§ 25-29. INDUSTRIAL ZONES: M-1 (LIGHT INDUSTRIAL); M-2 (HEAVY INDUSTRIAL).

The purpose of Firebaugh's Industrial Zones is to provide appropriate locations in the community for industrial uses and related activities. Two zones are established: the M-1 Zone is the "Light Industrial" Zone and provides for uses such as light manufacturing, warehousing, storage, service commercial and similar uses. The M-2 Zone is the "Heavy Industrial" Zone and provides spaces for more intensive industrial and manufacturing activities. Development standards in the Industrial Zones are designed to promote the following:

• a. To protect appropriate areas for industrial use from intrusion by residences and other inharmonious uses;

• b. To provide opportunities for certain types of industrial uses to concentrate in mutually beneficial relationships to each other;

• c. To provide adequate space to meet the needs of modern industrial development, including truck parking, off-street parking and loading;

• d. To provide industrial employment opportunities for residents of the region;

• e. To operate in a manner that protects the public health, safety and welfare by ensuring that potential harmful impacts such as noise, vibration, noxious fumes, fire, and explosions, are avoided; and

• f. To establish standards that result in industrial development that is attractive and functional.

[Amended 11-20-2017 by Ord. No. 17-03; 6-4-2018 by Ord. No. 18-02; 7-15-2019 by Ord. No. 19-03]

The following table lists uses that are permitted and conditionally-permitted in the M-1 and M-2 Zones. Symbols used in the table are as follows:

"P" = The use is permitted in that particular zone

"CUP" = The use is permitted by conditional use permit in that particular zone

"-" = The use is not permitted in that particular zone

No development shall be constructed on any lot or site in this district until a site plan has been submitted and approved consistent with § 25-53 , Site Plan and Design Review (or a conditional use permit for uses listed as such).

• a. Site area, lot frontage and depth: No requirement.

• b. Building height: The maximum height of structures shall be 50 feet.

• c. Yards.

  1. Front: 10 feet, minimum. Further, parking lots shall be separated by a landscaped setback of at least 10 feet from a front property line, and also the side property line for the street side yard on corner lots.

  2. Side: No requirement unless the subject property abuts a residential district, wherein the minimum side yard shall be 10 feet, or where the site is a corner lot, in which a ten-foot setback is required on the street side yard.

  3. Rear: No requirement unless the subject property abuts a residential district, wherein the minimum yard shall be 10 feet.

Exhibit 29-1: Zoning Standards

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• a. Front yards: Fences, walls and hedges shall not exceed seven feet in height, unless the site abuts a residential zone in which case fencing within 10 feet of the front property line shall be no higher than four feet.

• b. Rear and side yards: Fences, walls, and hedges shall not exceed seven feet in height.

• c. Where a property zoned M-1 or M-2 abuts a residential district, a seven-foot solid block masonry wall shall be constructed between the two uses.

• d. The outdoor storage of equipment or materials shall be screened from the view of any adjoining public right-of-way with a seven-foot solid block wall, or six-foot chain-linked fence with slats and landscaping.

• a. Uses in the M-1 and M-2 Zones shall provide off-street parking consistent with § 25-45 , Auto and Bicycle Parking and Loading.

• b. Parking lots constructed in M-1 and M-2 Zones shall be designed and constructed so that within five years of construction, 50% of the parking lot is shaded by trees.

• c. Parking lots shall be designed to accommodate solid waste pick-up.

• d. Storage areas shall be surfaced with asphalt/concrete or gravel.

Signs shall be consistent with the requirements detailed in § 25-47 , Signs.

• a. A landscaping and irrigation plan shall be submitted on all neighborhood commercial developments to the City Planner for review and approval consistent with the standards in § 2543 (Landscaping, Irrigation and Grading). All setback areas along streets shall be landscaped.

• b. The landscaping and irrigation plan shall show a tree-planting scheme in the parking lot that will result in 50% of the parking lot being shaded within five years.

• c. The landscaping and irrigation plan shall provide for a minimal amount of turf and shall incorporate a variety of xerophytic plants, mulch to reduce water use, and an automated irrigation system that incorporates water conservation technology, including drip irrigation, smart irrigation controllers, and low-flow irrigation heads.

• d. Parking lots should be screened from adjacent public roadways by low walls and/or hedges.

• e. Vines and climbing plants should be used on buildings, trellises and perimeter garden walls in order to soften the appearance on the buildings.

• f. All trash enclosures shall be surrounded by a six-foot solid block wall and the area around the enclosure shall be landscaped. The gate to the enclosure shall be constructed of metal.

New development in the Industrial zones shall be designed consistent with the following guidelines.

• a. Site design.

  1. Industrial development should be designed in a way that fits in with the surrounding development pattern. This refers to:

     • (a) The size and form of new structures in relationship to existing development. For example, where new buildings and uses are similar to those on adjoining sites, the design should reflect similar setbacks, building heights and form, scale and mass, materials, compatible colors and landscape treatments. The intent is not uniformity, but compatibility;

     • (b) The spatial relationship between structures and street right-of-way;

     • (c) Circulation patterns;

     • (d) Architectural elements in surrounding development.

  2. New buildings should be oriented toward the adjoining public streets, so that public entrances are a focal point on the building and site layout.

Exhibit 37-2

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The front of this industrial site has the appearance of an office and has generous landscaping. Equipment storage and industrial activities are primarily on the back side of the building.

3. The main public entrance to buildings should feature heightened architectural treatment. For example, if the bulk of an industrial structure is a metal warehouse, the main entrance/office area should feature special architectural design consideration, such as:

   • (a) Varied setbacks: insets and projections, as appropriate.

   • (b) Siding that is different from the rest of the building (e.g., stucco, brick or at least different colors).

   • (c) Windows should be framed and/or finished with awnings or similar mechanisms.

   • (d) Other appropriate design techniques.

• b. Landscaping and buffers.

  1. Care shall be taken to design industrial sites with adequate landscaping and screening, as well as buffering from sensitive nearby/adjacent uses. Methods to buffer projects should include a combination of increased setbacks, walls, landscaping, berms, etc.

  2. Projects should present an attractive landscaped frontage along public streets, with significant landscaped setback areas that include attractive combinations of turf, groundcovers, shrubs and trees.

  3. Landscaping should include an appropriate combination of turf, shrubs and shade trees, with an emphasis on low-water-use vegetation. Shade trees should be emphasized in paved areas where shading can reduce heat buildup.

  4. For beauty as well as graffiti prevention, climbing vines should be used to screen masonry walls, including perimeter walls of trash encloures and other appropriate locations.

• c. Screening.

1. Buildings, walls and landscaping should be arranged to screen loading and service bays, equipment storage areas, trash enclosures and mechanical equipment.

2. Stored materials may not be stacked or be visible above the height of screening walls.

3. Long expanses of fences or walls should be broken up with periodic columns, insets, landscape pockets or changes in materials. Toward this end, fence or wall runs greater than 50 linear feet shall be articulated with architectural offsets and incorporate landscape pockets.

4. Concrete walls are permitted if faced with masonry or stone, or if the surface is scored or textured.

Exhibit 37-3

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Long expanses of screening walls (particularly along public streets) should feature varied setbacks and textures.

• d. Parking.

  1. Parking areas should not be the dominant visual element of a site. It is generally preferable to locate parking lots along the side or to the rear of buildings. Where this is not possible, parking should be buffered with significant landscaping areas.

  2. Parking areas shall be landscaped consistent with Zoning standards and guidelines for parking lot landscaping shown in § 25-27 , Commercial Development Design Guidelines.

• e. Service, delivery and storage areas.

  1. Locate loading docks, outside storage, and service areas in areas of low visibility such as at the side or at the rear (non-street side) of buildings. The features must be screened from view from public streets, by walls, landscaping, or a combination thereof.

  2. With the exception of outside storage areas, when it is not possible to locate loading facilities and service areas on a non-street side of a building, loading docks and doors shall not dominate the building frontage and must be screened from all adjoining public streets.

  3. In no case may outside storage areas be located in the front of a building.

• f. Signs. Sign regulations found in the sign ordinance must be observed; however, the following general design guidelines should be utilized.

1. Signs should be compatible with the design of the building(s) and its architectural style. The design of freestanding signs should feature architectural elements that relate the sign to the buildings they advertise.

2. Stark color contrasts in signs should be avoided. Sign colors should be muted - use of significant quantities of primary colors should be avoided.

3. Freestanding signs shall be monument-style signs as opposed to pole signs.

4. For multitenant buildings or complexes, a coordinated sign design scheme is required.

• a. In the Industrial Zones, all open and unlandscaped portions of any lot shall be maintained in good condition, free from weeds, dust, trash and debris.

• b. No use shall be permitted and no process, equipment, or materials shall be employed which are found by the Planning Commission 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, or to emit electrical disturbances which adversely affect commercial or electronic equipment outside the boundaries of the site.

• c. No solid or liquid wastes shall be discharged into a public or private sewage disposal system except in compliance with the regulations of the owners of the system, and local, state and federal agencies that regulate disposal of these wastes.

• d. In the Industrial Zones, all uses shall be subject to the regulations of local, state and federal air quality agencies.