Chapter 9.30 — LIGHT INDUSTRIAL (M-1) ZONE

Sections:

9.30.010 Purpose and application. 9.30.020 Permitted uses. 9.30.030 Site area. 9.30.040 Lot dimensions. 9.30.050 Coverage. 9.30.060 Building setback areas. 9.30.070 Distance between structures. 9.30.080 Height of structures. 9.30.090 Driveways. 9.30.100 Off-street parking. 9.30.110 Usable open space. 9.30.120 Landscaping. 9.30.130 Screening, fences, and walls. 9.30.140 Signs. 9.30.150 General provisions and standards.

This chapter shall apply to all land within the Light Industrial (M-1) zone district. The purpose of the M-1 zone is to reserve appropriately located areas for various types of processing, assembly, storage, and manufacturing uses and related activities; protect such areas from intrusion by residential or inharmonious commercial uses; regulate and control hazardous or objectionable influences incidental to certain industrial uses; and provide areas with adequate space, access and separation from residential, commercial and public uses to promote modern industrial development. The M-1 zone is intended for uses such as fabricating, assembly, research and development, electronics assembly, warehousing, and other similar uses that do not involve the manufacturing of finished products from raw materials. All work, materials, and equipment storage is generally conducted indoors so that noise, dust, fumes, odors, smoke, or gas will not be emitted beyond the confines of the building.

Uses shall be permitted or not permitted, conditionally permitted, administratively permitted, or temporarily permitted as prescribed in the land use table in Section 9.08.030.

There is no minimum site area.

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The minimum lot frontage shall be 40 feet, except that where there is a recorded reciprocal use agreement for shared common access and parking areas, no minimum frontage is required.

The maximum building coverage of a lot shall be 75 percent.

• A. No structure shall be placed within a building setback area.

• z. The front building setback area shall be a minimum of 25 feet, except as modified by (F.).

• C. The rear building setback area shall be a minimum of 15 feet from the rear lot lines.

• D. There is no interior side building setback.

• E. There is no street-side building setback, except as modified by (F.).

• F. The minimum setback shall be 55 feet from the legal centerline of any existing or proposed local street or minor collector, 70 feet from the legal centerline of any existing or proposed secondary highway or major collector street, or 80 feet from the legal centerline of any existing or proposed primary highway or arterial street.

There is no minimum distance between structures required, except that all building code requirements shall be met.

The maximum structure height shall be 75 feet. If the structure is adjacent to existing or zoned residential uses, the maximum height shall be 50 feet.

• A. Wherever possible, developments shall share driveways to minimize the number of driveways on public streets.

• aa. New driveways near street corners shall be located a minimum of 150 feet from the radius curve of the curb unless otherwise specifically approved by the City Engineer.

• bb. Gated entrances shall be set back at least 100 feet from the public right-of-way unless a shorter distance is approved by the City Engineer.

Off-street parking and off-street loading facilities shall be provided on the site for each use as prescribed in Chapter 9.54.

There is no minimum requirement for usable open space.

• A. Landscaping shall be provided for each use as prescribed in Chapter 9.52 Landscape Standards.

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• cc. Landscaping shall be provided and permanently maintained in a 25-foot front setback area as well as along any street-side lot line adjacent to the ultimate right-of-way of State Highway 269 or State Highway 33, except where the setback area is covered by parking areas or driveways.

• dd. Where industrial zoning abuts a residentially zoned property, a 10-foot-wide landscape easement shall be maintained between the parcels.

• ee. Required landscaping is to be installed prior to occupancy and continually maintained pursuant to Chapter 9.52.

• A. Fences and walls in the M-1 zone shall conform to the design standards provided in Section 9.50.110.

• B. Fences, walls, and hedges in the M-1 zone shall conform to the following standards:

  1. Where an industrially-zoned site adjoins a site that is residentially zoned, a minimum seven-foot-tall solid wall and a 10 foot landscape buffer shall separate the industrial development from the adjoining residential district. The Director may allow fence and wall heights to be increased in order to mitigate noise problems documented by a noise study.

  2. No fence or wall shall be placed in front of or within any landscaped area located next to a street.

  3. The open storage of materials and equipment attendant to a use shall be permitted only within an area surrounded or screened from view with a seven-foot-tall solid wall or fence, except as may be modified under the site plan review. Such storage shall not be visible above the fence or wall.

  4. Razor wire, electrified fencing, and similar security devices are only allowed on a permanent basis in the M-1 zone district with approval by the Director, provided that it is not located adjacent to a residence or residential district, subject to the design guidelines set forth in Chapter 9.50.

Signs placed in the M-1 zone shall be subject to the requirements and standards prescribed in Chapter 9.56.

• A. Mechanical equipment shall be located a minimum of 20 feet from a rear or side lot line that abuts a residentially zoned property, except that where there is a parapet wall that shields the mechanical equipment, no minimum distance is required.

• ff. All open and non-landscaped portions of any lot shall be maintained in good condition free from weeds, dust, trash, and debris.

• gg. New development may be required to install public infrastructure necessary to adequately serve the project, based on requirements of the City Engineer, including sewer, water and storm drainage lines, curbs, gutters and sidewalks, street paving, street lighting, and trash enclosures. These improvements shall be constructed consistent with requirements shown in the City of

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Avenal Standard Specifications and Drawings and shall be installed prior to occupancy of any structures on the site.

• hh. No use shall be permitted and no process, equipment, or material shall be employed that is found by the City to be injurious to persons residing or working in the vicinity by reason of odor, fumes, dust, smoke, cinders, dirt, refuse, noise, vibrations, illumination, glare or heavy truck traffic, or to involve any hazard of fire, explosion, hazardous or toxic waste, or radioactivity or to emit electrical disturbances which adversely affect commercial or electronic equipment outside the boundaries of the site.

• ii. No solid or liquid waste shall be discharged into a natural watercourse, nor into a public or private sewage disposal system except in compliance with the applicable regulations of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and city ordinances and policies.

• jj. Structures and the use of structures or land shall be subject to the requirements and standards prescribed in Chapter 9.50.

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City of Avenal Municipal Code Title 9 – Zoning Ordinance