Chapter 9.40 — MIXED-USE OVERLAY (MU) ZONE

Sections:

• 9.40.010 Purpose. 9.40.020 Application. 9.40.030 Definitions. 9.40.040 Lot area. 9.40.050 Dwelling units per lot. 9.40.060 Mixed-use development plan. 9.40.070 Required findings. 9.40.080 Permitted and conditional uses. 9.40.090 Development standards. 9.40.100 Design standards. 9.40.110 Architectural standards. 9.40.120 Maintenance of common areas. 9.40.130 Variances.

The purpose of the Mixed-Use Overlay (MU) zone district is to promote the development of imaginative, well-designed residential and commercial developments which may have a special setback, design, or other features to preserve open space, promote desirable and/or affordable housing, preserve agricultural lands, and maximize the use of shared public and private recreational facilities.

The objectives of the MU Overlay zone are:

• A. Provide for a set of regulations to allow for the integration of commercial, office, and residential use in close proximity to one another within one developed site or building.

• bbb. Provide a tool to encourage and facilitate the development of certain areas by allowing a variety of commercial and residential uses that can be developed in a compatible manner.

• G. Ensure that the mix of uses will be integrated successfully into a desirable, cohesive district.

• A. The MU Overlay zone may be combined with any C-C, C-D, C-H, or C-S zone district. The MU Overlay zone may also be considered with the R-3 zone, but housing development must still meet the density range specified for the General Plan Land Use(s) applicable to the area in which the property is located.

• ccc. The requirements of this chapter shall be considered in conjunction with the requirements of any base zone district. If a conflict exists between the requirements of the base zone district and this chapter, the requirements of this chapter shall apply.

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For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

“Mixed-use development” means a single building containing more than one type of land use or a single development of more than one building and use, where the different types of land uses are in close proximity, planned as a unified complementary whole, and functionally integrated to the use of shared vehicular and pedestrian access and parking areas.

The minimum lot area shall be 20,000 square feet.

• A. The overall project density shall not exceed or fall below the established density range of the General Plan Land Use(s) applicable to the area in which the property is located.

• ddd. To further encourage the development of residential uses within mixed-use centers, the City allows for the residential development potential of one or more parcels within a mixeduse center to be transferred to any other parcel or parcels within the same center by right, provided the maximum number of residential dwellings in each center complies with subsection A above.

Applicants for mixed-use projects shall submit the following:

• A. An application for a zone amendment to include an “MU” combining designation and any other entitlement application required by this chapter.

• B. The application shall include the following:

  1. A site plan or plans depicting the existing and proposed uses, building locations, gross floor area, lot coverage, parking, landscaping, and delineation of commercial/office uses and residential densities. A circulation plan for vehicles and pedestrians shall be provided as may be appropriate based on the scale of the project.

  2. Guidelines for the physical development of the property, including illustrations of proposed architectural, urban design, building elevations, and landscape concepts.

  3. The application(s) will be processed in accordance with Chapter 9.70.

• C. A special use permit shall remain in effect regardless of change of ownership. Mixed use should be a “permitted use” not a conditional use.

• D. Any material or significant change to an approved site plan or building elevation will require approval from the Planning Commission.

A mixed-use development may be approved upon making the following findings:

• A. That the site for the proposed development is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the uses, densities, and intensities of development and all yards, open spaces, setbacks, walls and fences, parking areas, loading areas, landscape, and other features required.

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• B. That the traffic generated by the proposed development and the public services and facilities required can be provided by existing and planned infrastructure.

• A. Permitted uses:

  1. Uses permitted by the Base District with which the MU zone is combined.

  2. Single-family attached housing.

  3. Multi-family housing.

  4. Mixed-use building or development.

• B. Conditional uses:

  1. Conditional uses permitted by the Base District with which the MU zone is combined.

• C. Uses not permitted:

  1. Single-family detached housing.

  2. Motor vehicle repair.

  3. Funeral home or mortuary.

  4. Fuel sales.

All development standards, including site area, lot dimensions, coverage, height, building setback areas, and distance between structures, shall be per the requirements of the Base District with which the MU zone is combined unless otherwise modified by the approval document.

• A. The purpose of this section is to require buildings and entrances to be oriented to the street to the maximum extent practicable to encourage pedestrian access and movement. Requirements for orientation and primary entrances are intended to provide for convenient, direct, and accessible pedestrian circulation by connecting activities within a structure to the adjacent sidewalk and to nearby transit stops and promoting the use of pedestrian and transit modes of transportation to retail and commercial facilities.

• B. The following design standards shall apply:

  1. All ground-floor tenant spaces with at least 25 feet of frontage facing public, or private streets shall have at least one building entrance oriented to the adjacent street. Such an entrance shall open directly to the outside and shall not require a pedestrian to first pass through a garage, parking lot, or loading area to gain access to the entrance from the street, but the entrance may include architectural features such as arcades, anti-chambers, porticos, and the like without being in violation of this provision. If a building has frontage on more than one street, the building shall provide a main building entrance oriented to one of the streets or a single entrance to the corner where the two streets intersect.

  2. Where one single tenant has 200 feet or more of frontage on public or private streets, one additional entrance shall be provided for each 200 feet of frontage on one of the public or private streets.

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3. Freestanding banking institutions and restaurants located in the Mixed-Use district are exempt from the provisions above and may locate the primary building entrance on any facade of the structure. A clear internal site pedestrian sidewalk or pathway shall be provided to the building entrance from all public or private street sidewalks.

4. A building may have more building entrances than required by this section oriented to a public or private street and may have secondary entrances facing off-street parking areas and loading areas.

5. Residential dwellings fronting on a public or private street shall have a main entrance to the dwelling oriented to the adjacent street at the ground floor level. Such an entrance shall open directly to the outside and shall not require passage through a garage to gain access to the doorway. The doorway may be above the final grade where a porch, stoop, portico, anti-chamber, wheelchair ramp, or similar architectural feature is included in the design. Ground-floor single-family attached housing, townhouse, or condominium residential units fronting on a public or private street shall have separate entries directly from the major pedestrian route.

6. Ground floor and upper story residential units in a multi-family building fronting on a public or private street may share one or more entries accessible directly from the street.

7. Residential building facades over 150 feet in length facing a street shall provide two or more main building entrances.

8. Entryways into mixed-use buildings containing residential units shall be clearly marked with a physical feature incorporated into the building or an appropriately scaled element applied to the facade.

9. Bicycle parking spaces shall be sited so as not to occupy space within, reduce the size of, or impede the use of required sidewalks, pedestrian ways, curbside landscape strips, landscape buffers, or usable open spaces. All bicycle parking must be easily accessible and shall be equipped or located so as to allow the bicycle to be conveniently and securely locked to a parking device or within a secured bicycle parking area. Covered bicycle parking shall be provided. Covered bicycle parking may be provided within a parking structure, garage, under a separate roof within a bicycle locker, or in a designated area within a building or residential complex. A covered bicycle structure may occupy two of the required on-site parking spaces.

10. Surface parking areas shall provide perimeter parking lot landscaping adjacent to a street that meets one of the following standards: a five-foot wide planting strip between the rightof-way and the parking area shall be provided for streets designated collector or local. A 10-foot-wide planting strip between the right-of-way and parking area shall be provided for streets designated arterial.

• A. Quality and definable treatment shall be applied to all facades exposed to public view. Blank end walls shall be avoided. Treatments shall include architectural features, landscaping, or art elements that tie into the overall design theme.

• eee. Structures shall be designed to avoid long, monotonous, plain facades. Techniques such as staggered building planes, variation of facades, recessed entries, and use of relief features such

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as bay windows shall be used to create variety and interest and provide pedestrian scale to the first floor. Buildings over three stories should extend the same architectural features above the ground floor level through variations in design, detail, and proportion when possible.

• fff. Rooflines and materials shall be compatible with the architectural style of the structures. Particular consideration to color and material shall be given to the design and treatment of roofs because of their potential visual impact.

• ggg. Roof flashing, rain gutters, downspouts, vents, and other roof protrusions shall be screened from view or finished to match adjacent materials and/or colors of the parent structure.

• hhh. Additions to structures shall be designed to match the roofline, style, and colors of the original structure. Where the original structure has limited design quality, the addition shall work to enhance the overall appearance of the site.

• iii. Ground-level commercial or office uses shall provide ground-floor windows on the building facade facing and adjacent to a public street or facing onto a park, plaza, or other public outdoor space.

  1. Required windows shall provide a lower sill no more than three feet above grade; except where interior floor levels prohibit such placement, the sill may be located not less than two feet above the finished floor level to a maximum sill height of five feet above exterior grade.

  2. Darkly tinted windows and mirrored windows that block two-way visibility are prohibited as ground-floor windows required under this provision except where the closest face of the building to the nearest edge of the sidewalk within a public right-of-way or private street parallel and adjacent to the building is greater than 50 feet.

  3. Exterior walls facing a public street, public open space, pedestrian walkway, and/or transit station shall have windows, display areas, or doorways for at least 50 percent of the length and 50 percent of the area of the ground-level wall area, which is defined as the area to the finished ceiling height of the fronting space or 15 feet above finished grade, whichever is less.

• G. Materials such as and including masonry, stucco, stone, terra cotta, tile, cedar shakes and shingles, beveled or ship-lap or other narrow-course horizontal boards or siding, authentic vertical board and batten siding/articulated architectural concrete masonry units (CMU), and similar durable architectural materials are allowed. Materials such as and including, T-111 siding, plain or plain painted plywood and strandboard sheets, concrete or cinder block, smooth surface concrete panels, and similar quality and nondurable material are prohibited.

• H. Buildings and sites shall be organized to group the utilitarian functions away from the public view. Delivery and loading operations, HVAC equipment, trash collection, and other utility and service functions shall be incorporated into the overall design of the building (s) and the landscaping. All wall- or ground-mounted mechanical, electrical, and communications equipment shall be out of view from adjacent properties and public streets, and screening materials and landscape screens shall be consistent with the principal materials of the buildings and primary landscaping. Roof-mounted equipment shall be hidden behind parapets to reduce visual impacts and decibel levels.

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• A. Property owner association, a landscape and lighting district, or other similar mechanism for the maintenance of common open space, private streets, or other improvements shall be set up as a condition of approval.

• A. A variance may be granted to any development regulation or design standard contained in this chapter provided the Planning Commission finds that by granting the variance:

  1. The adjustment will equally or better meet the purposes of the Mixed-Use Districts and of the regulation to be modified.

  2. The variance or cumulative variance adjustments result in a project that is still consistent with the overall purpose and intent of the district.

• B. The Planning Commission may approve a variance from the architectural standards if the project meets the following criteria.

  1. Multiple main building entrances required to be oriented to the street. Variances may be granted to allow a single secured entrance to an establishment upon a finding that the internal security measures, which are standard operating procedures of the applicant, would be irreparably harmed by this requirement, except in no case shall there be less than one main entrance oriented to a public or private street unless otherwise authorized by an exception contained in this section.

  2. Ground-floor windows. A variance to the percentage of window area required for ground floor windows in building facades where required by this section may be allowed upon findings that:

     • a. Such windows would unavoidably compromise necessary personal privacy or security within the building (for example, privacy in a clinic examination room, security in a pharmacy storeroom, or security and privacy in a research and development laboratory).

     • b. Due to the design of the structure or other demonstrable restrictions or constraints, the required personal privacy or security cannot otherwise be provided.

     • c. The loss of the window area cannot be recaptured elsewhere on the facade.

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