16-38 Flexible Use District, City of Nashua
Land Use Code - City of Nashua, New Hampshire (full code, 2.8MB  )
Article III, Zoning
Division 3, Overlay Districts
16-38 Flexible Use District
Purpose: The flexible use district is an overlay zone as depicted on a conceptual plan entitled "Conceptual Plan, Main Dunstable Road, Nashua, New Hampshire," dated February 15, 1997, at a scale of 1" = 200' prepared for Terra Verde, 20 Trafalgar Square, Nashua, NH, as amended ("plan"), and on file at the community development division of the City of Nashua. The flexible use overlay district shall also encompass the land shown on a conceptual plan entitled "Concept Plan, Ridge Road, Nashua, New Hampshire" dated November 12, 2001, at a scale of 1" = 150' prepared for Lamsco Holdings, L.L.C., 84 Lake Street, Nashua, NH (the "Lamsco Plan")", on file at the community development division of the City of Nashua, with the provision that said concept plan describe eighty-two (82) new housing units and one (1) existing housing unit. The flexible use district is developed as an innovative land use control pursuant to RSA 674:21,I(i). It is designed to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the community. The flexible use district is further intended to promote the goals, objectives and strategies of the City of Nashua's duly adopted master plan, capital improvements program and its charter and ordinances, and thereby effectuates legitimate public purposes and facilitates the orderly growth and development of the city consistent with the needs of citizens.
The flexible use district permits multiple, coordinated uses in an integrated concept development plan, and provides for open space, wetland protection and recreational opportunities.
(a) Permitted uses
(1) Single-family residential Single-family residential development shall be permitted in Phases I-VIII as depicted on the plan in a number not to exceed two hundred [sic] (250) units. Single-family residential development shall be permitted as depicted on the Lamsco Plan in a number not to exceed eighty-two (82) units.
(2) Mixed-use village area
A. Purpose: A mixed-use village area will be permitted as depicted on the plan and will be developed in conformity with the traditional New England architectural style. The mixed-use village area is intended to house retail facilities that primarily serve the needs of the surrounding residential neighborhoods.
B. Design standards: All structures erected in the mixed-use village area shall be designed in keeping with the "Hall's Corner Architectural Design Review, Procedure and Guidelines," dated February, 1987, and as may be amended from time to time by the Nashua Planning Board.
C. Permitted Uses: The following uses developed shall be permitted in the mixed use village area as depicted on the plan. All uses not listed here, or in the conditional use subsection (4) below, shall be prohibited.
i. Elderly housing units.
ii. Retail establishment selling general merchandise including but not limited to food, drugs, dry goods, apparel and accessories, gifts, flowers, books, periodicals, jewelry, tobacco, toys and crafts, stationery, antiques.
iii. Miscellaneous professional and business offices and services including but not limited to legal and other professional services, and finance, insurance, real estate offices, banks, ATM and other financial institutions.
iv. Personal service establishments including but not limited to hair styling, tailoring, shoe repair, laundromat and dry cleaning establishments or similar uses.
v. Eating and drinking establishments including but not limited to restaurants, coffee shop, delicatessen, bagel, pizza and sandwich shops where consumption is primarily on the premises, but specifically excluding establishments offering drive-through, curbside or other similar food service, or where, consumption is frequently in automobiles or offpremises.
vi. Private day care nursery.
vii. Quasi-commercial, civic and institutional uses including but not limited to studios for art, dance, music and photography, churches, libraries and post offices.
viii. Farm stands and agricultural uses.
ix. Any type of municipal facility or activity.
(3) Accessory uses
Accessory uses typically associated with the above principal uses shall be allowed with the approval of the Planning Board at the time of site plan review.
(4) Conditional uses
The uses listed in this section shall be considered conditional uses, subject to approval by the Planning Board per the provisions of RSA 674:21, "Innovative Land Use Controls." In order for the conditional uses to be permitted, the Planning Board must determine that the proposed use complies with the statement of purpose of this section and meets all of the provisions of the flexible use overlay district.
A. With the approval of the conservation commission, dispensing of automotive fuel, with no more than four (4) fuel filling locations.
B. Medical, dental and veterinary offices.
C. Indoor amusement and recreation service, including but not limited to health club, fitness center and recreation facilities, limited to no more than three (3) coin-operated amusement devices.
D. Funeral homes.
E. Greenhouses.
(b) Signs/mixed-use district
The mixed-use village area shall have a uniform sign criteria, submitted with the site plan and approved by the Nashua Planning Board as a condition of approval of the site plan, that shall conform, at a minimum, to the local business (LB) zoning district, as described in Article III, Division 9. Internally illuminated signs are prohibited.
(c) Hours of operation
All commercial and other enterprises within the mixed-use village area shall be limited to the following hours of operation: 5:00 a.m. -- 11:00 p.m. The Planning Board may further restrict the hours of operation of individual businesses, based upon anticipated usage, at the time of site plan approval.
(d) Residential property dimensional requirements
(1) Single-family dwellings shall conform to the following requirements in lieu of §16-27:
| Single-Family Dwellings |
Setback Requirement |
| Minimum lot area |
9,000 square feet |
| Minimum side yard |
10 feet |
| Minimum rear yard |
25 feet |
| Minimum front yard |
25 feet |
| Minimum lot width |
75 feet |
| Minimum lot depth |
90 feet |
| Accessory structures |
6 feet from all lot lines |
(2) Dwellings shall be sited with a variety of setbacks to prevent the row house effect.
(3) There shall be no more than sixty (60) elderly housing units included in the development.
(e) Non-residential lot and area requirements
The minimum lot area and yard requirements shall generally follow the conceptual plan. The exact lot area and dimensional requirements, along with access to the lots, shall be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board. There may be only one (1) retail establishment selling general merchandise, as defined in paragraph (a) (2) (c) ii. of section 16-38, with a gross floor area of up to twenty thousand (20,000) square feet. A church may also have up to twenty (20,000) square feet of gross floor area. All other establishments within the mixed-use village area shall have no more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet of gross floor area. The total gross floor area of all structures in the mixed-use village area shall not exceed eighty thousand (80,000) square feet.
(f) Open space requirements
At least thirty (30) percent of the total tract area depicted on the plan shall be dedicated as open space. Said open space shall be deeded to the City of Nashua to be used for public purposes including a greenway system of public trails as depicted on the plan and placement of utilities. The trail network within the greenway will be established prior to the issuance of any occupancy permits for dwelling units within each approved phase. The city shall use, maintain and preserve these open space areas in their existing condition except for development of trails. One hundred twenty-five (125) feet of open space shall be provided along all frontage on Ridge Road, and all existing foundations shall be removed from this area.
(g) Street and utility requirements
The following requirements shall supersede Article V, Division 10 where applicable:
(1) Non-collector, residential streets may be twenty-four (24) feet in width with prior Planning Board approval. If the road width is reduced, the Planning Board may waive the requirement for curbing and closed drainage.
(2) Public rights-of-way shall be (50) feet.
(3) The Planning Board may require speed reduction or traffic calming devices as it deems necessary.
(4) The Board of Aldermen may accept streets pursuant to NRO §19-34.
(5) The Planning Board may require that cul-de-sacs be teardrop in shape, to facilitate snow plowing or for any other reason.
(6) All utilities shall be provided via underground connections.
(h) Submission and approval
Site plans submitted under the flexible use overlay district shall meet the requirements Article IV, Division 5 (Site Plan Procedures) of the Nashua Revised Ordinances, and those elements of §16-435 deemed appropriate by the planning director. Development of the Lamsco Holdings concept plan shall be in at least three (3) phases of not more than thirty (30) units per phase.
(i) Administration
(1) The Administrative Officer or his designee is authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of this Section. Any decision verbal or written in the application of this Section by the Administrative Officer may be appealed to the Planning Board whose decision is final unless appealed to superior court. The Administrative Officer shall determine the applicable date of constructive notice from which an aggrieved party has twenty (20) days to file a written appeal to the Planning Board. The Planning Board shall follow its adopted bylaws in processing applications. As an innovative land use control, any waiver of the terms, uses and dimensional requirements of this Section shall be submitted to the Planning Board who has been delegated the authority to decide waivers based on the criteria established in §16-437. Applications for waivers and the notification of abutters and the public of the application for variance shall be subject to the provisions of §16-437. Waiver decisions by the Planning Board are final unless appealed to superior court.
(2) The Planning Board, in determining the acceptability of proposed site plans within the Flexible Use District shall have the authority to modify the dimensional, density, and other regulations of the underlying districts in accordance with the criteria for such modification set forth for the “D” Downtown district in §16-31, subject to the restriction that the dimensional specifications set forth in this division, and any other provision of this division which is in conflict with the provisions of §16-31 shall supersede the provisions of §16-31.
(3) All applicable fees for submittal of site plans and subdivision plans shall apply.
(j) Repealing conflicting provisions of Ord. No. O-88-05.
Adoption of this Ord. No. 97-151 hereby repeals and fully supersedes Ord. No. O-88-05 in its entirety, along with all of its conditions and stipulations, except for the Hall's Corner Sewer Agreement, which will be addressed separately. The mayor of Nashua is authorized to execute such documents as Corporation Counsel deems necessary to extinguish or remove any agreements of record which were executed as part of ordinance O-88-05. |
