Fowler Municipal Code § 9-5.701 Purpose

A. The R Districts are intended primarily to provide living areas at locations designated by the General Plan for Low, Medium Low, and Medium Density, involving single-family dwellings, with regulations designed to accomplish the following:

1. To promote and encourage a suitable environment for family life.

2. To provide space for community facilities needed to complement urban residential areas, and for institutions that require a residential environment in accordance with policies of the General Plan and State Law.

B. To provide for the location of a limited number of two- and three-family dwelling units within certain predominantly single-family areas.

All uses shall be subject to the provisions of Article 21.

A. One-family dwellings, consisting of not more than one (1) such one-family dwelling per lot.

B. Accessory structures, located on the same site with a permitted use. See Article 21.

C. Field, truck, or orchard crops and horticultural specialties, and the raising of livestock, but excluding any structure for the sale of any product, commercial greenhouses, and commercial farming buildings.

D. Household pets limited to a maximum of four (4) in any combination.

E. Renting rooms and boarding, provided that not more than two (2) rooms in a dwelling are rented to not more than a total of six (6) persons.

F. Home occupations subject to the provision of Article 21.

G. A use legally operating on the effective date of the amendment to the zoning ordinance and no longer listed as "permitted" within the affected district.

H. Vehicle parking for personal transportation by occupants, their guests and employees, located on the same site; in no case shall a commercial vehicle exceed a weight of six thousand (6,000) pounds.

I. Swimming pools used solely by persons residing on the site and their guests, provided that no swimming pool shall be located in a required front or side yard; and further provided that all fencing comply with the California Building Code or City standards.

J. Secondary residential units, subject to the requirements of Article 21.

K. Small family day care home for up to eight (8) children as defined by Section 1597.44 of the Health and Safety Code.

L. Supportive housing.

M. Transitional housing.

(Ord. No. 2011-06, § 5, 11-1-2011; Ord. No. 2015-03, § 2, 5-19-2015)

The following uses shall be permitted, subject to the provisions of Article 24:

A. Enclosed temporary construction materials storage yards required for development of a subdivision.

B. Gas and electric transmission lines, electrical distribution substations, gas regulator stations, communications equipment buildings, public service pumping stations, and elevated pressure tanks.

C. Manufactured homes on permanent foundations, subject to the provisions of Article 21.

D. Single-family dwellings when all street improvements are not yet completed.

E. Temporary subdivision sales offices, signs, and model homes.

F. Twenty-four-hour care facilities for foster homes, for a maximum of six (6) individuals in addition to the residing family.

G. Large family day care home for up to fourteen (14) children as defined by Section 1597.465 of the Health and Safety Code.

H. Tennis courts, including related fencing over seven (7) feet in height located on the same site as a permitted or conditional use.

I. Incidental and accessory structures and uses located on the same site as a use permitted by administrative approval or conditional use permit.

J. Expansion or remodeling of an existing nonconforming use of a structure or land, limited to fifty (50) percent or less of the value of existing structures, or re-establishment of a nonconforming use that has been damaged, except nonconforming signs and advertising structures, nonconforming uses occupying a structure with an assessed valuation of less than $100.00, and nonconforming fences, walls, and hedges.

K. Garage or carport conversions subject to Article 21.

Uses permitted subject to a conditional use permit shall be as follows (see Article 25):

A. Public and quasi-public uses of an educational or religious type including schools, nursery schools, private non-profit schools and colleges, churches, and other religious institutions.

B. Public and private charitable institutions, hospitals, nursing homes, including a state authorized, certified or licensed family care home, foster home or group home serving six (6) or fewer mentally disordered or otherwise handicapped persons, including rehabilitation homes for alcoholics and drug addicts, or dependent and neglected children, where such homes provide care on a twenty-four-hour basis.

C. Public uses of an administrative, recreational, public service or cultural type including city, county, state or federal administrative centers and courts, libraries, museums, art galleries, police and fire stations and other public buildings, structures and facilities, public playgrounds, parks, and community centers.

D. Incidental and accessory structures and uses located on the same site as a use permitted by administrative approval or conditional use.

E. Planned Unit Developments subject to provisions of Article 28.

F. Duplexes on corner lots.

G. Bed and breakfast, subject to the provisions of Article 21.

H. Country clubs and golf courses.

I. A second dwelling unit on lots of thirty thousand (30,000) square feet or larger in size. The second dwelling unit shall be subject to all provisions of the underlying zone district, including but not limited to, cumulative lot coverage, space between buildings, parking, and setbacks.

J. Swimming pools within the required front or side yard.

K. Day care center.

L. Senior citizen residential developments.

Fences, walls, and hedges shall be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 9-5.21 of this ordinance.

The minimum site area shall be as follows:

A. Lots of record as of the date of the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter: no minimum requirement.

B. Lots of record in any future annexation to the City, and that was not in violation of any county ordinance regulating subdivisions in effect at the time of such annexation: no minimum requirement.

C. All other lots:

Not more than one (1) dwelling unit shall be allowed on each site, except as provided in Section 9-5.705.I, above and under Article 21.

The maximum site area covered by any and all structures shall be forty (40) percent.

No main building or structure shall have a height greater than two (2) stories or thirty-five (35) feet, except as may be allowed under provisions of Article 27.

No sign shall be permitted except as prescribed in Article 22.

Two (2) off-street parking spaces shall be provided for each dwelling, one (1) of which shall be enclosed in a garage.

No through lots shall be created after the effective date of this ordinance.

Each site shall have not less than sixty (60) feet of frontage on a public street except that those sites that front on a cul-de-sac or loop-out street may have a frontage of not less than fifty (50) feet provided the width of the site, as measured along the front yard setback line, is at least sixty (60) feet.

The minimum width of each site shall be:

The minimum depth of each site shall be:

Lots facing on major or secondary roadways shall include an on-site turn-around.

A. The following minimum yards shall apply:

B. On cul-de-sac lots where the side lot line is perpendicular to the main axis of the street, the minimum front yard shall be no less than fifteen (15) feet along the curved portions of the right-of-way, with an average of twenty-foot setbacks.

C. On a site between sites improved with buildings where said buildings are set back less than the minimum distance required by this section, the minimum front yard shall be the average depth of the front yards on the improved sites immediately adjoining the side lines of the site.

D. Non-public utility mechanical equipment shall not be located in the required front yard.

E. Any mechanical equipment, diving boards, or pool slides, shall not be located less than five (5) feet from an adjoining side or rear property line. This does not apply to fireplaces, fixed pool equipment such as pumps and filters or structures determined to be similar by the Director.

F. For cul-de-sac lots, the side yard shall be determined by the lot width measured at the front setback line.

G. Where construction involves more than one (1) story, the minimum five-foot side yard shall be increased by three (3) feet for each additional story provided, however, that the side yard on the street side of a corner lot, that is not a reverse corner lot, need not be greater than five (5) feet.

H. Garages or carports on the street side yard of a corner lot shall be set back twenty (20) feet from the property line. In all other cases, the garage or carport shall be set back a minimum of twenty (20) feet from the front property line. Where a garage or carport is located with access from an alley, it shall be set back a minimum of ten (10) feet from the alley right-of-way.

I. All required yards shall be landscaped, except where the required yard is:

1. Occupied by a sidewalk or driveway; or

2. Screened from public view by a wall or fence of at least six (6) feet in height.

J. Where front and corner lot yards are required to be landscaped, medium-sized trees shall be planted at intervals of one (1) per every thirty (30) linear feet of parcel frontage. Yards less than five (5) feet in depth are exempt.

K. Impervious surfaces in the front or corner lot yard shall be limited to walkways and driveways leading to covered carports, garages, or RV parking locations pursuant to FMC Section 9-5.2004. Exceptions may be allowed subject to Administrative Approval.

(Ord. No. 2020-06, § 2, 11-17-2020; Ord. No. 2022-08, § 2, 10-4-2022)

Single-family residential projects shall be subject to the design review provisions of Article 16.