrian experience through well-delineated and design-enhanced pathways from the parking lots to the commercial businesses, and pedestrian connections from the commercial developments to adjacent neighborhoods and districts, and by providing pedestrian amenities that include outdoor seating areas and gathering spaces.

(Ord. No. 11-388, § 11, 12-14-2011)