§ 48-378. Cottage courts.

Cottage courts are permitted as a conditional use in the CR and C-2 zoning districts, provided the following requirements and conditions are met:

(a)

Location. Cottage courts shall only be located on properties with frontage on NC 12 or SR 1243 or on properties east of NC 12 or SR 1243.

(b)

Size and arrangement. Individual dwelling units must be designed and arranged for occupancy by one family operating as a housekeeping unit and shall contain at least 500 but no more than 2,000 square feet of gross floor area. One structure may be up to 5,000 square feet if it is combined with on-site management or another complementary accessory or principal use. Each cottage court unit shall contain separate sleeping, bathing and living areas.

(c)

Architectural design.

(1)

Individual units must receive at least 75 architectural design points based on the criteria established in the Town of Nags Head Residential Design Guidelines (See Appendix A).

(2)

Individual cottages shall not contain more than 1½ stories. At least one-third of the cottage court units shall not exceed one story.

(3)

Dwelling units shall meet the minimum roof pitch requirements established in the Town of Nags Head Residential Design Guidelines.

(4)

Dwelling units shall not contain enclosed attached or detached garages but may contain an open parking area underneath the structure. However, an owner or on-site manager living on the property may have one garage or shed serving their individual unit or living quarters.

(5)

Cottages shall be oriented towards a common open space or shared drive aisle.

(d)

Density. Cottage courts shall contain at least three but not more than ten individual dwelling units.

(e)

Building separation and setbacks. Dwelling units shall be separated from one another by a minimum of ten feet, including projections. Dwelling units shall have a minimum 15-foot front yard setback, eight-foot side yard setback, and 25-foot rear yard setback.

(f)

Minimum lot size. Cottage court lots must be at least 20,000 square feet in area.

(g)

Lot coverage. The lot coverage shall not exceed 55 percent. When performing lot coverage calculations, the residential lot coverage calculation sheet included with the site development application, as amended, shall be completed and submitted for review and approval.

(1)

Permeable pavement:

a.

For the purposes of determining lot coverage, the total square footage of permeable pavement materials is multiplied by 0.67.

b.

Permeable pavement materials include porous concrete, permeable interlocking concrete pavers, concrete grid pavers, Turfstone ^TM , and other proven technologies available as covered in the NC Best Management Practices Manual and as approved by the town engineer for appropriateness to the site and existing conditions. Porous concrete shall be designed and installed in accordance with ACI specifications, or equivalent standard, with hydrological, operation and maintenance considerations. Installation shall be conducted by a contractor certified in the installation of the type of pavement system chosen.

c.

The town encourages use of pervious materials and new technologies that provide for safe and efficient driveway and parking areas and that appropriately address stormwater runoff issues. A minimum of 20 percent of the surface area of the parking area and drive aisles shall be constructed using permeable surface materials, unless it can be demonstrated that a topographic or hydrologic constraint exists that would limit its use and effectiveness.

d.

No porous concrete shall be used east of NC 1243 (South Old Oregon Inlet Road) or NC 12 (South Virginia Dare Trail). Compacted gravel shall not be considered permeable pavement.

(2)

In the case of an oceanfront lot, only that area landward of the first line of stable natural vegetation or static vegetation line (as defined by CAMA) shall be used for calculating lot coverage. Where an oceanfront lot has little or no stable natural vegetation, the line of such vegetation shall be a line extending between the nearest such vegetation existing north and south of the lot.

(h)

Driveway access. Each dwelling unit shall have access to a shared accessway. The shared accessway must be designed to a minimum width of 20 feet to allow firefighting apparatus to locate within 150 feet of all sides of all structures on the property. The shared accessway may be reduced to a minimum width of 12 feet where it is closer than 150 feet to all sides of all structures on the property. An accessway width less than 20 feet may be reviewed and approved by the fire marshal in conjunction with an approved alternative life safety plan.

(i)

Off-street parking and loading facilities. Individual units shall have a minimum of two parking spaces. Parking spaces for each dwelling unit shall be provided so as not to interfere with the shared accessway or with the access of emergency or service vehicles to the entire property. Shared parking areas may be utilized to accommodate the total parking requirements for the development. Parking spaces and drive aisles shall not be located closer than five feet to side or rear property lines. Parking spaces shall not be located with direct access from the right-of-way.

(j)

Refuse and recycling. Cottage courts shall provide a suitable location for a dumpster as determined by the director of public works. Dumpster areas shall be appropriately screened and shall not be located in the required front yard of the property.

(k)

Pools. Cottage courts may have one community pool serving all of the units on the property. Individual units may not have pools.

(l)

Utility meters of any type for individual units are prohibited.

(m)

Cottage courts shall operate under a single, unified management operation which arranges for reservations and attends to guest needs. There shall be a uniform key entry system operated by management staff.

(n)

On a site to be used for cottage court development, existing residential structures, which may become nonconforming with respect to the standards of this section, may be permitted to remain however the extent of the nonconformity shall not be increased.

(Ord. No. 16-11-028 , Pt. III, 11-2-2016)