2026-0270
INTRODUCED BY: MATTHEW JEWELL, PARISH PRESIDENT
(DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & ZONING)
ORDINANCE NO. __________
Title
An ordinance to amend the St. Charles Parish Code of Ordinances Appendix A. - St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section III. - Definitions, Section VI. - Zoning district criteria and regulations, and Section VII. - Supplemental use and performance regulations, updating definitions, use regulations, and supplemental regulations for uses under the C-2 and C-3 zoning districts.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2025 the St. Charles Parish Planning and Zoning Commission requested the Planning and Zoning Department review permitted uses in Commercial zoning districts; and,
WHEREAS, the Department was tasked with finding opportunities to consider lower impact C-3 uses as Special Permit Uses (SPU) under C-2 zoning; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to addressing the initial request the Department is recommending further revisions focused on re-organizing and streamlining the uses in the C-2 and C-3 zoning districts and related updates to the Definitions and Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations sections of the Zoning Ordinance; and,
WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Department recommended approval of these amendments; and,
WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval at its regular meeting on August 6, 2026.
THE ST. CHARLES PARISH COUNCIL HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION I. The St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section III. Definitions., is amended to add definitions to the list of terms in alphabetical order with new text underlined and deleted text in strikethrough:
Animal hospital: An establishment for the care and treatment of small domestic animals. May include short-term boarding when incidental to the hospital use.
Animal shelter: A facility used to house and care for stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted animals and that is owned, operated, or maintained by a public body or nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals.
Auditorium: A building or structure designed or intended for use for the gathering of people as an audience to hear music, lectures, plays, and other presentations.
Automobile fleet services: any use related to the temporary or periodical parking of operative motor vehicles. Examples include rental car facilities, overnight truck parking, and dispatch locations.
Bingo hall: A facility open to the public and used primarily for the conduct of bingo games.
Construction material sales and services: Establishments or places of business primarily engaged in retail or wholesale, from the premises, of materials used in the construction of buildings or other structures. Typical uses include building material stores and home supply establishments.
Contractor shop: An establishment used for the repair, maintenance, or storage of a contractor’s vehicles, equipment, or materials, and may include the contractor’s business office. May include the operating of machinery and the fabrication of building-related products.
Garden center: A place of business where retail and wholesale plant and gardening related products are sold to the consumer. These centers may include a nursery and/or greenhouses.
House of worship (religious institution): A building where persons regularly assemble for religious worship and which is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain religious expression, together with all accessory buildings and uses customarily associated with such primary purpose.
Laboratory, support: A facility for scientific laboratory analysis of natural resources, medical resources, and manufactured materials and generally performed for an outside customer.
Machine shop: shops where lathes, presses, grinders, shapers, and other wood or metal working machines are used. May include welding, sheet metal, and plumbing shops.
Manufacturing, retail: Specialized, small-scale manufacturing of products utilizing hand tools or small mechanical or similar equipment within an enclosed building. Products typically made to order and sold directly to consumers. Does not include bulk manufacturing operations.
Microbrewery: A facility for the production and packaging of malt beverages of low alcoholic content for distribution, retail, or wholesale, on or off premise. May include other uses such as a restaurant or bar.
Office park: A development of land, used primarily for business, office, and other related and ancillary uses, under unified control, that is planned and developed as a whole operation or programmed series of development stages. Should incorporate design standards with attention to traffic circulation, parking, aesthetics, screening and landscaping.
Recreational facility, commercial: Recreation facilities operated as a business and open to the general public for a fee. Includes, but not limited to, skating rinks, splash pads, miniature golf, batting cages, arcades, bowling alleys, and swimming pools.
Religious institution: A building where persons regularly assemble for religious worship and which is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain religious expression, together with all accessory buildings and uses customarily associated with such primary purpose.
Stadium: A large building with tiers of seats for spectators at sporting or other major events.
Warehouse: A use engaged in storage, wholesale, and distribution of manufactured products, supplies, and equipment.
Wholesale establishment: An establishment or place of business primarily engaged in selling and/or distributing merchandise to retailers or other firms for resale; or acting as agents or brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies.
SECTION II. The St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section VI. Zoning district criteria and regulations., C. Commercial districts: [III.] C-2 General commercial district - Retail sales: 1. Use Regulations:, is amended with new text underlined and deleted text in strikethrough:
1. Use Regulations:
a. A building or land shall be used for the following purposes:
(1) All uses allowed in C-1 District.
(2) Retail sales (except auto and mobile home sales), usage, and storage
(3) Hotels, or motels and apartment hotels
(4) [Repealed by Ord. No. 92-9-14, 9-8-92.]
(5) Restaurants (including drive-in restaurants) and cafeterias. Specific land use requirements for restaurants serving alcoholic beverages are contained in subsection III.59. of these regulations, with further details contained within Chapter 3 of the St. Charles Parish Code of Ordinances. in accordance with Section VII, Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations.
(6) Animal hospitals where all animals are kept inside the building
(7) Gas/Service stations
(8) Commercial recreation Recreational facilities, commercial
(9) Commercial greenhouses and nurseries Garden centers
(10) Commercial schools Schools (business, industrial, or trade)
(11) Day care center, child Shops not to exceed two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet of floor area for the repair and servicing of the following:
bicycles
radios
televisions
stereos and recorders
household appliances
locksmith
typewriters
other similar uses
(12) Personal service establishment Shops not to exceed two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet of floor area may also include the following uses:
dressmakers
millinery
tailors
baking goods sales
laundry and dry cleaners
theatres (but not the drive-in type)
(13) Laboratories
(13) Customary accessory uses incidental to the above uses when located on the same lot
(15) Funeral homes (provided that a petition of no objection signed by a majority of property owners within a three hundred foot radius of the site and one hundred (100) percent of the property owners on the same street within the same block be filed with the Planning Zoning Department
(16) Cemeteries and mausoleums, provided however that such uses shall be located on sites of at least twenty (20) acres, all graves shall be set back at least fifty (50) feet from all property lines, shall have a minimum street frontage of one hundred (100) feet and a fence or screen planting six (6) feet high shall be provided along all property lines adjoining all districts.
(14) Other uses of similar intensity.
(18)(15) Mini-storage facilities (self-storage facilities) (limited to one-story construction in C-2 district). in accordance with Section VII, Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations.
(19)(16) Historic home site bed and breakfast.
b. Special exception uses and structures include the following:
(1) Dwelling units contained within the office building
(2) Reserved
(3) Reserved
(4) Churches
(5) Movie theaters
(6)(1) Temporary on-site construction buildings for a period of one (1) year upon approval of the Planning Director.
c. Special permit uses and structures include the following:
(1) R-1A and R-1B uses upon review and approval by the Planning Commission.
(2) R-3 uses upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council.
(3) Office buildings for gaming operations, excluding all gaming activities, upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council. Religious institutions
(4) Automobile sales and minor automotive repair. Automobile sales and service on designated federal and state highways; body repair activities being strictly prohibited in the C-2 zoning district. Automobile/vehicle dealerships on designated federal and state highways.
(5) Heating and air conditioning service. Automotive repair, minor on designated federal and state highways.
(6) Sheet metal shops Contractor shops in accordance with Section VII, Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations.
(7) Plumbing shops. Laboratory, support
(8) Farmers’ Green markets on hard-surfaced public collector or arterial streets, upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council. Such sites must possess frontage on a hard-surfaced public collector or arterial street.
(9) Bingo halls, video bingo parlors, and off-track betting establishments upon review of the planning commission and ordinance of the St. Charles Parish Council.
(10) Movie theaters
(11) Cemeteries and mausoleums in accordance with Section VII, Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations.
(12) Funeral homes
SECTION III. The St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section VI. - Zoning district criteria and regulations., C. Commercial districts, [IV.] C-3. Highway commercial district - Wholesale and retail sales, 1. Use Regulations:, is amended with new text underlined and deleted text in strikethrough:
1. Use Regulations:
a. A building or land shall be used for the following purposes.
(1) All uses allowed in the C-2 District.
(2) Commercial auditoriums Auditoriums, coliseums stadiums, or convention halls and similar establishments for high-capacity assembly.
(3) Retail manufacturing Manufacturing, retail
(4) Automobile sales and service Automobile/vehicle dealership
(5) Wholesale uses establishments
(6) Warehouses (less than 10,000 sq. ft.)
(7) Bus, railroad, and/or passenger and Truck terminals (without video poker gaming facilities)
(8) Bottling works Truck terminals (without video poker gaming facilities)
(9) Dog pound Animal shelter
(10) Building supply Construction material sales and services
(11) Heating and air conditioning service Contractor shops
(12) Plumbing shops Laboratory, support
(13) Automotive repair, minor and major
(14) Glass installation
(15)(14) Fabrication of gaskets and packing of soft metal material Machine shops
(16) Creameries
(17) Parcel delivery service
(18)(15) Reserved. Office parks
(19) Frozen food lockers
(20)(16) Public stables Stable, public
(21) Bulk dairy products (retail)
(22) Animal hospitals
(23) Gymnasiums
(24) Sheet metal shops.
(25) Upholstery
(26)(17) Other uses of similar intensity
(27)(18) Customary accessory uses incidental to the above uses when located on the same lot.
b. Special exception uses and structures:
(1) Temporary construction facilities for a period of one (1) year upon approval of the Planning Director.
c. Special permit uses and structures include the following:
(1) Alcohol beverage sales, on-premises (primary activity) Barrooms, night clubs, lounges, and dancehalls upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council.
(2) R-1A and R-1B uses upon review and approval by the Planning Commission.
(3) R-3 uses upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council.
(4) Reserved. Microbrewery upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council.
(5) Cellular installations and PCS (personal communication service) installations.
(6) Reserved. (Ord. No. 01-5-18, § III, 5-21-01)
(7) Warehouses (non-hazardous materials) over ten thousand (10,000) square feet.
(8) Farmers’ Green markets on hard-surfaced public collector or arterial streets, upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council. Such sites must possess frontage on a hard-surfaced public collector or arterial street.
(9) Bingo Halls, Video Bingo Parlors, and Off-Track Betting Establishments upon review of the Planning Commission and Ordinance of the Parish Council.
(10) Outdoor storage, when accessory to an otherwise permitted use in the district.
(11) Automobile Fleet Services upon review and approval by the Planning Commission and supporting resolution of the Council. : Examples include rental car facilities, overnight truck parking, dispatch locations, and any use related to the temporary or periodical parking of operative motor vehicles.
(12) Cemeteries and mausoleums in accordance with Section VII, Supplemental Use and Performance Regulations.
(13) Funeral homes
SECTION IV. The St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section VI. - Zoning district criteria and regulations., C. Commercial districts, [IV.] C-3. Highway commercial district - Wholesale and retail sales, 4. Special Provisions:, is amended with new text underlined:
b. All operations such as contractor or machine shops utilizing accessory manufacturing/assembly must be conducted within fully enclosed buildings and must not be noxious or offensive by reason of emission of smoke, dust, gas, fumes, odor, noise, light, glare, or vibration perceptible beyond the confines of the building.
SECTION V. The St. Charles Parish Zoning Ordinance of 1981, Section VII. - Supplemental use and performance regulations., is amended with new text underlined:
1. The following uses are subject to the regulations set forth herein:
Cemeteries and mausoleums.
a. In O-L zoning districts
i. Shall have a minimum street frontage of one hundred (100) feet.
ii. Shall have a fence or screen planting six (6) feet high along all property lines adjoining all districts.
b. In the C-2 and C-3 zoning districts
i. Shall have a minimum street frontage of one hundred (100) feet.
ii. Shall consist of at least twenty (20) acres.
iii. All graves shall be set back at least fifty (50) feet from all property lines.
iv. Shall have a fence or screen planting six (6) feet high along all property lines adjoining all districts.
Contractor’s shops
a. Applicability. The following applies to contractor’s shops permitted as Special Permit Uses in the C-2, General Commercial District.
b. Design and development standards for contractor’s offices and shops.
i. Business activities must be conducted within fully enclosed buildings.
ii. Building facades facing a public right-of-way must include variations in materials, color, transparency, and architectural features.
iii. Use of roll-up doors must be prioritized along the sides and rear of a building.
iv. Operations must not be noxious or offensive by reason of emission of smoke, dust, gas, fumes, odor, noise, light, glare, or vibration perceptible beyond the confines of the building.
v. Outdoor storage is prohibited.
Mini-storage facilities.
a. Limited to one-story construction in the C-2 Zoning District and when adjacent to R-1A, R-1B, R-1A(M), or R-2 all other zoning districts.
b. Accessory outdoor/unenclosed storage is subject to outdoor storage requirements of the zoning districts where this use is permitted (i.e. prohibited in C-2 zoning districts, SPU in C-3 zoning districts).
The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows:
And the ordinance was declared adopted this ____ day of _____________, 2026, to become effective (5) days after publication in the Official Journal.
CHAIRMAN:
SECRETARY:
DLVD/PARISH PRESIDENT:
APPROVED : DISAPPROVED:
PARISH PRESIDENT:
RETD/SECRETARY:
AT: RECD BY: