Chapter 18.27
USE CATEGORIES
Sections:
18.27.010 Use categories.
Land uses and activities are categorized based on common functional, product, or physical characteristics. Characteristics include the type and amount of activity, the type of customers or residents, how goods or services are sold or delivered, and certain site factors. The use categories provide a systematic basis for assignment of present and future uses to zones.
(1) Commercial Use Categories.
(a) Retail Sales and Service.
(i) Characteristics. Retail sales and service firms are involved in the sale, lease or rent of new or used products to the general public. They may also provide personal services, entertainment, or provide product repair or services for consumer and business goods.
(ii) Examples. Examples include uses from the four subgroups listed below:
(A) Sales-Oriented. Stores selling, leasing, or renting consumer, home, and business goods such as art, art supplies, bicycles, clothing, dry goods, electronic equipment, fabric, furniture, garden supplies, gifts, groceries, hardware, home improvements, household products, jewelry, pets, pet food, pharmaceuticals, plants, printed material, stationery, and videos; food sales, and farmers markets.
(B) Personal Service-Oriented. Branch banks; urgency medical care; laundromats; portrait photographic studios; photocopy and blueprint services; hair, tanning, and personal care services; business, martial arts; dance or music classes; taxidermists; mortuaries; veterinarians; and animal grooming.
(C) Entertainment-Oriented. Restaurants, cafes, delicatessens, taverns, and bars; indoor or outdoor continuous entertainment activities such as bowling alleys, ice rinks, and game arcades; pool halls; theaters, health clubs, gyms, membership clubs, and lodges. This category does not include hotels, motels and other short-term commercial lodging.
(D) Repair-Oriented. Repair of TVs, bicycles, clocks, watches, shoes, guns, appliances and office equipment; photo or laundry drop off; quick printing; recycling drop-off; tailor; locksmith; and upholsterer.
(b) Office.
(i) Characteristics. Office uses are characterized by activities conducted in an office setting that focus on the provision of goods and services, usually by professionals.
(ii) Examples. Professional services such as lawyers, accountants, or management consultants; business services such as headquarters, temporary staffing agencies, sales offices, or call centers; financial services such as lenders, brokerage houses, banks, real estate agents and developers or property managers; television and radio studios; government offices and public utility offices; medical and dental clinics, and blood collection facilities.
(c) Commercial Outdoor Recreation.
(i) Characteristics. Commercial outdoor recreation uses are large, generally commercial uses that provide continuous recreation or entertainment-oriented activities. They generally take place outdoors. They may take place in a number of structures which are arranged together in an outdoor setting.
(ii) Examples. Examples include amusement parks, theme parks, golf driving ranges, miniature golf facilities, and zoos.
(d) Commercial Parking.
(i) Characteristics. Commercial parking facilities provide parking that is not accessory to a specific use. A fee may or may not be charged. A facility that provides both accessory parking for a specific use and regular fee parking for people not connected to the use is also classified as a commercial parking facility.
(ii) Examples. Examples include short- and long-term fee parking facilities, commercial district shared parking lots, commercial shuttle parking, and mixed parking lots (partially for a specific use, partly for rent to others).
(e) Motor Vehicle Sales and Service.
(i) Characteristics – Motor Vehicle Sales. Motor vehicle sales is characterized by the sale, leasing, and rental of new and used motor vehicles, other than heavy vehicles and heavy equipment, and the sales, leasing, and rental of recreational vehicles (RV) and trailers. Motor vehicle, RV, and trailer sales typically require extensive indoor and/or outdoor display or storage areas. Customers typically come to the site to view, select, purchase, and/or pick up the vehicles, RVs, or trailers.
(ii) Characteristics – Motor Vehicle Service. Motor vehicle services are characterized by establishments providing repair, service, testing, maintenance, cleaning, and other services for motor vehicles, other than heavy vehicles and heavy equipment. Vehicles may be brought to the site by customers or by a towing service. If motor vehicle parts are sold, they are typically installed on site.
(iii) Examples.
(A) Motor Vehicle Sales. Sales, leasing, and rental of new and used motor vehicles including automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, motorized boats, recreational vehicles, and other personal transportation vehicles; car rental agencies; manufactured dwelling and prefabricated structure sales and display sites; sales, leasing, or rental of trailers.
(B) Motor Vehicle Service. Auto body shops; auto glass repair; automotive paint shops; automotive repair shops; car washes; gasoline stations and unattended card-key stations; motorcycle repair shops; quick lubrication services; testing of cars and trucks, including pollution and safety testing; tire sales and installation shops; towing services; vehicle engine, transmission and muffler repair shops; vehicle upholstery and detailing shops.
(f) Short-Term Commercial Lodging.
(i) Characteristics. Short-term commercial lodging is characterized by lodging establishments that provide overnight accommodations to guests for compensation for periods less than 30 days.
(ii) Examples. Hostels; hotels; inns; motels; bed and breakfasts.
(g) Self-Service Storage.
(i) Characteristics. Self-service storage uses provide separate storage areas for individual or business uses. The storage areas are designed to allow private access by the tenant for storing personal property. Accessory uses may include security and leasing offices. Use of the storage areas for sales, service and repair operations, or manufacturing is not considered accessory to the self-service storage use. The rental of trucks or equipment is also not considered accessory to a self-service storage use. A transfer and storage business where any individual storage areas are incidental to transfer and storage operations, or where employees are the primary movers of the goods to be stored or transferred, is in the warehouse, freight movement, and distribution category.
(ii) Examples. Examples include single story and multistory facilities that provide individual storage areas for rent. These uses are also called mini warehouses.
(2) Institutional Use Categories.
(a) Religious Institutions.
(i) Characteristics. Religious institutions are intended to primarily provide meeting areas for religious activities.
(ii) Examples. Examples include churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques.
(b) Community Services.
(i) Characteristics. Community services are uses of a public, nonprofit, or charitable nature generally providing a local service to people of the community. Generally, they provide the service on the site or have employees at the site on a regular basis. The service is ongoing, not just for special events. Community centers or facilities that have membership provisions are open to the general public to join at any time (for instance, any senior citizen could join a senior center). The use may provide mass, outdoor, or short-term shelter with no minimum length of stay when operated by a public or nonprofit agency. The use may also provide special counseling, education, or training of a public, nonprofit or charitable nature.
(ii) Examples. Examples include libraries, museums, senior centers, community centers, publicly owned swimming pools, youth club facilities, hospices, ambulance stations, drug and alcohol centers, social service facilities, mass shelters, outdoor shelters, or short term shelters when operated by a public or nonprofit agency, vocational training for persons with disabling conditions, crematoriums, mausoleums, park-and-ride facilities for mass transit, and charitable meal service or food distribution centers.
(c) Schools and Colleges.
(i) Characteristics. This category includes public and private schools at the primary, elementary, middle, junior high, high school level that provide state mandated basic education. Also included are universities and community colleges, as well as trade and vocational schools.
(ii) Examples. Examples include public and private daytime schools, boarding schools, universities, community colleges, and military academies.
(d) Basic Utilities.
(i) Characteristics. Basic utilities are infrastructure services which need to be located in or near the area where the service is provided. Basic utility uses generally do not have regular employees at the site. Services may be public or privately provided. All public safety facilities are basic utilities.
(ii) Examples. Examples include water and sewer pump stations; sewage disposal and conveyance systems; electrical substations; water towers and reservoirs; small scale energy production, water quality and flow control facilities; water conveyance systems; water harvesting and re-use conveyance systems and pump stations; stormwater facilities and conveyance systems; telephone exchanges; mass transit stops or turn arounds, transit centers; and public safety facilities, including fire and police stations, and emergency communication broadcast facilities. This category does not include wireless communication facilities.
(e) Medical Centers.
(i) Characteristics. Medical centers includes uses providing medical or surgical care to patients and offering overnight care. Medical centers tend to be on multiple blocks or in campus settings.
(ii) Examples. Examples include hospitals and medical complexes that include hospitals.
(3) Industrial Use Categories.
(a) Industrial Service.
(i) Characteristics. Industrial service firms are engaged in the repair or servicing of industrial, business or consumer machinery, equipment, products, or by-products. Firms that service consumer goods do so by mainly providing centralized services for separate retail outlets. Contractors and building maintenance services and similar uses perform services off site. Few customers, especially the general public, come to the site.
(ii) Accessory Uses. Accessory uses may include offices, and storage.
(iii) Examples. Examples include welding shops; machine shops; tool repair; electric motor repair; repair of scientific or professional instruments; sales, repair, storage, salvage or wrecking of heavy machinery, metal, and building materials; towing and vehicle storage; auto and truck salvage and wrecking; heavy truck servicing and repair; tire re-treading or recapping; building, heating, plumbing or electrical contractors; printing, publishing and lithography; exterminators; recycling operations; janitorial and building maintenance services; fuel oil distributors; solid fuel yards; research and development laboratories; and photofinishing laboratories.
(iv) Exceptions. Contractors and others who perform industrial services off site and when equipment and materials are not stored at the site, and fabrication, or similar work is not carried on at the site are considered office uses.
(b) Manufacturing and Production.
(i) Characteristics. Manufacturing and production firms are involved in the manufacturing, processing, fabrication, packaging, or assembly of goods. Natural, man-made, raw, secondary, or partially completed materials may be used. Products may be finished or semifinished and are generally made for the wholesale market, for transfer to other plants, or to order for firms or consumers. Goods are generally not displayed or sold on site, but if so, they are a subordinate part of sales. Relatively few customers come to the manufacturing site, as distinguished from retail sales and services where customers routinely come to the business.
(ii) Accessory Uses. Accessory uses may include offices, cafeterias, employee recreational facilities, warehouses, storage yards, repair facilities, or truck fleets.
(iii) Examples. Examples include processing of food and related products; catering establishments; breweries, distilleries, and wineries when not accessory to a commercial service use; taxidermist and meat packing; weaving or production of textiles or apparel; wood products manufacturing; woodworking, including cabinet makers; production of chemical, rubber, leather, clay, bone, plastic, stone, or glass materials or products; movie production facilities; boat building; concrete batching and asphalt mixing; production or fabrication of metals or metal products including enameling and galvanizing; manufacture or assembly of machinery, equipment, instruments, including musical instruments, vehicles, appliances, precision items, and other electrical items; production of artwork and toys; sign making; production of prefabricated structures, including mobile homes; and the production of energy.
(iv) Exceptions.
(A) Manufacturing of goods to be sold primarily on site and to the general public is classified as retail sales and service; where the majority of traffic to the business is for retail sales and the manufacturing use is entirely indoors, the use will be categorized as retail sales and service.
(B) Manufacture and production of goods from composting organic material are classified as waste-related uses.
(c) Warehouse, Freight Movement, and Distribution.
(i) Characteristics. Warehouse, freight movement, and distribution involves the storage, or movement of goods for the subject firm or other firms, including goods that are generally delivered to the final consumer. There is little on-site sales activity with the customer present, except for some will-call pickups.
(ii) Accessory Uses. Accessory uses may include offices, truck fleet parking and maintenance areas, repackaging of goods, and will-call pickups.
(iii) Examples. Examples include separate or off-site warehouses used by retail stores such as furniture and appliance stores; household moving and general freight storage; cold storage plants, including frozen food lockers; storage of weapons and ammunition; major wholesale distribution centers; trucks, terminals; bus barns; parcel services; major post offices; grain terminals; and the stockpiling of sand, gravel, or other aggregate materials.
(iv) Exceptions. Uses that involve the transfer or storage of solid or liquid wastes are classified as waste-related uses.
(d) Waste-Related; Recycling Facilities.
(i) Characteristics. Waste-related uses are characterized by uses that receive solid or liquid wastes from others for disposal on the site or for transfer to another location, uses that collect sanitary wastes, or uses that manufacture or produce goods or energy from the biological decomposition of organic material. Waste-related uses also include uses that receive, store, sort, and distribute postconsumer recyclable materials; and those that receive hazardous wastes from others and are subject to the regulations of OAR-340. 100-110, Hazardous Waste Management.
(ii) Accessory Uses. Accessory uses may include offices, repackaging and trans-shipment of byproducts, and recycling of materials.
(iii) Examples. Examples include waste composting, energy recovery plants, recycling centers, and hazardous-waste-collection sites.
(iv) Exceptions.
(A) Disposal of clean fill, as defined in OAR 340-093-0030, is considered a fill, not a waste-related use.
(B) Sewer pipes that serve a development are considered a basic utility.
(C) Landfills are not included in the waste-related, recycling use category.
(e) Wholesale Sales.
(i) Characteristics. Wholesale sales firms are involved in the sale, lease, or rent of products primarily intended for industrial, institutional, or commercial businesses. The uses emphasize on-site sales or order taking and often include display areas. Businesses may or may not be open to the general public, but sales to the general public are limited as a result of the way in which the firm operates. Products may be picked up on site or delivered to the customer.
(ii) Accessory Uses. Accessory uses may include offices, product repair, warehouses, minor fabrication services, and repackaging of goods.
(iii) Examples. Examples include sale or rental of machinery, equipment, heavy trucks, building materials, special trade tools, welding supplies, machine parts, electrical supplies, janitorial supplies, restaurant equipment, and store fixtures; mail order houses; and wholesalers of food, clothing, auto parts, building hardware, and office supplies.
(iv) Exceptions.
(A) Firms that engage primarily in sales to the general public are classified as retail sales and service.
(B) Firms that engage in sales on a membership basis are classified as either retail sales and service or wholesale sales, based on a consideration of characteristics of the use and the customer traffic generated.
(C) Firms that are primarily storing goods with little on-site business activity are classified as warehouse, freight movement, and distribution. (Ord. 1408, § 1 (Exh. A), May 2, 2023.)