Alturas Municipal Code Div. 4 Amendments and Zone Changes

This Section provides for amendments to this chapter by changing either its provisions or the zone district applicable to a parcel(s) through the respective text amendment or zone change application process.

(Ord. No. 503, 12-16-2014)

A. Initiating Text Amendment. The text amendment process may be initiated by one of the following:

1. An applicant affected by the proposed text amendment may file an application with the Department (accompanied by a fee established by resolution of the Council);

2. The Director, upon signing a Determination Letter pursuant to Article I, Division 2, may seek to have the Determination reviewed and incorporated into the Zoning Ordinance, however the Director is hereby required to initiate such a text amendment within 90 days of distributing five Determination Letters pursuant to Article VII;

3. Resolution of Intention of the Council; or

4. Resolution of Intention of the Commission.

B. Initiating Zone Amendment. A zone change application, affecting one or more zone districts applied to one or more parcels, may be initiated by one of the following:

1. The owner(s) of the property for which the zone change is sought.

2. Resolution of Intention of the Council; or

3. Resolution of Intention of the Commission.

C. Text Considerations. Before amending the text of the Zoning Ordinance, consideration shall be paid to its organization, as described in Section 28.63.040, to ensure the new or amended language preserves or improves the integrity, readability clarity and cross-referencing ability built into the document.

D. Commission Hearing. Once initiated, as provided for in Paragraph A or B above, and after the completion of the application requirements, environmental review, and noticing procedures as provided for in Article V, Division 2 (General Application Procedures), the Commission shall hold a public hearing on the request, and then make a report of its findings and a recommendation to the Council. The Commission's report shall include an environmental determination and a general plan conformity finding along with the reasons for their recommendation.

E. Council Hearing. Following the Commission hearing, the Council shall hold a public hearing on the request. The Council may approve, modify, or disapprove the recommendation of the Commission, in part or in whole, providing the Council finds that the proposed text or zone change amendment is consistent with the General Plan. Any substantial modification to the proposed request made by the Council that was not previously considered by the Commission shall be referred back to the Commission for further findings and recommendation on that specific modification.

F. Effective Date. A text or zone change amendment shall become effective on the 30th day following the adoption of an ordinance by the Council.

G. Reconsideration. No application for an amendment which is denied by the Council shall be reconsidered by the Commission or the Council within one year from the date it was previously considered by that body or the Council.

(Ord. No. 503, 12-16-2014)

Amendments to the General Plan hereinafter referred to as "Plan Amendments," shall be processed in the same manner as amendments to this chapter in compliance with Government Code Section 65358, except that the Plan Amendments, if approved by the Council, shall be adopted by resolution rather than ordinance. A Plan Amendment shall become effective on the 30th day following the adoption of a resolution by the Council.

(Ord. No. 503, 12-16-2014)

This chapter is organized as follows:

A. Ordinance Relationship to City Code. This chapter makes up one chapter (Chapter 28 in this case) of the City of Alturas City Code. For easy referencing, all section numbers of the ordinance start with the chapter number "28."

B. Articles. Articles are divided by subject as follows:

Article I describes the legal authority the City has to enact the Zoning Ordinance, its legal components (the text and the maps), and its relationship to superior documents that take precedence over its content, like the City's General Plan. This Article also describes the overriding rules that apply to the entire Zoning Ordinance, like the rules of interpretation, severability, and hold harmless agreements.

Article II describes the Primary and Overlay Zones and their uses. If a new zone is proposed for the City, this is where it should be placed.

Article III describes in detail the Land Use Restrictions governing certain Land Uses as identified in the Land Use Matrix in Article 2.

NOTE ON LAND USE RESTRICTIONS: Any use type that is intended to be approved pursuant to an Administrative Permit must be included in the Land Use Restrictions, along with detailed operating and development standards that, if met, will allow the use to operate in the zone indicated. Any use type that cannot be standardized in this manner cannot be approved through the Administrative Permit's ministerial process, and will require the authorization of a Use Permit.

Article IV lists all the Site Planning and Development Standards that might apply to development projects within the City. As noted in the Overview, only the General Development Standards apply to single family residential projects, but all the standards apply to all commercial, industrial, high-density residential projects regardless of zone.

Article V describes planning application processing in general terms (applicable to all applications) and in specific terms based on application type. When new permits or permit processing requirements are added to the chapter, this is where they should be placed. All new permits should utilize the general processing requirements provided by this Article to the greatest extent possible.

Article VI addresses the administration of the Zoning Ordinance and its enforcement, including the rules relating to the treatment of lots, structures and uses that no longer conform to their zone due to the adoption of this chapter or future changes made to it. Any amendment that impacts the administration and enforcement of this chapter should be placed here.

Article VII is used for holding Director and Planning Commission interpretations of the chapter until such time as the chapter can be amended to incorporate them directly. This should be done from time to time to ensure interpretations are administered consistently.

Article VIII contains the definition of terms used in this document, including the definition of all land use types. It is not intended to contain conditions of approval, just the definition of the term used.

C. Section Numbers. Understanding how sections are formatted and reserved is important to maintaining the organizational integrity of this document.

1. Format. Section numbers begin with the Chapter number (in the case of this chapter that is always "28," as noted in Subsection A). This number is followed immediately by a period and then the article number where the section is to be found. The article number is then followed by a zero to start section number sequencing within the article. All section numbers then appear in sequence within the article (unless a section number is being reserved for future use as noted below). Using this format ensures each section and subsection of the chapter has a unique and easily located reference number.

2. Reservation of Sections. Because the Zoning Ordinance internally references sections and Subsections throughout the document, adding new sections to the ordinance should be done without changing existing section numbers if at all possible. This can be difficult to do while trying to retain the organizational integrity of the document. To help accommodate new information and regulations, section numbers have been reserved in this document in two ways:

a. Outright Reservation. Where a section is intended to be developed and adopted at a later date, a section number has been inserted and named, and then indicated as "RESERVED" under the Table of Content and the title page of the Article in which it appears.

b. Inferred Reservation. Where it is likely that a section number may need to be inserted in the future between established section numbers due to the nature of the Article's Content, some section numbers in the Article have been skipped to allow for this. See the section numbering for Section 28.52 for an example.

D. Subsections.

1. Format. Subsection numbers are developed by adding a period to the end of the pertinent section number followed by a three digit code. The code sequence typically starts with "010" and continues in integrals of ten (example "020," "030" and so forth until the end of the Section. This allows for inferred reservation of Subsections should additional information need to be added at a later date. Detailed information within a Subsection can be further broken down with Subsections starting with capital letters, then numbers, then small letters, all indented for clarity in reading.

2. Reservation of Subsections. The standard format allows significant room for inferred reservation of Subsections. For example, should a new Subsection need to be added between existing Subsection "28.52.010" and 28.52.020" a number in between can be chosen. For instance, "28.52.015" can be used to keep the information in the desired sequence while still allowing for the inferred reservation of Subsection numbers before and after it.

(Ord. No. 503, 12-16-2014)