zoneoptics
Chesapeake, Virginia · District

M-3

Waterfront Industrial District
IndustrialWaterfront IndustrialAll Chesapeake districts0

Dimensional standards

M-3 lot requirementsSTREETbuildable areaFront 25 ftRear 25 ftSide 10 ftMin width 100 ftMIN LOT AREA15,000 sq ftMIN FRONTAGE80 ftMAX HEIGHT75 ftMAX LOT COVERAGE50%
Plan view of the district’s stated lot requirements. Solid line: the property line. Dashed: the setback lines the ordinance imposes; a building must stay inside the tinted envelope. Drawn from the figures extracted below — illustrative, not a survey.

Lot

Minimum lot areaMinimum lot areaThe smallest parcel on which the district allows anything to be built.
15,000 sq ftsq ftSquare feet. An acre is 43,560 sq ft; a typical suburban lot is 7,000–10,000. (0.34 acacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.)
Minimum lot widthLot widthHow wide a lot must be, usually measured at the front setback line.
100 ft
Minimum frontageFrontageThe length of a lot line that touches a public street.
80 ft

SetbacksSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.

FrontSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
25 ft
RearSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
25 ft
SideSetbackThe distance a building must be held back from a lot line.
10 ft

Height & bulk

Maximum heightMaximum heightThe tallest a building may be, given in feet, in storeys, or both — whichever binds first.
75 ft
Maximum lot coverageLot coverageThe share of a lot that buildings may cover, as a percentage.
50%

Servicing

Geographic extent
Along the southern branch of the Elizabeth River where the channel has been improved for deep draft navigation.

Uses

Permitted by right3

  • A portion of the property is reserved for future waterfront industrial development
  • The size and configuration of the remaining portion of the property is sufficient for the location of a nonwaterfront-related industrial use that complies with the applicable requirements of this ordinance and other applicable law; and
  • Sufficient access is provided to the waterfront site to meet the requirements of this ordinance.

Conditional / special use4

Accessory1

Extracted standards

6 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.

Height

Other

  • Incidental retail sales limit10 pct

    Retail sales incidental to permitted use may occur on the same lot, limited to 10% of gross floor area.

  • Loading dock screening

    Loading docks and truck entrance doors shall be fully screened by vegetation or other opaque material approved by the city so as not to be visible from any public street adjacent to the property.

  • Outside storage screening

    No materials, supplies, equipment, trash or refuse shall be stored on any site except inside a building or behind a visual barrier which screens the stored material from observation from any public street.

  • Water-related activity requirement

    A use must utilize its water access as an integral component of its operation and shall include a port or docking facility on the property as part of its operation.

Setback

From the ordinance

All properties located within the M-3 waterfront industrial district shall comply with the development standards for the M-1 light industrial district. This district shall be served with public water and sewer.
§ 8-502