Chapter 18.02 — Purpose and Applicability of Development Code

Sections:

18.02.010 – Title 18.02.020 – Purpose, Intent, and Authority 18.02.030 – Relationship to Prior Ordinances

18.02.040 – Relationship to General Plan 18.02.050 – Relationship to CEQA 18.02.060 – Relationship to Design Guidelines

18.02.070 – Effect of Development Code on Projects in Progress

18.02.080 – Violation Constitutes a Public Nuisance 18.02.090 – Severability

This title, containing the City’s zoning and subdivision regulations, shall be known as the "City of East Palo Alto Development Code" and referred to as the “Development Code.”

• A. Purpose. The Development Code is intended to carry out the policies of the City of East Palo Alto General Plan. More specifically, the purpose of this Code is as follows:

  1. To guide, control, and regulate the future growth and development in the City of East Palo Alto;

  2. To protect the character and the social and economic stability of residential, commercial, industrial, and other private and public areas within the City, and to ensure the orderly and beneficial development of these areas;

  3. To prevent danger to public safety resulting from the locating of structures, and their use, and the use of land, adjacent to streets and highways which are a part of the Circulation Element of the General Plan, or which are important thoroughfares, in a manner which prevents interference with existing or prospective traffic movements on City streets and highways;

  4. To provide adequate air, light, privacy, and convenience of access to property, and to ensure safety from fire, inundation, and other dangers; and

  5. To prevent overcrowding the land and prevent undue congestion of population.

• B. Intent . It is the intent of the Development Code to promote the orderly development of the City; promote and protect the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, morals, peace, and general welfare; protect the character, social diversity, and economic vitality of neighborhoods; and ensure the beneficial development of the City.

• C. Authority . The Development Code is enacted based on the authority vested in the City of East Palo Alto and the State of California, including but not limited to the State Constitution, Planning

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and Zoning Law (California Government Code Section 65000 et seq.), Subdivision Map Act (California Government Code Section 66410 et seq.), California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.), and the California Health and Safety Code.

• D. City’s Level of Compliance . The City shall endeavor to comply with the minimum requirements specified in the Development Code to the maximum extent possible.

No provision of the Development Code shall validate or legalize any land use, structure, or subdivision constructed, created, established, or maintained in violation of the City’s Zoning and Subdivision Codes as they existed before repeal by the ordinance enacting the Development Code, except as addressed by non-conformances created by the Development Code.

The Development Code is the primary tool used by the City to implement the goals, policies, and actions of the General Plan and various specific plans. The Council intends that the Development Code be consistent with the General Plan and any applicable specific plan, and that any development, land use, or subdivision approved in compliance with the Development Code will also be consistent with the General Plan and any applicable specific plan. A proposed use is considered to be consistent with the General Plan and any applicable specific plan when all of the following conditions exist:

• A. Compatible . The proposed use is compatible with the description of the land use plan designation in which the use is located, as shown by the Land Use Plan Map, and as described in the text of the General Plan and any applicable specific plan;

• B. Conformance . The proposed use is in conformance with the actions, goals, policies, programs, and maps, and the intent of the General Plan and any applicable specific plan; and

• C. Consistent . The proposed use is to be established and maintained in a manner which is consistent with all elements of the General Plan and any applicable specific plan and all applicable provisions contained in these plans.

When a project application filed in compliance with the provisions of the Development Code is determined to be subject to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the application shall be reviewed for compliance with the provisions of the Development Code, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA – Public Resources Code, Section 21000 et seq.), the CEQA Guidelines (Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 15000 et seq.), and any environmental guidelines and other applicable rules adopted by the City.

Any design guidelines adopted by the City shall be considered complementary to the development and design standards specified in the Development Code. In the event of any conflict between adopted design guidelines and the provisions of the Development Code, the City retains the right to use the most restrictive design standard or interpretation.

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The enactment of the Development Code, or the adoption of any subsequent amendment to the Development Code, may have the effect of imposing different standards on a land use than those that applied to existing development. In the absence of specific provisions in the adopting ordinance related to any grandfathering or other special conditions, the following provisions determine how requirements apply to a development project in progress at the time the Development Code or an amendment goes into effect.

• A. Application Complete . A planning permit application accepted by the Community Development Department as complete before the effective date of this Development Code or any amendment, shall conform to the requirements specified in the previously applicable law.

• B. Project Under Construction . A project for which a building permit has been issued under the provisions of earlier laws, and on which substantial construction has been performed by integration of materials on the site may be continued and completed in compliance with the plans and specifications upon which the permit was issued.

• C. Subdivision Maps . Subdivision maps shall be processed in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code Section 66410 et seq.) and Article 5 (Subdivisions).

Any violation of any provision of the Development Code, as determined by the City Council, Planning Commission, Director of Community Development, or City Attorney, shall constitute a public nuisance.

If any portion of the Development Code is held to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the determination shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Development Code. The Council hereby declares that the Development Code and each article, chapter, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase and portion thereof is adopted without regard to the fact that one or more portions of the Development Code may be declared invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable.

Title, chapter and section headings shall not be deemed to govern, limit, modify or in any manner affect the scope, meaning or intent of the provisions of any title, chapter or section.

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