Legal Documents of Sweetwater

This district is a light industrial district established to accommodate wholesale, warehouse, storage, research and development, and manufacturing activities whose external effects are restricted to the site and have no detrimental effects on the surrounding area. Land zoned for such purposes shall be free of environmental limitations, such as floodplains, steep slopes, sinkholes, and wetlands. Within the M-1 General industrial district, as shown on the "Zoning Map Sweetwater, Tennessee," the following regulations and other applicable provisions of this zoning code shall apply.

1. Uses permitted.
   
   1. Vehicle, farm implement and machinery, recreational vehicle, boat, and equipment service, repair, and/or rental establishments.
   2. Building supply sales.
   3. Gasoline service stations, provided the conditions in § 14-408 are met.
   4. Public utilities, including offices, other buildings, storage areas, and warehousing facilities.
   5. Business services.
   6. Public works facilities.
   7. Public safety facilities.
   8. Vehicle operations facilities.
   9. Solar farms.
   10. Office warehouses.
   11. Self-service storage facilities (mini-warehouses), provided the conditions in § 14-416 are met.
   12. Wholesale establishments.
   13. Warehouse and distribution.
   14. Storage yards, provided such yards are screened from public rights-of-way.
   15. Research, development, and/or testing laboratories/facilities.
   16. Artisan-related crafts and industrial processes that are more intensive uses, such as small-scale metalworking, glassblowing, furniture making, and small-scale food production that includes preparation, processing, canning, or packaging of food products.
   17. The fabrication, compounding, assembly, processing, repair, manufacturing, packaging, and/or treatment of finished or semi-finished materials and products from previously prepared material or materials, where all operations, including storage of materials and finished goods, are contained within closed buildings. Such facilities shall not require frequent visits from customers or clients.
   18. An ancillary dwelling unit primarily meant for security purposes, provided it is incorporated into the principal building and meets all adopted building and fire codes.
   19. Accessory uses, provided the conditions in § 14-402 are met.
2. Performance standards. All uses must comply with the performance standards established in this section unless a federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation establishes a more restrictive standard, in which case, the more restrictive standard applies.
   
   1. Noise. No equipment, machinery, processes, or heating/air condition systems shall generate excessive noise levels that can be heard on nearby properties.
   2. Glare and heat. No glare or heat from the activity or operation shall be detectable at any point off the lot on which the use is located. Flickering or intense sources of light shall be controlled or shielded so as to not cause a nuisance across lot lines.
   3. Vibration. No earthborn vibration from the operation of any use may be detectable at any point off the lot on which the use is located.
   4. Dust and air pollution. Dust, noxious smells, and other types of air pollution, borne by the wind from sources within lot boundaries, shall be kept to a minimum by appropriate landscape, screening, sheltering, paving, fencing, wetting, collecting, or other acceptable means.
   5. Storage and use. The use and storage of caustic chemicals is prohibited. The storage of flammable chemicals is prohibited.
   6. Discharge and disposal of radioactive and hazardous waste. The discharge of fluid and the disposal of solid radioactive and hazardous waste material must comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws, and regulations governing such material or waste. Radioactive and hazardous material waste must be transported, stored, and used in conformance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
   7. Electromagnetic interference. Electromagnetic interference from any operation of any use must not adversely affect the operation of any equipment located off the lot on which such interference originates.
   8. Odors. The production of noxious odors is prohibited. Any condition or operation which results in the creation of odors of such intensity and character as to be detrimental to the public health and welfare, or which interferes unreasonably with the comfort of the public, must be removed, stopped, or modified so as to remove the odor.
   9. Fire and explosion hazards. Materials that present potential fire and explosion hazards must be transported, stored, and used only in conformance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
3. Area regulations. Buildings and other structures, except fences and signs, shall be located so as to comply with the following requirements.
   
   1. Land area. The minimum lot area shall be two (2) acres.
   2. Front yard. The minimum depth of the front yard shall be twenty feet (20'). Loading docks shall be set back a minimum of thirty feet (30').
   3. Side yard. The minimum depth of the side yard shall be twenty feet (20'). Loading docks shall be set back a minimum of thirty feet (30'). When the side yard abuts a railroad or a rail spur line, there shall be no setback.
   4. Rear yard. The minimum depth of the rear yard shall be twenty feet (20'). Loading docks shall be set back a minimum of thirty feet (30'). When the rear yard abuts a railroad or a rail spur line, there shall be no setback.
   5. Buffer strips. Buffer strips shall be provided per the landscape ordinance.
   6. General lot restrictions. More than one (1) principal building may be permitted on a single lot provided that all applicable building setbacks and parking requirements are met.
4. Access. No industrial use shall access a residential street.
5. Height regulations. No portion of a building intended for human occupancy shall exceed three (3) stories and/or thirty-five feet (35') in height.
6. Off-street parking. As regulated in §§ 14-404, 14-405, and the landscape ordinance. (Ord. #723, Aug. 2000, modified, as replaced by Ord. #984, Dec. 2020 Ch7_02-07-22)