Chapter 21.21 — H-O HOSPITAL OVERLAY ZONE

The intent and purpose of the hospital overlay (H-O) zone is to:

• (1) Provide for the development of hospital facilities to meet the community's major medical needs;

• (2) Provide a method whereby hospitals may be developed in existing zones;

• (3) Promote comprehensive planning of a major hospital in conjunction with supporting facilities;

• (4) Ensure the compatibility of a hospital with surrounding future and existing land use;

• (5) Provide the city with a procedure to analyze fiscal and environmental impacts caused by a hospital and its supporting facilities.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

Hospitals shall be located only on property which has hospital overlay zoning. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

The H-O zone may be applied to property in any zone except the CT, R-T, R-W, OS and RMHP zones. The H-O zone may not be applied to an area less than twenty-five acres in size. In addition to the required application for a zone change, application for the H-O zone shall also include a traffic study analyzing possible impacts on surrounding streets and intersections, and an economic impact analysis describing the positive and negative fiscal impacts of a hospital and any supporting facility on the city.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. CS-474, 8/20/2024)

Before application of the H-O zone to any property the following conditions must exist:

• (1) There is a need in the community for a hospital at the proposed location;

• (2) The proposed zone will be compatible with surrounding zoning and land use;

• (3) Development of a hospital at the proposed location will not be detrimental to public safety and welfare;

• (4) The proposed site is suitable in size and location for a major hospital facility;

• (5) The circulation system is adequate to serve a major hospital facility;

• (6) The proposed hospital will not create any significant impacts on the environment;

• (7) Development of the hospital will not cause adverse economic impacts on the city which cannot be mitigated to an acceptable level or for which the council cannot find that the need for the hospital overrides the negative economic impact;

• (8) The proposed hospital has met all the criteria for hospitals under Division 1 , Part 1.5 of the California Health and Safety Code ;

• (9) A site development plan is submitted under this chapter concurrently with the application for the zone change.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

Subject to the approval of a site development plan processed pursuant to this chapter the following uses are permitted in the H-O zone:

• (1) Hospital (as defined in Section 21.04.170 of this code);

• (2) Accessory uses and structures where related to the hospital, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • (A) Laboratories,

  • (B) Medical offices,

  • (C) Pharmacies,

  • (D) Health services such as senior citizens nutrition centers, physical therapy facilities and medical clinics,

  • (E) Trauma facilities, including, but not limited to, overnight residential facilities for trauma staff, helicopter pads,

  • (F) Skilled nurse facilities,

  • (G) Residential care facilities,

  • (H) Alcohol and drug care facilities,

  • (I) Restaurants within a hospital,

  • (J) Medical research facilities,

  • (K) Other similar uses normally associated with a hospital or medical offices;

(3) Child day care centers, subject to the provisions of Chapter 21.83 of this title. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. NS-409 § 9, 1997)

• (a) Approval of a site development plan, processed according to the provisions of Chapter 21.06 (Q-overlay) shall be required for any development in the H-O zone except that for review of a hospital the Planning Commission shall act in an advisory capacity to the City Council. After review by the Planning Commission, the site development plan for the hospital shall be submitted to the City Council for approval. The site plan shall be processed for review by the City Council in the same manner as the plan is processed for Planning Commission review. After construction of the hospital, site plans for the development of accessory uses permitted in this zone shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission with appeal to the City Council. A hospital and accessory uses proposed as one development may be approved by a single site plan which would be processed in the same manner as a hospital alone.

• (b) The site development plan shall include any conditions necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of Section 21.21.030 . Such conditions may include, but shall not be limited to, requirements for street and public facility improvements on and off the site, requirements for mitigation of adverse economic impacts, including, but not limited to, the payment of fees to provide public facilities, and requirements for mitigation of adverse environmental impacts.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

The minimum lot size for newly created lots within this zone shall be twenty-five thousand square feet.

(Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

Every newly created lot shall have a width of not less than one hundred feet at the rear line of the required front yard.

(Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

The maximum height of structures within the H-O zone shall not exceed thirty-five feet. Additional building height may be permitted by a site development plan approved by the City Council. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

Every lot shall provide required yards, measured from the property line as follows:

Through lots shall be considered to have two front yards and shall observe setbacks accordingly. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

The above specified yard requirements apply only to those structures up to a height of thirty-five feet. For any other structure, which has been approved for increased height by site development plan, all required yards shall be increased at a ratio of 0.5 additional feet horizontally, for every 1.5 feet of additional vertical construction.

(Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

All landscaping shall comply with the city landscape guidelines manual. All landscaped areas shall be served by a permanent irrigation system including bubblers or sprinklers. Prior to approval of a building permit, each applicant shall submit a landscape and irrigation plan for the approval of the City Planner. All approved improvements shall be installed prior to occupancy of the building.

• (1) Required Yards. All setback areas shall be planted with plant species consistent with the city landscape guidelines manual. Variations in ground plane by use of undulating mounding is encouraged to screen parking areas and to enhance the landscaping and building architecture. Landscaping along arterials should comply with the city's streetscaping program.

• (2) Parking Areas. A minimum of ten percent of that portion of the site devoted to uncovered parking shall be landscaped. Landscaping shall be designed so as to offer relief from the monotony of rows of parked cars, and to create an overhead canopy. A minimum of one fifteen gallon tree per five parking stalls shall be required in the parking area. All exposed parking areas shall be screened with landscaping, contouring and mounding.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. NS-675 § 76, 2003; Ord. CS-164 § 10, 2011)

• (a) For developments which utilize surface parking, all structures shall not cover more than fifty percent of the lot on which they are located.

• (b) For developments which include a parking structure or parking is located within or under the building it serves, the total coverage of all structures shall not exceed seventy-five percent of the lot. This provision shall apply only if seventy-five percent of the required parking is located in the parking structure or within or under the building it serves.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

A detailed sign program shall be submitted to the City Planner for approval prior to occupancy of any new building or installation of any new signs. All signs proposed in the H-O zone shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 21.41 and the following regulations:

• (1) Total Permitted Sign Area. Total maximum allowable area of all signs, including monument signs, shall not exceed one square foot per lineal foot of building frontage.

• (2) Monument Signs. One freestanding monument sign may be permitted for each lot. Said monument sign shall be no greater than six feet in height or six feet in length, (including the base) with a maximum of two sign faces. Comprehensively planned developments of a hospital and accessory uses may be permitted additional monument signs, above the allowable area, through the site development plan process.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. NS-675 § 76, 2003; Ord. CS-164 § 10, 2011)

• A. Parking shall be provided subject to the provisions of Chapter 21.44 of this title.

• B. Additional parking may be required as part of the site development plan.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. 9804 § 3, 1986; Ord. CS-102 § XXXIV, 2010)

A solid masonry or stucco wall, six feet in height, shall be constructed along the common lot line with any residentially zoned property, except in the front yard where the wall shall be reduced to forty-two inches in height. Walls and fences up to a height of six feet are permitted except that no wall or fence shall be erected in any front yard setback in excess of forty-two inches and that all walls and fences shall observe a minimum setback of ten feet from the property line for a side yard on a street. Chain link, barbed wire, razor ribbon or other similar fences are specifically not permitted. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

• (a) Exterior lighting is required for all employee and visitor parking areas, walkways, and building entrances and exits.

• (b) Light sources shall be designed to avoid direct or indirect glare to any off-site properties or public rights-of-way.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

All roof appurtenances, including air conditioners, shall be architecturally integrated and shielded from view and the sound buffered from adjacent properties and streets, to the satisfaction of the City Planner.

(Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984; Ord. NS-675 § 76, 2003; Ord. CS-164 § 10, 2011)

Trash receptacle areas shall be enclosed by a six-foot-high masonry wall with gates pursuant to city standards.

• (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

All loading areas shall be oriented and/or screened so as to be unobtrusive from the adjacent streets or properties.

(Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)

If construction of the hospital has not commenced within two years from the approval of the hospital overlay zone and site development plan on a specific area, the H-O zone and site plan shall expire and the property will return to its underlying zoning. (Ord. 9743 § 1, 1984)