§ 21. Multifamily residential (MF) district (apartments).
21.1
General purpose and description. The multifamily residential (MF) district is an attached mixed-use residential district intended to provide the highest residential density in close proximity to retail and employment centers. The principal permitted land uses shall include nonresidential uses on the street level with multiple-family dwellings above or live/work units on the street level with multifamily dwellings above. All multifamily structures shall be located facing public street frontages with a minimum ten feet wide landscape buffer and a maximum of two rows of parking for the nonresidential uses located on the ground floor. Residential parking shall be located at the rear of the structures. This district shall be located adjacent to neighborhood services (NS), retail (R), central business district (CBD), highway corridor (HC), commercial (C), or light industrial (LI) districts and serve as a buffer between nonresidential development or heavy automobile traffic and medium- or low-density residential development as well as support for retail or employment centers. Live/work units are defined as ground floor units structurally designed to accommodate nonresidential uses with a home-based occupation, office or small scale low impact retail business (i.e. ADA accessibility built-in for example) which typically start out as residential dwelling units but can be also be used for permitted fulltime nonresidential uses. Lease contract shall not prohibit or eliminate allowed live-work or other nonresidential uses. Recreational, religious, health and educational uses normally located to service residential areas are also permitted in this district. Areas zoned for the MF district shall have, or shall make provision for, City of Terrell water and sewer services. They shall be designed to adequately accommodate storm drainage; they shall have paved drive aisles with logical and efficient vehicular circulation patterns.
21.2
Permitted uses.
A.
Those uses listed for the MF district in section 32, use charts as "P" or "T" are authorized uses permitted by right or by temporary use permit (which must be approved utilizing procedures set forth in subsection 38.10). Permitted nonresidential uses in ground floor or street level units shall be based exclusively on the uses designated with a "P" in the use tables (section 32.2) charts 6, 7 and 8 under the neighborhood services (NS) district with the following exceptions which are not allowed: restaurants or food preparation of any kind. No specific use permits (SUP) shall be allowed.
B.
Nonresidential business uses shall only be allowed to operate or be open for business between 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily.
21.3
Height regulations.
A.
Maximum height.
1.
Five stories, and not to exceed 75 feet, for the main building(s). Buildings exceeding three stories in height shall observe a setback distance of 75 feet from any single-family residential property line.
2.
One story for other accessory buildings, including detached garages, carports, clubhouse, gazebo, mail kiosks, laundry rooms, etc.
3.
Other requirements (see section 38).
21.4
Area regulations.
A.
Size of lots.
1.
Minimum lot area. The minimum lot (i.e., project) size shall be one acre, maximum project size shall not exceed 15 acres (calculated on gross acreage).
2.
Minimum lot width. One hundred feet.
3.
Minimum lot depth. One hundred feet.
B.
Size of yards.
1.
Front yard. Variable - minimum is based on ten-foot wide landscape buffer, one row of parking with drive aisle, and ten-foot wide yard between parking and front façade of building. Maximum front yard is based on the same buffer requirements as above but with no more than two rows of parking. Dimensions may vary slightly due to parking spaces being configured as parallel, angled or head-in. All areas adjacent to a street shall be deemed front yards. Street frontages that face a single-family residential or townhouse district may have residential units on the first floor in which case the front yard requirement shall be the same as the residential district (15—25 feet typically) in order to form a more compatible streetscape.
2.
Minimum side and rear yard. Fifteen feet, unless adjacent to a single-family, duplex, patio home or single-family attached district then side and rear setbacks shall be according to the height of the multifamily building, as follows:
a.
One-story building: Twenty-five feet.
b.
Two-story building: Fifty feet.
c.
Over two-story building: Seventy-five feet.
3.
Building separation.
a.
One-story buildings: Fifteen feet for buildings without openings; 20 feet for buildings with openings.
b.
Two-story buildings (or a two-story building adjacent to a one-story building): Twenty feet for buildings without openings; 25 feet for buildings with openings.
c.
Over two-story buildings (or an over two-story building adjacent to a one- or two-story building): Twenty-five feet for buildings with or without openings.
d.
Between a main building and an accessory building: Ten feet.
C.
Minimum floor area per dwelling unit.
1.
Efficiency unit. Five hundred fifty square feet per unit.
2.
One-bedroom unit. Six hundred square feet per unit.
3.
Two- or more bedroom unit. Eight hundred square feet for the first two bedrooms, plus an additional 200 square feet for every bedroom over two (e.g., three-bedroom unit must have 1,000 square feet, etc.).
D.
Maximum impervious surface coverage. Seventy-five percent total impervious area including main buildings, accessory buildings, driveways and parking areas.
E.
Parking regulations.
1.
Two spaces for each dwelling unit.
2.
One space for each 300 square feet of nonresidential space on the ground floor.
3.
The average number of parking spaces for the total development shall be no less than two spaces per dwelling unit.
4.
No parking space may be located closer than ten feet from any building or closer than two feet from any side or rear lot line.
5.
All parking areas adjacent to public streets shall be screened by a minimum ten-foot wide landscape buffer. Screening may be in the form of live plant materials, berms, low masonry walls that match the exterior finish of main buildings, or any combination of the above. Sidewalks and signage may be located in the landscape buffer.
6.
See section 33, off-street parking and loading requirements, for additional requirements.
F.
Sign regulations. One single- or multi-tenant monument business sign shall be permitted per 300 feet of street frontage with no more than 25 square feet per tenant or address. One business sign may be wall mounted near the entrance not to exceed 15 square feet in size. No business signs are permitted to be mounted above the first floor of any building.
1.
All buildings containing residential units shall provide signage that clearly identifies the numbers (i.e., addresses) of the units within each building. Signage shall be visible from entrances into the complex and/or from vehicular drive aisles within the complex such that each individual unit is easy to locate by visitors, delivery persons, and/or emergency personnel.
G.
Minimum exterior construction standards. See section 37.
21.5
Special requirements.
A.
Landscape area requirements. See section 34 for landscaping requirements in addition to those listed above.
B.
Refuse facilities. Every multifamily dwelling unit shall be located within 200 feet of a refuse facility, measured along the designated pedestrian travel way. A refuse facility shall be a dumpster or other similar container designed for receiving garbage in bulk for more than one dwelling, and all refuse containers shall be maintained in accordance with local public health and sanitary regulations. Refuse containers shall be located no closer than 30 feet to any adjacent single-family property, shall be located so as to provide safe and convenient pickup by refuse collection agencies, and shall be screened in accordance with subsection 36.2.F of this ordinance. (See illustrations 36-1 and 36-2 for refuse container enclosure diagrams.)
C.
Screening requirements. See section 36 for screening requirements.
D.
Single-family, duplex, patio home, or townhouse residential units constructed in this district shall conform to SF-6 or TH-12 district standards, respectively.
E.
Recreational vehicles, travel trailers or motor homes may not be used for on-site dwelling purposes.
F.
Open storage is prohibited.
G.
All points on the exterior facades of all buildings shall be within the prescribed distance of a dedicated fire lane easement as measured by an unobstructed pathway, or route, for fire hoses, in accordance with the adopted International Fire Code, National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code 101 (NFPA 101), or as determined by the fire marshal.
H.
A four-foot wide paved walkway shall connect the front door of each ground floor unit to a parking area. The minimum width of any sidewalk adjacent to head-in parking spaces shall be six feet to accommodate a two-foot bumper overhang for vehicles.
I.
Buildings shall not exceed 200 feet in length.
J.
Boats, campers, trailers and other recreational vehicles shall be prohibited unless oversize parking areas are provided. This parking area shall not be used to meet the minimum parking requirements and shall not be visible from a public street.
K.
All parking areas shall have appropriate lighting and shall be positioned such that no light adversely impacts adjacent residential areas.
L.
Permitted nonresidential uses in ground floor or street level units shall be based exclusively on the uses designated with a "P" in the use tables (section 32.2) charts 6, 7 and 8 under the neighborhood services (NS) district. No specific use permits (SUP) shall be allowed.
M.
All buildings within a nonresidential development shall be architecturally compatible with each other, in that they shall use similar exterior finish colors and materials to achieve an overall, visually compatible appearance when viewed from the road.
N.
Gated/secured entrances shall be in accordance with the design standards for gated/secured entrances on private streets (see the subdivision ordinance).
O.
Architectural requirements for apartments shall be required to follow subsection 20.D of this ordinance.
P.
Other regulations. As established in the development standards, sections 33—44.