Business

1. They group businesses with similar general characteristics and separate uses that do not make good neighbors; and
   
2. They protect neighborhoods by preventing encroachment of nuisance businesses and space uses near residential areas.

For example, it would be extremely problematic for a restaurant that serves many of its customers on its back patio to be next door to a wood shop studio that ventilates saw dust into collection bins located in its back courtyard.   Business Districts are often found in groupings of several buildings – think storefronts.

Business Districts allow for ordinance-defined Artist Live/Work Space (i.e., a dwelling unit in which up to 50% of the floor area is used for the production, showing, and sale of art), but prohibit the more intensive uses of Artisan Manufacturing Production activities, such as cabinet shops, production welding, etc.

There are three primary designations for Business Districts:  B1, B2 and B3.

B1: Neighborhood Shopping District
The B1 - Neighborhood Shopping District designation is intended to accommodate a broad range of small-scale retail and service uses. B1 zones usually occur in areas where the streets are narrow and have low traffic speeds and low traffic volume.  The physical characteristics of B1 Districts are intended to reflect storefront-style shopping areas catering to pedestrians.  Think about an area where your neighborhood café sits next to your favorite bakery or boutique.  B1 District spaces may not exceed 25,000 square feet. 

An important feature of B1 Districts is that they allow for ordinance-defined artist live/work space above the ground floor and sometimes special use approval can be obtained for ground floor artist live/work use.

B2: Neighborhood Mixed-Use District
The purpose of the B2 - Neighborhood Mixed-Use District is the same as the B1 district.  The primary difference is that B2 Districts provide a greater range of development options for those streets where the demand and need for retail and service uses is relatively low.

Like B1, B2 zones usually occur in areas where the streets are narrow and have low traffic speeds and low traffic volume.  B2 zones can be found at the intersection of major streets or on streets with low traffic speeds and volume.  Buildings designated B2 may not exceed 25,000 square feet.  The physical characteristics of B2 Districts are intended to reflect storefront-style shopping areas catering to pedestrians. 

The B2 zoning designation specifically permits use of the ground-floor for residential purposes, including Ordinance-defined artist live/work space - without the need for special use approval.

For more information about converting storefronts into live/work spaces, check out Chapter 22: Rehabbing Your Space. 

The primary purpose of the B3 - Community Shopping District is to accommodate a very broad range of retail and service uses, often in the physical form of shopping centers.  Buildings in B3 Districts are larger than those found in B1 and B2. In addition to accommodating development with a different physical form than found in B1 and B2 districts, the B3 district is also intended to permit some types of uses that are not allowed in B1 and B2.

Development in B3 districts will generally be destination-oriented, which means a large percentage of people arrive by vehicle or public transportation. Therefore, the supply of off-street parking will tend to be higher in B3 districts than in B1 and B2.  There are no size limitations on spaces that are in a B3 district.

However, for spaces that exceed 75,000 square feet, additional review and approval in accordance with planned development procedures are required. 

For additional information on planned development procedures, contact the Department of Planning and Development at 312.744.4190.

B3 districts allow for artist live/work use above the ground floor, and with special use approval artist live/work space can also be obtained for ground floor units.