Supplemental regulations for specific land uses.
§ 255-930. Supplemental regulations for specific land uses. [Amended 3-25-2025 by Ord. No.
2025-12]
A. Gasoline service stations, automotive repair and drive-in restaurants. Gasoline stations, service stations, drive-in restaurants, car washes, automotive repair shops and similar highway oriented "drive-in" uses shall be designed to conform with the following requirements, in addition to other applicable provisions of this chapter.
(1) The minimum lot area shall be 20,000 square feet with a minimum street frontage of not less than 150 feet.
(2) Suitable separation shall be made between the pedestrian sidewalk and the vehicular parking or moving area with the use of appropriate bumper, wheel guards, or traffic islands in accordance with Article XII of this chapter. Where the portion of the property used for vehicular traffic abuts a street, such portion shall be separated from the street line by a concrete curb at least six inches high.
(3) The entire area used for vehicle service shall be paved, except for such unpaved area as is landscaped and protected from vehicle use by a low barrier.
(4) The construction standards for all drive access openings (curb cuts) shall be in accordance with Code § 255-1230C.
(5) The distance of any driveway from any property line shall be at least 10 feet.
(6) The distance between curb cuts serving the same lot or adjacent lots shall be no less than 40 feet.
(7) The distance between a street intersection and a curb cut shall be in accordance with Code § 255-1230D.
(8) Buffer landscaping and screening shall be done in accordance with Article XVII of this chapter.
(9) No vehicles shall be stored on site for salvage or dismantling.
(10) Hydraulic hoists, pits, lubricating, greasing, washing and repair equipment shall be entirely enclosed within a building. Tire and battery service and automotive repair, excluding automobile body repair and painting, may be carried out within the premises.
B. Automotive dealerships/new and used. All car and truck dealerships shall conform to the following requirements, in addition to the other provisions of this chapter:
(1) The minimum lot area shall be 40,000 square feet with a minimum street frontage of not less than 200 feet.
(2) The requirements of § 255-930A(2) through (9).
(3) The number of vehicles to be displayed and stored on site shall be limited as follows:
(a) The lot exclusive of building, landscape areas and drives shall be laid out as a parking lot with travel lanes and back up areas and with each space being a minimum of 8.5 feet by 18 feet. The number of required parking spaces shall be deducted from the total number of spaces on the lot. The remaining spaces dictate the number of cars that can legally be displayed at the dealership.
(b) Spaces shall be set back five feet from side and rear property lines and five feet from sidewalk areas or 10 feet from street lines. This setback shall be marked by some type of curb stop.
(4) Any building permit or zoning certificate issued for an automotive dealership shall note the number of vehicles that can legally be displayed on the lot.
C. Auto body repair shops/repair and sale of boats, motors, marine equipment. Auto body repair shops shall conform to the following requirements, in addition to other applicable provisions of this chapter:
(1) All auto body repair shall take place within a building.
(2) Storage of vehicles, boats or marine equipment to be repaired shall be located in the rear and/or side of the repair building and such storage area shall be enclosed with a six-foot-high fence which shall effectively screen the area from view. Where the storage area is visible from the road or adjacent uses, four-foot-high evergreens shall be planted along the fence.
(3) No junk vehicles, boats or marine equipment shall be stored on site. No vehicles, boats or marine equipment shall be kept on site for the cannibalization of parts.
(4) The requirements of Code § 255-930A(1) through (9).
D. Cemeteries. Where a cemetery exists on a lot the following rules shall apply:
(1) Buildings shall be set back from the cemetery by 50 feet. Accessory buildings shall be set back 20 feet.
(2) If parking is located around or near the cemetery, the cemetery shall be fenced and curb stops installed to prohibit vehicles from driving over the area.
(3) The cemetery shall not be altered in any way.
E. Hazardous waste management facilities.
(1) Any application for the siting of a Hazardous Waste Management Facility in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19.7 shall conform with the following requirements in addition to the industrial performance standards of this chapter (Article VII of this chapter and Code § 255-720 in particular):
(a) The disposal of hazardous waste in the Town by the means of discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaching, placing, or landfilling into or on any land or water, shall not be permitted in any zone.
(b) A development site for a hazardous waste management facility shall be located a minimum distance of 1,000 feet from contiguous residential uses or residentially zoned districts.
(c) A development site for a hazardous waste management facility shall be located at least 1,000 feet from schools, nursing homes, and other centers of institutional population.
(d) A development site for a hazardous waste management facility shall be located at least 1,000 feet from a public recreational facility.
(e) Hazardous waste management facilities shall be prohibited in environmentally sensitive areas. These areas include areas of steep slope (10% or greater); freshwater wetlands (as defined by R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-1, Parts 1-3 et seq.); areas in the one-hundred-year flood zone (as defined in the Flood Zone Maps prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Town of Coventry effective September 1, 1978); areas with soils that are unstable, highly permeable, excessively drained, wet and have a high water table; areas which are adjacent to or are over an aquifer or a major water source.
(f) There shall be no open storage of hazardous waste at a hazardous waste management facility.
(g) The following lot requirements shall apply for hazardous waste management facilities:
[1] Minimum lot area: 200,000 square feet.
[2] Minimum front yard: 150 feet.
[3] Minimum rear yard: 150 feet.
[4] Minimum side yard: 150 feet.
[5] Maximum lot coverage: 40%.
(2) For the purposes of enforcement of these provisions, a hazardous waste management facility does not include firms which treat their own hazardous waste as an incidental process, subordinate to the main use of the land and principal structures and which is located on the same or adjoining lot.
F. Customary home occupation. As set forth in Article II of this chapter, any customary home occupation shall be customarily conducted in a dwelling unit by a member of the family residing in said unit. No persons residing outside the home shall be employed. The use shall be clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes.
(1) All customary home occupations shall conform to the following conditions:
(a) The home occupation shall be performed by the resident and using no more than 100 square feet of floor area and such activity shall not be visible from a lot line.
(b) There shall be no patrons or customers for the sale of products at the premises.
(c) There shall be no exterior display, no exterior sign, no exterior storage of materials and no other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the principal building.
(d) No vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare or offensive noise shall be produced.
(e) No traffic shall be generated by such home occupation.
(f) No dealing or selling of firearms or related products shall be permitted.
G. Commercial composting. All commercial composting operations shall conform to the following conditions:
(1) No animal renderings, fish wastes, or any other kind of putrescible waste shall be used to accelerate the decomposition of waste.
(2) A commercial composting operation shall be no smaller than five acres in size and no larger than 10 acres.