621 Commercial Office C-O District—Restricted Commercial

Section 621. Commercial Office C-O District—Restricted Commercial.

A. Purpose. The C-O, Commercial Office, Restricted Commercial District, is intended to provide office use as an appropriate transition between intense commercial activities and nearby residential uses. Due to the variety, scale and intensity of office development, this district has been established with a General Office and Major Office option. Specific performance standards to mitigate negative impacts of office development, including standards for screening of mechanical equipment, parking lot screening, parking lot lighting, vehicular access and landscaping will be required at the time of development review approval.

B. Regulations. Except as herein provided, the regulations for property zoned C-O pursuant to an application filed prior to January 8, 1986, shall be as follows:

1. Permitted uses.

a. Adult day care center; provided, that:

(1) Outdoor recreation areas shall be screened from adjacent properties by a six-foot-high landscape hedge, solid fence, or solid wall.

b. Office for professional use. When the professional use is a medical center, a pharmacy and/or snack bar may be permitted in conjunction therewith; provided, that the center consists of offices, occupied by at least ten doctors. Such snack bar may have accommodations for the concurrent service of ten patrons for the first ten doctors and may accommodate one additional patron for each additional four doctors over ten. In no event shall there be accommodations for the concurrent service of over thirty patrons. The entrance to said pharmacy or snack bar shall be from within the exterior walls of the building only, and no sign or display shall be located so as to be visible from a public thoroughfare or adjacent property.

The dispensing of ophthalmic materials is permitted providing that the entrance shall be from within the exterior walls of the building only, and that no sign or display be located so as to be visible from a public thoroughfare or adjacent property.

Medical office uses include the following, but are not limited to the following, surgi-centers, dialysis centers and urgent care centers, so long as there are no overnight stays.

c. Offices wherein administrative, clerical, call centers, paperwork delivery services, or sales services only are rendered; provided, that other than regular office books, records, and papers used in connection with rendering said office service, no commodity or tangible personal property, either by way of inventory or sample, shall be stored, kept, or exhibited in any said office or on the premises wherein the said office is located.

d. Offices for the following: banks, building and loan associations, brokerage houses, savings and loan associations, finance companies, title insurance companies, trust companies and safe deposit companies.

e. Veterinary offices, subject to a use permit. Such offices shall be so constructed and operated as to prevent objectionable noise and odor outside the walls of the office. There shall be no boarding or keeping of animals except for short periods of observation incidental to care.

f. No accessory uses shall be permitted in this district except the following:

(1) Surface parking. Above- and below-grade parking structures may be permitted subject to development review approval, if required by the City.

(2) Medical and dental laboratories in excess of 3,200 square feet shall be permitted only upon securing a use permit; and provided, that the entrance shall be only from within the interior walls of the building.

g. Facilities and storage incidental to a construction project and located on the project site.

h. Cafeteria/restaurant as an accessory use, subject to meeting the following requirements.

(1) Minimum gross lot size of five acres and minimum 50,000 square feet of gross leasable office space in the complex.

(2) Primary access to the site must be from an arterial street as defined on the Street Classification Map.

(3) Use shall be incorporated into an office building as an accessory use and shall not be a stand-alone building.

(4) Use shall not exceed a total of 15 percent of the gross leasable area of the total office complex.

(5) Sales of alcoholic beverages shall be permitted as an accessory use to the cafeteria/restaurant only upon conformance with the following conditions:

(a) Securing a use permit in accordance with the provisions of Section 307.

(b) Approval by the Zoning Administrator or the Board of Adjustment of a specific floor plan for the cafeteria/restaurant facility, detailing areas where alcohol may be served.

(6) Outdoor dining and alcoholic beverage consumption subject to the terms of Sections 621.B.1.h(5)(a), B.1.h(5)(b) and B.1.h(5)(c) shall be permitted as accessory uses to the cafeteria/restaurant only upon securing a use permit in accordance with the provisions of Section 307.

(7) Signage shall only be permitted as part of an approved comprehensive sign plan pursuant to Section 705.

i. Volunteer community blood center qualifying by law as a nonprofit entity, subject to a use permit.

j. In C-O complexes containing common access and parking, with gross leasable area of two hundred thousand square feet or more, limited incidental retail uses including gift shops, flower shops, snack bars, pharmacy, as accessory uses conducted for the convenience of the employees, patients, patrons, or visitors on the premises wholly within a principal building subject to a use permit.

(1) The entrance to said accessory use shall be from within the exterior walls of the building only.

(2) No sign or other external evidence of said accessory use shall be visible from a public thoroughfare or adjacent property.

(3) No individual use described herein shall exceed one thousand square feet of gross leasing area in the complex.

(4) The sum of the gross leasable area of all such establishments shall not exceed one percent of the total areas of the C-O development.

(5) The provisions of (1), (2), (3) or (4) shall not be varied by the Zoning Administrator or the Board of Adjustment.

k. Reserved.

l. Schools: business, data processing, insurance, private real estate, stenographic and general curriculum private schools.

m. Copying and reproduction center.

n. Public utility buildings and facilities when necessary for serving the surrounding territory. Repair and/or storage facilities, including outdoor, subject to a use permit.

o. Radio, television broadcasting stations and sound laboratories without live performances.

p. Churches or similar places of worship, including parish houses, parsonages, rectories, and convents and dormitories with no more than ten residents accessory thereto, except temporary revival tents or buildings. Athletic activities in conjunction with the above and on the same lot or contiguous lots may be permitted. Bingo may be operated as an accessory use on the premises of the church when conducted no more than two days a week.

Fundraising events located on the same lot or contiguous lots shall be permitted, subject to the following requirements:

(a) The sponsoring, organizing, and benefiting entities shall be nonprofit or religious organizations, and the event shall be in compliance with any applicable provisions of Chapter 30, Solicitations [sic], of the Phoenix City Code:

(b) Events held entirely within a building or buildings shall not be further regulated; however, events to be conducted wholly or in part outdoors shall be subject to the following additional conditions:

(1) All elements of the event shall be a minimum of fifty feet from any residential building.

(2) The event shall not be conducted between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

(3) The event shall not be conducted in such a manner as to reduce the number of parking spaces required for any normal functions of the primary use which are held during the event.

(4) Lighting shall be so placed as to reflect the light away from adjacent residences.

(c) Pocket shelters as accessory uses to churches or similar places of worship, subject to the following standards (and applicable Maricopa County and City of Phoenix Health and Safety Regulations):

(1) A pocket shelter shall house no more than twelve unrelated persons. A pocket shelter may house up to twenty unrelated persons upon approval of a use permit in accordance with the procedures and standards of Section 307 of this Ordinance. Minors (age eighteen years or younger) accompanied by a parent or a guardian shall not be counted in the number of unrelated persons.

(2) The church or similar place of worship shall be located on an arterial or collector street as defined on the street classification map. A shelter at a church or similar place of worship which is not on an arterial or collector street shall be permitted upon approval of a use permit in accordance with the procedures and provisions of Section 307 of this Ordinance.

(3) The church or similar place of worship shall provide on-site supervision of shelter residents at all times that two or more unrelated residents are at the shelter.

(4) Drug, alcohol, other substance abuse, or mental health rehabilitation programs shall not be allowed as part of the shelter services. This provision shall not prevent the church or similar place of worship from referring shelter residents to other appropriate programs at the church or similar place of worship or elsewhere, e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, which are not part of the shelter services.

(5) Shelter residents shall not possess alcohol, weapons, or illegal drugs at the shelter.

(6) Open areas surrounding pocket shelter structures shall be screened from view from abutting and/or adjoining properties by hedges, trees, other landscaping, or walls.

(7) Pocket shelter structures shall not have direct access to abutting and/or adjoining properties.

(8) Pocket shelters shall be housed in permanent structures rather than in tents or other similar temporary structures.

(9) A church or similar place of worship shall house no more than one pocket shelter.

q. Schools Fundraising events located on the same lot or contiguous lots shall be permitted, subject to the requirements set forth in Section 621.B.1.q.

r. Medical and dental laboratories less than 3,200 square feet; provided, that the entrance shall be only from within the interior walls of the building.

2. Yard, area, and height requirements.

a. No lot shall hereafter be subdivided to provide less than six thousand square feet of lot area nor to have a width of less than sixty feet nor a depth of less than ninety-four feet. (See also Section 701.)

b. There shall be a front yard having a depth of not less than twenty feet.

c. There shall be two side yards each having a width of not less than five feet except as provided in Section 701

d. There shall be a rear yard having a depth of not less than fifteen feet which depth may be measured from the centerline of any existing sixteen-foot or wider rear alley or from what would be the centerline of a full sixteen-foot or wider rear alley where only a one-half or partial alley exists.

e. The buildings on a lot shall not occupy more than fifty percent of the area of the lot.

f. The height of the buildings shall be regulated as follows:

(1) No building shall exceed a height of fifty-six feet.

(2) The Planning and Development Director, Commission, or City Council may restrict a building height to less than fifty-six feet.

(3) Neither the Zoning Administrator nor the Board of Adjustment shall have jurisdiction to vary this provision.

3. Development review approval. A site plan approved in accordance with Section 507 of this ordinance is required for all uses.

C. The regulations for property zoned C-O pursuant to an application filed after January 8, 1986, and for those properties meeting the requirements set forth below shall be as follows:

1. General Office option (G-O). The G-O, General Office option is intended to provide office use with limited customer service activities confined to the interior of the development. The G-O, General Office option will require performance criteria similar to the Residential Office District to mitigate the impacts of the commercial development.

a. Permitted uses.

(1) All uses listed in Residential Office District, except residential uses.

(2) Offices for financial institutions, title insurance, trust companies, and safe deposit companies.

(3) Veterinary offices. The building and use shall be constructed and operated as to prevent objectionable noise and odor outside the walls of the office. No boarding or keeping of animals is permitted, except for short periods of observation necessary for medical care.

(4) Government offices.

(5) Storage incidental to a construction project located on the project site.

(6) Schools. Business, data processing, insurance, private real estate, stenographic and general curriculum private schools. Dependent care facilities are permitted as an accessory use to any school permitted pursuant to this provision.

(7) Radio, television broadcasting stations, and sound laboratories without live performances.

b. Accessory uses.

(1) Surface parking.

(2) Open carport structures and parking structures.

(3) The following accessory uses are permitted when the entrance to the use is from within the exterior walls of the building only, and no signs or displays are located so as to be visible from a public thoroughfare or adjacent property:

(a) A pharmacy and/or snack bar may be permitted in conjunction with an office use, provided that the use does not exceed a maximum of one thousand square feet.

(b) Dispensing of ophthalmic materials in conjunction with medical or dental office use.

(d) Cafeteria (only for employees within office complex). Provided it does not exceed one percent of the total gross leasable area of the office complex.

(e) Limited inventory of product samples for display and storage provided that there are no on-site retail sales and the sum of the gross floor area devoted to product display and storage shall not exceed five percent of the total gross leasable area of the office complex or ten thousand square feet, whichever is less.

(f) Health/recreation facility (only for employees within office complex). Provided that the sum of the gross floor area devoted to health/recreation facilities shall not exceed five percent [of] the total gross leasable area of the office complex.

(4) The sum total of the gross leasable area devoted to the allowed accessory uses shall not exceed five percent [of] the total gross leasable area of the office complex.

(5) Accessory uses exceeding five percent of the gross leasable area shall require use permit approval, not to exceed a maximum of ten percent of the gross leasable area of the office complex.

Neither the Zoning Administrator nor the Board of Adjustment has the authority to vary this provision of the Zoning Ordinance.

(6) Microwave antennas are permitted with a use permit if the diameter of the dish is more than one and one-half meters and the structures are no higher than twenty-five feet above natural grade. This shall not permit the outdoor display of a microwave antenna for sale, lease, or rental purposes.

2. Major Office options (M-O). The M-O, Major Office option is intended to provide an option for large corporate office complexes with the primary use of office and an array of support retail and customer services which will improve and enhance the function of the commercial office development without jeopardizing the stability of adjacent neighborhoods.

a. Permitted uses.

(1) General Office option uses.

(2) The following uses are permitted in an M-O option development containing common access and parking with fifty thousand square feet or more gross leasable area of office area:

(a) Health/recreation facility open to public not to exceed five percent of the total gross leasable area of the office complex.

(b) Cafeteria/restaurants as an accessory use, subject to meeting the following requirements:

(i) Use shall be incorporated into an office building as an accessory use and shall not be a stand-alone building.

(ii) Use shall not exceed a total of 15 percent of the gross leasable area of the total office complex.

(iii) Sales of alcoholic beverages shall be permitted as an accessory use upon conformance with the following conditions:

A. Securing of a use permit in accordance with the provisions of Section 307.

B. Approval by the Zoning Administrator or the Board of Adjustment of a specific floor plan for the cafeteria/restaurant facility detailing areas where alcohol may be served.

C. All alcoholic beverages shall be sold and consumed only on the cafeteria/restaurant premises.

(iv) Outdoor dining and alcoholic beverage consumption subject to the terms of Sections 621.C.2.a(2)(b)(iii)(A), C.2.a(2)(b)(iii)(B), and C.2.a(2)(b)(iii)(C) shall be permitted as accessory uses to the cafeteria/restaurant upon securing a use permit in accordance with the provisions of Section 307.

(v) Signage shall only be permitted as part of a comprehensive sign plan pursuant to Section 705.

(c) Day care center not to exceed five thousand square feet of the gross leasable area of the office complex. Outdoor playgrounds and facilities will be reviewed at the time of development review approval for attenuation of noise and proper location.

(d) Copying and reproduction center, subject to a use permit.

(b) Accessory uses.

(1) Accessory uses listed in the G-O option.

(2) Conference center in conjunction with an individual tenant or for the purpose of serving the entire office complex.

(3) In M-O complexes containing common access and parking and with gross leasable area of two hundred thousand square feet or more, limited incidental retail uses including gift shops, flower shops, snack bars, pharmacy, office supplies, shoe repair and travel bureaus as accessory uses conducted for the convenience of the employees, patients, patrons or visitors on the premises, wholly within a principal building:

(a) The entrance to said accessory use shall be from within the exterior walls of the building only.

(b) No sign or other external evidence of said accessory use shall be visible from a public thoroughfare or adjacent property.

(d) The sum of the gross leasable areas of all such establishments shall not exceed one percent of the total gross leasable area of the M-O development.

(4) The total of the gross leasable areas of all accessory uses permitted herein and those listed in the G-O option shall not exceed fifteen percent of the total gross leasable area of the office complex.

3. Yard, height and area requirements. The following performance criteria provide for the minimum standards by which the Site Planning Division will review a site plan for office use. These minimum requirements are intended to provide a basis for Site Planning Division review and may be modified to achieve compatibility with existing land uses and reasonable transition between residential and intense commercial land uses.

a. General office option.

(1) Gross lot area shall be not less than one acre.

(2) No accessory uses allowed within the front yard of the development.

(3) There shall be a front yard having a depth of not less than twenty feet with no maneuvering or parking permitted in the front yard of the development, except for ingress and egress to allowable parking areas.

(4) Minimum side yard setbacks of ten feet for new construction or setbacks in conformance with existing structures for those which are to remain.

(a) Street and canal right-of-way yards used for access to allowable parking (access provided between the main structure and the street or canal right-of-way): a minimum twenty-foot driveway aisle is required with a minimum five-foot landscaping strip on private property separating the driveway aisle from the street or canal right-of-way to include a screen wall or landscaping.

(5) A rear yard setback having a depth of not less than twenty-five feet which depth may be measured from the centerline of any existing sixteen-foot or wider rear alley or from what would be the centerline of a full sixteen-foot or wider rear alley where only a one-half or partial alley exists.

There shall be no maneuvering or parking permitted in the rear yard setback of the development when adjacent to a canal right-of-way, except for ingress or egress to allowable parking areas. Such ingress and egress shall not be within a ten-foot-wide setback adjacent to the canal bank right-of-way.

(6) Lot coverage exclusive of carports shall not exceed forty percent of the net lot area. Open carports shall not exceed ten percent of the net lot area and shall not be counted towards lot coverage.

(7) Building height is limited to twenty-five feet. Height is measured from natural grade or as from grade approved by the Site Planning Division. Requests to exceed the above height limit may be granted up to three stories not to exceed forty-two feet by the City Council upon recommendation from the Planning Commission or zoning hearing officer upon a finding that such additional height is not detrimental to adjacent property or the public welfare in general and subject to the following requirements:

(a) An additional one foot of front, rear and side yard setback shall be provided for each additional one foot of additional height granted.

(b) Front and street side setbacks shall be landscaped and maintained, including twenty-four-inch box size, drought-resistant shade trees spaced twenty feet on center or as approved by the Site Planning Division. Neither the Zoning Administrator nor the Board of Adjustment has the jurisdiction to vary this provision of the Zoning Ordinance.

(8) Access to site is to be from an arterial or collector street as defined on the street classification map, except within high intensity areas as defined in the interim 1985 plan or other superseding, adopted plans.

b. Major office option.

(1) Gross lot area shall be not less than five acres.

(2) There shall be a minimum twenty-foot-deep landscaped yard setback adjacent to perimeter streets and canal rights-of-way with landscaped area equal to at least thirty times the linear frontage for each street or canal. No maneuvering or parking is permitted in these areas except for ingress and egress to allowable parking areas. Such ingress and egress shall not be within a ten-foot-wide setback adjacent to the canal right-of-way.

(3) No accessory uses are allowed within the landscaped yard setbacks adjacent to public streets. Accessory retail uses oriented to canal bank users are allowed within the landscaped yard setbacks adjacent to canal rights-of-way if access is provided from the canal rights-of-way subject to obtaining a use permit in accordance with the provisions of Section 307 of the Zoning Ordinance.

(4) Minimum interior side yard setbacks of ten feet for new construction or setbacks in conformance with existing structures for those which are to remain.

(5) A rear yard setback having a depth of not less than ten feet which depth shall be measured from the property line.

(6) Lot coverage shall not exceed fifty percent of the net lot areas.

(7) Building height is limited to twenty-five feet at the minimum rear and side yard setbacks within seventy-five feet of a single-family residential district. Height is measured from natural grade or from grade approved by the Site Planning Division. Such height may be increased with additional setback by providing three feet additional setback for each one foot in height to a maximum building height of four stories not to exceed fifty-six feet. A maximum building height of four stories not to exceed fifty-six feet is permitted adjacent to all other zoning districts. Neither the Zoning Administrator nor the Board of Adjustment has the jurisdiction to vary this provision of the Zoning Ordinance.

(8) Access to site is to be from an arterial street, as defined on the street classification map, except within high intensity areas as defined in the interim 1985 plan or other superseding, adopted plans.

4. General provisions.

a. Office development approval pursuant to an application filed prior to January 8, 1986, shall comply with a previously approved site plan and any stipulations imposed in conjunction with the rezoning of the property.

b. An office project which is developed in conformance with Section 621.B shall be considered to be a conforming use.

c. Any office development which conforms to the requirements of Section 621.C in the downtown area bounded by Seventh Street to Seventh Avenue and Harrison Street to McDowell Road, which is combined with High-Rise Zoning (H-R or H-R1) shall comply with the following:

(1) The applicable standards of the M-O option will apply, with the exception of lot area, for properties with approval for office development zoned pursuant to an application filed prior to January 8, 1986, but no official approval of a site plan by the Site Planning Division has occurred.

(2) Office development approval pursuant to an application filed prior to January 8, 1986, shall comply with a previously approved site plan and any stipulations imposed in conjunction with the rezoning of the property.

(3) An office project which is developed in conformance with Section 621.B shall be considered to be a conforming use.

d. In granting a rezoning application for C-O zoning, the Planning Commission may recommend and the City Council may specify that development be in accord with one of the development options within this section.

e. All office developments to be developed under the regulations of this section will require development review approval subject to the provisions of Section 507 of the Zoning Ordinance.

f. Upon final development review approval, a supplementary map which designates the office development option selected shall be adopted. All subsequent development shall be in accordance with the standards for such option unless an amendment in accordance with Section 506.A of the Zoning Ordinance is approved.

g. Any property zoned C-O pursuant to an application filed prior to January 8, 1986, may develop pursuant to the regulations set forth in Section 621.C. Upon development review approval, the requirements of Section 621.C.4.f will apply. (Ord. No. G-3448, 1991; Ord. No. G-3465, 1991; Ord. No. G-3480, 1991; Ord. No. G-3490, 1992; Ord. No. G-3524, 1992; Ord. No. G-4039, 1997; Ord. No. G-4041, 1997; Ord. No. G-4059, 1997; Ord. No. G-4109, 1998; Ord. No. G-4154, 1999; Ord. No. G-4816, 2006; Ord. No. G-5243, 2008; Ord. No. G-5329, 2009; Ord. No. G-5561, 2010; Ord. No. G-5641, 2011; Ord. No. G-5703, 2012; Ord. No. G-5743, 2012; Ord. No. G-6331, 2017)